Monthly Archives: June 2013
Fun With the IRS
“Two grim IRS agents travelled to Harv’s Metro Car Wash in Sacramento to hand him a demand-letter for his taxes owing in arrears: $0.04 worth.
Update: To be clear: it was $0.04 in unpaid tax that had accrued over $200 in penalties.
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Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. “They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff…. “It’s hilarious,” he says, “that two people hopped in a car and came down here for just 4 cents. I think (the IRS) may have a problem with priorities.” …”
Fun With City Officials
“LOS ANGELES – Five former elected officials of the small, blue-collar California city of Bell were convicted Wednesday of multiple counts of misappropriating public funds by paying themselves huge salaries while raising taxes on residents.
Former Mayor Oscar Hernandez and co-defendants Teresa Jacobo, George Mirabal, George Cole and Victor Belo were all convicted of multiple counts and acquitted of others.
Former Councilman Luis Artiga was cleared entirely.
The charges against the officials involved paying themselves inflated salaries of up to $100,000 a year in the city of 36,000 people, where one in four residents live below the poverty line.
An audit by the state controller’s office previously found the city had illegally raised property taxes, business license fees and other sources of revenue to pay the salaries. The office ordered the money repaid….”
Comments »Fun With SWAT
“Ray Cortopassi/Eyewitness News
Indianapolis – A call to the city’s SWAT team was the final move against one property owner who let his grass grow higher than a foot.
Specially trained officers were called out to the 9000 block of Harrison Run Drive as city crews tried to groom one unruly yard on the northeast side.
Harrison Run is a neighborhood well cared for. At home after home in this subdivision near 71st and Fall Creek Road, neighbors tend to their yards. That’s why one in particular stood out – or in this case, stood up.
“We’re talking about a foot and half tall,” said Luis Araoz, neighbor.
But the high grass produced more than just dandelions. Monday morning, it called out Metro’s SWAT team.
“This is a first for something I had to run up against,” said Lt. Jeff Duhamell, IMPD.
The city’s Office of Code of Enforcement responded after a notice of high grass and weeds went unheeded for at least five days. So it showed up with a mowing crew to do the job. But police say when contractor Dominique Thompson climbed up on the riding mower, he noticed the homeowner pointing a shotgun directly at him….”
Comments »Fun With the NYPD
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rWtDMPaRD8 450 300]
Comments »Documentary: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2Xh5eN2fXY 450 300] [youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KphWsnhZ4Ag 450 300]
Cheers on your weekend!
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/[ywatch?v=44PD32pfW7E 450 300] Comments »Fun With 6 Corporations
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ-uSS6OKU4 450 300]
Comments »Fun With Statecraft
“Former CIA Director David Petraeus is in attendance at the 2013 Bilderberg Group conference to help construct the “big data” spy grid, which is set to become the new frontier of clandestine statecraft as Internet connectivity becomes ubiquitous.
Bilderberg’s official agenda for 2013 lists one of the areas of discussion as, “How big data is changing almost everything,” a reference to how the “Internet of things” along with the ubiquitous growth of social media is transforming the world of surveillance and the ability to foresee and manipulate future events.
At almost the exact same time, a Homeland Security subcommittee in the United States will also be discussing “big data” and its implications in the context of social media.
Bilderberg’s effort to push the “big data” agenda ties in with the secretive organization’s close relationship with Google, which as we documentedis now merging with and taking over from Bilderberg in many aspects.
The discussion about “big data” is also likely to cover how social media can be used to launch more faux revolutions and social movements as it was in Egypt, which was aided in no small part by Google.
As we have documented, the Internet of things is the process of manufacturing every new product with a system that broadcasts wirelessly via the world wide web, allowing industry and the government to spy ubiquitously on every aspect of your existence….”
Comments »Fun With the Senate
“WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected student loan proposals that would have either temporarily helped only a small subset of new borrowers or been likely to aid borrowers who take out federal loans just for the next few years, as debt-strapped households continue to wait for far-reaching solutions.
