Alan Cheslow

"You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to recognize that a series of decisions and events have transpired to put Goldman at the top of the heap. Well before the credit crisis, people worried about Goldman's influence in the markets. Several former executives of the investment bank have senior roles in government and at the New York Stock Exchange, and its analysts are among the most powerful in the space." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

“I thought about this all weekend,” Cramer told Curry. “I do not want to say these things on TV. Whatever money you may need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market right now, this week. I do not believe that you should risk those assets in the stock market right now.” [I don't listen to Cramer, he's a tool; but a lot of other people do.] - Anthony Citrano

@Alan: the last 25 years saw the dawning and maturing of the information age--namely the internet--that revolutionized bellwether companies and created a whole new tier of wealth for many of us, perhaps many on this feed ;). That skewed the chart a bit to the positive side. My contention has been that the market was TOO positive on the halo effect of the internet and it caused a great deal of irrationality in wall street valuations. Trace how the dominoes have fallen and you can see that it goes [cont.] - grant

...to Reaganomics, deregulation in the 80s, Greenspan being too liberal with the rates for the wrong reasons, and of course greed. YMMV but that's my story and I'm stickin to it. - grant

"We do not live in a Constitutional Republic. At this point, we do not even live in a totalitarian democracy, as the overwhelming majority of constituents were vehemently opposed to this trillion-dollar boondoggle. At best, we are living in a mild form of corporate socialism with a ruling oligarchy that is completely unresponsive to the people." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"Half of the world's mammals are declining in population and more than a third probably face extinction, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

Car, game, Eco, architecture blogs, sites and RL mags - Eric Rice

http://lewrockwell.com - Alan Cheslow

http://mastering-media.blogspo... - Anton

"The seamless integration of the military and law enforcement into a single "Internal Security Force" is the defining characteristic of a fully realized police state. Once this fusion is accomplished, the question becomes not "whether" a police state exists, but rather how acute its institutional violence against the subject population will become. That condition now exists in the country that still calls itself – without any apparent irony – the United States of America." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"Americans are being held hostage by their government. The government is rubbing sand in their faces and defying them, both on Iraq and on its financial measures. The government is overstepping its bounds so egregiously that it is arousing even passive Americans to action. It is only a matter of time before they rise up and cast off their bonds." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"The radical libertarian view of the state as a gang of criminals will no longer be a hard sell. It is now apparent to any honest and thinking person not blinded by being on the dole that the corporate state is a bunch of criminals, degenerates, and hoodlums. They just pulled off the biggest armed robbery in human history right before our eyes. Worse yet, it can no longer be denied that these thugs steal from the poor and give to the rich!" - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

Yeah, he would. The little amount of legislation that got passed in 2006-2008 is a sign of what would be the case for 2008-2010. Congress still wouldn't have a veto-proof majority (it's looking like 52 or 54 Democrat seats in the senate, and 60% Democrat in the house, you need 2/3 majority to override a presidential veto), so they'd be cock-blocked by the president in turn. The problem is that the president, in most cases, has political capital to shape policy for the country, and controls large portions of the government that aren't in check by the Congress short of things like impeachment. - Mark Trapp

McCain would likely follow Bush's history of unilaterally declaring executive orders (http://tinyurl.com/3zkoea) and signing statements (http://tinyurl.com/3z2gku), and it would not be surprising if he abused those tools even worse than his predecessors. - Alan Cheslow

For instance, HR5122 essentially negated Posse Comitatus. It was later repealed, but Bush issued a signing statement indicating that he didn't feel that he was bound to that repeal. In other words, he unilaterally decided that Posse Comitatus does not apply to him. - Alan Cheslow

"“Seasteading” means to homesteading the high seas. In other words, build permanent dwellings on the ocean. A seastead is a structure specifically designed for the purpose of long-term living in the marine environment.Why seastead? In the short-run, for political freedom and the thrill of pioneering. In the long run, to create a laboratory for innovation in social and political systems. In neither case is any particular ideology necessary: seasteads will empower people with a wide variety of beliefs to experience self-government and serve as examples (good and bad) for future systems. Other advantages include utilizing barren portions of the earth’s surface and preparing for colonization of other planets." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

""We need a lot more in our toolbox in order to deal with angry people on the street," said Col. Barry Johnson of U.S. Army North." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"The Army on Monday will unveil an unprecedented doctrine that declares nation-building missions will probably become more important than conventional warfare and defines "fragile states" that breed crime, terrorism and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security. The doctrine, which has generated intense debate in the U.S. military establishment and government, holds that in coming years, American troops are not likely to engage in major ground combat against hostile states as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead will frequently be called upon to operate in lawless areas to safeguard populations and rebuild countries." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"A decisive military victory in Afghanistan is impossible and the Taliban may have to be part of a long-term solution for the country, a senior British commander in Afghanistan has said. "We're not going to win this war," Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith was quoted as saying in a British newspaper, published on Sunday." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"The financial system has been under severe stress for more than a year, and there should have been carefully thought-out contingency plans ready to roll out in case the markets melted down. Obviously, there weren’t: the Paulson plan was clearly drawn up in haste and confusion. And Treasury officials have yet to offer any clear explanation of how the plan is supposed to work, probably because they themselves have no idea what they’re doing." - Anthony Citrano

