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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Successful Culture + Successful Conduct = Strong National Economy

Successful Culture + Successful Conduct = Strong National Economy. What have the former "giant nations" lost? http://bit.ly/Growth101 #news



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Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.
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Thursday, October 21, 2010

China Is Making The Rare Earth Elements Rarer - This Is The Furtherance Of An Expanding (And Expansionist) Trend.



China Is Making The Rare Earth Elements Rarer - This Is The Furtherance Of An Expanding (And Expansionist) Trend

Dear Friends:

As Delilah is said to have replied to Sam(p)son [the "p" is silent] when he asked why she had betrayed him with a nefarious nocturnal crewcut (knowing full well that his long locks were the source of his strength), "Darling, how could you have given me such great power and expected me not to use it?"

He probably knew by her response that 1) they would not be "an item" for very long, and 2) that when you give people power (in this case, telling her the secret source of his legendary strength), they will generally make use of it -- if not for some evil end, just for the sake of experimentation.

The Chinese have had their growing economic and political power reaffirmed publicly by the global community, just as the other members of the global community are confessing to one another (with China listening but trying not to smile) about all of their economic problems, areas of need, fears and shortages. China is, as one might expect, is feeling the exhilaration of acknowledged power and is flexing its muscles internationally. This is a typical and traditional show of power.

Recently, as it has become increasingly apparent that the Rare Earth Elements are growing in demand and shrinking in supply, China has exploited this information by curtailing its exports of REEs to Japan, and by quietly but steadily closing off the spigot of supply to Europe and to the United States.

The result will likely be an rapidly growing increase in the value and pricing of the Rare Earth Elements (learn more about them at http://ThoriumEnergyInc.blogspot.com) and a growing international hostility (actually a combination of envy of China's fiscal health and resentment of the dependency on the part of so many nations upon China's consumerism and resources).

Expect further chest-thumping on the part of China, and growing fear, insecurity and resentment of China by its G-20 counterparts. We are headed for the Global domination of the World by China during the course of the next several years. And of course, the more dominant the Chinese become the more they will be hated.

This makes me nostalgic for the early 1990s in the United States.

In the longer-term, China will likely push hard enough to inspire some productive reform in the economies of the other "once great" nations; but until that time, expect a great deal of business to be centered about China (out of temporary necessity), but for an almost palpable bitterness toward the country and its culture.

It's lonely at the top.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle for THE GLOBAL FUTURIST at http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com

