(Above, prewar Philippines Free Press editorial cartoon)
Today is Blog Action Day, with the theme of Poverty.
I am republishing an article I wrote in two parts, the first when I was still in college, the second, a decade later upon rediscovering what I’d written a decade earlier…
Apology not accepted
YOU were standing by the jeepney stop in front of the Faculty Center. How you got there, I don’t know. It was early afternoon.
The weather was pleasant. I was in one of my endless sophomore years. You had on one of those simple dresses of 1940s cut, which the modest of means never gave up wearing long after the originals which had arrived during Liberation had out served their usefulness. I think your dress was a pale yellow; I know it was scrupulously clean, and I wondered whether you used Superwheel or Tide, or Perla and starch.
Funny. It was a pleasant afternoon but you had one of those little collapsible umbrellas, the most inexpensive kind, made of the thinnest nylon the manufacturers could inflict on their consumers.
A slight breeze lifted a wisp of your white hair, which you patted back in place. You had a half-smile -did I imagine the twinkle in your eyes, perhaps? You looked like a woman with a sunny disposition. Perhaps it was just the softening effects of age.
When you were young, your family and friends probably told you that they found you pretty, because of your fair complexion. Did you marry? Were you courted, in school? And what did you do over the years, I wonder. What sort of jobs did you hold?
Students hurried past you; occasionally particularly indiscreet passers-by stared at you, but you just stood there, looking around. You must have been used to being stared at, because of your skin. I have never managed to find out what your skin disease is called -if can be properly called a disease; maybe medicine has a more exact term for what you had. I’ve seen pictures of people -all elderly, if I recall correctly- with the same affliction. Little globules (of what? solid flesh? skin with something underneath?) covering every inch of the body.
Globules in the shape of lumps, others in the shape of small nuts which seem to have sprouted on the skin, ready to fall off. Growths whose composition I have always wondered about -growths which reduced you to a mass of protrusions and made you a sight for the idle to gawk at.
Disconcerting, how your affliction managed to shock without provoking disgust. Or maybe i’m wrong. In remembering the day I saw you I might be retroactively censoring my real feelings. Yes, I was disturbed. How can you live with such a disease, with such disfigurement, made all the more startling because no one can fathom its origin. You have no scars. You’re missing no limbs, you have nothing that can be attributed to the effects of a birth defect or some tragic experience. Although of course having your body covered in strange lumps and bumps must constitute a tragic experience in itself.
From the little I know -mainly from the testimony of an old man in a news article I clipped and since lost- you were not born “that way” (what a phrase!). What provoked the growths? The depredations of age gone more completely awry than usual?
Then you went up to me.
“Can you spare some money,” you asked, gently.
Flustered, I said no.
You smiled. And said. “I’m sorry.”
I said, “it’s ok.” And then I walked away.
The feeling one has when one’s soul wants to vomit: why did you say sorry to me? You should have said, “apology not accepted”.
***
YUKIO Mishima once wrote, “I came out on the stage to make an audience weep and instead they burst out laughing”.
Since you apologized over my apology, I have encountered many who remind me of you, though none exactly like you. Just the other week, and what has it been -a decade?- since we briefly met, I saw a man with no legs, sitting on the sidewalk by the wall of Camp Crame leading to the LRT, holding a plastic cup.
He was looking up at another man, dressed neatly in a kind of dutifully-washed-and mended polo shirt. The man was engaging him in conversation. Was the man a writer, perhaps, or simply someone on his way to work, engaging the man with no legs in conversation?
People rushed past. They gave the two troubled looks. What is more disturbing: to see a man with no legs begging on the pavement, or a countryman pausing to converse with him, man to man?
I saw that scene only briefly. We only see such scenes briefly, if at all. Just the other day, there was the scene, awful, and heart-breaking if only we weren’t so used to it. The parade, my writer’s mind tells me to call it, of the dispossessed. In front of St. Paul’s College, Quezon City, there is, day in and out, a man in his early fifties, piteously deformed; almost, it seems, a Thalidomide baby condemned to advanced years. He has become such a fixture that surely every person passing him by day to day has come to memorize his every twitch, his slack-jawed fatalism. On some days, a sign hands around his neck. Over the holidays it said, “Merry Christmas, God Bless you.” I gave him coins once. He tried to say thank you. Part of me was glad he was incapable of mouthing the words.
