Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Tuesday 11.20.2012
The Forces that will Push Silver Over $100
BY STEVE ST. ANGELO - FinancialSense.com
There are tremendous forces at work that will push silver over $100 an ounce. Very fewprecious metal analysts understand all the forces that are at work. Some analysts focus on specific areas such as the gold-silver ratio and technical analysis, while others write about future investment and industrial demand. And then of course, we have the more unorthodox analysts who delve into the ongoing manipulation of gold and silver -- a realization shared by the author of this article.
Gold Starts Week Higher, Deal on Fiscal Cliff
BY BEN TRAYNOR - FinancialSense.com
Spot market gold bullion prices hovered close to $1725 an ounce during this morning's London trading, holding gains made overnight in Asia, as stocks and commodities also recovered some ground lost last week, after news that a deal may be achieved in time to avoid so-called fiscal cliff of US tax rises and spending cuts currently scheduled for the start of 2013.
Silver bullion rallied back above $32.70 an ounce, recovering Friday's losses, while US Treasury bond prices fell along with the Dollar.
The Unadulterated Gold Standard Part II (History)
BY KEITH WEINER - FinancialSense.com
In Part I, we looked at the period prior to and during the time of what we now call the Classical Gold Standard. It should be underscored that it worked pretty darned well. Under this standard, the United States produced more wealth at a faster pace than any other country before, or since. There were problems; such as laws to fix prices, and regulations to force banks to buy government bonds, but they were not an essential property of the gold standard.
Econ Crisis 12 - Deficits & the Debt
The United States is at a decision point that will affect everyone. To understand the issues, start with Federal spending as a percentage of GDP from 1970 to 2087 -- 75 years from now. Here is 2012. So this part actually happened, and this is what is projected by the Congressional Budget Office
"The Fed, Having Used Its Bazookas,
Is Now Down To Firecrackers"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Austerity is coming our way, it's just a matter in what manner and by how much, and whether it becomes an orderly or disorderly process. The fiscal cliff is really a bit of a ruse in that respect, but the key here is that years of fiscal profligacy is coming to an end and the Fed at this point, having used its bazookas, is now down to firecrackers. The economic outlook as such is completely muddled and along with that the prospect for any turnaround in corporate earnings... Once we get past the Fiscal Cliff we will confront the inherent inability of the Democrats and the GOP to embark on any grand bargain to blaze the trail for true fiscal reforms. The U.S. has not had a rewrite of its tax code since 1986, which was the year Microsoft went public and a decade prior to Al Gore's invention of the Internet. The tax system is massively inefficient and leads to a gross misallocation of resources that impedes economic progress — rewarding conspicuous consumption at the expense of savings and investment. It is the lingering uncertainty over the road to meaningful fiscal reform that is really the mot cause of the angst — the fiscal cliff is really a side show because who doesn't know that we are going to have a Khrushchev moment?
"The Fed, Having Used Its Bazookas,
Is Now Down To Firecrackers"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Austerity is coming our way, it's just a matter in what manner and by how much, and whether it becomes an orderly or disorderly process. The fiscal cliff is really a bit of a ruse in that respect, but the key here is that years of fiscal profligacy is coming to an end and the Fed at this point, having used its bazookas, is now down to firecrackers. The economic outlook as such is completely muddled and along with that the prospect for any turnaround in corporate earnings... Once we get past the Fiscal Cliff we will confront the inherent inability of the Democrats and the GOP to embark on any grand bargain to blaze the trail for true fiscal reforms. The U.S. has not had a rewrite of its tax code since 1986, which was the year Microsoft went public and a decade prior to Al Gore's invention of the Internet. The tax system is massively inefficient and leads to a gross misallocation of resources that impedes economic progress — rewarding conspicuous consumption at the expense of savings and investment. It is the lingering uncertainty over the road to meaningful fiscal reform that is really the mot cause of the angst — the fiscal cliff is really a side show because who doesn't know that we are going to have a Khrushchev moment?
Geitner want open credit line without limits or oversight Treasury Secretary Geithner: Lift Debt Limit to Infinity
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday that Congress should stop placing legal limits on the amount of money the government can borrow and effectively lift the debt limit to infinity.
