text:
Archive for the 'ben bernanke' tag
U.S. Dollar To Be Outlawed?
LIAR OF THE JEKYLL, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
Published on Nov 21, 2013
IN This Interview:
*Global Economic Reset (00:27)
*Russian Lawmaker Calls for the Outlaw of the U.S. Dollar (2:23) – Source: "Russian lawmaker wants to outlaw U.S. dollar, calls it a Ponzi scheme": http://WashingtonTimes.com/news/2013/…
*Federal Reserve Printing More Than $85 Billion/mo (4:47)
*Dollar Collapse And How It Will Impact YOU (7:30)
*Is Real Estate A Good Investment? (9:49)
[GLOBAL ECONOMIC RESET, U.S. DOLLAR OUTLAWED? _ Fabian Calvo]
Shopping With Bernanke
Guess Who Benefited!
And that, in a nutshell, is precisely how the money from QE has been distributed.
Source: JPM
One can debate whether QE has benefitted Main Street or Wall Street until one is blue in the face, even though five years later, the answer is perfectly clear to all but the staunchest Keynesians and monetarists (and if it isn't, just pay attention to the 3:30 pm S&P ramp every day). One thing, however, that is undisputed is what the market itself says about where the QE money ends up when it is being spent by its recipients. And that story is so simple even a Keynesian would get it.
Stated briefly, luxury retailers such as Tiffany, Coach and LVMH are now up 500% since the Lehman lows, and about 30% above the prior cycle highs. On the other hand, regular retailers such as Macy's, Kohl's and JC Penney are barely up 100% from the crisis lows, and still more than 30% below the last bubble highs.
E Pluribus Fool'em
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
A Deadly Contagion
BLUE SAVAGE, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
by David Stockman, author of "The Great Deformation"
A decisive tipping point in the evolution of American capitalism and democracy—the triumph of crony capitalism—took place on October 3, 2008. That was the day of the forced march approval on Capitol Hill of the $700 billion TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bill to bail out Wall Street. This spasm of financial market intervention, including multi-trillion-dollar support lines provided to the big banks and financial companies by the Federal Reserve, was but the latest brick in the foundation of a fundamentally anti-capitalist régime known as "Too Big to Fail" (TBTF). It had been under construction for many decades, but now there was no turning back. The Wall Street bailouts of 2008 shattered what little remained of the old-time fiscal rules.
There was no longer any pretense that the free market should determine winners and losers and that tapping the public treasury requires proof of compelling societal benefit. Not when AAA-rated General Electric had been given $30 billion in taxpayer loans and guarantees to avoid taking modest losses on toxic assets it had foolishly funded with overnight borrowings that suddenly couldn't be rolled over.
Even more improbably, Goldman Sachs had been handed $10 billion to save itself from alleged extinction. Yet it then swiveled on a dime and generated a $29 billion financial surplus—$16 billion in salary and bonuses on top of $13 billion in net income—for the year that began just three months later.
Even if Goldman didn't really need the money, as it later claimed, a round trip from purported rags to evident riches in fifteen months stretched the bounds of credulity. It was reminiscent of actor Gary Cooper's immortal 1950s expression of suspicion about Communism. "From what I have heard about it," he told a congressional committee, "it isn't on the level."
Nor was Washington's panicked bailout of Wall Street on the level; it was both unnecessary and targeted at the wrong problem. The so-called financial meltdown was not the real crisis; it was only the tip of the iceberg, the leading edge of a more fundamental economic malady. In truth, the US economy was heading for the wringer because a multi-decade spree of unsustainable borrowing, speculation, and financialization of the national economy was coming to an abrupt end.
In the years after 1980, America had undergone the equivalent of a national leveraged buyout (LBO). It was now saddled with $30 trillion more in combined public and private debt than would have been the case under the time-tested canons of financial discipline and prudence which prevailed during the nation's long economic ascent. This massive debt burden had fueled a three-decade prosperity party by mortgaging the nation's future. Now the bill was coming due and our national simulacrum of prosperity was over.
This rendezvous with the limits of "peak debt," however, did not mean that the Main Street economy was in danger of collapse into an instant depression. That was the specious claim of the bailsters. What did threaten was a deeper and more enduring adversity. The demise of this thirty-year debt super cycle actually meant that it was payback time. Instead of swiping growth from the future, the American economy would now face a long twilight of debt deflation and struggle to restore household, corporate, and public sector solvency.
This abrupt turn in the road should not have been surprising. America's fantastic collective binging on debt, public and private, had no historical precedent. During the century prior to 1980, for example, total public and private debt on US balance sheets rarely exceeded 1.6 times GDP. When the national borrowing spree reached its apogee in 2007, however, the $4 trillion of new debt issued by households, business, banks, and governments amounted to 6 times that year's $700 billion gain in GDP. Plain and simple, what was being recorded as GDP growth was little more than faux prosperity borrowed from the future.
In fact, by the time of the financial crisis total US debt outstanding was $52 trillion and represented 3.6 times national income of $14 trillion. Accordingly, there were now two full turns of extra debt weighing on the nation's economy. And the embedded math was forbidding: at the historic leverage ratio of 1.6 times national income, which had prevailed for most of the hundred years prior to 1980, total US public and private debt would have been only $22 trillion at the end of 2008.
So the nation's households, businesses, and taxpayers were now lugging around the aforementioned $30 trillion in excess debt. This staggering financial burden dwarfed levels which had historically been proven to be healthy, prudent, and sustainable. TARP and all its kindred bailouts and the Fed's ceaseless money printing could not relieve it. And Washington's reckless use of Uncle Sam's credit card to fund the Obama stimulus actually made it far worse by attempting to revive the false prosperity of the bubble years. The obvious question remains: Why did this plague of debt arise? Did the American people suddenly become profligate and greedy through a mysterious process of moral and social decay?
There is no evidence for the greed disease theory but plenty of reason to suspect a more foreboding cause. The real reason for the current crisis of debt and financial disorder is that public policy had veered into the ditch, permitting an unprecedented aggrandizement of the state and its central banking branch. In the process, the vital nerve center of capitalism, its money and capital markets, had been perverted and deformed. Wall Street has become a vast casino where leveraged speculation and rent seeking have displaced its vital function of price discovery and capital allocation.
The September 2008 financial crisis, therefore, was about the need to drastically deflate the Wall Street behemoths—that is, dangerous and unstable gambling houses—fostered by decades of money printing and market rigging by the Fed. Yet policy veered in the opposite direction, propping them up and thereby perpetuating their baleful effects, owing to a predicate that was dead wrong.
A handful of panic-stricken top officials, led by treasury secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, proclaimed that the financial system had been stricken by a deadly "contagion" that had come out of nowhere and threatened a chain reaction of financial failures that would end in cataclysm. That proposition was completely false, but it gave rise to a fateful injunction—namely, that all the normal rules of free market capitalism and fiscal prudence needed to be suspended so that unprecedented and unlimited public resources could be poured into the rescue of Wall Street's floundering behemoths...
David Stockman On 2008: "Hank Paulson's Folly: AIG Was Safe Enough to Fail" Part 1
Money Is Not Safe In The Big Banks
Under the Dodd-Frank Act "losses will be assigned to shareholders and unsecured creditors" . . . . . . . and, as a depositor in a bank, under the law:
YOU ARE an unsecured creditor.
The Leveraged Buyout of America" by Ellen Brown, Author, Web of Debt, Public Bank Solution; President, Public Banking Institute
Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts.
They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy. How have they pulled this off, and where have they gotten the money?
In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dated June 27, 2013, U.S. Representative Alan Grayson and three co-signers expressed concern about the expansion of large banks into what have traditionally been non-financial commercial spheres. Specifically:
We are concerned about how large banks have recently expanded their businesses into such fields as electric power production, oil refining and distribution, owning and operating of public assets such as ports and airports, and even uranium mining.
After listing some disturbing examples, they observed:
According to legal scholar Saule Omarova, over the past five years, there has been a "quiet transformation of U.S. financial holding companies." These financial services companies have become global merchants that seek to extract rent from any commercial or financial business activity within their reach. They have used legal authority in Graham-Leach-Bliley to subvert the "foundational principle of separation of banking from commerce"… It seems like there is a significant macro-economic risk in having a massive entity like, say JP Morgan, both issuing credit cards and mortgages, managing municipal bond offerings, selling gasoline and electric power, running large oil tankers, trading derivatives, and owning and operating airports, in multiple countries.
A "macro" risk indeed — not just to our economy but to our democracy and our individual and national sovereignty. Giant banks are buying up our country's infrastructure — the power and supply chains that are vital to the economy. Aren't there rules against that? And where are the banks getting the money?
Money Is Not Safe In The Big Banks
The Self-Rehypothecation of Ben Bernanke
ORIGIN OF FECES, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
by James Howard Kunstler
How then did Ben Bernanke finally summon the fortitude to entertain tapering Federal Reserve bond purchases from $85 billion a month to, say, $84.7 billion a month come September 18th, the world may never know, but now the deed appears to be done, in his absence, by remote paranormal transmission, while the other Fed board members, with their attendant economist factotums, servelings, and catamites all beamed the message out of horsey Jackson Hole that they expected — even pined for — the vaunted return to "a normal economy." Which left many bystanders wondering if that meant a Dow Jones industrial average at, say 3,847 around Columbus Day, the 10-year bond at 5 percent, and every pension fund in world bleeding out from a sucking chest wound — not to mention a Hindenberg-like conflagration of the US Treasury as debt payments went beyond critical.
Pardon me for saying that I don't think these mooks of finance know what they've been paying for with the QE series of monkeyshines. They've been creating "money" for five years to offset the collapse of a no-longer-cheap-oil economy. It's really that simple. If any of these poobahs thinks they can run a "normal economy" at $106-a-barrel then they should run out and get a realtor's license and buy as many Arizona REO's as the foundering banks will admit to holding on their books, and then become landlord to renters working 29 hours a week on the WalMart loading dock.
