He is right- even though he is technically a Wall Street fat cat!

Dear Wall Street, this is why the people are angry

By Josh BrownMarketplace Money, Friday, October 14, 2011

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Josh Brown may be in the same group as the bankers and brokers that the Occupy movements are protesting against, but he's just as angry as the protestors are at his own industry.

'Occupy Wall Street' demonstrators protesting near Wall Street in New York. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

TESS VIGELAND: Inequity is arguably the main rallying cry of the Occupy movement. And on that score, the primary bogeymen are the nation's bankers, brokers and traders -- the so-called "one-percenters" who control about a third of the country's wealth.

Commentator Josh Brown is one of those one-percenters. He's an investment adviser at Fusion Analytics in Manhattan. If you think you know what his take on all this is going to be, here's his open letter to the banks that don't seem to get why people are mad.

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JOSH BROWN: In 2008, the American people were told that if they didn't bail out the banks, there way of life would never be the same. In no uncertain terms, our leaders told us anything short of saving these insolvent banks would result in a depression to the American public. We had to do it!

At our darkest hour we gave these banks every single thing they asked for. We allowed investment banks to borrow money at zero percent interest rate, directly from the Fed. We gave them taxpayer cash right onto their balance sheets. We allowed them to suspend account rules and pretend that the toxic sludge they were carrying was worth 100 cents on the dollar. Anything to stave off insolvency. We left thousands of executives in place at these firms. Nobody went to jail, not a single perp walk. I can't even think of a single example of someone being fired. People resigned with full benefits and pensions, as though it were a job well done.

The American taxpayer kicked in over a trillion dollars to help make all of this happen. But the banks didn't hold up their end of the bargain. The banks didn't seize this opportunity, this second chance to re-enter society as a constructive agent of commerce. Instead, they went back to business as usual. With $20 billion in bonuses paid during 2009. Another $20 billion in bonuses paid in 2010. And they did this with the profits they earned from zero percent interest rates that actually acted as a tax on the rest of the economy.

Instead of coming back and working with this economy to get back on its feet, they hired lobbyists by the dozen to fight tooth and nail against any efforts whatsoever to bring common sense regulation to the financial industry. Instead of coming back and working with the people, they hired an army of robosigners to process millions of foreclosures. In many cases, without even having the proper paperwork to evict the homeowners. Instead, the banks announced layoffs in the tens of thousands, so that executives at the top of the pile could maintain their outrageous levels of compensation.

We bailed out Wall Street to avoid Depression, but three years later, millions of Americans are in a living hell. This is why they're enraged, this why they're assembling, this is why they hate you. Why for the first time in 50 years, the people are coming out in the streets and they're saying, "Enough."

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VIGELAND: Josh Brown. He wrote a scathing blog post along these same lines earlier this week. You can also follow him on Twitter @reformedbroker. While you're at it -- follow me @radiotess.

FAR OUT!!!!

I was so excited to find that I have had similar ideas:

I have discovered the secrets of the Universe!... Creation is like musical vibrations coming together in a symphony…Hints of the works of God are discovered by mathematicians, astronomers and musicians. It is the formula God made us from on Earth… Who knows what is in far off other places! If we study the elements of Nature, we will be enlightened. We will not be God-like, no never… we are merely an idea behind the All Seeing Eyes of God. Behind God’s Eyes is the Cosmic Garden we call the Universe. Overcoming the darkness of our minds will enable us to defeat all obstacles reversing human progress-hatred, prejudice, hunger, poverty sickness, WAR -Death’s advocate- bringing out all the demons of mankind.

The second reason I wanted to share was because I recently heard on NPR about something that made me think time travel is possible, but not like how they write about and show on TV. The development of a new telescope that can "capture images of what the universe looked like just 400 million years after the Big Bang, " said NPR during an interview with Peter Stockman, leading the development of this telescope in Baltimore. Named The James Webb Telescope, after the second founder of NASA, the light it will collect is very faint, from stars that are more than 13 billion light years away.

"And a light year is about six trillion miles, so if you do the math it's a long, long way away," he says....

The NPR website said that The James Webb telescope will see about half a billion light years farther than the Hubble!

IMAGINE

www.npr.org

Violence Against Women

The White House Blog

Sixteen Years of the Violence Against Women Act

Posted by Lynn Rosenthal on September 23, 2010 at 05:56 PM EDT

Ed. Note: For more information, visit the Department of Health and Human Services violence against women website and the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a reception at the Naval Observatory Residence marking the 16th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, in Washington, DC September 22, 2010. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Last night, more than a hundred advocates and college students from around the country gathered at the home of Vice President Biden to mark the 16th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Vice President spoke passionately about his ongoing commitment to ending violence against women and girls and the next steps we must take to change societal attitudes about violence.

