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Posts Tagged 'Acupuncture'
Chinese Medicine for Seasonal AllergiesWednesday, April 29th, 2015 by
After a long, bitterly cold winter, one of the best things to do is get outside and breathe in the sunshine. The longer days and influx of Vitamin D helps to shake off the wintertime blues. Unfortunately for many Philadelphians, with the warmth of spring come the runny nose, sneezing, wheezing, and itchy, watery eyes brought on by the pollen, weeds, flowers, dust and grass that makes the season so beautiful. Nearly 35 million Americans suffer from the allergy symptoms that lead them to spend millions of dollars on medications to survive the season without looking like their days were spent crying.
So, how can allergy sufferers get outside without pumping up on the chemicals? Acupuncture can be the answer. Known for helping to boost and regulate the immune system, acupuncture has been used for centuries as a safe and effective way to combat the symptoms of seasonal allergies. Seasonal allergies are caused by the body's hypersensitivity to elements in the environment. When treatment is focused on clearing the nasal passages, relieving allergic rhinitis, and strengthening the immune system, the body is able to stand up to the allergens in a more effective way.
Working with a regimine of Chinese herbs and acupuncture can help where traditional medications fall short because treatments are personalized and the person is cared for, not just the symptoms. Because each person brings a unique constellation of strengths and challenges, a personalized combination of treatments is a great way to achieve health and overcome allergies and other illnesses. While herbs do help to treat the immediate symptoms, the body benefits from strengthening of the overall immune system
As warm spring weather approaches, there's no reason to fear the buds on the trees. A regimen of acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help you to enjoy the season – call for a consult today!
It's Not Just Needles and Herbs: How to choose an Acupuncturist, Herbalist and Practitioner of Oriental MedicineFriday, October 3rd, 2014 by
You're looking for an acupuncturist. You launch your browser and type Acupuncture or Traditiona
There are certain steps you can take to make the most informed decision. Licensing requirements vary widely by state and most, but not all, acupuncture schools combine acupuncture and herbal training. So, it is important to know what you are looking for. Licensed Acupuncturists have credentials that use the term L.Ac. or M.Ac. In Pennsylvania, practitioners who have studied Chinese Herbal medicine have taken at least an additional 700 hours of training. Even if you are not necessarily interested in taking herbal medicine that distinction and commitment to additional training, education and specialization is important. Coursework expands entry level training so that more complex principals in the diagnosis and treatment of disease from a Chinese medical paradigm are explored.
While people who have completed this class may be registered with the State as an L.OM. or a licensed Practitioner of Oriental Medicine, it's ideal to find a practitioner that has gone the "extra mile" and has become Board certified in Oriental Medicine (Dipl. O.M. NCCAOM). This entails not only passing the National Board for Foundational Theory, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine, but also passing the Board certification for Western Biomedicine. This distinction shows a professional commitment not only to Chinese medicine but to having a comprehensive grasp of Western medicine principals, treatments and appropriate referrals.
The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) is the premier certifying organization recognized by the Oriental Medical profession. A non-profit established in 1982, the mission of NCCAOM is to establish and promote standards of competence and safety in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. NCCAOM certification is a professional distinction and it requires 60 hours of additional study every four years. While not required, my passion for Chinese Medicine and providing the best treatment and health outcomes for my patients has driven me to study an average of 150 hours each year – or 600 hours every four years (compared to the minimum requirement of 60 hours). These studies have included two-year advanced courses in Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. They have also included studies in chronic autoimmune conditions, care for patients undergoing cancer therapy and dermatology, while also going deeper and integrating into my specialty of pain management.
Selecting a practitioner with a NCCAOM certification in Oriental Medicine ensures that you will be treated with the most comprehensive clinical expertise and the highest level of professional integrity. Oriental Medicine is more than needles and herbs. Mastery of the curriculum requires years of advanced coursework and clinical practice. The Diplomate of Oriental Medicine has demonstrated competence in nutritional principles, biomedicine, herbalism and Oriental medical theory in addition to acupuncture. OM certification expands the acupuncturist's diagnostic and treatment resources, allowing her to create the most comprehensive, individualized healing plan for each client.
Sharon Sherman holds a NCCAOM certification in Oriental Medicine, placing her nationally among the highest trained in the art and science of acupuncture and the Chinese Medical model, as well as the prescribing of Chinese herbal medicine.
Chinese Medicine's Zhang Zi-He and The School of Attacking and PurgingThursday, March 20th, 2014 by
Like modern practitioners, the great masters of Chinese medicine learned from and were influenced by each other's work. They were not only coming up with original conclusions but were building and refining the work of previous practitioners to form expanded ideas.
Zhang Zi-He, also known as Zhang Cong Zheng, was a military physician who lived from 1156-1228 of the common era. He shared Liu Wan-Su's belief that medicine needed to be tailored to patients and that medicines and strategies of the Han Dynasty canon were ill equipped to combat present-day illness. After serving in the military, he left to return to his home town in Henan Province to work as a doctor.
His best known theories incorporated some of Liu Wan-Su's most important contributions to the Chinese Medical canon and are known as the "Gong Xia Pai," or "The School of Attacking and Purging." Specifically, Zi-He's theory of the "Six Doors and Three Methods" referred directly to climatic influences (wind, summer heat, dampness, fire, dryness and cold) that Liu Wan-Su observed. The three methods refer to Zhang's favored therapeutic regimens: sweating, vomiting and purging. These were not new strategies; Zhang Zhong-Jing, one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han Dynasty, recorded the use of these approaches in the most studied book of Chinese medicine, the Shang Han Lun. The practice of diaphoresis, emesis and purgation are also documented by Sun Si-Miao, the patriarch and innovator of Tang Dynasty Chinese medicine.
Zhang Zi-He's treatment strategies are very telling of his seasoned military strategist background. He believed that both life and disease should be treated like battle. Similar to a small fortress, you want to keep the external terrain strong so that disease cannot enter. In Chinese medicine this is the concept of strong Wei Qi. When our interface is strong, pathogens cannot penetrate.
Zhang was a neoconfucianist and a firm believer that pernicious influences entered the body from the heavens, the earth and through man's actions. The evils of the heavens included the climate—wind, cold, heat, dryness and fire. Insults from the earth came as damp influences that included fog, dew, rain, hail, ice and mud. Man's abuses centered on dietary intemperance and vices such as lack of discipline. He believed that these insults were responsible for causing disease and in order to effectively cure an ailment, the responsible influence needed to be eradicated – thus the induction of sweating, vomiting and purging.
He believed if you have problems in your life, you need to take charge to destroy the negative influence. Sweating eliminated the harmful evils on the body's surface. Zhang Zi-He listed approximately forty herbs, many which are still used today such as Schizonepeta known as Jing Jie and Angelica Dahurica Bai Zhi. In addition to herbs, he advocated the use of hygienic practices that included moxabustion, acupuncture, massage, steaming, washing and exercising.
The category of emesis (induced vomiting) was prescribed for digestive illness in the upper gastric abdominal regions with therapies that in addition to vomiting increased salivation, lacrimation and sneezing. The most popular Chinese herbal emetics he recommended were Dichroa Root, also known as Chang Shan, and stalk of Cucumis Melo, known as Gua Di. His use of acupuncture included the activation of points which would mirror his herbal strategies. He used the upward ascension of the spleen to encourage vomiting. An acupuncture point like Spleen 8 "Di Ji," which translates to mean "Earth Pivot," was chosen because it could be activated to encourage vomiting. He believed that employing this strategy would quickly release an evil and restore health by purifying the patient.
He also used other acupuncture channels and points to encourage peristalsis through the bowels. Purging methods (laxative effect) treated climatic and emotional evils that when lodged in the chest or abdomen cause intense discomfort. This phenomenon is known in Chinese medicine as heat clumping. By breaking down and pushing the obstruction down and out, the pain is eliminated and healthy function is restored. Of the many purgatives he employed, several are still popular in the TCM Materia Medica such as Rhubarb, known as the Chinese herb Da Huang and the herb Croton Ba Dou.
Zhang Zi-He was a student of Liu Wan-Su's Cooling School philosophical doctrine and expanded the use of sweating, purgation and vomiting to include more symptoms and clinical scenarios. Zhang Zi-He believed that there are a myriad of influences that can cause disease. He understood that to move difficult obstructions and obstacles in the body, one needed to initiate a treatment strategy of equal force and measure. He believed these treatment strategies to be hygienic and their use encouraged the refinement of the body, mind and spirit.
Honored by Your Support – Empirical Point Acupuncture Makes the Philly Hot List!Monday, September 23rd, 2013 by
Good Sleep & AcupunctureMonday, August 5th, 2013 by
It's summer. The days are looooong. And that is a great thing, but did you know that it can affect your sleep patterns and your ability to get a good, restful night's sleep? In fact, there are so many things that can affect your sleep – stress, diet, work schedule and even computer or smartphone use – that it can be really difficult to get as much sleep as you need.
Experts at the Mayo Clinic recommend that school age children get 9-10 hours of sleep a night and that adults log at least 7-8 hours. But, there are other factors that can make even more sleep beneficial – factors like aging, pregnancy, previous sleep deprivation and sleep quality.
There have been numerous medical studies about the benefits of good sleep.
Research has shown that people who sleep only a few hours of sleep a night over a number of nights don't perform as well on complex mental tasks as people who are well-rested (getting 7+ hours of sleep a night). Studies also show that adults who get less than 7 hours of sleep a night have a higher mortality rate than those sleeping 7-8 hours. So, all in all – sleep is good!
But, what happens when you can't sleep? What can you do? How might acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine help?
The good news is – acupuncture and herbal medicine have been shown to help improve sleep quality:
A 2004 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry showed that acupuncture increased nocturnal melatonin secretion and reduced insomnia and anxiety
A 1999 study in Germany showed that acupuncture improved sleep quality and lessened insomnia
Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using a variety of herbs to help promote good sleep and treat insomnia for thousands of years. Some herbs commonly found in Chinese herbal formulas for insomnia include:
- Suan zao ren – Sour jujube seed
- Fu shen – Poria
- Zhi mu – Anemarrhena rhizome
- Bai zi ren – Arbor vitae seed
- Mu li – Oyster shell
- He huan pi – Mimosa tree bark
It's important to note that a licensed acupuncturist or TCM practitioner will examine the patient's condition and health overall to determine a possible cause of the insomnia, instead of just treating that one symptom. An expert should take into consideration appetite, thirst, mood, tongue color and the quality of the pulse to customize a treatment regimen that is the best fit.
Happy sleeping!
Acupuncture to Treat Hot Flashes (and NOT the Kind Caused by Summer!)Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 by
As women age – gracefully and with awe-inspiring beauty, of course! – two-out-of-three will experience sudden momentary sensations of heat, red, flushed faces and sweating. This is known as the "hot flash" that comes with menopause and it can also bring with it mood swings, rapid heart rate, chills and insomnia. The cause of hot flashes is not known, but they may be related to changes in circulation that occur when a women is experiencing menopause.
While there are hormone replacement therapies and over-the-counter treatments used for menopausal symptoms, there is a growing body of evidence that Traditional Chinese Medicine, including acupuncture, can be extremely effective.