Actually, I don't think they will have to wait that long to see the consequences of their loose, silly talk. America's major export is now working its hoodoo in many other parts of the world as currencies become unglued and economies look down at the flimsy bamboo scaffolding that holds them up so high. America's major export these days is economic uncertainty, specifically the question of what, exactly, will maintain the pretense that the hopelessly intertwined financial affairs of China, India, Brazil, Japan, Euroland, Russia, and everybody else, really, including ourselves, are not unraveling like some kind of cosmic sweater knitted with one needle by a cross-eyed god with the jim-jams.
A lot of people begin to suspect that there is something called "an economy" quite apart from the shenanigans and dumb shows put on by the banks and their imitators, the hedge funds. That actual economy is a very earthy thing, in so far as it is pegged to the biophysical realities of the planet — such as, can you harvest a turnip and therefore make turnip soup for dinner? After all, you won't be making a soup out of interest rate swaps. Of course, dining on turnip soup is not as sexy as driving to work in a Tesla to a hedge fund boiler room where you get to cream off millions every week by playing Where's Waldo with the rehypothecated accounts of the muppets who foolishly entrusted you with their own ill-gotten savings.
The nervousness out there is palpable and epochal. Not only is everyone waiting for some other shoe to drop after Labor Day; they're waiting for it to drop on their own heads. The most visible result, I think, will be a shocking flight into precious metals, of which there is precious little to meet the kind of demand soon to overwhelm that teeny-weeny market corner of the financial universe. What else is there now? The Fed taper talk is pretty much a case of holding a gun to a puppy's head — the puppy being the equities markets. The bond sector is a hall of mirrors. Cash is a lot less than king in several countries now, with the contagion running hot. Everything is mispriced to the upside except Gold and Silver, which are mispriced the other way, especially after the chicaneries of April and June when, depending on which story you believe, the banks ran a naked short campaign to knock the stuffing out of the metals so they could then go back in and hoover some of it up cheap in an attempt to conceal the multiple out-leasings (that is sale, or perhaps theft) of metal left by fools in their custodial charge. Or, some other sages might say, the knock-down was done to defend the honor of the evaporating US dollar (a dollar with the vapors), making it appear sturdier than it actually is. Yes, well that worked, sort of, for a few months, while Wall Street repaired to the annual East Hampton endorphin splash. I was not invited to Diddy's party, where the pineal glands of the gathered .01 percent were audibly ringing with celestial euphoria as they swapped the reassuring pulsations of their own specialness. Those people, you can be sure, were not pining for a "normal economy."
Long story short: we're in for some interesting weeks ahead. Keep your hat on.
My new little book will crack you up. Click to purchase
The Self-Rehypothecation of Ben Bernanke
Jim Willie: Bernanke Should Have His Thesis and P.H.D. Stripped
EZY SHYSTER (MONOCHROME VERSION), a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
On Aug. 13, economist Jim Willie was a guest on the Trunews radio program. During the hour long interview, Dr. Willie stated that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who made his bones writing a doctoral thesis on how the central bank could have staved off the Great Depression through the pumping of massive liquidity into the system, should have both his thesis and P.H.D. stripped since his own polices as the head of the Federal Reserve have disproved his own paper.
Jim Willie: Now if you listen to some of the old principles of Greenspan. He would say, "An artificially low interest rate environment is necessary for stimulating and kick starting the economy, but it cannot last for more than six to eight months. If it does it causes great distortions in the financial markets, and other distortions that are very difficult to fix.
Now Greenspan wasn't the Fed Chairman at the time, it was Bernanke, who is a total hack. And his entire P.H.D. thesis has been disproved by Bernanke himself. He wrote that liquidity, flowing through the tubes, could fix any financial crisis like the Great Depression.
Well, why do we need QE2 then sir? Why do we need Operation Twist? Why do we need QE3 sir? You just disproved your P.H.D. thesis, and you should have your thesis and doctorate stripped. – Trunews
The 'distortions' that former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan alluded in his speech several years ago, have culminated in the asset bubbles the economy has experienced since low interest rate policies began in earnest back in 2004. From a housing bubble, to a treasury bubble, then with QE3, creating a stock market bubble, Willie's assessment of Bernanke's failed beliefs and policies have done nothing to stimulate the economy, and have solely resulted in a redistribution of wealth upward, from the Middle Class to the ultra rich.
Chart courtesy of Financial Sense
The truth of the matter is, the Great Depression could have been avoided, or at least lessened to a mere recession if the Federal Reserve had followed their simple mandate, which was to be a lender of last resort for the banks that were suddenly failing by the thousands due to bank runs, stock market margin calls, and loss of liquidity. If the 15 year old central bank had opened its discount window to the troubled banks in 1929-1933, then only a long term recession would have resulted, with bad debts and toxic assets being dissolved as they did in the normal economic cyclical.
Ben Bernanke, like most central bankers since the 1930′s, is a student of Keynes, who believes that the government, not the free markets, are the arbiter of economic growth and economic success. Government and central bank intervention has proven Greenspan right, and Bernanke wrong, that long term artificial liquidity in a economy doesn't improve or kick start the system, but instead creates anomalies and distortions that make the problem much worse, and creates an economy that requires even more liquidity in a never ending cycle until inflation reaches hyper-inflation, or the system collapses under its own debt.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Examiner.com, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Friday evenings giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
Jim Willie: Bernanke should have his thesis and P.H.D. stripped
Ben Bernanke Speaks
The following fictional account of a day in the life of a drunk Fed Chairman is as relevant today as it was when it first came out around the time QE2 was ending and the Chairman was confident no more unsterilized monetization of US debt would be required ever again.
SEWARD, NE—Claiming he wasn't afraid to let everyone in attendance know about "the real mess we're in," Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reportedly got drunk Tuesday and told everyone at Elwood's Corner Tavern about how absolutely fucked the U.S. economy actually is.
Drunken Ben Bernanke Tells Everyone At Neighborhood Bar How Screwed U.S. Economy Really Is
Bernanke, who sources confirmed was "totally sloshed," arrived at the drinking establishment at approximately 5:30 p.m., ensconced himself upon a bar stool, and consumed several bottles of Miller High Life and a half-dozen shots of whiskey while loudly proclaiming to any patron who would listen that the economic outlook was "pretty goddamned awful if you want the God's honest truth."
"Look, they don't want anyone except for the Washington, D.C. bigwigs to know how bad shit really is," said Bernanke, slurring his words as he spoke. "Mounting debt exacerbated—and not relieved—by unchecked consumption, spiraling interest rates, and the grim realities of an inevitable worldwide energy crisis are projected to leave our entire economy in the shitter for, like, a generation, man, I'm telling you."
"And hell, as long as we're being honest, I might as well tell you that a truer estimate of the U.S. unemployment rate is actually up around 16 percent, with a 0.7 percent annual rate of economic growth if we're lucky—if we're lucky," continued Bernanke, nearly knocking a full beer over while gesturing with his hands. "Of course, if everybody knew that, it would likely cripple financial markets across the entire fucking globe, even in various emerging economies with self- sustaining growth."
After launching into an extended 45-minute diatribe about shortsighted moves by "those bastards in Congress" that could potentially exacerbate the nation's already deeply troublesome budget imbalance, the Federal Reserve chairman reportedly bought a round of tequila shots for two customers he had just met who were seated on either side of him, announcing, "I love these guys."
Numerous bar patrons slowly nodded in agreement as Bernanke went on to suggest the United States could pass three or four more stimulus packages and "it wouldn't even matter."
"You think that's going to create long-term economic growth, let alone promote job creation?" Bernanke said. "We're way beyond that, my friend. There are no jobs, okay? There's nothing. I think that calls for another drink, don't you?"
While using beer bottles and pretzel sticks in an attempt to explain to the bartender the importance of infusing $650 billion into the bond market, the inebriated Fed chairman nearly fell off his stool and had to be held up by the patron sitting next to him.
Another bargoer confirmed Bernanke stood about 2 inches from her face and sprayed her with saliva, claiming inflation was going to "totally screw" consumer confidence and then asking if he could bum a smoke.
"Sure, we could hold down long-term interest rates and pursue a program of quantitative easing, but c'mon, we all know that's not going to make the slightest bit of difference when it comes to output, demand, or employment," Bernanke said before being told to "try to keep [his] voice down" by the bartender. "And trust me, with the value of the U.S. dollar in the toilet, import costs going through the roof, and numerous world governments unprepared for their own substantial debt burdens, shit's not looking too good for us abroad, either."
"God, I'm so wasted", added Bernanke, resting his head on the bar.
Later in the evening, Richard Kampman, a truck driver who was laid off in 2010, said Bernanke approached him in the men's restroom and attempted to strike up a conversation about various factors contributing to the current financial crisis.
"He stumbled up to the urinal and started mumbling on about the depressed housing sector or something," said Kampman, who claimed Bernanke had to use both hands on the wall to steady himself. "Then after a while he just sort of stopped and I couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying."
"Then, he puked all over the sink and the mirror," Kampman added.
Customers at the bar told reporters the "shitfaced" and disruptive Bernanke refused to pay for his drinks with U.S. currency, claiming it was "worthless." Witnesses also confirmed that near the end of the evening, Bernanke put money into the jukebox and selected Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" to play five times in a row.
"This is what it's all about," said Bernanke, who reportedly danced alone in the middle of the dark tavern. "Fucking love this song."
(Source: The Onion)
Funny Friday Fiction (Or Fact): Drunk Ben Bernanke Speaks
SaGuiNuS TaPeRoR SpoTTed . . .
