Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Today's Economic Insults

At first I was heartened. Finally covering the flip side of the s*** economy, not cheer-leading the rotten thing.

Alas, there is not one article in the Boston Globe that doesn't push the agenda. Not one.


"language barriers prevent some of the city’s large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants from finding work. Now, the problem is magnified by the global economic downturn. Buses that used to ferry Lawrence workers to day jobs in Boston, he said, no longer make the trips because companies have cut back
"

Aww, the poor, drive-down-the-Americans -wages illegals!

Related
: Reason Number One Why No One Reads the Boston Globe Anymore

We ain't racists, world; however, we DO BELIEVE in FAIRNESS and the LAW!!!

"Lawrence reels as hope recedes" by Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff | July 22, 2009

LAWRENCE - Nowhere is the recession’s destructive power felt more than in Lawrence.

The numbers are staggering, and psychically punishing for a city that thought it was on its way back. After years of watching other smokestack cities transform and regain momentum, Lawrence recently had glimpsed hints of its own rebirth -a new $110 million high school, decayed mill-spaces rehabbed into lofts and businesses. Now, the murder rate is climbing, storefronts are shuttering, tax collection rates are falling. The food bank is trying to keep pace with spiraling demand that is up 33 percent over last year.

Two-term Mayor Michael Sullivan says the downturn is par for the course in Lawrence. He says language barriers prevent some of the city’s large number of Spanish-speaking immigrants from finding work. Now, the problem is magnified by the global economic downturn. Buses that used to ferry Lawrence workers to day jobs in Boston, he said, no longer make the trips because companies have cut back.

Sullivan is prevented by term limits from running again and will move to Hollywood, Fla., when his term ends in January to open a Boston sports-themed bar. The city has been forced to cut back, with such moves as unpaid furloughs for city workers and temporary closings of firehouses.

Across town, at the government-funded ValleyWorks Career Center, the waiting room is crowded with residents applying for unemployment benefits. Many have been unemployed so long that their benefits have expired. They cry to counselors for help. But the chance for extensions is often slim.

“I tell them to call welfare, to call fuel assistance,’’ said Vilma Valle, a counselor.

Valle tells her clients to keep looking for jobs. Yet she confides that the only ones she knows of in Lawrence are temporary - and those tend to be oversubscribed. A worker referred to a job by a temp agency often arrives at the job site to find 20 other workers there. The worker returns home without pay, and out transportation money.

Valle knows first-hand the hardships in Lawrence: Her husband’s auto repair shop downtown recently went belly up.

You know, I've got my own problems. Boo-hoo-hoo for them; she's still working at a taxpayer-funded job, right?

--more--"

Need $$$$?

See:
Public Loot For Private Projects (and related links within).

Meanwhile, it is the SAME OLD BS back in the bidness section
:

"Fed chief sees signs economy is stabilizing

You know, a DEAD MAN WHO has DROWNED "stablizes" at the bottom of the pool.


Stocks rose, extending the Dow’s rally, after Caterpillar posted profit more than triple what analysts had estimated and the Fed’s chairman said there are signs the economy is stabilizing.

What, Israel just buy a bunch of bulldozers to flatten Palestinian homes and olive groves?


Financial shares slid, though, limiting the market’s advance, after CIT Group said it may file for bankruptcy if a debt-swap fails and Regions Financial posted a quarterly loss."

WTF? I thought CIT was
saved?

Now take a bite of the apple and wash it down with some coke, 'murkn:


"Apple profits top analysts’ estimates" by Bloomberg News | July 22, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. reported third-quarter sales and profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates. Profit rose to $1.23 billion in the quarter ended June 27."

MILWAUKEE - Coca-Cola Co.’s second-quarter profit rose 43 percent, and the world’s largest beverage maker said yesterday its rapid overseas growth helped offset weak domestic volumes, even as foreign currency exchange dragged down sales.

Related: Dollar Going Down

And notice how deceptive the explanation was there: sales weren't down (coke still sold the same amount of stuff); they just TOOK IN LESS because the DOLLAR is taking a DIVE (as planned).

For the three months ending July 3, Coca-Cola said it earned $2.04 billion."

Yes, that's BILLION with a "B," readers -- in ONE QUARTER!

How did you do this last quarter, 'murkn? As good as these guys?

"Hingham bank’s quarterly profit up 43%

Hingham Institution for Savings seems to be piling up the pluses for investors: Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 increased 43 percent over the same period last year, to $2.02 million, while earnings for the first half of 2009 represent a 33 percent increase over the first half of 2008. What’s more, the results include a significant provision for loan losses, president Robert H. Gaughen Jr. said. And as of June 30, the bank had no foreclosed property, and nonperforming assets totaled just 1.51 percent of total assets. The strong growth of recent years has continued, he said in a press release, with increases in both deposit and loan activity.

--more--"

At least someone is making it in this economy, huh?

Related: Slow Saturday Special: Suffering Banks

Boston Globe Declares Recession Over

Isn't there something seriously out of balance with your economy, 'murkn?