K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
One man canceled a 1500 mile journey to see his family. At four bucks
a gallon for gas, I can't say that I blame him. Ole Ma Bell and the
cell phone mavens are gonna make out like bandits this holiday season.
Folks have already fired up the ole cell phone, cranked up the land
line and are burning up the wires--which is a lot cheaper than burning
up refined dinosaur excrement these days.
Observers say suburban grocery store and big box retailer parking lots
are a lot emptier than in earlier times. People are hoarding their
gasoline, combining trips and no longer take travel for granted.
People in the coldest parts of the nation--Maine, North Dakota and
other frozen environs are full of people who will face, heck are
already facing, major financial problems over the high cost of heating
oil. The only independently operated Native American operated health
clinic in the Nation, located on a Reservation in the Dakotas, has
closed because of a lack of heating fuel--simply put, they couldn't
afford to heat the building.
How many more not-for profit medical and health facilities across the
nation will either close or restrict services this winter because they
can not afford to heat their buildings? How many of our elderly
citizens, people who have already had to choose between buying food
and buying medication, will now be forced to choose between buying
food and keeping warm?
How many already fragile people will be shoved over the edge by the
added burden of gasoline, which is too expensive, utility prices that
are out of their reach, and jobs which they can no longer afford to
get to? The alternative energy industry seems to have been smothered.
Who is talking about solar energy, geothermal power, hydro-electric
power?
All we hear about these days is ethanol, fuel crops and how wonderful
all of this is for the farmers. Few people are talking about how the
rise in demand for corn, which the ethanol plants are generating, is
affecting the price of your food. Supply and demand, basic economics.
When the demand for something increases, so does the price.
Got a sweet tooth? It's gonna cost you. The stuff that sweetens most
snacks and beverages in the United States, corn syrup, is rising
because of the increased demand for corn. Add the increase cost of
transporting food to that and we are looking at major increases in
food prices.
Where it will end, nobody knows. Fuel has gotten so expensive that
many truckers are losing money every time they roll their trucks down
the road. Many are locked into contracts and can't get out of them.
Fuel surcharges are helping some, but the bottom line is that fuel
prices have risen so much, that many in the transportation and public
transportation industry are pulling their hair out. How do you keep a
fleet on the road with fuel prices rising and no end in sight?
One source says Japan is at a twenty year low in oil inventory. Iowa
and the Dakotas have empty oil terminals, and according to the LA
Times,
Driven largely by the soaring cost of crude oil, pump prices across
the country are approaching the lofty levels that set records during
the summer -- an unprecedented turn of events that will make...
Thanksgiving weekend the most expensive ever for millions of
travelers. And $4 fuel may become a more common sight, perhaps as
early as next year, some gas-watchers predict.
Gasoline station operators in remote parts of the country are taking
heat for the high price of their gasoline, but as one operator put
it:
"They don't like me. They think I'm ripping them off," he said. [John]
Simpson said he had to charge more for fuel because it costs more to
bring supplies by tanker truck either from Sacramento -- 170 miles
away -- or from San Francisco, a 230-mile trek that includes dangerous
mountain passes. (Times)
Not only was Thanksgiving weekend an extremely expensive time to buy
gasoline, but many people in some of the coldest parts of the nation
says it was an extremely hard time to heat their homes, as well. Even
more troubling is the fact that economic forecasters say the nation is
in the middle of a possible perfect storm for economic catastrophe,
driven by housing, heating and fuel costs.
We've discussed how the increased cost of fuel and heating has changed
many consumers' buying and eating habits, now, lets move to another
problem: mortgages and the coming foreclosure crisis. To hear some of
the media reports, you'd think people are still spreading those credit
cards around like condoms at a conference of frat rats. Spend baby,
spend, that's the message many have been sending. Yet, there seems to
be a quiet desperation to the way Americans are spending these days.
It's the quiet before the storm.
Credit cards are no longer as easy to get as they once were, and the
credit card industry is wondering when the other shoe will drop.
Already, major credit cards have stopped issuing cards to anybody who
can breathe (slight exaggeration, but close) and the escape of earlier
times--bankruptcy, has been shut off, thanks to a compliant Congress.