SAGUINUS TAPEROR, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
SaGuiNuS TaPeRoR SpoTTed…>
Jim Willie: Fed Zepplen
FED ZEPPLEN (The Hindenberg Moron), a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on Flickr.
USTBond: Return to Sender
by Jim Willie, Golden Jackass website
The USTreasury Bond is the primary vehicle for the USDollar. Nations do not hold the USDollar in raw currency form, except for the crime syndicates. They hold them in USTBond form, in order to gather some interest income. In the last few years, not few months, but years, the interest has been next to nothing, and surely far less than what it should be, given the risk and the nasty undermine to value by the monetary action by the central bank itself. Paltry interest aside, with all its unfortunate deterrent toward investment in USGovt debt, the USFed has been kicking out the value pillars for a very long time, far longer than the limit imposed loosely by Sir Alan Greenspasm of six to eight months. With the cost of money near zero, all markets are distorted, all assets improperly priced, and Gold marked for illicit ambush on a regular basis by the fascists. Major broad deep channels are being constructed to redeem and discharge USTreasury Bonds. They will be returned to sender. The USFed will be put under tremendous strain to absorb and soak up the supply being dumped around the world in all these major channels. The USFed balance sheet will expand, not contract, or else they will face a catastrophe in a USTBond explosion and Interest Rate Swap derivative nuclear event. The USFed has no exit available, as all doors are shut, none an option. In the process, the Gold price will rise relentlessly, while its nemesis the USTBond is dumped as a discredited bride, a vixen of unimaginable betrayal. The USGovt never had any intention of redeeming the bonded debt. Gold will prevail, as the channels fill. The Rubin Doctrine has run out of time.
The Bernanke Fed is realizing they are stuck in the monetary corner with NO EXIT. They began to mention the need for an exit in the spring months of 2009. That is when the 0% official rate should have been abandoned. Here we are four years later, and they are still stuck with no exit, precisely as the Jackass warned, forecasted, and screamed in print. The division within the USFed is becoming a regular story. Only the half-blind governors on the once august Board refuse to admit that USEconomic growth is a mirage. The brave governors have been more bold in recent months, taking a stance against the charlatan Bernanke, explaining the intractable position. The chairman has ably proved that liquidity cannot solve the current banking and financial problems mired in insolvency. In doing so, Bernanke has disproved his own PhD Economics dissertation, and has discredited his own lofty credentials with a Princeton seal. He is a sham, a Weimar agent, and a destroyer of capital. The hopelessly devoted paper mache craftsman is stuck in the Matrix.
A counter-culture comparison is due. The USFed and the Wall Street bankers have created an environment of alternative universe. The financial markets are rigged. The USDollar currency and USTBond are propped. The bankers are given free license for $trillion fraud. The big banks are dependent upon narcotics funds. The politicians are syndicate puppets, include the leader of the land. The last three presidents have been narcotics addicts, who refuse to hand over medical records to the Congress as required by law. The debts are covered by hyper monetary inflation. Jobs are being shed rapidly. The USEconomy is stuck in quicksand, as it deteriorates, while the blaring music sings about recovery.
The fascist United States is the embodiment of the MATRIX, the multi-sequel hit movie series from the 1990s. Notice the similarity between the cold controlling deceptive alternative world Matrix architect (left) and USFed Chairman Bernanke (right). The contrast is scary. No offense to Helmut Bakaitis, the Austrian actor who played the architect. In the movie he fought the hero Neo and rogue Oracle and pesky Keymaker. They symbolize the Gold community working toward freedom from the Matrix itself, doing battle against a corrupt controlled fiat currency Matrix centered upon the USDollar, defended by the USTBond software (bank derivatives) and the banker computer consoles. The rogue programs loose within the Matrix are the Gold investors, messing up their layouts and screens. The aspect Bernanke and his gang of Wall Street bankers cannot anticipate or successfully keep at bay is the attack from the East, the comprehensive entirely new operating system being fashioned by the East which will replace the programming source code (bank procedures). It is gold trade settlement, the New Gold Trade Standard which renders the Matrix with obsolete software. It opens the door to freedom from the Matrix. The scrambling by the G-7 finance minister clowns in early May served as concrete proof of their desperation, in response to the G-20 Meeting held in Turkey. They disrupted its implementation, but bought only a little time.
In the last several years, perhaps five or six years, the stage has been set for great change. A device has been put in place by numerous nations for trade settlement in barter framework, which has bypassed the USDollar. The Chinese Yuan Swap Facility has been a sneaky bypass workaround. The United States has largely dismissed the device, calling it irrelevant as a challenge to the Supreme Dollar. However, being based in barter, it is a fair system that involves a small group of banks in China and a small group of banks in the other nation like Brazil. Since the swap facility began in 2007, it has blossomed to settle trade on a net basis between participating nations. Since its inception, the swap facility has become adopted by a growing list of nations, hardly the emerging swarthy from the other side of the world. It includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Belarus, Russia, and lately England with a knock at the door by France. A veritable revolution is occurring from under the US-Anglo stage, which is listing badly eastward.
The grand weakness of the West over the course of the last three decades has been the outsourcing of labor to Asia, starting with the Pacific Rim and climaxing with China itself. The Jackass vividly recalls my quality control consulting days in the 1980 decade with internal corporate clients located in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore at Digital Equipment Corp in Maynard Massachusetts. The colleague bonds were lasting. The work was tremendously rewarding. The softball teams will always be part of the etched memories. The dopes at the top made devastating decisions that affected over 100 thousand employees, as we scattered. The end result was that the emerging nations built factories, shipped finished products, accumulated significant wealth, and now find themselves restless with increasingly toxic FOREX reserves centered upon USTBonds, UKGilts, EuroBonds, and JapGovtBonds, all of which are ripe and ready for major writedowns. The debt writedowns will render damage to stored wealth.
The point is that as the list of nations participating in the Chinese Yuan Swap Facility continues to grow and to include nations with strong Western alliances, it has formed the foundation of a non-USDollar foundation for trade settlement. Think of them as stones in a great pond. With enough stones, a platform can be erected atop the stones to create a firm arena upon which to conduct and settle trade. Barter is a fair system of trade, unlike the queer paper exchange whereby nations work with labor and sweat, hand over finished products, and walk away with bonded paper bearing ink, strange elaborate markings, a certain broken promise never to repay the debt. The ink-stained bond is called the USTreasury Bond. The Chinese Yuan Swap Facility has set the stage, proving that trade settlement does not have to be based upon the USDollar. The net basis swap settlement is as simple as it is clever. The ultimate in barter is Gold Trade Settlement, again on a net basis between nations. Since honest, it is despised by the bankers who rule over the financial charred ruins with politicians in their pocket.
Two quotes drive home the point about barter and its legitimacy, if not hope. No solution has been produced by the bankers to reform the situation that the bankers have wrecked, a pathogenesis that began when the bankers directed the puppet Nixon to discard the Gold Standard, to play the first China card, which unleashed criminal enterprise, the blossom of fascism, the distortion of value, the perversion of trade, the toxicity of savings, and the advent of the police state.
The first quote is from an esteemed colleague and mentor to a trusted source for the Hat Trick Letter. Dr Dieter Spethmann is honorary Chairman of PEL-EX Trading Ltd and former Chief Executive Officer of Thyssen AG. The man is also a current Hat Trick Letter subscriber. He wrote, "Barter and Gold are identical. People who understand this also understand what barter is. Both Barter and Gold allow for free re-valuation of currencies that are blocked by central banks." Brilliant, simple, succinct, deep. Unfortunately, the concept is way over the heads of 95% of dull Americans still swimming in their devoted toxic paper pools.
The second quote is from Antal Fekete, who has decided to put aside his vapid Gold Basis theme, and now backs up my barter theme. Remember that gold settlement is the manifestation of barter, if conducted with true valid pricing. Fekete wrote, "The price of Gold is headed for extinction. I for one do not believe that the price of Gold is headed for five digits. Long before that might happen, permanent backwardation would shut down the gold futures markets. Gold could no longer be purchased at any price. Gold would only be available through barter. World trade is facing an avalanche-like transformation, flattening out monetary economy into a barter economy. Practically all economists, financial writers, and market analysts have missed this possible scenario. That will pull the rug from underneath the international monetary system. Barter is the ultimate in deflation, and that is what the world economy is getting." Welcome aboard the Jackass train, as barter and its relation to Gold are no strangers here. Notice he anticipates the Gold price to go dark, as the COMEX shuts down, in total synch with the Jackass viewpoint. Obviously, a market without product that serves up fraudulent contracts will go away. Time and exposure are its enemies. Gold ambushes conducted over time provide the requisite exposure.
The gold community should applaud and cheer the recent market ambushes. They represent banker suicide on stage, and assure the COMEX to become an empty room, with chains on its doors, yellow tape as cordon around the crime scene, and lawsuits aplenty. If another summer gold market ambush occurs, it will bury the bankers and expose their corrupted vacant market for all to see. Only then would the futures market dry up completely. They can have their Force Majeure, as the Jackass will settle for them to go away, even to the Paraguay jungle where their nazi forefathers hid.
Just a brief note. The Saudis are not in a position to stand as the primary pillar to enforce the Petro-Dollar anymore. The Saudis decided foolishly to join the USGovt security agencies in black ops games last year, with heavy consequences. They were involved in murder of the Assad inner core in Syria. The quick retaliation by HezBollah was to murder Saudi Prince Bandar in August 2012, the Bush cohort and longtime US ally. The complexity has turned an order of magnitude more intractable, as King Abdullah is clinically dead. A few months ago, the strong king did not emerge from back surgery and its anesthesia. He is dead, but with a heartbeat. His eyes have not seen the desert sun nor a document to sign in months. News is finally out on both deaths, but Hat Trick Letter subscribers were informed long ago when the events occurred. The Western press prefers to cover up the details, to disseminate old photographs with altered time stamps, the usual fare of deception often lapped up in full gullibility.