I think he's off on several points. Here's one: everyone parrots the line "there is growing evidence that businesses are having trouble getting credit" without ever showing the evidence. According to the Fed (http://www.cato.org/pub_displa...), lending is *up* 15.5% since this time last year. I think the truth is that 1) lending is shifting from big national banks to smaller local ones; and 2) the few businesses who can't get lending from even the small local banks probably present too big of a risk and shouldn't be extended credit. - Alan Cheslow

I very very much hope you're right, Alan. Two things - those Fed numbers are likely trailing, and some of the more grave problems in CP and short-term paper have developed in very recent weeks and even days. Also, think through where most of the local banks have parked their own reserves. - Anthony Citrano

"The bright line ban on using the U.S. military as a standing law enforcement force inside the U.S. has been more or less honored -- until now. And as the Army Times notes, once this particular brigade completes its one-year assignment, "expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one."" - Louis Gray via Bookmarklet

FEMA internment camps? That's quite a conspiracy theory. - Gabe

historically, rioting has been a very effective vehicle for changing governments ... charing cross (london) saw the beheading of a king ... governments want to stay in business, they will create any spin possible in order to do so ... david cook, military people are trained not to think for themselves, so your points don't sit well with me ... colin powell, yes-man as example - Gregory Lent

"The Denver police union is selling T-shirts that poke fun at protesters at last month's Democratic National Convention, but the main target isn't laughing." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

from my christian brother, who will vote for mccain ..... "The long-term answer isn't more federal control, it's a return to free-market principles," Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner wrote in his weekly column before the House voted Sept. 29 against the $700 billion deal struck by congressional leaders and the White House. "Faced with a crisis of this scale," Heritage's Stuart Butler and Edwin Meese argued, "lawmakers need to consider steps that would be out of the question in more normal times. That is why Congress must structure a recovery plan that involves an extraordinary taxpayer commitment to stabilizing the situation and restoring confidence in the financial system." - Gregory Lent via Bookmarklet

Agreeing with that article and voting for McCain seem mutually exclusive to me, what's his rational there? I'd think he'd be more interested in Barr or Baldwin? - Alan Cheslow

a bad choice for a "christian" is better than no choice at all? dunno ... patriotism and religion get mixed up in odd ways ... probably the best lesson for me is i cannot paint anybody, or group, with a broad brush .. - Gregory Lent

"Discover why experts agree the Fed is a banking cartel that benefits mainly bankers and their corporate clients as well as a Congress that would rather unilaterally increase the national debt than ask citizens how THEY would like to see tax revenues allocated. Find out how the media facilitates the partnership between the Fed and Congress and why it fails to fully disclose what's going on. Lastly, find out how the Federal Reserve Member Banks are owned and controlled by an elite group of insiders that use fiat money to fund their fascist agenda by moving the United States further from its founding principles towards endless bailouts and bankruptcy." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"While quantum encryption is regularly used to secure Swiss bank transactions, as well as their much publicized 2007 election results, Makarov claims it's easily hacked." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

On April 12, 1999 the DOW closed at 10,339; just above today's close of 10,325, but a gallon of gas cost $1.10 then versus $3.64 today. - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"The nation should have monetary freedom. Much of what we are seeing stems from the structure of the banking industry with the central bank at its apex. Congress is moving in precisely the wrong direction to give the Fed even more power and influence. The Fed is the nation’s money monopolist. There is no economic justification whatsoever (much less a moral justification) for the Fed to have this power." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

"Rather than looking to political leaders to protect or expand our freedom we should cultivate the seeds of freedom in our own spirits, and inspire others to do the same. Nothing government can do can take away our freedom; and if we are a people who are truly free, the government will have to follow" - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

That's really selfish. - Mona N.

I hope you're being sarcastic? - Alan Cheslow

The real cost will be the debt upon debt that we're piling onto our $10 TRILLION national debt already, and/or the inflation that will result from the Federal Reserve devaluing the dollar by printing more money to cover this. We just don't have the money to give. - Alan Cheslow

Congratulations on passing your bailout bill! Since my family's portion of the bailout will be $17,064 (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1357...), I would like a reduction of my mortgage princpal in the amount of $17,064. Thanks! - Alan Cheslow

"Contrary to many comments, consumer and industrial loans actually increased in the latest week. Troubled giant banks have cut back on lending, but smaller banks have picked up the slack." - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

After vote DOW is down 7.75% from a month ago - Alan Cheslow

The Defense Department is spending $300 million for propaganda in Iraq. I wonder how much they are paying for propaganda in the US? - Alan Cheslow via Bookmarklet

Alien invasion. - Rodfather