On Bloomberg TV, "Political Capital" host Al Hunt asked Geithner if he believes "we ought to just eliminate the debt ceiling."
"Oh, absolutely," Geithner said.
"You do? Will you propose that?" Hunt asked.
Why Not Print More Money?
If the government can print money, why doesn't it just print money and hand it out? Economics Prof. Antony Davies explains that understanding why money was invented can explain why it is not useful for the government to print money to give away. Increasing the amount of money available for goods and services will only increase prices: this is inflation. If everyone has twice as much money but everything costs twice as much as before, are people better off? Having government print money will not increase wealth.
Fiscal Cliff or Slippery Slope?
BY DAVID KOTOK - FinancialSense.com
When it comes to US fiscal policy, are we faced with a cliff, or a slippery slope? There is a difference between off-the-cliff Greece, the slippery-sloped European periphery, and the not-there-yet US.
We shall see if Alexis de Tocqueville may be right in his quote, "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury."
George Santayana was certainly right in his quote, "Those who cannot remember their past are condemned to repeat it."
Investment Falls Off a Cliff U.S. Companies Cut Spending Plans
Amid Fiscal and Economic Uncertainty
By SUDEEP REDDY and SCOTT THURM - WSJ.com
U.S. companies are scaling back investment plans at the fastest pace since the recession, signaling more trouble for the economic recovery.
Half of the nation's 40 biggest publicly traded corporate spenders have announced plans to curtail capital expenditures this year or next, according to a review by The Wall Street Journal of securities filings and conference calls.
The looming disaster the Fed's stress tests miss Banks could lose tens of billions of dollars
if the bond market turns south.
By Stephen Gandel - Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- In the past year or so, banks, looking for safety and some yield, have stashed an increasing amount of their cash in the bond market, much of it in U.S. Treasuries. If rates were to rise quickly, that could cause huge losses at the banks, and potentially a credit crunch that would rival the financial crisis. Sounds scary, right? Want to know something even scarier? The Federal Reserve seems unaware this is even a possibility.
The Fed recently released its criteria for the latest round of bank stress test. The tests are a new annual regimen implemented in the wake of the financial crisis. In part, they're supposed to protect us from having another one.
Worse To Come For Economy In 2013 The Year of Betting Conservatively
By Nouriel Roubini - ProjectSyndicate.org
NEW YORK – The upswing in global equity markets that started in July is now running out of steam, which comes as no surprise: with no significant improvement in growth prospects in either the advanced or major emerging economies, the rally always seemed to lack legs. If anything, the correction might have come sooner, given disappointing macroeconomic data in recent months.
Starting with the advanced countries, the eurozone recession has spread from the periphery to the core, with France entering recession and Germany facing a double whammy of slowing growth in one major export market (China/Asia) and outright contraction in others (southern Europe). Economic growth in the United States has remained anemic, at 1.5-2% for most of the year, and Japan is lapsing into a new recession. The United Kingdom, like the eurozone, has already endured a double-dip recession, and now even strong commodity exporters – Canada, the Nordic countries, and Australia – are slowing in the face of headwinds from the US, Europe, and China.
Billions in bearer bonds could be lost due to Hurricane Sandy
By MICHAEL GARTLAND - NYPost.com
It's the biggest mystery on Wall Street.
Hurricane Sandy floodwaters inundated a 10,000-square-foot underground vault downtown, soaking 1.3 million bond and stock certificates — including bearer bonds that function like cash — and putting them in danger of turning to mush.
A contractor working for the vault owner, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., is feverishly working to restore the paper.
But the value of the threatened notes under 55 Water St. remains unknown to all but the innermost circle of Wall Street bankers.
One source said $70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy.
The Market, Socialism and the Justice System
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
Many of the greatest minds of the late nineteenth century worried that anti-market ideology was destined to destroy civilization. It happens that modern man – civilized man – cannot live without a complex market economy to sustain him. Yet the market economy has long been the target of those who would overthrow it in favor of socialism. The free enterprise system is attacked as environmentally destructive, unequal, unsafe at any speed, and exploitive. In the words of the French scientist Gustave Le Bon, "Here, I repeat, is the danger of the present hour. We are possessed of the same sentiments of sickly humanitarianism which have already given us the [French] Revolution, the most despotic and bloodiest that the world has ever known – the Terror, Napoleon, and the death of three millions." Of course, Le Bon penned these words before the bloodiest century of all – the twentieth century – in which socialism claimed over 100 million lives.
