GOOD TIMES KEEP ON ROLLIN'

Read the story below and them look at the chart. This chart was generated by the Federal Reserve in Philadelphia. Only one state has seen improvement in economic activity year over year.

How can you reconcile this with all the happy, happy talk from the media and our government about the depression being over and the economy rebounding?

What else are they lying about?

"49 out of 50 U.S. states are still showing less economic activity than a year ago, based on February 2010 coincident economic indicators from the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia. The chart below is organized from top to bottom, from the most growth in economic activity to the largest declines in economic activity.

States like West Virginia (WV), Maryland (MD), Idaho (ID), and Wyoming (WY) are the worst off year over year. Their February 2010 economic activity remained 13.5%, 6.3%, 6.3%, and 6.2% lower year over year. Thus their economies, along with those of another 45 states, all the red ones, are all underwater on an annual basis.

North Dakota (ND) is the only state to currently have a higher level of economic activity year over year. Its February 2010 economic activity was 1.1% higher than February 2009, as shown by the green dot in the chart below.

Moreover, 28 out of 50 states even exhibited less economic activity in February 2010 than just three months earlier (not directly shown below). This means they have been deteriorating most recently as well.

In fact, the chart below is organized from left to right by the change in economic activity in the last three months (February 2010 vs. November 2009).

Thus West Virginia (WV), Maryland (MD), Montana (MT), and Delaware (DE), have seen their economic activity fall since November 2009 the most, given that they are the left-most dots. For example, West Virginia's economic activity fell 3.1% vs. November 2009 (percentage not shown). In contrast, Michigan has done the best most recently, given that it is the right-most dot, rising 1.5% vs. November 2009 (percentage not shown).

Net-net what this tells us is that 49 out of 50 state economies are still underwater on a one year basis, and 28 out of 50 are even still falling vs. November."

Business Insider

MISDIRECTION AND LIES PAVE WAY FOR LAWSUIT

The New York Times has provided the paper trail for the Father Stephen Kiesle laicization case on its website. It shows a stream of letters back and forth from Kiesle's diocese in Oakland, California and the Vatican. The letters come from priests, a chancellor and his bishop. They are trying to make the case for laicization of Father Kiesle, following the formula laid out in canon law for the process.

Canons 290-293 are the applicable codes. Canon 290; Section 3, is the most germane. Click on the link below for further reading about this section and how it is applied:

LOSS OF THE CLERICAL STATE

Can. 290 Sacred ordination once validly received never becomes invalid. A cleric, however, loses the clerical state:

1° by a judgement of a court or an administrative decree, declaring the ordination invalid;

2° by the penalty of dismissal lawfully imposed;

3° by a rescript of the Apostolic See; this rescript, however, is granted to deacons only for grave reasons and to priests only for the gravest of reasons.

Can. 291 Apart from the cases mentioned in can. 290, n. 1, the loss of the clerical state does not carry with it a dispensation from the obligation of celibacy, which is granted solely by the Roman Pontiff.

Can. 292 A cleric who loses the clerical state in accordance with the law, loses thereby the rights that are proper to the clerical state and is no longer bound by any obligations of the clerical state, without prejudice to can. 291. He is prohibited from exercising the power of order, without prejudice to can. 976. He is automatically deprived of all offices and roles and of any delegated power.

Can. 293 A cleric who has lost the clerical state cannot be enrolled as a cleric again save by rescript of the Apostolic See.

A discussion on this can be found in The New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law written by John P. Beal, James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green and published by the Paulist Press.

I'm not a canon lawyer and have no expertise in this area but I'm trying to at least fill in a bit of information that the mainstream press seems incapable of doing themselves. The attorney that has brought forth the above mentioned "evidence" that was published by the Times is trying to confuse the subject. He is trying to make the case that somehow the Pope, when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, helped to protect a child abuser or, at the very least, did nothing to protect the Church and it youngest members from him. However, the communication between the CDF and those in California was only tangentially about child abuse; its real object was the laicization of Father Kiesle.

