I’ve been thinking about registrations. Actually I’ve been thinking about the 2008 elections, the endless campaigns, the Supreme Court, endless payment increases, and a growing malaise affecting all US/us. It is really difficult to get fired up for the coming elections which are still some six months off into the future. This is no small observation coming from me – the all-time news and political junkie! I am not alone in this feeling of weariness as many of my readers agree on this.

You see the Tuesday primary elections in Indiana and North Carolina “may” determine who will be the standard bearer for the Democratic Party in the 2008 Presidential election, but I am not counting on it. Both Senators Clinton and Obama claim they are in the fight until the 2008 Denver Convention. Senator McCain has “locked in” the Republican Party spot on the ballot. Campaigning has gone on for two years. The conventions, real debates, and podium combat still loom before us. I was disgusted and undecided about my choice options in 2004. I voted for President last and ended up actually flipping a coin - John Kerry “won” the toss! That is no way to make a voting decision. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about subtleties. Actually I’ve been thinking about inflation, gas and food, frozen pizzas, my green bean casserole, instant coffee, and T-paper. Runaway inflation is a fact of life that far exceeds the under 3% that is still presently being hawked by the spin meisters for the Bush Administration and the Federal Reserve Bank. By definition “core inflation” conveniently excludes energy and food items which might be OK if we didn’t have to power the things we own and feed ourselves and our families. These two categories of necessities will continue to constitute a growing part of our expenditures. We now pay more for what we buy, or pay the same and get less! Please read on

I’ve been thinking about shakiness. Actually I’ve been thinking about earthquakes, the US dollar, the February 2008 trade numbers, our trade deficits, our energy deficits, interest rates/ the “auction,” and inflation. Official numbers for our energy imports and our trade deficit(s) for this past February, and the cumulative trade deficit(s) for the calendar year thus far were released last week. While the media may have focused on the anomalies of a growing cluster of hundreds of unexplained quakes in the Pacific Ocean off the State of Oregon and the Friday morning 5.2 shaker in Southeastern Illinois, the real “shakiness stories” should have chronicled the further downward slide of the US Dollar relative to the other major world currencies. Unfortunately there is presently no “Richter Scale” for the precarious shakiness of the Buck. The Dollar is having major seizures! Please read on...

I’ve been thinking about art. Actually I’ve been thinking about beauty, St. Johns, the Erickson family, memorials/ remembering/ honoring, peace, and joy. Presently there is so much happening in the world that is negative, hateful, and destructive to the human spirit that we so often forget (or choose to ignore) the counterbalancing side to the human condition which builds our spirits, and gives us the strength to cope and continue on. Sometimes we need to stop and appreciate the things of beauty, of hope, of love, and of peace which are there to enrich and to strengthen us. Pleae Read on.

I’ve been thinking about couples. Actually I’ve been thinking about the 2008 Presidential Election, spouses, financial disclosures, money, power, the cult of celebrity, and “two-fers.” The American public is being treated to a temporary hiatus in the media blitz of the 2008 Presidential campaign. It’s not that the race for the oval office is over – far from it. Because of the gap in the timing of the remaining primary elections and caucuses before the political conventions are held this summer and the “real campaigns” begin in earnest after Labor Day, we are getting a breather. Please read on...

I’ve been thinking about “standing and standings.” Actually I’ve been thinking about the S&L crisis vs. our current banking/ financial mess, cash flow, foreclosures, liens and “perfection,” and rankings by locale. The more things change, the more they seem be the same. The bad NEWS just keeps on coming with more daily negatives seemingly eclipsing the (bad) “records” set just weeks or months prior. We are seeing a synergy at work now where the cumulative sum of the components of the single negatives are producing an increasing gloom for the picture as a whole.