ABC News recently highlighted a medical study that concluded that acupuncture curbed the severity of hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, largely related to mood. The authors of the study based their findings on the experience of 53 post menopausal women whose symptoms were measured on a 5-point scale before and after treatment. One group of 27 women received acupuncture for 20 minutes, twice a week for 10 weeks. The other group thought they were given acupuncture treatment, but the needles didn't actually penetrate the skin. The women who received real acupuncture showed significant drops in the severity of their hot flashes. You can watch news video of the study here.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) effort to educate Americans about the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) also outlines the ways that CAM could help treat the symptoms of menopause. This helpful NIH Fact Sheet talks about how mind and body practices such as yoga, tai chi, qi gong and acupuncture may help reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms.
So, yes, while it's summer and everyone is a bit warmer these days, you don't have to suffer through the hot flashes associated with menopause. Think about Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture as a potential treatment and speak to a licensed acupuncturist to see if it may be an option for you.
If you live in the Philadelphia, PA area, contact Empirical Point Acupuncture to learn more about the conditions acupuncture can treat including hot flash relief.
Battling Eating Disorders: How Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Can HelpMonday, June 3rd, 2013 by
Did you know that in ancient China, eating disorders were considered to be the result of a ghost or demon invading the body? While modern science and medicine have ruled out that root cause, treating an eating disorder is still very much a battle for each patient…one that can be long, arduous and require several different treatment approaches to ultimately triumph.
There are two eating disorders that are most common here in the U.S. – anorexia nervosa (when a patient severely limits food intake) and bulimia nervosa (when a patient binge eats and then purges by inducing vomiting). Both are serious medical conditions that are best treated by psychological counseling and conventional medical treatment and supervision.
Chinese Medicine and acupuncture can also play a role in supporting eating disorder patients and accelerating their recovery. Specifically, there are three types of symptoms or conditions associated with eating disorders for which Chinese Medicine has been shown to be effective:
While an eating disorder has outward physical signs, symptoms and hallmarks, the root of the disease is psychological and driven by the patient's desire to be thin. This unending quest takes a toll on the body, but also on the patient's stress levels and emotional well-being. A recent study showed that eating disorder patients receiving acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment felt less stress and anxiety.
Gastrointestinal Issues
Eating disorder patients that are not on a regular diet or are struggling to return to a healthier eating regimen may be experiencing GI issues associated with their eating habits. This can result in abdominal bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and acid reflux. A review article in the Journal of Gastroenterology concluded that acupuncture was effective in helping treat GI issues and that "in the future, it is anticipated that acupuncture will be used to treat these [GI] patients in addition to the current therapy. This would also significantly reduce the cost of medical treatment."
Because diet and nutrition are literally the fuel for your body's engine, eating disorders negatively impact your overall health by weakening all of the body's systems – cardiac, GI, immune and reproductive. Studies have shown that patients with eating disorders can struggle with infertility later in life. Studies have also shown that Chinese Medicine and acupuncture can be used to effectively treat infertility, as highlighted in this recent WebMD article about "The Ancient Art of Infertility Treatment."
Eating disorders are devastating to the patient, as well as his/her family and loved ones. Thankfully, there is an ever-increasing body of research and conventional and alternative treatments available to help patients conquer this disease.
Acupuncture in Cold & Flu SeasonWednesday, December 12th, 2012 by
Yes, the crisp air is here. Maybe like me, you've felt it the past few mornings as you saw your breath in front of you on a chilly walk to your car. Maybe also like me, you are OK with the colder weather as it means no more hurricanes (at least not this year – I hope you are all doing OK and fared well through the recent storms).
As welcome as this autumn chill may be, it also means that peak cold and flu season is upon us. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that peak flu season is usually between late November and early March. Each year, we all battle it – the kids fight it off at school, you steer clear of handles and germy phones at work…but, nonetheless, between 5% and 20% of Americans will get the flu this year and more than 200,000 will be hospitalized for seasonal flu symptoms.
Many doctors and the CDC recommend that you get a flu vaccine, especially if you are very young, older than 60 or already susceptible to the flu due to any other conditions or illnesses. Many of my patients take this route.
Still, for those that do get a flu vaccination as well as for those that choose not to, Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture can be great ways to keep your immune system strong and hold the seasonal flu at bay.
Here are my tips for using making it through flu season happy and healthy:
Drink plenty of fluids – water is best. Your body needs to stay clean and if there is any virus working its way into your system, flushing it out with plenty of water will help. Also, if you do catch a cold or are battling the flu, staying hydrated will help combat any fever.
Keep moving – this is more a preventative tip, but remember that a healthy body is less likely to succumb to colds and flu. Even if you only walk 20 minutes every day, keeping your body moving and your system in good shape is the best way to stave off illness. (And it's great for stress, muscle tone and weight loss, too!)
Acupuncture can help – rebalancing the body's energy and regulating your Qi will help stimulate the immune system, which can help fight off colds and the flu virus.
Eat (and drink) well – a balanced, healthy diet will keep you body fueled and provide you with critical vitamins and minerals that can protect against colds and flu. Here are some great foods to eat to keep your body strong against the flu:
- Apples are great for the digestion and can also be cooked. They really help to keep the lungs moist.
- Pears help stop coughs and aid the body in the expulsion of phlegm and heat in the lungs.
- Aged tangerine peel in Chinese medicine is known as chen pi and is one of the most commonly used Chinese herbs. It helps expel excess phlegm and mucus, as well as harmonize digestive complains such as nausea and vomiting to prevent illness.
- The inner bark of cinnamon is known as Rou Gui. This commonly used spice is very warming and is effective if your ailment includes a feeling of cold or cold with shivering. I also offer patients ready-made and customized herbal medicines that can be used during flu season to prevent illness.
So, follow these tips to avoid the autumn flu season and stay healthy.
And, enjoy the last few days of this crisp fall air…it will be winter before you know it!
Here are some additional resources that may be interesting and helpful:
DrOz.com article on acupuncture and the flu
AcuFinder.com article about herbal treatments for colds and flu
Livestrong.com article outlines Top 10 Foods to Eat to Avoid the Flu
History of AcupunctureFriday, October 12th, 2012 by
So, you are thinking about trying acupuncture to help improve and maintain your health? Or, perhaps you are a long-time devotee of the approach to balancing your energy and improving your well-being? No? Maybe you are a skeptic?
No matter what your relationship with or thoughts about acupuncture are, I think you may agree that its origins and history are fascinating. I'm often asked by my patients, friends and colleagues and collaborators in the "Western medicine" field about the history of acupuncture. Here is a brief overview.
Most researchers and historians agree that Chinese medicine and acupuncture predate recorded history. In fact, sharpened stones and bones that date from about 6000 BCE have been interpreted as instruments for acupuncture treatment and the philosophy that shapes and drives current acupuncture theory is at least 2,000 years old.
The pivotal texts that reframe and reshape Chinese medicine and acupuncture from a supernatural medicine to cohesive somatic preventative practice were compiled during the Warring States period (475-221 BCE) and the early Han period (206 BCE–220 CE). These are known as the "Huang Di Nei Jing" or "The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine." They have a very conversational style and are written as a series of questions that are posed by the Yellow Emperor to a learned physician named Qi-Bo. They emphasize Daoist philosophy, including yin-yang theory and nature's five element doctrine. The first book is commonly known as the "Su Wen," or "Fundamental Questions" and covers the theoretical foundation of Chinese Medicine and its diagnostic methods. The second book is named "Ling Shu," or "Spiritual Axis/Pivot" and is essentially a detailed acupuncture manual. These texts were revolutionary for the time due to their systemized content. The "Huang Di Nei Jing" departs from the commonly held societal shamanistic beliefs that disease was caused by demonic influences. These "conversations" between the Yellow Emperor and Qi-Bo revolutionized Chinese medicine and laid the foundation of a complete holistic medical system, emphasizing the premise that disease develops due to natural causes of diet, lifestyle, emotions, environment, and age.
Throughout the history of China, acupuncture and herbal medicine continued to advance and develop into a nuanced medicine. The Tai Ping, Imperial Academy, was very instrumental to this process. The Imperial physicians were often the "cream of the crop" physicians and scholars in Chinese medicine. They created criteria for excellence in medicine by developing detailed models for disease transmission, treatment and prognosis. Depending on the historical period, often societal and social constructs made their way into the medicine. Confucianism and moves back to renewed interest in mysticism often show up in the recorded medicine of the time.
Chinese medicine and acupuncture in the modern era was again morphing in the 1950's. Chairman Mao declared that Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine would be united and acupuncture became widely available in all hospitals. "Barefoot Doctors' were also trained in a very elementary manner to employ the use of Chinese medicine and acupuncture so that some form of healthcare could be deployed to meet the challenges of the rural populations. At this point in history, only 2% of China's population lived in cities.
Acupuncture made its way to the U.S. in the early 1970s. In 1971, New York Times reporter James Reston was treated with acupuncture during a visit to Beijing and wrote an article about how it helped treat post-operative pain. The following year, the first legal acupuncture center in the U.S. opened in Washington, D.C. and in 1973, the IRS allowed taxpayers to take acupuncture treatments as a medical expense deduction.
Now, nearly 40 years later, acupuncture has become more mainstream and is rapidly growing in use and acceptance. Building on its thousands of years of history and practice, acupuncture is continuing to impact patients' health and overall well being.
Sources and more interesting information:
The Olympics and Acupuncture!Sunday, August 12th, 2012 by
If you're like me, you've been watching the athletes in London go for gold and wow us with their amazing speed, strength and grace. When I watch, though, I must admit that I take a special interest in the athletes' training regimens, the way they treat an injury or favor a sprain…I'm interested in how they take care of their greatest athletic resource – their bodies.
In reading about this year's Olympic athletes, I've found that many of them are using traditional Chinese medicine and, specifically, acupuncture to prepare, train and compete. Athletes from all over the world – the US, Japan, China, Australia, the UK and South Korea – are all employing TCM and acupuncture at the Games.
The Japanese triathlon team swears by it and an interesting article in The Examiner gives even more insight into their approach:
"If an athlete feels pain, we use acupuncture as first aid," explains Minoru Yajima, medical advisor and physiotherapist for Japan's Triathlon team. Most of Team Japan's medal winning medical strategy is preventative and based on a time tested Japanese tradition – shiatsu massage.
USA's own wonder vaulter McKayla Maroney has been using it to treat a broken toe, according to NPR:
Since that dismount [injury], Maroney has reduced her training to ice the injury and undergo electronic stimulation and acupuncture therapy, to speed healing.
Numerous track and field athletes have traveled to the Olympics with their acupuncturists, including US runner Dee Dee Trotter. US pole vaulter Jeremy Scott uses acupuncture in his treatment regimen for a knee injury and track and field competitor Amy Acuff is not only a five-time Olympian, but a licensed acupuncturist herself! She has attributed some of her long-term success in the strenuous, high injury sport to acupuncture.
Also, the South Korean athletes use it almost exclusively for pains, strains and muscle injuries. Athletes on their volleyball and handball teams use acupuncture to recover rapidly from injuries and the athletes have said that it helps boost their performance, as well.
Now, I know that we are not all Olympic athletes and we may not be making it to the next summer games in Rio de Janeiro (as competitors, anyway), but it is interesting to see the world's elite sportsmen and women employing more and more traditional Chinese medicine treatments and acupuncture. If this trend continues, I expect that I will be working with an even greater number of local athletes, runners, cyclists and even just 'weekend warriors' in the years to come.
Long live (healthy) sport!