But of that parade, and they come in every shape, age, sex, and size -there is the blind old lady, with white hair, clothes of charitable origin, whose gaping eye sockets mercifully cannot see what her seeing-eye guide, probably a granddaughter, sees minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. The knock; the look of muted pleading; the counter-knock from the impatient, saying, “your petition is dismissed”; the shuffle on to the next vehicle.
Yesterday there was a man. He was missing a hand. He did the ritualized shuffle, too. Knock, plead, suffer rejection, shuffle on to the next, repeat. Around him and ahead of him swarmed children doing the same thing. One child was particularly passive; she knocked on one window, was rejected, sat on the sidewalk and sulked. Some others made it a game. One little girl got no coins, though a motorist handed her some crackers. She smiled the smile of a Pacquiao.
That man, though. One motorist was particularly curt. The man reacted with a look of rage. I have seen that look of rage more often now, than ever before. I never used to see it. He was not even given an apology. But as for his condition, he could at least express his hate.
circa 1994 and 2004. It is 2008, and they are still there, in front of St. Paul’s.
People should be aware that in a daily process where cash changes hands, then there is a strong likelihood that a business is already in place. Translation —- there is a likelihood that some of alms-askers are like prostitutes and that there is a pimp in the background.
An Incredible story, and a shame that after 14 years, nothing has changed. Great writing, and poignant stories.
For everyone’s information, the United Nations GIFT – Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking — includes campaigns against child trafficking and forced begging.
A United Nations official speaks :
“The public needs to be aware of the rights of children. We conducted a survey of 600 individuals in various towns in Kosovo and 80 per cent of them admitted they give money to begging children,” says Artur Marku, Head of Mission of the Swiss organization in Kosovo. “People mean well but they are in fact propagating a vicious cycle of exploitation.”
The children who beg are neither orphans or abandoned. On the contrary, many of them are encouraged into the activity by their own parents or tutors. As long as they earn money, they are sent back on the streets.
To repeat the words :
“People mean well but they are in fact propagating a vicious cycle of exploitation.â€Â
The children who beg are neither orphans or abandoned. On the contrary, many of them are encouraged into the activity by their own parents or tutors. As long as they earn money, they are sent back on the streets.
To those scratching their heads wondering that if they should NOT give alms to the street beggars, then what to do — an answer is to direct their cash to those better organized to deal with the problem — NGO’s.
But do be aware of the sentence — to give money to a street beggar may just be … to propagate a vicious cycle of exploitation.
UP n grad
“People should be aware that in a daily process where cash changes hands, then there is a strong likelihood that a business is already in place. Translation â€â€- there is a likelihood that some of alms-askers are like prostitutes and that there is a pimp in the background.”
ALL GENERALIZATIONS ARE WRONG. INCLUDING THIS ONE . He he he.
My p0int. Lets approach the problem of begging and poverty in the most open mind.
But this could even be still a generalization.
Click on this link on child-beggars of Senegal/Africa.
http://www.africanloft.com/advocating-for-the-child-beggars-of-senegal/
And click on this link on the business of beggaring and the side-necessity of creating a talent pool.
http://www.childright.nl/en/index2.php?navid=212
Poverty is simple, really… by benigno
Really? Every single individual in this earth can be a problem or a solution. How many are solutions and how many are problematics. Which area of our society enjoys to be the problem?
http://www.filipinovoices.com/poverty-is-a-simple-issue-really#comment-12343
agree w/ UP n.
In Senegal :
Most of the boys  90 percent, the study found  are sent out to beg under the cover of Islam, placing the problem at the complicated intersection of greed and tradition. For among the cruelest facts of Coli’s life is that he was not stolen from his family. He was brought to Dakar with their blessing to learn Islam’s holy book.
click here :
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/20/africa/AF-FEA-GEN-Senegal-Begging-for-Islam.php
————-
Side-note : the International Labor Organization puts the beggaring as a $15Billion-a-year business.
Back to the future by the head of the European Central Bank.
