Many economists still argue that the Great Recession was just like all the others, except a bit bigger.
Here’s why they’re wrong.
Check out the number of people unemployed more than 26 weeks (expressed below as a percentage of the population).
Even if the recovery continues and the number of the long-term unemployed finally stops rising, it will likely take a decade or more for this group to shrink to normal levels.
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The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) issued a new post on their website Saturday explaining new regulations aimed at tightening both personal and working capital business loans.
Banks must set a lending quota after “prudent calculation” of borrowers’ “actual demand” and must not lend excessively,
…
Banks are also required to improve risk control after granting loans and to be aware of factors that might influence the repaying capabilities of borrowers through inspections and monitoring, the statement said.
For personal lending, the CBRC asked banks to be more sophisticated in the management of the lending process, especially on the use of the loans, according to the regulation.
Borrowers will not be able to obtain loans without declaration of a specific use, and they should meet bank representatives in person to avoid false claims, according to the CBRC.
These new regulations actually went in effect on February 12th, despite the Saturday web site release. It seems the regulator is trying to explain themselves further, or was just slow.
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See Also:
US Weekly – February 22 [here] & [here]
OK! Magazine – March 01 [here] *
Harper’s Bazaar – March 10 [here]
* Thanks to Joanna from SweetKisses.net!
For more than 50 years, a memorial wall and eternal flame have stood outside Evergreen Park American Legion Post 854.
But more than 50 years of weather have taken their toll.
The monument – a tribute to those from Evergreen Park who served in World War II, Vietnam and Korea – is literally falling apart.
Heavy bronze plaques on the monument’s front are starting to pull away from the stones behind.
Bricks and mortar at the back of the monument are shifting or flaking away. Scraps of brick and mortar lie at the base.
Rather than make patch-work repairs that might not last long, the post wants to demolish the entire monument and replace it, post Cmdr. Bob Staudacher said Friday.
“It’s deteriorating. I’ve had it patched twice. It was patched two years ago, but the bricks are really crumbling. That’s the problem,” Staudacher said.
“Water gets behind the plaques. They’re getting loose. (I want to) make sure nobody walks off with them,” Staudacher said.
Replacing the monument will cost an estimated $35,000, said Bill Murray, the post’s senior vice commander.
The post started a fund for the monument and has raised $7,000 since late last summer, Murray said.
“We have to rebuild. It’s not worth trying to repair because it’s going to keep happening,” Murray said of the deterioration.
No one is sure how old the monument is other than it was built soon after World War II, said Staudacher, 75, of Evergreen Park.
The monument originally was at 99th Street and Kedzie Avenue, the site of Evergreen Park High School. When the school was built in the 1950s, the monument was moved to outside the post, 9701 S. Kedzie Ave., Staudacher said.
The monument lists dozens of names of men and women who served in World War II. Smaller plaques are dedicated to those who served in Korea and Vietnam.
Staudacher wants the new monument to include those who served in Operation Desert Storm, or are now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new monument will likely include an eternal flame like the one that now burns night and day “except when the wind blows it out,” Staudacher said.
“Then I’ve got to light it. Really, it happens once or twice a year,” he said.
Donations have been made from people who play bingo at the post on Sundays and the general public.
Murray said one woman sent $50 and a note.
“She said she often brings visitors from out of town to see the monument. It means a lot to people,” said Murray, who lives in Chicago’s Beverly community.
Donations can be sent to Standard Bank, 7725 W. 98th St., Hickory Hills, IL 60457-9908.
Checks should be made payable to American Legion 854, with “Post 854 Memorial” written in the memo area.
The post has about 770 members, most of whom live in Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn and the city’s Mount Greenwood and Beverly communities, Staudacher said.
He and Murray hope to raise more funds in a split-the-pot raffle. Tickets are $50 each. A winner will be picked at the post’s annual picnic Aug. 29. For more information, call the post at (708) 422-9513.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Citi Investment Research's two sentiment measures continued to nose dive last week according to strategist Tobias Levkovich.
Both the 'Panic/Euphoria' model and 'Cyclical Expectations' model are now approaching their 2009 lows.
According to the firm, this implies further near-term pressure for equity markets.
Citi: Our Cyclical Expectations Model (CEM) declined further this week, suggesting the equity markets may continue to face near-term pressure.
