Credit Card Debt up to 15 Percent of Annual Household Income. Average Credit Card Debt in 1980 was $670 and Today it is up to $7,800. The Slimy World

Credit card companies have made it their passion to ensure that every eligible American has access to a credit card. They have also created a financial labyrinth with traps in every corner from tricky financial statements to interest rates that would make loan sharks blush. The credit card has become some form of financial rite of passage. Even colleges are plastered with credit card pushers trying to get their new batch of Americans hooked on the world of debt financing. In a way, this is an early initiation into the world of spending what you don’t have so when the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve create money out of thin air many Americans don’t find this concept foreign.

Credit card companies have expanded the scope of how many Americans actually hold the mighty plastic:

In 1965 only 5 million cards were in circulation and by 1996 some 1.4 billion cards were out floating in the market. How can this be? You have some people that have ten or more cards. As of today over 70 percent of eligible households have a credit card. This isn’t stunning since the average American needs to establish credit through this racket because of building up a FICO score. In many cases this score determines your interest rate or even whether you get a rental. How did people do it in the 1950s or before? They actually spent time vetting the person instead of deferring the hard work to some magical three digit number.

I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around the massive growth in credit card debt. This week Bank of America sent me a letter discussing the new changes to my credit card because of the new legislation kicking in 2010. A few key points include not being able to hike up your rates on all cards if you miss payment on one card. This is known as universal default. And another key was not being able to hike up your rate without advance notice. The letter was sent as if it were fantastic news. This is nonsense. This is like someone sending you a letter saying, “after 20 years of robbing your bank account, we have decided that we will no longer steal your money with both hands but only with one.” Is this really the kind of reform the corporate oligarchs have in mind for us?

And while this reform is coming, credit card companies are screwing as many customers as they can before the new legislation comes into effect. I made the inopportune mistake of acting in frustration and anger. One day as I arrived home after a tough day, I opened up a letter from Chase showing that my fixed rate of 4.9% was now going up to 18.99%. The letter in point 6-print stated that if I did not want this, I should pick up the phone and call some person half way around the globe to discuss a very local problem. I dialed away and told them that I wanted to completely opt out. Who in the world would say yes to this? Well as it turns out the rate shot up anyway and the card was closed because somewhere in the clause, not opting in was reason to move on the change. Furious I had my attorney draft up a letter and we sent it to Chase. They managed to get the rate back down. No late payments. Years of on time loyalty mean nothing here. Even a solid FICO score. My attorney just shook his head and said he is seeing this over and over.

Part of this comes from the massive growth in credit card debt over the years:

In 1980 the average U.S. household held $670 in credit card debt. That number today is up to $7,800. Nearly $900 billion in credit card debt is outstanding. This is money that is created out of thin air. Think about a credit card transaction. You don’t have the money technically and neither does the credit card issuer. Once you buy say a flat screen or food, you’ve just created “X” amount of money on your purchase. Yet that money wasn’t there before your purchase even though you may think your credit line is actual money. As many people are now realizing many credit card issuers are now pulling back lines to shore up their beleaguered balance sheets. Many made the critical mistake of thinking of their credit line as some form of savings account.

As you can see with the green above in the chart, for nearly 30 years each year saw more and more credit card debt. That is until this massive crisis. We have reached an apex of debt. You might say that incomes have grown during this time. That is true but more is eaten up as a percentage by credit card debt:

Back in 1980 credit card debt on average was slightly below 4% of U.S. household annual median income. Today that number is over 15 percent. This seems to be the breaking point. Let us not even couple in the massive amount of mortgage debt brought on by the gigantic housing bubble. Americans were spending more and more with debt that really didn’t connect to their actual economic status. Now, many are facing the grim prospect of paying inordinate amounts of money to credit card companies that are looking to suck every last penny out of debt holders. The same people credit card companies wooed with 0 percent 12 month offers are now getting rates jacked up and having traps setup in every imaginable path on the road. And the only legislation we can get is that they won’t scam Americans as much as they once did? Come on now.

It would be one thing if credit card companies that are connected to the too big to fail banks didn’t take any taxpayer money. Instead, the American taxpayer is backstopping the banking and corporate oligarchs to the tune of $14 trillion. And what are banks doing? They are hoarding the money:

Banks are holding onto some $1.1 trillion in excess reserves. As we saw in our earlier chart they are doing the opposite of lending by pulling money out. It isn’t that banks don’t want to lend but they rather gamble in the stock market casino and make egregious amounts of money on the backs of struggling Americans. And what do we get? A nice letter in the mail telling us they will tone down their screwing of us via outrageous credit card practices.

I did an article a few months ago talking about an insane 79.9 percent credit card offer. Some doubted this but it is no joke:

“NEW YORK (AP) — It’s no mistake. This credit card’s interest rate is 79.9 percent.

The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It’s a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

Typically, the First Premier card comes with a minimum of $256 in fees in the first year for a credit line of $250. Starting in February, however, a new law will cap such fees at 25 percent of a card’s credit line.

In a recent mailing for a preapproved card, First Premier lowers fees to just that limit — $75 in the first year for a credit line of $300. But the new law doesn’t set a cap on interest rates. Hence the 79.9 APR, up from the previous 9.9 percent.”

And before you think that poor people are going out of their way to seek this kind of financial destruction, think again:

“The bank typically mails offers to subprime households, meaning those with credit scores below 700. In the third quarter, however, 84 percent of its offers were sent to subprime households, down from 91 percent the same period last year, according to Synovate.

