The Russians are much too quiet...

David Cameron says Sinai jet crash 'more likely than not' caused by bomb - Guardian

Raqqa province: Welcome to ISIS’ capital

ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) increased its grip on "Wilayat al-Raqqa", the capital of the Islamic State. It is setting the foundation of its rule through courts, resolving disputes between civilians, and social committees serving the "Muslims" inside the borders of the province. This is in addition to using an iron fist policy against anyone daring to "destabilize the security of the Islamic State." Al-Akhbar

I just want my readers to take note that if the Russian plane filled with innocent civilians was in fact brought down by ISIS, this would be the first time that a terrorist group, which claims to be a state, and actually holds territory in the manner of a state, therefore has an "address", has attacked the unarmed civilians of a nuclear power. 

The Russian are very quiet, not saying much of anything... What will they do?  Nothing? Hardly likely. Send in troops? That would be obviously what Daesh wants them to do? A few pinprick bombings? That would not make much of an impression.

I think Putin would like to convince ISIS's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his followers, that he, Putin,when provoked can be much more of beast than the "caliph" is. This bombing could be the perfect opportunity for Putin to send such a message.

As I say, this is the first time that the civilians of a nuclear power have been killed en masse by an organization which is not "shadowy", but holds territory and refers to itself as a state. We have moved into new era... and the Russians are much too quiet. DS

Shake your booty! What, no booty left?

"This is by far the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression" Nouriel Roubini

"A total collapse of the US financial system, while not inevitable, is a contingency which should now be planned for." Martin Hutchinson, Prudent Bear

David Seaton's News Links
There is a lot of talk these days about the role of humor in American politics; whether or not a candidate is a suitable butt for jokes, whether or not they can "laugh at themselves" and so on and so on. Whether or not humor is "appropriate".

The American national pastime of navel gazing aside, whoever the next president of the United States is, he should, without delay, get fitted out for an getup like the fellow in the photo is wearing... make up and all. Because that is going to be the role of the next POTUS on the world stage in the foreseeable future.

Losing two wars is something the world can chalk off to youthful folly, people seem ready to forgive and forget unprovoked invasions and the deaths and torture of hundreds of thousands of human beings; but destroying the livelihood of millions of people around the world though ideologically driven, financial frivolity is a little harder to swallow. They are going to resent it.

Whatever the world looks like in 2012, it's going to look as different from today as the world looked after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

If I were the next president of the US, I would try to inspire the people with a ringing speech.

My fellow Americans (pause): This is the time (pause, with meaningful gaze into the middle distance) This is the time (pause) for the American people... (pause) to dig deep into the wellsprings and treasures of our popular culture (long pause) to dig deep into our roots (pause), in order to find the strength and the inspiration to carry us through the difficult days to come.

My fellow Americans, Try this on for size.

(marine band strikes up, POTUS sings in a pleasing baritone):

Once I lived the life

of a millionaire

Spending my money

Oh I didn't care

Taking my friends out

For a mighty good time

Buyin' high priced liquor

Champagne and wine

Oh but just as soon

As my money got low

I couldn't find nobody

And I had no place to go

In my pockets, not one penny

And as for my friends,

Man, I hadn't any

So, if I ever get my hands

On a dollar again

I'm gonna hold on to it

Till that big eagle grins

Cause it's mighty strange,

Without a doubt

Nobody wants you

When you're down and out

"Nobody wants you when you're down and out" - Jimmie Cox

DS

Millions to lose their homes

David Seaton's News Links
The infinite number of human tragedies that occur when millions of people lose their homes are bad enough, but if you look at them as merely symptoms of an inhuman system, your heart might break, because this may be only the opening chapter of a story none of us want to read. DS

Foreclosures rising among high-risk US mortgages - The Christian Science Monitor
Abstract: One of the great legacies of the housing boom of the past six years is that almost everyone – even people with questionable credit – has access to a mortgage. But now, some housing advocates contend, all that easy credit is on the verge of creating the worst mortgage crisis since the 1980s. The reason: A rising number of homeowners are shouldering mortgages they can no longer afford.(...) Across the nation, foreclosures and defaults are rising as mortgages that were once affordable are now expensive albatrosses as the introductory "teaser rates" that made the loan possible end and higher interest rates kick in. Some housing specialists worry that the mortgage industry – with more than 20 companies already in bankruptcy – will raise its lending standards so high that would-be homeowners with less-than-perfect credit will be frozen out. There is even some concern that the pullback in lending will extend the slump in the nation's housing market. "It's the most serious threat to the economy," says Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. "It has the potential to set the housing market back another big notch since there could be a whole class of people who can't get credit." At issue is a class of mortgages that lenders call "subprime" because they do not qualify for the lowest or prime interest rate. These are designed for high-risk borrowers, those with fixed incomes, or those who have had credit problems in the past. Since 1998, more than 6 million Americans have borrowed in this way, according to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL). The majority of these loans are adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) that are tied to changes in interest rates. That's a dramatic increase in only a decade. In 1995, subprime mortgages represented a niche market: less than 5 percent of mortgages originated. Today, Wall Street analysts estimate they make up from 18 percent to 24 percent.(...) Deregulation has allowed the mortgage industry to create products like the no-down-payment mortgage and the even riskier "no documentation" loan where all borrowers have to do is state their income without providing proof of their ability to repay the loan. "There was a real rush to make these loans and make as many loans as they could," says Jordan Ash, director of the ACORN Financial Justice Center in Minneapolis, a national low-income housing advocacy organization. "That's because the mortgage companies could sell them off right away" to Wall Street investors. Investors profited from the high interest rates that consumers were paying. "Wall Street wanted the mortgage brokers to keep making loans even though they were riskier and riskier," says Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates in Washington, D.C. "They didn't care that ... people were getting loans they couldn't afford because there was so much money to be made." Abuses got so bad that some lenders were making loans to borrowers who ended up defaulting on their very first payment, according to housing experts.(...) now that the housing market is in a tailspin in some areas, as many as 2.2 million people could end up losing their homes, worth a total of $164 billion, according to CRL. Another report, by Lehman Brothers, concluded that as many as 30 percent of people who obtained subprime loans in 2006 may end up defaulting on them. READ IT ALL