The banking industry is waiting for the other shoe to drop as tens of
thousands of sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) come due and
people who are already on the edge of financial disaster are suddenly
hit with massive increases in their mortgages.
According to an economic forecast from Bloomberg:
Falling property values combined with rising fuel costs and reduced
access to credit suggest consumer spending, which accounts for more
than two-thirds of the economy, will slow. (Bloomberg)
Major financial advisors are telling their clients to kick some stocks
to the curb, particularly those industries, which have a high exposure
in the mortgage business.
Wall Street's worries bubbled over once again Monday, after brokerage
Goldman, Sachs & Co. told clients to sell shares of Citigroup Inc.,
warning that the banking giant could face another round of massive
mortgage-related losses. (LA Times, business section)
Blacks are already at risk when it comes to home purchases because
they, regardless of credit, are often steered to riskier and/or higher
interest mortgage products. According to a recent wire service
report:
In September, the Federal Reserve released a study that found 52.8
percent of African-Americans got a high-cost home loan when they
refinanced in 2006, compared to 37.7 percent of Latinos and just 25.7
percent of whites in the same year. (Reuters)
That means that blacks will be over-represented in the coming housing
crisis, as the Interest Only, predatory mortgages and adjustable rate
mortgages adjust thousands of people of color right out of their homes
and onto the streets.
If the economy doesn't tank, perhaps the issue will be decided in
court. Relief may be on the way in the form of a legal remedy, but it
can't come too soon.
In July, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, or NAACP, filed a discrimination suit against 11 of the
country's largest lenders, saying minorities are steered toward high-
cost loans more often than whites, even after all risk factors are
considered. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, people are pulling the sweaters out, buying walking shoes
and praying. Public transportation services across the nation have
seen major upswings in ridership, but city bus services are having
financial problems because of high fuel costs, too.
There is no easy answer, but it is clear that Americans must change
their energy consumption and purchasing habits. If you don't change
your ways, market forces will change them for you.
http://www.lulu.com/davis4000_2000
a gallon for gas, I can't say that I blame him. Ole Ma Bell and the
cell phone mavens are gonna make out like bandits this holiday season.
Folks have already fired up the ole cell phone, cranked up the land
line and are burning up the wires--which is a lot cheaper than burning
up refined dinosaur excrement these days.
Observers say suburban grocery store and big box retailer parking lots
are a lot emptier than in earlier times. People are hoarding their
gasoline, combining trips and no longer take travel for granted.
People in the coldest parts of the nation--Maine, North Dakota and
other frozen environs are full of people who will face, heck are
already facing, major financial problems over the high cost of heating
oil. The only independently operated Native American operated health
clinic in the Nation, located on a Reservation in the Dakotas, has
closed because of a lack of heating fuel--simply put, they couldn't
afford to heat the building.
How many more not-for profit medical and health facilities across the
nation will either close or restrict services this winter because they
can not afford to heat their buildings? How many of our elderly
citizens, people who have already had to choose between buying food
and buying medication, will now be forced to choose between buying
food and keeping warm?
How many already fragile people will be shoved over the edge by the
added burden of gasoline, which is too expensive, utility prices that
are out of their reach, and jobs which they can no longer afford to
get to? The alternative energy industry seems to have been smothered.
Who is talking about solar energy, geothermal power, hydro-electric
power?
All we hear about these days is ethanol, fuel crops and how wonderful
all of this is for the farmers. Few people are talking about how the
rise in demand for corn, which the ethanol plants are generating, is
affecting the price of your food. Supply and demand, basic economics.
When the demand for something increases, so does the price.
Got a sweet tooth? It's gonna cost you. The stuff that sweetens most
snacks and beverages in the United States, corn syrup, is rising
because of the increased demand for corn. Add the increase cost of
transporting food to that and we are looking at major increases in
food prices.
Where it will end, nobody knows. Fuel has gotten so expensive that
many truckers are losing money every time they roll their trucks down
the road. Many are locked into contracts and can't get out of them.
