text:
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Elliot Wave Theorists Claim Pandemics Always Happen In a Bear Market
Elliot Wave International has just written an article entitled "Swine Flu and Elliot Wave Analysis", claiming that pandemics only happen in bear markets.
Their theory seems to be that a downbeat social mood leads to both a bear market and susceptibility to disease.
I will leave it to the technical market analysts and the epidemiologists to decide whether the theory is right or wrong.
Note: At least some people have tried to blame the plague on the 1340 economic depression.
U.S. Swine Flu Death Was of Mexican - Not U.S. - Resident
The sole person to die outside of Mexico of the swine flu was a resident of Mexico, not the U.S.
Specifically, the child was a Mexican citizen whose family was visiting relatives in the United States. "The family had traveled to South Texas. The child became ill and they transported the child to Houston for medical care," said a Houston health department official.
Authorities do not currently even know what part of Mexico the child was from.
I'm not sure why all of the deaths so far have been of Mexican residents, but this seems to be the case to date.
Instead of Deleveraging, Companies are INCREASING Leverage, Putting the Economy at Heightened Risk
As I have repeatedly tried to point out, the problem is too much leverage, and what is needed to fix the economy is for the financial players to deleverage.
But instead of encouraging orderly deleveraging, the government has done everything it can to prop up and even increase leverage.
The Wall Street Journal has confirmed the problem in a new article:
Deleveraging? What deleveraging? Since the start of the credit crunch, corporate leverage has risen at a faster rate than it did at the peak of the boom, even as firms work hard to reduce borrowings. Companies that once embraced leverage in the name of shareholder value now find their debt piles balanced precariously on shrinking earnings. Absent a swift recovery, leverage is likely to rise even higher...
The picture is more worrying for companies where deleveraging should be the top priority: those bought by private-equity firms. For example, look at chip maker Freescale Semiconductor. When taken private in December 2006, it had leverage of just over 5 times, but relentless earnings pressure has pushed that figure ever higher. Analysts now forecast leverage will peak at more than 10 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, despite an exchange offer that cut debt by $1.9 billion.
Meanwhile, among the most aggressive European LBOs, leverage is standing still or rising, according to Fitch Ratings...
None of this bodes well for credit ratings. Even if total debt outstanding is stabilizing or falling in some cases, the ratings agencies focus on metrics such as asset-backing and interest cover. In the first quarter, Standard & Poor's downgraded 523 companies and upgraded just 38, giving a record downgrade ratio of 93%. That will make it harder for companies to refinance at attractive rates, leaving many running hard just to stand still.
Way to go Geithner, Bernanke and Summers. Instead of insisting that a couple of levels be taken off the top of the house of cards, you've encouraged the gamblers to add new, ever-flimsier layers.
The Swine Flu Might Be Less Deadly Than the Average Winter Flu
The headlines have been scary.
For example, the headline from the Telegraph says:
"Swine flu: 'All of humanity under threat', WHO warns"
That sounds extremely dire, indeed.
And every new case of swine flu is being treated as a breaking news alert.
However, the World Health Organization quote was taken out of context. And science actually paints more a reassuring picture.
For example, as the Los Angeles times notes today:
Scientists studying the virus are coming to the consensus that this hybrid strain of influenza -- at least in its current form -- isn't shaping up to be as fatal as the strains that caused some previous pandemics.
In fact, the current outbreak of the H1N1 virus, which emerged in San Diego and southern Mexico late last month, may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare.
The LA Times goes on to provide useful detail:
Mounting preliminary evidence from genetics labs, epidemiology models and simple mathematics suggests that the worst-case scenarios are likely to be avoided in the current outbreak.
"This virus doesn't have anywhere near the capacity to kill like the 1918 virus," which claimed an estimated 50 million victims worldwide, said Richard Webby, a leading influenza virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn...
"There are certain characteristics, molecular signatures, which this virus lacks," said Peter Palese, a microbiologist and influenza expert at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. In particular, the swine flu lacks an amino acid that appears to increase the number of virus particles in the lungs and make the disease more deadly...
We expect to see more cases, more hospitalizations, and, unfortunately, we are likely to see more deaths from the outbreak," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters Wednesday on her first day at work.
But certainly nothing that would dwarf a typical flu season. In the U.S., between 5% and 20% of the population becomes ill and 36,000 people die -- a mortality rate of between 0.24% and 0.96%...
And a pandemic doesn't necessarily have a high fatality rate...
Though scientists have begun to relax about the initial toll, they're considerably less comfortable when taking into account the fall flu season. They remain haunted by the experience of 1918, when the relatively mild first wave of flu was followed several months later by a more aggressive wave.
The longer the virus survives, the more chances it has to mutate into a deadlier form.
"If this virus keep going through our summer," Palese said, "I would be very concerned."
And while Vice President Biden advised people not to travel by plane or subway, the head of the CDC said such travel was safe:
"I think flying is safe. Going on the subway is safe. People should go out and live their lives," Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.
"In terms of flights, if you have a fever and flu-like symptoms, you should not get on an airplane," he said.
But Besser added that officials involved in public health "should put in context what the risk is."
The bottom line is that while this flu is certainly spreading worldwide, and many folks will likely catch it - in the same way that many catch the normal flu every winter.
The real question is how dangerous it is.
While it could mutate into something extremely lethal, right now it is fairly mild.
Note: Precautions, such as frequent hand-washing, should certainly be undertaken. And studies note that Vitamin D can help ward off flus or reduce their severity. There is also some evidence that certain probiotics do the same.
Does Goldman Sachs Run the Government?
Everyone agrees that Goldman Sachs pretty much runs the government's economic and financial agencies.
As the New York Times explained last October in a must-read 4 page article, the presence of Goldman Sachs alumni in virtually all of the top government financial posts is so great that their team is dubbed "Government Sachs":
Indeed, Goldman's presence in the [Treasury] department and around the federal response to the financial crisis is so ubiquitous that other bankers and competitors have given the star-studded firm a new nickname: Government Sachs.
The Times points out that Goldman alums include:
- Former treasury secretary Hank Paulson
- Paulson's bailout chief Neel Kashkari
- Interim Treasury investment officer Reuben Jeffrey
- Key Treasury players Dan Jester, Steve Shafran, Edward C. Forst, and Robert K. Steel
- Key New York Federal Reserve players Stephen Friedman (head of the New York Fed board of governors, who sat on Goldman's board and owned a substantial stake in Goldman while he was making official decisions - and see this), William C. Dudley (head of the New York Fed's unit that buys and sells government securities), and E. Gerald Corrigan (charged with convening a group to analyze risk on Wall Street)
And there are many more Goldman alums who have been - or are soon to be - appointed. For example, Obama has named Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And Geithner named Mark Patterson as his top aide last January
As Glenn Greenwald writes today:
And the Independent wrote last July:
Here is just one random item this week announcing a couple of standard personnel moves:
Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association since he left Frank's committee in September, will join Goldman as director of government affairs, a role held last year by former Tom Daschle intimate, Mark Patterson, now the chief of staff at the Treasury Department. This is not Paese's first swing through the Wall Street-Congress revolving door: he previously worked at JP Morgan and Mercantile Bankshares, and in between served as senior minority counsel at the Financial Services Committee.
So: Paese went from Chairman Frank's office to be the top lobbyist at Goldman, and shortly before that, Goldman dispatched Paese's predecessor, close Tom Daschle associate Mark Patterson, to be Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, himself a protege of former Goldman CEO Robert Rubin and a virtually wholly owned subsidiary of the banking industry. That's all part of what Desmond Lachman -- American Enterprise Institute fellow, former chief emerging market strategist at Salomon Smith Barney and top IMF official (no socialist he) -- recently described as "Goldman Sachs's seeming lock on high-level U.S. Treasury jobs."
The New York Times columnist David Brooks noted that Goldman Sachs employees have given more money to Barack Obama's campaign for president than workers of any other employer in the US. "Over the past few years, people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government," Brooks noted grimly. "Over the next few they might just take over the whole darn thing."In March, Geithner was questioned by Congresswoman Maxine Waters about the appearance of conflict of interest by Goldman Sachs insiders:
What is interesting is that Geithner did not deny that Goldman players were at the center of the government's financial decisions, only that their decisions were not bad ones.
"I am just asking the questions," Waters said, "because the talk is...that this small group of decision makers at the center of it is Goldman Sachs and that's what's causing a lot of the distrust, because people are thinking or believing that Goldman Sachs, because of the connections, have had a lot to do with the decisions that are being made."
Geithner responded: "I think it's deeply unfair to the people who are part of these decisions to suggest that they were making judgments that in their view were not in the best interest of the American people."
So has Government Sachs made selfless decisions for the benefit of the American people? Or has it engaged in some self-dealing?