The Saudis are out of adept adroit leaders. The Saudis are in decline of crude oil output. The Saudis are seeing sharply reduced trade surpluses. The Saudis must contend with increasingly angry and stubborn citizens, who demand change and meaningful reform, if not an end to privilege. The surviving eager princes from which to choose the next leader are a pack of meager inbred insecure half-wit dullards who will preside over the Fall of the House of Saud. With it will go the Petro-Dollar into the sunset. The hidden events of significance include arrangements already struck between the Persian Gulf member nations and China & Russia. The Chinese have increased their presence in a significant manner in the gulf. They have established numerous trade pillboxes, like distribution networks and retail centers in almost every single gulf nation. The Chinese and the Russians have promised military support in the form of troops, armadas, and missile emplacements. The Petro-Dollar used to have a military component bearing a USMilitary flag. That is missing, along with the Saudi King. It has been replaced by a Chinese flag and Russian Onyx & Sunburn missiles (one generation ahead of the US Cruise missile). All the Eastern Alliance (BRICS, G-20, SCO) developments and progress toward a non-USDollar trade solution will soon receive a Saudi endorsement, even if implicit.
The Petro-Dollar is dead, with the funeral only remaining, and a loud thud. When the Saudis cut certain deals with Iran recently over the natural gas pipeline, they sealed the USDollar fate. The news is not reported in the sleepy lapdog intrepid subservient pathetic US press. The Natural Gas Coop will be the undoing of the Petro-Dollar and even overshadow OPEC. The maestro organizer is Russian Gazprom. Expedience has allied with natural gas to form new partnerships, all of which disrupt the current geopolitical balance. The Qataris have discovered with partner Iran a large gas field in the Persian Gulf. The Israelis are fast developing their natgas riches off the floating Tamar platform. The Israelis forged a deal with mighty Gazprom, which will guarantee natgas flow to Europe and lock in significant trade surplus. Perhaps Israel will receive Gold in net settlement someday. Surely they will not want toxic USTBonds. With the numerous natgas pipelines coming online, the Petro-Dollar is doomed, since Russia is in the control room flipping switches, pulling levers, and sending toxic paper back to the sender, the USGovt.
The Kremlin is very cleverly using their natural gas card to slice the Petro-Dollar into rotten caviar at a time when the Saudis are in total disarray. Once more, Putin is the adroit chess player, as the USGovt continues its clumsy games like the Libyan disposal for a surreptitious gold raid, like the SWIFT bank blockade of Iranian banks, like the interference with the Pakistan Gas Pipeline, like the obstruction of Turkish banks to provide gold in intermediary role. The USGovt maneuvers will all backfire, as they have in the past. Eventually, natural gas will be part of the Gold Trade Settlement system. The margin in the energy industry is being defined by natural gas, as the old crude oil buddy network is dissolving.
A new trend has begun to show itself. While the West, in particular the Untied States, is locked with focus on maintaining a stable USTreasury Bond yield, the East is preparing wide channels to send toxic USTBonds back to London and New York, back to the sender. While the West is busily operating its vast Interest Rate Swap derivative machinery, the East is gathering mountains of toxic USTBonds at the gateways to the new channels directed at the financial crime centers of London and New York. While the West is anxiously seeking an exit strategy from the QE & ZIRP monetary nameplates of Weimar policy, the East has already decided to take the important initial steps in an actual exit strategy from the USDollar altogether. The Western central banks are deeply immersed in an obscene circle jerk, but without realizing their dangled reeds are but rotten shriveled orchids sewn to corrupt impotent old men. Explore the new channels, an impressive series of waterways to return toxic paper to sender in endless waves. The many channels to discard the USTBond are being established by foreign entities, in an organized manner. At first the flow in return will seem manageable. Later it will become a torrent resulting in endless waves. The Bernanke Fed will demonstrate before the world that liquidity cannot overcome insolvency, nor can it compensate for toxicity. Revoke Bernanke's PhD Doctorate! Benjamin Shalom Bernanke is not worthy of being a doctor, since a bonafide quack. He is a snake oil salesman, a toxic paper hanger, a banker errand boy bagholder, and a destroyer of economic worlds.
BRICS Development Fund, creating Gold Trade Center Bank:
By far the most dangerous and ominous channel is this fund. It has not been correctly reported in the Western press. It has intentionally been downplayed by the East. Surely it will initially serve as a source of funds for a series of projects, mostly infrastructure like railroads, super highways, mining mills, electric generating stations, and port facilities. My source has informed that the BRICS Development Fund will serve as a vast trading house to convert USTreasury Bonds into Gold bullion. It will eventually operate side by side with the newly formed Gold Trade Central Bank, with funds arriving from the emerging nation surpluses, mostly from reserves holdings, to be converted directly into Gold bullion. The Gold Standard is coming back, but in Gold Trade form, where the new fund will spin off Gold Trade Notes with legitimate and significant gold backing for conducting trade transactions. The new central bank will not be located in banking and currency. It will be centered in trade settlement, done brilliantly outside the current system that is dominated by the corrupted London and New York banking elite. The scales will soon fall off the Western analyst eyes, as they realize the BRICS are creating a Gold Trade Central Bank which will recycle toxic Western sovereign bonds, primarily USTBonds. They will convert their hard earned trade surpluses held in reserves into true tangible wealth. They will forge gold on the back of USGovt debt. Details are found in updates almost every month in the Hat Trick Letter. They will drain the West of its gold. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
Rosneft Acquisition, Buyout of British Petroleum Stake:
The channel was revealed in the March buyout by Rosneft of the BP stake in a major oil deal. The $55 billion deal has Rosneft acquiring the official BP stake in BP-TBK, a large British-Russian company with significant energy deposits and production. BP will be left with a minor position. The terms of the complicated finance deal are unusual, innovative, and indicative of Anglo-American limp wrists. The Chinese provided $30 billion in loans, but in the form of USTBonds, which will be handed over to British Petroleum in the buyout. The Chinese will be guaranteed years of oil & gas pipeline supply from Russia. Regard the transaction as a CHECKMATE of the USDollar generally, of the Wall Street and London bankers specifically, and of the Anglo-American energy giants indirectly. The deal is the final chapter to the Yeltsin years being unwound. The Chinese will dump some USTBonds held in reserve in order to finance the new Eurasian Trade Zone foundation, a great irony. The US press is nowhere on this entire story, which will make Rosneft the biggest oil company on the planet, twice the size of Exxon-Mobil. The tagteam of Rosneft and Gazprom will become giant pillars to defend the new Gold Trade Standard, which will gradually attract more Western nations as partner members, the tipping region being Europe. The prize has always been Europe, which will turn attention and loyalty to Russia. Details are found in the March Hat Trick Letter. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
Conversion of Russian & Chinese FX Reserves:
Very difficult to prove, but the Russians & Chinese are aggressively converting their foreign reserves into Gold bullion. The Russians possess over 20,000 tons of gold. The Chinese possess over 10,000 tons of gold. They maintain their secrets, but the reality is a major story. The US press is nowhere on the reserves story, still locked on the official IMF and WGC phony gold statistics which bear as much truth as the USGovt jobs, economy, and price inflation reports. Almost every single Western economic and financial report is a lie. Neither Russia nor China permits any export of gold mine output. However, both superpower nations have been avidly converting FOREX reserves to gold bullion. The major component of the converted reserves is USTreasury Bonds, the toxic paper undermined by the USFed itself. The destructive QE & ZIRP monetary policies are the primary motives for the conversions. Their political leverage is unclear, if they are indeed draining Switzerland or London or Rome. To be sure, deals are being cut to share the power scepter in the next chapter. My belief is that gold mine output from Mongolia to Kazakhstan is being gobbled up by Russia & China. These nations are from the Former Soviet Republics, and form the bond between the BRICS and SCO, the Shanghai Coop Organization. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
Russian Supply of Oil & Gas through Pipelines:
Far more energy supply from Russian pipelines to Chinese gathering facilities will arrive than just from the Rosneft finance deal on the BP-TBK buyout acquisition. The graphic clearly displays that Russian gas pipelines already supply Europe, seen in red. Significant Russian oil pipelines also supply Europe, seen in blue. Most of the settlement transfers to Russia in payment come in the form of USTBonds and EuroBonds, soon to be eagerly converted. The pipeline structure includes important passage ways through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipelines are under construction in the northern reaches of Europe. The future work will focus on the Russian connection to China, as the two giant nations have redoubled their efforts, realizing they are on the same team in alliance against the USDollar syndicate. The Chinese have received most of the tilted press coverage, but Russia holds most of the cards at the table in both gold hoards and energy supplies. The Kremlin will dispose of grand vats of toxic USTBonds, some of which will come from Chinese hands. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
African Resource Deals with China:
Too numerous to cite are the deals struck by China to secure minerals and energy resources in the dark continent of Africa. Details have been provided over the years in the Hat Trick Letter report. The structure of the deals is often identical. The nation, whether Nigeria or Angola, is given a block of USTBonds by China. In return, the African nation cooperates to construct mines or ports or railways that include roadways and depots, sometimes community centers and hospitals and schools. The future output of the commodity end product eventually finds its way to Chinese ports. Battles have been raging since 2011 in Southern Africa between China and the USMilitary, both directly and between proxies. The nexus of the conflict is Congo and Djibuti at the horn. The African nations surely do not collect the USTBonds as sale proceeds for to stuff the toxic paper in their banking systems. Maybe Nigeria does to some extent, but most African nations operate on a hand to mouth basis, cashing and redeeming the bonds immediately. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
Saudi Bond Redeem Petro-Dollars:
The basis of the Petro-Dollar is the recycle of OPEC oil sales, held as trade surplus, converted and stored in USTreasury Bonds. The Saudis also hold a significant amount of big US bank stocks, but no mortgage bonds since they regard them as immoral. As the planks further corrode and rot that hold the Petro-Dollar defacto standard together, the Saudis will abandon their toxic USTBonds in favor of Gold, the longstanding favorite of Arabs. Their devotion to the USTBond is a recent aberration in their long history, purely done to placate the Untied States and to earn them free USMilitary patrol and sentry protection. The Fall of the House of Saud is well underway. The only true remaining element is the sound of the impact. During the rapid disintegration process, complete with the inbred prince attempts to sit on the throne, will be the rapid conversion of USTBonds into gold bullion. They will also convert into property, like in Spain. The Saudis might follow the USGovt security agency lead, and load up on warehouses full of Swiss Franc bills. Another factor that revolves around the Saudi sun is the big petro-chemical plant on the Red Sea port, a joint project with China. Conversely, the Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) is busily working on a giant petro-chemical plant inside China. Total bilateral trade amounted to $42 billion in year 2012. A grand discharge flow of USTBonds will surely be directed into Saudi hands to fund the project, for materials, for engineering equipment, for labor, and more. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
Big US Banks Reverse the Carry Trade:
The unintended consequence of any Exit Strategy executed by the crippled USFed will be the unleashing of the torrent of USTreasury Bond sales, in a grand reversal of the massive sponsored USTBond carry trade. For four full years, the big US banks have in earnest been borrowing money at nearly 0% and investing in 10-year USTBonds to earn 2%, or in 30-year USTBonds to earn 3%. The entire process has been conducted under the direction, wisdom, and corruption of the US Federal Reserve itself. The central bank actually promotes the program as a replenishment of the big bank reserves after their tremendous losses in the post-Lehman calamity. The big US banks are no longer credit engines to supply American businesses, nor are they investment banks to foster American fledglings in business. The banks are instead vast ugly cancer wards operating as casinos, heavily committed to USTBond carry trade. They borrow short and invest long, and have accumulated a gigantic account that sits at the USFed account, under the label of Excess Reserves. Oddly, the key component on the USFed balance sheet to give the appearance of solvency is the Excess Reserves account owned not by the USFed, but by the big US banks. The USFed is an insolvent bank also, in the worst condition of all.
