"Wall Street high-tech/low-tech weapons used ...to control their casinos:"

"...1. Hire psychologists, neuroscientists to manipulate the media

Use consulting contracts, grants and retainers and lock up the best talent to work to keep America’s 95 million individual investors “irrational and uninformed”...

Do the few who control dissemination of most financial and political information,

enjoy relatively disproportionate levels of influence than the many who don’t?

2. Free experts constantly deliver Wall Street’s message to media

...Talking heads are free advertising for Wall Street to manipulate investors using so-called news content.

Why would some mainstream media personalities criticize policy positions of some,

while receiving undisclosed and/or indirect compensation from others

interested in non-attributed dissention?

3. Invest megabucks on lobbyists to control politicians, government

...Lobbyists control Washington: control politicians, fight reforms, push favorable laws, regs, spin the truth to mislead investors.

Can business and/or political interests negatively affect investigative journalism,

by sheltering some from inhospitable exposure while simultaneously disparaging opponents?

...5. Kill our savings button, undercut self-confidence, long-term planning

Wall Street uses neuroscience technology to sow doubts about retirement security, do-it-yourself investing, how indexing beats trading, then overloads us with misleading ads.

The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war,

the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture,

and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation.

These contradictions are not accidental,

nor do they result from ordinary hypocrisy.

They are deliberate exercises in doublethink.

George Orwell

6. High-frequency trading, misleading Wall Street and Main Street

Short-term online trading makes Wall Street billions annually. Hyperactive traders have a competitive edge using high-tech neuroscientific strategies, plus keep markets churning.

Have financial markets gained after beating over-reduced expectations,

under-reported bad news or positively spun late afternoon press leaks?

7. Brokers trained on aggressive selling and closing techniques

Securities are sold not bought: Broker’s advice is [sometimes] self-serving, often misleading, [often] anything to get a commission. They’re trained to use high-powered psychological techniques.

Do some think many know more than they ought to?

8. ‘Investor education’ programs are self-serving sales gimmicks

Most Wall Street-sponsored “investor education” programs are loaded with new business, sales and promotional gimmicks...

Is the delivery of consumers to merchants

the objective of for-profit television?

...10. Retirement gatekeepers: kept in the dark and manipulated

...Wall Street focuses sales pitches on easy to manipulate naïve plan managers."

Paul B. Farrell

Why are rising financial markets in the best interests of whom

of the business information industry?

If a few multinational corporations
own an overwhelming majority of newspapers, magazines, news channels,
radio stations, book publishers and business information sources,
what are the chances of an investigative journalist
publishing a negative story on a sister subsidiary,
or on a subsidiary of another company that could retaliate in kind?

Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

John Maynard Keynes

Could a percentage of what you think,
be what some frequently suggest you think?

People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one,

and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

United States Office of Strategic Services on Adolf Hitler

If advertisements and anecdotal news stories
promote extraordinary investment returns with minimal mention of risks,
along with plentiful and inexpensive financing,
and after unexpectedly high returns for some,
collective acceptance motivates others to borrow and invest more,
creating even higher prices,
why would proponents want to maximize available liquidity
and endeavor to minimize withdrawals?

If Deena Hayes was the Chairperson, why did George Clopton sign the Civil Rights Museum contract?

"...veteran Guilford County Board of Education member Deena Hayes now heads the board of Greensboro’s struggling International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

...Hayes’ election was itself a well-kept secret that followed the resignation of outgoing Chairman George Clopton, who stepped down suddenly after only four months at the post. Or so it seemed.

Longtime museum board member and attorney Doug Harris [whose name appears in the contract] said Monday that Clopton had intended all along to serve temporarily.

Did Doug Harris know Deena was the Chair when Clopton signed the contract?

But nobody bothered to tell the public.

Further, Harris said Hayes had been elected to succeed Clopton a month ago.

The rest of us found out Monday."

http://www.news-record.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/article_fe914958-981e-11e3-8ede-001a4bcf6878.html
.
.
Some appear to have lied to News 2 yesterday;

"Deena Hayes was voted in Monday afternoon to lead the ICRCM board after the former board chair, George Clopton stepped down.