The local bishop had the responsibility concerning child abuse and removing Kiesle from active ministry or access to children. That was his responsibility and one that, according to the letter from Maurine Behrend dated May 11, 1988, he did not successfully uphold. Keeping Kiesle apart from the kids had nothing to do with laicization. In fact, laicization would have removed him from all Church authority and made it impossible for the Church to exercise the control that the abused, and their attorney Mr. Anderson, demand that the Church exercise.

Laicization has to be conducted under Canon Law. This is a function of the Church and thus the only controlling authority is the Church. One could make a comparison to secular law in that the only body qualified to pass judgement on the guilt or innocence of an American citizen regarding American law is an American court. To have an Italian court pass judgement on American law or to hold American law to the standard of Italian jurisprudence would be nonsensical and unjust.

Yet this is precisely what the Times and lawyer Anderson would have us do. They're trying to conflate American child abuse laws with Canon Law even though the two have nothing to do with each other in an attempt to convict the Pope and through him the entire Church of a crime they did not commit.

If there is any guilt in this case that falls under the authority of the American legal system it lies with the Bishop and Priests of the Diocese of Oakland. If the courts can prove that any member of the diocese knowingly helped Father Kiesle avoid arrest or trial for any illegal activities then as American citizens they can and should be brought before the court. I would have to say that since the letter from Ms. Behrend indicates that Father Kiesle had returned to duty, with a youth ministry no less, somebody, somewhere in the Diocese of Oakland made a huge mistake or was complicit in covering the abuse up and should be held accountable. Whether their mistake rises to a prosecutable level I have no idea. That's for the courts to decide and that's what they're for.

In the end the attempt to drag the Pope into this may succeed, at least in the eyes of the public. Attorney Anderson is trying to sue the Vatican to further line his pockets and I suspect that this misdirected accusation is part of an effort to poison the well against the Church. He is trying the Church in the court of public opinion to lay the groundwork for his hoped for upcoming lawsuit. Sadly, because of their own personal agenda of hate, the New York Times and a large segment of the American media are more than happy to help Anderson in any way they can.

For further reading and links about these vicious attacks and calumnious statements against Holy Mother Church hop on over to my buddy Ioannes' website here and here. I'm thinking maybe the two of us should start the "Pissed Off Catholic Bloggers Association".

THE STORIES TELL A STORY

All of the news stories below come from the Drudge Report today. I didn't have to search through obscure blogs or boring financial pages. This is all right out in the open. Yet, if you only base your view of the current economy on government talking points and financial services professionals you would think everything's coming up roses. Well, it's not.

So what do the stories below tell us? Americans have benefited from massive government interference in the market place over a long period of time. We have come to expect government to provide a myriad of services while at the same time we have avoided paying for them. We've let money that was supposed to be set aside for social security and other government programs be replaced with I.O.U.'s so the government could offer us more programs while hiding the true cost, thus allowing politicians to buy votes with our money.

Because of this we have reached a tipping point. The Fed is all but admitting that we cannot fund our obligations and to do so will require massive new taxes or huge cuts in entitlement programs such as Social Security. Where will the taxes come from? The tax code has shifted most taxes to the wealthiest already yet they are being expected to pay more. The middle class is just about tapped out and most of the working class doesn't pay taxes and couldn't afford them anyway. Well, they don't pay federal income tax but they are caught up in the rising taxes in every other sector, siphoning off money that would otherwise go into savings or purchases which would drive growth in the economy. Now, it just gets sucked into the black hole of government waste.

Now as city and state governments begin to either go bankrupt or contract at an incredible rate services that we've already "paid" for through taxation will begin to disappear or carry a use cost. Not only will we pay for fire and police protection through our property tax but now we'll be billed if we use the service. More and more of our meager income, if we're fortunate enough to have a job, and which has fallen in real terms since the early 1970's, will be taken by government to try to maintain programs. Special interest will fight to keep these programs in place because they have become dependent on them, like crack addicts, and most politicians won't have the courage to stand up against them.