Well, as Time magazine notes:
Indeed, Goldman's current CEO, Lloyd C. Blankfein, apparently participated in several of the important meetings determining which companies the government would save and which would fail.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of the AIG pass-through, at $12.9 billion, was Goldman Sachs, the investment-banking house that has been the single largest supplier of financial talent to the government. Critics have been quick to note — and not favorably — the almost uncanny influence of former Goldman executives. Initial phases of the rescue were orchestrated by ex–Goldman chairman Hank Paulson, who was recruited as Treasury Secretary in part by former White House chief of staff and Goldman senior exec Josh Bolten. Goldman's current boss, Lloyd Blankfein, was invited to participate in meetings with the Fed. AIG's Liddy is a former Goldman director and an ex-CEO of Allstate. Another alum, Mark Patterson, once a Goldman lobbyist, serves as chief of staff at the Treasury, while Neel Kashkari, who runs TARP, was a Goldman vice president.
Goldman has repeatedly declared that its exposure to AIG was "immaterial" and fully hedged. But some rivals point to the fact that Goldman had uncharacteristically piled into contracts with a single counterparty. "I am shocked that Goldman had this much exposure [with AIG]," says an analyst at a competing bank. "This was a major failing, but they got bailed."
Goldman got bailed twice: first on its CDS exposure and a second time, to the tune of $4.8 billion, for another AIG fiasco, losses on its securities-lending business.
And Marketwatch columnist Paul Farrell literally says that Goldman "rules the world":
"Obama's victory and Geithner's appointment are the completion of Goldman's meticulously crafted plan to become a superpower. The firm now has the clout to impose its will on the financial markets, and the world."GOP or Dems? Conservatives or liberals? It doesn't matter. We'll all controlled by "The [Goldman] Conspiracy." So why not surrender, let them have the power? The truth is, through their lobbyists and surrogates in Washington, they already rule America.
Indeed, Goldman's influence reaches abroad, as well. For example, the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, was formerly Goldman's managing director. See also this.
The New York post also claims that Goldman is gaming the stock market.
And Rolling Stone has shown that Goldman gamed the oil market as well.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Spanish Judge Opens NEW Torture Investigation of BIGGER Fish
The Spanish Judge who went after Pinochet has opened a new torture investigation of bigger fish.
The first one was just against the lawyers who wrote torture memos.
The new one includes Cheney, Rice and perhaps other leading authors of the torture policy.
At least someone still thinks the rule of law should be upheld.
Update on Swine Flu
Contrary to wide-spread initial reports that the swine flu included bird, pig and human flu strains, doctors are now saying that the flu is solely made up from 2 strains of pig flu.
And while earlier reports put the number of confirmed cases in Mexico well above 100, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now giving the following update, revising the number of cases in Mexico sharply downwards:
As of 18:00 GMT, 29 April 2009, nine countries have officially reported 148 cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 91 laboratory confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the United Kingdom (5).
WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders.
That's too good news.
The bad news is that - from what a doctor tells me - it appears that the horse is already out of the barn, the flu really is spreading worldwide, and there is no way to stop its spread.
Obama has said that schools where any children have confirmed infections may need to be closed temporarily. And it should be obvious that WHO will declare it a pandemic within the next day or so.
Here is a current list of swine flu cases by states (in the U.S.), and here is the latest official health guidance.
Larry Summers is a Big Fat Idiot
Many people inside the Washington beltway - including, unfortunately, President Obama - think that Larry Summers is a genius.
Of course, Summers was one of the people most responsible for gutting the Depression-era banking laws which helped protect our economy, allowing the big financial institutions to speculate and gamble using insane amounts of leverage, and insisting that toxic derivatives be left completely unregulated.
Arianna Huffington, Naomi Klein and others have argued that - even if smart - his ideas are toxic.
But Friday, Summers proved that he's really not that smart. On Friday, Summers basically said we should continue to do the exact same things which got us into this mess because:
All crises must end. The "self-equilibrating" nature of the economy will ultimately prevail, although that may take massive one-off government actions. Such a crisis happens only "three or four times" per century, so taking on huge amounts of government debt is fine; implicitly, we will grow out of that debt burden.Um . . . sorry to break it to you there Larry, but a group of economics professors has recently demolished the "self-equilibrating economy" theory:
If one browses through the academic macroeconomics and finance literature, "systemic crisis" appears like an otherworldly event that is absent from economic models. Most models, by design, offer no immediate handle on how to think about or deal with this recurring phenomenon. In our hour of greatest need, societies around the world are left to grope in the dark without a theory. ...And when economist James Galbraith spoke at a recent panel on the causes of the financial crisis, the first thing he listed as the main cause of the crisis was "The idea that capitalism ... is inherently self-stabilizing."
The implicit view behind standard models is that markets and economies are inherently stable and that they only temporarily get off track. The majority of economists thus failed to warn policy makers about the threatening system crisis and ignored the work of those who did. ...
The confinement of macroeconomics to models of stable states that are perturbed by limited external shocks and that neglect the intrinsic recurrent boom-and-bust dynamics of our economic system is remarkable. After all, worldwide financial and economic crises are hardly new and they have had a tremendous impact beyond the immediate economic consequences of mass unemployment and hyper inflation. This is even more surprising, given the long academic legacy of earlier economists' study of crisis phenomena ... This tradition, however, has been neglected ...
Summers a genius?
Will the Swine Flu Get the Same Response as the Financial Crisis - Protect the Status Quo without Really Changing Anything?
Even though we've suffered the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Obama, Summers and Geithner are not really changing anything, but are instead doing everything they can to keep the status quo intact. Instead of breaking up the insolvent banks in an orderly fashion, the "too big to fail" financial players are being allowed to keep on gambling using our money.
Is the same thing happening with swine flu and industrial meat facilities?
As William Engdahl writes:
It has been widely documented and subject of US Congressional reports that large-scale indoor animal production facilities such as that of Granjos Carroll are notorious breeding grounds for toxic pathogens.
A recent report by the US Pew Foundation in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health notes, 'the method of producing food animals in the United States has changed from the extensive system of small and medium-sized farms owned by a single family to a system of large, intensive operations where the animals are housed in large numbers in enclosed structures that resemble industrial buildings more than they do a traditional barn. That change has happened primarily out of view of consumers but has come at a cost to the environment and a negative impact on public health, rural communities, and the health and well-being of the animals themselves.
The Pew study notes, 'The diversified, independent, family-owned farms of 40 years ago that produced a variety of crops and a few animals are disappearing as an economic entity, replaced by much larger, and often highly leveraged, farm factories. The animals that many of these farms produce are owned by the meat packing companies from the time they are born or hatched right through their arrival at the processing plant and from there to market.'
The study emphasizes that application of 'untreated animal waste on cropland can contribute to excessive nutrient loading, contaminate surface waters, and stimulate bacteria and algal growth and subsequent reductions in dissolved oxygen concentrations in surface waters.'...
Avian Flu was traced back to huge chicken factory farms in
Thailandand other parts of Asiawhose products were shipped across the world. Instead of a serious investigation into the sanitary conditions of those chicken factory farms, the Bush Administration and WHO blamed 'free-roaming chickens' on small family farms, a move that had devastating economic consequences to the farmers whose chickens were being raised in the most sanitary natural conditions. Tyson Foods of Arkansas and CG Group of reportedly smiled all the way to the bank. Thailand
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Gallows HumorHow it started?
Decorated swine flu surgical mask in Mexico:
Jimmy Kimmel spoof on protecting yourself:
Now Or Never for Torture Prosecutions: Conyers and Nadler Request a Special Prosecutor for Torture
John Conyers, Jerold Nadler and others on the House Judiciary Committee today asked Attorney General Holder to appoint a special prosecutor for torture:
Holder is required by law to prosecute violations of the Geneva Convention such as torture. And this is not supposed to be a decision based upon politics.
Unfortunately, Holder will likely do whatever Obama tells him to do. Therefore, it is now or never to call Obama and demand prosecution.
Industrial Hog Farming Is Just Like Wall Street
One theory about the swine flu which is quickly gaining traction is that the flu was spread by flies swarming around the hog manure ponds at the giant Granjas Carrol hog farm in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Granjas Carrol, which is partly owned by Smithfield Foods - the world's largest hog company - raises 950,000 hogs per year at the facility.
On these industrial-scale hog farms, pigs are jammed together so tightly that they can barely turn around. There are so many of them that they produce many tons of manure, which is just dumped into giant open ponds.
This is the Wall Street of hog farming. On both Wall Street and at giant meat production farms, the hogs feed at the public trough.
On hog farms, as with Wall Street:
- A couple of giant companies dominated the landscape
- Regulators allowed the companies to run amok
- The companies went "hog wild", knowing that governments would pick up the pieces if things crashed
- The profits were privatized, and the losses socialized. In the case of the hog farms, the profits from the mega-farms were pocketed by the companies, while the costs of the swine flu epidemic will be borne by the taxpayers. The hog farms dumped huge amounts of manure into their local communities, which sickened not only the locals, but caused a global health problem. Similarly, the Wall Street giants cranked out trillions in "toxic assets" that the nations of the world and their taxpayers are now being asked to clean up
As one blogger wrote:
Agribusiness needs to be held accountable. They are following the same rules as bankers; keep the profits and dump losses (in the form of mad cow or now swine flu) on the public. Factor in a few million dead and maybe locally produced food from small farms is not so expensive after all.
