1 million refugees in Germany

December 11th, 2015 at 8:04:51 PM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Quote: AZDuffman
Same deal. Bear Sterns shareholders got almost totally wiped out here. Goldman Sachs paid every dime back plus 23% interest.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090918094658/http://www2.goldmansachs.com:80/our-firm/press/press-releases/current/july-22-release.html

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Fed money is never free.
It's big fish eating smaller fish, imo. Bear was shut down so JPM could take over the largest silver position in the world.

Lehman got smashed because they wouldn't step in and save LTCM when they had the biggest gold short in the world. And Brown of England had to cover, selling half of Englands gold at the low. Famously known as "Browns bottom" http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/07/browns-bottom-why-gordon-brown-sold.html

I don't think GS payed it all back? Does that include the bailout of AIG by us, so Goldman could be made whole on CDO's?

Ever read Matt Taibbi's "Vampire Squid"? http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405 Fun read, it's like a bedtime story, : )
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
December 11th, 2015 at 11:09:15 PM permalink
Wizard
Administrator
Member since: Oct 23, 2012
Threads: 239
Posts: 6095
Quote: AZDuffman
So yes, the feds can lose. But you had better believe they make sure everyone else loses more.


Seems to me GM and Crysler executives and all the high-paid union labor didn't lose, compared to the alternative of leaving their fate in the bankruptcy courts (which I would have preferred to see).
Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber
December 11th, 2015 at 11:27:10 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18556
Don't know whether it was true or not, but the fear at the time was not a collapse, but an out of control catastrophic collapse.

It's easy to say one would do different now in hindsight, but if you were in position at the time getting different opinions from all sides (which I'm sure was happening) it's not possible to know anything for sure. The future is opaque at the best of times.

I know some say it's going to happen anyway eventually, but whatever.
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
December 12th, 2015 at 7:50:59 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Wizard
Seems to me GM and Crysler executives and all the high-paid union labor didn't lose, compared to the alternative of leaving their fate in the bankruptcy courts (which I would have preferred to see).


Upper management was changed at both, which was really needed. "Executives" and union alike had to make several concessions, although I agree in a normal BK it would have been worse. The thing was that in a normal BK there is almost always financing to keep things going if the company is viable. Even if it is not, some money can be found and put in a senior position for liquidation.

GM and Chrysler needed an unheard of sum of money and they needed it during a financial panic, same kind that J.P. Morgan had to fix when even the Feds could not provide liquidity. If GM went down and simply closed the fear was that so many suppliers would fold that the rest of the auto industry would not function. Where do you buy piston rings when the supplier with 40% market share is suddenly no more? How about seat frames? How about the 1000 other items you need on the assembly line daily? Ripple, ripple, ripple. So they wrote a check.

A big problem was that GM was no longer a car company but a mortgage bank that had a sideline in cars.

Quote: rxwine
Don't know whether it was true or not, but the fear at the time was not a collapse, but an out of control catastrophic collapse.

It's easy to say one would do different now in hindsight, but if you were in position at the time getting different opinions from all sides (which I'm sure was happening) it's not possible to know anything for sure. The future is opaque at the best of times.

I know some say it's going to happen anyway eventually, but whatever.


Look back at the time. Lame duck and unpopular POTUS with a hostile Congress. One banker after another falling. Increasing consumer debt defaults. I should have seen it when they really torqued down lending standards 12 months before and told us it was because of so many repos. Living thru it you saw why there were so many "panics" in the 1800s and why they called them as such. Look at Wikipedia and see how many! War or/and a big Panic almost every decade. We take for granted how tamed the business cycle had become.

That Bush held it together and got Congress to go along might well be seen as amazing in 50 years when we are all gone.
The President is a fink.
February 24th, 2016 at 1:26:43 AM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
I can't keep up with all the migrant stories
coming out of Europe. They opened their
borders and said, come on in, and now
there are problems? Who could have seen
this coming. You mean these socialist
countries can't support a constant influx
of daily immigrants flooding every border?

That's just pathetic. Time to lower their
standard of living drastically and become
3rd world counties themselves. Good luck
with that..
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
February 24th, 2016 at 2:44:17 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Evenbob


That's just pathetic. Time to lower their
standard of living drastically and become
3rd world counties themselves. Good luck
with that..