While MLQ 3 noticed the same beggars in the same place for the last 14 years.
Why are they invisible to the government?
Close to thirty years after the virtual shut down of the Bretton Woods Institutions Jean Claude Trichet calls for a look at Bretton Woods arrangements again.
That in itself is a sea change caused by the almost collapse of the worlds financial system. Off course he cannot come out and say openly to change the dominance of the dollar and its dangers now very apparent.
Trichet Calls for Return to the `Discipline’ of Bretton Woods
By John Fraher and Gabi Thesing
Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) — European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet said officials reshaping the world’s financial system should try to return to the “discipline” that governed markets in the decades after World War II.
“Perhaps what we need is to go back to the first Bretton Woods, to go back to discipline,” Trichet said after giving a speech at the Economic Club of New York yesterday. “It’s absolutely clear that financial markets need discipline: macroeconomic discipline, monetary discipline, market discipline.”
Some European policy makers are pushing to tighten oversight of markets after the past year’s credit squeeze culminated last week in the biggest stock sell-off since 1933. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suggested the most sweeping rethink of global financial architecture since U.S. and European officials met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. The rules they drew up there governed much of the world economy for the following 30 years.
“Creating stability by adapting frameworks that have worked historically can improve credibility and hence the effectiveness of policy stabilization measures,” said Lena Komileva, an economist at Tullett Prebon Plc in London. “This idea may gain traction with policy makers.”
At Bretton Woods, nations agreed to fix exchange rates, establish the International Monetary Fund and start the process of rebuilding Europe’s economy in the aftermath of World War II by encouraging coordinated economic policies. Brown said national regulators must coordinate their work and banks should be pushed to disclose more trading positions.
`Exceptional Circumstances’
“If we don’t have discipline, then we are putting into question the functioning of the market economies and the functioning of our financial markets,” Trichet said.
Asked whether the escalation of the financial crisis exposed shortcomings in the global monetary system, Trichet said central bankers have “been up to their responsibilities in these exceptional circumstances.”
Trichet and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are struggling to restore order to credit markets after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and $638 billion in writedowns make banks reluctant to lend. The ECB and the Fed last week cut interest rates in tandem and this week agreed to flood the financial system with dollars.
Trichet suggested that slowing growth in the 15-nation euro region may curb inflation, paving the way for more rate cuts after the ECB reduced its benchmark by 50 basis points to 3.75 percent.
`Downside Risks’
“There has been a materialization of the downside risks to growth and we have to take that into consideration in all respects, and particularly as regards the influence that it has on the upside risks for price stability,” Trichet said.
He indicated that recent market turmoil was partly a consequence of the deregulation that occurred after Bretton Woods’ demise. That was triggered in 1971, when inflation forced the U.S. to abandon the dollar’s peg to gold, an anchor of the system, heralding the era of floating exchange rates.
“The explosion of the first Bretton Woods in a way could be interpreted as a rejection of discipline,” said Trichet.
Brown, who has pushed for a decade to strengthen the hand of international authorities overseeing the financial system, said Oct. 13 in London that “we must devise new rules for a world of global capital flows” just as the founders of Bretton Woods “devised rules for a world of limited capital flows.”
agree with UPn, in fact most major cities are now have by-laws prohibiting “soliciting”. Experienced myself too many times that most, if not all are doing begging to feed their vices.
now we ask again what to do? there are all kinds of social services tasked to handle these cases, from addiction to alcohol, drugs and even to make ends meet and the good thing, they can follow up their cases. A one time dole out, is just good for the feelings, but will it benefits the recipient in the long term? that is the question..
but of course nothing will change. Only foolish people think that poverty can be eradicated.
Poverty is the reason why many international agencies, government and non-government exist. Why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?
Poverty is the reason why sex tourism flourishes in some countries. Why kill the lucrative business.
Poverty gives the big pharmaceutical companies a big laboratory for testing their new drugs. and vaccines to the poor.
the particular message I want to convey is this —- you may want to generously open your wallet to give a tenner or a twenty to the beggar who crosses your street, and your kindness is your own reward.
BUT…. do not begrudge the well-dressed citizen who does not follow what you do. This is because you probably can not see into that citizen’s heart along with the findings by the United Nations and many newspapers that to give money to a street beggar may just be to propagate a vicious cycle of exploitation.