First Premier could be cleaning up its credit card portfolio since the new regulations will limit its ability to raise interest rates. That could mean First Premier won’t issue cards as liberally to those with bad credit.”

It is enough to make your head turn. How is this beneficial to anyone? How is this even legal after we just went through an economic collapse that came close to rivaling that of the Great Depression? Credit card companies and their banking parents have absolutely no shame. Time to bust these trusts up.

A Visual Comparison of United States

Russia vs United States: A Visual Comparison

China vs United States: A Visual Comparison

Study: 'Stimulus' package helps Democrats, not the economy

A new study has confirmed that Obama's "stimulus" spending is disproportionately targeting Democratic districts and being used for partisan constituent payoffs.

The study, conducted by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia, found that the porkulus funds have gone to Democrat districts almost twice as often as Republican districts.

Now, as I have noted before, the worst economic disaster areas almost always are run exclusively by Democrats and have been for decades. However, as Mercatus Center scholar Veronique de Rugy explains:

If the stimulus money [were] actually spent to create jobs, there would be more stimulus money spent in high unemployment states...we don't find any correlation.

911-War Promises

Source: NuoViso -Purchase DVD

Millions of people believe that evidence proves that Western intelligence services organized the hideous attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Even the mainstream media have stopped defending the official version and now prefer to ignore the issue altogether.

Distrust in Western governments grows as the wars of aggression waged by the USA and NATO continue to be justified with these “false flag” operations. Ever harsher domestic laws are being passed to crush all outrage and resistance in Western populations; at the end of the day they aim to unleash the German military on German civilians, instead of allowing morality and ethics to flow into day-by-day policy-making.

That morality and ethics long ago stopped playing a part in political decision-making is shown by the use of internationally outlawed weapons in all the wars NATO has started. At best, one has heard of “depleted uranium” after seeing the film “Deadly Dust” by award-winning Frieder Wagner. But even that film is systemically blocked out and banished, although, or perhaps because, it shows the horrific consequences of the use of these uranium weapons.

Among those aghast at the actions of NATO and the complicity of Germany in such internationally illegal wars of aggression is Christoph Hörstel, for many years foreign correspondent and editorial head of the German public broadcasting network ARD. Of like mind is Giullietto Chiesa, a Member of the European Parliament, who slams the ignorance and disinterest of most of his fellow Members.

What they don’t know is explained in the film “War promises” by insiders and whistleblowers. Annie Machon was a spy with the British MI5 and reports on false flag operations, as do Andreas von Bülow and Jürgen Elsässer, who possess enormous insider knowledge from their membership of the parliamentary committee supervising the secret services, and want to bring it to the public.

Eight years after 9/11 millions of people have linked up through the Internet to jointly rebel against this criminal system. What was still dismissed as a wild conspiracy theory until just a few month ago is now regarded as proven, raising the question how we, the people, handle this situation, in which those who govern us have on their minds anything but our well-being.

Fair or Fail: Will Bernanke keep on driving Fed Express train?

Click this link ...... http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9032

中國‧“華人公共知識份子”發佈會被禁‧組織者遭帶走問話

（中國‧北京）中國民間機構評出2009年度“百名華人公共知識份子”，原在本週四（12月17日）於北京舉行發佈會，不料遭國安查禁，組織者被帶走問話。

有入榜者指，當局的反應過敏。

更有學者指，高壓只會激發民間思想熱情，因為思想是禁不住的。

艾未未、蔣彥永、龍應台入選

評選活動由號稱是中國最大民間教育機構廣州信孚集團與民間智庫“政右經左工作室”主辦，入選者 大部份是近年活躍於中國的異見學者、律師和社會活動人士等，包括調查四川大地震死難學生人數的藝術家艾未未、揭露中國沙斯疫情的軍醫蔣彥永、維權律師劉曉 原等。另外，還有台灣作家龍應台、學者卜大中等。

活動原定在北京清華園賓館舉行發佈會，多名入榜學者均接到邀請。不料週三（12月16日）晚上，組織者被北京市國家安全局人員帶走，活動被迫流產。

中國‧4勝1負‧全場歡騰‧中國散打大勝泰拳

（中國‧佛山）即使少林寺拒戰、峨眉派不見人影，中國功夫還是稍勝一籌！

面對聲稱要“秒殺”中國功夫的泰拳5大拳王，低調內斂的5名中國散打高手以“真功夫”說話，以4勝1負的戰績痛宰對手，贏得上週六（12月19日）晚間在廣東佛山舉行的第6屆“中國功夫vs.職業泰拳爭霸賽”。

2009中國功夫對職業泰拳爭霸賽於週六（12月19日）在黃飛鴻故鄉廣東佛山開賽。此前，泰拳挑戰少林、少林拒不應戰、峨眉主動請纓等新聞被熱炒，使得 這項比賽受到空前的關注。本次比賽，泰方派出歷屆最強陣容，個個都是現役的頂尖高手，而中國隊是以廣東散打隊為班底組成的。之前傳聞指泰拳選手口出狂言， 向少林下戰帖。不過，最後，少林、峨眉都沒有人來。（圖：中新社）

