Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Wednesday 02.29.2012
Remaking the Mistakes of the Great Depression
BY BRUCE KRASTING - FinancialSense.com
Ben Bernanke has said many times that Marriner Eccles, the head of the Federal Reserve in 1936/37 made a mistake by tightening credit (raising reserve requirements). Bernanke blames Eccles’s actions for the 50% stock market collapse in 1937 and the second leg of the depression that followed.
Bernanke’s interpretation of Eccles’s actions is widely held by historians. It was FDR who first (conveniently) blamed the Fed. I think that Bernanke is also (conveniently) blaming Eccles. He is using history's interpretation to support his position that monetary policy must be set on MAX for the next three years. He has said that he will not make the same mistake that poor old Eccles made.
"Gold is not a phantom currency as many say, it is the US currency that is the phantom."
Charles Biderman, February 27, 2012
Charles Biderman gives a step by step analysis of the key data that some say shows an 'economic recovery.'
Accounting tricks, statistical smoke and mirrors, and a stock rally fueled by Fed printing do not reflect the real state of the US economy.
There is evidence that the situation has stabilized. The problem is that the stimulus which the Fed is providing is not directed towards productive activity sufficient to spark a genuine recovery with a rising median wage. Rather, it is being used to prop up a dysfunctional economy that is still rife with corruption, malinvestment, and insider dealings designed to transfer even more wealth to the top one percent. And the prescription being offered by the perpetrators, for the maladies of their crisis, is to take more from the poor and the weak, and pay for an excess of fraud with their pains.
EXTEND & PRETEND COMING TO AN END
By James Quinn - TheBurningPlatform.com
The real world revolves around cash flow. Families across the land understand this basic concept. Cash flows in from wages, investments and these days from the government. Cash flows out for food, gasoline, utilities, cable, cell phones, real estate taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, clothing, mortgage payments, car payments, insurance payments, medical bills, auto repairs, home repairs, appliances, electronic gadgets, education, alcohol (necessary in this economy) and a countless other everyday expenses. If the outflow exceeds the inflow a family may be able to fund the deficit with credit cards for awhile, but ultimately running a cash flow deficit will result in debt default and loss of your home and assets. Ask the millions of Americans that have experienced this exact outcome since 2008 if you believe this is only a theoretical exercise. The Federal government, Federal Reserve, Wall Street banks, regulatory agencies and commercial real estate debtors have colluded since 2008 to pretend cash flow doesn’t matter. Their plan has been to “extend and pretend”, praying for an economic recovery that would save them from their greedy and foolish risk taking during the 2003 – 2007 Caligula-like debauchery.
Gold May Gain in NY on Weaker Dollar
By Debarati Roy and Nicholas Larkin - Bloomberg.com
Gold advanced to a three-month high and silver posted its biggest gain in eight weeks as investors bought precious metals as an alternative to a weakening dollar. Platinum and palladium also rose.
The dollar fell for the third time in four sessions against a basket of currencies and the euro rose to a three-month high as the European Central Bank prepares to allot a second round of three-year loans to help the region’s banks tomorrow. The MSCI All-Country World Index of stocks climbed as a gauge of U.S. consumer confidence jumped to a one-year high.
Why U.S. Gov’t Confiscated Gold in 1933.
Can it Happen Again?
By: Julian D. W. Phillips - GoldSeek.com
More and more investors are asking this question. Many observers and commentators have ridiculed this idea as archaic with the conditions that led to the confiscation being so different as to leave such a possibility as remote as the return of the dinosaurs.
In this the first part of a series on the subject we look at the picture that led to the confiscation and look at factors that caused the confiscation to see if there are reasons why it can happen again, today!
Silver Explodes As DJIA Closes Above 13,000
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
After 22 crosses yesterday, and 12 more today, the Dow managed to close above 13000. Transports were lower but less so on Oil's modest retracement (though the Brent-WTI spread remained around $15). While stocks closed modestly higher, volatility and correlation markets remained considerably higher than would be expected and along with quite considerable relative weakness in HYG (the high yield bond ETF) into the close as well as aclear up-in-quality rotation was evident as investment grade credit outperformed notably (not exactly a high-beta risk-on shift). Apple's meteoric rise helped drag Tech to first place overall today and also YTD followed closely (YTD) by financials both up around 14%. The last week or so of slow bleed higher in stocks has notably not been led by a short-squeeze in general - based on our index of most shorted names - but as is becoming more and more clear, divergences (and canaries) are appearing all over the place but we suspect can be traced back to Apple in many cases for its over-weighting impact.
GATA: The Russians And Chinese
Know What We Know And It Is SO Bullish!
By: Bill Murphy - GoldSeek.com
There has been a great deal of commotion of late, and over these past few months, about China and their growing influence in the gold market. It is coverage well deserved and very important. It got me thinking it would be a good time to go a bit retro re the GATA story as it revolves around gold, the Chinese, and the Russians … and why it is so important for gold investors to know what they know … as well as what GATA knows.
It is very simple. The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee was formed in January of 1999 to expose the manipulation of the gold market. At the time we thought it centered around various bullion banks, such as JP Morgan, Chase Bank, Goldman Sachs, etc. It wasn’t too long after that we realized the manipulation was far more vast … that it included our Fed, US Treasury, Exchange Stabilization Fund, and other central banks such as The Bank of England.
The Objectives of Currency Devaluation
Mises Daily: by Ludwig von Mises
In the boom period that ended in 1929, labor unions had succeeded in almost all countries in enforcing wage rates higher than those which the market, if manipulated only by migration barriers, would have determined. These wage rates already produced in many countries institutional unemployment of a considerable amount while credit expansion was still going on at an accelerated pace.
Data Shows $3.50 Gas May Be Tipping Point
for Consumers and Small Businesses
BY BRIAN PRETTI CFA - FinancialSense.com
It appears that consumer confidence and small business optimism experienced key turning points right around a national average gas price of $3.50 per gallon. Currently, it is $3.72. With wages stagnant and high unemployment, will this time be any different? Not likely.
If you’ve been to the gas station as of late, which I know you have, you’re clearly aware that gasoline prices are up noticeably In fact for those of us in Northern California in quite close physical proximity to actual refineries; ironically prices are meaningfully ahead of the national average! Is it déjà vu all over again, thinking back to how this same set of circumstances occurred in early 2011. What’s going on here? Is oil demand up dramatically across the globe?
No Easy Fix for Gas Prices
BY PETER D SCHIFF - FinancialSense.com
This month, as unleaded gasoline prices increased for 17 consecutive days (to a national average of $3.647 per gallon - up 11% thus far this year) and West Texas Intermediate crude joined Brent crude in breaking through a $100 per barrel level, energy prices emerged as a full blown political issue. While President Obama conveniently claimed that rising prices were the consequence of an improving economy (they're not, and it isn't) Republican fingers began to point sanctimoniously at current drilling policies. And while none of the accusers had any idea why prices were actually going up, the award for the most dangerous 'solution' must go to Bill O'Reilly at Fox News. The master of the "No Spin Zone" announced that high pump prices could be permanently brought down by a presidential order to restrict exports of refined gasoline. Not only does Mr. O'Reilly's idea demonstrate contempt for the U.S. Constitution but it also displays a thorough lack of economic understanding.
Forget $5 gas, the new worry is $6 gas: Middle East strife threatens to push prices to record levels
BY TYLER RUDICK - Houston.Culturemap.com
Could oil expert John Hofmeister's prediction of $5 gas in 2012 be too low? As tensions continue to mount over Iran's nuclear program, some analyst's say . . . well, maybe.
The first two weeks of February already have seen a surprising 18-cent jump in fuel pump prices according to petroleum Lundberg Survey, which charted a national average of $3.69 on Friday.
The online user-generated research group GasBuddy reported a slightly better national average at $3.65 per gallon with Houston clocking in at $3.54 — increases of 31 and 33 cents, respectively, from this time last year.
Another Unintended Consequence:
$80 Billion 'Gas Price' Tax On Consumption
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Although U.S. demand for crude oil has fallen by 1.5 million barrels per day since 2007, anyone spending more than a few minutes on the road, watching TV, or surfing the internet will be more than unpleasantly aware of the rapid rise in gas prices recently. As we noted earlier, following January's record high average gas price, February just surpassed its own record and TrimTabs quantifies the impact of this implicit tax on consumption, noting three key factors that will remain supportive of high oil prices: Central Bank liquidity provision (ZIRP), political tensions, and implicit USD devaluation. Critically, around 70% of the benefits of the payroll tax extension has already been removed thanks to 60-80c rise in gas prices nationwide whose growth has far outstripped wage and salary growth in recent years. As Madeline Schnapp points out, while the latest round of oil speculation is likely to end with a pop, she doubts oil prices will drop much below $100/bbl as the erosion of purchasing power from high energy prices is here to stay.
Soaring oil prices will dwarf the Greek drama Since last week's eurozone "grand summit", the headlines have been positive and, in the official photos anyway, the main players appear to be smiling. As such, the global equity rally goes on.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
Behind the rictus grins, though, the gloves remain off, the rhetorical daggers still drawn. Having launched the biggest sovereign debt restructuring in history, Athens now faces the Herculean task of persuading holders of Greek bonds to accept a "voluntary" hair-cut.
Creditors are being asked to swap their bonds for a combination of new short-term instruments, issued by the European Financial Stability Facility, and longer-term Greek government debt. If half of them agree to take the hit then, under "collective action clauses" approved by the Greek parliament, the deal could be forced on all bond-holders.
A Primer on the Euro Breakup Default, Exit and Devaluation as the Optimal Solution
BY JOHN MAULDIN - FinancialSense.com
It's one thing to say that peripheral eurozone countries are better off leaving the euro, but how, exactly? And how severe can we expect the consequences to be, not only for those nations but also for the entire eurozone – and for the rest of us, worldwide? To minimize fallout from the event(s), it would be helpful to have a solid foundation, based on an historical understanding of similar events, on which we could build a reasonable set of expectations.
In the following piece, Jonathan Tepper, my Endgame coauthor, gives us the cornerstone of just such a foundation. With his London firm, Variant Perception, he has prepared a 53-page report with the very confident title "A Primer on the Euro Breakup: Default, Exit and Devaluation as the Optimal Solution."
Germany approves Greek bail-out
but warns Angela Merkel against further help
German politicians approved the €130bn (£110m) bail-out for Greece but remained unconvinced by Angela Merkel’s warning that abandoning Greece would be “incalculable and therefore irresponsible”.
By Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
The Bundestag voted through the rescue funds with a large majority. But Ms Merkel was shown tough political and public opposition to any more support, just a day after the G20 demanded German backing for the eurozone firewalls.
Standard & Poor’s said it had put the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the “big bazooka” tasked with raising the bail-out funds, on negative outlook. The rating agency said the fund’s profile was weaker since some of its guarantor countries were stripped of their AAA ratings.