Government programs that provide monetary “reward” to parents based on the continued school attendance of their children should be acknowledged as one many approaches to the beggar-problem.
This requires the good citizen to remain employed and to give their fair share to taxes.
And then, there is the “reproductive health” subject matter.
That “apathetic approach” where a citizen concentrates on remaining employed (and getting raises if possible) is a rational approach to beggaring, on condition that one gives fair share to taxes. Reason — government programs that provide monetary “reward” to parents based on the continued school attendance of their children should be acknowledged as one of many approaches to the beggar-problem.
for extra credit, one can on a regular basis put money into the “poor box” at your local church and maybe two or three times a year send money to the Red Cross or Caritas.
And then, there is the issue of citizenry “reproductive health”.
an interesting post. i feel though that the internet is helping change to happen.
for my part, i turn to sites like freerice, kiva, and goodsearch, as ways to help alleviate poverty online.
saw this post via the front page of blog action day. it’s great that you’re participating. 🙂
It’s nice to put a label to this problem, like “the beggar problem” and tuck it away with the rest of the ills of this world.
What escapes a lot of us is that extreme poverty is THE greatest problem of humanity. That with so much advancement in science and our current thinking, extreme poverty is still a reality.
Sometimes I can’t help thinking so what if we have sovereignity and freedom, when we as a nation a century hence can’t even take care of the weakest among us. That after asserting for equality and paying for it dearly we have evolved into a very inequitable society. Indeed the slaves of yesterday have become the tyrants of today.
Carl, the slaves of yesterday haven’t yet had their chance. To a large extent, the tyrants of yesterday (the Oligarchs) are still the tyrants of today.
‘but of course nothing will change. Only foolish people think that poverty can be eradicated.’
To some extent, true. Any society, developed or otherwise, would have its lowest class/caste, bottom-of-food chain.
But any self-respecting government should try its very best to reduce the percentage of population earning the poverty low mark of what, $2 per day?
Most countries have committed to the millenium development goals (MDGs) of 15 percent of the population by 2015.
I’m not sure how RP is faring on its MDG targets, more so with this current financial meltdown. In 2003, the Philippines had almost 30 percent below the poverty threshold.
to kouji haiku: kiva is one of my favorite sites for extending a helping hand to those who seek to put their shoulders to work to better themselves, family, and community.
kiva helps address the poverty problem, not the beggar problem.
Eradicating poverty is a utopian solution. Socialism and communism put the most aggressive solution so far to seize wealth for redistribution and stamp out poverty. Poverty remains in socialist and communist states as in any places.
Eradicating poverty is a matter of personal choice. The 2 top richest person on earth combined resources to empower people with skills to overcome poverty. The net result is positive on moving the underskilled and underemployed to greater potential from poverty line.
But there is always a population that are not trainable and cannot be rehabilitated. That is where your generosity and understanding comes in. Is it really feeding the vicious cycle of exploitation by giving little money or are these walking zombies waiting for death or money whichever come first made no difference.
That is where religion provided little conscience to see the faceless in the society.
Beggars and the choices they have. There is in free market theory the idea of voluntary unemployment. That means that people actually rationally choose not to work.
Beggars, street walkers are actually self employed. But that is an urban situation. Are these people begging based on a rational free choice? it is simply amazing at the shallow perceptions of many people.
What about the vast majority who live in the countryside?
The total potential labor force in the Philippines is almost 50M (15 years and above). Labor force participation rate is in the 50-60% level. (Please note that this is the accounting construct of equilibrium scientists.)Now out of that 50-60% level more than half are non-wage workers and unpaid family workers. The rest are divided into part timers/ seasonal and full time regular workers.
Question is simple really, is the individual entirely and absolutely responsible for his state in life. To what degree does the system and structure of the political economy determine his fate?
Why do Pinoys move to more advanced economies with more advanced and progressive systems and structures and then point to the misery of the people left behind and say that the individual who stayed behind is to blame entirely.
What about those dumb people who signed adjustable rate mortgages without knowing the full implications of what they were signing? Stupidity is not exclusive to any one country.