p.s.  A news story from The New York Times follows:
October 19, 2010

China Said to Widen Its Embargo of Minerals

By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted some shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said this week.
The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further intensify already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese leaders are willing to use their growing economic muscle.
“The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities.
They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader restrictions on Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official summoned international news media Sunday night to denounce United States trade actions.
China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of products as diverse as cellphones, large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies.
China experts said on Tuesday that Beijing’s assertive stance on rare earths might also signal the ascendance of economic nationalists, noting that the Central Committee of the Communist Party convened over the weekend.
A few rare earth shipments to the West have been delayed by customs officials in recent weeks, said industry officials in China, Japan and the United States. But new restrictions on exports appear to have been imposed on Monday morning.
Industry executives said there had been no signal from Beijing of how long rare earth shipments intended for the West would be held by Chinese customs officials. A few shipments are still being allowed out of the country for reasons that remain unclear: a fourth rare earth industry official said on Wednesday that one of the 32 authorized rare earth exporters in China had been allowed to export one container of rare earths to the West on Tuesday and hoped to be allowed to ship another on Thursday.
China’s official stance remained unclear on Wednesday. In an apparent reference to a report on Tuesday in the official China Daily newspaper, the commerce ministry said the report, predicting a decline of up to 30 percent in rare earth export quotas next year, was “totally groundless and purely false,” and added that no decision had been made yet on future quotas.
Without mentioning whether customs officials were interfering with statements to the West this week, the statement also said that, “China will continue to export rare earth to the world, and at the same time, in order to conserve exhaustible resources and maintain sustainable development, China will also continue imposing relevant restrictions on the mining, manufacture and export of rare earths.”
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday that an unidentified diplomatic source in Beijing had said that rare earth shipments to the United States and Europe were being held up by customs officials for tighter inspections, one of the explanations that customs officials have also given in blocking shipments to Japan for the past month. But John Clancy, the trade spokesman for the European Commission, said in a statement on Wednesday that, “at this time, we cannot confirm claims made by European industry officials in media reports of China blocking rare-earth shipments to the” European Union.
The signals of a tougher Chinese trade stance come after American trade officials announced on Friday that they would investigate whether China was violating World Trade Organization rules by subsidizing its clean energy exports and limiting clean energy imports. The inquiry includes whether China’s steady reductions in rare earth export quotas since 2005, along with steep export taxes on rare earths, are illegal attempts to force multinational companies to produce more of their high-technology goods in China.
Despite a widely confirmed suspension of rare earth shipments from China to Japan, now nearly a month old, Beijing has continued to deny that any embargo exists.
Industry executives and analysts have interpreted that official denial as a way to wield an undeclared trade weapon without creating a policy trail that could make it easier for other countries to bring a case against China at the World Trade Organization.
So far, China seems to be taking a similar approach in expanding the embargo to the West.
Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said on Tuesday that the Chinese government was putting new restrictions on the mining, processing and export of rare earths to protect the environment. But he said that China was not violating any W.T.O. rules in doing so and that it was not imposing an embargo or trying to use rare earths as a bargaining chip.
“With stricter export mechanism gradually in place, outbound shipments to other countries might understandably begin to feel the effect,” Mr. Wang said in an e-mail. “But I don’t see any link between China’s reasonable rare earth export control policy and the irrational U.S. decision of protectionist nature to investigate China’s clean energy industries.”
Nefeterius Akeli McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington, said that American trade officials were looking into the matter, after a report of the Chinese customs restrictions was published on Tuesday afternoon on the Web site of The New York Times.
“We’ve seen the news report and are seeking more information in keeping with our recent announcement of an investigation into whether China’s actions and policies are consistent with W.T.O. rules.”
Jeremie Waterman, the China director of the United States Chamber of Commerce, said that he was still checking government and industry sources to learn the extent of a suspension of Chinese rare earth shipments. “If it’s true, it’s disturbing news to say the least,” he said.
Mr. Waterman said that rare earths were so important to advanced manufacturing that restrictions on their trade might need to be put on the agenda of the Group of 20 meeting of heads of state, scheduled next month in Seoul, South Korea.
The Chinese government office that oversees rare earth policy, which operated with considerable independence for many years, was moved early last year into the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That ministry, formed only two years ago to draft plans for global leadership in many industries, has emerged as a bastion of economic nationalism.
Despite their name, most rare earths are not particularly rare. But most of the industry has moved to mainland China over the last two decades because of lower costs and steeply rising demand there as clean energy industries have expanded rapidly.
Congress is considering legislation to provide loan guarantees for the re-establishment of rare earth mining and manufacturing in the United States. But new mines are likely to take three to five years to reach full production, according to industry executives, although existing uranium mines may be able to move faster by reprocessing previously mined material, which often contains rare earths.
China reduced in July its export quota for rare earths for the second half of the year by 72 percent. Exporters had only six weeks’ of quotas left when China imposed its unannounced embargo on shipments to Japan.

Hiroko Tabuchi contributed reporting from Tokyo. ####
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Douglas Castle
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Originally republished in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.The article orignally appeared in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

Friday, October 15, 2010

Rare Earth Elements Shortage Could Slow Technology Growth And Increase Prices.

The article which follows was excerpted from COMPUTERWORLD.

You're reading about it on http://ThoriumEnergyInc.blogspot.com -- an independent informational resource about Thorium and the Rare Earth Metals (REEs).
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Rare metals shortage could blunt gadget growth

By Michael Kan
October 6, 2010 07:15 AM ET
IDG News Service - Imagine a cellphone the size of a shoe. Or a laptop weighing 10 kilograms.

That's what we would be carrying around today, if not for the rare earth metals, a group of materials with unique properties that have enabled the miniaturization of electronic components including capacitors, lasers and powerful magnets.
From computer hard drives to hybrid cars, many of today's high-tech devices rely on components made with rare earth metals to properly function. But demand for those metals is beginning to outstrip supply, forcing governments and manufacturers to find new sources of raw materials.