Fuel surcharges are helping some, but the bottom line is that fuel
prices have risen so much, that many in the transportation and public
transportation industry are pulling their hair out. How do you keep a
fleet on the road with fuel prices rising and no end in sight?
One source says Japan is at a twenty year low in oil inventory. Iowa
and the Dakotas have empty oil terminals, and according to the LA
Times,
Driven largely by the soaring cost of crude oil, pump prices across
the country are approaching the lofty levels that set records during
the summer -- an unprecedented turn of events that will make...
Thanksgiving weekend the most expensive ever for millions of
travelers. And $4 fuel may become a more common sight, perhaps as
early as next year, some gas-watchers predict.
Gasoline station operators in remote parts of the country are taking
heat for the high price of their gasoline, but as one operator put
it:
"They don't like me. They think I'm ripping them off," he said. [John]
Simpson said he had to charge more for fuel because it costs more to
bring supplies by tanker truck either from Sacramento -- 170 miles
away -- or from San Francisco, a 230-mile trek that includes dangerous
mountain passes. (Times)
Not only was Thanksgiving weekend an extremely expensive time to buy
gasoline, but many people in some of the coldest parts of the nation
says it was an extremely hard time to heat their homes, as well. Even
more troubling is the fact that economic forecasters say the nation is
in the middle of a possible perfect storm for economic catastrophe,
driven by housing, heating and fuel costs.
We've discussed how the increased cost of fuel and heating has changed
many consumers' buying and eating habits, now, lets move to another
problem: mortgages and the coming foreclosure crisis. To hear some of
the media reports, you'd think people are still spreading those credit
cards around like condoms at a conference of frat rats. Spend baby,
spend, that's the message many have been sending. Yet, there seems to
be a quiet desperation to the way Americans are spending these days.
It's the quiet before the storm.
Credit cards are no longer as easy to get as they once were, and the
credit card industry is wondering when the other shoe will drop.
Already, major credit cards have stopped issuing cards to anybody who
can breathe (slight exaggeration, but close) and the escape of earlier
times--bankruptcy, has been shut off, thanks to a compliant Congress.
The banking industry is waiting for the other shoe to drop as tens of
thousands of sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) come due and
people who are already on the edge of financial disaster are suddenly
hit with massive increases in their mortgages.
According to an economic forecast from Bloomberg:
Falling property values combined with rising fuel costs and reduced
access to credit suggest consumer spending, which accounts for more
than two-thirds of the economy, will slow. (Bloomberg)
Major financial advisors are telling their clients to kick some stocks
to the curb, particularly those industries, which have a high exposure
in the mortgage business.
Wall Street's worries bubbled over once again Monday, after brokerage
Goldman, Sachs & Co. told clients to sell shares of Citigroup Inc.,
warning that the banking giant could face another round of massive
mortgage-related losses. (LA Times, business section)
Blacks are already at risk when it comes to home purchases because
they, regardless of credit, are often steered to riskier and/or higher
interest mortgage products. According to a recent wire service
report:
In September, the Federal Reserve released a study that found 52.8
percent of African-Americans got a high-cost home loan when they
refinanced in 2006, compared to 37.7 percent of Latinos and just 25.7
percent of whites in the same year. (Reuters)
That means that blacks will be over-represented in the coming housing
crisis, as the Interest Only, predatory mortgages and adjustable rate
mortgages adjust thousands of people of color right out of their homes
and onto the streets.
If the economy doesn't tank, perhaps the issue will be decided in
court. Relief may be on the way in the form of a legal remedy, but it
can't come too soon.
In July, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People, or NAACP, filed a discrimination suit against 11 of the
country's largest lenders, saying minorities are steered toward high-
cost loans more often than whites, even after all risk factors are
considered. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, people are pulling the sweaters out, buying walking shoes
and praying. Public transportation services across the nation have
seen major upswings in ridership, but city bus services are having
financial problems because of high fuel costs, too.
There is no easy answer, but it is clear that Americans must change
their energy consumption and purchasing habits. If you don't change
your ways, market forces will change them for you.
http://www.lulu.com/davis4000_2000