19歲徐吉福先拔頭籌

首場60公斤級賽事，綽號“福星日月閃”的19歲徐吉福，憑著精湛的抱摔法，迅速擊敗對手23歲的“酷客寒刀”斐泰克，為中國隊先拔頭籌。

次場65公斤級賽事，19歲的“神劍筆上飛”董文飛，則受制於綽號“鬼見膝”舍受蓬的膝蓋威懾，以5分之差敗陣。

第3場70公斤級賽事，綽號“降魔手”的22歲劉層層是中國選手中實力較弱的，但他在首局賽事便以步伐靈活重創對手“魔術錐”納如蓬，其後4局穩打穩紮，避免與佔據身高優勢的納如蓬硬拚，確保點數優勢，為中國隊再下一城。

少林俗家弟子反敗為勝

第4場75公斤級賽事尤其精彩，22歲的少林俗家弟子“威風少俠”張開印，迎戰呼聲甚高的“白蓮斬”藍桑坤，藍桑坤不但在泰拳圈內極具名氣，更是泰國皇家衛隊的總教頭。

首兩局，藍桑坤利用兇狠的肘部攻擊張開印，張明顯處於下風，但第3局張突然加快進攻節奏打出 “組合進攻”，一記重拳擊中藍桑坤的面部，再一腳踢中他的胸部，最後重拳出擊，直接KO對手，完結了一場本來被認為是實力相差最大的比賽，藍桑坤被擊暈， 全場觀眾熱血沸騰，幾乎陷入瘋狂。

雖然中國提前鎖定勝局，但第5場80公斤級賽事仍繼續展開，是本屆賽事的壓軸大戲，堪稱巔峰對決。

“鐵腿王”對戰“屠龍肘”

“中國散打王”27歲的邊茂富，出戰泰國最著名的拳王26歲的考萊克，“鐵腿王”對戰“屠龍肘”，5局賽事雙方都處於拉鋸戰，勢均力敵，最後裁判宣佈邊茂富勝出。

中國以4比1擊敗泰國，向世界證明中國功夫名不虛傳，全場7000多名觀眾掌聲雷動，網上亦一片叫好聲。

拳擊組織炒作
賽情備受關注

中泰爭霸賽一向是主客場賽制，輪流在廣東與曼谷比賽，上屆是2006年比賽。

中國武術格鬥著重“遠踢、近打、貼身摔”，而泰拳的強項則是“頭頂、肘撞、膝擊”，風格和技法各有千秋。

從11月初傳出泰國拳王說中國功夫是“小菜一碟”“可秒殺所有對手”等具爭議言論，要跟少林方丈釋永信一比高下，引發少林拒絕應戰、峨嵋主動請纓一連串後續新聞，掀起軒然大波。

知情人士透漏，這其實是拳擊組織的炒作，但隨著中國各大媒體報導，激起不少人的愛國情操，網友在論壇大肆討論，令今年的比賽受到空前未有的高度關注。

花絮

票價一早售罄

此次比賽門票售價由150元至1680元人民幣（75.5至846令吉）不等，但所有票均已售罄；不少黃牛黨也早早趕到，求購剩餘門票，並向人群兜售。同時，全國20多家電視台、大型網站直播，不少網民更持續評論。

吸引不少女觀眾

此次賽事全場7000多個座位爆滿，觀眾不僅限於佛山，深圳、廣州甚至等地也來了大批功夫迷，比較特別的是，今次比賽吸引不少女性觀眾，落力為中國選手打氣，估計都是受愛國情緒激發，特地到場為打氣，“中國加油”的聲音此起彼落，聲勢磅礡。

選手違規引噓聲

第5場一開戰，邊茂富和對手考克萊相互試探，邊茂富先被推倒在地，隨即一記轉身掃腿得分。裁判叫停時，邊茂富立即停手，考克萊則繼續“佔便宜”，引起觀眾抗議，噓聲連連。

泰選手不服氣

比賽期間出現一段小插曲，張開印擊敗藍桑坤後，泰方隊員和教練不服氣，與中方裁判、工作人員在拳台進行理論，比賽因而中斷了5分鐘，最後泰方經過協商接受了裁決。

台灣‧花蓮外海6.8級強震‧全台搖晃‧有建築物倒塌

（台灣‧台北）台灣花蓮外海週六（12月19日）晚發生里氏6.8級強烈地震，強烈的震動，全台有感，建築物劇烈搖晃及倒塌，4人受輕傷，10人因飯店發生氯氣外泄而送醫。