Irish EU treaty vote threatens chaos Ireland has shocked Europe with plans for a referendum on the EU's fiscal treaty, a move that risks an unprecedented fragmentation of the eurozone and a major clash with Germany.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Premier Enda Kenny said Dublin was acting on legal advice from Ireland's attorney-general that "on balance" the fiscal compact requires a vote under the country's constitution. "It gives the Irish people the opportunity to reaffirm Ireland's commitment to membership of the euro," he told ashen-faced members of the Dail.
All three major parties back the treaty but analysts say there is a high risk of rejection by angry voters in the current fractious mood. The compact gives the EU intrusive powers to police the budgets of debtor states, and has been denounced as feudal bondage by Sinn Fein and Ireland's vociferous eurosceptics. The Irish voted "No" to both the Nice and Lisbon treaties before being made to vote again. Dublin has ruled out a second vote this time.
The Dow Finally Closes Above Pre-Recession 13,000 Landmark
By ERIC RANDALL - TheAtlanticWire.com
It flirted with us all week by rising above and finishing below, but finally The Dow Jones Industrial Average has closed a day of trading above 13,000, a point significant because the Dow was last at that level before the recession, in May 2008. Financial reporters are already applauding the news as a good sign, even while admitting it's a momentous occasion only because, like a Hallmark holiday, we've chosen it as such. As one analyst somewhat tellingly admits to The New York Times, "Thirteen thousand is not so very important technically as it is emotionally, simply because it is not 12,000 ... It is on the way to 14,000. It is kind of a landmark on the way."
Volcker Rule faces protests of local, foreign governments
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
A new federal rule aimed at limiting the freewheeling trading of banks is prompting protests from local and foreign governments alike, which warn it could compromise their ability to borrow money needed to pay for public projects and operations.
States and localities — including in the Washington area — say the new regulation, known as the Volcker Rule, could make it more expensive for them to raise money from investors to pay, for instance, for environmental clean up and housing assistance. European governments warn the regulation could further aggravate their debt crisis, which is already roiling global financial markets.
GAO: Overlapping government programs cost billions
By Ed O'Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
The federal government is doing a poor job of coordinating its responsibilities in dozens of areas, including food safety, breast cancer research, assistance to small business owners and home buyers and background investigations for federal job applicants — a disorganization that could be costing taxpayers tens of billions of dollars annually, according to a new report.
The 428-page study by the Government Accountability Office details several significant cases of duplication, overlap or lack of coordination between agencies and programs. Here are a few examples:
MF Global Parent Confidentiality Rules Unfair, Customers Say
By Tiffany Kary - BusinessWeek.com
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s proposed rules that guard confidential information are unfair, customers of its failed brokerage said, questioning JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s role in deciding whether they can access information about missing customer funds.
Six customers with at least $2.4 million in claims against the brokerage, MF Global Inc., said the proposed rules restrict or delay their access to information about money believed to be missing from customer accounts. The holding company, which is reorganizing in bankruptcy to repay creditors, designed the rules and has interests contrary to the brokerage, now liquidating to repay customers, the group said.
Fed's Duke:
Much Less Lending
Would Occur Without Fannie, Freddie
By Kristina Peterson and Alan Zibel,
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES - NASDAQ.com
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Private investors in the U.S. mortgage-securities market would likely be hesitant to take on the loans currently handled by mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) if the two were immediately shut down, Federal Reserve Gov. Elizabeth Duke said Tuesday.
If the government-sponsored entities were closed, there would probably be " much, much less lending going on," Duke said Tuesday at a hearing held by the Senate Banking Committee, responding to questions from the committee's chairman, Tim Johnson (D., S.D.). Private investors would need more certainty about the future mortgage environment before taking on such large infrastructure investments, she said.
Fla. Senate panel clears foreclosure bill
CBSNews.com
(AP) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida Senate panel on Monday cleared a bill that aims to speed up the state's mortgage foreclosure process, which immediately resulted in jeers from an angry crowd of foreclosure victims.
The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee OK'd the bill (SB 1890) by a 6-4 vote with some crossing of party lines. Republican Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey voted against the measure, for example, and Democratic Sen. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale voted for it.
Principal reduction isn't ideal fix for foreclosures, official says Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, tells a Senate panel that forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the balances on troubled mortgages would hurt taxpayers.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington— The regulator over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pushed back against mounting pressure that the mortgage finance giants start reducing the principal owed on troubled loans, insisting the practice could hurt taxpayers and that alternatives were better at avoiding foreclosures.
Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told U.S. senators Tuesday that reducing the principal on mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie would not protect taxpayers.
Case-Shiller: Home Prices Down 4% YOY
Twist - HousingDoom.com
Yesterday the National Association of Realtors announced that Pending Home Sales are up. Sales may be up, but prices continue to go down:
U.S. home prices fell in December from a month earlier, ending 2011 at the lowest levels since the housing crisis began in mid-2006, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home-price indexes.
During the fourth quarter, home prices reached new lows, falling 3.8% sequentially and 4% year-to-year. Prices are down 33.8% from their peak in the second quarter of 2006.
"While we thought we saw some signs of stabilization in the middle of 2011, it appears that neither the economy nor consumer confidence was strong enough to move the market in a positive direction as the year ended," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee. "After a prior three years of accelerated decline, the past two years has been a story of a housing market that is bottoming out but has not yet stabilized."
Home price indices hit new lows
By Sara Kehaulani Goo - WashingtonPost.com
The national housing market took a hit in the latter half of 2011, falling to new lows not seen since the housing crisis began six years ago, according to data out Tuesday by S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
In the Washington area, which had remained one of the strongest markets during the housing crisis, the home price index fell 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to the third quarter 2011.
There is a difference between
a housing "bottom" and a housing "recovery"
HousingDoom.com
As I was surfing the internet last night, I ran across one more article (Out of who knows how many) that asked “Has the U.S. housing market finally bottomed?” Invariably these articles go on to indicate that somehow "bottom" = "recovery". For instance, last night’s article said:
With building activity and builder confidence increasing, and mortgage rates close to record lows, the overall trajectory is clearly upwards.
In fact, there really is no “trajectory” at the moment. Even Warren Buffett, who’s been bullish on the housing market for years, admitted this week he was wrong about an early recovery and that he has no estimate on when it will recover. Housing markets rarely have a V-shaped recovery, they tend to have a rather wide trough.
Home prices declined in 18 of 20 cities Prices declined in 18 of 20 cities
in final months of 2011, prices back to 2002 level
By Associated Press - WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — Home prices fell in December for a fourth straight month in most major U.S. cities, as modest sales gains in the depressed housing market have yet to lift prices.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index shows prices dropped in December from November in 18 of the 20 cities tracked. The steepest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. Miami and Phoenix were the only cities to show an increase.
Housing Is Rotting the Core of the Recovery No Longer Home Sweet Home:
The Ongoing Housing Crisis and the End of an Era
By Robert Reich - RobertReich.org
Economic cheerleaders on Wall Street and in the White House are taking heart. The US has had three straight months of faster job growth. The number of Americans each week filing new claims for unemployment benefits is down by more than 50,000 since early January. Corporate profits are healthy. The S&P 500 on Friday closed at a post-financial crisis high.
Has the American recovery finally entered the sweet virtuous cycle in which more spending generates more jobs, more jobs make consumers more confident, and the confidence creates more spending?
Christian Conservatives Guard Religious Liberty
By David Limbaugh - PatriotPost.com
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution contains two clauses addressing religious liberty: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
It's a shame that in their modern misguided zeal to read the first clause as mandating a complete separation of church and state, liberals do great damage to the second clause and defeat the overarching purpose of both: ensuring religious liberty.
Greed Isn’t Good: Wealth Could Make People Unethical
By Brandon Keim - Wired.com
As an individual’s wealth and status rise, so does their tendency to be unethical, concludes a new study of the relationship between socioeconomics and ethics.
The study included seven different experiments that spanned real-world and laboratory settings, from rude San Francisco drivers to test subjects given a chance to take candy from children.
"Occupying privileged positions in society has this natural psychological effect of insulating you from others," said psychologist Paul Piff of the University of California, Berkeley. "You’re less likely to perceive the impact your behavior has on others. As a result, at least in this paper, you’re more likely to break the rules."
Lying to Ourselves: America's Welfare State
By Chuck Colson - PatriotPost.us
If you fear America is becoming like Europe, fear not -- because it's too late.
In Hamlet, Polonius, the Chamberlain to the King, gives his son what is probably the most famous piece of fatherly counsel in all of literature: "This above all: to thine own self be true."
Polonius's exhortation is one that Americans should take to heart -- and his famous words came to mind while reading a recent New York Times article. The article was about the residents of Chisago County, Minnesota, who, according to the Times, "describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess."
The "upper class," as defined by the study, were more likely to break the law while driving, take candy from children, lie in negotiation, cheat to increase their odds of winning a prize and endorse unethical behavior at work, researchers reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....
It wasn’t just the candy experiment, either. In a game where a computer rolled dice and any score above 12 got the user a $50 gift certificate, those making more than $250,000 were more likely to lie to researchers than those making less than $250,000. "A $50 prize is a measly sum to people who make $250,000 a year," Berkeley’s Paul Piff told Bloomberg. "So why are they more inclined to cheat?"
The Irrelevance of Worker Need
and Employer Greed in Determining Wages
Mises Daily: by George Reisman
The Marxian doctrine of the alleged arbitrary power of employers over wages appears plausible because there are two obvious facts that it relies on, facts which do not actually support it, but which appear to support it. These facts can be described as "worker need" and "employer greed." The average worker must work in order to live, and he must find work fairly quickly, because his savings cannot sustain him for long. And if necessary — if he had no alternative — he would be willing to work for as little as minimum physical subsistence. At the same time, self-interest makes employers, like any other buyers, prefer to pay less rather than more — to pay lower wages rather than higher wages. People put these two facts together and conclude that if employers were free, wages would be driven down by the force of the employers' self-interest — as though by a giant plunger pushing down in an empty cylinder — and that no resistance to the fall in wages would be encountered until the point of minimum subsistence was reached. At that point, it is held, workers would refuse to work because starvation without the strain of labor would be preferable to starvation with the strain of labor.
The more corrupt a nation, the more laws on the books...
19 Signs That America Has Become
A Crazy Control Freak Nation
Where Almost Everything Is Illegal
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Do you think that you are free? Most Americans would still probably answer "yes" to that question, but is that really the case? In the film Edge of Darkness, Mel Gibson stated that "everything is illegal in Massachusetts". Well, the same could pretty much be said for the United States as a whole. Our lives are governed by millions of laws, rules and regulations and more are being piled on all the time. In fact,40,000 new laws just went into effect in January. Every single new law restricts your freedom just a little bit more. The truth is that America has become a crazy control freak nation where virtually everything that we do is highly regulated. You have probably broken multiple laws today that you don't even know exist. We have all become criminals and lawbreakers because almost everything is illegal at this point. Our politicians are convinced that they are "making life better" by piling gigantic mountains of laws on to our backs, and law enforcement authorities are convinced that they are helping society by "cracking down on crime", but the reality is that our liberties and our freedoms are being strangled by all of this government oppression. This is not the way that America is supposed to work.