You see the statistics for real estate delinquencies and foreclosures are growing on a weekly/ monthly basis. Most communities, counties, and states now find themselves having more of both than at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In some cases the current status is already worse than that horrific time frame of some 70 years ago. Despite the “don’t worry, be happy – we have the situation under control” chanting(s) from the Administration, the Treasury, and the FED; reality suggests otherwise. We are a long way from turning the bend on this anytime in 2008 or even in 2009! “Prosperity is right around the corner” didn’t prove true for Herbert Hoover – and neither will it prove the case during the last year of Bush - nor during the first YEARS of his successor. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about disclosures. Actually I’ve been thinking about calendar 2007, financial statements, the auditors’ opinion letter, notes to the financial statements, contingencies, and NEWS. Calendar 2007 is now (almost) history. It was a year that was a far cry from the best of times and I fear that 2008 is shaping up to be… well, a year of challenges of even far greater dimensions. Things are moving ever so quickly and it seems that we increasingly only learn about events, not as they unfold, but when the “deeds” are done and the crises are “thus behind us.” It is often said: “that it ain’t over until the (horizontally challenged) lady sings.” We are about to be treated to a concert! Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about implosions. Actually I’ve been thinking about warehousing, leverage, multipliers, magnified expansion/ contraction, fractional reserve banking, and the FED. When I learned last week that the FED had created yet another “accommodation” to swap newly minted US Treasury securities for $200 BILLION in par value Cleverly Rigged Accounting Ploy (CRAP) financial derivatives that were actually worth less, or even worthless, I was livid. I saw this as yet another lame attempt to bail out the banking industry for their wayward past actions. I asked myself: “Why, why, why?” Then it hit me I was looking at all this from the WRONG direction! Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about checkbooks. Actually I’ve been thinking about fire sales, the housing bubble, credit card balances, employment/ unemployment, the equity markets, the FED, interest rates, the dollar, and oil prices. Last week saw plenty of economic/ financial news about US/ us being covered not only abroad, but also by our domestic media. All of it was negative. In fact, the most ardent of news junkies were hard pressed to find one story in the plus column - that is, unless you referred to an ongoing string of announcements heralding record profits for oil companies.

You see America is up for sale right now. When the going gets tough (and I mean really tough), the tough don’t go shopping; they put their superfluous stuff on the market and try to unload. They don’t just sell what they no longer need, they also try to unload what they can no longer afford! It is a buyers’ market for just about anything you can imagine – houses, vehicles, furniture, equity investments... The problem is there aren’t a whole lot of buyers out there with checkbooks backed by the necessary deposits to cover the purchases. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about Sysiphus. Actually I’ve been thinking about our current mess(es), Bernanke, Paulson, the equity markets, our presidential candidates, and masochism. Poor old Sysiphus was a character from Greek mythology who was condemned to ceaselessly roll a rock to the top of a mountain to solve his problem(s); whence the stone would fall back of its own weight leaving him from where he had begun. Does THAT task not characterize the futile situation set before our political and fiscal/ economic personages/ leaders in calendar 2008?

You see Uncle $ugar finds himself in one @#$%^&* heck of a mess. The entire planet of Earth finds itself in one @#$%^&* heck of a mess! This one @#$$%^&* heck of a mess has been a long time coming, and the solution to the one @#$%^&* heck of a mess will not be quickly/ easily, resolved! While Sisyphus was the wisest and most prudent of mortals in his day, he was faced with cumulative challenges not experienced by any personas in the entire history of mankind up to that point in time – ditto for those who aspire to deal with the one @#$%^&* of a mess facing us. Even those who give their “face time” to media cameras don’t give a true clue to the dementia of the mess. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about benchmarks. Actually I’ve been thinking about the December 2007 trade numbers, the recession, our trade deficits, our energy deficits, a line drawn in the water, and mushrooms. The “official” numbers for our energy imports and our trade deficit(s) for this past December, and the cumulative trade deficit(s) for the calendar year just ended were released last week. There are some real eye openers in the figures. These should be filed away for comparison because 2008 is already shaping up for US/us to be a year of many changes – mostly downward! Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about guns. Actually I’ve been thinking about the Northern Illinois University shootings, reason and logic, legislation, twenty-seven words, profiling, and the NRA.Last Thursday on St. Valentine’s Day, a deranged individual took five innocent lives and wounded sixteen others in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University just ten miles east of my home.

