The American Economy. A Turnaround?

I have written many pieces on the economy in this blog.  One of my past pieces even found it's way into the Speaker of the House's blog.

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I have spoken about the government and my observation on the ineffective way they have addressed problems in our nation.  I have pointed out issues with both parties.

There has been a big push to the issues of Medicare.  Perhaps the Republicans no longer wish to point a spotlight on the economy. You can talk about some issues from either side.  You can assert that the current administration was handed a disaster while others assert it was all the fault of the current administration.  I will do my best to avoid retreading old ground.

In the past I have posted a financial model which has now been running for over 500 days.  Rather than focus on Wall Street in reference to the Dow, S&P or NASDAQ, my model uses a mix of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs and Gold.  I feel it is a more diverse picture of the economy.

If you look at the chart below, yesterday on August 22, 2012 our nation crossed the high line for the first time since April 29,2011.  Things look to be improving.

The employment situation is still dismal.  There are millions who are no longer counted in the unemployed figures.  They are the 99ers.  Their benefits have expired and they have dropped off the roles of those counted.  But, the numbers of new claims are decreasing.  We still may be much like an airplane headed toward the ground but our rate of decent is slowing.  Perhaps it is slowing enough that the Republican Party is worried.  Perhaps this is why Medicare is being addressed rather than the economy.

Rather than debate these issues, just take a look at the chart on the financial picture and the chart from the current employment figures and take it or leave it.  Draw your own conclusions.

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Look at the total for last year versus this year in the last line

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511 days of up and down
Only time will tell if this is an ongoing trend or just .....???

If a picture is worth a thousand words ...

Below are a few random photos in a random order taken from August 1, 2012 during the first half of this month (August 15).

All are snapshots.  I do not consider any of them photographic artwork.

There are a few military photos in the batch as August 8, 1969 was my discharge date from the military and I thought a few old shots from that time in my life were nice to post.

If you want an explanation on any of these they are all posted on my facebook photos and many do have explanations.

If you click on any of the photos below many of them will become larger in size.

Click on "read more" for the complete post.

AT&T - so wrong in every way part II

This post has gotten so long it is hard for blogger to save.

I am continuing this post here.  Scroll to the bottom of this piece for the latest, most current, information as this is an ongoing audit trail.

Part 1 can be viewed at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2010/11/at-so-wrong-is-every-way.html

July 27, 2012

A new problem.

Click "read more" to continue.....

Skid Row in June. An inside view.

June was a busy month on skid row in downtown Los Angeles.  The number of people living on the streets increased.  The number of violent crime incidents increased.

The number of families on the street increased.

The number of "permanent" dwellings on the street increased.  

All I can do is count the people I see in a specific geographic area.  I don't have any "hard" facts and figures although some folks downtown in some government offices seem to listen to me.

I can however, give you a bit of a snapshot from June from the folks over at Union Rescue Mission, the largest mission in the USA which sits at ground zero in the middle of what is the highest homeless population in the nation.

By the way, if after you read some of the below figures feel free to visit www.urm.org and look at the many ways you can help.  Even $10 will feed a family of five.  The folks at URM accept any credit card on their donation page and even accept paypal.  In a hurry?  You can feed five people in less than a minute from your cell phone.  To donate $10 to Union Rescue Mission, text the letters URM to 85944. You will receive a confirmation text message. Reply with the word YES to complete the transaction. 

A few pieces of data for the month of June:

• 123 people were seen by the mental health clinic at URM
• 436 people were seen by the doctors on site at URM from UCLA
• 570 people were seen by the dentists on site at URM from USC
• 55 people were seen by the legal staff at URM for legal assistance
• 4,293 hours were spent by volunteers
• 20,931 nights of shelter were provided by individual
• 2,501 night of shelter were provided to families
• 70,185 meals were served.  In one month. In June.

In reference to that meal count.  At the end of last month URM was half way through the calendar year.  At that point 920,867 meals had been served.  Looks like by the end of this month (July) they will pass 1,000,000.

Services provided continue to increase.  Donations continue to decrease.  Please think about what you might be able to do to help and please pass along the link to this piece.

