Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Tues 04.28.2009
The History and Revisionist Theory of the Great Depression -- Can It Happen Again?
Excellent! One of the best articles you'll read on banking crisis: Falsifying Bank Balance Sheets by Antal E. Fekete Professor of Money and Banking San Francisco School of Economics . . . In 2009 we are wondering what has hit our banks. No mystery there. It was not subprime mortgages nor other loose lending practices. The banking crisis is entirely self-inflicted or, more precisely, government-inflicted the origins of which go back almost ninety years: faking balance sheets. That practice cannot go on forever. The day of reckoning comes when capital is called upon to do what it is supposed to do: to tie over the bank during a temporary setback. The kitty is opened, and found empty. Bank capital is gone, due to earlier legerdemain in trying to paper over paper losses. (No pun intended.)
The situation is actually worse, as far as the condition of our banks is concerned. . . . .
. . . . If you examine the latest measures initiated by the Geithner Treasury, there is indeed reason for alarm. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner openly invites private investors to speculate, risk free, in buying the toxic assets of the banking system. The risks, should they materialize, are covered by pledging, most improperly, the assets of the FDIC. If the gamble succeeds, private investors may keep the assets they have bought on the cheap. Otherwise the FDIC will pick up the tab and will reimburse investors for their losses.
The Effects of Inflation The effects of monetary inflation are three-fold. First, it brings about an unwarranted transfer of purchasing power (resources) to the creator of the new money and/or the first user of the new money. Another name for this unwarranted transfer is theft. Second, it has a NON-UNIFORM effect on prices, leading to mal-investment and the wastage of resources. The huge amount of savings and resources squandered in real-estate investments over the past several years exemplifies the havoc that can result from monetary inflation and why its effects cannot simply be counteracted at some later time by "withdrawing liquidity". Third, it EVENTUALLY results in a broad-based increase in the prices of everyday goods and services.
A Run On Gold Eagles?! Most people have never held a gold coin in their hands. Historically, an ounce of gold was worth a year's wages. Today, you can get one for about a thousand bucks. Seems like they must be rather common then. Not really. Still, most people have never held one or seen one. It's the lack of demand, and lack of knowledge out there. But demand is soaring from about 0% to maybe about one person in 23,000 of the population actually wanting one. Actually it's less people, since most people who have one, actually have more than one. ($14,000,000 million cash in the banks / $600 million market = 23,000).
4 more banks fail, lifting this year's tally to 29 Regulators shut banks in Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, California; 29 so far tops 2008 total Regulators on Friday shut down four more banks, boosting the number of failures this year to 29 -- more bank closures than in all of last year. The latest banks seized were American Southern Bank in Georgia, Michigan Heritage Bank, First Bank of Idaho, and First Bank of Beverly Hills in California. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will continue to insure deposits at American Southern Bank, Michigan Heritage Bank, and First Bank of Idaho. The FDIC will payout the insured deposits of First Bank of Beverly Hills. Regular deposit accounts are insured up to $250,000.
At Fed meeting, central bank will weigh options New programs to jump-start economy unlikely, as are interest rate changes As the recession grinds on, Federal Reserve policymakers will open a two-day meeting Tuesday to make a fresh assessment of U.S. economic conditions, review the effectiveness of programs in place and weigh whether they need to expand or change them. Any policy decisions would come Wednesday.
TARP’s Price Tag Could Reach $2.9 Trillion, Inspector General Says For many Americans, the $700-billion financial bailout was a tough pill to swallow, but the cost to taxpayers could reach $2.9 trillion – nearly on par with the entire federal budget – according to the watchdog agency charged with oversight of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Although the Treasury Department is only authorized to spend the $700 billion approved last year by Congress and signed by the president, the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will invest up to $1 trillion each in partnering with the Treasury Department’s TARP.
G7 & G20: "Gee, Things Are Bad!" Finance ministers from around the world, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have held a sort of economic summit this weekend in Washington D.C. While there appears to be signs that the global economy is in the process of stabilizing, financial ministers remain cautious that the world may not emerge from what is being categorized as the worst recession in decades until the middle of next year.