This isn't just an American problem. Greece is poised to collapse; the first of many European Union states to do so but not the last, and they will they take the E.U. with them. They are much farther down the socialist road than we are and will go first. This is going to make America the last safe haven so money will flow our way, temporarily propping us up. This, along with the trillions of dollars printed out of nothing and injected into our economy is causing the markets to rise even though consumer activity is way down and the real unemployment rate is over 20%. This false economic growth will probably get a lot of people to start to reinvest in the markets with the money they've held out because they are going to be afraid if they don't they'll miss out. This will cause further rises in the markets fueling additional investment. Because this growth is based on pure speculation, government debt and fear it will, at some point, collapse. A house built on a foundation of sand will not stand.

So what do these stories tell us. They tell us that contrary to all of the happy talk from the governments and the investor class nearly every government in the Western World, whether city, county, state or national that has traveled down the socialist path is going under. They have all reached the end of their ability to fund this Utopian dream. Most Western governments are now faced with a singular reality; contract or die. Since most won't be able to contract without massive social unrest because they have conditioned their citizens to welfare, they are going to die a violent death. And, because of the interconnectedness of the world, they will take it all down with them.

Or, maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

"A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday that interest rates kept too low for too long encourage risky financial behavior and recommended raising borrowing costs to prevent another boom and bust.

"I am confident that holding rates down at artificially low levels over extended periods encourages bubbles, because it encourages debt over equity and consumption over savings," Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Hoenig told a group of business people.

"While we may not know where the bubble will emerge, these conditions left unchanged will invite a credit boom and, inevitably, a bust," he said."
CNBC

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth.

"These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off -- until the day they cannot be put off anymore," Bernanke said in a speech. "But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth."
Washington Post


Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed down from his hardline stance over the budget crisis Wednesday, admitting he cannot shut down city services without the City Council's approval and requesting $20 million from the power utility to keep the city solvent.

The mayor's plan to shut down services that don't make money, such as parks and libraries, for two days a week starting Monday is a "plan of last resort," said his deputy chief of staff, Matt Szabo."
Yahoo

"If you get into a car accident and 911 is called, you may get billed for the emergency response. Cash-strapped communities are sending out bills to cover the costs of fire trucks responding to crashes. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, often times it does not matter whether you caused the accident or are the victim."
CBS 2

"About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.

...The vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property."
Yahoo Finance

"World markets slid Thursday amid mounting worries about a potential Greek debt default as the country's borrowing costs continue to go through the roof.

...Wall Street was also poised to open lower after sizable falls Wednesday in the wake of disappointing data showing that consumer credit in the U.S. fell by $11.5 billion in February and a suggestion from Thomas Hoenig, a rate-setter at the U.S. Federal Reserve, that borrowing costs should start rising soon - Dow futures were down 43 points, or 0.4 percent, at 10,806 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 5.5 points, or 0.5 percent, at 1,173.50."
AP

"Financial markets turned on Greece again on Thursday, driving up its borrowing costs to record levels on rising doubt that the EU will provide a debt rescue, and the euro plunged further.
The yield on Greece's 10-year sovereign bond soared to 7.423 percent Thursday, the highest since the country adopted the euro in 2001, amid mounting fears it might be unable to repay huge debts falling due soon."
Yahoo

WHY THE WITCH HUNT?

"The Vatican heatedly defended Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, claiming accusations that he helped cover up the actions of pedophile priests are part of an anti-Catholic "hate" campaign targeting the pope for his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

Vatican Radio broadcast comments by two senior cardinals explaining "the motive for these attacks" on the pope and the Vatican newspaper chipped in with spirited comments from another top cardinal.

"The pope defends life and the family, based on marriage between a man and a woman, in a world in which powerful lobbies would like to impose a completely different" agenda, Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, head of the disciplinary commission for Holy See officials, said on the radio."
Google

I can't say whether the Vatican is right or wrong, but only about the ultimate reason for the witch hunt being conducted by the media. While it is demonstrably true that sexual abuse is occurring in many different places, whether schools, other faiths, in pornography or the home I don't see any real effort by the media to attack anything but the Church. This tells me these stories of sexual abuse are not directed towards ending the abuse but destroying the Church. The question is, why?