Still, for long-term investors we'd read it another way -- U.S. stocks have shown resilience in the face of falling sentiment due to China tightening, U.S. deficit, and European sovereign debt fears. The S&P 500 is down only 3.6% from its January 19th 52-week high, despite this:
Add my twitter for a hand-picked stream of research and analysis posts like this: @vincefernando
(Via Citi, The PULSE Monitor, Tobias Levkovich, 19 Feb 2010)
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A group of residents in Matteson is calling the latest move by village officials “disturbing.”
They said the Matteson Village Board never should have approved a liquor license for the Walgreens store at 5640 211th St. near the Glenridge-Cricket Hill subdivision.
The license allows the store to sell beer and wine. Walgreens officials expect the alcohol to take up less than 2 percent of the total shelf space in the store.
Larry McWherter, who lives near the Walgreens, addressed the village board with his concerns last week. He said the store two years ago agreed to operate under two conditions.
“I wanted to bring to the trustees’ attention in case they weren’t aware of it that there was a contract put in place in writing that Walgreens wouldn’t have a 24-hour facility … and they wouldn’t carry liquor,” said McWherter, the former president of the homeowners association in Glenridge-Cricket Hill.
Neither the village nor Walgreens has any record of such an agreement. A Walgreens spokesman said the company is re-introducing alcohol in its stores in response to customer demand. Stores also are prepared to make a smooth transition to selling alcohol.
“We’re going to do this safely and responsibly,” Walgreens spokesman Robert Elfinger said.
The idea still doesn’t sit well with some residents despite promised security measures.
“We’re totally against it. It’s not a good idea to bring (alcohol) in because it’s a residential area,” said Norman Reid, president of the homeowners association.
Mayor Andre Ashmore, who also is the village’s liquor commissioner, said the village is careful about how it hands out liquor licenses. He said the village didn’t see a problem approving one in this case.
“The deciding factor for us is we wouldn’t want to put our Walgreens at a competitive disadvantage,” Ashmore said.
The store on 211th Street is the only Walgreens in Matteson but is just blocks away from stores in neighboring towns. Residents said they fear alcohol sales will draw unwanted company.
“Now it’s going to be crowded around here,” Reid said. “There’s a different type of group that comes around when you sell liquor.”
McWherter said his biggest worry is for kids in the area.
“It’s just like cigarettes. If you put a pack of cigarettes down, a teenager might have an opportunity to give it a try, and I don’t want our teenagers to get that opportunity to try the liquor,” McWherter said.
Walgreens said it will have strict policies in place and will card anyone who looks younger than 40.
Neighbors said they still are disappointed trustees approved the license. Trustees Emmanuel Imoukhuede and Sam Brown were not present for the vote.
Reid said he plans on bringing the issue up at the next homeowners association meeting.
“I think we have enough liquor stores in Matteson,” Reid said.
The liquor license for Walgreens brings the total number of liquor licenses in Matteson to 25. Elfinger said. Wilmette has been the only Chicago suburb to deny Walgreens a liquor license.
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Mokena officials are eyeing a proposal that would bring the first affordable senior housing development to the village.
The Partnership for Income Restricted Housing Leadership, a Cleveland-based developer of affordable housing, is pitching a senior housing project for a site on LaPorte Road just west of Wolf Road, village director of economic and community development Alan Zordan said.
The developer is working with the Will County Housing Development Corporation on the project.
Applicants would need to fall below a certain income cap to move into the complex, which would include one- and two-bedroom and efficiency rental homes for adults 55 and older and an on-site community center.
“We envision creating a campus for independent seniors,” said the firm’s vice president of development, David Young.
The firm was drawn to Mokena because the village doesn’t have any other housing targeted at low-income residents, Young said, and also because Mokena has been actively looking to bring senior housing to town.
“It seemed like a good fit,” Young said.
Mokena has a list of nine potential sites in mind for senior housing, which includes the 3.8-acre property the Cleveland firm has chosen for its development.
“It’s really a nice parcel,” Zordan said. “The downtown area, Berkot’s grocery and Walgreens are all just a short walk away.”
While board members appeared receptive to the proposal during a meeting last week, both board members and residents have raised concerns about increasing the buffer between the development and two neighboring subdivisions, Zordan said.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Budget cuts could lead to the closure of an Oak Lawn school.