...George Clopton sent WFMY News 2 this statement: It's been a very exciting day stepping down and updating the Board of all of the developments over the last few months.

...Hayes told WFMY she doesn't know her duties in the role just yet even though she was voted in and takes over immediately.

"I don't think it was about wanting to be the chairperson of the board, it was willing to step into that leadership position through the support of all of my colleagues on here. I was nominated so I gladly accepted their nomination," said Hayes."

http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/local/2014/02/17/chairperson-deena-hayes-civil-rights-museum/5569873/

It is my understanding that the contract was signed in February, 2014.

Per the city, the contract was signed on February 14, 2014.

George Clopton wasn't the chair.

Gwendolyn Alston witnessed that he was, as Skip Alston notarized the contract knowing Clopton wasn't.

The 14th of February?

Clopton is still listed as the chair at the museum's website;

http://www.sitinmovement.org/founders/sit-in-movement-board.asp

Board of Directors

George Clopton
Chairman

Earl F. Jones
Vice Chairman

Dr. Edward B. Fort
Secretary

Daniel Duncan
Treasurer

Board Members

Skip Alston

Hurley W. Derrickson

Doug S. Harris, Esq.

Deena Hayes

Henry Isaacson, Esq., therefore Henry is partly responsible for this mess, as is Robbie Perkins

James Johnson

Jibreel Khazan

Richard A. Koritz

Gladys F. Shipman

Dr. Harold L. Martin, Sr.

Ronald Milstein
.
.
If Commissioner Alston commingled funds with Real Estate Broker Alston, and Deena Hayes shares the same voting district...?

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2013/06/if-commissioner-alston-commingled-funds.html

If Deena Hayes has a non-race related conflict of interest issue relative to the Downtown Hotel Project, why would the Undoing Racism Group White Caucus ask her to circulate racially oriented talking points?

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-deena-hayes-has-non-race-related.html
.
.
If Deena Hayes was in with Skip Alston on the Downtown Hotel deal in 2009/2010, and now Deena Hayes is the Chairman of the museum, how is Deena Hayes not a stand in for Skip?

I believe Greensboro's taxpayers have been rolled.
.
.
ALSTON WARNED MAYOR OF CONSEQUENCES OF REVISITING HOTEL BOND VOTE

"During a meeting at the Old Guilford County Courthouse on Jan. 22, county commission Chairman Skip Alston warned Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight and Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Vaughan that there could be repercussions if an item about hotel bond financing were to reappear on the city council’s agenda.

...“I will swear on a stack of Bibles,” Vaughan said. “He mentioned a possible recall against me, Bill and Danny.

...Alston said Deena Hayes, a political ally, had considered leading a protest...

...Hayes is a member of the museum’s board of directors. As a member of the Ole Asheboro Neighborhood Association, which holds a stake in the downtown luxury hotel partnership, she has been a vocal proponent of the project. Revenue from the hotel would allow the neighborhood association to pursue community development initiatives. Hayes also stands to receive a direct financial benefit from the building of the hotel.

Lawyer Henry Isaacson introduced JCG & Associates as a principal in the hotel partnership during a city council meeting earlier this month. The construction and general contracting company is owned by John C. Greene. Hayes and Greene own a house together on Gorrell Street and voting records confirm that both are residents.

...“Deena was acting on behalf of the neighborhood, that was always my impression,” Vaughan said. “It turns out that she might actually have a substantial financial gain from this project. As elected officials, I would expect that Skip and Deena would appreciate the scrutiny that we have to give this. They know the fiduciary responsibility that we have, and I don’t think it’s out of line to ask questions…. Just because you ask questions doesn’t mean you’re a racist. I voted for affordable housing and I voted to close the White Street Landfill. To be painted as a racist is very hurtful.”

Hayes did not respond to efforts to obtain comment for this story.