Written and championed by then-Senator Biden, VAWA focused on improving the criminal justice response to domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. Since 1994, VAWA has sent 4 billion dollars to states and local communities to develop specialized law enforcement units, provide services to victims, improve prosecution of these crimes, and train professionals about domestic violence and sexual assault. In many ways, VAWA has been successful. Since the passage of the Act, domestic violence has dropped by 58%.
In spite of all this progress, we still have much work to do. Three women still die every day at the hands of husbands or boyfriends. Domestic violence causes two million injuries a year and untold amounts of human suffering. Domestic violence shelters are still full, hotlines are ringing, and for every victim who has come forward, many more are suffering alone.

Even more alarming, young women between the ages of 16-24 have the highest rates of relationship violence, and one in five women will be sexually assaulted while they are in college. Vice President Biden pointed out that we must focus on changing attitudes of our young people so that violence against women is not acceptable. He also noted that we must reach young people with the new technologies—like texting and other online media—that they use to communicate. The Vice President is committed to working with teens and college students to meet this challenge and he applauded those who have already joined this effort and were gathered at his home last night.

Check back on this blog for photos, video, and interviews from the event!

Lynn Rosenthal is the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women

Prepare an Evacuation Plan for Your Pets

Prepare an Evacuation Plan for Your Pets

By Bev Greco

-from The News of Cumberland County, Monday, September 12, 2011

(all CAPS and bold are my doing, not from the primary source)

"...The hurricane evacuation was actually a good drill for the shelter, receiving just 70 animals to care for. We were able to test our capabilities without being overrun. The storm was intense, but only left us with a short-term power outage and a little roof damage....

For the most part, the [cats and dogs] were little angels with only one accident the entire weekend,a dn even that was just a little initial reaction to being in a new place without mom or dad....

All in all, we were pretty happy with the way things went, but we were very lucky that the impact was limited.

Here's what we learned and what we hope to accomplish after this event:

-HAVE A "GO" BAG READY WITH ALL OUR PET SUPPLIES, VET RECORDS, IDENTIFICATION as well as BACKUP PLAN HOUSING WITH A FRIEND OR RELATIVE

As a SHELTER, we need to establish a larger group of trained volunteers to assist with pet care in the event of a larger or longer term emergency.

As a COUNTY, we need to establish a cohesive animal response team which includes: ALL the municipal animal response teams, the Office of Emergency Management, the manager of the human shelters and a national animal response team with the resources to assist in large scale operations.

...Given the weather patterns we've been experiencing the past couple of years, it;s time to get serious about our preparations.

After Hurricane Katrina, it was federally mandated that all states and counties have an evacuation plan for companion animals. Cumberland County has yet to comply with that mandate.

PLEASE SPEAK TO YOU LOCAL LEADERS in support of creating a good disaster response plan for our pets.

Let's not wait till it's too late

Water Under the Bridge

Obama wants to create American, union jobs through a new jobs bill. The Republicans are saying is just another stimulus package. I don't know what the answer is. All I know is that we need jobs, healthcare and a return to stronger worker representation, i.e. unions!

Republicans say if the bridge needs fixing, fix it... and I'm sure they'll find a way to outsource it and kill our economy even more and put more people in the unemployment and welfare lines. It's ironic that they claim to be patriots and all-American, yet they have done everything ANTI-American they can do.

I may be a sucker for getting excited and inspired to hear our President and thousands rally on NPR about pro-union, American jobs that will be brought back by re-building the Ohio River bridge. People who voted him in are feeling disappointed. I was starting to wonder if they were right, until I reminded myself that the Republicans made clear, through a hand-written letter to Harry Reed, that their priority is defeating Obama... I guess even if they hurt Americans in the process. They want to block EVERYTHING Obama tries to do to restore America's economy, health, jobs and environment, so come election time, they can say, "See, Obama made all kinds of promises he couldn't keep. Is that someone you want to RE-elect?"

I am not saying Obama and the Democrats have all the answers, but they are the only ones I have seen give a damn about American jobs, unions, healthcare, women's rights and education.

Depression and Anxiety

"Anxiety disorders ARE NOT due to any character flaw or lack of moral fiber. They are not within the individual's ability or volition to control; these are not "your fault," nor are you able to treat these disorders simply by "trying harder." (p. 11 Anxiety Disorders: Everything You Need To Know; J. Paul Caldwell, MD, CCFP)

It really is all in our head! There are physical, chemical reasons for feeling depressed, anxious and not being able to function normally. Anxiety is necessary for survival. For survival, we need to be able to anticipate dangers that could be hazardous to our survival. We are then, through natural anxiety, able to plan what to do if the worst happens. Relatively, to living in the wild with man-eating predators, there should be no compromise with our survival and going to the grocery store....? But, there is always evolution. And trouble evolves with the living- trouble, survival is all relative.

I have been successfully medicated with Paxil 20 mg for the past 5 years. I never thought I would go on any meds, but the panic attacks became unbearable! I would get tormenting thoughts in my head:

what if when i die something rips all my teeth out and makes me eat glass?

I saw a tree once that looked like a person who had been taken, turned upside down, had their head plunged into the ground and I imagined it being a person, their head in Hell and the devil pulling all their teeth out and the blood pouring out of their mouth.

what if i accidently cut myself and i can't stop bleeding?

