Update on US records no one wants and worse they will be crushed in the near and distant Future!

I wanted to focus on the right targeting Michelle Obama because the idiocy really kills me! What the hell is wrong with those idiots? They just do not care about our America! I also wanted to discuss the worlds enthusiasm in seeing Bush leave if it happens and in seeing Obama elected. I was also struck that Exxon/Mobil is selling its 2,200 gas stations because they are not profitable. Hmm! but as usual I again have to digress and talk about something else as today is all about records that no one wants to see!

First: The cost of living rose in May as consumers were belted by energy costs, the government said Friday. The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation reading, rose 4.2% through the 12 months ended in May, according to the Labor Department. This compared to an increase of 3.9% during the 12 months ended in April. For the month of May, overall CPI rose 0.6%, compared to an increase of 0.2% in April. That's the biggest increase since last November, when the overall CPI surged 0.9%. A consensus of analysts interviewed by Briefing.com had projected an increase of 0.5% for May. The dramatic increase in energy costs were largely responsible for the overall inflation. Energy costs rose 4.4% in May, and surged 17.4% over the 12 months ending in May, the Labor Department said.

"These (CPI) numbers are nowhere near to what we're seeing in the real world," said Peter Beutel, energy analyst for Cameron Hanover, who believed the "real" cost of living has increased at a higher rate than the index shows. "But even these diluted numbers are showing that inflation is getting uglier and uglier and uglier." Beutel said this puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve to increase the federal funds rate, which he thinks could happen in August or September. The rate is currently at 2%. "The higher that inflation is, the sooner the Fed has to raise rates to help keep a lid on prices," said Beutel. The index for fuel oil rose 10.4% in May and soared 64% over the 12 months. The gasoline index rose 5.7% in May and surged 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. The index for natural gas rose 5.6% in May, and was up 16.5% over the last year.

* Electricity costs also increased, but less dramatically, edging up 0.9% in May, and rising 5.8% over the last 12 months. As a result, transportation costs increased 2% in May, and jumped 8.1% over the 12 months ending in May. The index for household energy costs climbed 2.8% in May, its fourth consecutive jump, the Labor Department said. The price of food also pushed up overall costs. Food costs increased 0.3% in May, and jumped 5.1% during the 12 months ending in May. The price of milk was a big influence on the overall price, increasing 10.2% over the 12 months, despite slipping 0.7% in May.The cost of clothing was the one area where consumers got some relief. Apparel costs deflated 0.2% in May, and decreased 0.4% over the 12 months.The core CPI, which excludes the cost of food and energy, rose 0.2% in May, compared to an increase of 0.1% in April. A consensus of analysts interviewed by Briefing.com had projected an increase of 0.2% for May. Inflation getting 'uglier and uglier'

* It will get much uglier as these records will be broken! Plus The housing crisis grew worse in May, as more than 73,000 American families lost their homes to bank repossessions, up a staggering 158% from the 28,548 households that were dispossessed in May 2007. Foreclosure filings of all kinds, including default notices, notices of sheriff's sales and bank repossessions, were up 48% from May 2007, according to the latest release from RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties. Filings increased 7% from April. "May was the 29th straight month we've seen a year-over-year increase," RealtyTrac's CEO James Saccacio said in a statement. The report follows months of increasingly gloomy housing market conditions with home prices, existing home sales and new housing starts all plummeting. The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index posted a record 14.1% decline in national home prices for the 12 months ending March 31, while April's existing-home sales were down 17.5% year over year.

Worst-hit cities: Nevada remained the most troubled default state for the 17th consecutive month. One out of every 118 households there received some kind of foreclosure filing during May, up 24% from the previous month and 72% from a year ago. California led the nation in the sheer volume of filings, with nearly 72,000 properties in some stage of default, which works out to one out of every 183 households. More than 20,000 Californians lost their homes, more than any other state. "Remember, as California goes so goes the Nation"

Also Florida recorded over 37,000 filings and 4,300 bank repossessions. Nine of the top 10 cities with the most foreclosure filings were in either Florida or California. Stockton, Calif., was the worst-hit city last month, with one filing for every 75 households. Cape Coral, Fla., where one out of every 79 homes received a filing, was second. Other hard-hit places were Merced, Calif., which ranked third, Modesto, Calif., which was fourth and Riverside, Calif., which was fifth. Las Vegas was the only city outside of California and Florida to crack the top 10. In May it had one filing for every 96 households - about five times the national average - which put it in sixth place. Default rates will rise for many more months, according to RealtyTrac vice president Rick Sharga, who thinks that there could be another 18 months of this activity left. Several factors will continue to boost filings. 73,000 homes lost to foreclosure in May Filings for the month jumped by 48%

* We are on target to break last years record of a million foreclosures. Another record no one wants. Finally the upper Midwest continues to flood setting many records no one wants to see! We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring," said Brian Pierce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport, Iowa. "We're in uncharted territory -- this is an event beyond what anybody could even imagine." Iowa Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties state disaster areas. Nine rivers are at or above historic flood levels. Amtrak's California Zephyr line was suspended across Iowa because of flooding along the BNSF Railway. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in Iowa, but two men died in their cars in southern Minnesota and western lower Michigan.

In Wisconsin, amphibious vehicles that carry tourists on the Wisconsin River were used to evacuate homes and businesses in Baraboo, north of Madison. Hundreds of people lost power in Avoca, west of Madison, and were "strongly encouraged" to evacuate due to flooding, said Chief Deputy Jon Pepper of the Iowa County Sheriff's Department. Violent thunderstorms Thursday and Friday brought widespread flooding to Michigan's Lower Peninsula that authorities say left some roads and bridges unstable or impassable. Authorities in Mason County advised drivers to stay off the roads unless it was an emergency, and the county closed or barricaded more than a dozen roadways. People in several northern Missouri communities, meanwhile, were piling up sandbags to prepare for flooding in the Missouri River, expected to crest over the weekend, and a more significant rise in the Mississippi River expected Wednesday.

Despite all the water in Cedar Rapids, there was precious little for toilets, cleaning, or drinking. Koch said the city is at critical levels and only one of the city's six wells was operating. "If we lost that one we would be in serious trouble. Basically we are using more water than we are producing," he said. "We really need to reduce the amount of water we are using ... even using paper plates, hand sanitizer." Similarly, the town of Lawrenceville, Illinois, grappled with a broken water system that left businesses with no usable tap water, forcing them to close. "We're just kind of at God's mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start," Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. "We're going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding." Prisoners had to be moved from the Linn County jail, including some inmates who had been transferred from the Benton County jail in Vinton because of flooding. The sheriff's office also was underwater, Zeller said. The surging river caused part of a railroad bridge and about 20 hopper cars loaded with rocks to collapse into the river. The cars had been positioned on the bridge in hopes of weighing it down against the rising. Misery grows in upper Midwest as more records continue to be broken, watch the videos by State

** I don't have to say anything just hold on as all these records and many more will continue to be broken!

James Joiner
Gardner Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com