Former Senior Intelligence Officer Dismantles Arguments for Covering Up CIA Torture
Melvin Goodman is a former high-level intelligence officer. He was the Division Chief of the CIA's Office of Soviet Affairs, who served as Senior Analyst from 1966 - 1990. He also served as Professor of International Security at the National War College from 1986 - 2004.
Goodman says that the arguments for covering up the extent of torture by the CIA are all bogus:
[Advocates for keeping the information classified] argue that foreign intelligence services will not share sensitive intelligence with the United States and the CIA because of the declassification and release of the torture memoranda. That is nonsense!Goodman's article is worth reading in full.
European liaison services as well as other intelligence services have tempered their cooperation with the CIA because of the use of torture and abuse as well as the extraordinary rendition of innocent individuals from their countries to intelligence services in the Middle East. The CIA's extra-legal activities have complicated and undermined the task of maintaining credible relations with our allies in the battle against terrorism...
[The torture apologists also] argue that, because of the release of the memos, CIA clandestine operatives will keep their heads down and avoid assignments that carry political risk, and that the decline in CIA "morale and effectiveness" will harm American national security. More nonsense! CIA operatives and analysts are professionals who pride themselves on service to the country and their oath to the Constitution.
Very few of them took part in the corruption of intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and very few participated in the policies of torture and abuse. They know that the law should not be broken and they want to get these issues behind them so that they can continue to serve the national interests of the United States. They know that painful truths must be acknowledged and that some price must be paid by all for the chicanery of a few.
If Agency personnel were permitted to share their opinions about torture and abuse with the press, a large majority would oppose the practices. Unfortunately, only those officers seeking to cover-up their own activities have the temerity to talk to reporters. The notion that the declassification of these memoranda have given the "enemy invaluable information about the rules by which we operate" is particularly ludicrous.
The enemy has had this information for more than five years, ever since every major newspaper in the world published the unconscionable images from Abu Ghraib. General officers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have testified that these images are the most important recruitment tool in the hands of terrorists and fundamentalists and have contributed to the deaths of many American men and women.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Bush Administration Used Communist Intimidation and Torture Tactics
The communist tyrant launches an "investigation" into a nuclear accident in his country.
But to make sure that nothing critical is said about the way the government operated the nuclear power plant or how it responded to the accident, the government places "minders" in every interview.
The minders loom over the witnesses in an intimidating fashion, tell the witnesses that everything they say will be reported to the central government, and they even jump in an answer some of the questions directed at the witnesses.
Would the Western nations accept the results of the investigation that the government "could not have known" of the dangers from the nuclear power plant, and that the government did everything it could to minimize the damage?
Of course not.
For example, 9/11 Commission chair Thomas Kean points out that if "minders" had been present during the Commission's investigation, that would have been intimidation, which would have stemmed the flow of testimony from the witnesses:
I think the commission feels unanimously that it's some intimidation to have somebody sitting behind you all the time who you either work for or works for your agency. You might get less testimony than you would.
However, that's exactly what happened to Kean's own 9/11 Commission.
A recently released 9/11 Commission memo [released in January 2009 from the Commission to the National Archives; referenced in the The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Finding Aid: Series Descriptions and Folder Title Lists, page 52, "Memo Concerning Minders Conduct" *] highlights the role of government "minders" who accompanied witnesses interviewed by the commission. It was added to the National Archives' files at the start of the year and discovered there by History Commons contributor paxvector.
The memo, entitled "Executive Branch Minders' Intimidation of Witnesses," complains that:
- Minders "answer[ed] questions directed at witnesses;"
- Minders acted as "monitors, reporting to their respective agencies on Commission staffs lines of inquiry and witnesses' verbatim responses." The staff thought this "conveys to witnesses that their superiors will review their statements and may engage in retribution;" and
- Minders "positioned themselves physically and have conducted themselves in a manner that we believe intimidates witnesses from giving full and candid responses to our questions."
The memo was drafted by three staffers on the commission's Team 2, which reviewed the overall structure of the US intelligence community. One of the drafters was Kevin Scheid, a senior staffer who led the team. His co-writers were Lorry Fenner, an air force intelligence officer, and lawyer Gordon Lederman. The complaint was sent to the commission's counsels, Daniel Marcus and Steve Dunne, in October 2003, about halfway through the commission's 19-month life.
The memo makes clear that the problems were not occurring only with witnesses talking to Team 2, but also in "other teams' interviews." A hand-written note on a draft of the memo says, "not one agency or minder – also where we've sat in on other Teams' interviews."
According to the memo, some minders merely policed prior agreements between the commission and their parent agency about what the commission could ask witnesses, and others were simply there to make a list of documents the commission might want based on a witness' testimony. However, some minders saw their role differently.
Intimidation through Physical Positioning
The three staffers argued minders should not answer questions for witnesses because they needed to understand not how the intelligence community was supposed to function, but "how the Intelligence Community functions in actuality." However: "When we have asked witnesses about certain roles and responsibilities within the Intelligence Community, minders have preempted witnesses' responses by referencing formal polices and procedures. As a result, witnesses have not responded to our questions and have deprived us from understanding the Intelligence Community's actual functioning and witnesses' view of their roles and responsibilities."
The memo also describes the minders' conduct in detail: "… [M]inders have positioned themselves physically and have conducted themselves in a manner that we believe intimidates witnesses from giving full and candid responses to our questions. Minders generally have sat next to witnesses at the table and across from Commission staff, conveying to witnesses that minders are participants in interviews and are of equal status to witnesses."
The staffers also worried about minders taking "verbatim notes of witnesses' statements," as they thought this "conveys to witnesses that their superiors will review their statements and may engage in retribution." They believed that "the net effect of minders' conduct, whether intentionally or not, is to intimidate witnesses and to interfere with witnesses providing full and candid responses."
Another problem with the verbatim notetaking was that it "facilitates agencies in alerting future witnesses to the Commission's lines of inquiry and permits agencies to prepare future witnesses either explicitly or implicitly."
In response to this, the three staffers proposed not that minders be banned from interviews, but a set of rules governing minders' conduct. For example, minders were to keep a "low profile," sit out of witnesses' sight, not take verbatim notes and not answer any questions directed at the witnesses.
Perhaps the most remarkable proposal is that the number of minders be limited to one per witness. The memo indicates that where an interviewee had served in multiple agencies, more than one minder would accompany the witness. The memo therefore requests, "Only one minder may attend an interview even if the witness served in multiple agencies," meaning a witness would at least not be outnumbered by his minders.
As the Family Steering Committee (made up of 9/11 victims' family members) wrote in 2003:
The FSC [Family Steering Committee] is shocked with the use of "minders" in the interrogatory process. And, despite the Commissioner's similar objection to "minders", as stated at the last press conference, "minders" continue to be present during witness examination and questioning. The FSC does not want "minders" present during any witness examination and questioning; it is a form of intimidation and it does not yield the unfettered truth.Indeed, even 9/11 Commission co-chair Lee Hamilton admitted that "it is very difficult to tell when a witness is being intimidated by a minder."
Not only did the Bush administration adopt Communist torture techniques geared towards extracting false confessions, it also appears to have adopted Communist intimidation tactics.
And see this.
Witness Who Fingered 9/11 "Mastermind" Was Himself Crazy
I have previously pointed out that the self-confessed 9/11 "mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed also falsely confessed to crimes he didn't commit.
However, a second witness - Abu Zubaida - fingered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as the 9/11 mastermind (Zubaida was subsequently severely tortured for many months. But he initially identified KSM even before being tortured).
So we have independent confirmation that KSM was the chief architect of 9/11, right?
Well, the New Yorker notes this week:
The F.B.I.'s point man on the Abu Zubaydah interrogation, Daniel Coleman, had read Zubaydah's diaries and concluded that he "had a schizophrenic personality."
Former FDIC Chair Isaac Says Bank Stress Tests Backfired, Rattled Markets
Former FDIC chairman William Isaac says that the stress tests have backfired, and only succeeded in rattling markets.
This is not surprising, given that the stress tests were a sham.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Good Mainstream Sources of Swine Flu Information
The following are some good sources of information about the swine flu epidemic:
The Centers for Disease Control:
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Open Thread
I'm away for most of the weekend.
So post your comments and tell me what's on your mind.
Wild New Discoveries about the Universe
Ethyl formate is the chemical compound which gives raspberries their flavor (and rum its smell).
Scientists now say that the center of our Milky Way galaxy is high in ethyl formate. In other words, an astronaut visiting the center of our galaxy - if he took off his helmet - would smell a rum smell and taste a raspberry taste.
Not weird enough for you?
Scientists say they have discovered a black hole in a distant galaxy that spouted water in a powerful jet:
Friday, April 24, 2009
John Kerry is Half-Right About Torture
In an interview today with Huffington Post, Senate foreign relations committee chairman John Kerry said that he was concerned the release of photos depicting the abusive treatment of detainees in U.S. custody could become a "propaganda tool" for terrorist organizations.
It is true that photos of barbarian acts of torture could be used by terrorists to promote anti-American sentiments.
But only to the extent that those who ordered torture go unpunished.
If Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the others who ordered torture are allowed to go free, then that says loud and clear to the world:
"WE PROTECT TORTURERS. WE SAY ONE THING IN PUBLIC, BUT WE PROTECT AND NOD AND WINK AT THE BARBARIANS WHO HAVE DONE THIS TO BROWN-SKINNED PEOPLE."But if the sickos who ordered torture are brought to justice, then the world will look at these acts as an unfortunate chapter in America's history that has been closed.
We will be looked on as a people who strayed, but have returned to our roots and to stand up for human rights and justice.
Terrorists would not be able to use the torture pictures as a recruiting tool if the U.S. political and justice systems and the American people stand up and shout "THIS IS NOT WHO WE ARE!", and if we admitted our errors.
Stress Tests Prove that Credit Default Swaps Still Pose a Huge Risk to the Economy
The stress tests reveal that credit default swaps and other credit derivatives still pose a huge risk to the economy.
The Financial Times today notes that:
US banks could be forced to hold more equity than initially expected after it emerged that "stress tests" organised by regulators take into account risks not commonly understood to be included in the assessment.
In addition to looking at potential losses on loans and securities, bank examiners are looking at so-called "counterparty risk" on derivative contracts - the chance that the party on the other end of a derivatives deal might default, depriving the bank of a payment that is due.
They want to be sure each bank has enough capital to cover this potential source of loss as well as its more traditional lending risks.
In the past regulators have focused on traditional lending risks that form the basis of bank capital requirements. The stress test provides a more rounded assessment of the amount of equity a bank needs in order to be considered well capitalised relative to the risks it is running.
This means banks that have incurred large counterparty risks in their trading books could be forced to hold more capital.
(references to "counterparty risks" usually mean that credit default swaps are involved).
And economist Martin Weiss notes (as summarized today by leading economist Nouriel Roubini in a discussion of the stress tests):
OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] data show that as of Q4, the total credit exposure with derivatives as % of risk-based capital was: 179% for Bank of America, 278% for Citibank, 382% for JPMorganChase; 1056% for GoldmanSachs. "Moreover, since JPM holds half of all the derivatives in the U.S. banking industry, JPMorgan is ground zero in the debt crisis."In other words, contrary to what lobbyists in the credit default swap industry say, the risk of losses from CDS is still very real.
Former Chief Accountant for the SEC: Bernanke and Paulson Broke the Law and Should be Prosecuted
The New York Attorney General says that Bernanke and Paulson forced Bank of America to buy Merill Lynch:
American Public Radio interviewed the former chief accountant at the SEC, who said this was illegal and should be prosecuted:.
Reporter: If Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke really told the CEO of Bank of America to keep quiet about losses at Merrill Lynch, they were probably breaking the law. That's according to Lynn Turner, former chief accountant at the SEC.
Lynn Turner: If these allegations are proven true, both Bernanke and Paulson should be prosecuted by the SEC to the fullest extent of the law.
Will they be prosecuted? Or will it be yet another example of the high-and-mighty being above the law?
Fed Admits "Stress Tests" Are a Sham
The "stress tests" were supposed to triage those banks worth saving from those which were already too far gone to save.
But as Nouriel Roubini, FDIC chief Sheila Bair, Nobel economist Paul Krugman, former senior S&L regulator William Black and many others said, the "stress tests" are a sham.
Well, they've been proven right.
The Fed said today that - instead of letting the insolvent banks fail - which is what virtually all of the independent experts are recommending (see this for example), the Fed will rescue all banks which fail the stress test.
Indeed, the Fed itself says:
Even if the tests showed a bank needs more capital, that "is not a measure of the current solvency or viability of the firm," the Fed said in Friday's announcement about the test methodology.
So the stress tests have nothing to do with solvency or viability, the advertised purpose behind the tests.
As the above-linked article from Huffington Post points out:
The announcement reinforced the Fed's view that major financial firms are "too big to fail," and that the government must do whatever is necessary to save them, said former Fed examiner Mark Williams.
"It appears 'too big to fail' is a fundamental philosophy _ it's a philosophical principle," said Williams, a finance professor at Boston University.
In extreme cases, a rescue could include a government-backed merger, similar to what regulators did in helping Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to buy Bear Stearns.
Critics say that policy has put taxpayer money at risk to give banks billions in government bailouts and guarantees.
Torture REDUCES National Security
Torture REDUCES, rather than protects, American national security:
- The head of all U.S. intelligence said:
"The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world," [Director of National Intelligence Dennis] Blair said in the statement. "The damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."
- One of the top military interrogators said that torture by Americans of innocent Iraqis is the main reason that foreign fighters started fighting against Americans in Iraq in the first place (and see this).
- Former counter-terrorism czar Richard A. Clarke says that America's indefinite detention without trial and abuse of prisoners is a leading Al Qaeda recruiting tool
- A former FBI interrogator -- who interrogated Al Qaeda suspects -- says categorically that torture actually turns people into terrorists
- A 30-year veteran of CIA's operations directorate who rose to the most senior managerial ranks, says:
"This is not just because the old hands overwhelmingly believe that torture doesn't work — it doesn't — but also because they know that torture creates more terrorists and fosters more acts of terror than it could possibly neutralize."
- A former US Air Force interrogator said that torture just creates more terrorists
- A former U.S. interrogator and counterintelligence agent, and Afghanistan veteran said, "Torture puts our troops in danger, torture makes our troops less safe, torture creates terrorists. It's used so widely as a propaganda tool now in Afghanistan. All too often, detainees have pamphlets on them, depicting what happened at Guantanamo."
- The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously stated:
"The administration's policies concerning [torture] and the resulting controversies ... strengthened the hand of our enemies."
- Two professors of political science have demonstrated that torture increases, rather than decreases, terrorism
- The reporter who broke Iran-Contra and other stories says that torture actually helped Al Qaeda, by giving false leads to the U.S. which diverted its military, intelligence and economic resources into wild goose chases
- Raw Story says that torture might have resulted in false terror alerts
- Hundreds of other experts have said the same things
We have expended enormous resources in fighting threats that are not there, while failing to expend the necessary resources and time to figure out accurately what exact threats we do face. When you hear of the intelligence extracted by torture, remember that it was the intelligence that "proved" that Saddam and WMDs and links to al Qaeda.And remember, our military and intelligence leaders say that the economic crisis is now the biggest threat to America's national security.
Guess what one of the major causes of the economic crisis was? According to a Nobel prize-winning economist, the head of JP Morgan and others, the Iraq war and the war on terror in general were huge factors in destroying our economy.
The Senate Armed Services Committee concluded that creating a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq was one of the main purposes of the torture program. And the fake connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq was - in fact - one of the main justifications for the Iraq war.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Pelosi Feigns Ignorance of Torture
Nancy Pelosi said today:
The Bush administration did not inform Congress that it had waterboarded detainees in classified briefings, after the agency had already done so...
Pelosi told reporters that the administration officials only told her and those in a classified briefing in the fall of 2002 that they believed they had the legal authority to do so, based on Office of Legal Counsel memos which have recently been released by the Obama administration.
"In that or any other briefing...we were not, and I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used," said Pelosi. "What they did tell us is that they had some legislative counsel...opinions that they could be used, but not that they would."
However, that is likely untrue.
As noted by the above-linked article at Huffington Post:
Her assertion contradicts a recently released Senate committee report that cited CIA records to claim that senior members of Congress in both parties were briefed on the waterboarding, which had already been done to detainee Abu Zubaydah.Moreover, the Washington Post wrote in 2007:
Top Interrogation Experts Agree: Torture Doesn't Work
Apologists for torture say that it was a "necessarily evil" to stop future terror attacks.
However, the top interrogation experts all say torture that doesn't work:
- The military agency which actually provided advice on harsh interrogation techniques for use against terrorism suspects warned the Pentagon in 2002 that those techniques would produce "unreliable information."
- Army Field Manual 34-52 Chapter 1 says:
"Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear."
- A declassified FBI e-mail dated May 10, 2004, regarding interrogation at Guantanamo states "[we] explained to [the Department of Defense], FBI has been successful for many years obtaining confessions via non-confrontational interviewing techniques." (see also this)
- Brigadier General David R. Irvine, retired Army Reserve strategic intelligence officer who taught prisoner interrogation and military law for 18 years with the Sixth Army Intelligence School, says torture doesn't work
- The CIA's own Inspector General wrote that waterboarding was not "efficacious" in producing information
- A former FBI interrogator -- who interrogated Al Qaeda suspects -- says categorically that torture does not help collect intelligence. On the other hand he says that torture actually turns people into terrorists
- A 30-year veteran of CIA's operations directorate who rose to the most senior managerial ranks, says:
"The administration's claims of having 'saved thousands of Americans' can be dismissed out of hand because credible evidence has never been offered — not even an authoritative leak of any major terrorist operation interdicted based on information gathered from these interrogations in the past seven years. … It is irresponsible for any administration not to tell a credible story that would convince critics at home and abroad that this torture has served some useful purpose.
This is not just because the old hands overwhelmingly believe that torture doesn't work — it doesn't — but also because they know that torture creates more terrorists and fosters more acts of terror than it could possibly neutralize."