The USFed is a gigantic busted broken flywheel. At the second confirmed hint of that the phony rally supported by vast Interest Rate Swap derivatives has ended, the big US banks will reverse their trade. They will sell not only the USTBonds, but also the USTBond futures contracts that apply leverage gains to the corrupt operation. In time, the marriage between the USFed and the big US banks will undergo great strain. They will find there are indeed 50 ways to leave your lover. The selling process by the banks will result in a nasty phenomenon called convexity. Any attempt by the USFed to enable a rise in the bond yields will go awry, will wander badly out of control, as a result of the convexity phenomenon. Fannie Mae exposed the phenomenon in past years, when the USFed tried to enable a rise in rates. The nasty twister involves the unwind of leverage and the assured overshoot. The main point is that the big US banks will be sellers as they unwind their USTBond carry trade, an immoral source of gain. The backlash comes. Toxic impaired USTBond debt securities will be returned to sender, the USGovt, in very large volume, which will surely overwhelm the USFed and its Weimar press.
It seems the USFed has been doing an experiment, to see if the financial markets can endure a USTBond rise in yields. The reversal would qualify as a return to normalcy, but only the first of 20 to 30 needed steps up in the bond yield. To match fundamentals, the USTBond at 10-year yield would have to rise to 7% or 8% or 9% at a minimum. The first line of defense is the Interest Rate Swap on the experimental response. The second line will be the unwind of the carry trade run under USFed sponsorship. Only touching the surface, we can conclude that the USFed is conducting an experiment. They are managing a Live Stress Test. It will go badly if continued. In no way can a return to normalcy be achieved, not even part way.
The nemesis over the ages to Gold has been the USTreasury Bond. As the BRICS nations convert to build a Gold Central Bank, as the Russians pay off the London loans in the Rosneft acquisition, as the Russians & Chinese convert their FOREX reserves, as the Chinese make payment for oil & gas pipeline deliveries, as the Africans redeem from mineral and resource deals, as the big US banks reverse the carry trade, the sanctuary safe haven of the USTBond will be revealed as a fiery pit and acid spray arena. The true safe haven will be Gold. By the time the USTBond global dumping exercise is well along, expect to see the COMEX shut down, to have the Gold price go dark, for the lawsuits to line up. The COMEX has no alternative, since it will be completely and totally empty of gold. No market can continue without inventory, no matter how corrupt, no matter how powerful the bankers are, no matter what military intimidates its detractors, opponents, and enemies. Going dark is a necessary step for the release of the Gold price to truly high honest levels. It must pass through a climax storm.
As the cited channels start to flow USTBonds back to sender in London and New York, the Gold price will make great upward strides and eventually zoom out of control to the upside. The corrupt COMEX price is absolutely no indication of the Gold market right here and right now. USTreasury Bonds will be converted into Gold bullion. The process has already begun. The channels are being constructed. The flow will be tremendous, like Uncle Sam tied to a morgue table, with tubes connected to all major arteries and veins. He will be drained dry, converted into a desiccated corpse. On the floor where vats of blood will be collected, the conversion to Gold will be sudden and impressive. Opening one's eyes to the greatest Paradigm Shift in the last two centuries will be the next big megatrend, the big act. Gold will find its way in discontinuous jumps to the $7000 per ounce price. The Gold Trade Settlement platforms assure the higher price, already agreed upon in the grand reset. All is aligned, including the secretive imprisonment of 6000 bankers. Justice might not come, but they will be removed.
Jim Willie CB, editor of the "HAT TRICK LETTER"
From subscribers and readers:
At least 30 recently on correct forecasts regarding the bailout parade, numerous nationalization deals such as for Fannie Mae and the grand Mortgage Rescue.
"After first reading the Hat Trick letter a few years ago, I was amazed at Jim Willie's prophetic calls concerning the economic forgery and corruption worldwide. His knowledge, coupled with his worldwide contacts and gutsy fortitude to call out and expose the evil criminal bankers, and to expose the lying US government, forced me to become a subscriber. I have no plans to cancel. Willie's work creates an anticipated excitement for new reports issued in the middle of the month."
(JeffH in Virginia)
"I have been a Hat Trick subscriber since 2005. I consider your publication beyond excellent. It is indispensable to understanding the mega-trends of the past such as the housing bust, bank insolvency, monstrous US Government $trillion debt, the Fed's QE to infinity with no feasible exit strategy, and more. Essentially, your analysis exposes and documents the massive corruption ruining the future of young and old alike in America. A simple thank you is really not sufficient to express my deep appreciation of the time and effort you put into the Hat Trick Letters."
(ElaineW in California)
"A Paradigm change is occurring for sure. Your reports and analysis are historic documents, allowing future generations to have an accurate account of what and why things went wrong so badly. There is no other written account that strings things along on the timeline, as your writings do. I share them with a handful of incredibly influential people whose decisions are greatly impacted by having the information in the Jackass format. The system is coming apart on such a mega scale that it is difficult to wrap one's head around where all this will end. But then, the universe strives for equilibrium and all will eventually balance out."
(The Voice, a European gold trader source)
Jim Willie CB is a statistical analyst in marketing research and retail forecasting. He holds a PhD in Statistics. His career has stretched over 25 years. He aspires to thrive in the financial editor world, unencumbered by the limitations of economic credentials. Visit his free website to find articles from topflight authors at www.GoldenJackass.com. For personal questions about subscriptions, contact him at email@example.com
subscribe: Hat Trick Letter
Use the above link to subscribe to the paid research reports, which include coverage of critically important factors at work during the ongoing panicky attempt to sustain an unsustainable system burdened by numerous imbalances aggravated by global village forces. An historically unprecedented mess has been created by compromised central bankers and inept economic advisors, whose interference has irreversibly altered and damaged the world financial system, urgently pushed after the removed anchor of money to gold. Analysis features Gold, Crude Oil, USDollar, Treasury bonds, and inter-market dynamics with the US Economy and US Federal Reserve monetary policy.


text:
Shopping Cart
0 item ($0.00)
$50 more for free shipping* Contiguous U.S.
This privacy policy sets out how "[Seavenger.com]" uses and protects any information that you give "[Seavenger.com]" when you use this website.
"[Seavenger.com]" is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
"[Seavenger.com]" may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.
This policy is effective from [01/01/2009].
We may collect the following information:
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
Protecting your order information is one of our highest priorities. Seavenger.com makes every effort to protect your online order information by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, an encryption technology that works with Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer and AOL's browser so that your personal information cannot be read as the information travels over the Internet.
The checkout and confirmation areas of Seavenger.com are secured using SSL technology. This technology is the most advanced security technology available today and ensures that your credit card number and personal data are never sent over the Internet unencrypted.
Once we receive your credit card information, its first digit and last four digits are immediately securely stored in its encrypted form in our data center.
Your credit card number is never displayed on our site - only the first digit and last four digits will ever be shown. Therefore, we believe you can have full confidence in the security of your transactions while shopping at Seavenger.com.
Seavenger.com representatives only have access to the first digit and last four digits of your credit card number, and its expiration date.
Shopping and buying online with your credit card is actually statistically more secure than using it in a department store. In addition to this level of security provided by SSL technology, only your first digit and last four digits of credit card numbers are stored in our server.
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Who Is the Most Unemployed? Factors Affecting Joblessness
First Quarter 2012
The unemployment effects of the 2007–09 recession were similar to those of a rainstorm, according to "Who Is the Most Unemployed? Factors Affecting Joblessness," an article featured in the first quarter 2012 issue of EconSouth.
