But at the moment, the trees are getting plenty of water. Unfortunately, they're only getting the tops watered, leaving the roots to perish. Then it won't take long for the tree to collapse.

Well it will be interesting to see where it falls. Who knows we may end up in a post industrial feudal state. Those who are feeling forced to live in gated communities with armed guards is a first step in that direction.

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But at the moment, the trees are getting plenty of water. Unfortunately, they're only getting the tops watered, leaving the roots to perish. Then it won't take long for the tree to collapse.

The tops don't absorb water. But you forget the function of the root is to transport water and nutrients to the top of the tree. Soak up.

The function of the top, leaf, is to take sunlight and make sugar. Not unlike taking ideas and turning it into products. Most of the sugar is used making fatter and longer branches. A little trickles down to the roots so they grow. Of course in the winter the sugar isn't in the leaves, nothing is being created, recession. Spring has to come before there is more, boom.

But you simply confirm that the rungs of the ladder get farther apart. As the tree grows the distance between the tip of the root and the tip of the top leaf on the top branch gets bigger. The income disparity is the same.

Continuing, what has happened is a big wind storm came and knocked some major branches down. Some branches fell to the ground, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide. Some other branches got caught before they broke off entirely, but there still was severe damage, General Motors, Citigroup. The government gardener came along and applied TARP to bandage the damage. Only time will tell if they can heal.

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Yes, I know at the bottom the best solution is to not be there or exist. The thing is, above the 'bottom' -- say in the 10% to 20%, the disparity has gotten more extreme. Heck, at the 30% to 40% versus the top 10% the disparity has gotten greater (at least in the US).

The issue is with that top 10% -- and even more so with the to 1%. Heck, I know, I realize that I'm in that top 10%. So for me, while my income did not move up from 1995 to 2010, my wealth did (that even includes the crumble years of 2008 and 2009). From 94 to 10 our wealth more than doubled. I know we are doing ok (skills and decent financial management).

But did policies which really helped the top 1% or helped to a lesser degree the top 10% do anything for the lower tiers? I think not.

If the argument is that in bad times, the disparity increases and in good times it does not, that argument, in the US doesn't fly (it might have up to about 1970).

So, if the disparity always increases, how bad does it have to be for the 'bottom' 50% before things get truly ugly? I think we're seeing that in Greece and may soon see it in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

It isn't an argument. It is reality. The disparity is an organic necessity. There is nothing that can be done to lift the bottom. You can't make zero skill jobs worth more. The bottom rung is fixed.

Sure you can throw cash at the poor, but it does not generate more wealth. The word is redistribute. But, it doesn't make anything. The question is how do you make more? Answer, the top has to grow. Not unlike a tree. The tree doesn't grow at the base, it grows at the tip.

The function of the top, leaf, is to take sunlight and make sugar. Not unlike taking ideas and turning it into products. Most of the sugar is used making fatter and longer branches. A little trickles down to the roots so they grow. Of course in the winter the sugar isn't in the leaves, nothing is being created, recession. Spring has to come before there is more, boom.

But you simply confirm that the rungs of the ladder get farther apart. As the tree grows the distance between the tip of the root and the tip of the top leaf on the top branch gets bigger. The income disparity is the same.

Continuing, what has happened is a big wind storm came and knocked some major branches down. Some branches fell to the ground, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide. Some other branches got caught before they broke off entirely, but there still was severe damage, General Motors, Citigroup. The government gardener came along and applied TARP to bandage the damage. Only time will tell if they can heal.

[/quote]Gary, in the part of the country I live in we have big trees. With in 20 feet or so of my house I have 3 Douglas firs over 10 feet in circumference. A fear is that during a wind storm they might blow down and and cause great collateral damage so in order to save the trees and the surroundings, people will have the trees topped.

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The function of the top, leaf, is to take sunlight and make sugar. Not unlike taking ideas and turning it into products. Most of the sugar is used making fatter and longer branches. A little trickles down to the roots so they grow. Of course in the winter the sugar isn't in the leaves, nothing is being created, recession. Spring has to come before there is more, boom.

But you simply confirm that the rungs of the ladder get farther apart. As the tree grows the distance between the tip of the root and the tip of the top leaf on the top branch gets bigger. The income disparity is the same.

Continuing, what has happened is a big wind storm came and knocked some major branches down. Some branches fell to the ground, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide. Some other branches got caught before they broke off entirely, but there still was severe damage, General Motors, Citigroup. The government gardener came along and applied TARP to bandage the damage. Only time will tell if they can heal.

Gary, in the part of the country I live in we have big trees. With in 20 feet or so of my house I have 3 Douglas firs over 10 feet in circumference. A fear is that during a wind storm they might blow down and and cause great collateral damage so in order to save the trees and the surroundings, people will have the trees topped.

ed- hit post before I was done composing
Ask an arborist if topping a tree is a good idea. No. It severely stresses the tree and makes it weaker and stunts it. Causes abnormalities. Weakens what is left. Anything sprouting from the top isn't attached to the trunk correctly so it will fall off in a breeze.

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Gary I hired an arborist and yes I know of the concerns but having a 4 foot diameter tree landing in my bed room is unacceptable to me and he agreed.