- The FBI interrogators who actually interviewed some of the 9/11 suspects say torture didn't work
- A former US Air Force interrogator said that information obtained from torture is unreliable, and that torture just creates more terrorists
- The number 2 terrorism expert for the State Department says torture doesn't work, and just creates more terrorists
- A former high-level CIA officer states:
Many governments that have routinely tortured to obtain information have abandoned the practice when they discovered that other approaches actually worked better for extracting information. Israel prohibited torturing Palestinian terrorist suspects in 1999. Even the German Gestapo stopped torturing French resistance captives when it determined that treating prisoners well actually produced more and better intelligence.
- The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously found that torture doesn't work.
- A former CIA station chief in Pakistan who served at the agency for three decades doubts that torture saved any lives
- Former high-level CIA official Bob Baer said "And torture -- I just don't think it really works ... you don't get the truth. What happens when you torture people is, they figure out what you want to hear and they tell you."
- Rear Admiral (ret.) John Hutson, former Judge Advocate General for the Navy, said "Another objection is that torture doesn't work. All the literature and experts say that if we really want usable information, we should go exactly the opposite way and try to gain the trust and confidence of the prisoners."
- Michael Scheuer, formerly a senior CIA official in the Counter-Terrorism Center, said "I personally think that any information gotten through extreme methods of torture would probably be pretty useless because it would be someone telling you what you wanted to hear."
- Dan Coleman, one of the FBI agents assigned to the 9/11 suspects held at Guantanamo said "Brutalization doesn't work. We know that. "
In fact, one of the top interrogators in Iraq got information from a high-level Al Qaeda suspect not through torture, but by giving him cookies.
And top American World War 2 interrogators got more information using chess or Ping-Pong instead of torture than those who use torture are getting today.
And the head of Britain's wartime interrogation center in London said:
"Violence is taboo. Not only does it produce answers to please, but it lowers the standard of information."Indeed, one of the top military interrogators said that torture does not work, that it has resulted in hundreds or thousands of deaths of U.S. soldiers, and that torture by Americans of innocent Iraqis is the main reason that foreign fighters started fighting against Americans in Iraq in the first place (in fact, the experts agree that torture reduces national security).
And - according to the experts - torture is unnecessary even to prevent "ticking time bombs" from exploding (see this, this and this). Indeed, a top expert says that torture would fail in a real 'ticking time-bomb' situation


text:
|Version 1 (modified by 6 years ago) (diff),
Anaphora resolution
IA161 Advanced NLP Course?, Course Guarantee: Aleš Horák
Prepared by: Marek Medveď
State of the Art
Anaphora resolution (or pronoun resolution) is the problem of resolving references to earlier or later items in the discourse.
Main approaches:
- Knowledge-rich approaches:
- Syntax-based approaches
- Discourse-Based Approaches
- Hybrid Approaches
- Corpus based Approaches
- Knowledge-poor Approaches:
- Machine learning techniques
- Anaphora Resolution, Studies in Language and Linguistics by Mitkov, R., 2014, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9781317881810
- Anaphora resolution: the state of the art, Ruslan Mitkov,1999, Citeseer
- Strategies of anaphora resolution, Tanya Reinhart, 2006, North Holland, Source
- Discriminative Approach to Predicate-argument Structure Analysis with Zero-anaphora Resolution, Kenji Imamura and Kuniko Saito and Tomoko Izumi, 2009, Association for Computational Linguistics, ACMID 1667611, Source
- The Influence of Minimum Edit Distance on Reference Resolution, Michael Strube and Stefan Rapp and Christoph Muller, EMNLP 2002, Association for Computational Linguistics, ACMID 1118733, Source
- Combining Sample Selection and Error-driven Pruning for Machine Learning of Coreference Rules, Vincent Ng and Claire Cardie, EMNLP 2002, Association for Computational Linguistics, ACMID 1118701, Source
Practical Session
Student has to understand Hobbs' definition of anaphora resolution and according to it implement the main function of Hobbs' algorithm in proposed python script that contains all necessary functions. According to real data (syntactic trees) student tests his program and evaluate it. At the and of the session student has to hand the results to prove completing the task. If the student finishes early the additional task is to find sentence structures that are not covered by Hobbs' algorithm.
Script with data is available here
Important commands:
- python with nltk (version 3.0.2.): /home/xmedved1/nlp/python-env/bin/python
- execute Hobbs script: /home/xmedved1/nlp/python-env/bin/python ./hobbs.py demosents.txt He
Attachments (1)
- hobbs-ward-IA161.zip (22.0 KB) - added by 6 years ago.
Download all attachments as: .zip

subset: commoncrawl


text:
South Africa's Western Cape: Savoring the bounty
— One night as my sister and I walked across the rugged yet strangely delicate terrain of a place called Farm 215, the path to our cottage lighted only by the stars and a flashlight, the wine-wobbly beam suddenly illuminated several sets of legs.
A moment of what the ...? And then we realized that we were standing in the middle of a small herd of horses, including two mares and their foals, that roam the South African eco-retreat outside Gansbaai.
It was a perfect mother-child moment and a symbol of new beginnings in this Southern Hemisphere spring.
We were on a mother-daughter voyage of our own as we ventured off the beaten track across South Africa's Western Cape province, breaking the confines of Cape Town and entering a wonderfully natural world whose mountains are a cross between the San Gabriels around L.A. and the backdrop of a John Ford western.
I wanted to show my mother and sister a country that had attached itself to my heart.
On my first trip 10 years ago, I came as the wife of a South African who had left during the depths of apartheid. Five years later, I came as a widow on a solo journey to toss my husband's ashes into the Indian Ocean off the beach town he loved. This time, I came as a daughter and sister on a trip that turned out to be a celebration of family ties.
Even when we took to the water, we had the mother-child thing going on. We were in the Overberg, a rustic area southeast of Cape Town whose coast is known as the premier breeding ground of the southern right whale. We got lucky and saw a mama whale and her baby only a few yards from our boat on the way to a dive in "shark alley."
Yes, my sister and I had decided to get into a cage and say hello to some great whites on their own turf. Our mom, the smartest of the group, was happy to stay on deck as the documentarian.
Here's how it works. You clamber into a cage attached to the side of the boat. As cold water starts to seep under your wetsuit, you try to remember to keep your hands and feet safe inside the cage, but the buoyancy keeps defeating you. You also try to forget that in your wetsuit, you look like a shark's favorite meal — a seal.
You wait until you hear the shout of "down!" from two guys onboard (one tossing a fake seal so unconvincing-looking that you start to wonder about the IQ of sharks). You hold your breath and go under water and see a great white about 2 feet away. Or, if you're in the group after us, even closer: A shark rammed their cage.
By the time the dive was over, we'd seen eight great whites. The biggest, our marine biologist guide Nicola told us, was about 15 feet long and probably a female because of its girth (the nerve!).
The shark-diving outfit, Marine Dynamics Shark Tours, is committed to preserving what it calls the world's most misunderstood animal. I must admit I found sharks less sinister after the trip.
But maybe none was more intent on preservation than the stylish Farm 215 (which everyone pronounced two-one-five, not two-fifteen). It's a 2 1/2-hour drive from Cape Town along a gorgeous coastal road that gives Highway 1 through Big Sur a run for its money
If you're a design buff, this place is for you. Ditto if you're into nature or saving the Earth. But if you are freaked out by the thought of going without a hair dryer — solar power goes only so far — maybe not so much. We loved it.
A nearly 2,000-acre private reserve, Farm 215 is committed to protecting indigenous plants called fynbos. We were in luck on our trip: The fynbos were blooming everywhere — delicate purple plants that looked and smelled a little like lilacs, and yellow buds that washed over the landscape in front of our postmodern cottage down to the ocean a few miles away.
Farm 215 also emphasizes sustainability when it comes to food — and drink. The big chalkboard at its restaurant lists all the bottles on offer from the winery next door, with vineyards so close we could see them from the windows of our cottage.
We got into the local spirit with three wine farm lunches in a province that's a smorgasbord of stunning wine regions.
The first, Bread & Wine, outside the foodie Winelands town of Franschhoek, is famous for its homemade bread and charcuterie. It's almost as famous for its cozy courtyard dining, but a bit of a spring gale drove us inside. Happily, it was nearly as nice there.
We did get to enjoy the veranda at the Black Oystercatcher Winery's restaurant in a new wine region, the Elim district. It's about half an hour from Farm 215 on a dirt road that had us stopping once to let a herd of cattle cross and again as a tortoise slowly made its way to safety.
My favorite wine farm lunch, and favorite wine region, was at the Salt of the Earth farm stand and restaurant. It's in the dreamy Hemel-en-Aarde (Heaven and Earth) Valley, near the whale-watching town of Hermanus. The people who run it are grand, and we spent a long two-hour lunch on the porch, enjoying the scenery, the food and Spotty the tree-climbing dog. Just up the road is my sister's favorite South African winery, Hamilton Russell, known for its very Burgundian Pinots.