The rare earths are a group of 17 metals including neodymium, used in magnets, and erbium, used in lasers.

Countries such as the U.S. have long possessed their own sources for rare earth metals, but despite this they have turned for their supplies to China, where mining costs have been cheaper and environmental rules more lax. This has made China the world's largest producer of rare earth metals, mining more than 90 percent of global demand, analysts say.
China's tightening control over supplies became apparent last month when media outlets reported that it had stopped exports of rare earth metals to Japan following a diplomatic spat between the two countries.

"What China's action has done is create uncertainty," said Dudley Kingsnorth, a rare earth metals expert at the Industrial Minerals Company of Australia. "Undoubtedly people will diversify their sources of supply to reduce their reliance on China. But that can't happen overnight."

Japan, a major importer of rare earth metals, is actively exploring for new sources in Canada and Australia, as well as looking into recycling old electronic devices as a way to create new supplies of the materials.

The U.S. Congress is working on legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week, to revitalize U.S. sources of rare earths. But China's dominance over the rare earths market will likely continue for the next two to three years, as manufacturing firms are forced to depend on limited supplies and dip into their stockpiles, Kingsnorth said.

Demand for the rare earths has long been expected to accelerate. Some projections suggest that demand could nearly double by 2015, with hybrid car engines and wind turbines big drivers behind the need.

Looking narrowly at costs, a shortfall in rare earth metal supplies might mean just a minimal price hike, or no increase at all, for the electronic gadgets that use them, analysts say. This is because many of these products only contain tiny quantities of rare earth metals.

"Something like a laptop computer probably only has got about 50 to 80 cents' worth of rare earth in it," Kingsnorth said. "Even if that tripled in price, it won't stop people from buying it." ####

Observation from Douglas Castle: Without these REEs, much of present and planned future technology would be impossible. The fact that REEs only constitute a small percentage of the price of technologies. If supplies should become inaccessible, or if the market were to become dominated by a handful of players/investors, The Rare Earth Elements would become more expensive per ounce than gold. Start thinking ahead.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. You should also be reading THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, at http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com

Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Please visit my new blog. If you like what you see, there's much more. Visit/ Subscribe: http://MadMarketingTactics.blogspot.com Thanks. -DC

Please visit my new blog. If you like what you see, there's much more. Visit/ Subscribe: http://MadMarketingTactics.blogspot.com Thanks. -DC



Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

What Percentage Of Your Time Do You Spend Thinking About Money? - TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9



Cousin Ruprecht always says: "I like surveys. They're fun." Sadly, he is still institutionalized, despite a notable improvement in his table manners and exceptionally high marks regarding his personal sanitation habits. (sigh). But I digress...

TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9 OPENS!

$$$...?

 

TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9: Thinking About Money...
The survey question is a very simple one but has implications which dramatically affect every single one of us, and the quality of our lives:
Q: WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR WAKING TIME (ON THE AVERAGE) DO YOU SPEND THINKING ABOUT/ WORRYING ABOUT COVERING YOUR LIVING EXPENSES AND PAYING BILLS?

Give it some serious thought before you select one answer from the choices below. Include any of those times when you may be consumed with worries about college tuition, refinancing your home mortgage, outliving your retirement funds, and the like -- in other words, any time that you are distracted by thoughts of your financial obligations.

The polls for this survey will close at midnight, Eastern Time, on November 20th, 2010.

To access the survey, click on:

The results will be posted EVERYWHERE!

p.s. To Join Us at TNNWC Group as a Member (at no charge), and to receive your free $200.00 bonus MINI-MEDIA BUZZ BLITZ, just visit
http://www.TNNWC.com. This offer may be terminated by TNNWC Group at any time.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle


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Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Trend Bulletin (09.28.2010): Consolidation, Monopolization and REAL Inflation.

TREND BULLETIN (09.28.2010): Consolidation, Monopolization and REAL Inflation
For THE GLOBAL FUTURIST and THE TNNWC DAILY NEWS FEED by Douglas Castle



[Above Illustration Courtesy of CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS]
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Dear Friends, Futurists and Entrepreneurs:

Wall Street and Washington (through the US Federal Reserve Board) tell us that their is no danger of inflation during the course of the "foreseeable future" and that key interest rates will be held stable in the absence of a threat and in order to aid in the economic recovery believed by many to be occurring within the United States.