Why Obama Pushes Higher Rates vs. Deduction Limit
By David Wessel - WSJ.com
President Barack Obama says, repeatedly, that the best-off Americans should pay "a bit more" in taxes to help reduce the deficit. He wants to lift the 33% marginal tax rate, the tax on each additional dollar of income, to 36% and the 35% rate to 39.6%. That's where President Bill Clinton left them.
Republicans have basically thrown in the towel on changing the tax code to bring in more revenue, but resist raising rates and, instead, want to curtail deductions, credits, exclusions and loopholes to get Americans to pay more to the Treasury to avoid what they see as the growth-retarding effects of higher tax rates.
Pelosi Says Budget Deal Should Raise Taxes on Top Earners
By William Selway and Andrew Zajac - Bloomberg.com
U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said any budget agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff must raise tax rates on the highest earners, a step backed by President Barack Obama.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, couldn't accept any budget deal that doesn't raise tax rates on the wealthy, she said in an interview broadcast yesterday on ABC's "This Week." She said she's optimistic that an agreement can be reached, possibly by mid-December, and that eliminating tax loopholes won't raise enough revenue on their own.
France loses another AAA rating with Moody's downgrade
By Charles Riley - CNN.com
HONG KONG (CNNMoney) -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of France, stripping a key eurozone economy of its prized AAA status.
The rating was cut one notch from AAA to Aa1. Moody's said its outlook remains negative, which means further downgrades are possible.
The downgrade follows a similar move by Standard & Poor's, whichmoved France off a AAA rating in January. Fitch is now the only ratings agency which gives French debt a AAA rating.
Keiser Report: 'Crash JP Morgan' -
2nd Anniversary Special (E368)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert present the two year anniversary special of their Crash JPM, Buy Silver campaign. They discuss JP Morgan doing everything to protect the Queen of their massive silver short position - a position that has DOUBLED in the past two years according to Rob Kirby of GATA and Kirby Analytics. They also discuss Central Banks pullling on their own little bungee cords by printing money. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to James Turk of Goldmoney.com about the link between liberty and gold and the shooting war to follow the currency war. The also discuss the gold/silver ratio and why silver today is like gold at $600.
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WARNING! BE WARY of angry, noisy demagogues and large-market talk-show hosts, or anyone else, promoting unrest, rebellion, secession, and/or sedition.
What seceding from the U.S. will cost you
By Brett Arends - MarketWatch.com
Your state wants to secede from the union. What will this mean for your taxes?
I have good news and bad news. The good news is really good. But the bad news is really, really bad.
We'll get to them in a moment.
Talk of secession is in the air. The White House this week confirmed that residents in all fifty states had submitted petitions asking to leave the union. Will the last one left please turn out the lights?
Residents in seven states, all in the former Confederacy, submitted more than 30,000 signatures each — enough that some hapless bureaucrat or intern will now have to take a look at their petitions.
Secession: Are We Free to Go?
BY RON PAUL - FinancialSense.com
Is all the recent talk of secession mere sour grapes over the election, or perhaps something deeper? Currently there are active petitions in support of secession for all 50 states, with Texas taking the lead in number of signatures. Texas has well over the number of signatures needed to generate a response from the administration, and while I wouldn't hold my breath on Texas actually seceding, I believe these petitions raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union.
Is it treasonous to want to secede from the United States? Many think the question of secession was settled by our Civil War. On the contrary; the principles of self-governance and voluntary association are at the core of our founding. Clearly Thomas Jefferson believed secession was proper, albeit as a last resort. Writing to William Giles in 1825, he concluded that states:
"should separate from our companions only when the sole alternatives left, are the dissolution of our Union with them, or submission to a government without limitation of powers."
Ron Paul: Petitions on secession raise 'worthwhile questions'
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
Former presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Texas) said in a blog post Monday that secession protests launched in the wake of President Obama's reelection "raise a lot of worthwhile questions about the nature of our union."