地震晚上9時2分發生，中央氣象局表示，這是台灣今年最大的地震，屬於板塊擠壓造成的正常能量釋放。

不過，地震沒有發出海嘯警報。

未來1個月仍有5級餘震

氣象局估計這起地震釋出的能量相當於8顆原子彈，在未來2週到1個月，仍會有規模5級以上餘震。

據報告，這起地震震央在花蓮東南方25公里，屬於外海地震，深度46公里。

最大震度是花蓮磯崎7級，花蓮市5級、台北市4級，多數地區震度為3到4級。

花蓮發生強烈地震後，直至晚上11時，共有47次餘震，有感餘震只有7宗。在7宗有感餘震中，較大的是晚上9時15分的4.7級，以及10時13分的4.8級兩宗。

碎片擊傷4人

電視台報導，台北有4人受輕傷，是由掉下的碎片擊傷。花蓮春秋飯店發生氯氣外泄，10人送醫。

在台北市，捷運系統經檢查後無異狀，全線軌道經檢測後，已恢復自動駕駛。

高雄地震時間大約維持20秒，並未接獲任何意外的通報。

香港福建也感到震動力

香港天文台晚上接獲多名市民報告，表示感覺到輕微震動，為時幾秒。

台灣海峽西岸的福州、泉州、廈門等福建沿海地區也有明顯震感，但目前還沒有人員傷亡的報告。

據美國地質探測中心稱，地震強度為6.4級，深度為45公里。

意大利‧只吃乾糧‧融冰取水‧美國通緝犯匿藏雪山5年

（英國‧倫敦）5年前，涉嫌詐騙和誤診的美國芝加哥整容醫生溫伯格，被聯邦調查局列為頭號通緝犯，他在希臘離奇失蹤，從此人間蒸發，直至早前，意大利警員在阿爾卑斯山雪地找到他。原來他一直隱居在雪山的帳篷內，在負18℃嚴寒下過著逃亡的原始生活。

溫伯格當年眼見形勢不妙，2004年9月藉口替妻子米歇爾慶祝生日，前往希臘旅遊，期間，竟帶著護照和金錢，逃之夭夭。

5年以來，溫伯格一直杳無音信，直至本週初，兩名意大利憲兵在兩名山區導遊提供線報下，攀上阿爾卑斯山，在白朗峰1860米南面斜坡雪地，發現一個橙色帳篷，溫伯格當時匿藏在帳篷內，靠吃干糧和罐頭為生，並用一個手提式火爐融冰取水。

溫伯格被押往山腳的憲兵哨站後，訛稱上廁所，從內褲中取出小刀刺頸自殺不遂，被送往都靈一間醫院搶救。美國政府有44天時間提出引渡溫伯格回美國，就22宗醫療詐騙罪受審。

新加坡‧新山油站對限制令混淆‧乾脆限新加坡車添油20公升

（新加坡）大馬的限制添油令，令新山的油站業者感到很混淆，一些業者乾脆一律規定，新加坡車輛一概不得添油超過20公升。

大馬在上週三（16日）開始實行限制添油令，外國車輛不準在新山邊境50公里內添購超過20公升燃油（汽油和柴油），而油缸內有超過20公升燃油的外國車輛也禁止出境。

新措施實行後的隔天，大馬官員證實，由於新加坡車輛入境大馬前須填滿四分之三缸油，所以第二項措施不包括新加坡注冊的車輛。

不過，有些油站業者認為，當局依然沒有明確說明，新加坡車輛“可不可以在邊境50公里內添油超過20公升”，為了安全起見，乾脆明文禁止新加坡車輛添油超過20公升。

《週日時報》的記者在新山的10家油站採訪，發現地不佬路的一家埃索（Esso）油站張貼告示，說明從12月18日起，所有新加坡車輛都不準添購超過20公升的汽油和或柴油。

還有油站未接指示

添油限令實行第3天，還有油站仍未接到任何指示。

一名油站老闆王先生說，在沒有正式接到通知之前，他不會限制外國車輛添油。

“我只是從報章讀到有關的新措施，但政府和汽油公司都沒有發公函正式通知我們，而過後又有報導說新加坡車輛不受限制。”

另一家埃索（Esso）油站的老闆也以同樣理由，決定不實行新措施。

他說︰“現在情況很混亂，有些汽油公司和報章的說法不一樣，而政府也沒有出來澄清。”

新加坡‧酒店停電‧喜宴變自助餐‧200賓客面包充饑

（新加坡）酒店大停電，酒宴200賓客被送到另一家酒店，苦等2小時後只能以面包充饑，新婚夫婦大表失望和尷尬。

這起事件發生在天傍晚5時30分左右，地點是位於市區的一家四星級酒店。

當時正有一個喜宴在酒店內的餐館舉行，結果200名賓客及新婚夫婦都非常不愉快。

無工作人員另作安排

新娘林太太受訪時透露，雖然酒席原定在傍晚7時30分開席，但是賓客在傍晚6時許久陸續抵達餐館了。當時她也早知道酒店停電，但是卻遲遲沒有看見工作人員作出安排。

她透露，餐館就只有亮盞燈是亮著的，賓客都在黑暗中坐在酒樓內，一些感到不舒服就干脆到酒店外頭去。

後來，到了8時許，酒店人員突宣佈酒店無法恢復電源，宴席得改去另一家酒店。

這使得當時場面非常混亂，客人匆匆忙忙趕到另一家酒店，豈料到了那裡才發現食物都還沒準備好。

“酒店職員告訴我們，到了那裡就能享用自助餐，但是我們在抵達後卻只吃面包。”

大吐苦水宴客走剩半數

喜宴變自助餐，魚翅變伊面！原本備有10道佳肴的喜宴變10道普通菜色的自助餐宴會，魚翅及楊枝甘露等美食泡湯，宴客大吐苦水。

根據記者觀察，更換了地點後，賓客所享有的自助餐菜色包括了蝦、伊面和雜菜，比原本喜宴上所備的魚翅等佳肴相差甚遠。

多名賓客失望的說他們的魚翅及楊枝甘露等美食泡湯了。

記者於9時30分抵達時，酒店職員正在烘烤面包讓賓客充饑，自助餐的食物也還沒準備好。

到了10時左右，自助餐食物才陸續上桌子，但是許多賓客已敗興而歸，餐館內也只剩下100餘人。

新娘林太太及先生受訪時，難掩失望及無奈。他們也要求酒店作書面解釋。

新娘更表示︰“我的4層蛋糕沒了，連敬酒儀式也沒了，真的好難忘，好丟臉。”