The classical example of inflation ("Classic Inflation") is a decrease in the value of currency such that more of it is required to purchase the same goods as could be purchased with a lesser amount previously.

The picture that is frequently painted is that of some defeated man or woman pushing a bushel basket filled with paper currency (usually US dollar bills) to the supermarket in order to buy a loaf of bread.

A note of caution is in order -- a very misleading "seeming deflation" can be created in a situation where there is insufficient available income (amongst consumers) to purchase goods or services at any price. That is to say, by way of illustration, that if I am unemployed and you (an aggressive and optimistic real estate broker) are showing me a house that sold four years ago for $500,000 which is now on the market for a mere $50,000, I still won't buy it. The marketplace, driven by desperation from the "sell side" starts lowering prices in order to clear inventory, but, ironically, regardless of how low the prices fall, too few people have adequate money (due to unemployment, vanishing pensions, decimated retirement funds, and the like) to make these purchases at any price. And these prices are part of the  market basket of goods and services that the government uses in order to determine inflation.

Theoretically (or actually), a nation can be experiencing "seeming deflation" even when the average family barely has adequate funds to pay for the barest of necessities.

In fact, because of business consolidations (where giant companies buy other giant companies, as in the case of Unilever negotiating to Purchase Alberto-Culver, or Southwest Airlines negotiating to acquire or merge with AirTran), marketplace competition is being eliminated due to fewer and fewer choices, and the consuming public is being increasingly faced with sharply rising grocery costs, airfares and the like -- as the quality of goods and services declines and as actual incomes and wealth decline. The reality is that when large companies combine, many jobs are lost.

Being a simple person myself, I look at the inflation situation simply: If I have lost my job, and I don't have any money, I cannot afford to subsist regardless of how much prices fall. I actually feel the full effect of inflation (i.e., I cannot put together enough cash to pay the mortgage, pay the note on the car and to feed my family) while the government is telling me good news about how we are in a period of either deflation or stabilizing prices...I cannot afford to send my children to college, and even if they were to get massive scholarships to most universities, they would not be able to get decent entry-level (or any-level) jobs upon graduation.

The tough reality on Main Street is that REAL inflation, the kind that severely and adversely impacts consumers, is actually climbing despite that CLASSICAL inflation (an economic notion that doesn't apply when unemployment and under-employment are quite high and continuing to increase). Using numbers, if my income decreases 100%, and the price of food remains 'stable' or increases 'modestly', I feel the same effect as if I were living in an economy where hyperinflation was in the newspaper headlines.

This situation does not improve if jobs are fewer and declining, but certain specialty positions are commanding higher salaries. If the interest rates charged by banks are at an all-time low but they are not making credit available to me, I cannot afford many of the necessary things which I purchased using credit before... things like my home, my car, my appliances.

When large stores which sell durable goods are advertising plans where you can purchase something today on a "layaway plan" where no payments are required for 12 or 18 months, and afterwards you (the lucky consumer!) can pay the balance off in non-interest-bearing installments, I do not see a great opportunity or a sign of economic recovery if I do not actually anticipate the ability to be able to make the first payments when they begin in a year and a half because I don't know if I'll be employed at that time. That is the reality.

I do not need to read The Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal once the prices of the things that they quote have become irrelevant to me.

No bargain is a bargain when I do not have a job, a positive prospect for a job, or any savings.

Broke is broke.