This horrific incident comes on the heels of the shooting-murder of a well-respected attorney in nearby Rockford as he cleared the snow in front of his home. THAT was preceded by a mass shooting of shoppers at a suburban mall near Chicago just weeks before these other recent killings. The NIU shooter took his own life, while the two (or more) other killers still remain at large. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about the Presidency. Actually I’ve been thinking about Super Tuesday, “the six,” messes, the US Dollar, banking, energy, debt, deficits, and choices. Tuesday February 5th, marks our first real “national” primary election when voters in 22 states cast their ballots/ caucus in the selection of candidates for the 2008 Presidential race. On the Demo side there are two choices and on the Repub side there are four.

They want the office and are spending fortunes to get it, but the desire(s) leading their quest run the gamut – greed, power, ego, money, vision, a permanent place in history, agenda, service to self, and service to others. Why would anyone subject themselves to this? Please read on...

I’ve been thinking about rogues. Actually I’ve been thinking about auditors, defalcations/ frauds, Societe Generale, systems of internal control, and convenience. Most of the financial news stories of the prior week focused on the bloodbath that hit the world’s stock exchanges as the current Sub-Prime/ Alternative-A loan debacle continues to unwind. The US markets (closed on Monday for the observance of the Martin Luther King holiday) seemed to get a get a temporary pass from a week of otherwise global carnage. Was it the FED’s emergency rate cut of .75% and all the MEGA media hype surrounding proposals for some “major” $600 windfall for each US taxpayer (“maybe” materializing three to four months down the road) that spared only those exchanges in North America’s Eastern Standard Time Zone from the massive bloodletting? I don’t TH*NK so! Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about regulating. Actually I’ve been thinking about bubbles, the FED, solutions, equity markets, the real State of our Union, and the Titanic. The hot button story on page one for this week and the next will be the US economy and what the Federal Government intends to do to forestall a recession (if we are not already in one) or turn things around (if a recession has already begun). The eyes of the nation and world are now fixed on the administration and its actions.

You see there has been the underlying presumption that the Federal Government can fix anything. What we are seeing now is the direct opposite. When one critically reviews our current crisis of debt, it is not so difficult to realize that Uncle $ugar and his misguided past policies have become not the solution to our ills, but are the driving forces behind them. The assumption that more (and bigger numbers) is always better is simply not true! One must look behind the numbers and ask the questions: Is more of “whatever is under examination” a plus, or a minus? Are we as a nation (or a people) better off with more of this, or less of it? Politics and reality are so often in contradiction.Please read on

I’ve been thinking about trends. Actually I’ve been thinking about 2008, the first two weeks, stock indexes, a look back to 1968, recessions, Wal-Mart, historical inevitability, and my parents. Things don’t just happen in isolation. There is the tendency for events to occur in cycles and in inter-related groups. For each effect, there are multiple causes which have evolved over time. While there is the tendency to explain away any negative (or non- positive) occurrence as some isolated incident and not some systemic problem (particularly in an election year), THAT is proven generally not the case. Please read on.

I just came from the Drudge Report, and I am LITERALLY speechless!!! Ok... CHIMPSTERS...Consider this an open mike at Campaign 2008 Central. I defer to your wit, wisdom, prognostications, comments, etc. THIS TIME share with me/us what you TH*NK...

What the H*LL has just happened? I'm at a total loss for words!

I’ve been thinking about audits. Actually I’ve been thinking about Julius Caesar, the accounting profession, financial services uniqueness, Sub-Prime/ Alternate-A derivative paper, and the Resolution Trust Corporation. The busy season for the accounting profession is at hand. I’m not just talking about the majority of the income tax filings for businesses (due on the Ides of March) or those tax filings for individuals (due on April 15th). January thru April is also the time frame when the lion’s share of the field work is completed for the annual audits of businesses and publicly traded corporations. Respective audit reports with those ever-so-critical independent accountant opinion letters are also issued. Please read on...

I’ve been thinking about 2008. Actually I’ve been thinking about forensics, the 2008 elections, the debt/ deficits, dollar prices, energy, food, and “common” sense. 2008 will be a year for the record books and I don’t mean this in any positive way. We are in one big mess on so many fronts. There are so many glitches in the systems set up to contain the problems that negatively impact our way of life. The patches/ fixes, both in place and proposed, have NOT become solutions - they enhance our problems.