Policymakers and financial regulators caution that economic growth and the health of the U.S. banking system is at risk as borrowers with a cumulative $1.1 trillion in student debt, many of whom are paying record relative interest rates on their government loans and enriching the Treasury with unparalleled profits, are likely to curb consumption, big purchases, and new borrowing due to overwhelming debt loads.
Despite increasing warnings, Congressional Democrats are focused on saving the typical undergraduate borrower less than $10 a month on an average 12-year-loan, while promising to take additional steps in the coming months to help the vast majority of new and existing borrowers. Their bill failed to attract the necessary 60 votes, securing just 51 votes instead.
Republicans aim to replace the current system of rates on all government loans being set by Congress to one dictated by the government’s cost to borrow, with apparently little regard to the fact that the government’s borrowing costs are forecast to double in three years. The Republicans could muster just 40 votes….”
Comments »Fun With Drones
“A review of classified US intelligence records has revealed that the CIA could not confirm the identity of about a quarter of the people killed by drone strikes in Pakistan during a period spanning from 2010 to 2011.
According to a purportedly exclusive report by NBC News that mirrors findings of an April analysis by McClatchy, between September 3, 2010 and October 30, 2011 the agency’s drone program over Pakistan routinely designated those killed as “other militants,” a label used when the CIA could not determine affiliation, if any.
The review by NBC News paints both a confusing and troubling picture of the CIA’s reported drone strike success, which three former Obama administration officials feared could have missed or simply ignored mistakes.
Of the 14 months worth of classified documents reviewed, 26 out of 114 attacks designate fatalities as“other militants,” while in four other attacks those killed are only described as “foreign fighters.”
Even more irregular are the cases when entry records conflict on the number of those killed, with one such example indicating a drone attack had killed seven to 10 combatants, and another estimating 20 to 22 fatalities.
By comparison, McClatchy’s April review of drone strikes revealed that at least 265 of up to 482 people that the CIA killed during a 12-month period ending in September 2011 were not senior al-Qaeda leaders, but were instead “assessed” as Afghan, Pakistani and “unknown extremists.” Corroborating media accounts show that US drones killed only six top al-Qaeda leaders during the same period.
One key term in analyzing drone strike records are what are known as “signature” strikes, when drones kill suspects based on behavior patterns but without positive identification, versus “personality” strike, which is when drone targets are known terrorist affiliates whose identities are verified.
According to an anonymous senior intelligence official who spoke to NBC, at the peak of drone operations in Pakistan in 2009 and 2010 as many as half of all kills were classified as “signature” strikes. ….”
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Upgrades and Downgrades This Morning
Upgrades – ANF, BRCD, C, KOF, GRMN, MS, MYGN, UAL, YUM, LULU,
Downgrades – BAC, CHMT, INTC, ISLE, IRM, JPM, MNKD, MELI, S
Comments »Soros Begins Shorting the Yen While Buying Japanese Equities
“HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — A hedge fund run by billionaire investor George Soros was back placing bets in Japan, shorting the yen and snapping up local stocks, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report Friday, citing a source close to the matter. Soros returned to the market following some signs of stability in the Japanese bond market, the source was cited as saying in the report. The person said that while the sharp recent fall in Japanese equities was a “surprise,” the current level of stocks was “very attractive”….”
Comments »Meredith Whitney: Prepare for “Steady Drumbeat” of Stumbling Municipalities
“Several U.S. cities, such as Detroit and Stockton, Calif., have suffered severe financial crises, and more municipal troubles are likely on the way, says financial analyst and author Meredith Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group.
They could even hit Los Angeles, she tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview. “You know no one mentions L.A.,” she tells Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.
“L.A. is one of the municipalities that’s not at risk of default, but at risk of real loggerheads in terms of how deeply do you cut into social services, and how much are you going to push down to localities.”
Watch our exclusive video….”