As staff writer Lela Somoza explains, like a rainstorm, the effects were not evenly distributed. "Some people got a little wet, and others got caught in a downpour—without their umbrellas."
The article details some of the demographic groups that were hardest hit by the most recent recession and looks at how they have fared in the recovery. Among the most high-profile demographic groups hit by the recession were men, who accounted for about three-quarters of job losses during the downturn.
Despite the deluge of stories chronicling the plight of men in the recession, it wasn't a rare phenomenon. Indeed, men have experienced higher rates of unemployment during or immediately following recessions since the early 1980s, Somoza writes.
The recovery has been somewhat of a different story, however. Since the recession ended in June 2009, women have actually been losing jobs. Citing a study by the Pew Research Center, Somoza notes that the current recovery is the first since the 1970s in which the unemployment rate for women rose while the rate for men declined.
To learn more about how other demographic groups have fared in the recovery, read the full story in the first quarter issue of EconSouth, available in print or online.


text:
We'll help you find the right solution for your needs
Does this sound like your topic?
Compare Probate attorneys near you. Read reviews, see Avvo Ratings, and contact them directly.
Tell us what kind of legal help you need and get quotes from local lawyers.
Tell us what kind of legal help you need and local available attorney will contact you.
Connect your case with local attorneys who are qualified to help you.
Every legal need is unique; describe yours and find a lawyer that fits you and your case.
4.5 stars 2 reviews
Avvo Rating: 6.8
I graduated from law school 7 years ago. After law school I moved from California to Austin, Texas. I did not have a plan other than to take the bar, but I embraced the adventure of not knowing and took a leap. That leap has taken me places I n...
Practice areas: Probate, Family, Business, Criminal Defense, Real Estate
Get the legal help you need at a fixed price. No hidden fees or long-term commitment.
Probate is the legal process used to carry out a person's will after their death; a probate attorney advises you on how to perform the steps in the process. In general, once you have identified and collected the dead person's belongings, including their money, property, and other assets, you pay the person's debts and taxes. Once all debts have been paid, you distribute their money and property according to the language of the will. If there is no will, the laws of the state where the dead person lived control how the property is distributed. A probate attorney helps you plan what happens to your property when you die, as they can probate wills and act as your probate court estate representative. A probate attorney also represents family members and beneficiaries wishing to challenge wills.


text:
Sick and Wrong Ch. 01byGoldeniangel©
Author's note: the title of this series says it all, this is a sick series, it's going to have non-consent, lots of anal, fetishes, spankings, revenges, cheating... it's a girl gone wrong and she's taking a lot of people with her. It's not at all meant to be realistic, and it's a twisted and sick type of fantasy. Read at your own risk... but I hope those who do read enjoy. =)
Priscilla was an interesting kind of girl. Sweet and innocent on the outside, a good neighbor, graduated from College with honors, got a new job as a secretary in a law firm, only dated good boys...
But deep down she had lots of nasty sexual secrets. There were two sides to Priscilla - well maybe even three. The good girl that everyone saw on the outside, and then her nasty sexual side. Although her sexual side had two parts too; she was incredibly dominant towards women, although she had sex with women she'd never eaten another woman out or even fingered another woman. She used toys on them, sexually tortured them... sometimes even got off on raping them. But then there was her other side, her side towards men. Priscilla liked to be dominated by men, have them take control of her and degrade her and sexually torture her.
It was an odd combination and she was well-aware that she was probably sick, perverted, and degenerate, but at the same time she couldn't quite bring herself to care enough to do something about it. No one knew, and sometimes she wondered if she would care if they did. There was definitely a part of her that wanted to shock all her neighbors, family and friends with the truth of her life...
She never did though. Partially because, even though the couple of rapes that she'd been involved in had never been reported, someone might realize. After all, she'd actually had sex with one or two of her friends when they'd been under the influence of one drug or another that she'd slipped into their drink. And so she said nothing, just going about her daily routine and indulging in sexual perversions at night.
Right now she was indulging in being submissive. Tied down to her own bed, her body was stretched out in a large X, face down with some pillows under her hips to keep her gorgeous ass in the air. She screamed as the heavy hand came down on her poor ass again, but no sound actually came out because her mouth was filled with a penis-shaped gag that had been stifling her screams and shrieks for the past twenty minutes. Justin was one of her favorite fuck-buddies, he was harsh and demanding and he never let her get away with the little power games she liked to play. Whenever she stepped even just a toe out of line she was punished harshly, and that was just what she needed tonight...
Writhing as her ass burned a fiery red, tears streaming down her face, she was engulfed with lust, wishing that he would push his dick into her and fuck her hard, slamming his body against her bruised cheeks. More slaps against her tortured ass, and she screamed with ecstatic pain, her back arching as she sobbed and struggled.
"You know Priscilla," Justin's voice was very deep, controlling... he could lull her into relaxing just by talking to her although she constantly tried to keep up her guard. It was when she relaxed that he always struck, "I'm getting very tired of these silly games you play. It'd be much easier if you just begged for a punishment. I expect to be obeyed, especially when you are the one who calls ME. I think we're going to have to teach you a lesson."
There was a lot of shifting behind her, making Priscilla feel quite panicked because she had no idea what he was doing. Usually he showed her whatever instrument of exquisite torture he was going to use on her, liking the way her imagination would play with her before he even touched her with it. Now she couldn't see a single thing.
His large dick pressed up against her asshole, his large beautiful dick. It was one of the many reasons she loved playing with him so much, he had one of the biggest dicks she'd ever experienced. And damn did he know how to use it... Pain lanced through her as he began to push in, and she jumped with surprise, it hurt BAD, much worse than usual and she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't as if they hadn't had anal sex before, and while she didn't do it often it had never hurt this bad before.
Tears sprang to her eyes as his head popped in, her ass dryly clenching down on the painful invasion... that was it, 'dryly'! He wasn't using lube!
Priscilla panicked and began struggling... he'd tear her apart! Especially the way that Justin liked to fuck, hard and uncompromising, his dick thrusting in and out with abandon! He chuckled, leaning forward and making her squeal with pain as her dry ass was forced to accept another inch of his thick meat.
"Figured out what your punishment is have we?" he asked, reaching around to pinch her nipples, making her buck backwards which had the added effect of her shoving more of his dick up her ass without him moving at all. She shuddered and squealed, trying to move back forwards, but he followed and pressed even deeper.
Priscilla squealed and sobbed as his dick scraped against the dry walls of her ass... it hurt so bad, he hadn't used any lube at all and it felt like the outside of her asshole was caving in as he pressed deeper. Finally he pulled out a little and she was able to relax somewhat, but then he gave a stabbing thrust and was finally buried balls deep as she writhed and screamed, her ass burning. Holding himself inside her, Justin continued to torture her nipples with his fingers, making her burn both inside and out.
"You're such a dirty bad girl," he whispered in her ear, "You need to be punished and no one knows it..."
She squirmed uncomfortably as his full weight was rested on top of her, boring into her poor abused asshole. A sharp jab made her squeal and buck, although really that just gave him more pleasure as her ass pressed against him; he laughed mockingly. Priscilla felt almost dizzy with lust... it had been so long since someone had really been able to challenge her, really been able to take her and degrade her the way she wanted. Justin was amazing, she could actually feel her body submitting to him.
He could too, as soon as he felt her acceptance of his dominance over her, he began pumping in and out of her ass, moving one of his hands off her sore nipple and down to her pussy where he began toying with her clit as he fucked her. The bound girl moaned, starting to move with him despite the burning in her ass, the pleasure in her pussy more than made up for it. The pain was making her so horny, and she knew he was taking pleasure in the fact that she was enjoying herself despite his rape of her tender asshole. It turned him on immeasurably that she was able to take pain and turn it into her own special pleasure.
Riding her ass hard, he pinched at her clit, twisting it and making her back ache in reaction, her tight ass ripping around his thrusting dick. Priscilla felt like he was taking her over, his dick huge and swollen inside her asshole, demanding pleasure. Shuddering as he gave her clit a particularly vicious pinch, her ass clenched down on him and suddenly she was cumming, screaming as waves of pleasure swept over her.
Throughout it all he kept moving in and out of her ass, the painful ecstasy driving her higher as her body shuddered and jerked against the ropes. Priscilla screamed as the pain overcame the pleasure, he was ignoring her now and just reaming her ass out, she'd gotten hers and now it was time for him to get his. And more than anything, he took pleasure in her struggles and her torment... and of course it just turned her on more that he was fucking her ass with abandon, although she was sobbing she could feel another orgasm building deep in her bowels. Her ass shuddered around him, increasing the pain as she clenched down and he pushed through, his hands on her hips and slamming into her brutalized hole.
She howled as her second, more painful, orgasm began, her tight ass clenching down hard on him and increasing the stimulation for both of them. Three more brutal thrusts and he buried himself inside her with force that knocked the breath out of her; her grip on his dick was so tight that she could actually feel him pulsing against the ring of her tight hole as his cum sped through his dick on its journey into her ass. Sobbing, she sagged underneath him, her body accepting the load that he was delivering into her, still rippling around him as he finished cumming.
They lay there for a few minutes, both of them just panting, and then he gathered himself together and pulled away. She squealed as his dick popped out of her ass, new tears springing to her eyes. Justin sat back and admired her raw, reddened asshole. Just enough force to really hurt without tearing her up... perfect.
Although he untied her, he made her keep the gag in her mouth as they went to the shower. Smiling, he tapped her pink butt... she would need it. He planned on raping her ass again as soon as they were all wet and slippery... and that was going to hurt.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Recent
There are no recent comments (4 older comments) - Click here to add a comment to this story or Show more comments or Read All User Comments (4)
- Add a
- Send
Send private anonymous feedback to the author (click here to post a public comment instead).