Welcome to America's Own Foxconn This American Warehouse Sounds as Bad as Foxconn
By REBECCA GREENFIELD5 - TheAtlanticWire.com
After hearing all about the horrible working conditions it takes to make our electronics at Foxconn,Mother Jones' Mac McClelland shows us what it takes to ship those products. It sounds pretty awful. And not just by American standards, but, in comparison to what happens in China, a developing nation without our fancy American worker protections. McClelland spent a short time as a temp worker in a shipping warehouse called Amalgamated Product Giant Shipping Worldwide, during the busy Christmas season. After days of back-ache inducing labor, she confirms a scary reality happening right here in the good ole U.S. of A. But is it worse than Foxconn? Let's see:
Facebook claims you’re playing games you aren’t playing
By Emil Protalinski -ZDNet.com
Summary: Facebook recommends games to you based on what your friends are playing. Unfortunately, the Discover New Games module is lying: it often claims your friends are playing games they aren’t.
Mr. Obama's 'Grovel-Ready' Foreign Policy
By Ken Blackwell - PagriotPost.us
Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison
President Obama began badly. He went to London and bowed low before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The famous red "reset" button he had Hillary present to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, was intended to give Moscow a pass for its aggression against the neighboring Republic of Georgia. The button was even spelled wrong. How do you spell "appeasement" in Russian?
Not surprisingly, our Secretary of State has been left sputtering three years later about the Russians' "despicable" behavior in the UN. What exactly did they expect? Madame Secretary went to Beijing and made a point of not making a point of talking to Chinese about forced abortions or suppression of Christians. Now, amazingly, she thinks the Chinese, too, are uncooperative at the UN.
USA may lose all allies in Middle East
Pravda.ru
The USA may lose the support of Pakistan after a number of notorious incidents with the participation of US servicemen, which took place in the country in 2011.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has recently announced his support of Iran. The relations between the United States and Pakistan have been growing intense recently indeed. The trilateral summit with the participation of the leaders of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan caused a serious blow on the USA's image in the region. The Obama administration strives for the economic and diplomatic isolation of Teheran at the time when Iranian President Ahmadinejad discusses a new project in the field of gas industry with his Pakistani counterpart.
Pentagon pulls the plug on airborne missile defense system After more than 15 years of development and $5 billion in federal funding, work ends on a massive laser gun mounted on the nose of a Boeing 747. The program had employed hundreds in the Southland.
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
Work has ended on a futuristic airborne missile defense system built mostly in Southern California after more than 15 years of development and $5 billion in federal funding.
In what was once considered the stuff of science fiction, the airborne laser program involved a Boeing747 jumbo jet equipped with an advanced tracking system and a massive laser gun on its nose to identify and obliterate enemy missiles as they blast off.
Top Iran official:
Enemies will face 'rainy day' weapons in case of attack Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi hails Iran's independent weapons industry, military, adding that the U.S. would have to take a 'new environment' under consideration.
By Haaretz
Iran is prepared with hidden "rainy day" military capabilities it is saving for when it is attacked, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Tuesday, warning potential enemies of a "new environment" created by Iran's developing arms industry.
Earlier Tuesday, a U.S. intelligence official familiar with the discussions between top Israeli officials and Pentagon counterparts said that Israel indicated it would not warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Lieberman: U.S., Russian warnings
against Iran strike will not affect Israel's decision Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, says in TV interview that Israeli decision is ‘not their business’; says security of Israel’s citizens is ‘Israeli government’s responsibility.’
By The Associated Press and Reuters - Haaretz.com
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview on Wednesday that Israel will not bow to U.S. and Russian pressure in deciding whether to attack Iran.
Speaking on Channel 2 news, Avigdor Lieberman rebuffed suggestions that American and Russian warnings against striking Iran would affect Israeli decision making, saying the decision "is not their business."
Economy Squeezed as Debt Accelerates
BY RON PAUL - FinancialSense.com
Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee has pointed out that our per capita government debt is already larger than Greece's. Per person, our government owes over $49,000 compared to $38,937 per Greek citizen. Our debt has just reached 101% of our Gross Domestic Product. Our creditors see this and have quietly slowed down or stopped their lending to us. As a result, the Federal Reserve has been outright monetizing debt as a way to patch things together and keep the economy on life support a little longer. There is rapidly shrinking demand for our debt, and confidence in the dollar is falling. This phenomenon is hidden only by the fact that confidence in all other fiat currencies is falling faster.
Scientific Study Shows That The Powerful and Privileged
Are More LIkely to Lie, Cheat, and Steal
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
I seem to recall my grandmother telling me this about 50 years ago.
I have encountered quite a few of the nouveau riche, barely upper middle class, that are unscrupulous and almost unbearable. And I have met a number of very wealthy people, both old money people and the accidental rich, who are kindly, enjoyable, and exceptionally hospitable.
From my own experience it is not whether a person has money per se. Rather it is the perceived power that a person feels that they have and their attitude towards it, and how differently they consider themselves to be therefore from others.
A Planned Economy for the 1%
Michael Hudson: All economies have a certain amount of planning, the question is, for whom?
Fixing the Federal Reserve Fed’s sole mission should be maintaining value of currency
By Richard W. Rahn-The Washington Times
There is a growing consensus that the Federal Reserve is broken - because it is. The Fed was established to provide price stability and prevent periodic banking crises. It has accomplished neither.
The wholesale price level in the United States was at almost the same level when the Fed was established in 1913 as it was in 1793, 120 years earlier. Now it takes about 22 dollars to equal the 1913 dollar. There have been far more bank failures post-Fed than pre-Fed, and we seem to be in an almost permanent state of banking crises with "too big to fail."
Gold & Silver:
Will headlines continue to play a role in the price? The Gold Report: When we talked in the wake of the debt ceiling crisis last fall, Charles, you expected volatility to be good for gold and forecast a continuing long-term bull market for precious metals. These days, the scary stories pertain to the European Union (EU). Will negative headlines continue to play a role in the price of gold and silver? Charles Oliver: Absolutely. The headlines about the European Central Bank (ECB) infusion of billions of euros into the banking system has been very good for the price of gold. Since the ECB announced it would be issuing €489 billion in December, gold has had a nice little rally off its lows. I expect in the next couple of weeks a further issuance of money will be quite supportive for gold.
Gold struggles to test $1800
on lingering uncertainties, uptrend seen
LONDON/MUMBAI (Commodity Online): US gold futures eased to $1773.85 an ounce after struggling to test $1800 resistance levels on Monday on profit taking, weaker Euro and weak physical demand. Trading volumes were 70% below the 30-day average. But the yellow metal could continue uptrend on Tuesday trading as prices have climbed 13% in 2012 and looks set to attain the target of $2000 per ounce by year end.
Brodsky On Buffet On Gold
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
We have repeatedly voiced our views on Buffett's relentless bashing of the only asset that is a guaranteed protection against now exponential currency debasement and central planner, and other PhD economist, stupidity, mostrecently here. We are happy that other, more politically correct asset managers, have decided to share how they fell, and take the crony capitalist to task. The first (of many we are sure), are Lee Quaintance and Paul Brodsky of QBAMCO who have just penned "Golden Boy" or the much needed "high society" response to the old man from Omaha: "Buffett may be a sage, a wizard, and an oracle when it comes to nominal relative value pricing of financial assets, but it is well worth noting that Buffett’s proclamations are not necessarily worthy of being considered "fact" in matters unrelated to finance, just as the legendary Joe Paterno’s judgment seems to have been sorely lacking when it came to sorting out matters unrelated to a winning football program....We must assume his aggressive gold comments have been meant to force the price of gold lower. (We do not know why he is so interested in doing so though we do have a reasonable theory, for another time). We strongly disagree with Mr. Buffett’s views and we thought it would be best to explore his comments and provide our counter-arguments."
Buy Gold...schlager: Booze Inflation Highest In 20 Years
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Americans can handle soaring rent, gas, and even food prices (all those thing that the Fed conveniently ignores) with the stoic patience of a Greek who welcomes 160 German tax collectors on his rehypothecated front porch. But if there is one thing that is sure to kindle the revolutionary spirits it is the soaring price of booze. As it just so happens, ships are parked in the Boston harbor with crates of Grey Goose prepped for tossage overboard as we speak. As the following chart of alcoholic beverage inflation indicates, courtesy of John Lohman, January saw the biggest month over month spike in booze inflation in 20 years. In other words, about 90% of all traders alive today have never seen a bigger jump in liquor inflation in their lives. Then again, with nobody trading any more, and since the new venue du jour of most of said now ex-traders is the local watering hole, perhaps we are seeing demand pull inflation in at least one item. Needless to say, there is something very ironic that surging alcohol inflation is the only thing that is resilient to the central banks (un)sterilized liquidity explosion. The good news: there is distinct relative deflation in the cost of ammunition. At least for the time being...
Is the Fed powerless to fix inflation? The Fed's Anti-Recession Effort May Unleash 15% Inflation
By STEVEN R. CUNNINGHAM - Investors.com
The annual inflation rate in the United States could hit 15% by late 2013 or early 2014, and the Federal Reserve may be powerless to stop it.
While much can change the risk of inflation, the single most important driver of a rise in the general price level is the relationship of the money supply to economic activity.
Since the economic meltdown began in 2008, the Fed has pumped an unprecedented amount of money into bank reserves. In 2011 alone, adjusted bank reserves increased at a compounded annual rate of 47.1%. As these bank reserves filter into the business and consumer economy, the risk of inflation rises.
Countdown to Market Peak Has Begun
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
With zero-bound interest rates in the U.S. and depressed short-term rates in other developed nations, monetary tools historically used by central banks have lost their usefulness as well as their tendency to lead major economic and market turning points. Despite the constraints against using short-term rates to massage the business cycle, we still have record economic and market volatility driven by other variables that help to explain these violent swings. Francois Trahan, co-author of "The Era of Uncertainty" and head portfolio strategist at Wolfe Trahan, has identified what he believes is the chief variable explaining economic and financial market swings, coining the phrase, "Inflation is the new fed funds rate."
The 'High Oil Prices = Recession' Fallacy
by Econophile - ZeroHedge.com
Every time we see oil prices go up we hear that it will cause inflation and/or the economy will go into the tank....
The premise is wrong. What causes price inflation is an expansion of money supply (and a desire of people to spend it, often quickly). What causes recessions is malinvestment of capital caused, again, by money supply expansion.
The High Price of Oil
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
The price of oil has been rising despite the sluggish economy. Today gasoline prices have reached an all-time winter high. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average retail price for regular gasoline was $3.38 per gallon in January and the average retail price for diesel was $3.83 per gallon. In late February the average price for regular gasoline rose to $3.68 per gallon (see the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report). As of this writing, according to oil-price.net the price of WTI Crude oil was $109.62, and the price of Brent Crude oil was $125.44.