Thousands of Americans have signed digital petitions — at least one from every state — on the White House's "We the People" petition website. The administration has promised a response to every petition on the site that collects at least 25,000 signatures within 30 days. At least seven states, including Texas, have hit that mark.
SEC Rocked By Lurid Sex-and-Corruption Lawsuit
By Matt Taibbi - RollingStone.com
Move over, adulterous generals. It might be time to make way for a new sexual rats' nest – at America's top financial police agency, the SEC.
In a salacious 77-page complaint that reads like Penthouse Forum meets The Insider meets the Keystone Kops, one David Weber, the former chief investigator for the SEC Inspector General's office, accuses the SEC of retaliating against Weber for coming forward as a whistleblower. According to this lawsuit, Weber was made a target of intramural intrigues at the agency (which has a history of such retaliation) after he came forward with concerns that his bosses may have been spending more time copulating than they were investigating the SEC.
Twinkie Defense: Judge Orders Hostess to Mediate With Union
NBCNewYork.com
Twinkies won't die that easily after all.
Hostess Brands Inc. and its second largest union will go into mediation to try and resolve their differences, meaning the Irving, Texas-based company won't go out of business just yet.
The bankruptcy judge hearing the case said Monday that the parties haven't gone through the critical step of mediation and asked the lawyer for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, which has been on strike on Nov. 9, to ask his client, who wasn't present, if the union would agree to participate. The judge noted that the bakery union went on strike after rejecting the company's latest contract offer, even though it never filed an objection to it.
Hostess shutdown on hold
By Chris Isidore and James O'Toole - CNN.com
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CNNMoney) -- Hostess Brands and a key union agreed Monday to try to mediate their dispute -- an unexpected development that could spare the company from permanently shutting down.
The Bakery Workers union, which represents 5,000 of the 18,500 employees at the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, went on strikeon Nov. 9. The company had imposed paycuts and other concessions opposed by the union's membership.
Hostess and Bakers Union Asked to Explain Strike Reasons
By Dawn McCarty - Bloomberg.com
The judge overseeing Hostess Brands Inc. declined to approve the company's liquidation today and asked management and the bakers' union to enter mediation tomorrow to explain the strike that the maker of Twinkies and Wonder bread said forced it to shut down.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain said at a hearing in White Plains, New York, that there are "serious questions as to the logic behind the decision to strike." Hostess and the bakers' union agreed to Drain's request to enter confidential mediation under his supervision.
US Tries To Wrest Control Of Hostess Liquidation
As Management Seeks To Pay $1.75 Million
In "Incentive" Bonuses
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The Hostess bankruptcy liquidation, the result of a bungled negotiation between the company, its equity sponsors, its striking workers, and the labor union, over what has been defined as unsustainable benefits and pension benefits, is rapidly becoming a Ding Ding farce. The latest news in what promises to be an epic Chapter 22 fight is that the judge, pressured by various impaired stakeholders, among which none other than the US trustee, is that the bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, who has previously presided over such Chapter 11 cases as Loral, RCN, Cornerstone, Refco, Allegiance Telecom, Delphi, Coudert Brothers, Frontier Airlines and Star Tribune, has ordered the company and its unions to seek private mediation to attempt averting what the company has already said is an inevitable unwind of operations.
Hostess' Twinkie Defense Is a Management Failure
By Adam Hartung - Forbes.com
Hostess Brands filed for liquidation this week. Management blamed its workforce for the failure.
That is scapegoating.
In 1978 Dan White killedSan Francisco's mayorGeorge Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk. The press labeled his defense the "Twinkie Defense" because he claimed eating sugary junk food – likeTwinkies – caused diminished capacity. Amazingly the jury bought it, and convicted him of manslaughter instead of murder saying he really wasn't responsible for his own actions. An outraged city rioted.
The Twinkie Manifesto
By PAUL KRUGMAN - NYTimes.com
The Twinkie, it turns out, was introduced way back in 1930. In our memories, however, the iconic snack will forever be identified with the 1950s, when Hostess popularized the brand by sponsoring "The Howdy Doody Show." And the demise of Hostess has unleashed a wave of baby boomer nostalgia for a seemingly more innocent time.