The USA is not far behind.
The President is a fink.
February 25th, 2016 at 4:26:04 PM permalink
Canyonero
Member since: Oct 31, 2015
Threads: 10
Posts: 83
So I figured some folks here would like an update from Germany:

To go back just a little, a big story was a mob of criminals on New Years Eve in Cologne, that were sexually harrassing and robbing mainly young women. That resulted in a lot of media coverage and anti-refugee outrage among those so inclined. Our justice system is still dealing with the incident, the first convictions were made these days. It turns out that so far none of the perpetrators came to Germany with the recent waves, they were mostly from North Africa and had been in Germany for years. And there were Germans among them too. So the sentence "Look what these refugees are doing to Germany" is faulty on so many levels. But you know, people who say this kind of thing don't really care about that. Fact is that refugees are no more or less criminal than Germans, there are official numbers now to back that up.

The real problem we have been facing is caused by criminal racists that grow bolder and bolder. In 2016 alone there were more than 100 attacks against buildings housing refugees. Sometimes resulting in injured inhabitants. A few days ago a bus with newly arrived refugees was besiged by and angry mob for hours. The refugees didn't dare to leave the bus and in the end were forcibly removed by the police, while the mob was left alone. They had ignored police orders to disperse, but the police claimed they had been to few in number to do anything about it. There is some suspicion that the local police force was in league with the mob. Or at least very incompetent.

So the critics were right. Crime did go up, but it is not committed by refugees.

Most of the crimes against refugee homes happen in East Germany. Mainly in areas with high poverty, high unemployment, low education - the classic picture. The newly formed anti immgration party AfD is still going strong, despite having massive internal power struggles recently resulting in the founder of the party being ousted.

Meanwhile, other European countries like Austria have limited the number of refugees they want to allow into the country - in blatant violation of European and International law. But this will go to court only if they actually make use of that provision, which probably will never happen. It is all a publicity stunt to appease the racist mob. But imho this is doing more harm than good. Even in the mainstream there is a debate now about how many asylum seekers we can handle. But turning away people because "we're full" is just not an option unless we wanna change our constitution and get rid of international human rights treaties.

"We are very sorry Sir, but Europe has exceeded her refugee capacity for this month. ... Yes we do understand that you will be tortured and killed upon your return to Syria, and we are also sorry for your lovely daughter that will be used as a sex slave. But we are truly fully booked."
February 25th, 2016 at 4:34:31 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: Canyonero

So the critics were right. Crime did go up, but it is not committed by refugees.


I can post 10 articles that say otherwise,
why bother. You've so convinced yourself
all these Muslims are really just wonderful,
law abiding people, you would just go into
denial.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
February 25th, 2016 at 4:34:59 PM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Canyonero


"We are very sorry Sir, but Europe has exceeded her refugee capacity for this month. ... Yes we do understand that you will be tortured and killed upon your return to Syria, and we are also sorry for your lovely daughter that will be used as a sex slave. But we are truly fully booked."


So what are you saying, that Western nations have an obligation to overwhelm their social systems and budgets to pay for all of the mess muslims have made of their own nations?

"Sorry, Mr and Mrs German citizen. We cannot house you, and we have to raise your taxes at every level because the UN says we have to give things to muslims."

BTW: How could she end up a sex slave if all the muslims are just peace loving people?
The President is a fink.
February 25th, 2016 at 4:58:04 PM permalink
Canyonero
Member since: Oct 31, 2015
Threads: 10
Posts: 83
Quote: Canyonero


So the critics were right. Crime did go up, but it is not committed by refugees.



Here are the numbers from the BKA - the "Federal Bureau of Crime" (yeah, that name totally doesn't work in English):

2015:
Crimes committed by asylum seekers: 200'000 - that is an increase of 80 %
Increase in number of asylum seekers: 135 %
The increase in crimes committed is disproportionately low.

(Btw. 65% of those crimes were using public transportation without a valid ticket, it is kinda ridiculous to even include it.)

Here is what I found interesting: Among those refugees suspected of a crime, the number of Syrians, Afghans and Iraq again is disproportinately low, while the number of suspects from Serbia, Kosovo, Albania ist disproportionately high.