Forecast: Over the next 18 months, anticipate the following in the US, and in its industrialized European counterparts:
  • More mergers and consolidations;
  • Fewer permanent jobs, and a decrease in "real salaries" and "real income" (unless you work for Goldman...);
  • Rising prices on necessities;
  • A continuing reduction in the availability of consumer and small business credit;
  • Marginal businesses failing at an increasing rate;
  • A decline in the number of students graduating college, and a greater portion of students (at an older median age than that which had historically been associated with college attendance);
  • An increase in taking a year or two off (to work, travel, or live off of their parents or with friends) after high-school;
  • A significant increase in trade school advertising, and in people graduating with certificates instead of degrees;
  • Fewer divorces (due to the expense); and fewer office or workplace extramarital affairs (due to the expense and the decline in workplace attendance);
  • Declines in the quality of the customer service experience;
  • Very expensive airfares;
  • The beginnings of a precipitous rise in gasoline and fossil-fuel products -- an ominous sign of both REAL and CLASSICAL inflation on the way, and impacting the prices of everything;
  • A sharp increase in the cost of healthcare and healthcare insurance;
  • An increase in the percentage of suicides amongst two groups of segments of the population -- college-aged youth and Baby Boomers;
  • An increase in crime across all categories;
  • The disappearance of an increasing number of paper publications (mostly periodicals, journals and the like).
Who will fare best during the next 18 months, given this short-run futurescape?

Those who will fare best will likely be: frugal trust-fund offspring of dynastic families; directors and executive officers of the largest corporations, especially financial, pharmaceutical and oil conglomerates; healthcare professionals; certain licensed tradespersons (plumbers, for instance); cerebrotonic computer geeks; and, of course, intrepid entrepreneurs --my favorite group of people, and my greatest hope for the future.

Where there is entrepreneurship, there is great hope. Hope is so very important.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, for

TNNWC Group, LLC (http://www.tnnwcgroup.com/) and The Global Futurist (http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/)
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Labels, Tags, Key Words and Reference Terms For This Article: unemployment, financial and investment trends, inflation,  consolidations, mergers, prices, declining real income, Real Inflation, Classical Inflation, entrepreneurship,The Global Futurist, The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, DouglasCastleBlogosphere, business plans, business planning.


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Way It Works. - Douglas Castle

The Way It Works.

Dear Friends:

The way it works ("it" being the essence of all things important in life), is not what the way we were taught. In an increasingly distraught world where established systems are rapidly de-stabilizing...in a time where we are suffering the leaden depression associated with repeated disillusionment...in a world of turbulence, spinning ever-faster and more erratically, we might just have to look at things in a new way.

It is no longer sensible to adhere to the childhood warrior philosophy of "divide and conquer."

For most of us, it is now the time to "unite and dominate." When old ways of thinking fail us, it is time to modify our approach to dealing with life.

Faithfully,

Douglas


Douglas Castle
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KEYWORD REFERENCE:
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

Rare Earth Elements and Thorium advocates. Champions of atomic and nuclear power. The only good news that I offer you today is that fact that US President Barack Obama is coming out strongly in favor of nuclear energy. Windmills, solar panels and other "green" alternatives are excellent, each in its own way. The first difficulty is the time required to convert our entire infrastructure and technological interface to utilize wind and solar power. The second is the amount of work which must be done, and the amount of time that work will take to complete, in order to produce and harness sufficient stored supplies of these types of power (think of the example of a battery) to be free of the yoke of fossil fuels and Big Oil. - Douglas Castle

"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at the precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

The article which follows was written by Douglas Castle, author and advocate of the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community (GICBC), a new form of entity based upon a collaborative paradigm of shared contribution and shared rewards which may provide a vehicle to save the fast-fading notions of democracy, government by the consent of the governed, government by and for the People, advancement based upon merit, and a form of industrious capitalism where currency is a means of exchange and store of value, but not a mountain of scrip standing between the entrenched and protected "ruling class," (a small minority of persons controlling in large part the fate of everyone) and the dispossessed, disillusioned and desperate masses who no longer experience a quality of life that gives them cause to live. Please do consider becoming a member of The National Networker Companies, an organization which is Humankind's first GICBC in the making. Become a member for free by clicking on http://twitlik.com/IN . I am honored to be the Vice-Chairman and Director of Strategic Planning for this instrument of change.

Dear Readers:

Two articles are re-printed for your information below. The first is labelled People's Exhibit A, and the second, People's Exhibit B.

The first article is the now-commonplace whining (with no actual question, answer, or opinion provided, at all -- very dry stuff, like cayenne pepper) about AIG awarding giant bonuses to a horde of unscrupulous, compunction-free gamblers who have all but stolen money from the ever-thinning wallets of the American People, and will, with great encouragement, continue to do so. The article is really just there to rile you up a bit. You'll be more receptive to Exhibit B when you are infuriated to the point of screaming until your vocal cords are bloody.