Needless to say, it wasn't really innocent. But the '50s — the Twinkie Era — do offer lessons that remain relevant in the 21st century. Above all, the success of the postwar American economy demonstrates that, contrary to today's conservative orthodoxy, you can have prosperity without demeaning workers and coddling the rich.
Wal-Mart warns workers on Black Friday strike
By Emily Jane Fox - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As Wal-Mart workers prepare to stage a walkout on Black Friday, the world's largest store is fighting back.
Wal-Mart has filed a complaint with a federal agency accusing one of the largest labor unions in the country of unlawfully organizing picket lines, in-store "flash mobs" and other demonstrations in the past six months.
In its complaint Thursday, Wal-Mart said the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its subsidiary known as OURWalmart is trying to force the store into collective bargaining even though it is not the official union for Wal-Mart's employees. The UFCW represents over a million meat packers and food industry workers.
Wal-Mart files U.S. labor charge against union
By Jessica Wohl
Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:14pm EST
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its first legal step to stop months of protests and rallies outside Walmart stores, targeting the union that it says is behind such actions.
Wal-Mart filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, or UFCW, asking the National Labor Relations Board to halt what the retailer says are unlawful attempts to disrupt its business.
Portland port braces for strike Possible action by longshoremen would affect local terminal
By Richard Read, The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Port of Portland officials are bracing for a strike by longshore workers starting Nov. 25 that would tie up millions of dollars worth of freight at three terminals.
Representatives of the Port and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union say the strike could still be averted. But Port officials believe cargo ships may begin bypassing Portland because of the uncertainty created by the failure of last-ditch contract talks Friday.
Homeless In New Jersey
By Dave Zgodzinski - OilPrice.com
Up here you get to a time in late November when you want winter to start. You know it's coming. It's dark and barren outside. The ground is frozen. Let it start. Let the snow come. Something down inside you wants to feel the sting of cold air on your face so you know that winter's here. The sooner it starts, the sooner it's over. But it's not here, yet.
It's like the old joke about the Sadist and the Masochist.
The Masochist cries out to the Sadist . .
"Beat me . . . please beat me."
The Sadist replies . . .
"No."
In Alberta and on the Prairies, winter started early this year. It has already made its mark with snow and cold. But here in the east, we are getting tropical storms instead. Around here, record high temperatures followed the hurricane.
10 million Americans have no bank accounts
By GREGORY BRESIGER - NYPost.com
There's no line at the bank, but the check-cashing kiosk is standing room only.
That's where millions of Americans are going. They have no bank account, or have limited banking relationships, and their numbers are rising, according to a federal agency.
Some 10 million Americans, or 8.2 percent of US households, are classified as unbanked, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) survey. That's some 821,000 households, FDIC officials said. And that's up almost 1 percent from the previous survey.
America Is A Frog In A Pot
Of Slowly Heating Water That's About To Boil
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
It's hard for us to understand what happened to the America where unborn life was once respected and protected, where marriage existed only between a man and a woman and was considered sacred and where no self respecting person would ever stand in front of a television audience of millions and tell them it was her right to have her contraception paid for out of the public coffers.
Where people took the responsibility for taking care of their families and would never lie about their infirmities in order to collect a disability check, when teenage pregnancy was rare and church attendance was routine in most families, before ambulance chasers clogged the courtrooms with frivolous lawsuits and the name and symbolism of God and His Son Jesus Christ were prominently displayed in public places.
America's Power Grid Vulnerable to Terrorist Attacks
By Al Fin - OilPrice.com
Terrorists could black out large segments of the United States for weeks or months by attacking the power grid and damaging hard-to-replace components that are crucial to making it work, the National Academy of Sciences said in a report released last Wednesday.
While the report is the most authoritative yet on the subject, the grid's vulnerability has long been obvious to independent engineers and to the electric industry itself, which has intermittently tried, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, to rehearse responses.