Marc Faber The FED will continue Printing Money
China gold stocks hit $US31bn after extensive buying CHINA has revealed it bought 454 tonnes of gold in the past six years as its foreign-exchange reserves surged, bringing its total holding of the precious metal to $US31 billion. In China's first update of gold stocks since 2003, Hu Xiaolian, head of the state administration of foreign exchange, said the country's bullion stockpiles had grown from 600 tonnes to 1054 tonnes, giving it the world's sixth-biggest holdings. The news is a positive sign for the prospects of gold, which is forecast to be Australia's third-biggest export earner next year, and confirms expectations China was boosting its stockpiles.
G-7 Says Strength of Rebound Depends on Bad Assets The Group of Seven finance chiefs' ability to handle banks' toxic assets will determine the strength of the economic recovery they now say will begin this year. In warning that the world economy could still take another turn for the worse, the finance ministers and central bankers who met over the weekend in Washington singled out the banks' impaired balance sheets as the biggest threat to a sustainable recovery.
Roubini Says U.S. Stress Tests Not 'Serious,' Banks Insolvent A persistent recession and mounting unemployment will leave the U.S. financial system "insolvent," implying the stress tests performed by regulators weren't rigorous enough, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economics professor who predicted the financial crisis. Losses at U.S. banks and broker dealers will swell to $1.8 trillion, almost 100 percent more than the current amount, as the economic slump lasts at least through this year and the jobless rate climbs to 12 percent by 2010, Roubini said today at the CFA Institute's annual conference in Orlando, Florida.
Recession, Far From Over, Already Setting Records THE current recession has become the second-worst in the last half-century and is close to surpassing the severe 1973-75 downturn, according to the Index of Coincident Indicators, based on government data and compiled each month by the Conference Board, a private organization. Unlike the more widely followed Index of Leading Indicators, which is supposed to help forecast changes in the economy, the coincident index is aimed at simply recording how the economy is doing now.
Obama's legacy will turn on economic results Economic crisis is Obama's greatest challenge, principal focus The economy will determine whether Barack Obama achieves what few presidents have: a far-reaching change in American politics that might even earn its own title and legacy. Will there be an Obama version of the New Deal, the Great Society or the Reagan Revolution? Afghanistan, North Korea and other foreign hot spots certainly will test Obama. But the deeply troubled economy is his signature challenge and the focus of his greatest efforts, attention and gambles in his first 100 days in office.
White House miscalculations linger For those who were hoping that the Barack Obama administration had genuinely intended to resolve issues between Washington and Tehran, recent news has been disappointing. Hillary Clinton, in her first congressional testimony since becoming secretary of state, commented, "We actually believe that by following the diplomatic path we are on, we gain credibility and influence with a number of nations who would have to participate in order to make the sanctions regime as tight and as crippling as we would want it to be."
Stress Tests Put Obama Administration in “No-Win” Situation The Obama administration may have backed itself into a corner when it released the details of the "stress test" methodology being used to evaluate the health of the nation’s big banks. With final results not expected to be released until May 4, releasing the testing methods for Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and 16 other banks is only likely to increase market speculation - the exact result Obama’s economic team is trying to avoid.
Reflation watch The Morgan Stanley Cyclical index surged 7.0% last week and has now rallied 85% off of March 6 lows. Over this period, the S&P Homebuilding index is up 85%. The banks have risen 95% off lows, while the Morgan Stanley Retail index has rallied 64%. I thought it made sense to take a closer look at global reflation dynamics. Various risk markets have traditionally provided early indicators of reflationary dynamics. The "emerging" economies are clearly responding to the loosened global monetary backdrop.
Wall Street Shuts Off Money Supply To Capitol Hill In a move that may surprise a lot of folks, Wall Street reduced its political giving to just a few tiny drips in the first quarter of 2008. The total donations from employees at the top five banks receiving TARP capital was down 97% from the first quarter of 2007, according to an investigation by the Washington Independent. The reason for the decline isn't clear. As Washington and Wall Street move into an ever tighter relationship, with many banks dependent on taxpayer funds for their survival, you might expect political giving to increase. The Independent raises three plausible explanations for the drop in donations.