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The tops don't absorb water. But you forget the function of the root is to transport water and nutrients to the top of the tree.

So if the root is well looked after, the top will blossom....unfortunately in the case of your own financial crisis as well as Europe's, the roots are not looked after, just the tops constantly watered.

And as you said, that's not healthly now is it?

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The tops don't absorb water. But you forget the function of the root is to transport water and nutrients to the top of the tree.

So if the root is well looked after, the top will blossom....unfortunately in the case of your own financial crisis as well as Europe's, the roots are not looked after, just the tops constantly watered.

And as you said, that's not healthly now is it?

And when the tree falls down it may very well fall one someone nearby. That is really unhealthy.

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Exactly, & as the trees are extremely top heavy at the moment, they're going to injure quite a few.

Just how many, we'll find out later today.

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top posting which I hate,

I have said nothing about good or bad times. You rail because you perceive the total difference is too big. That is a different issue altogether.

Growth is growth in the disparity.

Now as to the absolute magnitude of that disparity, how about you give us some historical perspective. Say what was the difference when Pharaoh ruled and the Jews left? What was the difference when Alexander the Great ruled? What was the difference when Caesar ruled? How about William I? How about Henry VIII? Or Isabella I? Or Napoleon? Or Louis XVI? Or JP Morgan?

Yes, I know at the bottom the best solution is to not be there or exist. The thing is, above the 'bottom' -- say in the 10% to 20%, the disparity has gotten more extreme. Heck, at the 30% to 40% versus the top 10% the disparity has gotten greater (at least in the US).

The issue is with that top 10% -- and even more so with the to 1%. Heck, I know, I realize that I'm in that top 10%. So for me, while my income did not move up from 1995 to 2010, my wealth did (that even includes the crumble years of 2008 and 2009). From 94 to 10 our wealth more than doubled. I know we are doing ok (skills and decent financial management).

But did policies which really helped the top 1% or helped to a lesser degree the top 10% do anything for the lower tiers? I think not.

If the argument is that in bad times, the disparity increases and in good times it does not, that argument, in the US doesn't fly (it might have up to about 1970).

So, if the disparity always increases, how bad does it have to be for the 'bottom' 50% before things get truly ugly? I think we're seeing that in Greece and may soon see it in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

It isn't an argument. It is reality. The disparity is an organic necessity. There is nothing that can be done to lift the bottom. You can't make zero skill jobs worth more. The bottom rung is fixed.

Sure you can throw cash at the poor, but it does not generate more wealth. The word is redistribute. But, it doesn't make anything. The question is how do you make more? Answer, the top has to grow. Not unlike a tree. The tree doesn't grow at the base, it grows at the tip.

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Gary I hired an arborist and yes I know of the concerns but having a 4 foot diameter tree landing in my bed room is unacceptable to me and he agreed.

So he topped it, he didn't thin it. Not much of an arborist. But he know he will keep coming back more frequently than if he trimmed. Good for his wallet, bad for yours.

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The tops don't absorb water. But you forget the function of the root is to transport water and nutrients to the top of the tree.

So if the root is well looked after, the top will blossom....unfortunately in the case of your own financial crisis as well as Europe's, the roots are not looked after, just the tops constantly watered.

And as you said, that's not healthly now is it?

The tops are not watered. Never were.

We are in a period of drought. The water which already was in the leaves has no path back to the roots. But the sun can and will dry the leaves out and thus kill the tree. How does the tree combat this? It stops making sugar. That is your recession. You want to cut off the leaves, the only thing that makes sugar and seal the fate.

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Gary, it beats trying to sleep with a Douglas fir, and some trimming was done also. If it dies I'll have it taken out but that is still better than the alternative. Really big trees can be bad neighbors.

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Gary, it beats trying to sleep with a Douglas fir, and some trimming was done also. If it dies I'll have it taken out but that is still better than the alternative. Really big trees can be bad neighbors.

Got an 80 foot jeffrey pine in my front yard. Wind last year did real damage around here. Ask my neighbor about the concrete street light into his house. Estimated winds were 100 mph.

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Gary, an 80 footer is just a teenager, the 3 big ones closest to my house are much larger. I guess I have about 23 or so Doug firs on my small 1/3 acre lot, most not that size. I feel that some trees are too big to be allowed to fail on me.

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Greece vows to remain in euro, but renegotiating bailout terms

Oh dear Ms Merkel, what now?

A little light relief....Euro 2012 - Greece 1 Russia 0

Capital controls dangerous

“We learned that postponing solving the problem is most dangerous,” a spokesman for Vaclav Klaus, the Czech prime minister, said at the time.

Hmm. Sound familiar?"

Edit: On checking, if Germany win their last game, it will be Greece v Germany in the quarter finals......oh,oh, Ms Merkel, what are you going to do if they win?

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An absolutely stunning report!

The Beast is beyond our control

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And another....

Bank Throws kitchen Sink"

"The same country’s rerun general election today could well move us from the end of the beginning of this ghastly episode, to the beginning of the end".

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A Greek Banker living in Germany & A German Banker from one of the largest German banks, tell it as it is..... An interesting read.

Frankfurt's Greek bankers torn over Germany's attitude towards Greece

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