The world is an equal opportunity place for stupidity. Just look at who the American people put in power for the last eight years. Now that was truly an informed and free choice. Now look at the choices there today. The chances of a McCain -Palin victory could be dependent once again on two swing states. Ohio and Florida with 47 electoral votes. The German people put Hitler in power in a free election.
How could she lie so blatantly to prove she is someone who has standing. She is really a fraud…..
Philippine claim highlights lack of unity
By FT Reporters
Published: October 15 2008 19:01 | Last updated: October 15 2008 19:01
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Philippine president, on Wednesday tried to create the impression of a co-ordinated Asian response to the financial crisis, conjuring up a $10bn facility supposedly agreed by the World Bank.
Mrs Macapagal said that finance officials from the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), together with counterparts from China, Japan and Korea, had also “reached an understanding to establish a standby facility to assist Asean countries who have severe liquidity problemsâ€Â.
A World Bank spokesman suggested plans were less advanced than Mrs Macapagal suggested. “The World Bank is supporting Asean members in developing a co-ordinated response, but has thus far not been asked to contribute to a regional facility, nor has it discussed commitment of funds at a regional level,†he said.
After the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the idea was floated of an Asian monetary fund to complement – or even subsume the role of – the unpopular IMF, which was insisting on harsh remedies, some of which were subsequently discredited. That idea was strongly opposed by the US.
An effort by the Asian Development Bank to come up with a quasi basket currency – Asia’s equivalent of the European Currency Unit, the euro’s forerunner – has foundered on indifference and disagreement about the appropriate balance of power in a fast-changing region.
Governments are continuing to take action at a national level with India and Kazakhstan announcing fresh initiatives on Wednesday. India’s regulators announced a slew of measures to tackle a liquidity squeeze in the banking system, including the second cut in the cash reserve ratio, one of the central bank’s key levers of monetary control, in less than a week.
Palaniappan Chidambaram, the finance minister, asked the Reserve Bank of India to release immediately to financial institutions the first Rs250bn instalment of a loan waiver for farmers and doubled the foreign investment limit in corporate bonds to $6bn (€4.42bn, £3.49bn).
The RBI also cut by 100 basis points to 6.5 per cent the amount of cash that banks must keep on deposit with the central bank – the second such monetary easing since Friday, when it slashed the cash reserve ratio by 150 basis points.
“The continuing uncertain global situation is having an indirect impact on our financial markets,†the RBI said.
India’s government insists the country’s banking system remains healthy but says it has been hit by a liquidity crunch stemming partly from a mass exodus from the stock market by foreign investors.
The outflows from the stock market have sent the rupee crashing 18.8 per cent against the dollar this year to Rs48.50, its biggest depreciation since 1991.
Mr Chidambaram also announced on Wednesday a “capitalisation†scheme to bring those banks that had capital adequacy ratios of between 10 per cent and 12 per cent up to 12 per cent. The details of the scheme were still being “worked outâ€Â.
The liquidity squeeze comes at a time of growing concern over some of India’s macro-economic fundamentals, such as the fiscal deficit.
Initiatives such as the farm loan waiver and soaring subsidies for oil and fertilizers as well as government pay rises have led to a sharp decline in the health of government finances.
Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said it expected the overall fiscal deficit to reach 8.4 per cent of gross domestic product this year from 6.2 per cent a year earlier.
Kazakhstan plans to prohibit banks from raising mortgage interest rates for three years to help stabilise the local property market.
The new mortgage rules will cover new and outstanding loans, Mukhtar Bubeyev, the head of bank supervision at Kazakhstan’s agency for financial supervision, said.
Kazakhstan announced plans last month to use state and private funds to buy up $6bn worth of distressed assets from the highly-leveraged banking sector which is particularly exposed to the property market downturn.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan president, urged legislators to rush through a new financial stability law to bolster public confidence in the banking sector. Mr Nazarbayev said the government would use $10bn from the national oil fund in the next two years to support banks, small businesses and electricity projects to promote economic growth.