A night on the streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles

Los Angeles has the highest population of homeless people living on the streets in the nation.

This is one night on the streets of skid row with Andy Bales, the CEO of Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles.  You can learn more at www.urm.org if you wish.

What does the Daily Grill have to do with the homeless?

I generally don't post my Yelp reviews here.  In this case I am making an exception.

Last night I went out with a few friends for dinner and drinks.  I published my review on Yelp.

If I were to base my rating on the food, selection, service or organization of the location in Burbank it would rate a solid four stars based on value for the dollar and the usual criteria.  But .....  the elusive "but" ....

The complete story can be seen in my Yelp review at

http://www.yelp.com/biz/daily-grill-burbank-2#hrid:gpEzTdwpa3XLzScnourzeQ

Mr. President, Senate, Congress ... take a bow.

June 21, 2012

Click on either image for a full size display.

On the financial side:  It seems as if a "well done" or congratulations are NOT to be expected by the financial minds that head our country.  It appears your latest plan failed.  Not much of a surprise.

The Dow is not an accurate indicator.  We have all seen layoffs continue at the rate of over 350,000 per week.  There are other ways to look at a more broad picture of our true economic picture. 

America - a Nation Of No Direction - or a downward direction from another viewpoint

On the employment side:  In the week ending June 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 387,000. The 4-week moving average was 386,250, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 382,750.  Rough concept ... more than a quarter of a million people but less than a half a million people lost their jobs in one week.  

Democrats, Republicans, Senators, Congressmen and government officials, please take a bow.  Don't bother to stand back up.  You do not deserve much of anything other than contempt and a lack of respect from the people of this nation.

Our government leaders continue to argue with each other.  Our government comes up with one plan after another which have done nothing to improve the problems in our nation for a number of years at this point.

It does not matter whether times in Europe are good or bad, if fighting moves from one country to another or any of the reasons for a lack of movement in any direction are considered as they change.  This nation is a nation with no direction and your efforts have been directed toward anything but working together or helping this great nation.

In closing I will repeat again what I wrote above:  Democrats, Republicans, Senators, Congressmen and government officials, please take a bow.  Don't bother to stand back up.  You do not deserve much of anything other than contempt and a lack of respect from the people of this nation.

Homelessness. There are individuals within the statistics.

Each day most of us are subjected to news.  News on the radio, television, newspapers, on the Internet.

The news supplies statistics.  Fires in Colorado which have consumed tens of thousands of acres.  Unless your house or a house belonging to somebody important to you was lost in one of those acres that burned we tend to turn a blind eye to the news.

How many people were killed or injured in Afghanistan this week?  Unless one of them was somebody you loved you probably did not have your life changed much if at all.

How many people lost their homes to foreclosure?  I am sure you understand my point.

When the word Homeless is heard by many individuals their thought process may create mental images of people who are mentally ill, who may be  alcoholics, people who have substance abuse problems or are just people that do not want to work and expect a handout.

There is much more to this story.  Click "read more" below for the more complete story.

Label failure a success! The homeless of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the city with the distinction of having the highest homeless population in the nation.  

Recently there was a story in the Los Angeles Times.  I first heard about the story last week as a group of us were driving to a birthday dinner party.  I did not know the details of the story but I went off on a bit of a rant as soon as I heard the title and the basics of the story from a passenger in the car.

Housing project for hard-core homeless pays off

A study of homeless adults housed by L.A. County's Project 50 suggests providing permanent housing to vulnerable populations saves local governments money.


There is more to this story.  Click on "read more" below for the more complete picture.

Help the Homeless of Los Angeles on June 14, 2012

Los Angeles - Homeless capitol of our nation.

Click on the link below to learn more or purchase a ticket for this event.
I hope to see some of my friends there.

Many of you folks know that I spend time on the streets of Los Angeles, the homeless capitol of our nation, doing what I can to help the homeless.

Union Rescue Mission, the largest mission in the United States, is putting on their annual Heroes for Hope lunch event in Los Angeles on June 14th.  If you are in the area and wish to attend it would be great to see you there.

For the more complete story click on "read more".