A Good Question Should the U.S. join OPEC?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN - NYTimes.com
AN e-mail came in the other day with a subject line that I couldn’t ignore. It was from the oil economist Phil Verleger, and it read: “Should the United States join OPEC?” That I had to open.
Verleger’s basic message was that the knee-jerk debate we’re again having over who is responsible for higher oil prices fundamentally misses huge changes that have taken place in America’s energy output, making us again a major oil and gas producer — and potential exporter — with an interest in reasonably high but stable oil prices.
Why Gasoline Prices Are So Different Around the US
By: Sharon Epperson
CNBC Senior Commodities Correspondent
Retail gasoline prices in the US have skyrocketed over 13 percent — more than 40 cents — so far this year, as the price of crude oil has surged to the highest level since last May.
The national average for regular gasoline rose to $3.70 Friday, up 14 cents in the past week — and only about 40 cents shy of the all-time record high of $4.11 a gallon reached in July 2008.
While many are feeling the pain at the pump, Americans are seeing widely divergent prices depending on where they live.
Why are drivers in Fort Collins, Colorado paying a little over $3, while those in Santa Barbara, California are seeing gas prices at $4.33 a gallon?
It's Official: S&P Cuts Greece To (Selective) Default From CC
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Translation: Greece better have that PSI in the bag or else the "Selective" goes away and "Greece would face an imminent outright payment default." Our question for former Goldmanite and current ECB head Mario Dragi: does the ECB allow defaulted bonds to be pledged as collateral within the Euro System? From S&P Greece Ratings Lowered To 'SD’ (Selective Default)
Rating Action
On Feb. 27, 2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its 'CC' long-term and 'C' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the Hellenic Republic (Greece) to 'SD' (selective default).
G-20 Rebuffs Europe’s Call for Help
By Patrick Donahue and Alan Crawford - Bloomberg.com
European leaders shift their focus this week to bolstering the euro region’s debt-crisis firewall after the Group of 20 nations rebuffed their call for help.
The decision by G-20 finance ministers to fend off pleas for assistance pending an increase in the euro-area backstop puts the onus onGermany, the biggest national contributor to bailouts, to overcome its resistance to doing more.
Weimar Europe?
Harold James - Project-Syndicate.org
BERLIN – Germany’s position in Europe looks increasingly peculiar and vulnerable. In the chaos of German unification in 1990, when Germany’s neighbors were terrified of the new giant, then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl promised a European Germany, not a German Europe. Today, however, the terms of any European rescue effort are obviously set by Germany.
There is widespread recognition that Europe needs substantial economic growth if it is to emerge from its debt woes. But German concerns about stability – founded on its catastrophic interwar experience – push in the opposite direction. As a consequence, Germany-bashing is now in fashion.
Greece Running Out of Alternatives: Krugman
By Anabela Reis - Bloomberg.com
Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman said Greece is "close" to having no option but to quit the euro as austerity measures imposed on the nation hamper its economic recovery.
"If I were running a peripheral country I would say that you cannot leave" the 17-nation currency region, Krugman, a professor atPrinceton University, said in Lisbon late yesterday. While it would be "extremely disruptive," Greece is "very close to running out of alternatives," he said.
Spanish revolt brews
as national economic rearmament begins in Europe Spain's new prime minister
has looked into the abyss and recoiled.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Though he swept into office as an apostle of orthodoxy, Mariano Rajoy has since delved into Madrid’s ghastly accounts and concluded that it would be "suicidal" to try to slash the budget deficit from 8pc of GDP to 4.4pc of GDP this year, as demanded by Europe's fiscal Calvinists.
Such a policy would require a further €40bn or €50bn of cuts and accelerate the downward spiral already underway, beyond the 1.7pc contraction expected this year by the International Monetary Fund.
China risks 'middle income trap' without free market revolution China’s spectacular catch-up growth is nearing its limits, leaving the country prey to the "middle income trap" over coming years unless Beijing embraces the free market and relaxes its suffocating grip over the economy.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
A joint report by the World Bank and China’s Development Research Centre has warned that the low-hanging fruit of state-driven industrialization is largely exhausted.
"As China’s leaders know, the country’s current growth model is unsustainable," said Robert Zoellick, the World Bank’s president. "This is not the time just for muddling through. It’s time to get ahead of events."
A World Bank for a New World
Jeffrey D. Sachs - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – The world is at a crossroads. Either the global community will join together to fight poverty, resource depletion, and climate change, or it will face a generation of resource wars, political instability, and environmental ruin.
The World Bank, if properly led, can play a key role in averting these threats and the risks that they imply. The global stakes are thus very high this spring as the Bank’s 187 member countries choose a new president to succeed Robert Zoellick, whose term ends in July.
Bank sues itself, wins, and then forces itself into bankruptcy to satisfy judgment
By Martin Andelman - ML-Implode.com
"Former SIGTARP Neil Barofsky has promised to try to figure things out, but again suggested that in the future Ben Bernanke refrain from accepting baseball card collections as collateral for loans made by the Federal Reserve, that the too-big-to-fail banks not be allowed to do more than three or four things at a time, and that leverage of 200,000 to 6 is taking things a bit far.''
During the mortgage madness of 2003 – 2006, banks wore many hats related to the complex derivatives and mortgage-backed securities being packaged and sold to investors all over the world. Then, the meltdown forced many mortgage originators into bankruptcy and saw numerous financial institutions become insolvent. When the surviving banks acquired the various assets of the fallen… it became difficult or in some cases near impossible to ascertain from where certain risks might come.
Insider Says Promontory’s OCC Foreclosure Reviews
for Wells are Frauds. Brought to You by HUD Sec. Donovan
By Abigail Caplovitz Field,
a freelance writer and attorney - NakedCapitalism.com
U.S. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan has embarrassed himself yet again. This time, though, he’s gone in for total humiliation. See, he praised the bank-run Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) foreclosure reviews as an important part of the social justice delivered by the mortgage “settlement“. But thanks to an insider working on an OCC review, we know that process is a sham. Worse, the insider’s story shows that enforcement of the settlement is likely to be similar, which is to say, meaningless. Doesn’t matter how pretty the new servicing standards are if the bankers don’t have to follow them.
Not What Paul Volcker Had in Mind
Editorial - NYTimes.com
The Volcker rule, a crucial provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, is supposed to stop banks from doing the sort of risky trading that was one of the big causes of the financial meltdown.
The banks hate the rule because less speculation means less profit and lower bonuses for traders and bank executives. And ever since it was signed into law in mid-2010, they have pressed Congress and regulators to weaken it. Sure enough, in late 2011, regulators issued proposed rules that are ambiguously worded and lack the teeth to rein in the banks. Paul Volcker — the former chairman of the Federal Reserve for whom the rule was named — and other reformershave rightly urged significant changes before the rule becomes final in mid-July. Regulators need to listen.
The metamorphosis of Ben Bernanke
by Gavyn Davies - blogs.FT.com
Ben Bernanke has been assailed from all sides in the economic debate in recent times. Perhaps that happens to all Fed Chairmen (except, remarkably, to Alan Greenspan, whom almost no-one criticised while he was in office). But in Chairman Bernanke’s case, the criticism has been strident, reflecting the polarisation of views on economic policy in general.
In particular, the Keynesian side has accused Mr Bernanke of doing far too little to address the problem of unemployment after short rates reached the zero bound in 2009. They are very disappointed about this, because Mr Bernanke was a very strong proponent of drastic monetary action to address comparable problems in the Japanese economy a decade ago.
Bernanke Pessimism Drives Credit
With Forced Government Cutbacks
By Caroline Salas Gage - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is trying to compensate for the damage lawmakers threaten to inflict on the U.S. economy, even as Republicans skewer his stimulus efforts for risking inflation.
The potential drag from fiscal restraint contributed to the rationale behind policy makers’ reduced forecasts for growth this year and in 2013, according to the minutes of their Jan. 24-25 meeting. They also decided to extend their commitment to keep interest rates near zerothrough at least late 2014 instead of mid-2013 to provide “more accommodative financial conditions,” the minutes said.
Goldman secrets Aleynikov fiasco reveals cozy ties with feds
By John Crudele - NYPost.com
The first thing Sergey Aleynikov should do is go to Disney World with his three young daughters. When he gets back, Sergey should file the Mother Of All Lawsuits against Goldman Sachs.
Aleynikov didn’t win the Super Bowl, he won something bigger — his freedom.
The 42-year-old New Jersey resident is the computer programmer who spent the last year in jail because Goldman used its clout in Washington to get him arrested.
BofA Stops Selling Loans to Fannie Mae: Is This The First Step to Life After the GSEs?
By Aaron Task - DailyTicker - Yahoo.com
Bank of America this week announced it is severely cutting back sales of loans to Fannie Mae. The move is part of Bank of America's (BAC) ongoing efforts to undo the damage of its ill-fated acquisition of Countrywide Financial in 2008, but could have broader implications if other big banks follow suit.
To date, Bank of America has paid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6 billion to settle demands from the GSEs that the bank buy back mortgages that have gone sour, or were wrongly underwritten. Bank of America cited "ongoing differences" with Fannie Mae over these repurchase claims as a rationale for severely curtailing its dealings with Fannie. In December, the bank underwrote just $3.5 billion of loans backed by Fannie, Freddie or Ginnie Mae vs. $21.9 billion in December 2010, The WSJ reports.
BofA mortgage move not likely to have big consumer impact
Reuters - EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com
Bank of America Corp appears to be going it alone in not selling mortgage loans to Fannie Mae, a move that, while sending an angry signal to the nation's largest mortgage-buyer, could force the bank to charge less attractive mortgage rates.
Some major competitors indicated on Friday they are not following Bank of America's decision to stop selling most of its new loans to the government-controlled buyer of home loans.
Buffett: Banks Victimized by Excesses of Ousted Homeowners
By Andrew Frye - Bloomberg.com
Warren Buffett, who controls the biggest shareholding of the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, said banks were victimized by some homeowners who refinanced their loans before getting evicted.
"Large numbers of people who have 'lost' their house through foreclosure have actually realized a profit because they carried out refinancings earlier that gave them cash in excess of their cost,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said Feb. 25 in his annual letter. "In these cases, the evicted homeowner was the winner, and the victim was the lender."
How the Government is Robbing Pension Plans
By David Adler - InstitutionalInvestor.com
Financial repression arrives not with a bang but with a whisper. “It is a very stealthy tax,” says economist Carmen Reinhart of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Reinhart is the toast of economic circles these days for speaking out about the newest way Western governments are using financial repression to liquidate their debts, particularly after a financial crisis. They’re doing this on the backs of savers, including pension funds, according to economists. In practice, financial repression can lead to “the rape and plunder of pension funds,” Reinhart tells Institutional Investor. Financial repression consists of very low nominal interest rates combined with captive lending by large banks or pension funds to a government. The low, stable interest rate facilitates the servicing costs of large public debts. Sometimes modest inflation is added to the mix. This results in zero to negative real interest rates that reduce government debt. Hence, broadly defined, financial repression is a wealth transfer from savers to debtors using negative real interest rates — with the government as one of the key debtors.