Comments »The Titanic Syndrome: New 52 Week Lows Exceed 52 Week Highs
“There are two market warning signs which have just recently been triggered and which have gotten a lot of press attention due to their catchy names. The Titanic Syndrome was created in 1965 by the late Bill Ohama. It gives a “preliminary sell signal” anytime that the number of 52-week New Lows (NL) exceeds New Highs (NH) on the NYSE within 7 trading days before or after a major market high.
The top chart shows all of the instances since 1984 of these preliminary sell signals firing off. You can see that they do tend to cluster around major tops, but they also seem to cry “wolf” a lot at other times when an uptrend continues. Ohama noticed that too, and so he added further criteria to constitute what he called “additional evidence”. He wanted to see NL exceed NH for 4 out of 5 days, plus NH declining to less than 1.5% of total issues, and finally to have the DJIA (or SP500) decline for 4 out of 5 days. We now have 2 out of those 3 criteria met, but have not seen the DJIA or SP500 drop for 4 of 5 days.
In 1995, mathematician and market analyst Jim Miekka created a similarly ominous signal that came to be known as the Hindenburg Omen. It too looks at NH and NL, and was an adaptation of Gerald Appel’s “Split Market Sell Signal”. Appels signal was simply a case of seeing both NH and NL exceed 45, with no adjustment for changes in the number of issues traded. Miekka refined it by adding a few additional rules to get a more quantified signal.
Initially, Miekka set a threshold that both NH and NL had to exceed 2.2% of total NYSE issues on the same day. He later adjusted that up to 2.8% of Advances plus Declines after decimalization changed the way that issues traded, and reduced the number of unchanged issues each day. In addition, the NYSE Comp has to be above its value of 50 trading days ago, and the McClellan Oscillator has to be negative.
You may see web sites that list different criteria, based on Miekka’s earlier writings. The criteria I use are as Miekka himself reported to Greg Morris for Morris’ 2006 book, The Complete Guide to Market Breadth Indicators. Using the original 2.2% threshold, there have been 4 Hindenburg Omen signals between May 29 and June 4, 2013. Using the more up to date 2.8% threshold, there have been only 2, but that is still a significant alert to get our attention. For more on the calculations and the differences in criteria, see this 2010 article….”
Comments »Non Farm Payrolls: Prior 176k, Market Expects 169-175k, Actual 175k
Unemployment rate stands at: 7.6%
April was revised 149k
Government and manufacturing lose steam
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Alan Greenspan Says We Should Taper Now Even If the Economy is Not Ready
“Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC on Friday that the central bank should taper its $85 billion a month bond-buying even if the U.S. economy is not ready for it.
He said in a “Squawk Box” interview that near-zero interest rate policy at the Fed has helped stock prices, but the markets need to be prepared for faster-than-expected rise in rates.
If the Fed moves too quickly in reining in its accommodative policies, it could shock the market, which is already dealing with a very large element of uncertainty.
Greenspan said that he’s not sure the markets will allow an easy exit and they may not give policymakers the leeway might like….”
Comments »$AAPL, $FB, & $GOOG Deny Server Sharing in Spying Program
“There’s a bombshell report tonight that nine leading tech companies are knowingly giving information on users to the U.S. Government
The program is called PRISM and it reportedly involved Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.
Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have all come out to deny participation in the program.
We have each of their statements here.
A spokesperson for Apple emphatically denied that it is handing over user information telling us: “We have never heard of PRISM. We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order.”
Here’s the statement from Facebook: “We do not provide any government organization with direct access to Facebook servers. When Facebook is asked for data or information about specific individuals, we carefully scrutinize any such request for compliance with all applicable laws, and provide information only to the extent required by law,.”
And here’s Google’s statement, given to AllThingsD: “Google cares deeply about the security of our users’ data. We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government ‘back door’ into our systems, but Google does not have a ‘back door’ for the government to access private user data.”
Microsoft spokesperson: “We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it.”
The PRISM program allegedly allowed the NSA and FBI to tap directly into the central servers of the companies. From there, they could get user photos, emails, documents and more. This was all done in cooperation with big tech companies, according to the report…..”
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