記者今日（週日，12月20日）早上嘗試聯絡上酒店，但是由於酒店的總經理出差，因此酒店無法在截稿之前答復。

電源隔天仍未恢復

據瞭解，雖然維修工作自週六（12月19日）晚上停電後就如火如荼的進行，但是酒店的電源到了週日早上10時45分還沒有恢復。

為了應付這次突發狀況，酒店也已經調派了人手協調與安排客人到其他的酒店。

據瞭解，停電的導因是因為酒店內的電源變壓器壞了。

承包商已將兩架臨時發電機運到。

80歲壽宴遭移師
要求賠償

停電酒店的另外一個宴會廳，40人正為80歲的陳老太太慶祝大壽，最後也得移師到另外一家酒店。

陳老太太的兒子陳先生（58歲，行銷經理）對酒店表示體諒，認為這是起意外，但是希望酒店能做出妥當的賠償。他透露，酒店職員說，另一家酒店已準備食物。但是，他與親戚抵達後，卻發現菜肴只包括咖喱雞及伊面等，讓他們感到失望。

新加坡‧擔心錢不夠用‧老闆打3份工撿垃圾

（新加坡）開店當老闆，還擔心錢不夠用，居然兼3份工，包括撿垃圾！

柯水源（63歲）1986年起在牛車水經營紀念品店，每月收入頗豐，但為了增加收入，他一邊當老闆一邊替人打工，還在組屋區撿垃圾賣錢。

他每天凌晨4時至7時推著手推車，到勿洛南住家附近的8座組屋底層撿紙皮和空罐等廢棄物，賣給回收商，上午9時就到牛車水開店，同時幫對面的洗衣店打工，洗衣店則幫他付租金。到了傍晚6時半，店鋪一打烊，他又馬不停蹄的趕去慈濟新加坡分會當柜台招待。

柯水源說︰“我17歲離家出走，必須靠雙手養活自己，雖然開店做生意，但總覺得錢不夠用，才會連做4份工。”

他也坦言︰“當時不是因為環保才去做舊物回收，而是看到回收價格好，每個月可以多賺5、600元。”

除了廢棄物，他也經常撿到嶄新的電視、家具、衣服、鞋子、背包和小擺設品等。

住家用品多是回收物

走進柯水源獨居的4房式住家，很難想象，他家裡除了一張鐵床和神台是買來的，其他用品全是回收物，包括廚具、碗碟、家具、客廳牆上的擺設品，甚至是大盆植物！

柯水源2003年結束生意，2006年加入慈濟成為志工，至今仍在“撿垃圾”，但目的不在賺錢，而是為了環保。

撿垃圾被針刺
疑染愛滋想自殺

撿垃圾被針刺，懷疑自己染愛滋病，多次想自殺！

柯水源早年赤手空拳在垃圾桶理“尋寶”，有好幾次被用過的針頭刺到。他擔心感染愛滋病，卻又不願對別人講，也不敢到醫院驗血，把秘密藏在心底近20年，精神飽受煎熬，加上工作遭遇挫折，幾次想自殺，及時獲救。

不關水龍頭日夜滴水
每月水費4角7分

省水有方，每月水費才4角7分！

柯水源在60年代經歷過新加坡罕見的大水荒，當時政府實施節水，17歲的他每晚11時從國家體育館一帶來回挑水，挑到凌晨4點才把自家和姐姐家的水缸填滿。節水運動持續1年多，他挑到兩個肩膀都快斷掉，慘痛的經歷使他從此“惜水如命”。

80年代搬進政府組屋，有了方便的自來水，但他仍把省水的原則貫徹始終，而他省錢的秘訣竟是不關水龍頭！

原來，他將水龍頭調到滴水狀態，讓水慢慢滴入水桶，一天一夜就能存下一桶水來洗澡。洗澡時，在腳下放嬰兒澡盆，分3次收集洗澡用水，第一遍的肥皂水用來洗廁所沖馬桶，第二遍稍帶肥皂的水用來洗地洗衣，第3遍的乾淨水用來澆花。洗碗用的水也這樣處理。