The most local of our meals was during our stay at the fabulous Babylonstoren, back in the Winelands. It was our big splurge, at about how $500 a night.
Our cottage was something out of a home design magazine (think: Wallpaper, not Ladies' Home Journal). It riffed on the traditional Cape Dutch architecture, all whitewashed walls and clean lines, but it got playful with the vernacular, adding a glass cube of a kitchen.
Waiting for us on the kitchen table was a box of produce picked that day from the extensive gardens a few steps away. After we explored the beautiful grounds, we roasted the vegetables and tossed them with a good Parmesan and some pasta. And then scarfed it down with the local wines that came with the room. Ahhh ....
Not everything was so expensive on this trip. One of my favorite stays was at a self-catering cottage in the slightly boho fishing village of Kalk Bay, on the eastern, False Bay side of Cape Town. It was a rambling 100-year-old family home with four bedrooms and a view of the harbor from the classic South African veranda, and it cost about $100 a night. It was lovely.
We had two more locally sourced meals in town: at the trendy but laid-back Olympia Cafe and a legendary fish-and-chips joint called Kalkies. My vote goes to the former, my mom's the latter.
Kalk Bay is the ideal base for exploring the peninsula south of Cape Town, including the penguin preserve at Simonstown. On a trip with lots of signs about protecting nature, or protecting yourself from nature, this was my favorite: Warning — please look under your vehicle for penguins.
Down the road, you reach the most southwesterly point in Africa, Cape Point, a craggy outcropping that seems to look out to eternity.
But not so fast if you think it's the southernmost tip of Africa. That honor goes to Cape Agulhas, about a three-hour drive east. As an added bonus, it's also the point where the Atlantic and the Indian oceans meet. So cool.
My sister and I, both swimmers, have a fondness for what we call ocean bagging. Just wading doesn't count — you have to swim least a few strokes. Because I'd already swum in the Indian, this time I played the role of documentarian.
As I watched her wade slowly into the still-cold water, I thought about my family and traveling to the end of the Earth together. And yes, I thought about the last time I had stepped into the Indian Ocean, to say goodbye to a man who belonged to this beautiful land.
He was lucky. And I was lucky.
I am still lucky.
It's a date
Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.


text:
Last December I posted on "The Internet Big Five," noting their relative strengths and the market cap of each. Since that time, the Five have only gotten stronger, adding a cumulative $272 billion in market cap (much of that is Apple, but Amazon and Facebook – assuming the offering does as expected on Friday – have also increased quite a bit). All in all, nearly 30% increase in value for these five companies – sort of makes me wish I was an investor, rather than a writer and entrepreneur.
I'll also check the number of engaged users for each platform, to see if there are any significant shifts, though I don't recall seeing any in the news recently (save Facebook crossing 900 million users). It is interesting to note that Facebook, should it hold its supposed valuation, will be more highly valued than Amazon.
A reminder as to why I've made a point of watching the Big Five, from my original and secondary posts:
..there's more to the selection of this Big Five than just market cap. In fact, there are four main criteria for making it into the Big Five.
First, as I began to describe above, the companies must have financial heft, both in terms of large equity capitalizations, significant cash on hand, and a defensible core profit making machine. This gives them the ability to throw their weight around: they can make strategic acquisitions (like Google's acquisition of Motorola), and they can leverage their profit centers and cash positions in any number of ways that offer them flexibility to play the corporate game at the very highest levels.
Second, the companies must have scale in terms of direct reach to consumers. By this I mean their brands are used as meaningful platforms by hundreds of millions of people on a frequent basis.
Third, the companies must have deep engagement with those consumers, the kind of engagement that builds brand and creates massive stores of useful data. The relationship between the brand and its customer has to be meaningful and consistent (therefore creating permission to extract a premium and offer new products and services). It takes an ongoing service relationship for such engagement to occur….
More on the product strength of the Big Five here.


text:
Customized service and Rush order are available.
Item Details:
Tailoring Time: 12-15 days
Shipping Time: 5-7 days
Silhouette: A Line
Neckline: Sweetheart Neck
Waist: Natural
Hemline/Train: Floor Length
Sleeve Length: Sleeveless
Embellishments: Beading
Fabric: Chiffon
Shown Color: Picture Color
All the dresses are not in stock, whether choosing a standard size or custom measurements, all our dresses are personally tailored for you from scratch. Now, we need about 12-15 days to processing your order and about 5-7 days for shipping. So, we advise you to expect the delivery to take approximately 17-22 days.
For custom-made color, please leave the color number before the color chart (The color chart is in the products pictures) to us.
For custom-made size, please leave us your following size:
Bust: ___
Waist: ___
Hips: ___
Hollow to floor___
Measuring Guide is in the products pictures.
How to leave us your size and your color:
Step 1: click on "Add to cart"
Step 2: choose check out
Step 3: fill out your personal information, like shipping address and contact details.
Step 4: Select payment method and add notes of your size and color choice.
For Rush order, If you choose rush order, dress will be finished in 7 days, and then 5-7 days for shipping, so, there only need 12-14 days to get your dress if you place order now.
Link for rush order is here:
Just put this link in your shopping cart while you are placing order. One rush order link is just useful for one dress.
More Details about return policy, shipping time, about us, order cancelling, rush order, please visit http://www.luulla.com/store/fancyfashion/policy


text:
Ben Bernanke will have to answer questions from the lawyers of former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Greenberg is suing the U.S. government over the bailout of insurer AIG in September 2008. While the government's actions saved the firm from bankruptcy, it greatly diluted the value of AIG stock held by other shareholders, including Greenberg.
The Treasury Department ended up with a nearly 92% stake in AIG in return for the $182 billion bailout, which began with a cash infusion from the Federal Reserve. The Fed and Treasury both made a profit on the bailout when they sold shares of their company.
Government lawyers had argued that Bernanke should not be forced to answer questions about the bailout negotiations and decisions. Judge Thomas Wheeler acknowledged that high-ranking officials generally would not testify, but said there were "extraordinary circumstances" to compel it since Bernanke has personal knowledge that cannot be obtained through other sources.
"Indeed, the court cannot fathom having to decide this multi-billion dollar claim without the testimony of such a key government decision-maker," said Wheeler in his order.
Related: Taxpayers to turn profit on AIG bailout
A spokesman for the Federal Reserve said it would not comment on the order.
Wheeler said the court will extend appropriate courtesies to Bernanke in the scheduling and conduct of this deposition, and that Wheeler will take the unusual step of attending the deposition himself. Generally, it is only the attorneys for the parties in a lawsuit who attend a deposition.
Bernanke has been forced to testify before Congress about the AIG bailout several times. He has repeatedly said the Fed bailed out AIG to prevent broader damage to the U.S. economy, but that it did so only because it was confident it could get the money back in the future.
AIG itself considered joining Greenberg in the lawsuit, but after a public outcry decided in January not to join the suit.


text:
Learn About the Law
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw's Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you're ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Mr. Perlie P. Fallon, of New York City, for petitioner.
Mr. Wm. D. Whitney, of New York City, for respondents.
Mr. Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court.
The petitioner's claim, under section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act (11 U. S.C.A. 207), for injury due to the rejection of a lease by the respondent trustee, was denied by the District Court, and its action was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals1
* Rehearing denied 299 U.S. 624 , 57 S.Ct. 321, 81 L.Ed. --. [299 U.S. 464, 465] upon a ground similar to that upon which it based its decision in Schwartz v. Irving Trust Co., 299 U.S. 456 , 57 S.Ct. 303.
In 1922 the petitioner leased premises in Lincoln, Nebraska, to the United Company for ninety-nine years. The lessee agreed to pay an annual rent, taxes and insurance, and by July 1, 1942, to demolish the existing building and erect a new four-story structure. When in August, 1932, the United Company was adjudicated a voluntary bankrupt it was occupying a store on the demised premises and subletting the remaining space. The trustee obtained leave of court either to reject the lease or to assign it to the petitioner or her nominee. The petitioner elected to have it assigned to a nominee and this was done by agreement dated in December, 1932, in which the United Company joined. The petitioner made a new lease to her nominee for a shorter term and at a reduced rental and with no obligation for replacement of the existing building. The agreement between the landlord on the one hand, and the trustee and the bankrupt on the other, provided for the turning over to the landlord's assignee the subleases, the rents which had accrued or would accrue thereunder from the date of the adjudication, and the insurance. The petitioner agreed to assume all existing and future obligations of the United Company under the lease and released the trustee, the bankrupt, and the bankrupt estate, from all claims with respect to the lease except that petitioner did not waive 'the right to prove against the bankrupt estate any provable claims to which the bankruptcy court may adjudge the landlord is entitled.' In the bankruptcy proceeding the petitioner filed claims for taxes and cost of repairs, liability for which had accrued prior to the bankruptcy, for inliquidated damages resulting from loss of future rent and from anticipatory breach of the covenant to build in 1942. After the institution of a 77B pro- [299 U.S. 464, 466] ceeding by the United Company the petitioner refiled the same claims therein. The items for accrued taxes and cost of repairs are not in dispute. The trustee objected to the claim for loss of future rent and for anticipatory breach of the covenant to build in 1942. A special master recommended the allowance of the amount of the taxes and repairs and the disallowance of the balance of the claim. Upon appeal, a majority of the Circuit Court of Appeals held that although the trustee had decided to reject the lease and had filed a petition for leave so to do, or to assign, as the claimant had elected to have the lease assigned and had accepted surrender of the premises by requesting assignment to her nominee without reserving any rights under the lease against the debtor, there was no basis under section 77B for allowance of the claim. One judge concurred, holding that the qualification of the release left the way open for proof of any claim permitted by the lease itself and the provisions of 77B, but that no claim for future rent could be sustained because of a provision in the lease to the effect that, if default should occur, transfer of the lessee's interest in the demised premises together with all improvements thereon, all rents, issues, and profits accrued or to accrue, and all insurance policies upon the buildings and improvements, without compensation therefor to the lessee should constitute full satisfaction of the lessor's rights under the lease and the transfer thereof should not be considered as a penalty but as liquidating the damages suffered by the termination of the lease. We think that the decree of the Circuit Court of Appeals was right for the reasons stated in the concurring opinion.