Alston said that, contrary to popular perception, it’s not he and Hayes that trying to leverage advantage...

http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-8405-alston-warned-mayor-of-consequences-of-revisiting-hotel-bond-vote.html
.
.
A bunch of Ed Cone material when I looked up "Deena Hayes".

http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/hotel-bond-fun/page/2/

A conversation between Ed Cone and George Hartzman on Obamacare etc...

"Many doctors need to make less money for the health system to work.

Medicare needs to be able to negotiate prescription prices like the Veteran's Administration.

To say there has been little inflation in healthcare and education costs makes no sense to me.

The more government is involved, the higher the prices.

Beef prices are at all time highs.

Processed food containers keep getting smaller.

The US has exported a great deal of our inflation to other countries and financial markets.

Posted by: Hartzman | Feb 17, 2014 at 01:29 PM

Hartzman: "The more government is involved, the higher the prices."

Germany and other countries with high-quality healthcare 

at much lower prices than our own: "Really?"

Posted by: Ed Cone | Feb 17, 2014 at 06:15 PM

We don't live in Germany and other countries.

My understanding is that Germany has single payer, as most likely the other countries to which you refer.

Our health care system is the most expensive and corrupt on the planet.

The ACA didn't fix what was wrong with our system, it preserved the worst of it, as both parties and the press ignore the accounting fraud of the doc fix.

Too many contributors and advertisers to profit from.

The largest, most powerful union in America isn't called a union.

It's called the American Medical Association.

Posted by: Hartzman | Feb 17, 2014 at 10:47 PM

http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2014/02/more-free-advice-for-kay-hagan.html
.
.
"America’s most serious budgetary problem is Medicare"

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2011/12/americas-most-serious-budgetary-problem.html

Medicare Accounting Ripoff?

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2010/12/medicare-accounting-ripoff.html

On Medicare's 23% December phyisician fee cut: If "Obamacare" was dependent on the cuts to be "deficit reducing," could negating the cuts betray the electorate?

http://hartzman.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-medicare-23-december-phyisician-fee.html
.
.

http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/charts/inflation/CPI-categories-since-2000.html?CPI-categories-since-2000.gif

Dane Keaton

Member of the Bench Tavern since 1968.

Good Friend.

Loved his wife.

He will be missed.

I would say I've played about 500 games of pool with Dane,
many as partners
among other proclivities we shared over the years.

I've said this for some a few times over the years.

I said it today, and yesterday.

I said it at Ed's funeral at the Bench.

Ed sold Dane the motorcycle in the picture above.

I don't give much credence to the actual meaning of the words,
but the way it sounds when it comes out means a lot,
as some of the circumcised have been saying it for a few thousand years.

Yit•ga•dal ve•yit•ka•dash she•mei ra•ba
be•al•ma di•ve•ra chi•re•u•tei, ve•yam•lich mal•chu•tei
be•cha•yei•chon u•ve•yo•mei•chon u•ve•cha•yei de•chol beit Yis•ra•eil,
ba•a•ga•la u•vi•ze•man ka•riv, ve•i•me•ru: a•mein. 

Ye•hei she•mei ra•ba me•va•rach le•a•lam u•le•al•mei al•ma•ya. 

Yit•ba•rach ve•yish•ta•bach, ve•yit•pa•ar ve•yit•ro•mam ve•yit•na•sei,
ve•yit•ha•dar ve•yit•a•leh ve•yit•ha•lal she•mei de•ku•de•sha, be•rich hu,
le•ei•la min kol bi•re•cha•ta ve•shi•ra•ta,
tush•be•cha•ta ve•ne•che•ma•ta da•a•mi•ran be•alma, ve•i•me•ru: a•mein.

It’s kind of like talking to your great x 20 grandparents.
.
.
Forget what you give, value what you get,
return what you borrow, replace what you break,
and forgive quickly.

Do the right thing when no one’s looking,
leave others better off for having known you,
and the world a better place than you found it.

Give your family a better chance to succeed
than your forefathers gave your parents
and your parents gave you.

Do the most good, in the best way,
with as many people for as long as possible.

Hope everything happens the way it does.

Sing, laugh, cry, don’t worry, let go, feel good, love,
and have as much fun as soon as possible
with the least amount of risk for as long as you can.