Brandt School has been used for years as a science center for the 3,000-plus students in Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123’s seven schools. The building, 8901 S. 52nd Ave., also has classrooms for pre-kindergarten and early childhood classes.
A plan to close the building is up for a vote at Monday’s District 123 board meeting, set for 7:30 p.m. at Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School, 5345 W. 99th St.
School officials were tight-lipped about the proposed cuts.
District Supt. Kathleen McCord, board president Joseph Sorrentino and Brandt principal Janice Carr did not return calls seeking comment.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Multiple choice. Essays. Pop quizzes.
Students at Marist High School may be subjected to yet another test next school year, but it’s one they can prepare for by doing nothing at all.
Principal Larry Tucker insists a proposed new drug testing policy at the school isn’t geared toward punishing students at the coed Catholic school in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community.
Instead, he said, drug testing would be an extension of the school’s “family” atmosphere.
“Part of our mission is to help kids continue to make good decisions,” he said. “It’s part of who we are.”
Tucker said he was impressed by the drug-free compliance rates at other schools in Marist’s East Suburban Catholic Conference, whose principals boast remarkable success rates.
Under the proposal, Marist’s entire student body would undergo a drug test at least once each school year – during the first semester – and possibly again during random tests in the second semester.
The tests, which cost about $45 per session, likely would be taken via hair follicle samples and administered by Psychemedics Corp., a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in narcotics testing in schools and private industry.
The tests would look for traces of marijuana, cocaine, PCP, Ecstasy, amphetamines and certain classes of prescription drugs, but not steroids.
Marist’s faculty would be exempt.
The idea of implementing the policy was kicked around during a sparsely attended special meeting this week, and its future now rests with a 20-some person school task force and could be cemented with a Marist school board vote.
Roberta Hynes is part of that team.
A parent of a 14-year-old Marist freshman, she’s backing the proposal 100 percent because “it’s such a great benefit for Marist, the community and children.
“It can give parents relief,” she said. ” ‘Oh, my God, my child is using,’ or ‘Oh, thank God they aren’t.’ ”
But the idea of a schoolwide test has been met with opposition, including a small Facebook group.
As school let out on Friday, many groups of students said they opposed the testing – not because they take drugs but because the testing seems costly and unnecessary.
Some students said most of their peers don’t take hard drugs, if they take them at all. And what substances do get used, such as chewing tobacco and alcohol, probably wouldn’t show up on test results anyway, they said.
“Maybe they should just test suspected students,” 16-year-old sophomore Kevin Kelly said.
“It’s not worth it,” 15-year-old freshman Chris Jackson said. “My parents aren’t happy about it, either.”
But many parents in the Marist community are supporting the proposal.
Therese Gray, whose 18-year-old son will have graduated by the time the tests would start, said she backs the testing, despite any privacy issues.
“Drugs and alcohol are illegal, so is it invading my child’s’ privacy? When it comes to my child, it probably isn’t,” she said. “It means my child’s safe at school.”
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These are done by a buddy of mine and I am going to post them from time to time.
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drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)
With photos of Hawass.
DNA and CT scan analysis of the mummy of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun (ca. 1333-1323 BC) and of mummies either known or believed to be members of his immediate family have revealed startling new evidence for the young king’s lineage and cause of death. An additional outcome of the new study, in which DNA analysis was able to be used effectively on ancient Egyptian mummies for the first time, is that several previously unidentified mummies can now be given names. These studies were carried out by Egyptian scientists and international consultants a as part of the Family of Tutankhamun Project, under the leadership of Dr. Zahi Hawass. These findings have been published by JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, in their February 17, 2010, edition (Volume 303, no. 7).The principal conclusions made by the team are that Tutankhamun’s father was the “heretic” king, Akhenaten, whose body is now almost certainly identified with the mummy from KV 55 in the Valley of the Kings. His mother, who still cannot be identified by name, is the “Younger Lady” buried in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35). The mummy of the “Elder Lady” from the same tomb can now be conclusively identified as Tutankhamun’s grandmother, Queen Tiye. New light was shed on the cause of death for Tutankhamun with the discovery of DNA from the parasite that causes malaria; it is likely that the young king died from complications resulting from a severe form of this disease.