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Graham Geraghty - makes Sigerson Cup debut next Tuesday.
Tuesday next 4th February will see Graham Geraghty make his Sigerson Cup Debut for IT Blanchardstown at the tender age of 40! Geraghty will be lined out in the full forward position for ITB who are also making their debut in the competition after winning the Trench Cup and Division 2 double last year. NUI Maynooth will be the opposition with household names such as footballer of the year Michael Darragh McCauley, Dublin senior player Eric Lowndes, whose mother is Imelda Maguire from Kilmessan, and All-Ireland winner Patrick McBrearty. Throw-in is at 3pm on ITB's new grass pitch on-campus.
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subset: commoncrawl


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- The Big Picture - http://www.ritholtz.com/blog -
More on Family Net Wealth at an all time high
Posted By Barry Ritholtz On March 10, 2004 @ 11:57 am In Finance | Comments Disabled
In our prior discussion [1] of Family Net Wealth being at an all time high, we challenged the significance of that assertion within the framework of ultra low interest rates.
Now, a reader sends in this graphic from the prolific offices of Ned Davis Research: [2]
Falling Household Compensation/Rising Household Debt
click for larger chart
Obviously, net wealth — as a function of home ownership/low interest rates — takes on a very different light when considering Total Household Compensation as a % of GDP, and Household Debt as a % of net worth . . .
Household Compensation is at a 38 year low relative to GDP. That's back to levels not seen since 1966. Household Debt as a % of net worth is simply off the hook. Its at the highest its been in the post War period (that's post WWII). There were modest improvements from 1980-84, and from 1994 – 2000. Since then, its been nearly vertical.
By the way, I just started reading Ned Davis' book, "The Triumph of Contrarian Investing : Crowds, Manias, and Beating the Market by Going Against the Grain [4]" — its very good, and has an excellent overview on the entire subject.
Article printed from The Big Picture: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog
URL to article: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2004/03/more-on-family-net-wealth-at-an-all-time-high/
URLs in this post:
[1] prior discussion: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2004/03/kc_post_mortem.html
[2] Ned Davis Research:: http://www.ndr.com/clients/index.jsp
[3] Image: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/household_comp_debt.html
[4] The Triumph of Contrarian Investing : Crowds, Manias, and Beating the Market by Going Against the Grain: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/007143240X/ref=ase_thebigpictu09-20/102-4529470-0078540?v=glance&s=books
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2008 The Big Picture. All rights reserved.


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Get your hands on VIP Tickets to London Fashion Week
Make sure you pencil this into your diary for 2009; London Fashion Week's covetable VIP programme. The event, which runs from Saturday 21st to Sunday 22nd February, puts you right where the action is; with seats in a catwalk show, talks by industry insiders, a champagne reception and the enviable opportunity to view over 200 designers at The Exhibition @ London Fashion Week. With tickets on sale now and guaranteed to sell like hotcakes, don't delay! Tickets, £250 per person, contact Kate Price at firstname.lastname@example.com, 020 8614 769


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- Filed Under
In early March, Satellite Beach City Councilman Bill Higginson received an ovation and a congratulatory cake from his City Hall colleagues that read, "Happy 85th Birthday To An American Hero From Our Greatest Generation."
Tuesday morning, Higginson lost his battle with cancer. City Manager Michael Crotty said he will be remembered as a World War II veteran renowned for his patriotism and devotion to the city.
"Sixty-seven years ago, as we speak, he was fighting the Battle of Okinawa as an 18-year-old Marine. In all the recent physical challenges and health issues he faced, there was no quit ...