But for the clause stipulating that a transfer by the tenant to the landlord of the demised premises and other things mentioned should terminate the tenant's liability under the lease, the petitioner would have had a provable [299 U.S. 464, 467] claim. 2 The surrender of the premises by the trustee, the acceptance thereof, and the assignment of the lease to a new tenant nominated by the petitioner, whatever may have been their effect under state law, would not bar any claim which she had by force of section 77B for injury due to the trustee's rejection of the lease. 3 The landlord's release would likewise have been ineffective to prevent the proving of a claim for injury due to the rejection since the reservation in it was broad enough to save any claim provable under the section. 4 The petitioner would, therefore, have had a provable claim except for the terms of her own lease contract by which she had stipulated that, upon termination of the lease, the transfer of the demised premises and certain other things to her, all of which admittedly were transferred to her nominee upon the trustee's rejection of the lease, should be full satisfaction of any damage due to the lessee's default. We have held in Schwartz et al. v. Irving Trust Company, 299 U.S. 456 , 57 S.Ct. 303, decided this day, that a landlord is bound by his release of the tenant and the trustee for a consideration moving to him, and it is immaterial whether such a release be executed after default or constitute a part of the lease contract. The decree is
Mr. Justice BRANDEIS and Mr. Justice STONE took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
[ Footnote 1 ] In re United Cigar Stores Co. of America, 83 F.(2d) 207.
[ Footnote 2 ] City Bank Farmers Trust Company v. Irving Trust Company, 299 U.S. 433 , 57 S.Ct. 292, decided this day; Schwartz et al. v. Irving Trust Company, 299 U.S. 456 , 57 S.Ct. 303, decided this day.
[ Footnote 3 ] City Bank Farmers Trust Company v. Irving Trust Company, supra.
[ Footnote 4 ] Schwartz et al. v. Irving Trust Company, supra.
Was this helpful?
Get help with your legal needs
FindLaw's Learn About the Law features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your options. And if you're ready to hire an attorney, find one in your area who can help.
Search our directory by legal issue
Enter information in one or both fields (Required)


text:
Roosevelt Island DC parkrun photographs
Taken photos of today's Roosevelt Island DC parkrun?
Show the world by joining the Roosevelt Island DC parkrun flickr group and adding the photos you've taken!
If you're new to flickr, your photos will take a few days to appear, otherwise they should appear almost immediately.
See flickr Tips for more information about getting your photos on this page.
parkrun photography guidelines
Photography or filming is likely to take place at this event. All volunteers (or professional photographer) taking images on behalf of a parkrun event will be asked to follow the parkrun code of conduct for photographers, and wear a high visibility vest at all times. Where official parkrun filming or photography is due to take place at a parkrun event this will be made clear in the pre-run briefing. Any individual who does not want images taken of them should make themselves known to the event team on the morning of the run. All volunteers carrying out a filming or photographic role will delete any image of a specific individual at that individual's (or parent or guardian) request as soon as possible, ideally immediately following the event. Any individual has the right to request images of themselves are removed from publication across all channels. This will be carried out without question and at the earliest possible time.


text:
Cisco Continues to Cut Off Consumers
There are some who believe Cisco , the one-time backbone of the Internet, should never have made the foray into consumer end markets to begin with, but now having fallen so low, it's maintained a steady pace of shedding businesses that aren't enterprise-faced. The latest effort is the rumored decision to unload its Linksys business, the maker of ubiquitous but hardly critically acclaimed home networking equipment.
Long ago and far away
Cisco bought Linksys back in 2003 for $500 million at a time when it started making a number of consumer-oriented purchases. It bought web conferencing outfit WebEx a few years later for $3.2 billion and the Flip camera a few years after that, paying more than a half billion dollars for the latter. Cisco introduced the Umi home videoconferencing system two years ago only to kill it off earlier this year.
It's been an expensive foray for Cisco, one which has hurt the equipment maker's performance in recent years. But just as fast as he got on the consumer train, CEO John Chambers is getting out. Last year he admitted Flip flopped and he got out. Earlier this year, tiny SalesCrunch offered Chambers $1 for WebEx.
Many of the problems seem to stem from Cisco's inability to understand the consumer market. They were too slow to offer higher-quality Flip phones, and smartphones soon eclipsed the need for a dedicated video camera (it's said Apple's original iPod Nano with a phone was designed with the Flip in mind). WebEx is criticized for being outdated, unable to utilize more technological capabilities like social networking and analytics, unlike Citrix System's GoToMeeting or even SalesCrunch's offerings. Umi was simply too expensive when you could get Skype for free.
Linksys is also critiqued for being underpowered, and considering the devices tend to work for years without needing to be upgraded, they carry small margins. It didn't help that Cisco angered many of its customers by forcing them to become members of its Connect Cloud network where it would then monitor their Internet activity. Cisco had to backpedal very quickly and perhaps it feels it's just best to get out altogether.
Go-go growth
Cisco also tried to become a growth company again and thought by offering consumer products it could sparkle with investors once again, but disastrous earnings in 2011 and calls for Chambers' ouster led the equipment maker to undertake a massive overhaul of the company. That included several rounds of layoffs and the wholesale divestiture of many of those ill-advised acquisitions.
Although we've heard rumors of a Linksys sale in the past, this time the grapevine seems sturdier with Barclays as the advisor on the deal.They're the ones helping Google unload the Motorola Home division.
Going once, going twice...
As to who might be interested in buying it, there are a bevy of possibilities, including rivals Netgear , Belkin, D-Link, and even drive maker Western Digital , which recently introduced the My Net N900 router. Yet the problem might be there really wouldn't be any takers.
Bloomberg has described the Linksys business as "mature," meaning a buyer wouldn't be able to advance the line or expect it would result in a big sales producer. So buying it for its research and development would mean Cisco would have to offer a big discount to the price it paid for it back in the day. There is always the possibility a Chinese company would want access to the technology.
Like a battleship turning around, Cisco's U-turn has been a long, wide arc that it has yet to complete. The elimination of the consumer from its lineup is but one portion of the transformation; it needs to ensure its enterprise level switches and routers can generate the revenues and margins investors remember.
The stock has rebounded 35% from the lows it hit this past summer and is in sight again of its highs. Selling Linksys would sever the link with a horrible decision to break ranks and be all things to all customers. At least Cisco's recognized the error of its ways, and with some $45 billion in cash and equivalents in the bank, it has a financial cushion to weather future downturns. With its enterprise value selling at just seven times its free cash flow, I still find the equipment maker a compelling investment opportunity.
Once a high-flying tech darling, Cisco is now on the radar of value-oriented dividend lovers. Get the low down on the routing juggernaut in The Motley Fool's premium report. Our report also has you covered with a full year of free analyst updates to keep you informed as its story changes, so click here now to read more.
The article Cisco Continues to Cut Off Consumers originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of Apple and Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, and Western Digital. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, and Netgear. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
This would be a wonderful home to Haunt.
Image by ambassadorsnare.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Walkway Of Walkways
This would be a wonderful home to Haunt.
Posted by Rot at 9:19 AM
Labels: deviantart.com, haunted house, photography
3 comments:
- wicKED said...
Oh how I long for a better home to haunt. I would turn that walkway into a gauntlet of nightmares for TOTs. I gotta hurry up and win the lottery!
- May 2, 2012 at 10:26 AM
- K.O. said...
Oh god--so true!
- May 3, 2012 at 2:08 AM
- Wikkedmoon said...
- May 5, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Blue and white agapanthus.
A hadeda - the local, suburban version of pigeons.
After a morning spent gardening for my mom, part of which involved standing in a bikini on a ladder, in the swimming pool, with gloves over my elbows (I don't do spiders), pruning ivy from the waterfall into the pool (it was complicated)...
...I braaied some little lamb chops with Ethiopian berber pepper, lemon and marjoram, heated some quiche Lorraines and made a salad of hearts of gem lettuce with the teeniest tomatoes I have ever seen, and a Verjus vinaigrette with a chopped leek from the garden.