Tim Geithner Was Offered The Citi CEO Job Tim Geithner formed all his views of the financial crisis during his time as President of the New York Fed, where he worked side-by-side with many of the top banking CEOs. Because of this, and his conclusion that we're still just in a liquidity crisis, he's been an advocate of generous bailing out in order to get the credit flowing again. But the NYT has done some excellent digging to shed more light on just how close to Wall Street and Wall Street-friendly Geithner has been.
Are the Knives are Coming Out for Geithner? The clout of the press has decayed enormously over the last 40 years. The fourth estate was feared, resented, and begrudgingly respected in the corridors of power. But rule by beancounters, savvy media spin, and access journalism (journalists who write pointed stories get frozen out) have largely leashed and collared the press. Indeed, a friend who grew up in Eastern Europe when it was Communist said as of roughly 2000 that the news felt controlled.
Geithner, as Member and Overseer, Forged Ties to Finance Club Last June, with a financial hurricane gathering force, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. convened the nation’s economic stewards for a brainstorming session. What emergency powers might the government want at its disposal to confront the crisis? he asked. Timothy F. Geithner, who as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank oversaw many of the nation’s most powerful financial institutions, stunned the group with the audacity of his answer. He proposed asking Congress to give the president broad power to guarantee all the debt in the banking system, according to two participants, including Michele Davis, then an assistant Treasury secretary.
Who Else Did Hank Paulson Push Around? .... Ken Lewis is no innocent, but Hank Paulson comes off like a fracking psycho in Andrew Cuomo's letter to the SEC and TARP oversight committee. Cuomo basically gets Lewis to admit that he was taking one for the team (America) at the expense of his own shareholders, but would only admit that the negative impact of buying loss-laden Merrill would affect shareholders with a short-term time horizon. That's like a deli owner knowingly poisoning customers with day-old egg salad only between noon and two pm, followed by a fresh batch being put out for the dinner rush. There are also several insinuations uncovered by Cuomo's investigation that Paulson threatened the board of Bank of America with losing their jobs if they publicly discussed Merrill's imploding financial condition or sought to terminate the merger agreement.
Nouriel Roubini "I'm a realist" on Canadian Business Network 1/2
One Nation, Under Banks With Justice for No One The spectacle of Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson running roughshod over Kenneth Lewis and his minions at Bank of America Corp. raises a pivotal question for all Americans: Is the U.S. a nation of laws, or a nation of banks? Let's start by examining the facts disclosed last week in a letter by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, while taking pains to present the actions of each player in this drama in the fairest possible light.
Obama Overthrows Reagan's Government-Bad Dogma to Rescue Market Ronald Reagan used to joke that the nine most terrifying words in the English language were "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Barack Obama is making those words welcome. As he approaches his 100th day in office, Obama is rolling back the Reagan Revolution and restoring government to a central role in the economy. He has passed the biggest budget stimulus ever, prepared the way for an overhaul of the U.S. automobile and banking industries and proposed a $634 billion government- funded expansion of health-care benefits.
Obama's Plans May Be Doomed by Unchecked Spending "A hundred million there, a hundred million here, pretty soon, even in Washington, it adds up to real money," President Barack Obama declared last week, paraphrasing a line attributed to the late Republican Senate leader, Everett Dirksen. The context is a looming policy and fiscal clash: Obama's economic, energy, health-care and education initiatives are expensive, and the U.S. faces trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. The president can make a compelling case that these priorities are urgent and can help revive the economy. Still, those initiatives, and a strong economy, may be unattainable without fiscal discipline elsewhere.
Schmidt's Gold Thoughts . . . . Just as mankind can not repeal the laws of physics, it can not repeal the "Laws of Money." The Federal Reserve is aggressively attempting to defy the "Laws of Money," believing that it can stuff the money genie back in the bottle anytime it desires to do so. . . . . . . . . Ultimately, this massive debt monetization will have an impact on the value of the U.S. dollar. To argue otherwise is to repudiate all of monetary history. The inevitability of the depreciation of the U.S. dollar that will follow is not in dispute by any reasonable or objective observers. Ideologues now in power in the Obama Regime may argue otherwise. However, ideology does not trump reality.
