At Naked Capitalism Edward Harrison looks at the revised numbers that just came out: GDP numbers make double dip threat real.

Those of us who actually live in the real economy, as opposed to inside the Bubble, have been watching this happen. When two-thirds of the GDP is consumer spending and 20% of the workforce is un- or under-employed, spending goes down. People are trying to hang on until things get better, but there is no ‘tunnel’, much less a ‘light at the end.’ The Village can stop worrying about the ‘confidence fairy’, the ‘unemployment ogre’ had it for lunch some time ago.

Paul Mason, the Economics editor of BBC’s Newsnight decided to travel In Steinbeck’s footsteps: America’s middle-class underclass.

The new generation of Joads is living in tents, because they have run out of options. The Village refuses to do what is necessary, what we know from history works, because they don’t ‘believe in it.’

That natural latex balloons are biodegradable? So if you and a few thousand of your closest friends decided to to fill them with cold sun-brewed tea and bombard someone, the balloons wouldn’t harm the environment.

Keep in mind that torches and tar are not environmentally friendly.

Just some of the interesting things you discover on the ‘Net.

The CBC reports on the findings from the data and voice recorders recovered from Air France Flight 447: Pilot errors blamed in Air France crash

The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not appear to know that the plane was in a stall, despite repeated warning signals, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before the jet plunged into the sea, according to new findings released Friday.
…

The passengers were never told what was happening as Flight 447 went into an aerodynamic stall and then dived for 3½ minutes into the sea, according to a summary of the latest findings released Friday by the BEA — France’s civil aviation safety authority.

The pilots themselves may not have been aware they were in the stall even as it was dooming the flight, the summary says.
…

A stall warning sounded numerous times, and once for a full 54 seconds, but the crew made no reference to it in cockpit exchanges before the jet crashed, according to the BEA.
…

The BEA says it’s unclear why the co-pilot at the controls, flying manually in what became the final minutes of the flight, maintained a nose-up input — contrary to the normal procedure to come out of an aerodynamic stall. Normally, the nose should be pointed slightly downward to regain lift in such a stall, often caused because the plane is traveling too slowly.

Apparently the two co-pilots at the controls had minimal training in flying that aircraft manually, and no training in high altitude stalls. There is no indication as to why the pilot did not take the controls when he returned to the cockpit.

Position: 27.2N 97.5W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [290°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↑.

Currently about 40 miles [ 65 km] South of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Don came ashore South of Corpus Christi and began to rapidly weaken. It has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression and Watches and Warnings have been cancelled.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Critic’s Corner

Not much of a plot.

[Editor: Excise is too uncoordinated and large to fit on top of the ‘Cat Who’ book case, so he has to take his chances with what’s on the work table.]

Friday Ark