13 comments:
how pretty! takes my breath away...really!ReplyDelete
Your mom's garden is AMAZING!ReplyDelete
That's some big pigeon.ReplyDelete
Bikini, ladder, pool, spiders, gloves. Which of these words doesn't belong.
Looks so Lekker, makes me lus. Enjoy !!ReplyDelete
Hi, this is a nice blog you have here! Re: your intro to 66 sq ft, I live in an apartment too, but have no balcony, and it's well protected from the sun, so I can't grow anything much there.ReplyDelete
I'll come back for more!
Hmm, not your typical garden maintenance...sounds delightful.ReplyDelete
If I do garden maintenance too can I come? Please? It's snowing in Virginia. Help! Looks so beautiful there.ReplyDelete
What a beautiful garden, complicated maintenance and spiders notwithstanding! Wow! I love the agapanthus ... I used to grow both blues and whites whe I lived in Sacramento.ReplyDelete
But maybe you shouldn't let Estorbo see the picture of that pigeon(?) ... He'd have nightmares!
not you too! I love hadeda but most of my fam/friends have your sentiments... :(inReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 1, 2010 at 12:40 PM
my god... i would never go back to new york.ReplyDelete
is giardia or other waterborne illnesses not a concern for the stream?
Hi Ann Marie - it is a very lovely break from it all...ReplyDelete
I'll pass on the compliment, Kat...
Fugedaboud it, Frank. Those hadedas are noisy, I'll see if I can find an audioclip. Is the word Spider?
Broni - ons sal!
Ellen - it was fun and challenging. But icky.
m.heart - hope you're feeling better, m'dear.
flwrjane - sure, come on down!
Keli'i - heheh, yeah, he'd think about this pigeon :-)
kbd - I like them, but there are more and more each year.
Anonymoose- not so far. Never had been. Been drinking it since I was little. Touch wood.
- AnonymousFebruary 2, 2010 at 1:03 AM
You don't "do" spiders. I am not good with ladders...hmmm, maybe we could negotiate?ReplyDelete
Comments on posts older than 48 hours are moderated (for spam control) . Yours will be seen! Unless you are a troll. Serial trollers are banned.


text: This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter's approach. Thirty years ago IBM launched the XT5160 -- the first hard drive DOS-based PC. But the computer virus, nowadays so seemingly tied to the PC, actually appeared almost a decade earlier. It took until 1986 for these two threads to come together and the first PC virus, Brain, was born. By 2000, networks we spreading and so were worms like ILOVEYOU, which was considered one of the most damaging.Today we still fight viruses and worms, but the scale of the problem has changed (some efforts are backed by nation-states) and many attacks are now targeted at specific companies, machines, types of infrastructure or geography. Luckily application whitelisting tools that leverage software signing can help contend with the evolved threat.MORE: Whitelisting pushing out antivirus at some security-minded retailersROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: See it, protect it, control itWhile virtually all companies today use antivirus programs, these tools rely on a snapshot of the signatures of the bad stuff, so they don't know what they don't know. When there is a new threat with no known signature, it will be allowed to run. This is why some targeted attacks are so successful.Application whitelisting tools, on the other hand, have two parts. Firstly a snapshot of the computer is made which will contain signatures for all the programs, operating system elements, drivers, etc. Second, an agent is installed which checks everything just before it runs to make sure it was in the original snapshot. Even though this technique still uses signatures, it has the major advantage of being able to block unknown code and prevent what is now know as "zero-day threats."Application whitelistingSo why so we still have to put up with antivirus tools when we have application whitelisting? Both techniques use signatures (in part) and signatures need to be generated and managed, a fact that has gotten increasingly onerous.The amount of bad stuff grows daily, and some antivirus signature files today contain in the region of 20 million signatures. And when it comes to taking a snapshot of a PC for whitelisting, a signature file for a standard operating system such as Windows XP Professional will contain something like 50,000 signatures.By solving the problem of signature management, so that systems can be controlled by an organization's own signature files and those of trusted third parties, much of the administrative overhead is removed and we solve the problem of why application whitelisting is not as widely adopted as logic would suggest it should be.Most companies hope they never see any bad stuff and have no expertise in the dark science of understanding them. So it is sensible that both the generation and updating of antivirus signatures be "outsourced" to the experts, and that is how the industry has developed.Application whitelisting appears to require the opposite approach. Because PCs are unique to every organization, then the organization itself would be required to both generate and update the signatures of the good stuff. This might take quite a lot of time and effort -- and appears counter to the current trend of increasing amounts of IT outsourcing. There is also the issue of diversity to handle as well. With antivirus the same signature file can be applied to every machine, but with application whitelisting the worst-case scenario might be that the signature file of every PC is different.Luckily, whitelisting tools can leverage the concept of software signing, which is becoming commonplace. These signatures contain metadata such as the software author, a checksum to verify that the object has not been altered and versioning information.Signing involves a process using a pair of keys, similar to SSL or SSH sessions. The private key used to sign the code is unique to a developer or company. These keys can be sel-generated or obtained from a trusted certificate authority (CA). When the public key used to authenticate the code signature can be traced back to a trusted root authority CA using secure public key infrastructure (PKI), then you know that the code is genuine.TECH ARGUMENT: SSL certificate authorities vs. ???We see this most commonly today in environments where the source of a given piece of code may not be immediately evident -- for example a Java Web Start application accessed from your browser.In the context of application whitelisting, the most interesting use of signed code is to provide updates and patches for software. Most OS manufacturers now provide signed updates to ensure that bad stuff cannot be distributed via the patching system.This same signing process can now be used by application whitelisting solutions. The agent which checks everything just before it runs clearly trusts the signatures generated for that PC in the first place (especially if they have been signed in a way similar to the above). But the trust model can be extended to include other signing authorities.This means it would now be possible to have a Windows PC which has the trust model extended to include, say, Microsoft, Adobe and a whitelisting supplier, so it can now self-update without any need to manage the signatures in-house. Effectively the management of the signatures of the good stuff has now been outsourced in much the same way as for antivirus.With certificate-based application whitelisting we have a way of replacing antivirus without imposing a significant time\/management overhead.The Cryptzone Group is a technology innovator of proactive controls to mitigate IT security risk. We bring together the people, processes and technology to mitigate information security risks identified in the key areas of Policy Compliance, Content Security, Secure Access and Endpoint Security. Headquartered in Sweden, the company has offices in the UK, USA and Poland, as well as an extensive partner network with more than 150 global partners. For more information about the company and its solutions, visit www.cryptzone.com.Read more about software in Network World's Software section.


text:
Have you always wanted a vehicle that can drive on both land and water? How about an amphibious car that needs a little testing and troubleshooting? If you're equal parts wealthy and crazy, the Dobbertin HydroCar could be for you.
Rick Dobbertin is well known for his imaginative projects. After constructing a pair of award winning hot rods in the 80s, he built the Dobbertin Surface Explorer, a 32 foot long amphibious vehicle constructed out of an old milk tanker.
Dobbertin took the Surface Explorer around the world logging 30,000 land miles and over 3,000 miles in the open ocean. Perhaps most importantly, the Surface Explorer was voted one of Jalopnik's 10 best Post Apocalyptic Survival Vehicles a couple years ago. Dobbertin nearly made it around the entire world with the Surface Explorer before financial problems brought him back to upstate New York.
In a bold and somewhat questionable move, Dobbertin sold the Surface Explorer and his Award winning Hot Rods to finance the Dobbertin HydroCar you see here. As you can see from the pictures, almost every part of the HydroCar is custom, one off, or handmade. The vehicle actually changes shape, lowering and extending pontoons when you switch it from land mode to water mode. The tunnel hulled HydroCar is propelled by a 572 Cubic inch Big Block Chevy that produces 762 horsepower.
While the HydroCar is clearly well built, after nine years and 18,800 hours, the custom vehicle is still not quite done. Several videos included in the auction show that while the HydroCar is improving as a result of testing, Dobbertin has been unable to get the boat to plane. Without being on plane the boat can't come anywhere close to the estimate of the HydroCar's 60 MPH water capability.
Accordingly the HydroCar, which is currently listed on Ebay for $777,000 is "being offered as a more of collector car than something to be used on either land or water on a regular basis". Dobbertin points out his lack of funds and weather restrictions on testing as the main contributing factors forcing the sale of the HydroCar. Unfortunately, it's possible the same financial crisis that is keeping Dobbertin from finishing the HydroCar might make it even harder for wealthy Amphibian automobile enthusiasts to justify purchasing it.


text:
Haunted House Cartoon
Contributor: Aijaz Send a message
Resolution: 1043*765 Preview
Size: 166.45 KB
Halloween is just around the corner! Unleash your creativity for making stunning Halloween Party invitations like a pro with these creative spider web design elements.
This favorite holiday will be spook-tacular with the creative and spooky black cats, crow, ghost, grave, haunted house, jack-o-lantern and witch design elements.
Huge collection of high-quality and fun bat transparent images for Halloween 2019.
Huge collection of high-quality and creative Trick Or Treat transparent images for Halloween 2019.