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Tom Branna, Editorial Director
April 5, 2011
Back in the 1970s, after a tough day in the third grade (if you had Mrs. Swillinger you'd know what I mean) I would come home to the familiar scene of my mother doing laundry, ironing clothes, washing the floor—her list of chores was endl… Read More »


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Exploration of the Significance of Cloud Computing in Managing Big Data
In the present business environment, clusters of servers are required to support the tools that process the varied formats, high velocity and large volumes of big data. For big data management, IT companies are increasingly looking to implement the cloud computing as the basic infrastructure. In this context, this paper ...Download Now
Building Scalable Networks on the Cloud Based on Network Storage Virtualization Secure Model (NVSM)
In this paper, the authors provide a literature review of the cloud computing trends and its advantages and how they can be effectively utilized to provide a cost effective and secure storage model. This paper is a demonstration of how scalability and high performance are achieved through cloud computing and ...Download Now
Accuracy of Estimating Project Costs and Benefits: An Overview of Research in Information Systems
Estimating information systems project costs and benefits is a challenging endeavor and is notoriously prone to uncertainties and errors. This paper is to review research publications on quantitative estimating accuracy of costs and benefits (financial returns). The importance of the problem is due to the wide use of cost and ...Download Now
Threat in Cloud- Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack, and Security Measures
Cloud computing is a technology which has witnessed spread after using widely the Internet and the big brand companies has introduced this type of industry, which is a pioneer technology in delivering services over the Internet to more efficiently and lowest cost for enterprises. However, there are challenges that face ...Download Now
Data Confidentiality and Integrity in Mobile Cloud Computing
Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) is a technology that allows mobile users to access data and applications by using mobile devices. The major challenge that faces MCC is how to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the user's files/data. This paper proposes a framework that consists of three components, including the ...Download Now
A Survey on Approaches of Data Confidentiality and Integrity Models in Cloud Computing Systems
Cloud computing is a technology that uses the Internet and central remote servers to access data and applications. Due to its public availability, the major challenge that faces cloud computing is how to secure, protect and process the data of the user. In this paper, the authors investigate different models ...Download Now
A Study of Secure Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks
Wireless sensor networks are usually deployed in inhospitable environments in order to accomplish a specific mission. As a result, these networks are subject to various numbers of attacks and threats. Therefore, security should be a major aspect that must be taken into account when designing routing protocols for wireless sensor ...Download Now
Performance Analysis of WiMAX Networks: A Survey
The IEEE 802.16 standard is one of the promising technologies that provide broadband wireless access for the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Several performance analysis techniques exist for performance evaluation of this network. Simulation is one of the most widely used in both academia and Industry. Different simulation tools are available ...Download Now
Applying IWD Algorithm for Discrete Time, Cost and Quality Trade - Off in Software Projects with Expressing Quality by Defects
In this paper, the authors adapts Intelligent Water Drops (IWDs) algorithm to solve the Discrete Time-Cost-Quality Trade-off Problem (DTCQTP) in software projects which is never solved before by this algorithm. Project manager's goal is getting an optimal allocation of time, cost and quality of each task/activity in the software project ...Download Now
Method of Fault Data Analysis of Sensor Node based on Wireless Data Communication Protocols
In general, sensor node system of wireless communication is configured by measuring the status of the facilities. For example, due to pressure, loads and stresses acting on road facilities upon the external environment, structural deformation of the facility may be generated. Structural deformation leads to the accident of the ground ...Download Now
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NYCC'12 Black Cat-B I by zer0guardWatch
©2012-2015 zer0guard
awesome cosplay. absolutely love this one.
Wonderful looking Black Cat
Thats Me actually Names Jessica Caitlin Foley my email is firstname.lastname@example.com and Im on FB you took an awesome photo may I have a copy?
So tres sexi xxxx Fav character xxxxxx


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In all fairness, the conservatives have always said that judges are legislating, and they should not. I suppose when the Supreme Court makes an interpretation, which is their job, of what the Constitution says, and whether a state or city law, or a federal law is compliant with the Constitution, you can argue that they're legislating, but not in the activist sense that we're talking about here.
It's not a judge's job to go and to run these city agencies. And we've gone from none to now every judge--not every judge, but some judges think they can get in and run the city. It cannot end well. Now how you stop it, I don't know, because the separation of one branch or another. But the public has got to step back and say, 'Wait a second, there's something really wrong here.' It's not the job of judges to run agencies. It's their job to interpret the law and find somebody guilty, or impose a penalty or whatever the case may be, but not to tell you how to run the agency. And they don't have the competency to do it.
There's the judge [who ruled on] Stop-and-frisk. What does she know about policing? Absolutely zero. Your safety and the safety of your kids is now in the hands of some woman who does not have the expertise to do it.
And yet we have a police commissioner, which I would argue, he's the best the city's ever had, certainly modern day. We've had some other good commissioners: Bratton was good, Safir was good. My bet is with Ray Kelly because that's the person I know the most and I've watched the most, and when I picked him he had international experience, he had military experience, he had Washington experience, and he had New York City police department experience, and he knew the communities. He was the perfect fit for all these things.
Five percent of our population lives in NYCHA housing, 20 percent of the crime is in NYCHA housing – numbers like that. And we've just got to find some way to keep bringing crime down there. And we have a whole group of police officers assigned to NYCHA housing. The people that live there, most of them, want more police protection. They want more people. If you have strangers walking in the halls of your apartment building, don't you want somebody to stop and say, 'Who are you, why are you here?'
What we really should have is fingerprinting to get in, since there's an allegation that some of the apartments aren't occupied by the people who originally have the lease.


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From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Check my user id in Italian wikipedia: Sailko or in English wikipedia: Sailko
|Find me on Facebook
(read here to the left before).
- Do not privately ask me for pictures at a higher resolution: I ALWAYS upload on Commons at the highest resolution I have. Thank you.
- {{Supported by Wikimedia CH|catname=Images by Sailko - Supported by Wikimedia CH}}
- Commons helper my favourite tool
- Wizard
- Personal category
- Personal gallery of places
- Stats
- My contributions to all Wikimedia projects
Own work[edit]
{{Information |Description= {{subst:PAGENAME}} |Source={{own}} |Date=see metadata |Author=[[user:sailko|sailko]] |Permission={{self|GFDL|Cc-by-sa-3.0|author=I, [[User:Sailko|Sailko]]}} |other_versions=see category }} {{Supported by Wikimedia CH|catname=Images by Sailko - Supported by Wikimedia CH}} [[Category:]] [[Category:Photographs by User:Sailko]]
{{Information |Description={{subst:PAGENAME}} |Source=scan |Date= |Author= see filename or category |Permission={{PD-Art|PD-old-100}} |other_versions= }} [[Category:]]
From Flickr[edit]
{{flickr |title={{subst:PAGENAME}} |description= see above |photographer=gaspa |photographer_url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspa/ |flickr_url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaspa/1418700124/ |taken= |reviewer=sailko }} {{cc-by-sa-2.0}}{{flickrreview}} [[Category:]]
Favourite details[edit]
|The Photographer's Barnstar
|Bellissime foto, thank you for sharing! A.bartolinibaldelli (talk) 08:49, 6 March 2015 (UTC)
|The Teamwork Barnstar
|Grazie da Avezzano Marica Massaro (talk) 20:54, 19 March 2015 (UTC)


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GTA V Announced
View Single Post
September 18 2013, 06:03 AM
Rear Admiral
Re: GTA V Announced
My only complaint so far: I understand you're not supposed to install the "play" disc, except I'm running an older 360. With the active disc not installed, the thing sounds vaguely like a passenger jet taking off in my living room. Is there anything to be done about this, or am I SOL for not buying a newer version of the same console I already own?
Apart from that, it's great so far. I played the first few story missions, then took off to do some sight seeing. I decided to hold up a 7/11 on a whim. In retrospect, an ambulance might not have been the best choice of getaway vehicles.
Speaking of vehicles, they seem a little sturdier this time around. In IV it sometimes seemed like a violent enough sneeze would set them on fire.
View Public Profile
Send a private message to -Brett-
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text: babydollThreads: 8Posts: 50Author: Teri Jordin May 11, 2008 #1I need feedback along with grammar check in sentence structure. Thank you in advance.AssignmentTopic: The topic should be derived from the Giver. You will develop an argument on some modern application of a theme in the book and back up your argument with research. I must approve your choice before you begin so that you do not pick too broad an issue or one that is inappropriate for this assignment. I also do not want duplications of topics. You will also in the paper relate the topic to the Giver.She approve my thesis to beAdoptive parents should be required to inform children that they're not their biological parent, adopted children should be allowed access to their biological parents if should they be available and willing.Type: You must write a thesis paper. That is, you may not present a mere report (apaper simply summarizing your research). You must take a side on an issue and develop an argument. For example, do not write all about euthanasia. Tell the reader whether you are for or against euthenasia and why. Your voice should be primary, supported by your research. The Argumentation section in Rules for Writer summarizes the important elements of argument that we have covered in class.Length: The minimum length of your paper should be 1600 words. Shorter papers will be penalized. You will find that that is hardly long enough to address most of the pro and con elements of your argument.Adoption// removed //