柯水源透露，每月水費不到1元，11月更只須付區區4角7分！

Regulators Shut Down Banks In 6 States

WASHINGTON -- Regulators on Friday shut down two big California banks, as well as banks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Illinois, bringing to 140 the number of U.S. banks brought down this year by the weak economy and mounting loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over all seven. Regulators shuttered First Federal Bank of California, based in Santa Monica, with $6.1 billion in assets and $4.5 billion in deposits, as was as Imperial Capital Bank of La Jolla, Calif., with about $4 billion in assets and $2.8 billion in deposits. California was one of the states hardest hit by the real estate market meltdown and many banks there have suffered under the weight of soured mortgage loans. First Federal and Imperial Capital bring to 17 the number of California banks to fail this year. Also closing their doors Friday were Atlanta-based RockBridge Commercial Bank, with $294 million in assets and $291.7 million in deposits; and New South Federal Savings Bank, based in Irondale, Ala., with $1.5 billion in assets and $1.2 billion in deposits. Citizens State Bank of New Baltimore, Mich., with $168.6 million in assets and $157.1 million in deposits, was shut down, along with Peoples First Community Bank of Panama City, Fla., with $1.8 billion in assets and $1.7 billion in deposits. Regulators also closed Independent Bankers' Bank, based in Springfield, Ill. -- a sort of wholesale bank that provided services to 450 client banks in four states -- with $585.5 million in assets and $511.5 million in deposits. OneWest Bank of Pasadena, Calif., agreed to buy all of the deposits and essentially all of the assets of First Federal Bank. All 39 of its branches will reopen on Saturday as branches of OneWest. Los Angeles-based City National Bank agreed to assume all of Imperial Capital's deposits, as well as $3.3 billion of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for a later sale. All nine branches of Imperial Capital will reopen Monday as City National Bank branches. Beal Bank, based in Plano, Texas, agreed to assume the assets and deposits of New South Federal Savings Bank, which only had one branch. Hancock Bank, based in Gulfport, Miss., agreed to assume the deposits and about $1.6 billion of the loans and other assets of Peoples First Community Bank. The FDIC will retain the rest for eventual sale. The FDIC was unable to find a buyer for RockBridge Commercial Bank, so checks covering insured accounts will be mailed to retail depositors, the agency said. For Independent Bankers' Bank, the FDIC set up a temporary "bridge bank," which the agency will operate as it continues to seek a buyer. The FDIC also set up a "bridge bank" for Citizens State Bank, which will continue to operate for about 45 days to allow customers access to their deposits and open accounts at other banks. It will be operated by Huntington National Bank of Columbus, Ohio, under a contract with the FDIC. The FDIC estimates the failure of First Federal Bank of California will cost the deposit insurance fund $146.3 million and Imperial Capital's closing is expected to cost the fund $619.2 million. The failure of Citizens State Bank will cost $76.6 million; the failure of New South Federal Savings Bank is expected to cost $212.3 million; that of Peoples First Community Bank $556.7 million; Independent Bankers' Bank, $68.4 million; and RockBridge Commercial Bank, $124.2 million. RockBridge Commercial had about $2.1 million in deposits that exceeded the $250,000 per-account insured limit, an estimate likely to change after more information is gathered from customers, the agency said. Depositors with funds that exceed the insured limits become essentially creditors of the failed bank. They will eventually recover some of their money, but the amount can range from 40 cents on the dollar up to the full amount. Recovery can take months. RockBridge Commercial is the 25th Georgia-based bank to fail this year, more than in any other state. Independent Bankers' Bank was the 21st bank in Illinois to fail and Peoples First Community Bank was the 14th bank in Florida. As the economy has slumped, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have accelerated around the country. The 140 bank failures are the most in a year since 1992 at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis. They have cost the government-backed deposit insurance fund -- which has fallen into the red -- more than $30 billion so far this year. The failures compare with 25 last year and three in 2007. The FDIC expects the cost of bank failures to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years. Banks have been especially hard hit by failed real estate loans, both residential and commercial. If the economic recovery falters, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Nearly $500 billion in commercial real estate loans are expected to come due annually over the next few years. Last week, the Obama administration extended until next October the $700 billion financial bailout program, saying the fund was still needed to prevent further turmoil in the banking system. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said extending the rescue program also will help homeowners struggling to avoid losing homes to foreclosure and small businesses having trouble getting loans.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Iraq denies Iranian oilfield incursion

A senior Iraqi officials has denied reports that Iranian troops had crossed into Iraqi territory and briefly occupied a remote oilfield area.

Security sources in southeastern Maysan province, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iranian troops made their way onto the Fakka oilfield area, on the Iraqi side of the border, then withdrew after several hours.

Iraq's deputy interior minister, Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji, says no incursion took place.

"This news in not true. This field is disputed and now it is neglected by both sides," he said.

"There was no storming of the field. It's empty. It's abandoned. It is exactly on the border between Iraq and Iran."

According to Arabic-language television reports, Iranian troops entered the Iraqi field and raised an Iranian flag.

Ties between Iran and Iraq, which fought a bloody eight-year war in the 1980s, have improved since a Shi'ite-led government took over in Baghdad following the ousting of Sunni Arab leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Yet tensions have flared in the past in the inhospitable desert region, just one of many flashpoints where continuing disagreement over shared borders between the majority Shi'ite Muslim neighbours has fuelled a low-level public feud.

With Washington and Tehran at odds over Iran's nuclear program, the Iran-Iraq relationship is more delicate given the presence of 115,000 US soldiers on Iraqi soil.

NASA reveals first-ever photo of liquid on another world

A photo from Cassini shows sunlight reflecting from a giant lake of methane on the northern half of Saturn's moon Titan.

(CNN) -- NASA scientists revealed Friday a first-of-its-kind image from space showing reflecting sunlight from a lake on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

It's the first visual "smoking gun" evidence of liquid on the northern hemisphere of the moon, scientists said, and the first-ever photo from another world showing a "specular reflection" -- which is reflection of light from an extremely smooth surface and in this case, a liquid one.

"This is the first time outside Earth we've seen specular reflection from another liquid from another body," said Ralf Jaumann, a scientist analyzing data from the Cassini unmanned space probe.

Jaumann said he was surprised when he first saw the photos transmitting from Cassini, orbiting Saturn about a billion miles from Earth.

"It was great because if you look at photos of planets, you mostly see nothing is happening. But in two hours we saw a glint of light getting brighter."

Titan's similarities to Earth have attracted NASA's attention for decades. It's the only body besides our own in the solar system that is believed to have liquid on its surface. Like Earth, Titan has an atmosphere which is mostly nitrogen.