Exhibit A should get you you there. If it does not bother you, or if it makes you shrug your shoulders like Oscar Madison and say something along the lines of "So what else is new? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I'm going to get a coffee. Want some?" then don't read Exhibit B.

If what you might instead be looking at is. "How has it come to this? That here, in what used to be called 'The Land of Opportunity,' the poor, or even the middle class are no longer permitted a chance at becoming rich? That's not opportunity -- that some kind of trap. We need to pull this poisoned tree up by its roots, and plant something fresh and new in its place. The existing system is so convoluted and conflicted that trying to "fix it" is as futile as raising the dead by singing a song to a worm-riddled corpse. This has to be scrapped and replaced. This is like a 20-year old car that needs so much work every month that it would be cheaper to junk it and buy a new one...in fact, I could have bought three news ones by now with all the money I've thrown into that depreciating hunk of crap! Let's dump this vehicle and shop for something that works!"

If this reaction comes out in you, I heartily encourage you to read Exhibit B.


Message:
Author and Commentator Robert Reich is looking in the right place. Instead of complaining about "Big Government" he is concerned, and rightly so, about our shrinking Democracy. This is truly the core issue. I will be adding the Huffington Post to my Twitter resource and news update list, and I feel a blog post coming on...Google the term "GICBC."

Please stick around for the read...er....the ride.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
People's Exhibit A
Reports: AIG to pay out $100 million in bonusesAP
Wed Feb 3, 7:05 am ET

NEW YORK – American International Group Inc. is set to pay out about $100 million in a fresh round of bonuses to employees of its financial products division, the unit whose risky bets helped sink the company leading to a $180 billion government bailout, according to reports published Tuesday.
AIG agreed to cut the retention bonuses by $20 million but will still hand out $100 million Wednesday, The New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The Washington Post, also citing people familiar with the situation, said the retention payments are for employees at the division who agreed to accept 10 to 20 percent less than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are getting their money more than a month ahead of schedule.
AIG is still due to pay out tens of millions of dollars more in March, mostly to former employees who did not agree to the concessions, the Post reported.
A message was left with an AIG spokesman seeking comment.
New York-based AIG faced intense public and Congressional criticism last March when it paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in retention bonuses to employees months after receiving the government bailout.
When the credit crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the U.S. government rescued AIG from the brink of collapse in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the insurer. AIG's near collapse was not due to its traditional insurance operations, but instead risky derivatives contracts written by the financial products division. ####

People's Exhibit B

The item which follows was written by Robert Reich, and I happened to stumble upon it while glancing over the Huffington Post.

Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley. Posted: February 2, 2010 06:24 PM

Our Incredible Shrinking Democracy

A version of this column appears in the current issue of The American Prospect.