Stress Tests May Force Banks to Convert TARP Stock U.S. banks that received results of their federal stress tests last week were given three options if they need additional capital to withstand the recession. The reality is they may only have one. Getting federal aid or selling shares -- two of the choices offered to the 19 lenders being tested -- aren't practical politically or financially, according to analysts, including Jeff Davis, the research director at Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett Inc. in Chicago. Lawmakers have opposed adding more to the $700 billion that the government already committed and investors have balked at buying shares of financial firms after a two-year drop.
Fed study puts ideal US interest rate at -5% The ideal interest rate for the US economy in current conditions would be minus 5 per cent, according to internal analysis prepared for the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting. The analysis was based on a so-called Taylor-rule approach that estimates an appropriate interest rate based on unemployment and inflation.
IMF Says G-20 Fiscal Stimulus Will Reach 2% Target The International Monetary Fund raised its estimate for how much fiscal stimulus governments are injecting in an effort to fight the worst global recession since World War II. The Washington-based lender said yesterday that the Group of 20 industrial and developing countries had committed to spending increases and tax cuts totaling 2 percent of their gross domestic product this year and 1.5 percent next year. That marks an increase from last month's estimates of 1.8 percent for 2009 and 1.3 percent for 2010.
Paulson's 'Gift' to Lewis Delivered at Gunpoint Oil and water don't mix. Neither do business and politics, a truism becoming increasingly obvious with each new government initiative, or the exposure of fissures in the old ones, to save the financial system. The latest example of what happens when the business of government is business was last week's release of testimony from Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. In it, Lewis says he was strong-armed by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to seal the deal to buy Merrill Lynch without telling his shareholders about the brokerage's mounting fourth-quarter losses, which came to $15.4 billion.
Cycle Revisited by Howard Ruff John Williams publishes the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter (www.shadowstats.com). He is an amazing professional economist with a great grasp of the real economy. He and I have arrived at the same conclusions about almost everything in the economy, despite the fact that we approach it from totally different directions: me from the fundamentals, and he from a real technical and numbers point of view. I am now in John's home in Oakland, California, looking past the government numbers to get his views on the world as it really is. Shadow Government Statistics reconstructs published government statistics the accurate way we used to do it that reflects reality, rather than the way these numbers are now manipulated, and comes up with different conclusions about the economy, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and other revealing areas published by government.
Nouriel Roubini "I'm a realist" on Canadian Business Network 2/2
GM Debt-Exchange Plan Faces Hurdle - $$ A Counteroffer or Court Challenge From Bondholders' Group Is Possible General Motors Corp.'s bonds rose slightly and the cost of debt insurance fell after the auto maker announced its widely anticipated tender offer to eliminate $27 billion of bonds outstanding. But bondholders late Monday indicated they were far from happy with the offer. People close to an ad hoc committee representing bondholders said the group is preparing to make a counterproposal within the next 10 days. These people also said the offer may be challenged in court.
US to take majority GM stake US taxpayers would take a majority shareholding in General Motors under a sweeping debt-for-equity restructuring proposal that the carmaker revealed on Monday in a bid to avoid bankruptcy. Under the plan, GM said it would shut 13 of 47 plants by the end of next year, resulting in an additional 7,000 job losses. The latest job cuts would reduce GM's US workforce from 61,000 last year to about 40,000 by the end of 2010.
GM to cut 21,000 US factory jobs, shed Pontiac General Motors to cut 21,000 US factory jobs, shed Pontiac as it speeds restructuring effort General Motors Corp. said it will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year, phase out its storied Pontiac brand and ask the government to take more than half its stock in exchange for half of GM's government debt as part of a major restructuring that would leave current shareholders holding just 1 percent of the company.
Faster Cuts and More Loans Are Key to G.M. Survival Plan General Motors said on Monday that it needed $11.6 billion more in government loans and that it planned to file for bankruptcy protection if a debt exchange with its bondholders was unsuccessful. G.M. also said that, by 2010, it would phase out its Pontiac brand, eliminate 42 percent of its dealers, close 13 plants and cut 21,000 hourly jobs as part of its revised restructuring plan.