Experts believe the presence of liquid on a planet or moon improves the chances that some kind of life could develop there.

The photo comes from the spacecraft Cassini, which has been searching for this kind of reflection since it began circling Saturn in 2004.

Scientists with the University of Arizona were able to use previous data from Cassini to learn details about the reflection's location on Titan.

The glint appears to be coming from the southern edge of a lake called Kraken Mare -- a massive body of methane that covers about 150,000 square miles (400,000 square kilometers). That's larger than the Caspian Sea, which is the largest lake on Earth.

The hunt for the specular reflection took five years, NASA said, because the moon's northern half had been shrouded in winter darkness.

"Next, we want to find out more about Titan's liquid," said Jaumann. "Do we have some kind of weather there? Do we have changes with seasons? Does it rain? How does the liquid methane run across the surface?"

But Jaumann sounded a note of caution regarding the prospect of life in this case.

"The temperature on Titan's surface is something like minus-180 degrees Celsius," he said. "That means it's very cold. But you never know."

The project is based out of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

This is not the first evidence of liquid on Titan. In 2008, project members used infrared technology to discover a large lake in the moon's southern hemisphere.

But this recent discovery is a sure sign that liquid exists on the moon's northern half. That region is believed to include larger basins that could hold more liquid.

Chinese debate positive side of global warming

Dynasties were more prosperous' when weather was warm

Academics in China are debating whether global warming could benefit rather than harm the country, with some historical climatologists believing the country did better during warmer periods.

They point to studies that show a drop in temperature and desertification accelerated the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.

"With the cold temperatures there was a drought in Mongolia. Since people were eating livestock, which fed on the grasslands, they needed to go south," Xie Zhenghui of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' International Center for Climate & Environmental Sciences told the Los Angeles Times.

"When there was warmer weather and more rain, the Mongols didn't need to attack the south."

Elizabeth VanderVen, a history professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said although global warming might not be a good thing overall for China, warmer weather could benefit certain crops. "The only exception would be that warmer weather is good for crops like rice and soybeans.

"During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), local farmers were concerned about occasional out-of-season cold snaps in the south as they ruined rice crops or arrested the development of young rice shoots."

Wheat, which is mainly consumed in northern China, was a crop that would suffer if temperatures rose, she said.

Scientists also cited progress during warmer periods as an indication China could prosper if the planet gets warmer.

"Historically, when the temperatures were warmer, the dynasties were more prosperous," Ms. Xie said.

"That led some people to theorize that global warming might be good for China."

However, she agreed not everyone would reap the benefits.

"Warming might be good for agriculture in the north and west, but it would be a disaster for the coastal cities and for the south where Chinese industry is located," she said.

Yunxiang Gao, a history professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, said she has seen the effects of global warming first-hand.

"I am from Inner Mongolia, right outside the Great Wall. I know global warming turned the grassland and farmland in my hometown into desert and the creek and ponds in my village totally disappeared about a decade ago," she said.

Once-crowded villages have been transformed into "ghost towns" because of the lack of rain and snow. Farmers have been driven into cities, where it is difficult for them to make a living.

Cities such as Beijing, Nanjing and Xian are plagued by smog because they were built in basins surrounded by mountains, and the warm dry weather keeps the smog around.

"It is true that Chinese civilization peaked during periods of warm weather, but I don't think now that global warming will help either Chinese agriculture or development," said Wang Yi of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Policy & Management.

He added he once believed climate change could be beneficial for China, but has since changed his mind, and said he isn't alone.

Rod Blagojevich set up by the NWO!

Click this link ....... http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9033

A New Age Vietnam - Merry Christmas

Click this link ...... http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9011

Gerald Celente Blacklisted Radio with Michael Vail 16 Dec 2009

Click this link ..... http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9018

The World Bank and Climate Change: Sustainability or Exploitation?

In the name of environmental protection, the World Bank is brokering carbon emission trading arrangements that destroy indigenous farmlands around the world.

The effort to coordinate global action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions began with the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997 and now has been ratified by 183 nations…

In accordance with the Kyoto Protocol, many governments have established “caps,” or limits, on the greenhouse gas emissions that can be produced in their countries. Industries can respond to these government-imposed limits by responsibly reducing their emissions, or they can bypass this process entirely by purchasing “carbon credits” from other industries in other parts of the world who, through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) investment brokered by the World Bank, trade emission reduction “credits” in order to “offset” excessive emissions. Joris den Blanken, a climate change specialist with Greenpeace, says, “Offsetting means exporting responsibilities to the developing world and removes the incentive for industry to improve efficiency or to invest in renewable energy.”

While the World Bank claims that this system “supports sustainable development . . . and benefits the poorer communities of the developing world,” the program in reality has become little more than a corporate profit-boosting enterprise. In fact, many transnational corporations are using cap and trade programs not only to avoid emissions responsibility, but to further profit by developing environmentally and socially destructive industries in less developed countries.

In Latin America, where a long history of corporate exploitation has already taken a steep toll, environmentalists and indigenous communities are beginning to speak out about the dangers of the CDM. Because of a myopic focus on greenhouse gas reduction only, and a lack of accountability to local communities, many projects are producing other environmental and social ills that are diametrically opposed to the program’s stated objectives.

Nevertheless, the United Nations Environmental Program reports that, to date, 4,364 projects have been approved for CDM funding, and the movement continues to gain momentum. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the number of new project proposals has risen drastically in just a few years, from less than ten per month in early 2005 to about 100 per month in 2007.