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NADA to hold convention in Las Vegas every other year
The National Automobile Dealers Association it will hold its annual convention in Las Vegas every other year through 2022, the association said Friday.
What dealers can do in good times to prepare for the bad
Subaru: Invest in stores, take care of customers
A San Francisco treat
Lincoln is looking for elusive sales repeat
Buick-GMC planting seeds for market-share growth
Ford goes after share, profits with an F series
Hyundai has 'concrete' growth plan
Chevy looks to end market share slide
Infiniti puts focus on marketing, profitability
VW execs confirm U.S. sales goal but soften on deadline
Mitsubishi promises U.S. marketing support
BMW will keep improving buyer satisfaction
Subaru execs want to increase U.S. throughput, not dealer total
Acura: Redesigns and leasing to lift volume
M-B pushes dealers to lift customer experience
U.S. Porsche execs eager to get more Macans to dealers
Volvo dealers will get product details in March
Mazda's message: Service is profit key
Mini optimistic for a sales rebound in 2015
Kia restructures as No. 2 sales exec departs
Honda: New trucks will boost sales
Nissan wants to grow brand, customer satisfaction
'Off script,' Caddy boss clears the air
Toyota: 3 brands' 2015 U.S. sales to top 2.4 million
FCA US: Retail sales to rise 10%
Audi bullish about another record year
Soros is ready to move on auto dealerships
Porsche works to deliver more Macans to U.S. dealerships
Mitsubishi, Renault-Nissan midsize sedan project stalls
GM eager to squeeze more out of BDCs
Hyundai plans incentives, run-out packages for Elantra
Toyota sees sales boost from trucks, Tacoma
Dealership group invests for 'nice, exciting, fun' stores
George Soros' Wall Street fund shops for dealership groups
At Kia, the No. 2 sales exec for U.S. is out
Mercedes to send U.S. dealers greater share of global output
Quick question
Volvo dealers embrace U.S. management shift
Buick, GMC, riding truck wave, aim for more share gain
Getting creative to get noticed at NADA
VW dealers welcome profit-focused message
Honda bets on redesigned trucks to boost U.S. sales
Reputation.com managing online reputation for Ford dealers
Honda expects new HR-V compact crossover to help spur sales
GM and Ally compete to grow F&I
BMW modernizes operations as sales rise
Michelle Primm of Cascade Auto Group named Woman of the Year
NADA offers a dealers' guide to federal advertising rules
Quick question


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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: School district board room
STUDENT BOARD: Interviews for student board members will be held, and the board will approve these members following interviews.
REPORTS: Superintendent Bill Jordan and Principal Jodi Thew will present reports. Erik Young will give a legislative report.
RESIGNATION: Board member Ada Gonzelez-Hernandez has submitted a letter of resignation, which will be considered at the meeting.


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Three Days of Plantation Life
[ February, 1839]
Dear E[lizabeth],
Today I have the pleasure of announcing to you a variety of improvements about to be made in the infirmary of the island. There is to be a third story--a mere loft, indeed--added to the building; but, by affording more room for the least distressing cases of sickness to be drafted off into, it will leave the ground floor and room above it comparatively free for the most miserable of these unfortunates. To my unspeakable satisfaction, these destitute apartments are to be furnished with bedsteads, mattresses, pillows, and blankets; and I feel a little comforted for the many heartaches my life here inflicts upon me--at least some of my twinges will have wrought this poor alleviation of their wretchedness for the slaves when prostrated by disease or pain.
I had hardly time to return home from the hospital this morning before one of the most tremendous storms I ever saw burst over the island. Your Northern hills, with their solemn pinewoods, and fresh streams and lakes, telling of a cold rather than a warm climate, always seem to me as if undergoing some strange and unnatural visitation when one of your heavy summer thunderstorms bursts over them. Snow and frost, hail and, above all, wind, trailing


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SIMSBURY — Although investigators this week once again searched the area where an insurance executive was fatally stabbed while out for a run, it doesn't appear a suspect is any closer to being caught on the one-year anniversary of the crime.
Simsbury continues to reel from the murder of 54-year-old Melissa Millan exactly a year ago on the popular Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. The senior vice president of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. was found stabbed in the chest on Nov. 20, 2014, police said.
No arrests have been made.
In nearby Peaberry's Café Thursday morning, Simsbury resident Gail Musson said she no longer uses the trail, which used to be...


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This paper reports on performances enhancement of photoconductive switches in term of On/Off ratio and insertion losses. The optimization parameters on which the research has been focused are gap dimensions reduction to nanometer scale. The device characterization results up to a microwave frequency of 40 GHz and under CW illumination at a wavelength of 800 nm are presented. On/Off ratio reveals a value of 13 dB at 20 GHz under 100 mW optical power.
A not-for-profit organization, IEEE is the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology.© Copyright 2015 IEEE - All rights reserved. Use of this web site signifies your agreement to the terms and conditions.


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Category: Firefox
Weekly Browsers Recap, Feb 22nd
- The Multi-Principal OS Construction of the Gazelle Web Browser
- The browser war is back – expect user casualties
- Hackers Targeting IE 7 After Security Patch Issued
- Security expert says Microsoft should cut IE's links to Windows
- Windows Mobile gets Webkit browser
- Only 7 percent of active Firefox browsers running on Macs?
- Opera Mobile 9.5 … with Google Gears
- Sync Your Camino Profile Via Dropbox
Hack Web Browser, 2009
A new Pwn2Own hack contest which should begin in the middle of the March 2009 is set to test Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, Safari and Opera web browsers running on Windows 7 Beta or RC.
Unlike previous year competition, where "white hackers" tried to hack computer operating systems (Mac OS was hacked first), this year it will focus on web browsers and mobile operating systems (Android, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile, RIM).
More details should be announced within the upcoming weeks.
10 + Essential Web Browsing Shortcuts
If you are that kind of person who just loves to squeeze the maximum of your browsing experience, then this topic is for you.
Have you ever thought about your time spent during certain tasks while using web browser? For example: right mouse click > save image, clicking on new tab icons, etc.
Well, wonder no more. We have a list of the most useful keyboard shortcuts which will drastically improve your browsing experience. Continue Reading
Windows vs. Linux (Firefox, Firefox Wine and Opera)
If you ever wondered about the performance differences between Windows and Linux Firefox versions while surfing the net, then wonder no more. Tux Radar has tested Firefox on Windows and Linux (original Firefox + Firefox Wine (Wine allows you to run Windows applications on Linux) to see how they compete.
Tested with Firefox 3.06 on Windows XP SP3 (x86) and Fedora 10 (x86). Continue Reading
Weekly Browsers Recap, Feb 16th
- Outlook Live for IE, Firefox and Safari
- Foxmarks synchronizes IE, Safari, Firefox bookmarks
- Android exploit so dangerous, users warned to avoid phone's web browser
- Why Google's Software Update Tool Is Evil
- Firefox: 55 Add-Ons To Increase Your Security And Privacy
- 7 ways to optimize Firefox 3 for a better browsing experience on your netbook
- Firefox Mobile On HTC Touch Pro
- Mobile Browser Wars
Moonlight 1.0 Released
Just a few days ago, Moonlight, the open source GNU/Linux and Unix framework that plays video and applications made on Silverlight has been released.
The way to install Moonlight is by a Firefox addon. It works on 32 and 64 bit operating systems. However, the following release is not compatible with Silverlight 2 yet.
Twitlet: The Way to Twit in Any Browser
To get it to work, click the create button, then type your Twitter user name and password then create. Now just drag the link to you bookmarks toolbar and you are ready to go.
It also supports posting which web page you are visiting, you only need to put #this or #link to the update textbox.
Via DownloadSquad.com
Firefox is Not So Secure (Jeff Jones, Microsoft)
Once again, Microsoft's security evangelist Jeff Jones has tried to substantiate his proposition that Internet Explorer is at least as secure as Firefox. However, the Washington Post's Brian Krebs has clarified that the figures Jones used for making the comparison, are misleading.
Continue reading at Heise Online
Thanks again to Mabdul for sending this.
Small Dot in Google Search Bugs Firefox 3 Users
There appears to be a discussion on Google Help regarding small dots appearing in Google search results near the "Previous" and "Next" buttons. So far, those dots seem to appear only for Firefox 3 users. Continue Reading
Fennec Milestone for Windows Mobile Released
The very first public milestone of Fennec (Firefox Mobile) for Windows Mobile has been released.
Brad explains installation process:
You can install this on your HTC Touch Pro by navigating to the cab installer with your existing browser. This will download the cab file and kick off the installation process. Continue Reading


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SANTA FE >> A budget proposal pending before a House committee will provide $110 million to raise salaries of public employees and the state's top elected officials, including the governor.
The Appropriations and Finance Committee is expected to vote on a $6 billion budget package on Thursday that includes 3 percent across-the-board salary increases for state agency workers, teachers and other educational employees.
The committee also proposes higher raises for certain government jobs — 8 percent for judges and district attorneys, 6 percent for prison guards, juvenile justice officers, social workers and educational assistants in schools.
Also included is money to boost the salaries of the governor and other statewide elected officials by 10 percent next year.
A spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez said Tuesday the governor opposes a raise for elected officials.


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So I'm a noob at this and I tried to root my phone.
Got the Android unified toolkit from here:
And followed wwjoshdew's video here:
I picked the Allinone root option on the toolkit and proceeded. At the next step, when my phone entered download mode, it said I need to flash the recovery, recommended TWRP. But in the video, josh directly opens the root folder on odin and starts that. I did what josh did and that completed successfully. But when my device rebooted, on the toolkit, it said could not find recovery and I should try again. And there is no supersu on my phone either.
What have I done wrong? Do I need to flash the recovery before rooting?
Thanks in advance.