UAW to Get 55% Stake in Chrysler for Concessions - $$ The United Auto Workers union would eventually own 55% of the stock in a restructured Chrysler LLC under the deal reached by the union and the auto maker, according to a summary of the agreement that was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Fiat SpA "eventually" will own 35%, and the U.S. government and Chrysler's secured lenders together will end up owning 10% of the company once it is reorganized, that summary said. The summary was distributed Monday evening at a gathering of union leaders in Sterling Heights, Mich. The deal was first disclosed Sunday night. The UAW aims for Chrysler workers to vote Wednesday on the proposed agreement, which requires changes to the union's current Chrysler contract.
Increasingly, not just the poor are uninsured Officials say economic downturn is leaving those in the middle class without insurance The free-falling economy is sending many more people to the state's clinics that treat the uninsured. Last month, 2,498 patients without health insurance went to the clinics of Nevada Health Centers, a federally funded program that charges on a sliding scale. That's 52 percent more than in March 2008, when the clinics saw 1,642. If you look at the past six months compared with the previous six months, the increase is less, but still striking: 21.5 percent. Patricia Durbin, executive director of the Great Basin Primary Care Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes health care for people in need, said she didn't find those numbers surprising, given double-digit and growing unemployment rates.
WHO raises global alert level on swine flu WHO raises global alert level, signaling swine flu is spreading, but stops short of pandemic The swine flu epidemic entered a dangerous new phase Monday as the death toll climbed in Mexico and the number of suspected cases there and in the United States nearly doubled. The World Health Organization raised its alert level but stopped short of declaring a global emergency. The United States advised Americans against most travel to Mexico and ordered stepped up border checks in neighboring states. The European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the United States. The virus poses a potentially grave new threat to the U.S. economy, which was showing tentative early signs of a recovery. A widespread outbreak could batter tourism, food and transportation industries, deepening the recession in the U.S. and possibly worldwide.
Peso Tumble, Swine Flu May Prompt Mexico to Tap IMF Credit Line Mexico is more likely to draw on a $47 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund after the deadly swine flu outbreak sparked the peso's biggest tumble in six months, according to Barclays Capital Inc. The spreading disease "raises the odds of tapping the facility," Eduardo Levy-Yeyati, head of emerging-market strategy at Barclays in New York and a former economist at the IMF, said in an interview. "The flu increases growth risks and currency pressures."
March 24, 1976: President Ford Orders Swine-Flu Shots for All Ford was acting on the advice of medical experts, who believed they were dealing with a virus potentially as deadly as the one that caused the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. . . . . It recalled 1918, when infected soldiers returning from the trenches of World War I triggered a contagion that spread quickly around the world, killing at least 20 million people. Fearing another plague, the nation’s health officials urged Ford to authorize a mass inoculation program aimed at reaching every man, woman and child. He did, to the tune of $135 million ($500 million in today’s money).
Congressman Paul on the Recent Swine Flu Scare
Monday - Apr 27, 2009 Government's Terror Plane Forces Evacuations All Over Financial District, Jersey City The plane that circled the Hudson River near lower Manhattan was an Air Force One on a "photo op" for the government. The FAA says that officials in New York were notified. But apparently the notification did not extend to Manhattan and Jersey City office buildings, many of which were evacuated this morning. Panicked office workers in the financial district and Jersey City were forced down stairs in a scene that recalled that terrible day in September 2001. One office worker reported having to rush down 40 flights on stairs in lower Manhattan.
'Panic Can Spread More Quickly Than Swine Flu' With the first case of swine flu confirmed in Europe, the world is gripped by fear of a global pandemic. German newspapers on Monday examine the measures taken to contain the disease and some warn against the spread of panic. With more than 100 people dead in Mexico and almost 30 infected in the US and Canada, the threat of a flu pandemic is gripping the world. Although there had been hopes that the emergency could be contained to the North American continent, Europe saw its first confirmed case on Monday.
US Declares Public Health Emergency for Swine Flu The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes. Officials reported 20 U.S. cases of swine flu in five states so far, with the latest in Ohio and New York. Unlike in Mexico where the same strain appears to be killing dozens of people, cases in the United State have been mild -- and U.S. health authorities can't yet explain why.