Reporting by David Pilling in Tokyo, Roel Landingin in Manila, John Aglionby in Jakarta, Joe Leahy in Mumbai and Isabel Gorst in Moscow
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Poverty in the world and in particular in this country can never be solved unless the “Big C” is solved (Corruption)
If we the president, 80 % of my efforts would be geared towards solving corruption.
By the way Marghil Macuha and I have just launched our free new blogging ebook. You might want to help us promote it. Check it out at http://www.zdiaz.com/index.php/2008/09/29/finally-our-very-own-guerilla-blogging-ebook/
“What about those dumb people who signed adjustable rate mortgages without knowing the full implications of what they were signing?”
On the contrary there is smartness side considering:
1. Paid less (interest only) or none at all (deferral) on overpriced property.
2. Since they have no equity, they lost none to walk away from the loan.
3. They go by the “use” principle and they certainly paid less for any usage unlike their fixed payment counterparts.
4. The dumb part is reserve to the greedy lenders who ended up with the bad loan.
“The chances of a McCain -Palin victory could be dependent once again on two swing states. Ohio and Florida with 47 electoral votes.”
Again, this could be the most disappointing election for Obama-Biden and for Democrats as a whole.
1. The Bradley effect is indicated in the current poll largely supported by vocal Obama fans while McCain supporters are silent. Yet the statistical lead can change in any direction. In 1982, the poll favored black candidate Tom Bradley against white candidate and lost the election.
2. 1/3 of Florida voters are senior citizens and will not vote for a black President who is a tax advocate.
If you want to open your wallet :
ill the Cup!
It takes just 25 US cents to fill one of the “Red Cups” that the World Food Programme uses to give hungry children a regular school meal of porridge, rice or beans. US$15 would feed 10 children for a week. Support WFP’s school feeding programmes, emergency relief operations and development initiatives.
To help “Fill the Cup” by making an online donation now, click below:
https://secure.my-websites.org/supporter/donatenow.do?n=gbss&dfdbid=1044253
“The German people put Hitler in power in a free election.”
The Germans resented Jews controlling the country’s industry and put Hitler into power.
This provides a better link as one can explicitly choose the Philippines as geographic area of interest.
https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=7oIJLSOsGpF&b=1320635&en=lpJJIMPsG8ICILPtEdLFLLMrFhJXLXOvEhIJJOPtF9IJIWPDLtF
“4. The dumb part is reserve to the greedy lenders who ended up with the bad loan.” another stupid idea
Yup the lenders actually are the same taxpayers (depositors) who now have to pay. Bankers for the most part do not own deposits.
The lenders actually are for the most part the people who save.
For the info of the clueless bankers are only intermediaries.
“The Germans resented Jews controlling the country’s industry and put Hitler into power.”
Another idiotic statement.
The Germnans lost the war and the allies gutted the German economy with reparations and beggared the German state.
Hitler organized with Rohm the vast army of unemployed and got into political power. Thus was born the NAZI party.
The guy was a madman. Naturally his natural enemy would be the communists and the Jews who he also blamed for communism
“One entrenched factor associated with poverty is Centralization of Power. Political power is disproportionately centralized. Instead of having a network of political representatives distributed equally throughout society, in centralized systems of governance one major party, politician, or region is responsible for decision-making throughout the country. This often causes development problems. For example, in these situations politicians make decisions about places that they are unfamiliar with, lacking sufficient knowledge about the context to design effective and appropriate policies and programs.”
Another Factor Associated with poverty is Environmental degradation: The negative impacts of environmental degradation are disproportionately felt by the poor. The poor often rely on natural resources to meet their basic needs through agricultural production and gathering resources essential for household maintenance, such as water, firewood, and wild plants for consumption and medicine. Thus, the depletion and contamination of water sources directly threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on them.”
ouch! hehehe, the everknowing dodong.
“the lenders actually are the same taxpayers (depositors) who now have to pay.”
Another incorrect assumption. Depositors have not lost a penny since (1) no banks (not investment firm) gone bankrupt, (2) covered by insurance. Subprime lenders have folded up that equates only to lost jobs.
“ouch! hehehe, the everknowing dodong.”
grd – as I said before Filipinos get easily insulted and call other statements as idiotic as if he has monopoly of information. It doesn’t mean however one is correct or change history that Jews are slaughtered.