text:
3 Recommendations
jamiem's recommendation
Summer is around the corner and white is the new black. If you're not up for stark white, try playing with a softer ivory. This beaded dress from Karen Zambos Vintage Couture is gorgeous - wear as is, or belted a la Kate Moss.
SeaMonkeyGirl's recommendation
Great little dress that looks really great with a belt
My Collections:
jenny4444's recommendation
Amazing little dress
My Collections:


text:
Vacations, Reunions, Retreats
Double T River Ranch is your private Montana paradise.
115 riverfront acres, 35 fluffy pillows, 16 luxurious beds
100 percent yours.
Spend your next vacation, reunion or retreat at the ranch. Enjoy the warmth of summertime listening to the quiet rhythm of the river and re-energize yourself in the winter amidst Montana's snow-covered mountains.
Click below to see why our guests are saying The Double T River Ranch is the best place you'll ever stay!


text:
Call for the best Cable TV Providers online or by phone!
Call Now To Order: 1-888-252-9455PROMO CODE: G15500
Call Now!1-888-252-9455
- Digital Cable
- High-Speed Internet
- Home Phone Service
See Offers In Your Area
Order Today
And get up to
$200** Visa® Gift Cardwhen you order a Qualifying Triple Play
Memphis Tennessee
Order cable tv, internet and phone and get the best deals and packages available. Start enjoying top Cable TV Service Providers In Memphis, Tennessee TN and get excellent and the most aggressive bargains on your budget.
Cable TV is geared for entertainment so you can sit back and enjoy. More channels, more technology, and more choices. Choose from over hundreds of channels from Cable TV's best programming packages.
Cable TV Providers in Memphis Tennessee TN
Digital cable TV providers in Memphis TN also offer broadcasting in HD, such as sports programs so you can see all the amazing sports action up close.You get digital music too, with no commercials, so you can enjoy your favorite tunes without interruption. Take your television experience to the next level, stop watching your favorite programs, and start actually experiencing them in crystal clear digital. Cable offers many services that you just can't get with Satellite, the choice is clear, go with Cable TV Service in Memphis Tennessee to save more.
Cable has some of the best channels that can be brought to you in HD. When you want to watch shows you miss or even sports, you will be happy with the quality of high definition.Cable has three great services they offer at one low monthly price. They are also Americans most favorite enhanced fiber optic network for Television, phone and Internet. They have free High Definition access and give all their customers free equipment during the term of their agreement.
Bundle your favorite services like cable tv, internet and phone to save a bundle! fin out more about the best deals on Cable TV Service in Memphis Tennessee TN. With cable, you can get special features, such as On Demand, music channels, family programming, sports broadcasts, movies, and more! If you want to get the best deal on Cable TV Service Providers in Memphis then you will need to order right now.
There are a variety of plans and packages each with their own specials to fit your needs. After that you are ready to make your purchase and enjoy one monthly bill that will save you money. Because Cable doesn't use satellites you don't have to worry that a storm is going to hit and knock the signal out on a movie you may be recording or watching. This happens a lot when it rains and snows with companies that use satellite because they have a dish and when something gets between the dish and the signal it gets lost and has to reset itself.
Most Popular Packages
Phone + Internet
- Over 80 channels
- High-Speed Internet up to 12Mbps
- Unlimited local & long distance calling
TV + Internet
- Get 6,000 + movies On Demand
- Best channel packages available
- Up to 8 Mbps FAST for music/video
Get Started Now
Order By Phone:1-888-252-9455 Open 24/7 - Promo Code 15500


text:
Morning Round-Up: Thursday 10 January
Delhi gang rape lawyer says 'no respectable woman' would be… Read more »
Delhi gang rape lawyer says 'no respectable woman' would be… Read more »
Posters of offensive messages on Twitter or Facebook less likely… Read more »
No. 10 said to be looking for a judge after… Read more »
Clifford Chance accounts reveal bumper pay of management committee [The… Read more »
How barrister-to-be gave a group of disruptive children one last… Read more »
Divorce? No, this lawyer v lawyer spat was an Armageddon… Read more »
Newcastle University law student Pippa Darlington killed in Morocco car… Read more »
Pinsent Masons solicitor who put trainee in a headlock after… Read more »
Katie Holmes 'mystery man' named as her lawyer – Digital… Read more »
The pressure is on as GDL exams near, but the… Read more »
Murdoch sends in his top lawyer to stop Sun scandal… Read more »
Occupy London protesters to learn eviction verdict – The Guardian… Read more »
Follow @DiaryofaGDL Huffington Post columnist David Woodall wonders what will… Read more »
Follow @DiaryofaGDL GDL student David Woodall isn't convinced all work… Read more »


text:
You Design
Choose the shape. Choose the color. Let your inner designer out to create the perfect unique blend that is all you.
Our name derives from the Bauhaus movement and its influences on modernist architecture and modern design. As second-generation ceramicists, our unique products come from within. We are artisans making handcrafted ceramic tile at our studio in Portland, Oregon.


text:
Member Since: September 20, 2012
Country: United States
Just got mine direct from LulzBot. If I had known SFE was getting it, I would've gotten it from here. : /
That's an interesting observation.
I don't see why the board would not function without the external oscillator.
I'm curious to know why SFE chose to go with an external 32.768kHz crystal on this board. The SAMD21 has two 32.768kHz internal oscillators–both a 32.768kHz High Accuracy and a 32.768kHz Ultra Low Power (in additional to several other full-speed internal oscillators). Perhaps may more accuracy?
Thanks mate! Very helpful.
Google "burning arduino bootloader using arduino" or check out the Arduino site http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoISP for using Arduino as an ISP to burn a bootloader.
Yes as well as for all other AVR's. From section 6.2.1 of the 328 datasheet listed above "The device is shipped with internal RC oscillator at 8.0MHz and with the fuse CKDIV8 pro- grammed, resulting in 1.0MHz system clock."
The MCU will run at ~1.0MHz by default, however the CKDIV8 fuse bit can be cleared to run the MCU at 8.0 MHz using only the internal RC oscillator. Also note that Atmel specifies the internal oscillator to fall with +- 10% accuracy so if you need to generate a very accurate clock signal (usually for UART transmission), an external crystal may be required.
No public wish lists :(


text:
Safe Jackpoints - Definitive Answer???
View Single Post
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: taking a ride with my best friend.
Posts: 386
My Ride: 2001 325Ci
View My Garage
Then start lifting by the inside jack, and take the one that's on the rubber jack point out. Put it on the other side, and there should be enough room to get it under the frame rail by now. Notice the cut-up two-by-fours I use as pads.
Jack each side up a little bit. Two or three pumps at a time, then go to the other side. Repeat until the front of the car is high enough to put your jack stands under the rubber jack points.
Lower the car onto the jack stands. Now we need to lift the back. Again, my car is kinda low, so I lift from the rubber jack pad on one side...
... so I can slide the second jack under the back of the car.
Put this jack under the heavy frame rail in front of the differential. Don't lift by the differential itself. We've all heard the stories about how weak the body is there.
View Public Profile
Find more threads by r0x
Find More Posts by r0x
Visit r0x's homepage!
Leave feedback for r0x (0)


text:
Georgia Sets TD Record In 45-14 Win Over GSU
Nov. 17, 2012
ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs set a new school record for touchdowns in a season in Saturday's 45-14 win over in-state rival Georgia Southern at Sanford Stadium. Aaron Murray's pass to receiver Chris Conley late in the third quarter gave the Bulldogs their 55th TD of the year - breaking the record of 54 attained in both the 1942 and 2011 seasons.
The Bulldogs improve to 10-1 on the season heading into next week's regular-season finale vs. another Peach State rival, Georgia Tech, Nov. 24 at noon. Georgia today reached the 10-win plateau for the 20th time in school history, doing so in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.
The Bulldogs posted 474 yards of total offense on the afternoon, including 354 through the air as Murray went 18-for-28 for 330 yards and four touchdowns. Parker Welch came in for Murray in the fourth quarter and threw his first career score to redshirt freshman Justin Scott-Wesley, who earned his first career touchdown on the play as well. Georgia got 15 carries for 68 yards from freshman Todd Gurley, who had one touchdown. Classmate Keith Marshall added seven carries for 29 yards. On the receiving end, Conley pulled in four catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns, while tight end Arthur Lynch and receiver Tavarres King each had three catches. King and Malcolm Mitchell each had touchdowns on the day.
Defensively, Alec Ogletree led the way with 12 tackles, including one for loss. Christian Robinson had nine, while Garrison Smith and Shawn Williams each posted seven.
On the opening drive of the game, the Bulldogs got rolling as Murray found Lynch for a 49-yard gain that brought Georgia down to the Georgia Southern 29 yard line. Murray found his tight end a second time, this time for a 15-yard gain, to get to the 14. Then on first and goal, Murray appeared to scramble in for the touchdown, but the play was reviewed and brought back as it was ruled that his knee was down. But on the next play, the rookie Gurley broke into the end zone and this time it stood up, as the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead following the extra point with 11:21 on the clock in the first quarter, which is where it remained at the close of the first quarter.
The Eagles knotted things up at 7-7 early in the second quarter on a one-yard run for quarterback Jerick McKinnon with 11:53 to go in the period.
On Georgia's next drive Gurley surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the season, ultimately setting up a Marshall Morgan 37-yard field goal with 6:25 to play in the first half that made it 10-7.
The Bulldogs closed the first half strong, as Murray mixed up his options to find King and Jay Rome on consecutive throws to get down into GSU territory, before completing a 24-yard pass to Mitchell in the end zone to make it 17-7 at the end of the half.