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Financial News StoriesExcerpts of Key Financial News Stories in Major Media
Note: This comprehensive list of banking and finance news stories is usually updated once a week. Explore our full index to revealing excerpts of key major media news stories on several dozen engaging topics. And don't miss amazing excerpts from 20 of the most revealing news articles ever published.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the champion of Main Street versus Wall Street, just got another boost to the presidential campaign she said she isn't running. It lies in the $13 billion deal that JP Morgan Chase reached with the US Justice Department. The settlement, which ends the government's probe into the bank's risky mortgage business, reportedly represents the largest amount a single company has ever committed to pay Uncle Sam. That's significant — but so is the bank's unusual admission that it failed to disclose the risks of buying its mortgage securities. Warren was a force in both aspects of JP Morgan's day of reckoning. After the economic collapse of 2008 — and before her election as senator — Warren led the charge for Wall Street accountability while overseeing the government response to the banking crisis. As senator from Massachusetts, she ... isn't shy about acknowledging her role in achieving them. In September, Warren [said] that her lobbying of Mary Jo White, the newly installed chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, played a key role in getting government regulators to require more companies to admit wrongdoing, not just pay fines — which is what happened in JP Morgan's case. The JP Morgan headlines play out as the stock market surges and unemployment ticks up. The gap between America's rich and poor is growing bigger. The divide creates an opening for a Democrat who speaks to the shrinking middle class, as well as to those already squeezed out of it. Warren could be that candidate, if she chooses.
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
Pope Francis's crusade against corruption has made him a target for Italy's all-powerful mafia clans, a leading anti-mob prosecutor has warned. Nicola Gratteri, who has battled Calabria's shadowy 'Ndrangheta mafia, said [that] Francis's attempt to bring transparency to the Vatican was making the white collar mobsters who do business with corrupt prelates "nervous and agitated". He told the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano: "Pope Francis is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican. If the bosses could trip him up they wouldn't hesitate. I don't know if organised criminals are in a position to do something, but they are certainly thinking about it. They could be dangerous." Francis, who has called for "a poor church", has backed reform at the Vatican's bank, which has been suspected for years of being a channel for the laundering of mob profits. This week police impounded a luxury hotel on Rome's Janiculum hill – formerly a monastery – which the 'Ndrangheta allegedly purchased from a religious order. "The mafia that invests, that launders money, that therefore has the real power, is the mafia which has got rich for years from its connivance with the church," said Gratteri. "Priests continuously visit the houses of bosses for coffee, which gives the bosses strength and popular legitimacy," he said. A bishop in Locri in Calabria had excommunicated mobsters after they damaged fruit trees owned by the church, he said. "But before that episode, the bosses had killed thousands of people" without being sanctioned, he added.
Note: For more on secret societies, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
When the fires from the 2007-08 financial crisis were still being fought, JPMorgan Chase looked like a winner. Not only was JPMorgan Chase able to scoop up former rivals Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns for bargain basement prices, but its stock value shot up by nearly 31 percent over the past 4 1/2 years. But this year has been a little less kind to JPMorgan Chase. On [November 20) JPMorgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion settlement with the federal government over selling toxic mortgage investments. It also admitted to wrongdoing in knowingly peddling the instruments. Both settlements are for the "incomplete information" JPMorgan Chase gave to the pension funds for their purchases of toxic securities during the years 2004 to 2008. Even for a colossus such as JPMorgan Chase, $13 billion is a lot of money - about half of its annual profit. Forcing JPMorgan to admit wrongdoing - a rare concession - may open the door to more headaches for the company, especially because the government is continuing a criminal probe into its mortgage prices. The scale of the devastation is still so enormous that the only question left for the Justice Department to answer is why no one from any of the big banks has yet to go to jail. Wall Street's wrongdoing was about more than a dollar cost - it was about the widespread human suffering that remains with us today. Jail time would be more than appropriate, but so far the banks have been able to pay their way out of it.
Note: Because JP Morgan Chase can write off $11 billion of the fine as tax deductible, the real fine is actually reduced by $4 billion to about $7 billion, just one-third of Chase's $21 billion profit in the year 2012. For more on financial fraud, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
I can only say: I'm sorry, America. As a former Federal Reserve official, I was responsible for executing the centerpiece program of the Fed's first plunge into the bond-buying experiment known as quantitative easing. The central bank continues to spin QE as a tool for helping Main Street. But I've come to recognize the program for what it really is: the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time. Where are we today? The Fed keeps buying roughly $85 billion in bonds a month, chronically delaying so much as a minor QE taper. Over five years, its bond purchases have come to more than $4 trillion. Amazingly, in a supposedly free-market nation, QE has become the largest financial-markets intervention by any government in world history. And the impact? Even by the Fed's sunniest calculations, aggressive QE over five years has generated only a few percentage points of U.S. growth. By contrast, experts outside the Fed, such as Mohammed El Erian at the Pimco investment firm, suggest that the Fed may have created and spent over $4 trillion for a total return of as little as 0.25% of GDP (i.e., a mere $40 billion bump in U.S. economic output). Both of those estimates indicate that QE isn't really working. Unless you're Wall Street. Having racked up hundreds of billions of dollars in opaque Fed subsidies, U.S. banks have seen their collective stock price triple since March 2009. The biggest ones have only become more of a cartel: 0.2% of them now control more than 70% of the U.S. bank assets. As for the rest of America, good luck.
Note: For more on government corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the political system is still "rigged" by lobbyists and special interests who work to keep the public "in the dark." "I've been in the Senate for nearly a year and believe as strongly as ever that the system is rigged for powerful interests and against working families," Warren said. Warren, a critic of Wall Street, rose to prominence by highlighting "tricks and traps" of credit-card disclosures and creating [the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)] as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Warren said despite progress by the consumer bureau and confirmation of its director after a two-year delay, lobbyists for the financial industry continue to fight it and consumer groups shouldn't let down their guard. "We all know that the fight isn't over and that the lobbyists are still working to undercut the agency's work," Warren said. She compared the CFPB to government agencies that test the safety of physical products like cribs and paint, and said the bureau's work on the safety of financial products will become just as valued by the public. "You tell me: When was the last time you heard someone call for regulators to go easier on companies that want to use lead paint on our children's toys or leave the safety switches off toasters?" Warren asked. "The CFPB was designed from the very beginning to cut out tricks and traps in consumer finance and add transparency to the marketplace."
Note: For an excellent video showing the courage and forthrightness of Elizabeth Warren, click here. For more on government corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
The question in the background of Noam Scheiber's exploration of whether Elizabeth Warren could challenge Hillary Clinton in 2016 is whether, come 2015, Democrats will care very much about cracking down harder on Wall Street. An issue-based challenger needs two things to pose a serious threat to a front-runner. One is an issue that differentiates them from the front-runner. The other is for that issue to be foremost in the minds of voters. Scheiber points out that Warren's background isn't just Wall Street reform. It's protecting the middle class. The Two-Income Trap was a seminal book in defining the mounting pressures on working Americans. And Warren has long tried to protect that dimension of her work from being eclipsed by her unexpected turn as a finreg rockstar. But concern for the middle class doesn't, by and large, differentiate her from Clinton. Clinton, like Warren, believes in higher taxes on the rich and universal health care and higher-education costs and universal pre-k and so on. The danger for Clinton is if Warren is able to persuade Democrats that cracking down on Wall Street reform is the key to helping the middle class or -- perhaps more plausibly -- opposing inequality. On a policy level, that's a harder case to make. But on an emotional, who's-on-your-side level, it might work.
Note: For an excellent video showing the courage and forthrightness of Elizabeth Warren, click here. For more on government corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
A group of Occupy Wall Street activists has bought almost $15m of Americans' personal debt over the last year as part of the Rolling Jubilee project to help people pay off their outstanding credit. Rolling Jubilee, set up by Occupy's Strike Debt group following the street protests that swept the world in 2011, launched on 15 November 2012. The group purchases personal debt cheaply from banks before "abolishing" it, freeing individuals from their bills. By purchasing the debt at knockdown prices the group has managed to free $14,734,569.87 of personal debt, mainly medical debt, spending only $400,000. "We thought that the ratio would be about 20 to 1," said Andrew Ross, a member of Strike Debt and professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University. "In fact we've been able to buy debt a lot more cheaply than that." The Rolling Jubilee project was mostly conceived as a "public education project", Ross said. "Our purpose in doing this, aside from helping some people along the way – there's certainly many, many people who are very thankful that their debts are abolished – our primary purpose was to spread information about the workings of this secondary debt market." The group has ... acquired the $14.7m in three separate purchases, most recently purchasing the value of $13.5m on medical debt owed by 2,693 people across 45 states and Puerto Rico, Rolling Jubilee said in a press release. "No one should have to go into debt or bankruptcy because they get sick," said Laura Hanna, an organiser with the group. Hanna said 62% of all personal bankruptcies have medical debt as a contributing factor.