😎 the everknowing d00d0ng….. what’s the latest from the MILF? How many more civilian villages will kato burn before the year ends?
“what’s the latest from the MILF?”
After many months of relentless aerial bombings and special ops, the military can only hazard number of enemies dead (lately 13) which is good for boosting military morale plus Arroyo’s handing out medals to wounder soldiers. Unfortunately, there is no actual body count of dead enemies according to military spokesman Maj Cabangbang.
The military and Palace has always claimed success but draining its expensive resources in its mini-war and run out of options by increasing the bounty (cheaper than bombing).
Senate Minority leader is urging the gov’t. to drop DDR and make federalism a solution which has a brighter chance of resolving conflict.
In long terms, the MILF is gaining when the government came out as usual empty handed.
dodong is smarter than hvrds 🙂
The Day of Reckoning-
Banks, Hedge funds, mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae have all lent out their depositors money to mortgage homes whose values have dropped in value.
People also have borrowed for car loans and incressed their borrowings thru credit cards. All based on the increased value of personal assets starting with their homes.
Now the underlying collateral is worth less and the banks have a big hole on their books due to the fact that they lent out much more than they have on deposit and equity.
Who will pay for the big hole that exists on banks balance sheets. Think Iceland. The majority will be the depositors. That is what a bankruptcy process is all about. Spreading the loses around. What the world is seeing is the start of the destruction of too much credit.
When the government is going to pay for paper that is worth .40 cents to .50 cents to the dollar that means taxpayers will pay for the loses. The loses will be socialized.
It is shocking that there are stupids who think otherwise. Why is there this crisis to begin with?
For the blind, deaf and dumb.
First the government raised the guarantee for all depositors to $250K from $100K.
Then the Treasury is going to inject hundred of billions ino the banks core capital or equity.
All with taxpayer funds (both present and future.)
Then the Government will move to start to assist homeowners going into foreclosure by buying their mortgages at a discount.
No one can predict when house prices will stop falling and no one can predict when home proces will start their climb again upwards.
So how much will be the total loses to be incurred by taxpayers will still be unknown. But loses there will be. The loses will be socialized..THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.
people are already paying for this blowup as unemployment is rising starting with the housing sector and creeping into the other sectors of the economy as credit markets started to shut down.
Market mechanisms are starting to shut down and the government is moving heaven and earth to get it moving in the opposite direction to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression.
Some idiot said earlier there are no loses yet!
To all U.S. taxpayers. The U.S. treasury and otehr GSE’s borrows money from the world. Even the Philippines lends money to the U.S. Treasury.
Today the “We the people” of the U.S. through their authorized agents W, Hank and Ben are already lending public money to major corporations by buying their loan paper. They are having difficulty getting credit from the private sector.
The banking system of the U.S. has been effectively nationalized with the assistance of the international institutions who have agreed to lend money to “We the people” in their hour of insolvency to allow an orderly process of receivership for the U.S. economy.
In effect an orderly bankruptcy process for the U.S. economy.
COMMERCIAL MUNA!
Apology not accepted:
the next time some one says palimos,ibahin na natin ang linya natin instead na patawad po, murahin na lang natinat sabihan natin na hawak sya ng sindikato,tingnan natin kung makabalik pa tayo sa lugar na yon.
That is for the pedestrians,for those in cars will receive scratches,pulled up wipers especially from the windshield washers and the car watch boys.
That maybe a sweeping statement,but someone tell me that it is all urban legend.
I tried being generous to a sampaguita vendor by just giving money without taking the sampaguta,Big mistake, the poor kid got beat up. I say there are other channels of generosity and the direct way is the surest way that they won’t be blessed by your generosity.
“Some idiot said earlier there are no loses yet”
Unless you cash in or move your investment at this wrong time then you will incur actual loss for the difference of high amount originally paid and the low amount you receive today.
Losses are largely paper losses like valuation of investments. Companies routinely comply with valuation requirement. The biggest risk right now is liquidity that can force a company to seek infusion of capital especially in tight credit to fund its operations. The goal is to avoid liquidating assets at low market value.