Government Website For Immigrants:
Come To America And Take Advantage Of Our Free Stuff
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
A website run by the federal government ("WelcomeToUSA.gov") encourages new immigrants to the United States to apply for welfare benefits. This website is run by the Department of Homeland Security and it says that it "is the U.S. Government's official web portal for new immigrants." So your tax dollars were used to build and maintain a website that teaches immigrants how to come into this country and sponge a living off of federal welfare programs paid for by your tax dollars. What in the world is happening to us? Yes, we will always need some legal immigration. We are a nation of immigrants and immigration has been very good to this country. But at a time when there are millions upon millions of American citizens out of work and at a time when we are absolutely drowning in debt, do we really need to encourage millions more immigrants to come over and take advantage of our overloaded social welfare programs? WelcomeToUSA.gov actually encourages new immigrants to apply for food stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Of course not all immigrants are eligible for all of those programs, but if an immigrant can get over to the U.S. and just get signed up for a couple of programs they can enjoy a higher standard of living doing nothing here than they can working at a low paying job back home. We have created a perverse system of incentives that makes it very attractive to people all over the world to do whatever they can to hitch a ride on "the gravy train" and take advantage of all of the benefits that they possibly can.
Homeland Security promotes welfare
to new immigrants in government 'welcome' materials
By Caroline May - DailyCaller.com
Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your new country can do for you.
"Welcome to USA.gov," a website maintained by the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), bills itself as the "primary gateway for new immigrants to find basic information on how to settle in the United States" — featuring a prominent section for new immigrants about how to access government benefits.
Oklahoma is latest to reject state-based health exchange
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
Add Oklahoma to the list of Republican-led states that won't implement the key feature of President Obama's healthcare law.
Gov. Mary Fallin said Monday that she won't set up a state-based insurance exchange — a new portal where people who don't get insurance through their employers can shop for coverage, often with help from a federal subsidy.
Silicon Valley Dems concerned
about looming antitrust case against Google
By Brendan Sasso - TheHill.com
Two Silicon Valley lawmakers wrote to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz on Monday to express their concern over a potential antitrust lawsuit against Google.
Democratic Reps. Anna Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren slammed the FTC for leaking information to the press about the case and warned the agency not to stretch its antitrust authority.
Must-Have Job Skills in 2013
By RUTH MANTELL - MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Even as employers remain cautious next year about every dollar spent on employees, they'll also want workers to show greater skills and results.
For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won't be enough. To win a promotion or land a job next year, experts say there are four must-have job skills:
Clear communications
Whatever their level, communication is key for workers to advance.
"This is really the ability to clearly articulate your point of view and the ability to create a connection through communication," says Holly Paul, U.S. recruiting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting and consulting firm based in New York.
America's Trouble with China
By Harold Brown - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Xi Jinping, China's newly anointed president, made his first visit to the United States in May 1980. He was a 27-year-old junior officer accompanying Geng Biao, then a vice premier and China's leading military official. Geng had been my host the previous January, when I was the first US defense secretary to visit China, acting as an interlocutor for President Jimmy Carter's administration.
Americans had little reason to notice Xi back then, but his superiors clearly saw his potential. In the ensuing 32 years, Xi's stature rose, along with China's economic and military strength. His cohort's ascent to the summit of power marks the retirement of the last generation of leaders designated by Deng Xiaoping (though they retain influence).
Half-Built Luxury Ghost Towns Show Risk of China's Shadow Banking Purple Palace Abandoned Shows China Shadow-Banking Risk
By Bloomberg News
Niu Dianqing stopped his motorbike at a construction site in China's Inner Mongolia one morning last month. The front door was locked.
"They said they will pay me this month, but it seems I'm fooled again," said Niu, who supplied nets for protecting workers from falling off bamboo scaffolding at the half- completed Purple Palace, a development including a luxury hotel and three residential buildings in the city of Ordos. "The doorman was still here last week, but now even he's gone."
President Xi's Singapore Lessons
By Michael Spence - ProjectSyndicate.org
NEW YORK – China is at a crucial point today, as it was in 1978, when the market reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping opened its economy to the world – and as it was again in the early 1990's, when Deng's famous "southern tour" reaffirmed the country's development path.