To Pay New York Pension Fund, Cities Borrow From It First
By DANNY HAKIM - NYTimes.com
ALBANY — When New York State officials agreed to allow local governments to use an unusual borrowing plan to put off a portion of their pension obligations, fiscal watchdogs scoffed at the arrangement, calling it irresponsible and unwise.
And now, their fears are being realized: cities throughout the state, wealthy towns such as Southampton and East Hampton, counties like Nassau and Suffolk, and other public employers like the Westchester Medical Center and the New York Public Library are all managing theirrising pension bills by borrowing from the very same $140 billion pension fund to which they owe money.
It's the Houses, Stupid The big-government/anti-business recovery has been neither big-government nor anti-business. It's just been a total disaster for everything that has to do with housing.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich like to call the White House "the most anti-business, anti-investment, anti-job creator administration" in modern history, because they can. The economy is weak, and their audiences are likely to agree with the vague sentiment of these ominous accusations. But these statements aren't merely untestable declarations. They are falsifiable claims. And they're probably false.
20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions
Will Soon Return To The Heartland Of America
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
For decades, the heartland of America has been the breadbasket of the world. Unfortunately, those days will shortly come to an end. The central United States is rapidly drying up and dust bowl conditions will soon return. There are a couple of major reasons for this. Number one, the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at an astounding pace. The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the entire world, and water from it currently irrigates more than 15 million acres of crops. When that water is gone we will be in a world of hurt. Secondly, drought conditions have become the "new normal" in many areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and other states in the middle part of the country. Scientists tell us that the wet conditions that we enjoyed for several decades after World War II were actually the exception to the rule and that most of time time the interior west is incredibly dry. They also tell us that when dust bowl conditions return to the area, they might stay with us a lot longer than a decade like they did during the 1930s. Unfortunately, without water you cannot grow food, and with global food supplies as tight as they are right now we cannot afford to have a significant decrease in agricultural production. But it is not just the central United States that is experiencing the early stages of a major water crisis. Already many other areas around the nation are rapidly developing their own water problems. As supplies of fresh water get tighter and tighter, some really tough decisions are going to have to be made. Fresh water is absolutely essential to life, and it is going to become increasingly precious in the years ahead.
The insanity of health insurance
by RUSS ROBERTS - CafeHayek.com
I just received a lovely email from my old friend, Donna Brazile. OK, we’re not old friends. For some reason she has decided to put me on her email list. She writes:
This week, the Senate votes on a GOP amendment that would let your employer decide what health care you can receive. If they morally object to birth control, it’s gone. If some corporation thinks cancer screening is too expensive, forget it.
This amendment is dangerous, and the people pushing it need to lose their jobs.
It is insane that we get our health care from our employers. That happens because we have given a tax advantage to in-kind compensation such as health care. It’s a horrible idea and it leads people to complain about our employers deciding what health care we can receive. Our employers are just a conduit for government mandates, rent-seeking and inefficiency related to health care. What the government has done is tax-advantage health care via employers and then tell them what has to be covered. So the real outrage is that because of this, the government mandates the mix of my compensation package, biasing it toward a luxury health-care package that is the result of special interest clamoring.
11 Reasons To Get Your Kids
Out Of The Government Schools
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
It should be painfully obvious to everyone by now that it is time to get all of our kids out of the government schools. The public school system in the United States has been dramatically declining for a long time, and in most areas of the country the public schools are open sewers at this point. Yes, there are some U.S. public schools that are still very good and that do a decent job of preparing our young people for their adult lives. But those good schools are the exception to the rule. Hopefully the school shootingthat just happened in Ohio will be a wake up call to millions of parents out there. Drugs, sex and violence are rampant in American public schools today. The "teachers" are endlessly pushing specific political and social agendas down the throats of our kids, and the skills that our children really need such as reading, writing and mathematics are often badly neglected. Hopefully we can get more parents educated about what is really going on in these schools. After all, why would any parents want to send their children into an environment that is going to be highly destructive for them for six to eight hours a day?
US credit-card debt nearing toxic levels
By GREGORY BRESIGER - NYPost.com
(New York Post) - More American households are falling back into the debt hole, this time without the safety net of home values to help bail them out, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Last year, total US consumer debt reached its highest point in a decade, according to a credit card industry observer.
"Now more than ever, families need to work at saving and paying off any outstanding debts," said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and founder of the credit counseling service Consolidated Credit.
Ayn Rand Beats Rick Santelli as First Teapartyer
By Gary Weiss - Bloomberg.com
The origins of the Tea Party are usually traced to Rick Santelli’s televised rant, which took place on Feb. 19, 2009 -- by coincidence exactly 83 years to the day after Ayn Rand first set foot on American soil. A few anti- tax, anti-government rallies preceded the Santelli tirade, but he and his immediate predecessors usually get the nod for originating the movement.
I beg to differ. Ayn Rand was the very first person on the national political stage to enunciate views that mesh precisely with the ones being bandied about by the Tea Party. Rand was channeling the Tea Party decades before there even was a Tea Party.
Why Other Electronics Companies
Aren't Following Apple's Lead on Factory Audits Apple's labor solution isn't perfect, but it's more than other tech companies are willing to do to improve factory workers' lives.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
The electronics industry copies everything Apple does from its products' features to its marketing's feel. So, more than a month after Apple announced that it would tie-up with the controversial, corporation-friendly Fair Labor Association, it's a little bit surprising that not one other electronics-maker has even tried to sign on with the FLA. What gives? Bloomberg's Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows dug in to see if they could find out.
The answers to their quest should not surprise you. The companies do not want to give any even quasi-independent authority access to their supply chains. For all the real and legitimate criticism of the FLA, the reality is that they are a rock of something in a sea of nothing when it comes to labor protections for overseas workers. And gadget-makers want to maintain their freedom to operate in those open waters.
If Afghans Want to Reject the U.S.
and Embrace Theocracy, That's Their Right Anti-American protests and violence, sparked by an accidental Koran-burning, suggest that Afghans see us as more occupiers than liberators.
By Max Fisher - TheAtlantic.com
There are 90,000 American troops in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, but it looks more and more like it's Afghanistan itself, as well as the Taliban, that's fighting them back. A week ago, two unthinking NATO troops drove some trash from an old library to an incinerator near Bagram Air Force Base. Among the trash were books, and among the books, a couple of nearby Afghan workers noticed after it was too late to save them, were Korans. Within hours, the incident became international news, and angry protesters beganburning tires outside Bagram. Though senior NATO and U.S. officials immediately televised their profuse and apparently sincere apologies, the protests have become steadily more violent. Some Afghan police have turned on their Western sponsors. On Saturday, an Afghan employee of the Interior Ministry shot two U.S. officers inside the ministry's Kabul headquarters, then walked out unmolested. On Sunday, a protester threw a grenade at a group of American troops, injuring six.
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Israel, Kurdish fighters destroyed Iran nuclear facility, email released by WikiLeaks claims In exchange released by website, worker at Stratfor intelligence firm doubts validity of a source claiming an Israeli ground force had already wiped out Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
By Anshel Pfeffer and Ron Ben-Tovim - Haaretz.com
The mega-leaks website, WikiLeaks, has partnered with the hackers cooperative Anonymous, to publish internal emails of the American strategic intelligence company Stratfor. In one of the hacked emails, Stratfor officials discuss information obtained from one of their sources who reports that Israeli commandos, in cooperation with Kurdish fighters, have destroyed Iranian nuclear installations.
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will hold a press conference today in London where he plans to reveal new details from the Stratfor emails, including details on the company's dealings with the American government and major corporations, and its network of paid sources.
Putin: An attack on Iran's nuclear facilities
will cause 'catastrophic' outcome In article published in Russian newspapers ahead of a presidential vote next week, Russia's Prime Minister says will oppose any UN resolutions on Syria that could be interpreted as a signal for military interference.
By The Associated Press - Haaretz.com
A military strike of Iran's nuclear facilities would bring about "catastrophic" consequences, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wrote in a widely circulated article on Monday, published ahead of an upcoming presidential vote.
Putin's comments weren't the first time Russian officials expressed opposition to the possibility of military action in Iran, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov saying last week that "any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations."
Two Banks Fail; Possible Losses to Depositors
By Philip van Doorn - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Regulators shuttered two banks on Friday, bringing this year's total number of failures to 11.
Both failed banks were previously included in TheStreet's fourth-quarter Bank Watch List of undercapitalized institutions, based on regulatory data provided by Highline FI. Central Bank of Georgia
The Georgia Department of Banking and Financetook over Central Bank of Georgia, of Ellaville, which had $278.9 million in total assets and $266.6 million in deposits when it was taken over by. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver, and sold the failed bank to Ameris Bank of Multire, Ga.... Home Savings of America
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Home Savings of America, of Little Falls, Minn., which had $434.1 million in total assets and $432.2 million in deposits.
The FDIC was appointed receiver for the failed bank, but was unable to find a buyer, and announced it would mail checks for the amount of their insured deposits directly to customers.
Warren Buffett Buys
US Precious Metals Business from Cookson Group
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Apparently Berkshire's Richline Group didn't get the memo that Warren doesn't like silver or gold.
Richline is involved in the fabrication of precious metals into jewelry. The acquisition of US Precious Metals will bring them into the mill and findings portion of the precious metals industry, as well as acquiring European and Asian distribution channels.
Growth in industrial use to drive silver prices
NEWYORK (Commodity Online): Silver has industrial uses as well as precious metal makes silver bullion an attractive investment method, but silver is set to move higher on industrial use, according to Danny Esposito, Co-editor of Financial newsletter Penny Stocks Detectives.
Esposito says, "Silver was used as a monetary currency even before gold."
History tells us that excessive money printing eventually leads to a collapse of the system. It is wise for a prudent investor to hold a portion of their assets in precious metals, silver bullion being one of them. According to the newsletter, silver bullion is a precious metal and a currency just like gold.
Perpetual Debt Machine:
U.S. National Debt Is 5000 Times Larger
Than When The Federal Reserve Was Created
By Michael Snyder - EndOgTheAmericanDream.com
Have you noticed that very few people in the mainstream media ever directly criticize the Federal Reserve? But why should that be the case? Criticizing top politicians from both major political parties has become a national pastime. Most Americans love to throw mud at either the Republicans or the Democrats. But we are told that the Federal Reserve is "above politics" and that it is absolutely vital that the Fed remain "independent". The reality is that the Federal Reserve has more control over the performance of the U.S. economy than the president even does, and yet most Americans never spend much time thinking about the Fed at all. It is almost as if someone has instructed us to "ignore the man behind the curtain" and most of us just blindly obey. With the economy in such a mess and with the national debt exploding so dramatically, isn't it about time that we had a national conversation about the performance of the Federal Reserve? Isn't it about time that we evaluated whether the Federal Reserve is doing a good job or not?
