[Marxism-Thaxis] Unpaid Wages are SCARY! A Halloween Protest this Friday at 7 pm!

[c b]

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Date: Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Subject: Unpaid Wages are SCARY! A Halloween Protest this Friday at 7 pm!
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Special Halloween Protest at Andiamo - This Friday at 7 pm

*Join us for a very special Halloween Protest this Friday at Andiamo
Dearborn at 7 pm!  21400 Michigan Avenue.  *
*Halloween is scary!  Unpaid wages are scarier!  Join us for
a memorable Halloween Protest this Friday from 7-8 pm at Andiamo Restaurant
in Dearborn!  Prize for the best scary Andiamo costume!!!*
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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and Fraudulent Foreclosures

[c b]

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 10:08 AM, CeJ  wrote:
> RE: [Marxism-Thaxis] Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and
> Fraudulent Foreclosures
>
> These are tactics that came to prominence in Michael Moore's film,
> Capitalism: A Love Story.
>
> I think he charts how it started in Dade County Florida and spread nationwide.
>
> That film has a lot more going for it than against it, if you ask me.
> It's his best film since Roger and Me.
>
> CJ
>^^^

CB: Yeah, we in Michigan claim Moore as a native radical son. He's
carry on better than most national celebs these days.

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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and Fraudulent Foreclosures

[CeJ]

RE: [Marxism-Thaxis] Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and
Fraudulent Foreclosures

These are tactics that came to prominence in Michael Moore's film,
Capitalism: A Love Story.

I think he charts how it started in Dade County Florida and spread nationwide.

That film has a lot more going for it than against it, if you ask me.
It's his best film since Roger and Me.

CJ

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[Marxism-Thaxis] Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and Fraudulent Foreclosures

[c b]

 Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and Fraudulent Foreclosures



logo.jpg




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Oct. 25, 2010

CONTACT:

Cullen Schwarz

517-580-9041

cul...@votevirg.com



Bernero Takes New Tactic in Fighting Unfair and Fraudulent Foreclosures

(DETROIT, Mich.) – Today Democratic gubernatorial nominee and Mayor of
Lansing Virg Bernero continued to lead the fight against unfair and
fraudulent foreclosure practices by Wall Street banks with a new
tactic and new call to action to stop foreclosures on undeserving
Michigan families.

Bernero, joined with two homeowners who have mortgages with Bank of
America, went to the Bank of America branch at the Renaissance Center
in downtown Detroit today to demand the homeowners' mortgage notes.
Lory Park presented Bank of America with a letter requesting her
mortgage note, but the bank could not produce it (see letter below).

A mortgage note is the document that proves a homeowner owes a debt
and the document that the bank needs to prove that they own the loan.
During the lending boom, many mortgages were sold to another lender or
sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street. In the rush
to turn these investments over as fast as possible, many lenders did
not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage.
This has caused widespread confusion, bank error and even fraud
leading to erroneous foreclosures on undeserving families.

Bernero is encouraging Michigan homeowners to send their bank a letter
requesting their mortgage note and demanding that their bank stop
foreclosures in Michigan until they can provide every borrower in
their portfolios the name and contact information of the entity that
owns his or her mortgage and a copy of the mortgage note to prove
ownership.

“In their rush to profit by turning mortgages into investment
instruments, Wall Street banks got incredibly sloppy with records and
systems," said Bernero.  "Their greed-induced haste has led them to
erroneously threaten foreclosure on families that have never missed a
payment.  Banks should halt foreclosures at least until they can prove
they have their systems in order enough to tell every homeowner who
now holds their mortgage.  This would reduce the number foreclosure
threats banks are issuing to families who haven't done anything
wrong.”

When Wall Street Banks securitized, packaged, sold, and resold our
mortgages, they created a system where it is often impossible to
figure out who actually owns mortgage notes and therefore has the
authority to foreclose on properties.  Recent events have exposed big
banks who are throwing families out of their homes even though they
don’t have the mortgage note that proves they actually have a legal
right to do so.  There have been instances of two banks trying to
foreclose on the same home and in at least one case, of a bank trying
to foreclose on a house where the homeowner had never even taken out a
mortgage in the first place.  The widespread foreclosure mismanagement
has forced the largest lenders JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and
GMAC to halt foreclosures in 23 states earlier in the month.



“Michigan homeowners can’t rely on Wall Street banks to follow basic
rules – they must be held accountable,” said Bernero. "The tidal wave
of foreclosures affects us all, as the glut of foreclose homes on the
market lowers property values for everyone."