Asharq Alawsat (Zahi Hawass)
At a press conference for international media figures held by the Supreme Council of Antiquities last Wednesday at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, I announced that important [archeological] discoveries had been made that shed more light on the dynasty of the golden pharaoh Tutankhamen. These discoveries marked the beginning of a new chapter in using modern techniques and advanced technology in the field of archeological discoveries.For many years, Egyptian mummies remained silent, disclosing only a few of their secrets until modern science came and presented to us a new key to the secrets of the mummies, particularly those belonging to the same dynasty. These methods are represented in the deoxyribonucleic acid technique, known as DNA testing, and the CT-Scan. At long last, after a full comprehensive 18-month study of the mummy of King Tutankhamen that is preserved in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, and of other mummies believed to be from the same dynasty, we have set up a DNA laboratory at the basement of the Egyptian Museum and another at Cairo University’s Faculty of Medicine where two teams of distinguished scientists worked. Each team worked separately in its own laboratory away from the other, and both were assisted by German scientists who specialize in studying DNA.
At the press conference, I announced that the mummy in tomb KV55 is King Akhenaten who bewildered scientists and researchers either in their search for his mummy or in studying the conditions of his time.
The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiques will hand over Sunday a collection of Egyptian artifacts that were confiscated from a man who had smuggled them into the country to sell.The handing over ceremony will take place at King Abdul Aziz Historical Center in Riyadh.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Reviewed by Stanley M. Burstein)
Jehan Desanges (ed.), Pline I’ Ancien, Histoire naturelle, livre VI 4e partie (L’Asie africaine sauf l’Égypte, les dimensions et les climats du monde habité). Collection des Universités de France. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2008.
The past few decades have seen renewed interest in Pliny the Elder and the Historia Naturalis with a corresponding growing recognition of the magnitude of the work and of Pliny’s achievement in compiling it. The geographical books (Books 3-6), however, have largely been exempt from this revision. Almost 130 years ago E. H. Bunbury1 observed apropos of these books that “we are struck with the almost total absence of any scientific comprehension of his subject,” and little has changed in the assessment of them since then. Yet, not only are these books the fullest extant geographical treatise in Latin, but they are of fundamental importance for the geography and history of many parts of the ancient world. This is particularly true of the final fifty-seven chapters of the sixth book (6. 163-220) edited in this valuable addition to the Budé edition of the Historia Naturalis.These relatively few chapters are critically important sources for the history of ancient Africa. Without them, our knowledge of the historical geography of Hellenistic Nubia and the Red Sea basin and the history of Ptolemaic activity south of Egypt would be greatly impoverished. And their importance is not limited to northeast Africa, since they contain also the earliest account of the discovery and exploration of the Canary Islands. Fortunately, this section of the Historia Naturalis has found the ideal editor in Jehan Desanges.
Omezzabo’s (Orlando Mezzabotta’s) website and here’s the introduction.
If you’re reading the Tale of Sinhue in hieroglyphs then look no further. Orlando Mezzabotta has provided a video of the tale written in hierglyphs and accompanied by transliterations, in five acts. I’ve played some of it in Windows Media Player and it works very well. At 43.3MB it does take a while to download. There’s also an experimental audio version.
This is a very imaginative and useful online resource. A great idea.
Yuya and his wife Thuya were the parents of Tiye (a daughter).
Tiye was married to the pharaoh Amenhotep III, the son of the pharaoh Thutmose IV and his wife Mutemwiya.
Tiye and Amenhotep III produced Amenhotep IV (who re-named himself Akhenaten). He married a daughter of Amenhotep III (but not necessarily of Queen Tiye) whose name is unknown but has been identified as “The Younger Lady”, a mummy found in a cache of three in KV35. Amenhotep kept a harem and had 5 daughters, of which she was apparently one.
Akhenaten and his sister, the Younger Lady, produced Tutankhamun and, it is proposed, a sister to whom Tutankhamun may have been married and with whom he had two stillborn children.
Dynamic Range is ridden today by Vic Espinoza and is trained by Julio Canani. This four-year-old gelding has a win at 1 try at this distance coming at this turf course on November 8th. He has posted consecutive good Brisnet speed numbers and a repeat of those performances will be good enough against this field. Canani has been red hot saddling 5 winners in his last 10 mounts.