Is Swine Flu A Biological Weapon? Or are relatively limited number of deaths an indication that the panic is worse than the actual threat? There are some factors that suggest the swine flu killing people in Mexico may be a biological weapon, but obviously no such conclusion can be drawn at this time. The World Health Organization and the U.S. government have been quick to deny such claims. The swine flu virus is described as a completely new strain, an intercontinental mixture of human, avian and swine viruses. Tellingly, there have been no reported A-H1N1 infections of pigs. According to a source known to former NSA official Wayne Madsen, “A top scientist for the United Nations, who has examined the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa, as well as HIV/AIDS victims, concluded that H1N1 possesses certain transmission “vectors” that suggest that the new flu strain has been genetically-manufactured as a military biological warfare weapon.
Swine Flu Pandemic Would Cost Trillions This afternoon, the WHO declared that the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the U.S. is a health emergency of international concern. Reuters has put together a list of estimates of the economics costs that may be incurred if swine flu becomes a full out pandemic. The World Bank estimated in 2008 that a flu pandemic could cost $3 trillion and result in a nearly 5 percent drop in world gross domestic product. The World Bank has estimated that more than 70 million people could die worldwide in a severe pandemic.
Baxter To Develop Swine Flu Vaccine Despite Bird Flu Scandal The fox has been given the duty of guarding the henhouse A U.S. based pharmaceutical company that just weeks ago was involved in a scandal involving vaccines tainted with deadly avian flu virus has been chosen to head up efforts to produce a vaccine for the Mexican swine flu that has seemingly migrated into the U.S. and Europe. Baxter confirmed over the weekend that it is working with the World Health Organization on a potential vaccine to curb the deadly swine flu virus that is blamed for scores of deaths in Mexico and has emerged as a threat in the U.S., reports the Chicago Tribune.
CDC: US begins border monitoring for swine flu CDC: US has begun monitoring borders for evidence of swine flu spread, urges calm among public Amid surging worries about a global pandemic, the United States launched border screening for swine flu exposure Monday and a top federal health official said people should brace for more severe cases, "and possibly deaths." Meanwhile, President Barack Obama says the spread of swine flu is a cause for concern but "not a cause of alarm" and he's staying on top of the problem. Obama told a gathering of scientists Monday that the administration is "closely monitoring" cases of swine flu, how many people have it and what the threat is. Obama also said the American people can expect to get regular and frequent updates about what Washington is doing.
Secession: the Ultimate States' Right by Ron Paul Last week the governor of Texas ignited a media firestorm for his remarks involving the idea of secession. He did not call for Texas to secede from the United States. He merely pointed out that the federal government was treading heavily on the sovereignty of the states and that this can not continue indefinitely without a breaking point. The reaction to Governor Perry's statements has been nothing short of hysterical. He has been called treasonous for making this obvious point and opening up a discussion. I am not calling for secession either, however there is nothing wrong with a healthy and open discussion of this issue.
More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman’s living room to grapple with the fallout. The problem was not that the group, the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, had attracted an outpouring of hostility. It was the opposite. An overflow audience of more than 100 had showed up for their most recent public symposium, and the board members discussed whether it was time to find a larger place.
Falungong silent in China, thriving abroad HONG KONG - Over the past decade, China's leadership has stood up to a daunting array of challenges as the nation continued its rise as a world power. Remarkably, one of the largest has been an army of meditation and exercise addicts whose leader claims to have supernatural powers. Ten years ago this week the Falungong, an organization devoted to a variety of the ancient practice of qigong or deep-breathing exercises, shook the Chinese government to its core. In the largest demonstration since the occupation of Tiananmen Square by student-led pro-democracy demonstrators in 1989, more than 10,000 Falungong practitioners gathered outside Zhongnanhai, the red-walled Communist Party headquarters in Beijing. There they demanded the release of 50 sect members who had been detained in the northern city of Tianjin and government recognition of the group as a legal entity.
Ron Paul gets some love from Hillary Clinton 04/22/2009 CSPAN
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