Being depressed, anxious, obsessively worrying made me feel like a ghost. I felt no one could see me, hear me, feel me or help me; I felt lost even from God.

I was always, since a baby, restless, sad, crying, didn't sleep at night. I remember many times after school, lying on my floor, curled up, after fighting with my mother, being made fun of at school, balling my eyes out. I wrote alot in my journals; I still do. What tormented me, at the same time, blessed me with the talent to create vivid imagery, I could describe through my writing things that people could see- I could evoke emotions people get when they listen to a song and could make them see a painting just by describing it.

There are environmental reasons for depression. There are also biochemical reasons for it. I tried natural remedies for a while. As a child, before bed, I could feel the thoughts waiting on my pillow ready to overcome my mind and become nightmares. I would sit up and read and do puzzles in the Highlights magazines. I would read, do art projects in my bed until I got so tired I would nod off. In school, many times I would feel nauseous, wouldn't eat. As I grew into my late teens, early twenties, new symptoms joined the nausea- dizziness, cold sweats, heart palpitations and near fainting, but I usually would kneel down or sit down as I felt that tingling darkness creeping around my eyes.

I began to read about what was happening to me. I was always told I was too sensitive, kinda dismissed. That is the WORST thing you can do with a depressed, anxious person. We are already scared we are going mad, if people do not listen to our fears and feelings, do not give them recognition as something out of our control.... I tried yoga, talking about it to my mom, who also suffers from anxiety and depression. Nothing she said could comfort me, which worried her more; it would frustrate her and often come out as irritation or anger, and made me feel like no one could help me.

The catalyst for me was one day at work, at my cash register, I nearly blacked out. A girl had been talking about her wisdom teeth, which conjured horrible thoughts of blood; my heart began to flutter and cold-sweats seeped from my palms and under my arms. I tried to busy myself, think of other things. I managed to wait on my customers. Then knelt down at my station, humiliated, pretending to get more bags from underneath. I couldn't stand, and people began to gather asking if I was ok.

I went home "sick" that day. I called out for a couple days, scared to go back, scared it would happen again.

you need to calm down. you need to grow up. you're so sensitive. you need to snap out of it. you need to get into reality. why can't you just try to look at the bright side. you have nothing to be depressed about. I KNOW THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS WORSE! WHY AM I FEELING THIS WAY?

Eventually I went back to work. I remember one day, it was a very damp, dark day; I love those kind. I walked into work feeling okay; I wanted to try hard and be positive. Soon into my day, I felt the anxiety again. I ended up going home again. No one was home when I got there. I hurried into the kitchen; tears blurring my eyes, knelt down by the cupboard and desperately grabbed a bottle of gin and swigged it. It made me feel worse. I lied down on the couch. Later my parents came home, they seemed angry at me for leaving work again. Told me I need to stop doing this.

I went to the doctor's. My doctor ordered an EKG and of course, to my horror.... blood work to check my thyroid and such. There ended up being NO PHYSICAL REASON why I should be having these spells.

I was prescribed Nirivam. I was to pop one of these when I felt panic attack coming on. The bottle said to be sure my hands were clean before I took one. I obsessed over this. I worked at an old grocery store. It was mostly a butcher shop, it smelled of rancid meat when you first walked in, but then you got used to it. I was always handling wrapped meat products that often leaked, grubby money. So I had to shut off my register light, thankfully since it was a small local store, we could pretty much manage ourselves, and sneak off to the dank, dim and disgusting bathroom, which one customer so eloquently described it as "triflin" (try-flyn). It felt like you could get AIDS just by standing in there.

I went back to the doctor; thank God I had good medical coverage. She gave me a number to a good counselor. I did that and still took the pills. I called that day and was comforted by the therapist's kind voice; I was surprised she answered her own phone, which comforted me more. The office was a small building that was by the railroad track- it looked like a box car I thought. I made the therapist tear up as I talked about my past, which made me feel like I shouldn't talk too much about sad stuff inside me. I read more and more about my problem and one day was SOOOO relieved to read, ""Anxiety disorders ARE NOT due to any character flaw or lack of moral fiber. They are not within the individual's ability or volition to control; these are not "your fault," nor are you able to treat these disorders simply by "trying harder." I read about many other people with the SAME feelings as me! About 25% of the world's population suffers from what I do. The scientific understanding now is that in our brains,"anxiety disorders are associated with dysregulation of neurotransmitter systems" (Caldwell). This was a relief to me! I went back to my doctor and told her about what I had read. She prescribed PAXIL. Within a week, I felt happy and confident. No more panic attacks. I still had the images in my head, but they didn't make me ill anymore. People noticed the change in me.

I am in a way thankful to have depression and anxiety, it allows me to feel deeply and empathetically . It makes me creative. Yet, before, it would be too much for me and I couldn't function normally. I see my depression and anxiety as a tragic beauty and I am happy with it..

‎"We mustn’t let the complexity of the situation absolve us from responsibility to act." -Bono