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said [that] any effort to reduce the threat to financial stability posed by massive financial firms also must include compelling banking executives to have more respect for the law and the broader impact on society of their actions. "There is evidence of deep-seated cultural and ethical failures at many large financial institutions," Mr. Dudley said. "Whether this is due to size and complexity, bad incentives or some other issues is difficult to judge, but it is another critical problem that needs to be addressed" as regulators seek to deal with the problem of banks that are considered too big to fail, the official said. Mr. Dudley [added] that "ending too big to fail and shifting the emphasis to longer-term sustainability will encourage the needed cultural shift necessary to restore public trust in the industry." His comments on banking issues come in the wake of last week's decision by the Fed to stay the course on its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program. Mr. Dudley has been a steadfast supporter of the aggressively easy-money policies pursued by the central bank.
Note: For more on the banking bailout, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
Rabobank Groep, the co-operative formed in 1898 to lend to Dutch farmers, was fined 774 million euros ($1.1 billion) and the chairman resigned as the scandal over the rigging of benchmark interest rates ensnared a fifth firm. The Utrecht, Netherlands-based lender entered into an agreement with the Justice Department to accept responsibility for manipulation of Libor and Euribor to avoid prosecution. The fines are the largest-ever against the bank and second-largest over manipulation of the London interbank offered rate. Global investigations into banks' attempts to manipulate the benchmarks for profit have led to fines and settlements for Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and ICAP. Rabobank derivatives and money-market traders influenced the lender's submissions to benefit their positions linked to Libor and conspired with employees of other banks to rig rates from May 2005 to January 2011. More than 500 attempts were made by Rabobank to manipulate Libor, according to the regulator. Thirty current and former employees of the Dutch lender were involved, Rabobank executive board member Sipko Schat said today. Five of them were fired, he said, while 14 are still working for the bank. The lender is also clawing back 4.2 million euros in bonuses, Rabobank said in a statement. The manipulation "directly affected the rates referenced by financial products held by and on behalf of companies and investors around the world," Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington field office, said in a statement.
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
"The Hustle." That's the name of a program run by Countrywide, the slimy subprime lender purchased by Bank of America in 2008. Under the program, Countrywide brokers were paid bonuses to originate loans, firing them off to borrowers with less than stellar credit in an attempt to gin up quick profits. The loans were then sold to government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, where they often went sour. This sounds like a fairly typical tale from the financial crisis: Most of the nation's largest banks have, in one way or another, been accused of formulating sloppy loans and dumping them off on the taxpayer or of selling toxic mortgage securities to unwitting customers. But there's a new twist to the old story: Yesterday, a jury found Bank of America guilty of fraud, the first time that a major U.S. bank has been held responsible by a U.S. court for actions tied to the financial crisis. The jury also held a former Countrywide manager liable for fraud. That we're still wondering whether the banks will face any consequences for their actions more than five years after the financial crisis began in earnest is a pretty damning indictment of the Obama administration's approach to the matter. Can lawmakers summon the will to actually take on Wall Street or are a few good headlines from DOJ all we can hope for? The Dodd-Frank financial reform law was a good opening effort and, despite its imperfections, will make some difference in reining Wall Street. But there is still a lot that the law either left unaddressed or up to the interpretation of regulators who are bombarded by missives from Wall Street lobbyists.
Note: For more on the collusion of big banks and banking regulators, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
[Banks] have rigged LIBOR, an interest rate used to peg contracts worth trillions. Its equivalent in the world of derivatives, ISDAfix, has also come under question. Commodities prices from crude oil to platinum have been the subject of allegations and inquiries. Now prices in global currency markets, where turnover is $5 trillion a day, are being scrutinised by authorities, who suspect bankers have tampered with those too. Switzerland's financial watchdog announced on October 4th that it was investigating a slew of banks it thinks have manipulated currencies. Britain and the European Union also have probes under way. Concerns reportedly centre around abnormal movements ahead of a widely-used daily snapshot of exchange rates, known as the 4pm "London fix". It represents the average of prices agreed during 60 seconds' trading, and is used as a reference rate to execute a much larger set of currency deals. Bankers, who are big participants in the market, have huge incentives to nudge the price of a given currency pairing ahead of the fix. With billions of dollars changing hands, a difference of a fraction of a cent can add a tidy sum to the bonus pool. If proven, the charge would amount to banks fleecing their clients. Banks know the big trades they are about to execute on others' behalf, and are often themselves the counterparty. By moving the markets ahead of the fix, they could alter the rate to their profit and their clients' loss. One suspected method is "banging the close": submitting a quick succession of orders just as the benchmark is set, to distort its value.
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
Tax the rich and better target the multinationals: The IMF has set off shockwaves this week in Washington by suggesting countries fight budget deficits by raising taxes. Guardian of financial orthodoxy, the International Monetary Fund, which is holding its annual meetings with the World Bank this week in the US capital, typically calls for nations in difficulty to slash public spending to reduce their deficits. But in its Fiscal Monitor report, subtitled "Taxing Times", the Fund advanced the idea of taxing the highest-income people and their assets to reinforce the legitimacy of spending cuts and fight against growing income inequalities. "Scope seems to exist in many advanced economies to raise more revenue from the top of the income distribution," the IMF wrote, noting "steep cuts" in top rates since the early 1980s. According to IMF estimates, taxing the rich even at the same rates during the 1980s would reap fiscal revenues equal to 0.25 percent of economic output in the developed countries. "The gain could in some cases, such as that of the United States, be more significant," around 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, said the IMF report, which also singled out deficient taxation of multinational companies. In the US alone, legal loopholes deprive the Treasury of roughly $60 billion in receipts, the global lender said. The IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, kept up the sales pitch for a more just fiscal policy. "It's clearly something finance ministers are interested in, it's something that is necessary for the right balance of public finances," said Lagarde, a former French finance minister.
Note: Yahoo! was the only major media in the US to pick up this eye-opening news, with the possible exception of a Forbes article which shows how afraid they are of this development. For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
Banking is heavily subsidized and is monopolized by Wall Street, which has effectively "bought" Congress. Banks have been bailed out by the government, when [they] would have gone bankrupt. The Federal Reserve blatantly manipulates interest rates in a way that serves Wall Street, lending trillions at near-zero interest and pushing rates so artificially low that local governments have lost billions in interest-rate swaps. State and municipal governments already have public lending programs. They exist because private banks are not lending in some sectors that need financing. Globally, public banks lend countercyclically, providing credit when and where other banks won't. Germany and Taiwan, which have strong public banking sectors, are among the most competitive banking markets in the world. In North Dakota, the only state with its own "mini-Fed," the state-owned Bank of North Dakota routes its public lending programs through community banks. Its deposit base is almost entirely composed of the revenue of the state and state agencies. The North Dakota Bankers' Association endorses the Bank of North Dakota, which has a mandate to support the local economy. North Dakota has more banks per capita than any other state, because they have not been forced to sell to their Wall Street competitors. Public banking is not a radical idea but has been practiced in the U.S. with excellent results for decades, and around the world for centuries.
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
Investigative journalist Greg Palast has obtained a secret memo authored by then deputy Treasury secretary Larry Summers and his protégé Timothy Geithner detailing their plans to roll back financial regulation. In the piece, titled "The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis", [Palast] writes: "The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak's fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top U.S. Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet. When you see 26.3 percent unemployment in Spain, desperation and hunger in Greece, riots in Indonesia and Detroit in bankruptcy, go back to this End Game memo, the genesis of the blood and tears." [Palast:] This is really important right now because Larry Summers is President Obama's top choice to become head of a Federal Reserve Board. He would take Ben Bernanke's place. And what this memo is--they call it the "end game memo". Geithner calls it the "end game". And what's the game being played? The memo asks Summers to get back to the five biggest, most powerful bankers in the United States to act on and determine what our policy should be for world governance of the banking system. Basically, there were secret calls going between Larry Summers and the head of Bank of America, the head of Goldman Sachs, the head of Citibank and Merrill, the five big boys, to find out what should happen to the world financial policing order. And the answer was: smash it. Summers was holding secret meetings with the big bankers to come up with a scheme to eliminate financial regulation across the planet.
Note: Greg Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author and a freelance journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer. He is one of the few journalists uncovering the deepest layers of secrecy in our world. For a key past report of his on elections corruption, click here.
The financial analyst who nine years ago discovered Bernard Madoff's multi-billion dollar ... fraud scheme today lambasted US securities officials who ignored his warnings, calling for a shakeup of the US securities and exchange commission's structure. Harry Markopolos, a Massachusetts financial analyst who since 2000 several times sought to alert the SEC to Madoff's fraud, told a House of Representatives committee that the agency should replace its lawyer-heavy enforcement staff with senior securities professionals who have years of industry experience and can understand cutting-edge financial instruments used by hedge fund traders. He said regulators should give fraud investigators a pay incentive to unearth large fraud, and eliminate the turf wars that he said kept New York-based regulators from heeding tips he fed to the Boston office. Markopolos discovered Madoff's alleged malfeasance in May 2000, after he became suspicious of his years-long record of success in all market conditions. Markopolos said it took him about five minutes perusing Madoff's marketing materials to suspect fraud, and another roughly four hours to develop mathematical models to prove it. He eventually delivered a detailed case to securities regulators in Boston and followed up several times over the next eight years as he continued to gather evidence. He said that important SEC officials in New York and Boston brushed his reports aside. In testimony before members of the House financial services committee, Markopolos described "an abject failure by the regulatory agencies we entrust as our watchdog".