I wish conservatives would stop complaining about big government and start worrying about the real problem -- small democracy. I wish we'd all worry more about our incredible shrinking democracy.
It seems as if more and more decisions that should be made democratically are being shunted off somewhere to a few people who make them in back rooms. Which programs should be cut, which entitlements pared back, and what taxes raised in order to reduce the long-term budget deficit? Hmmm. Let's convene a commission and have them decide.
Commissions are a default mechanism when politicians want to hand off difficult issues to "experts." But reducing the long-term budget deficit has almost nothing to do with expertise. It's about our nations' values and priorities. Nothing could be more central to the democratic process.
Democracy requires at least three things: (1) Important decisions are made in the open. (2) The public and its representatives have an opportunity to debate them, so the decisions can be revised in light of what the public discovers and wants. And (3) those who make the big decisions are accountable to voters.
But these principles are in retreat, and I say this not just because of the proposed deficit commission.
The notorious Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) began with a virtual blank check from Congress. Treasury officials then secretly decided which companies were to receive hundreds of billions of dollars. Why these particular entities were chosen and not others remains a mystery. For months, the Treasury didn't even disclose the identities of the major banks that giant insurer AIG repaid with its bailout money -- 100 cents on each dollar AIG owed them.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has gone far beyond its traditional role of setting short-term interest rates. It has bought up massive amounts of debt -- mortgage debt, Treasury bills, and debt instruments emanating several public agencies, many of them supporting a wide range of private entities. No one outside the Fed knows the ultimate beneficiaries of all this government backing, the criteria used by the Fed for making these commitments, or even how much debt the Fed is buying.
Even if the economic emergency justified such secrecy -- and it's hard to see exactly why it would -- the emergency is over, and yet closed-door decision making continues. Will Treasury use what's left of TARP to help stimulate more jobs and, if so, how? Will the Fed stop buying mortgage-backed securities? No one knows.
The same pattern is evident on other issues. Congress can't decide whether or how to limit the pay of financial executives. So where does the issue end up? The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Fed both say they're going to look at whether pay levels are appropriate. The House and Senate can't agree on what to do about climate change. Who decides? The Environmental Protection Agency concludes it has authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
The debate over health-care reform looked like democratic deliberation until you realize the key negotiations that framed the deal occurred behind closed doors, between the White House and Big Pharma and Big Insurance. The Administration promised these industries some thirty million new paying customers. In return, they agreed not to oppose the plan. Big Pharma even placed a firm limit on how much it would cut its costs over the next ten years -- $80 billion, and not a penny more. How do I know this? Not because this crucial deal was made in public, but because it was leaked to the press.
Personally, I want the government to limit the pay of financial executives, regulate greenhouse gases, and reform health care. And no one wanted a financial meltdown. But I'm appalled by the process that's been used to reach these objectives.
A big piece of the problem is this: Washington is now so overrun by lobbyists representing moneyed interests that it's become almost impossible to make policy in the open. If the Treasury and Fed tried to decide publicly which industries and firms should get hundreds of billions, they'd be inundated. Wall Street lobbyists are blocking real financial reform. The energy industry has filled the House's cap-and-trade bill with special subsidies and exemptions. Big Pharma and Big Insurance would have killed off the health-care reform if they hadn't been bought off. When it comes to the long-term deficit, Congress is incapable of acting because so many special interests have their hands out.
But the answer isn't to give up on democracy. Back-room policy making can succumb to private interests just as easily as lobby-infested legislatures (much of the public suspects the Treasury of being too cozy with Wall Street as it is).
The real answer is to recommit ourselves to cleaning up democracy. Yes, I know: The Supreme Court's recent grotesque Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which decided corporations are people entitled to First Amendment protection, complicates this. But the goal is still possible to achieve with more public money for congressional and presidential candidates who refuse private funding, more constraints on lobbyists, tighter rules for who must register as a lobbyist, fuller disclosure, and tougher rules on the revolving door between public service and private gain. Yale's Bruce Ackerman recently came up with another good idea: A $50 tax credit per person, which they can send to the candidate of their choosing.
Yet nobody seems to be talking about these sorts of reforms. They don't appear on Obama's agenda. True, they don't generate lots of public excitement or appreciation, and they're murderously difficult to enact. But without them our democracy doesn't stand a chance.####

Please stay with me. Follow me on Twitter, The National Networker, Linked In, the blog reviewers. Don't be afraid to get in touch with me directly.  If you are as ambitious as you are angry, then we are not merely destined, but obligated, to meet. I can be emailed at DouglasCastle1@live.com.  Thanks.


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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Away Message From Douglas Castle

Away Message From Douglas Castle

Dear Friends:

I will be out of town from 18th January, and returning on 26th January. During this interval, I will not be accessing or responding to any emails, telephone messages or posting any material to blogs or social media. I look forward to being in touch with you soon after my return.

All the best, Respectfully,

Douglas Castle
Primary e-mail address:douglas.castle@yahoo.com,



Tuesday, January 5, 2010

S

Public Service Announcement:

The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention Programs. Help save a life. Learn more - http://twitlik.com/AFSP   Every life is precious. Know how to help. Know how to access emergency treatment. Always take any discussions or thoughts of suicide seriously. Don't ever leave a suicidal person alone. An hour of conversation while waiting for emergency help to arrive can make all the difference.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call for emergency treatment (there are some excellent resources at LINKS 4 LIFE), and then call a friend or family member. Keep calling until you connect. If you can't get anyone, get to a place where there are people and some activity. There's hope... and there's help. I promise.

Douglas Castle,
THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES


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