I believe it transcends any specific teaching. Sure, the left doesn't like the consistent stand the Church has taken against abortion or homosexual marriage. But I don't think this is the core reason for this campaign of subversion. The reason is authority. The Church stands as the last vestige of Christian moral authority on earth with the power to stand in the way of the Satanic goal of the "New World Order". Everything those that follow Marxism have worked for is on the cusp of fruition; central control, redistribution of wealth, the state as the final arbiter of human rights and the enslavement of all mankind. Only the Roman Catholic Church stands as a bulwark against this tide of Satanic subjugation.

This is the reason for the campaign of lies and hate. This is the reason that the Church must fall. Satan cannot get to the center of the Church, her teachings and doctrine, but he can attack the weaknesses of those selected by God to lead us. He can undercut their moral authority and by doing so he can marginalize the truth that is so desperately needed today.

This is the reason for the attack.

OF MONKEYS AND MARXISM

Below is a headline from The Telegraph:

"Missing link between man and apes found
A "missing link" between humans and their apelike ancestors has been discovered."

Boy that sure sounds like done deal, doesn't it? Well, if you read the article you'll find all kinds of maybe's, could be's, might find's and other qualifiers that lead one to see that, once again, an agenda is getting in the way of the story. I'd say that this is real similar to the way the stories surrounding the Pope's involvement in the sex abuse scandal is being reported.

While the media has never been as honest or unbiased as many of its members have wanted us to believe, it used to seem like they could be trusted at least a little. Not anymore. The media has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marxist movement. This story in the Telegraph is just another example.

Marxism need us to accept the Darwinian version of evolution to reduce our humanity to nothing more than a product of a random act, carrying no more rights or natural superiority than a worm.

This furthers the power of the state because it erodes the power of man over it.

As Christians we believe that all creation is directed from above. We believe that man was created by God in the image of God to fulfill a special role on this earth. We believe we have authority and rights given us directly from God and that as part of that God given power we have free will and the freedom to make decisions related to our lives.

As American Christians we believe that government comes from the people and is subordinate to them.

Marxism believes that man is a product of undirected evolution; we are no more special than a worm, a monkey or a tree. All of the material world is a product of happenstance so none hold a special place. The only thing that separates the mighty from the lowly is power, the "survival of the fittest". Because the state has the power it has the authority to control everything weaker than itself. As long as it is stronger it is the most fit to command. The weaker individual must follow it or die.

So you can see why a media that is so overtly Marxist in belief would trumpet a story about the "missing link" even though the story does not prove to be as advertised. It's the headline that counts. Just as it is the accusations that count in the Vatican story. Satan must destroy the natural order as designed by God in order to replace it with a system of his own, Marxism.

MORE OBJECTIVE REPORTING REGARDING FATHER MURPHY

"The archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, apologized repeatedly Tuesday night for the way his archdiocese handled an abusive priest and he defended the Vatican which has come under fire for not disciplining or defrocking the man.

"Mistakes were made in the Lawrence Murphy case," said Archbishop Jerome Listecki at the end of a special holy week mass at St. John's Cathedral in Milwaukee.

"The mistakes were not made in Rome in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The mistakes were made here, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s, by the Church, by civil authorities, by Church officials, and by bishops. And for that, I beg your forgiveness in the name of the Church and in the name of this Archdiocese of Milwaukee."

The now-deceased Murphy is believed to have molested up to 200 boys.

The Vatican says it did not know about the abuse until 20 years after civil authorities investigated and later dropped the case.

However, a recent New York Times story alleged that top Vatican officials, including the future Pope Benedict XVI, failed to act despite warnings from several American bishops.
Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who obtained internal church paperwork, said it "shows a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope."

In his comments Tuesday night, Listecki attempted to shift the blame away from the Pope.

"The Holy Father does not need me to defend him or his decisions," he said. "I believe, and history will confirm, that his actions in responding to this crisis swiftly and decisively and his compassionate response to victims (and) survivors speak for themselves."

Listecki added that measures have now been put in place in his diocese and across the country to protect children from predatory priests.

"Still, we know it is not words, but actions that will demonstrate our resolve," he said. "And, in some ways, regardless of what I say tonight or any other time, our critics will say it is not enough.