Warmer Arctic = Colder North America?

"A warmer Arctic could ... affect the pattern of the high-altitude polar jet stream, resulting in longer and colder winters over North America and northern Europe...

The jet stream, a ribbon of high altitude, high-speed wind in northern latitudes that blows from west to east, is formed when the cold Arctic air clashes with warmer air from further south.

The greater the difference in temperature, the faster the jet stream moves.

...the Arctic air has warmed in recent years as a result of melting polar ice caps, meaning there is now less of a difference in temperatures when it hits air from lower latitudes.

...over the past two decades the jet stream has weakened.

...instead of circling the earth in the far north, the jet stream has begun to meander, like a river heading off course.

This has brought chilly Arctic weather further south than normal, and warmer temperatures up north.

...far northern regions like Alaska are going through an unusually warm winter this year.

...Temperatures in the Arctic have been rising "two to three times faster than the rest of the planet,"...

...rising Arctic temperatures are directly linked to melting ice caps.

"The sea ice cover acts as a lid which separates the ocean from a colder atmosphere," ...But if the lid is removed, then warmth contained in the water rises into the atmosphere.

This warming trend and the shifting jet stream [may] have a dire impact on agriculture, especially in the farm-rich middle-latitudes in the United States.

..."Look around the world -- we produce the bulk of our crops around this mid-latitude area,"...

Droughts and freezes are already having "a major impact on animal productivity, it influences meat production, milk and eggs production,"...

http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/jet-stream-shift-could-prompt-harsher-winters-scientists

Tuesday Greensboro City Council Agenda with Attachments

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=15233

UNC University System Sitting on Billions in Cash

Hat Tip Marty Kotis;

http://greensboroobserver.wordpress.com/

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dkf253bpqhmlx1z/2TgHNtT4lW/UNC%20University%20Consolidated%20Financials.xlsx

Dear Skip; A notary shall not perform a notarial act if any of the following apply:

...(5) The notary is a signer of, party to, or beneficiary of the record, that is to be notarized.

However, a disqualification under this subdivision shall not apply to a notary who is named in a record solely as (i) the trustee in a deed of trust, (ii) the drafter of the record, (iii) the person to whom a registered document should be mailed or sent after recording, or (iv) the attorney for a party to the record, so long as the notary is not also a party to the record individually or in some other representative or fiduciary capacity...

(6) The notary will receive directly from a transaction connected with the notarial act any commission, fee, advantage, right, title, interest, cash, property, or other consideration exceeding in value the fees specified in G.S. 10B-31...

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_10B.pdf

Looks like the City Attorney didn't collateralize the Civil Rights Museum loan and the money is gone

Meaning they haven't entered into an agreement, even though the city already gave the museum $750,000.

The prior page to the one below looks like it shows all the money has been spent.

Parenthesis means negative balance.

So it appears the museum was $191,074 short at the end of 2013?

I think another line item says after the $750,000, $373,708 is still past due, but the numbers need to be confirmed.

The notarized agreement signed by Greensboro's Attorney and Skip Alston, Notary Public

Per the Loan Contract between Greensboro and the Civil Rights Museum, it appears the loan is in default

According to the agreement, the loan defaulted upon George Clopton's signature, as the borrower failed to deliver the audit by January 1, 2014;

Now that the contract has been signed, the city may ask the money back;

City of Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan on the Civil Rights Museum Contract Notary Issue

"It appears that the City, in the body of the contract, cut-and-pasted an old Notary statement.

The notary was for the "Piedmont Triad Film Commission".

The Museum crossed out the film commission and wrote in the correct entity.

They didn't catch that the City had also typed in June, 2013.

Sloppy.

...the Notary seal and signatures are originals.

The issue originated with the City.

The Notary page is not the last page of a contract like you might traditionally see.

The Notary appears after the signature page (like it should) but is immediately followed by two exhibits.

The Notary "page" was imbedded in the contract.

The Notary statement and the start of Exhibit "A" are on the same page."

Nancy Vaughan