Keiser Report: Bubbling Economy (E254)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss market participating rally monkeys, market regulating surrender monkeys, economic policy making suicide monkeys and Greek ministry website hacking cheeky monkeys. In the second half of the show, Max talks to David Hales about ending top down Central Bank imposed financial and economic systems with peer to peer economics.
Atlanta Fed Survey Finds Long-Term Inflation Worry
By Michael S. Derby - WSJ.com
Most Federal Reserve officials are fond of observing that even as they pursue a very aggressive and unprecedented monetary-policy path, their actions aren’t stirring up inflation.
In doing so, they’re countering critics who worry the central bank has gone too far in efforts to stimulate growth, and that current policies are running a significant risk of generating a future surge in price pressures. Fed officials have countered they have the tools to make sure their actions don’t fuel a break out in prices. They also note the data doesn’t show much worry about future inflation gains.
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Lord James of Blackheath:
15 Trillion Dollar Fraud Exposed in UK Parliment Trillion Dollar Terror Exposed: Bush, Fed, and European Banks in $15 Trillion Fraud, All Documented
Lord James of Blackheath has spoken in the House of Lords holding evidence of three transactions of 5 Trillion each and a transaction of 750,000 metric tonnes of gold and has called for an investigation.
Intel Exclusive: Trillion Dollar Terror Exposed Bush, Fed, Europe Banks in $15 Trillion Fraud, All Documented
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor - VeteransToday.com
Below is one of the strangest stories in financial history, one involving the US government lying about hundreds of thousands of tons of imaginary gold, illegal wire transfers and loans totalling $15 trillion. The video, from the House of Lords, is amazing in itself.
What it doesn’t express is where the money came from though Lord James of Blackheath proves conclusively that an effort was made to say it came from a gold reserve in Brunei that, in fact, never existed.
We Can Stop The Machine, If We Want To
by Allen L Roland - VeteransToday.com
As Obamanomics continues to attempt to get airborne on outmoded top down debt fueled economics and presidential wishful thinking ~ Americans must realize that we can shut down this dilapidated greed machine if we want to by just saying no more, facing financial reality and stop playing the debt driven game.
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio – Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley on December 2, 1964.
The Rise of the Petrodollar System: "Dollars for Oil" Introduction to Part Two
BY JERRY ROBINSON - FinancialSense.com
In part one of this four part article series, I provided a background to our modern petrodollar system by explaining the "dollars for gold" arrangement that was put in place by global leaders through the Bretton Woods conference in the final days of World War II.
The article provided a brief evolution of the Bretton Woods agreement from its inception in 1944 to its ultimate demise in 1971. As detailed, in the late 1960's, this "dollars for gold" system had become unsustainable as Washington insisted upon the adoption of a "welfare state" that relied upon massive entitlements and a "warfare state" that required perpetual wars.
Soaring oil prices will dwarf the Greek drama Since last week's eurozone "grand summit", the headlines have been positive and, in the official photos anyway, the main players appear to be smiling. As such, the global equity rally goes on.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
Behind the rictus grins, though, the gloves remain off, the rhetorical daggers still drawn. Having launched the biggest sovereign debt restructuring in history, Athens now faces the Herculean task of persuading holders of Greek bonds to accept a "voluntary" hair-cut.
Creditors are being asked to swap their bonds for a combination of new short-term instruments, issued by the European Financial Stability Facility, and longer-term Greek government debt. If half of them agree to take the hit then, under "collective action clauses" approved by the Greek parliament, the deal could be forced on all bond-holders.
It may well turn out that we are watching not a Greek but a euro tragedy Another week, another euro "solution". According to last week's plan, by 2020 the ratio of Greek national debt to GDP will be down to 120.5pc. You don't really need to know much more to see that we are in cloud cuckoo land.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
Anyone who is forecasting a debt ratio down to the nearest 0.5pc in 2020 is trying to fool either us or themselves.
We are by now so familiar with Greece's woes that bail-out fatigue has set in. But it is worth looking closely at the key economic numbers and pinching yourself. Since the beginning of 2008, Greek real GDP has fallen by more than 17pc. On my forecasts, by the end of next year, the total fall will be more like 25pc. Unsurprisingly, employment has also fallen sharply, by about 500,000, in a total workforce of about 5 million. The unemployment rate is now more than 20pc.
G20 leaders insist no more IMF cash
unless eurozone boosts financial firewall The world's leading economic powers said they would not stump up more cash to fight Europe's debt crisis until the eurozone members increase their own contributions, in a move that piles pressure on this week's Brussels summit.
By Richard Blackden, and Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
A communique agreed by G20 finance ministers in Mexico City last night said a decision by eurozone leaders to boost their own firewall was "essential" before any more external resources were allocated via the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Euro area countries will reassess the strength of their support facilities in March. This will provide an essential input in our ongoing consideration to mobilise resources to the IMF," the official said, quoting from the draft.
Greek bail-out threatened by Germany-IMF stand-off
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Greece's second bail-out still faces hurdles as Germany and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wait to see who moves first on financial commitments related to the deal.
The German parliament on Monday (27 February) is set to vote on the €130 billion bail-out, but lawmakers are linking their green light not only to laws passed in Greece to implement budget cuts and to a successful bond swap with private investors, but also to the IMF committing a clear sum to the programme.
8 Reasons Why The Greek Debt Deal
May Not Stop A Chaotic Greek Debt Default
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The global financial system is not a game of checkers. It is a game of chess. All over the world today, news headlines are proclaiming that this new Greek debt deal has completely eliminated the possibility of a chaotic Greek debt default. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Rather, the truth is that this new deal actually "sets the table" for a Greek debt default. When I was studying and working in the legal arena, I learned that sometimes you make an agreement so that you can get the other side to break it. That may sound very strange to the average person on the street, but this is how the game is played at the highest levels. It is all about strategy. And in this case, the new debt deal imposes such strict conditions on Greece that it is almost inevitable that Greece will fail to meet some of them. When Greece does fail, Germany and the other northern European nations may try to claim that they "did everything that they could" but that Greece just did not "live up to its obligations". So does this mean that we will definitely see a chaotic Greek debt default? No. What this does mean is that the chess pieces are being moved into position for one.
Spanish revolt brews
as national economic rearmament begins in Europe Spain's new prime minister
has looked into the abyss and recoiled.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Though he swept into office as an apostle of orthodoxy, Mariano Rajoy has since delved into Madrid’s ghastly accounts and concluded that it would be "suicidal" to try to slash the budget deficit from 8pc of GDP to 4.4pc of GDP this year, as demanded by Europe's fiscal Calvinists.
Such a policy would require a further €40bn or €50bn of cuts and accelerate the downward spiral already underway, beyond the 1.7pc contraction expected this year by the International Monetary Fund.
Real Wealth vs. The Debt Bubble -
Catherine Austin Fitts on GRTV
As a former investment banker and Assistant Secretary of Housing, Catherine Austin Fitts spent years learning how the system really works. Now, she spends her time teaching people about that system and how they can invest their time, effort and money in building a system that works to generate real wealth.
Rescue or Risk for Greece?
Author: Christopher Alessi - CFR.org
Following an EU decision to provide Greece with a new $172 billion bailout package (WSJ), the debt-laden country now must wrestle with implementing steep austerity measures amid a worsening recession. The eurozone agreement, expected to reduce Greece's debt burden from 160 percent to 120.5 percent of GDP by 2020, includes a 53 percent debt write-down by Greece's private bondholders. The European Central Bank also agreed to indirectly help Greece by distributing future profits on its holdings of Greek bonds bought on the secondary market.
World Bank Wants Control Of The High Seas
Alt-Market.com
As a proponent of legitimate free markets, I am always up for a little creative entrepreneurship. However, there is a considerable difference between building productive markets, and engaging in monopolistic piracy. Global conglomerates and the elites that operate them have long been familiar with the pirate’s life, and not the fun filled adventure-time rope swinging swashbuckling brand. In fact, it was elitists like Sir Francis Drake, commissioned by the English monarchy, who embodied this disturbing covert bedlam. We’re talking murder, mayhem, and blood-money, folks! So, it should be of no surprise to anyone that the thieving mercantile swine of our era are returning to the high seas to plunder once again, only in a much more subversive and devious manner.
Volcker Rule May Impact Banks
in Germany, U.K., France, EU Says
By Meera Louis - Bloomberg.com
Michel Barnier, the European Union’s financial services chief, said a proposed U.S. ban on proprietary trading may cause problems for banks in some of the largest economies in Europe.
The so-called Volcker rule, named for former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, was included in the U.S. Dodd- Frank Act to restrict risky trading at banks that operate with federal guarantees.
America 1950 vs. America 2012
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Would you rather live in the America of 1950 or the America of 2012? Has the United States changed for the better over the last 62 years? Many fondly remember the 1950s and the 1960s as the "golden age" of America. We emerged from World War II as the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet. During that time period, just about anyone that wanted to get a job could find a job and the U.S. middle class expanded rapidly. Back in 1950, America was still considered to be a "land of opportunity" and the economy was growing like crazy. There was less crime, there was less divorce, the American people had much less debt and the world seemed a whole lot less crazy. Most of the rest of the world deeply admired us and wanted to be more like us. Of course there were a lot of things that were not great about America back in 1950, and there are many things that many of us dearly love that we would have to give up in order to go back and live during that time. For example, there was no Internet back in 1950. Instead of being able to go online and read the articles that you want to read, your news would have been almost entirely controlled by the big media companies of the day. So there are definitely some advantages that we have today that they did not have back in 1950. But not all of the changes have been for the better. America is in a constant state of change, and many are deeply concerned about where all of these changes are taking us.
Wyoming House advances doomsday bill
By JEREMY PELZER Star-Tribune - Trib.com
CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.
House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.
The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.
Wyoming Prepping For Martial Law Scenario: Set to Explore Options
for Standing Army and Alternative Currency
The Intel Hub
State representatives in Wyoming have advanced a “doomsday” bill that when passed will launch a study into what the state should do in the event of an economic collapse, martial law style scenario.
Wyoming House Bill 85 is essentially a state continuity of government plan that would study the impacts of the collapse of the dollar and the states ability to quickly set up an alternative currency.
CFR: Why We Can't Believe the Fed
Author: Benn Steil, Senior Fellow
and Director of International Economics
The Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting Open Market Committee recently broke new ground in Chairman Ben Bernanke's transparency campaign by proffering predictions of its own behavior over the next three years. This is a huge innovation for the Fed, which has never predicted economic data it directly controls.
The idea was first to anchor market expectations that short-term rates will stay at historic lows, thereby encouraging investors and companies to move more aggressively into longer-term, riskier assets with higher expected returns—which the Fed hopes will fuel economic growth. But the Fed also set for itself a formal, long-run inflation target of 2%.
Banks Need Simpler, Tougher Capital Standards
By Phil Angelides - Bloomberg.com
When JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon appeared before theFinancial Crisis Inquiry Commission, he testified that he told his daughter a financial crisis is something that happens every five to seven years. That observation turned out to be overly optimistic.