Wood and pulp industries have shown great interest in harnessing the carbon market to justify and finance projects that involve expropriating indigenous farm and grazing land for planting of enormous monospecific plantations. These plantations threaten the area’s biodiversity and can severely deplete water resources. Author Mary Tharin warns, “From an ecological standpoint, planting large-scale plantations of non-native species in this area is clearly a step in the wrong direction. From a societal standpoint, this could spell cultural genocide.”

According to a 2008 report by Japan Overseas Plantation for Pulpwood (JOPP), entitled “Feasibility Study of Afforestation CDM for Community Development in Extensive Grazing Lands in Uruguay,” the land that would be used for the JOPP’s “afforestation projects,” is currently used for “extensive grazing” of cattle and sheep. The report, which elaborates on “land eligibility,” makes no mention of the people who own, live on, or make a living from the use of the land in question. The only allusion to this issue is the brief assurance that all displaced cattle would be “sold on the open market.” Despite the fact that “cattle and sheep production has been the traditional rural activity in the project area and all the surrounding regions since the17th Century,” the report contends that the establishment of plantations would be a more cost-effective use for the land than pasture. The question then becomes: cost-effective for whom? [Carbon offsets are just another method of separating people from the land, a modern version of the Enclosure Act of the 18th century]

The World Bank touts the CDM as an “integral part of the Bank’s mission to reduce poverty through its environment and energy strategies.” However, in Latin America as in other parts of the developing world, the global carbon market is proving to be largely detrimental to the indigenous and the poor. With little or no input on how a project is conducted, local communities have virtually no control over how their land, water, and resources will be affected.

In a recent documentary by Carbon Trade Watch, villagers explained that the massive plantations—which cover about 100,000 acres—are diverting water from local streams, causing a sharp decrease in fishing and killing off medicinal plants. In an interview, one local woman lamented that corporate plantations “continue destroying our community, destroying our citizens, destroying our fauna, destroying our flora, and nobody does anything [to stop it].”

Lack of accountability to local populations is a fundamental flaw in the way CDM projects are presented, evaluated and implemented. The official “Project Design Document Form”—which the CDM Executive Board uses to approve or deny funding—largely disregards the impact of projects on local communities. The document contains no binding legal language, asking only for a “report on how due account was taken of any comments received” by local stakeholders. In their assessment of four CDM projects carried out in Brazil and Bolivia, the EEP found that “participation of local community members was found to be limited.”

While the World Bank pays constant lip service to the importance of sustainability and poverty alleviation in the CDM, it continually fails to deliver positive results for either the environment or disadvantaged communities in the developing world. The global carbon market is proving to be simply another weapon used by multinational corporations to accelerate their incursion on the rights of indigenous peoples and small-scale landholders in Latin America.

The irony of this situation takes on an especially tragic hue since many of the communities at risk have been living in a sustainable manner for centuries and thus should be seen as models in the fight against environmental degradation…

Janet Redman at the Institute for Policy Studies says, “Farmers [in the global south] are trading communal land rights and their ability to feed themselves for the whims and price fluctuations of the international carbon market.”

Update by Mary Therin

As governments, environmentalists, and industry leaders gear up for UN Climate Change Conference this December in Copenhagen, the debate over carbon offsets has taken center stage. Groups including the European Commission have acknowledged the many shortcomings of the Clean Development Mechanism and are calling for reform. In late April 2009, delegates from all over the world attended the Indigenous People’s Global Summit on Climate Change, producing a declaration which called on governments to abandon “false solutions to climate change that negatively impact Indigenous Peoples’ rights . . . such as carbon trading, the Clean Development Mechanism, and forest offsets.”

Unfortunately, the CDM Executive Board, instead of addressing issues of transparency and accountability, has proposed an expansion of some of the carbon offset scheme’s most problematic aspects. The board has put forth plans to expand its forestry mechanism and ease the funding application process. According to Oscar Reyes of Carbon Trade Watch, these reforms would drastically expand CDM while “lowering the already inadequate checks on environmental sustainability and social justice.”

Meanwhile, the Clean Development Mechanism continues to expand. In May 2009 alone, 132 new CDM projects were submitted for approval, marking an all-time high in the application process. At the same time, more evidence is cropping up all over the globe that many “emissions reduction” projects in the developing world are doing more harm than good. In June 2009, the UK-based Daily Mail published an exposé on a UN-funded chemical plant that has poisoned the local water supply in Gujarat, India. According to Eva Filzmoser of CDM Watch, large hyrdo and gas projects are the most damaging receivers of CDM funding. These projects, she argues, rarely save additional [GHG]emissions and in fact provide perverse incentives to expand environmentally degrading industries.

In the United States, debate over carbon offsets and cap and trade schemes has erupted since the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, was passed by the House Energy Committee in May 2009. While many environmentalist groups are heralding the bill as a huge step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, others point to the prominence of carbon offsetting in the bill… According to the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), up to 2 billion tons of carbon (about 30 percent of current US emissions) could be purchased as offsets under the legislation, half of which would come from developing countries through programs like the Clean Development Mechanism.

While most of the mainstream media and many environmental groups have jumped on the cap and trade bandwagon, organizations such as the Institute for Public Studies, Carbon Trade Watch, and CDM Watch continue to boost public awareness on the dangers of cap and trade.

From – Top 25 Censored Stories for 2010