"But that cannot and will not prevent me from making every possible effort at moving forward toward healing and resolution with those who have been harmed, and determined to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again."
CNN

It looks to me as though, while CNN wants to appear objective in their reporting, they have failed the test once again. As evidence I offer the quotes from the story posted below:

"However, a recent New York Times story alleged that top Vatican officials, including the future Pope Benedict XVI, failed to act despite warnings from several American bishops.
Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who obtained internal church paperwork, said it "shows a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope."
In his comments Tuesday night, Listecki attempted to shift the blame away from the Pope."

The New York Times can allege anything it wants. The question is whether the allegations are true. The statement in the article is misleading because it does not address the question of veracity, it just prints the accusation with no follow up. Then it goes a step further. To lend credence to the accusation from the Times it prints another accusation, again with no follow up. I've read the papers this attorney is referring to and they don't paint the clear and unassailable picture of papal guilt that he would like us to believe they do. You can read them yourself here.

"These priests have been allowed to abuse children for years. And with the man who is now the pope knowing about what Father Murphy alone was doing, and not doing anything about it? He needs to resign. He has no business being in the position he is in," said Donald Marshall, who said he was abused once during one of Murphy's regular visits to the Lincoln Hills School, a juvenile detention center in Irma in northern Wisconsin.

CNN prints an emotional outburst from someone that claims to have been abused as a child accusing the Pope of complicity in a crime that hasn't been proved, and further, by the accounts of those involved and the document trail, he was only tangentially involved in the whole process. His involvement resulted in the case against Father Murphy being reopened by suspending the statute of limitations required by Church law and clearing the way for further action. That was about all he could do. Unless, of course, one believes that the accused in any trial should be considered guilty and then forced to prove his innocence. If you believe that then I suppose you would expect the Pope to act unilaterally and condemn the man. But that isn't how justice works.

It seems to me that, as is usual in these abuse cases, the ones claiming abuse demand justice and expect it to be carried out by the most unjust of methods. They can't have it both ways.

Another question. How come when I watch the news or read the paper I never see the name of the accused splashed all over until an indictment has been handed down. The media seems to always go out of their way to protect the rights of the accused. But not this time.

The media and the attorneys are trying to convict the Pope and by extension the Church in the courtroom of public opinion. They don't really care if there is an indictment or a trial. They are not looking for justice, rather for the destruction of the one institution that stands in the way of complete moral decay.

VATICAN STATEMENT REGARDING FATHER MURPHY

It is important that people read the following statement from the Vatican without emotion. The application of law, whether by civil or Church authorities, has to be cold and orderly. The law can only be enforced inside the framework established to guide it. Regardless of the sentiment attached to any act the law must be restrained to only the questions laid before it and must act only within it's legal jurisdiction. To step outside these boundaries is to leave the law behind, to see the law destroy itself in a fit of moral outrage which would leave both the guilty and innocent accountable only to the vagaries of emotion and mob justice.

The secular press is trying to tie the Pope to this sex abuse scandal regardless of guilt. The object of their inquisition is not justice but the destruction of the Church and the last barrier to the modernist Marxist Utopia they desire.

Pray for the Pope, the truth, the Church and all of mankind. We are slipping over the edge. As Rome goes, so goes the world.

"The following is the full text of the statement given to the New York Times on Wednesday by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office.

* * *

The tragic case of Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, involved particularly vulnerable victims who suffered terribly from what he did. By sexually abusing children who were hearing-impaired, Father Murphy violated the law and, more importantly, the sacred trust that his victims had placed in him.

During the mid-1970s, some of Father Murphy's victims reported his abuse to civil authorities, who investigated him at that time; however, according to news reports, that investigation was dropped. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not informed of the matter until some twenty years later.

It has been suggested that a relationship exists between the application of Crimen sollicitationis and the non-reporting of child abuse to civil authorities in this case. In fact, there is no such relationship. Indeed, contrary to some statements that have circulated in the press, neither Crimen nor the Code of Canon Law ever prohibited the reporting of child abuse to law enforcement authorities.