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses. Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency. Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts. Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash. Jackie Smith of South Bend, Ind., who is working to launch a local currency, [said] "It reinforces the message that having more control of the economy in local hands can help you cushion yourself from the blows of the marketplace." During the Depression, local governments, businesses and individuals issued currency, known as scrip, to keep commerce flowing when bank closings led to a cash shortage. Pittsboro, N.C., is reviving the Plenty, a defunct local currency created in 2002. It is being printed in denominations of $1, $5, $20 and $50. A local bank will exchange $9 for $10 worth of Plenty. "We're a wiped-out small town in America," says Lyle Estill, president of Piedmont Biofuels, which accepts the Plenty. "This will strengthen the local economy. ... The nice thing about the Plenty is that it can't leave here."
Note: For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.
The tale of how the Obama economic team was recruited en masse from Robert Rubin acolytes who either facilitated Wall Street's pre-crash recklessness while in the Clinton administration or cashed in on it later (or, like Rubin, did both) never loses its power to shock. Michael Froman, Rubin's chief of staff as Clinton Treasury secretary, not only served as the Obama transition team's personnel director but moonlighted as a Citigroup managing director while doing so. "Obama essentially entrusted the repairing of the china shop to the bulls who'd helped ransack it," [Jeff] Connaughton writes [in The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins]. [In This Town Mark] Leibovich updates the story of the tacky prehistory of the Obama White House with its aftermath—the steady parade of Obama alumni who traded change we can believe in for cash on the barrelhead as soon as they left public service. The starry list includes, among many others, Peter Orszag (director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, now at Citi), Jake Siewert (the Treasury Department counselor turned chief flack for Goldman Sachs), and David Plouffe (the campaign manager and senior presidential adviser who did consulting for Boeing and General Electric). "When I am president," Obama had said in 2008, "I will start by closing the revolving door in the White House that's allowed people to use their administration job as a stepping-stone to further their lobbying careers." Puzzling over how so many colleagues have strayed from this credo, the former press secretary Robert Gibbs has theorized that either "somehow we have all changed" or, alternatively, "maybe Washington changed us."
Note: For more on government corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay federal regulators $410 million to settle allegations that the giant bank manipulated energy markets in California and Michigan. About $285 million of the settlement will go to the U.S. Treasury for civil penalties, and about $124 million will be refunded to California ratepayers. The remainder will be refunded to Michigan ratepayers. If this story sounds familiar, that's because it is. Californians who remember the Enron energy debacle of 2000-01 won't be surprised to learn that JPMorgan's traders have been accused of fraudulent behavior. Once again, the fraud was performed by manipulating the auction system that was developed by a quasi-state agency, the California Independent System Operator, to handle California's electricity needs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that JPMorgan engaged in 12 manipulative bidding strategies, which wound up forcing ratepayers to pay higher amounts than they should have - all because the bank wanted to find a cheap way to profit off of aging power plants in Southern California. JPMorgan used a variety of bait-and-switch strategies - duping Cal-ISO into paying exorbitant fees for running the plants at a low level, for instance, or manipulating the bidding system so that Cal-ISO was forced to pay rates that were many times higher than market rate. The fact that this kind of manipulation is still happening is upsetting. And while $410 million is a record settlement for the FERC, it's a drop in the bucket to JPMorgan, which reported $6.5 billion in quarterly profits this month.
Note: Remember Enron, which scammed millions and then went bankrupt, wiping out pensions of its many employees? To read CBS reports on how Enron purposely shut down power plants so they could cause and then cash in on the energy crisis, click here.
Richmond [CA] city officials took a giant leap forward for everyday people last week when they announced a program to purchase ailing residential mortgages and refinance them through a financial partnership and a bold new initiative that's already begun. To accomplish the task, the city said it will use its eminent domain powers in reverse: To save a home instead of condemn it. Much to the displeasure of the banking industry, the city sent offer letters to more than 600 homeowners whose mortgages are held by nongovernment lending institutions. The program offers to pay lenders the current market value of the property, not the higher value of the mortgage. Under the Richmond program, a bank that approved a $500,000 mortgage would be paid roughly 80 percent of its investment. Already, some lenders contend that such a law violates constitutionally protected property rights and sets a precedent that could open the floodgates for other cities in the same predicament. The mere exploration of similar programs in a half-dozen California cities and counties provoked a strong reaction from the banking industry. Financial experts have warned that the Richmond policy is certain to spawn legal challenges and a backlash from lenders who recalculate higher mortgages in Richmond to offset the risk of the city using a local law to claim a foreclosed property. That's interesting, because no measure was too extreme, no taxpayer sacrifice too great to come up with and fund a new financial model to bail out the bankers and brokerage firms in 2008. But that's what the federal government - and American taxpayers did.
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
We're coming up on the fifth anniversary of Wall Street's meltdown. Banks have rarely had it this good. Earnings for financials, the second-biggest group in the S&P 500 after technology, soared 26 percent last quarter, more than any other industry, analyst estimates show. Housing is back. The stock market is at an all-time high. Investors are finally wiring in cash. The 25 financial firms in the S&P 500 that have so far reported second-quarter results posted earnings totaling $31.6 billion, exceeding estimates of $29.1 billion, Bloomberg data show. Finance is on track to surpass tech again as the most profitable industry in the country. First-half revenue at the six biggest U.S. banks climbed for the first time in four years. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo reported $43.3 billion in total first-half profit, the most since 2007. The S&P 500 Financials Index is up 26 percent this year, compared with the S&P 500's 18 percent gain. Flush banks cannot sell their bonds fast enough: Almost 60 percent of high-grade debt sales in the U.S. this month are from banks, the biggest ratio in two years, according to Bloomberg. "Banks are somehow making gigatons of money despite onerous new regulations and capital requirements," writes HuffPo's Mark Gongloff. "Why, it's almost like they're not telling the truth when they warn, repeatedly, that these new rules will destroy their profits and the economy."
Note: For more on financial corruption, see the deeply revealing reports from reliable major media sources available here.
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Stanley Leroy Miller was born in Monroe on August 7, 1954. He was the son of the late Jerry Miller and the late Betty (Austin) Miller. Stan was raised by his late stepfather: Carl Liesinger. Stanley attended Erie Mason High School and obtained his G.E.D. He served his country honorably as a member of the United States Army. He obtained the rank of SP4.
He married the love of his life the former Barbara Howard on June 6, 1972. From this union came the birth of three loving children. Stan worked as a Unit Leader for Auto Alliance in Flat Rock from 1988 until 2008. From 1987 until 1999 Stanley and Barbara operated Frenchtown Video located at the entrance of Detroit Beach.
Stan was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, traveling Up North, and camping. When camping he loved to stay in tents and be near the water even into November and December. Stan loved to ride his motorcycle and cherished the time he spent with his family.
Stan, age 57 of Monroe passed away at home on Thursday, February 16, 2012 under the care of Mercy Memorial Hospice. His passing was preceded by both parents and his stepfather.
To cherish his memory Stanley leaves a beloved wife of nearly forty years: Barbara of Monroe; two daughters: Misty (Marco Kalagian) Gekle of Dundee and Angela (Josh) Chumley of Warrenton, VA; one son: Stanley Miller Jr. of Monroe; three sisters: Annis (John) Meimaridis of Belleville, Terri (Rennie) Patterson of LaSalle, and Tammi (Mike) Myers of LaSalle; one brother: Lonnie (Lynnette)Miller of Monroe; thirteen grandchildren: Storm, Marriah, Hunter, Haleigh, Chancellor, Casen, Gabriel, Elijah, Abram, Gracie May, Sebastian, Stanley III, and Addison; his mother and father-in-law: Anna and Leo Zalewski; two brothers-in-law: Al (Shanna) Howard and John Howard; and two sisters-in-law: Peggy (Guy) Hughes and Michele (Wayne) Ratliff.
Friends may gather from 3:00-8:00pm, Sunday, February 19, 2012 at Merkle Funeral Service, 2442 North Monroe Street (734) 384-5185. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00am, Monday, February 20, 2012 also at Merkle's with Father Robert Mossett pastor of St. Anne's officiating. Procession will follow to LaSalle Township Cemetery for burial where graveside services will be under the auspices of Monroe VFW Post 1138.
Memorial donations are suggested to Mercy Memorial Hospice. Online guests may leave words of inspiration and comfort, share a photo, make a donation, or send a floral arrangement by visiting www.merklefs.com; Online Tributes page.


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For reasons I will spare you, I have two weeks to learn some C++.
I can learn alone just fine, but I need a good source. I don't think I have time to go through an entire book, and so I need some cliff notes, or possibly specific chapters/specialized resources I need to look up.
I know my Asm/C/C# well, and so anything inherited from C, or any OOP is not needed.
What I do need is some sources on the following subjects(I have a page that specifies what is needed, this is basically it, but I trimmed what I know):
- new/delete in C++ (as opposed to C#).
- Overloading cin/cout.
- Constructor, Destructor and MIL.
- Embedded Objects.
- References.
- Templates.
If you feel some basic C++ concept that is not shared with C/C# is not included on this list, feel free to enter those as well. But the above subjects are the ones I'm supposed to roughly know in two week's time.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Edit: I want to clarify - I don't expect to study for two weeks and then go and write Quake.
I need to get to a level where given some code and a while to think about it, I can understand it. nuances like ++X vs X++ don't matter as much as knowing what the main keywords are, etc.