Bernero called months ago for a halt to foreclosures to protect all
Michigander’s home values from dropping further and to give hard-hit
Michigan families a chance to get back on their feet while the economy
recovers. Reports of Wall Street fraud and action on foreclosure in
other states make his call for a moratorium even more critical.
Bernero also called for Attorney General Mike Cox to investigate
foreclosure practices weeks ago and Cox finally complied.  Bernero's
opponent, Rick Snyder, said he does not support halting foreclosures,
believing that we should not rush to judgment on Wall Street banks and
saying that there are already protections for homeowners in place.

Background:

The mess Wall Street banks have created in the mortgage lending
industry goes far beyond technical paperwork mishaps:

·       Foreclosure Fraud.  Partly in response to this growing mess,
some banks have started falsifying mortgage documents—creating new
mortgage notes out of thin air—to fraudulently foreclose on homeowners
because they could not find the actual mortgage note.  The Florida
Attorney General’s office announced in June that it was investigating
such examples of foreclosure fraud.

·       Nearly 40,000 Rubber Stamps Per Month.  Employees at JP Morgan
Chase, Bank of America and GMAC/Ally Financial have admitted to
signing off on nearly 40,000 foreclosures every month without
verifying the required basic facts like making sure the banks had the
documents to prove they had a legal right to foreclose. In many cases,
they didn’t even read what they were signing.

·       Bank

Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Why the IMF Meetings Failed

[c b]

Yeah, I was wondering about that actually.

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 9:14 AM, CeJ  wrote:
> The NYT ran a correction that 1995 article--the Japanese had lost 400
> BILLION on their overseas dollar holdings, not million.
>
> And that was 1995.
>
> CJ
>
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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Why the IMF Meetings Failed

[CeJ]

The NYT ran a correction that 1995 article--the Japanese had lost 400
BILLION on their overseas dollar holdings, not million.

And that was 1995.

CJ

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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] The Walls Comes Tumbling Down

[c b]

nice singing and music.

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 4:21 AM, CeJ  wrote:
> Hey puts me to mind of that other great agit-prop guy who could get no
> airplay in the US during the 1980s:
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5HfOipwvts&ob=av2e
>
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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Wouldn't this have made a really cool t-shirt?

[c b]

:>)

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 2:50 AM, CeJ  wrote:
> When the single was marketed in 1989, the record company put a sticker over
> the upper left corner of the flag, of course.
>
>
>
> http://www.mattscdsingles.com/acatalog/1195%20new.jpg
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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Why the IMF Meetings Failed

[CeJ]

And while on my 80s nostalgia/obscure agit-prop kick (I suppose I
could have posted this to the barter-money thread).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Bq9YdDVc8

Style Council Money-go-round Lyrics


It's no good praying to the powers that be
'Cause they won't shake the roots of the money tree
No good praying to the pristine alters
Waiting for the blessing with Holy water
They like the same old wealth in the same old hands
Means the same old people stay old people stay in command
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
They got it wrapped up tight, they got it safe and sound
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
As you fall from grace and hit the ground

Too much money in too few places
Only puts a smile on particular faces
Said too much power in not enough hands
Makes me think "get rich quick; take all I can"
They're too busy spending on the means of destruction
To ever spend a penny on some real construction

Watch the money-go-round; watch the money-go-round
They amuse themselves as they fool around
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
Do like they say, make them vulnerable

No good looking to the Empire corners,
"Civilization" built on slaughter
Carrying hopes and carrying maps
The spinless ones fall in their laps
The brave and the bold are the ones to be fooled
With a diet of lies by the Kipling school

Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
But I just can't help being cynical
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
Do like I say, make me wonderful

Their morals are clean and their clear
They bend your arm and they bend your ear
Said they bend your mind as you talk in circles
Bend over forwards, this won't hurt you
Till there's blood in your lap; blood on your hands
Watch the money-go-round; watch the money-go-round
Come spend a penny, go out with a pound
Watch the money-go-round; watch the money-go-round
As you fall from grace and hit the ground

(On the money-go-round, you wanna get on but it won't slow down)

The need your votes and you know where to send 'em
Be we don't get the choice of a public referendum
On all the real issues that affect our lives
Like the USA base to which we play midwife
Take a cruise and forget this scene
Said come back later when the slates wiped clean

Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
Born of woman, killed by man
Watch the money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
Do like they pray, make it wonderful

The good and righteous sing their hymns
The crimpoline dresses who have no sins
Christians by day, killers in war
The hypocrites who know what they're fighting for
Killing for peace, freedom and truth
But they're too old to go so they send the youth

Watch the money-go-round, watch the money-go-round
I don't think he was an astronaut
Watch the money-go-round, watch the money-go-round
I must insist - he was a Socialist!

Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
They got it wrapped up tight, they got it safe and sound
Watch your money-go-round; watch your money-go-round
As you fall from grace and hit the ground

http://www.metrolyrics.com/moneygoround-club-mix-lyrics-the-style-council.html

longer version, more lyrics too

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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Argument for historical existence of barter

[CeJ]

RE: Argument for historical existence of barter

I remember being told by an American history professor about how corn
and rye whiskies were used as 'currency' for trade, from Pittsburgh to
New Orleans.

See:

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/northamerica.html

Forms of Money in use in the American Colonies

The British colonies in north America suffered a chronic shortage of
official coins with which to carry out their normal, everyday
commercial activities. An indication of the severity of this shortage
and of the resultant wide variety of substitutes is given by the fact
that during 1775 in North Carolina alone as many as seventeen
different forms of money were declared to be legal tender. However, it
should be remembered that all these numerous forms of means of payment
had a common accounting basis in the pounds, shillings and pence of
the imperial system.

The main sources which provided the colonists with their essential
money supplies fall into five groups.

   1. Traditional native currencies such as furs and wampum which were
essential for frontier trading with the indigenous population but
thereafter were widely adopted by the colonists themselves, e.g. in
1637 Massachusetts declared white wampum legal tender for sums up to
one shilling, a limit raised substantially in 1643.
   2. The so-called "Country Pay" or "Country Money" such as tobacco,
rice, indigo, wheat, maize, etc. - "cash crops" in more than one
sense. Like the traditional Indian currencies these were mostly
natural commodities. Tobacco was used as money in and around Virginia
for nearly 200 years, so lasting about twice as long as the US gold
standard.
   3. Unofficial coinages, mostly foreign, and especially Spanish and
Portuguese coins. These played an important role in distant as well as
local trade. Not all the unofficial coins were foreign. John Hall set
up a private mint in Massachusetts in 1652 and his popular "pine-tree"
shillings and other coins circulated widely until the mint was forced
to close down in 1684.
   4. The scarce but official British coinage.
   5. Paper currency of various kinds, particularly in the colonies'
later years.

The first State issue of notes (in north America) was made in 1690 by
the Massachusetts Bay Colony. These notes, or "bills of credit". were
issued to pay soldiers returning from an expedition to Quebec. The
notes promised eventual redemption in gold or silver and could be used
immediately to pay taxes and were accepted as legal tender. The
example of Massachusetts was followed by other colonies who thought
that by printing money they could avoid the necessity to raise taxes.

Another early form of paper money used in north America was "tobacco
notes". These were certificates attesting to the quality and quantity
of tobacco deposited in public warehouses. These certificates
circulated much more conveniently than the actual leaf and were
authorized as legal tender in Virginia in 1727 and regularly accepted
as such throughout most of the eighteenth century.

In addition to the State issues, a number of public banks began
issuing loans in the form of paper money secured by mortgages on the
property of the borrowers. In these early cases the term "bank" meant
simply the collection or batch of bills of credit issued for a
temporary period. If successful, reissues would lead to a permanent
institution or bank in the more modern sense of the term. One of the
best examples was the Pennsylvania Land Bank which authorized three
series of note issues between 1723 and 1729. This bank received the
enthusiastic support of Benjamin Franklin who in 1729 published his
Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency. His
advocacy did not go unrewarded as the Pennsylvania Land Bank awarded
Franklin the contract for printing its third issue of notes.

Gradually the British government began to restrict the rights of the
colonies to issue paper money. In 1740 a dispute arose involving a
"Land Bank or Manufactury Scheme" in Boston, and the following year
the British parliament ruled that the bank was illegal in that it
transgressed the provisions of the Bubble Act of 1720 (passed after
the collapse of the South Sea Bubble - one of the most notorious
outbreaks of financial speculation in history). Restrictions were
subsequently tightened because some colonies, including Massachusetts
and especially Rhode Island, issued excessive quantities of paper
money thus causing inflation. Finally, in 1764 a complete ban on paper
money (except when needed for military purposes) was extended to all
the colonies.
The American Revolution and the War of 1812

When he was in London in 1766 Benjamin Franklin tried in vain to
convince Parliament of the need for a general issue of colonial paper
money, but to no avail. The constitutional struggle between Britain
and the colonies over the right to issue paper money was a significant
factor in provoking the American Revolution.