Once again, the world’s financial leaders are cobbling together a rescue package to avert the potential failure of highly leveraged financial institutions holding assets of questionable value. This time, the epicenter of the crisis is Europe, not the U.S., and the assets at issue are not toxic mortgages and derivatives, but plain vanilla government bonds. How could the latest round of global financial turmoil be triggered by something as simple as government debt?
Catherine Austin Fitts The Looting Of America Financial terrorism and the war on the middle class.
Former Assistant Secretary of Housing under George H.W. Bush Catherine Austin Fitts blows the whistle on how the financial terrorists have deliberately imploded the US economy and transferred gargantuan amounts of wealth offshore as a means of sacrificing the American middle class. Fitts documents how trillions of dollars went missing from government coffers in the 90′s and how she was personally targeted for exposing the fraud.
The Postal Service's Plan: Worse Service, Higher Prices
By RICH SMITH, THE MOTLEY FOOL - DailyFinance.com
The U.S. Postal Service is in crisis, which means hard decisions have to be made. So, if you could save the USPS by accepting slower service, and perhaps a few fewer days of getting mail delivered to your mailbox, would you do it? Or would you prefer to pay a few more cents for a postage stamp as a way to shore up the USPS's failing revenue stream?
Opinions may differ on which solution is best. Lucky for us, we don't have to choose. The Post Office has already made its decision for us.
The $4 Billion Obamacare Slush Fund for Progressives
By Michelle Malkin - PatriotPost.com
If you like how the Obama administration's multibillion-dollar "investments" in bankrupt solar companies have turned out, you'll love the latest federal loan program to nowhere. It's the Obamacare loyalty rewards program for progressives.
To appease liberal Democrats pushing for the so-called "public option" (the full frontal government takeover of our health care system), the White House settled for the creation of a $6 billion network of nonprofit "CO-OPs" that will "compete" with private insurers. It's socialized medicine through the side door. House Republicans sliced about $2 billion from the slush fund in last spring's budget deal and proclaimed the program dead. Hardly.
Regulations Harm Small Business and Protects Corporations
by James Hall - BATR.org
The prospects for conducting commerce are never an easy task. The hurdles to start a business much less stay competitive demands the greatest skill and fortitude. Innovation and inspiration often is the best course for those bold enough to become an employer. The idea that a level playing field exists for all comers is preposterous. The entire macrocosm for business rests upon separating your enterprise from that of your rivalries. Such is a basic lesson for those brave or foolish enough to enter the arena.
U.S. opening up airspace to use of drones Privacy is a concern as FAA sets rules
to take flights out of just military purview
By Irene Klotz, DiscoveryNews - MSNBC.com
After more than 40 years of development and extensive use by the military, the United States has set the date when the nation’s airspace will be open for drones. Should you be scared?
Short answer: No, but like any new technology, unmanned aerial vehicles have their dark side.
Legislation passed by Congress last week gives the Federal Aviation Administration until Sept. 30, 2015, to open the nation’s skies to drones.
Iran, Israel & the U.S The Slide to War
by CONN HALLINAN - CounterPunch.org
Wars are fought because some people decide it is in their interests to fight them. World War I was not started over the Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination, nor was it triggered by the alliance system. An "incident" may set the stage for war, but no one keeps shooting unless they think it’s a good idea. The Great War started because the countries involved decided they would profit by it, delusional as that conclusion was.
It is useful to keep this idea in mind when trying to figure out if there will be a war with Iran. In short, what are the interests of the protagonists, and are they important enough for those nations to take the fateful step into the chaos of battle?
Middle East risks becoming a 'giant failed state'
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BEIRUT - With EU countries crafting plans on how to shape events in Syria, David Hirst, a noted British writer on the Middle East, has warned that the Arab uprisings are a kind of "constructive chaos" completely out of Western control.
"What we're now witnessing is the greatest transformation of the region since the end of the first world war," he told EUobserver in an interview in his home in Beirut on Saturday (18 February).
Clinton ‘Betting Against’ Assad as Annan Named Syria Envoy
By Nicole Gaouette - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. and allies in the "Friends of Syria" group sought to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, announcing planning would begun for deploying United Nations peacekeepers after his ouster.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and officials from more than 70 countries attended the meeting in Tunis, which was confronted by pro-Assad supporters waving placards and shouting for the U.S. to leave the region. Clinton’s motorcade was diverted from the conference site until Tunisian security forces cleared the demonstration.
'Chaotic' meeting exposes divisions on Syria
By BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - A first meeting of the Friends of Syria group has highlighted divisions inside the coalition and among Syrian opposition leaders.
Officials and ministers from over 60 African, Arab, Asian, Latin American and Nato countries met in Tunis on Friday (24 February) to discuss what to do about the sectarian war in Syria.
A core group - including Egypt, the EU's External Action Service, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UK and the US - drafted a formal communique in the name of the coalition, which repeated the content of a draft UN resolution vetoed last month by China and Russia.
'US to announce aerial blockade on Syria' US readies for possibility of intervention without UN resolution, Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing US military official; plan to include humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees on Turkey's border
Roi Kais - YnetNews.com
The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention inSyria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.
According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.
Russia will stand up to Putin,
says jailed former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky Opponent confident mass protests and demands for more open democracy will thwart Russian PM's attempts to remain in power
By Luke Harding and Mark Rice-Oxley - Guardian.co.uk
The Arab spring has inspired Russians to stand up to Vladimir Putin, and sweeping political change is possible if voters reject him at the ballot box in next weekend's presidential elections, according to Putin's jailed opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
U.S., S. Korea Start Drills, North Issues Warning
By Rose Kim - Bloomfield.com
The U.S. and South Korea began annual military drills over the objections of North Korea, which called the exercises a violation of its sovereignty that could lead to confrontation.
"The war drills are an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity" of North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency said today in an editorial. "The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to fight a war," the editorial said, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Gingrich and Obama Play Political Games
with Afghan Koran Burning
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Newt Gingrich thinks his floundering presidential campaign may gain support if he criticizes Obama’s lame "apology" for the burning of Korans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
The incident has led to violence and murder by fanatical Muslims incited by the Taliban, the austere Wahhabist fanatics created and brought to power byPakistan’s ISI and the CIA with Saudi money.
"I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident," Obama wrote this week to Afghanistan’s installed president and former UNOCAL consultant Hamid Karzai. "I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies."
Barack Obama Apologizes For Burning Korans
But Not For Burning Bibles?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
It has become exceedingly clear that Barack Obama does not believe that all religions should be treated equally. In recent days Barack Obama has gone to great lengths to apologize for the "inadvertent" burning of Korans by U.S. military forces in Afghanistan. In fact, Obama has given his word that the United States will be "holding accountable those responsible" for the burning of the Korans. But when the U.S. military purposely burned Bibles in Afghanistan a few years ago, there was never any apology from Barack Obama. Christian groups all over the U.S. expressed great outrage but there was dead silence from Obama. So why the double standard? Do Muslims get an apology because they are willing to become violent over the burning of a Koran? Does Barack Obama consider a Koran to be more valuable than a Bible? Exactly what in the world is going on here?
White House vows to stay involved in Afghanistan GOP critics hit Obama Koran-burning apology
By Paige Winfield Cunningham - The Washington Times
Even as another day of anti-U.S. violence saw seven NATO troops hurt in Afghanistan, the Obama administration on Sunday vowed to remain heavily involved in the country and defended the president’s handling of a crisis sparked by the inadvertent burning by American troops of Muslim holy books.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador toAfghanistan, said that despite a week of attacks and violent protests, there are no plans to accelerate withdrawal from the country, as some Republicans have suggested.
Afghan police hunt for colleague suspected of shooting US officers Abdul Saboor Salangi, 25, wanted in connection with killings that prompted mass pullout of Nato advisers from Kabul ministries
By Emma Graham-Harrison - Guardian.co.uk
Afghan police are searching for a 25-year-old police sergeant suspected of shooting two US military officers in the ministry in Kabul where he worked, killings that have raised questions about the future of the foreign mission in their country.
The shooting, after days of bloody protests over the burning of copies of the Qur'an at a US base, prompted the Nato-led coalition fighting inAfghanistan to pull all its hundreds of advisers out of ministries across the capital, with no timeframe given for their return.
Iran leaders disconnect from middle class Iran elections underscore split between leaders, middle class
By Thomas Erdbrink, WashingtonPost.com
TEHRAN — More than two years after massive anti-government demonstrations over a disputed election exposed a rift between Iran’s leaders and its urban middle class, their diverging worlds are again set to collide in an upcoming vote for a new parliament.
This time, disgruntled opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are unlikely to hold protests, political analysts said, but they may not vote either, denying Iranian leaders the large turnout they seek to reaffirm the legitimacy of their 33-year-old rule.
Barak heads to DC for Iran talks US, Israel see unprecedented frequency of high-level talks as defense minister prepares to meet with Biden, Panetta; President and PM to follow Barak toWashington for meetings with Obama.
By HERB KEINON0 - JPost.com
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to leave forWashington on Monday for talks expected to center on Iran, as the frequency of senior- level US-Israeli meetings is at a pace not seen in years.
Barak will be followed to Washington later in the week by President Shimon Peres, who will address the annual AIPAC policy conference next Sunday, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who will speak to the conference the next day.
Iran: drumbeat of war has a familiar sound Impetus towards war with Iran can only be explained in terms of a western desire for Iraq-style regime change
By Simon Tisdall - Guardian.co.uk
The drumbeat of war with Iran grows steadily more intense. Each day brings more defiant rhetoric from Tehran, another failed UN nuclear inspection, reports of western military preparations, an assassination, a missile test, or a dire warning that, once again, the world is sliding towards catastrophe. If this all feels familiar, that's because it is. For Iran, read Iraq in the countdown to the 2003 invasion.
Iran: Military strike will lead to 'collapse' of Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Iranian Defense Minister says Israel "on the verge of dissolution," and that a military strike would "lead to the collapse" of the Jewish State, according to state-run TV.
An Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities will result in "the collapse" of the Jewish state, Iranian state-run Press TV quoted Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying on Saturday.
"The Zionist regime is on the verge of dissolution… a military attack by the Zionist regime will undoubtedly lead to the collapse of this regime," the Press TV website quoted Vahidi as saying.
'Israel has no capability to attack Iran'
Questions remain over Iran's nuclear programme after UN atomic officials said Tehran has failed to co-operate with them. The international community suspects that Tehran is building a nuclear bomb, but Iran insists it's only seeking peaceful atomic energy. The U.S. and its allies have been imposing tough economic sanctions, while Israel has even threatened military action against Iran's nuclear sites. But it's being reported that America's intelligence community has doubts about the nuclear allegations. RT talks to the Middle East Consultant, Peter Eyre.
Western Countries 'Poised for Military Intervention' in Syria
By GIANLUCA MEZZOFIORE: IBTimes.co.uk
The governments of US, France, Turkey and Italy are secretly preparing for a military intervention in Syria, an Israeli military intelligence website has claimed
Debkafile quotes Washington sources speculating that President Barack Obama is poised for a final decision after the Pentagon has submited operational plans for protecting the Syrian population from Assad's forces.