Conley got in on the action with 8:51 on the clock in the third quarter as Murray found the sophomore for the 13-yard touchdown as Georgia went up 24-7 following the extra point. The defense also came out hot to start the second, forcing consecutive three-and-outs on Georgia Southern's first two possessions.
Georgia went up 31-7 when Murray found a streaking King for the 43-yard completion and the score with 5:07 remaining in the third, and Conley tacked on his second of the game as he reeled in the 33-yarder with 2:39 left to push the home team's lead to 38-7 - marking the school-record setting 55th Georgia touchdown of the season.
GSU added their second touchdown of the day as McKinnon ran in it 23 yards with 6:41 remaining in the game, making it 38-14, but the Bulldogs weren't finished, as Welch capped a solid drive with the touchdown pass to Scott-Wesley with 3:13 remaining - increasing the school-record season touchdown total to 56 and giving both players their first career scores on the play as Georgia wrapped up the victory, 45-14.
Georgia moves to 5-0 all-time vs. the Eagles, all of those meetings coming in Athens. GSU dropped to 8-3 on the season with today's loss.
The Bulldogs will conclude the 2012 regular season and home slate next Saturday, Nov. 24 vs. Georgia Tech at 12 p.m. in Sanford Stadium.
- Video Player
- On Demand Videos
- TV Shows
- Audio - Listen for Free
- Radio Shows
- Reminder: No subscription required to view On-Demand Videos on GeorgiaDogs.com.
- Bulldog Network Affiliates
- Men's Sports
- Women's Sports
- Tickets
- Ticket Home Page
- Student Tickets Information
- Buy Tickets Online
- Student Ticket Request
- Online Promo Codes
- Football Ticket Cutoff Scores 2017
- Student Ticket Donation
- Wheelchair Accessible Seating
- Faculty Staff Tickets
- Player Guest Tickets
- Ticket Transfer/Donation
- Group Tickets
Bulldog Club
- Bulldog Club
- Bulldog Club Home
- Football Skysuites
- About the Club
- Football Priority Seating
- Donate Online
- Football Ticket Cutoff Scores
- Request Fund Information
- Georgia vs. Florida
- Hospitality
- The Magill Society
- Campaigns
- Contact the Club
- Facilities
- Sanford Stadium
- Turner Softball Field
- Butts Mehre Heritage Hall
- Turner Soccer Complex
- Stegeman Coliseum: MBB | WBB | GYM
- Volleyball Arena
- Foley Field
- Magill Tennis Complex
- Indoor Athletic Facility
- Sanford West End Zone Live Cam
- Stegeman Coliseum Live Cam
- Current Renovations
- All Facilities
- Georgia Recruiting
- Recruiting Central
- Facilities
- Recruiting Forms
- UGA Visitors Center
- UGA Admissions
- Campus Maps
- Directions
- Shop
- Things to Do
- Visiting Athens
- Game Promotions
- Campus Maps
- Fan Contests
- Driving Directions
- Autograph
- Charitable Requests
- Scoreboard Greetings
- Tailgating Policies
- Camps/Clinics


text:
Turn ordinary Popsicle sticks into a cute craft for kiddos with these Pumpkin Popsicle Stick Door Hangers. A fun and easy […]
No-Sew Thing 1 and Thing 2 Shirts
Need a quick costume? Try this no-sew method to create Dr. Seuss Thing 1 & Thing 2 shirts for kids. […]
Monster Footprint Art
Use construction paper, buttons, or any other art materials to turn your footprints into fun monsters. So much room for […]
Bookcase Dollhouse
You'll have so much fun making a dollhouse out of a basic bookcase! There is so much room for creativity. […]
Batman Wrist Cuffs
Calling all superhero fans! These super easy and inexpensive wrist cuffs come with a printable logo.
Fishtail Rubber Band Bracelet
Make this cool rubber band bracelet with your fingers – no loom required! A great project for travel.
Halloween Countdown Pumpkin
Make the countdown to Halloween fun with this cute pumpkin craft! An excellent craft for little ones who just can't wait […]
Mummy Treat Boxes
Use empty cardboard tubes to make cute mummies that are perfect for Halloween parties. They are fun and easy to make.
Crafty Recipe: Cooked Playdough
Follow the recipe to make your own cooked playdough. This fun dough is long-lasting, non-toxic, and inexpensive to make.
Polka Dot Chocolate Semifreddo
This cute dessert looks difficult to make, but it couldn't be easier! A fun treat for kids to make and […]
Pretty in Pink Pancakes
Pancake art is so much fun! These pretty-in-pink pancakes would make any morning extra special.
Denim Lunch Bag
Turn worn-out blue jeans into a cute personalized lunch bag. This is very easy to make and is an excellent […]
Jack O' Lantern Door Hanger
Recycle canning lids and bands and turn them into this fun and festive door decoration that can stay up all […]
Concrete Drawer Pulls
Create totally unique drawer pulls that perfectly fit your child's personality and sense of style. They are easy to make […]
Spooky Egg Carton Bat Decoration
Have a spook-tactular time making these egg carton bats with your kids this Halloween. It's a fun and easy craft […]
No-Sew Felt Scarecrow Hat
This cute felt scarecrow hat is easy to make and requires no sewing! A fun outfit for Halloween or for […]
Mason Jar Football Centerpiece
These easy-to-make centerpieces are perfect for kids' football teams or for the party you're having for the big game!
Spooky Spider Handprint Art
Create an adorable set of spooky Halloween spiders using your children's handprints. Kids will love making this messy craft.
Yarn Necklace
It only takes about five minutes to make this inexpensive no-sew necklace. So easy and so cute!
Superhero Cape
Turn your little one into a superhero with this simple tutorial. All you need are scissors, the printable, a T-shirt and […]
Pumpkin-Inspired Deviled Eggs
These cute little deviled eggs would be a huge hit at any fall gathering. They're so easy to make and […]
200+ Paper Plate Crafts
Kids love to make paper plate crafts, and we've collected over 200 ideas for them to choose from! So grab […]
Sharpie Art on Plate
Capture your kids' drawings, doodles and art on a plate. What a wonderful keepsake!
Doll-Size Dance Bag
Make a no-sew tutu-inspired dance bag for your American Girls Dolls. It's easy and fun with lots of creative possibilities.
Pumpkin-Shaped Rice Ball
This fun rice ball is a delicious alternative to sugary foods. It's so easy to make and perfect for fall.
Scrap Paper Yak
Use up scraps and celebrate Y Week with this cute yak project. Lots of room for creativity!
Printable Superhero Masks
Make printable superhero masks for pennies with cardstock! It takes only a few minutes to print, cut and tie ribbon […]
Game Day Football Brownies
Make everyone smile with football brownies for the big game! Kids and adults will love making and eating them.
Balloon Print Apples
Draw a basket then use a balloon to print apples! This fun and easy activity is perfect for fall. The […]
Monster Handprint and Footprint Art
Kids will love turning their handprints and footprints into cool monsters. This is such a fun project for Halloween time!
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- …
- 297
- Next Page »


text:
After seeing renderings last week of proposals for the exterior of the new Wayne County Public Library, some community officials are offering alternative plans on how to proceed and one architect has offered to donate his services.
Sandra Hull, executive director of Main Street Wooster Inc., said she would like to see the entire process slowed down and expert advice sought.
Cleveland-based architect David Krebs, who is working with Medina developer Mike Rose on several projects in downtown Wooster, has offered to do preliminary plans of the exterior and interior of the proposed library free of charge to give the trustees an alternative.
"In the back of my mind I always had an idea of what it would be like if it came up," said Krebs. He said he plans to do preliminary sketches as an "exercise" for himself and three or four other architects in his office.
Krebs said he would usually charge $15,000-$20,000 for this service but because of his involvement in several projects in downtown Wooster, he is willing to contribute his services.
"(Wooster) is a city that has everything going for it and in our opinion has the potential to explode as a downtown," said Krebs, who serves on the American Institute of Architects' Urban Design Committee. He said the library is important because it will be an "urban attracter" to the downtown area.
Though Krebs is making a generous offer by some standards, it may not receive a warm welcome by the library or its board of trustees.
"I am not sure if 'helpful' is the word I would use to describe an exercise of this nature," said library director Pam Hickson-Stevenson.
"Certainly it's a free country and if there is an architect out there who wants to do something like that it's certainly his prerogative."
Hickson-Stevenson stressed, however, although suggestions of any nature concerning the library's design would be heard by the board of trustees, the board is legally required to work with its current architectural firm, MKC.
If that firm is dismissed for any reason, she said, the library board would be required to contract with the second and third choice firms that bid on the project.
"We aren't questioning other architects' views on what they are proposing, that's not our goal," Krebs said.
Hull suggested some other community members, such as The College of Wooster library director Damon Hickey, be asked to become involved in the project.
"I would be happy to do whatever I can to help in the process," said Hickey, who has been involved in three library building projects and is co-authoring a book on the subject. He said he was contacted by library Trustee Nancy Walton to become a member of a potential citizen advisory board but that the proposed board has been voted down several times by the trustees.
Hickey said in his opinion "a couple steps have been skipped" in the construction process, such as hiring a certified library building consultant as an outside expert to go over ideas with the library staff.
Hickson-Stevenson said although decisions concerning construction ultimately will be made by the trustees, the policy is to accept all public comment on the matter as the trustees have done since the process began four years ago.
She said if a delay is what is needed, the library will delay the project.
"We want to do the best job we can possibly do. ... Our goal is to always do what's best," she said.
Hull said further delay and input from the public is needed because of the importance of the building to downtown Wooster.
The downtown area is a "cornerstone" for the community and the library will be an "integral" part of the area, she said.
"I don't think some of these library trustees have built a public building (before)," said Hull. "The building is going to last for the next 50 to 75 years and be an icon of downtown Wooster."