When the war broke out the mon

[Marxism-Thaxis] The Walls Comes Tumbling Down

[CeJ]

Hey puts me to mind of that other great agit-prop guy who could get no
airplay in the US during the 1980s:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5HfOipwvts&ob=av2e

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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] Why the IMF Meetings Failed

[CeJ]

RE: Why the IMF Meetings Failed


Quote from the IMF piece posted earlier:

>>So other countries are obliged to solve the problem on their own.
Japan is holding down its exchange rate by selling yen and buying U.S.
Treasury bonds in the face of its carry trade being unwound as
arbitrageurs pay back the yen they earlier borrowed to buy
higher-yielding but increasingly risky sovereign debt from countries
such as Greece. These paybacks have pushed up the yen’s exchange rate
by 12% against the dollar so far during 2010, prompting Bank of Japan
governor Masaaki Shirakawa to announce on Tuesday, October 5, that
Japan had “no choice” but to “spend 5 trillion yen ($60 billion) to
buy government bonds, corporate IOUs, real-estate investment trust
funds and exchange-traded funds – the latter two a departure from past
practice.”[6]<<

But look where we were in 1995:

MARKET WATCH; The Yen Bubble Keeps Growing
BY FLOYD NORRIS
Published: March 19, 1995

Correction Appended

It is the bubble of the decade, and there is no telling when it will
stop expanding. But someday it will, and then it will burst.

The bubble is in the Japanese yen, a currency that, on the basis of
comparative purchasing power, has gone from unreasonably high to
ridiculously overvalued.

The latest leap of the yen has come as Japanese have dumped dollars,
and it is not hard to understand why. William Sterling, a Merrill
Lynch economist, estimates that since 1977 the Japanese have lost the
equivalent of $400 million from depreciation of the dollars they took
in exchange for Toyotas and other exports. Nor did their attempts to
buy long-term assets -- among them Pebble Beach, Rockefeller Center
and Columbia Pictures -- work out very well.

The panic could continue, but not forever. Bob Barbera, the economist
at Capital Investments International, sees signs of a vicious circle.
As the yen strengthens, Japanese companies get less competitive and
their profit outlook weakens. That puts pressure on Japanese stock
prices, and thus on the capital adequacy of Japanese banks, which are
stuffed full of stocks. So the banks need to shore up their capital by
selling foreign assets. And that drives the yen up. The dollar now
trades for 89.1 yen, down from 100 yen in early January.

---
---

Conclusion: we have two bubbles. One bubble is Japan's savings going
into limited classes of investments and currencies. The other bubble
is a currency exchange arbitrage bubble predicated on one idea:
whatever else happens, the yen must go up. Ironically some of these
speculators are still able to tap into Japan's savings pools to feed
these bubbles in search of ever higher profits over ever shorter
periods of time.

It's interesting to note some of the side effects of this bubble for
those who live in Japan: health care, education continue to get more
expensive. But we can probably buy large quantities of soybeans more
cheaply in Japan than where they are produced.

CJ

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Re: [Marxism-Thaxis] The REAL Song of the South

[CeJ]

Interesting that the band's next album did not get a release in the
US, despite the fact that all their previous albums had decent sales
there (with little airplay).

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Moscow-Peace-Our-Time/dp/B002V0JBLG


Editorial Reviews

Product Description

2009 two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) live archive release from the
Scottish quartet. In 1988, the Iron Curtain still existed. In
September of that year, Big Country became the first Western band to
play live in the Soviet Union promoted by a private individual (not
the state) and before the general paying public (not an invited
audience). The band released their Top Five album Peace In Our Time in
September of 1988 and, after launching the album at the Russian
Embassy in London, took 286 people to Moscow. The concert was recorded
and a documentary was made from the Embassy launch through the return
from Moscow. Both the concert and documentary are on the DVD disc
while the concert is also included on a separate CD. Features stunning
live versions of tracks from their first four albums including 'Look
Away', 'King Of Emotion', 'Wonderland' and 'In A Big Country'. Track.

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[Marxism-Thaxis] The REAL Song of the South

[CeJ]

Play for the good ole boys and see what reaction you get.

The songwriter said of the song:

"Was done at the Power Plant with Robin Millar producing. Robin is one of
the nicest people I have ever worked with and has remained a source of good
advice and inspiration. The song is about apartheid and I kind of liked the
idea of using a Disney title for it to show how the media exploit real
suffering for ratings." — Stuart Adamson, Restless Natives & Rarities liner
notes


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BlKFR_43PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESrhBgj4EZ4&feature=related


I kind of like how this guy tried to do socialist agit-prop in the pop-rock
anthem, but that also made his group pariahs on American radio back in the
80s (when radio and MTV airplay were the only way you could get to an
American audience).

He personally financed a music tour of the Soviet Union. I think this is the
only case of a 'western' big label rock act doing that. Others went on the
invitation of the Soviet government, with corporate sponsors. BC and Stuart
Adamson couldn't get that because, ironically enough, he supported
socialist, communist politics.

CJ
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