You see in 2008 the word “forensics” will become the buzzword of ultimate importance. It will be used in ever increasing contexts – or at least it should. Forensic investigations will prove central to forensic medicine, forensic accountancy, forensic journalism, and forensic economics. True solutions/ fixes only can come from a real understanding of the facts and the truth. Varnishing or sweeping our problems under the rug via spin, hype, and propagandized distractions have never solved anything. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about renewal. Actually I’ve been thinking about Christmas, advent, cards/ newsletters, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” our service men and women, and happiness. The Christmas holiday is something that actually invigorates me. Sure there is so much going on in a very compacted period that the “honest” appraisal/effect of the season should be one of exhaustion, not of renewal. I also experience the “you gotta’s!” Gotta do this, gotta attend that, gotta touch base with …; but after I collapse in my bed at night from doing “whatever” and before I fall asleep, I TH*NK about how blessed I am and how the Christmas season puts things in perspective for me in such a positive way. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about sovereigns. Actually I’ve been thinking about Britannia, power and clout, heading East, the housing bubble, national investment funds, the Swiss, and “money bombs.” In 1816 the gold British Sovereign was first introduced. As the British Empire expanded under Queen Victoria during the 19th Century, this nickel-sized mintage became the world’s most widely distributed gold coin. It is still hoarded and sought as an investment, a store of value and a hedge against inflation.

You see sovereignty is about power and clout. If you are sovereign: you can pretty much do what you want, when you want it, and how you want it. You are respected. You are accepted. And yes… you are even feared! There is clearly a hybrid form of the “Golden Rule” at work here: “he who has the gold, sets the rules.” The sun has set on the British Empire as hegemony, power, and clout shifted. The United States became the dominant military and economic force on the planet and with the break up of the former Soviet Union, it became the world’s sole remaining superpower. Now… the status of this American juggernaut is under scrutiny. The US has gone from the world’s largest creditor to the world’s largest debtor requiring a DAILY infusion of $3 BILLION in foreign capital to fund its deficits and wars. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about conditions. Actually I’ve been thinking about bailouts, freezes on rate resets, speculators, owner occupancy, property equity, current performance, and pregnancy. The RE mortgage bubble continues to pass gas. Billions of write-offs/ write-downs in carrying values have occurred with MEGA-billions more to come. The mass marketing of the derivative paper behind these “pulse loans” (you have a pulse, you got the loan) have made this a global problem because investors worldwide got sucked into the euphoria of these highly questionable “investment” vehicles. Please read on.

WHOA! What a program! On Monday December 3rd, I was once again a guest on the VHeadline’s Venezuelan News Hour. This broadcast was as historic as were the results of Venezuela’s referendum election held on Sunday. This was the case not only because it was being broadcast for THREE hours in a marathon session, it was also being broadcast live simultaneously on 34 FM radio stations as well. (It will be available as an MP3 file at the www.Vheadline.com website shortly, too.)

The feedback from the radio engineer in New York (when my group signed off from our first hour of the program) was that the John Sanchez moderated broadcast was drawing in a HUGE American live audience. It was reported to him many people were calling into the respective FM stations – wanting to field questions to the guests on the show. Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about revenues. Actually I’ve been thinking about “V.C.’s” questions, the housing debacle, governmental units, taxation, financial institutions, property assessments, timing, and lags. I frequently hear from those who read my columns in print and on-line. Last week’s TH*NK*NG (mone-TERROR-ism) prompted an on-line reader (V.C.) to ask two questions: First, as housing market prices head South and mortgage problems become foreclosures, how do State and Federal governments feel the consequences? Second, will serious credit problems stop the ability to sustain warfare abroad – will our country’s security therefore be affected? Sometimes the dialogues just lead to another column.Please read on.

I’ve been thinking about mone-TERROR-ism. Actually I’ve been thinking about the US dollar, the emergency OPEC conference, the big four TRILLION-aires, spending, and solutions. While working as a forensic investigative accountant on the Savings and Loan mess, I was told that when someone owes you $100,000s, you have a borrower. When someone owes you MILLIONs, you have a partner! Taking that to the next levels… when someone owes you BILLIONS or TRILLIONS, it is the one holding that debt who has the real problem, and its’s the debtor who is really the one in the driver’s seat. Please read on.