In the late 1990s, after over two decades had passed since the abuse had been reported to diocesan officials and the police, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was presented for the first time with the question of how to treat the Murphy case canonically. The Congregation was informed of the matter because it involved solicitation in the confessional, which is a violation of the Sacrament of Penance. It is important to note that the canonical question presented to the Congregation was unrelated to any potential civil or criminal proceedings against Father Murphy.

In such cases, the Code of Canon Law does not envision automatic penalties, but recommends that a judgment be made not excluding even the greatest ecclesiastical penalty of dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Canon 1395, no. 2). In light of the facts that Father Murphy was elderly and in very poor health, and that he was living in seclusion and no allegations of abuse had been reported in over 20 years, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith suggested that the Archbishop of Milwaukee give consideration to addressing the situation by, for example, restricting Father Murphy's public ministry and requiring that Father Murphy accept full responsibility for the gravity of his acts. Father Murphy died approximately four months later, without further incident."
Zenit
H/T LaSalette Journey

GO AFTER ALL THE CHILD ABUSERS-NOT JUST THE PRIESTS

Nothing below is meant to exonerate the Catholic Church or heap praise upon the Pope. It's meant to show that sexual abuse, contrary to the reporting in most media, is not limited to the Church. I also posted the article about the Pope to show that the Church is no longer in denial. Is it doing enough? I don't know and personally, I'd like to see more.

However, child abuse committed by anyone is terrible. This obsession with the Church is all well and good, but the press needs to cover this abuse wherever it occurs. If they don't a whole bunch of kids are going to continue to suffer; and part of the blame will rest squarely on the shoulders of the inquisitors in the media.

"The Boy Scouts of America call them "perversion files," internal documents used to track Scout leaders suspected of sexually abusing young boys.

A judge who had ordered the Scouts to release them received 1,247 files into evidence near the end of the day Friday — the third day of trial that began with a lawyer saying "you will be the first jury to see them."
Fox News

"Welcome to a collection of news reports on ministers who have sexually abused children:
ALL Protestant denominations - 838 Ministers"
Reformation.com

"Given the new tone Benedict had set, it was little surprise that in 2006, the Congregation for Bishops announced that a lightly modified version of the American norms for sexual abuse, including the "one-strike" policy, had been permanently approved. They were subsequently issued as "particular law" in the United States, making them binding on all American dioceses and eparchies (jurisdictions of the Eastern rite churches.)

Benedict's transformation into an apostle of "zero tolerance" has also been clear in press discussion in both Ireland and Germany. News reports indicate that the Vatican has supported local bishops in adopting tough policies along the lines of the American norms. That amounts to a remarkable reversal of fortune, given the ambivalence displayed in Rome not so long ago to the very same policies the papacy is now extolling as a global model.

Nowhere was Benedict's new tone on the sex abuse crisis clearer than during his April 2008 trip to the United States."
National Catholic Reporter

THE TRUTH IS STARTING TO LEAK OUT-WHY?

So how do you reconcile these two stories? One hand doesn't know what the other is reporting and the government is losing its ability to control the media and the message. The truth is leaking out. It's almost as though the powers that be don't care if we know. They're getting sloppy. Why?

"New housing starts rose 21 percent in January from a year ago, the Census Bureau said today, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000.

That's up from a record low pace of 479,000 units per year seen in April, but still well off the 1 million to 2 million-a-year range that's been the norm for five decades. During the last boom, housing starts peaked at 2.07 million in 2005.

Single-family home starts were up 36 percent from a year ago, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 484,000 per year."
Inman

"The worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression took its toll on the private housing market in January as the Commerce Department announced that builders started the fewest number of homes on a seasonably adjusted basis since the agency began keeping those records in 1959.

Builders broke ground on an annual rate of 466,000 houses and apartments last month, a 16.8 percent drop below the upwardly revised December estimate of 560,000 and a whopping 56.2 percent below the rate of 1,064,000 units in January 2008, the Commerce Department said.

The number was far below the 529,000 starts that had been predicted in a Bloomberg News survey."
Washington Times