Play #1 Dynamic Range to win Race 8 at Santa Anita 5-2 on the Morning Line
Post Time at 7:07PM Eastern Time televised by TVG
Courtesy of Tonys Picks
With Illinois in a financial crisis, Gov. Pat Quinn repeatedly touts his membership in Super 8 hotel’s VIP club as testament to his frugality.
But Quinn didn’t like being asked by the Daily Herald for a copy of his membership card.
“Most people when they hear somebody say something that’s from the governor of Illinois, they believe them,” Quinn said after taking the card out of his wallet for a reporter at the state Capitol Wednesday.
The problem is, however, that the Daily Herald has found Super 8 VIP cards like Quinn’s were discontinued more than five years ago.
So the card Quinn has been touting at news conferences was effectively useless even as it helped him build a reputation as a politician so thrifty he not only sleeps in budget motels, but uses a discount card to do so.
Wyndham Hotel Group, which owns Super 8, stopped using the VIP discount club in 2004 and switched to a distinctly different rewards point program, company spokeswoman Christine da Silva said.
“That is not our program anymore,” da Silva said.
The VIP cards were good for a 10 percent discount, but they are no longer accepted under corporate policy, da Silva said.
Quinn’s office said in a statement to the Daily Herald that the card was intended as a “demonstration.” His office said the governor has stayed at Super 8 hotels in Moline, Mokena and Joliet within the last year.
“Especially in these difficult economic times, we need a governor (who) is fiscally responsible,” read the statement from Quinn’s office. “Governor Quinn has stayed at Super 8 Hotels across the state for many years and will continue to do so.”
Indeed, there is little doubt Quinn has stayed at budget motels as a top state official.
Before taking over as governor, Quinn traveled extensively as lieutenant governor and routinely paid for his own food and stayed at lower-cost motels, including Super 8, an Associated Press review of state records found in March.
Yet, it is the VIP card that Quinn touts as a symbol of his thrift that is at question.
After he was sworn in as governor in late January of last year, Quinn held a lengthy news conference with reporters. At one point, he took the VIP card out of his wallet before the cameras and said, “I am proud of being frugal. I’m a VIP member of the Super 8, and I moved up from Motel 6.”
Then again last month, during his long state-of-the-state address, Quinn brought the card up as he told lawmakers he would continue to cut spending.
“I think it’s important that we embark on this journey, and I want to ensure you, over the course of this year, that we will continue to cut costs in government,” the Chicago Democrat said. “There has only been one governor in the history of Illinois who has a Super 8 card, and I’ve used it as governor, and I’m going to continue using it where appropriate. I think it’s important to show economy everywhere you can. And I have a VIP card, at that particular dwelling place, or lodging place.”
Following that speech, the Daily Herald requested a copy of his Super 8 VIP club card and copies of the notes he used during delivery on the state House floor. The governor’s office denied both requests, which were filed under the state’s new Freedom of Information Act that Quinn heralded.
“The governor’s Super 8 discount card is his personal card and thus not subject to the Act,” Erin Knowles, associate general counsel in the governor’s office, said in denying the request.
The papers Quinn used to deliver his speech were deemed exempt from disclosure because they were preliminary drafts and notes in which opinions were expressed or policies or actions formulated.
“Any notes or materials used by the governor were clearly preliminary in nature as they were used by the governor in finalizing his State of the State,” Knowles said in the rejection letter.
When Quinn was approached in the halls of the state Capitol Wednesday and asked about the Daily Herald’s request for a copy of the card, he called the request disrespectful.
“It belongs to me,” Quinn said. “Why would I give it to you? It doesn’t belong to you.”
• Daily Herald State Government Editor John Patterson contributed to this report.
Problem: Discount program ended in 2004
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
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Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Article Tags: Alan Caruba
As the massive global warming fraud implodes, the one aspect of it that has not been explored in depth is the equally massive waste of billions of dollars spent by the United States and nations around the world, we were told, to avoid global warming.
Whole industries such as automobile manufacture had demands and limits put on them. Some states required utilities to buy “carbon credits” to offset their use of “fossil fuels.” The list of things attributed to global warming expanded to the point of total absurdity.
The codification of the fraud into law began with the Kyoto Protocol, an element of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change whose purpose was to fight a global warming that we now know was not happening.
Source: factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com