In simple language, my stocks (options) are worthless right now if I cash in. But I have no need to cash in. My company is liquid in operation and will continue to earn profit (high earning potential) regardless of the mortgage crises.
That is where the role of the government comes in to ease the flow of credit. So confidence in the market can be restored and later the improvement will reflect the true value of company stocks. By then, the paper or valuation losses will be recovered and the public funds injected into banks will be paid with interest.
This is the same principle done in AIG. It has huge assets but cannot use it because of government restrictions (to avoid Enron). In response to tight credit situation, the government allowed AIG to use assets from its holding companies.
In tight credit situation, funds are not available to fund operations. Government intervention is to ensure companies continue operating and avoid business shutdown leading to unemployment. The US government has learned the lesson of the Great Depression.
“We the people in their hour of insolvency to allow an orderly process of receivership for the U.S. economy. In effect an orderly bankruptcy process for the U.S. economy.”
That is a stretch. First, the government is not taking over operation though it can make certain restrictions by its loan. Second, there is no liquidation of assets to pay off priority creditors. Third, there is no deadline set as in bankruptcy or receivership.
There is a virus somewhere (??? in one of the ads)
prevedvsem123
wow, Colin Powell endorsing Obama. that’s huge.
The Bursting of the Housing Bubble and the Coming Recession
By Dean Baker
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 17 August 2006
“Every day presents new evidence that the housing boom is turning into a housing bust. In the last week we have seen data showing that house sale prices are down from last year’s levels in 26 major metropolitan areas, housing starts are down more than 15 percent from their bubble peaks, and applications for home purchase mortgages have dropped by more than 20 percent. A new poll of builders showed industry confidence at the lowest level since the middle of 1990-1991 recession.”
“At this point there is little doubt that the housing market is headed downward. The question is how low will it go and what will be the impact on the economy. If housing construction and sales prices revert to long-term trends, the decline will be severe, as will be the impact on the economy.”
The cumulative net effect of decreasing home values is mortgage defaults, foreclosures and banks themselves restricting credit leading to more defaults and on and on.
The result is an increasing level of unemployment that will lead to more stress to credit markets and on and on and on.
It would be most diffiuclt to personalize the loses and sufferings of millions of the unemployed
The destructive spiral of deflationionary expectations has taken hold…
There is only one juridical entity that can roll over its debt indefinitly into the future. The nation state. The bursting of the housing bubble led to the bursting of the credit derivatives bubble and financial companies have not been able to roll over their debts in an orderly fashion resulting in debt defaults that forced the state to come in.
In organized societies there is only two things that are certain – death and taxes. The ability of the nation state to roll over debts indefintely into the future and is essentially creating assets out of future debt (imposing taxes) to the clueless “We the people……
It was Josef Stalin that said that if you kill a single person it is a case of murder but if you kill millions they are simply a statistic.
Over the past two years millions have lost their homes while millions have los ttheir jobs. The subprime virus has now reached prime mortgages and other forms of credit. Millions more will lose their homes and their jobs.
The leading economies of the world are scheduled to meet to try to resolve the problems in the international system of finance which is the predominantly the dollar reserve system.
Private juridical entities of all sizes and shapes and even lesser states are having problems rolling over their debts resulting in more cutbacks and more unemployment. When Fannie mae and Freddie Mac had problems rolling over their paper in came the Republic. The same with AIG. The rollovers stopped just like a kite running out of an updraft.
The fifty states of the Union had given up the power of their legislatures to create credit surrendering this power to the Fed. They are now having problems rolling over their debts. I direct people to read the U.S. Constitution section 8 as to the Power of Congress. Bankruptcy is an option.
The fact that the nation state has now taken over rooling over due debts of the financial institutions if they are unable to do pending the consolidation and debt workouts across the baord that essentially is a debt restructing process ongoing all across the economic specturm. A bankruptcy process.
Unfortunatley most people have not been schooled and trained in the most simple of theories about monetary systems and how they work.
The nation state under a fiat currency system used debt of the state as its currency. That would mean it can create credit from out of future taxes. No private corporation can do that .
Section 8 – Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
“dodong is smarter than hvrds”
In the lunatic universe that is absolutely correct.
Lunatics live in their own private universe immune to any stimuli from the other universes.