Throughout this time, examples and lessons from other countries have been important. Deng was reportedly substantially influenced by an early visit to Singapore, where accelerated growth and prosperity had come decades earlier. Understanding other developing countries' successes and shortcomings has been – and remains – an important part of China's approach to formulating its growth strategy.
Xi Warns of Regime's Demise Unless China Tackles Graft
By Bloomberg News
Xi Jinping, the new head of China's ruling Communist Party, told his fellow leaders that unless they address corruption social unrest may rise and it could lead to the demise of the party.
"The preponderance of facts tell us that the more severe the corruption problem becomes, it will ultimately lead the party and the nation to perish!" Xi told members of the ruling Politburo on Nov. 17 in remarks published yesterday in the People's Daily, the party newspaper. "We must be vigilant!"
Is Iran Using an Insurance Scam to Cover its Oil Tankers?
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
An interesting article has today been published by Forbes which investigates the possibility that Iran has set up a false insurance company, offering illegal insurance policies, in order to circumvent the EU sanctions and enable the Persian State to continue exporting its crude.
Very Large Crude Carriers are obliged by international maritime authorities to carry mandatory third-party liability insurance of a value up to $1 billion, known as Protection and Indemnity Coverage. This type of coverage is only offered by large insurance groups (P&I clubs), 90% of which are based in Europe. EU sanctions against Iran have prevented European insurers from dealing with Iranian tankers, and this has severely affected Iran's export, as without cover, its tanker cannot deliver oil. It has lost all of its European customers, and other international customers have drastically reduced their purchases.
U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed
By Barbara Starr - CNN.com
Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials.
The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines.
Egypt the Peacemaker?
By Itamar Rabinovich - Project-Syndicate.org
TEL AVIV – Before the current fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza escalates further, a ceasefire must be negotiated. Of course, like previous ceasefires, any truce is likely to be temporary, inevitably undermined by the forces that perpetuate Israel's armed conflict with Hamas. Nonetheless, with Syria consumed in civil war and the wider Middle East already unsteady, a ceasefire is essential both for saving lives and preserving today's uneasy regional peace.
Much depends on Egypt, which is best placed to broker an agreement. But assessing the prospects of any diplomatic effort requires understanding the protagonists' perspectives and agendas.
Obama Suggests Israel's Plight
Not a Result of Arab Spring 'Democratization'
By Patrick Goodenough - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – President Obama on Sunday played down the notion that the conflict between Israel and Hamas has been complicated by "Arab spring" transitions in the Middle East.
Despite warnings from various Arab leaders and Turkey that Israel faces a new environment in the changing Middle East, Obama pointed out that conflict between Israelis and Palestinians had been going on long before what he described as "democratization in the region."
Israel says prefers diplomacy but ready to invade Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller
GAZA/JERUSALEM | Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:37pm EST
(Reuters) - Israel bombed dozens more targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and said that, while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire.
Egypt said a deal for a truce could be close, though by late evening there was no end to six days of heavy missile exchanges as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed his next steps with his inner circle of senior ministers.
Why Israel might hesitate to invade
By Mike Mount - CNN.com
Thousands of Israeli troops with tanks and armored vehicles are poised on Gaza's borders ready to move in if Israel believes there is no chance for a cease-fire in its conflict with Hamas.
The Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, told reporters Monday at a briefing at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC that Israel would like to avoid a ground invasion, but war planning is complete and they are ready to move in if necessary.
Hamas Says Cease-Fire Depends on Israel as Troops Mass
By Jonathan Ferziger and Saud Abu Ramadan - Bloomberg.com
The head of Hamas said Israel must end its blockade of the Gaza Strip if a cease-fire is to be agreed upon, as Israeli ground forces honed preparations to enter the territory for the first time in almost four years.
As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Egypt today to help broker an end to the fighting, the political head of Hamas told reporters in Cairo that it hadn't asked for a truce. The Palestinian Islamist group is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union.
Just for the fun of it… and memories for Boomers...
1999.March 1st. Walk Don't Run with General George Babbitt
The Ventures with The United States Air force Band and George Babbitt, very first drummer, with "Walk Don't Run" after 38 year reunion. 1959. Don, 26. Bob, 25. Nokie, 24. George, 17. you know why; his under age for nightclub perfomance.