The sources claim that US's western allies are waiting for a White House move before going forward.
Unlike Libya, where foreign intervention was mandated by UN Security Council, Syria will allegedly see a limited military action. In January, Russia vetoed an Obama-supported UN resolution condemning the violence, causing anger and disappointment in the international community and inside Syria.
US, France, UK, Turkey, Italy
prepare for military intervention in Syria
DEBKAfile.com
Despite public denials, military preparations for intervention in the horrendous Syrian crisis are quietly afoot in Washington, Paris, Rome, London and Ankara. President Barack Obama is poised for a final decision after the Pentagon submits operational plans for protecting Syrian rebels and beleaguered populations from the brutal assaults of Bashar Assad’s army, DEBKAfile’s Washington sources disclose.
This process is also underway in allied capitals which joined the US in the Libyan operation that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s rule in August, 2011. They are waiting for a White House decision before going forward.
In Libya, foreign intervention began as an operation to protect the Libyan population
Greece surrenders its gold and itself
to creditors in the new deal
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Though Greece finally reached a debt deal last week, the fine print suggest that the country may have surrendered itself to creditors and bondholders.
As per the new agreement, Greece's lenders will have the right to seize the country's gold reserves in the event of any default. Greek gold reserves are estimated to be more than 100 tonnes. Also hard hitting to its national interests is the fact that all future issues of Greek bonds will be governed in English and Luxembourg courts- conditions more favourable to the bondholders.
Gold, silver boosted by euro, crude oil
LONDON (Commodity Online): Comex gold and silver have strengthened in reaction to recent moves in the euro and crude oil, said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance.
Technically, gold generated momentum when it pushed through the $1,765 area Wednesday. “The market has had a nice move up toward the $1,785-ish area so far,” he said.
The area around $1,800 looms as resistance for gold and $35 for silver, he says. Around 9:25 a.m. EST, the euro was up to $1.3289 from $1.3246 late Wednesday.
Lack of supply will push silver
to $50/oz in 24 months: Kingsgate CEO
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Silver prices are so low right now that there is a huge room for upside movement, says CEO of Kingsgate Consolidated -Gavin Thomas. Kingsgate Consolidated is an Australia based mining company.
"Silver is a fantastic opportunity. I see there’s a lot of upward price (for the metal), because of the lack of supply", CNBC quoted Gavin who also went on to add that he expected prices to hit $50 within the coming 24 months.
Negative Salaries, Negative Bailout
And Now Negative Gold -
Greece Just Became The Bankster's Paradise
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While Iceland is now known as the country that is the closest earthly approximation tobanker hell, it is safe to say that Greece is the terrestrial equivalent of banker heaven. Because as explained earlier today, the country's population is about to get a worse deal than your average run of the mill slave - they may get whipped, but at least never have to pay for the privilege, unlike the Greeks. Hence negative salaries. As also explained, the European bailout of Greece, is now formally a Greek bailout of Europe, funded by the country's already negative primary surplus, or better said - deficit (don't try to make mathematical sense of that - a scene out of Scanners is guaranteed). Hence, negative bailout. But the piece de resistance, and the reason why Greece is the in situ version of bankster heaven is the news from the NYT thatGreece is also about to have negative gold.
Bretton Woods uncovered (a scoop, of sorts)
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Students of economic history are in for a treat. An official studying deep in the bowels of the US Treasury library has recently uncovered a prize of truly startling proportions – an 800 page plus transcript of the Bretton Woods conference in July 1944, the meeting of nations which established the foundations of today's international monetary system.
Bizarrely, this extraordinary manuscript has never before come to light. Professor Steve Hanke of John Hopkins University, whose former student it was who discovered the document, is now dashing to publish it in full in conjunction with his friend, Jacque de Larosiere. The first stage of the process, transcribing the type-written document into digital form is now complete, though it is not yet available. It's hoped eventually to produce a hard copy, book version.
Intel Exclusive: Trillion Dollar Terror Exposed
Bush, Fed, Europe Banks in $15 Trillion Fraud, All Documented
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor - VeteransToday.com
Below is one of the strangest stories in financial history, one involving the US government lying about hundreds of thousands of tons of imaginary gold, illegal wire transfers and loans totaling $15 trillion. The video, from the House of Lords, is amazing in itself.
What it doesn’t express is where the money came from though Lord James of Blackheath proves conclusively that an effort was made to say it came from a gold reserve in Brunei that, in fact, never existed.
At surface, it appears we have stumbled upon the largest terrorist organization in the world and have found original documents tracing its funding to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, two of the top financial officers in the US. A cursory review of terrorism statues in the US indicate that all transactions we will learn about are, in fact, to be assumed “terrorist money laundering” and that the only thing preventing the immediate arrest of hundreds of top financial officials is their political connections alone.
Lord James of Blackheath FOUNDATION X UPDATE
Lord James of Blackheath, House of Lords February 16 2012
Breaking news Lord James of Blackheath has spoken in the House of Lords holding evidence of three transactions of 5 Trillion each and a transaction of 750,000 metric tonnes of gold and has called for an investigation.
The spectre of deflation rises as inflation falls Cash-strapped households should be helped by a sharp fall in inflation this week but it carries with it the seeds of an equally uncomfortable outcome - deflation.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
It is not normally worth your while paying close attention to the cacophony of monthly economic data releases. If you did, you would soon feel like a manic depressive on steroids: up, down, sideways and all over the place.
But you should watch out for the inflation figures on Tuesday.
Last year, CPI inflation rose alarmingly to peak at 5.2pc, confounding the earlier optimism of the Bank of England (and yours truly).
Greek Deal Leaves Europe on the Road to Disaster
By Clive Crook - Bloomberg.com
If Europe’s new plan for Greece succeeds, nobody will be more surprised than the politicians who designed it. At best, the arrangement is a holding action, one that fails yet again to deal with the much larger confidence crisis facing the euro area.
The deal announced on Tuesday starts with private lenders. Their representatives agreed to accept even bigger losses on Greek government bonds than previously discussed. The bonds’ face value will be cut by 53.5 percent, and they’ll pay a low interest rate, starting at 2 percent then rising later. Altogether, this reduces their net present value by about 75 percent, far more than deemed necessary just weeks ago.
When Greece Defaults The second European bailout of Greece
will just delay the inevitable.
By Anthony Randazzo - Reason.com
The second round bailout of Greek debt is just delaying the inevitable—Greece is going to default.
As details have emerged on the European Central Bank, European Financial Stability Facility, and International Monetary Fund joint agreement with private creditors and the Greek government on providing money to make sure Greece pays a March debt bill, it is increasingly clear that this deal will not be enough.
Folker Hellmeyer and James Turk
talk about Europe, inflation and gold
December 14, 2011 -- In this video Folker Hellmeyer, chief analyst at Bremer Landesbank, and James Turk of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about the problems facing the eurozone and the coming pick up in inflation. Hellmeyer doesn't see a recession coming in Europe. However he believes that inflation will pick up and go back to the levels of the 1980s. In his opinion, the disinflationary period following the 1980s is widely misunderstood and was caused by the opening of communist countries which lead to over capacities in global labour markets. Those resources have now been exploited and can't buffer inflationary pressures any longer. They agree, that the government inflation statistics have been modified to show lower numbers -- as claimed by John Williams of shadowstats.com -- leading to a growing inflation-burden on the middle class.
Athens told to change spending and taxes
EU creditor countries poised to micromanage Greece
By Peter Spiegel in Brussels,
Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin
and Kerin Hope in Athens - FT.com
European creditor countries are demanding 38 specific changes in Greek tax, spending and wage policies by the end of this month and have laid out extra reforms that amount to micromanaging the country’s government for two years, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times.
The reforms, spelt out in three separate memoranda of a combined 90 pages, are the price that Greece has agreed to pay to obtain a €130bn second bail-out and avoid a sovereign default that the government feared would throw Greek society into turmoil.
The Greek Tragedy And Great Depression Lessons Not Learned
By Nomi Prins - ZeroHedge.com
Greece has been the most pillaged country in Europe this Depression, among other reasons, because no one in any leadership position seems to have learned lessons from the 1930s. Plus, banks have more power now than they did then to call the shots.
Despite no signs of the first bailout working – certainly not in growing the Greek economy or helping its population - but not even in being sufficient to cover speculative losses, Euro elites finalized another 130 billion Euro, ($170 billion) bailout today. This is ostensibly to avoid banks’ and credit default swap players’ wrath over the possibility of Greece defaulting on 14.5 billion Euros in bonds.
German showdown with IMF looms
as Bundestag blocks rescue funds Germany's ruling parties are to introduce a resolution in parliament blocking any further boost to the EU’s bail-out machinery, vastly complicating Greece’s rescue package and risking a major clash with the International Monetary Fund.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, and Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
"European solidarity is not an end in itself and should not be a one-way street. Germany’s engagement has reached it limits," said the text, drafted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Free Democrat (FDP) allies.
"Germany itself faces strict austerity to comply with the national debt brake," said the declaration, which will go to the Bundestag next week. Lawmakers said there is no scope to boost the EU’s "firewall" to €750bn, either by increasing the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM) or by running it together with the old bail-out fund (EFSF).
Just What Is the REAL Exposure to Greece? Pt 1
by Graham Summers, Phoenix Capital Research - ZeroHedge.com
The financial world is awash with theories as to how significant the Second Greek Bailout is. I’m far less concerned with this (the Bailout accomplishes nothing of import and only puts off the coming Greek default by a short period). Instead, I think it much more important to ascertain the true exposure to Greek sovereign debt.
And what better place to start than the banking system of the one country that is playing hardball with Greece during this latest round of negotiations: Germany.
THE BROKEST COUNTRY HAS THE BROKEST CITIZENS American's Per Capita Government Debt Worse Than Greece
By John Hinderaker - PowerLineBlog.com
I wrote yesterday that "Maybe you have to be Greece before most people get seriously concerned about sovereign debt." Oops. My mistake. It turns out that the United States is already, by at least one basic measure, broker than Greece. This chart, from the Senate Budget Committee, shows how much citizens of various countries owe, on a per capita basis, in national government debt. The average American owes more than the average Greek (or anyone else):
Unintended Consequences
By Eric Sprott and David Baker - Sprott.com
2012 is proving to be the 'Year of the Central Bank'. It is an exciting celebration of all the wonderful maneuvers central banks can employ to keep the system from falling apart. Western central banks have gone into complete overdrive since last November, convening, colluding and printing their way out of the mess that is the Eurozone. The scale and frequency of their maneuvering seems to increase with every passing week, and speaks to the desperate fragility that continues to define much of the financial system today.
Impartial Analysis Finds Only Ron Paul Would Cut US Debt Burden
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When one puts aside all the histrionics, all the melodrama, all the irrelevant secondary bullshit such as appearance, charisma, ability to tele-evangelize, all the irrelevant policies such as what planet the US should colonize or how women should procreate, and focuses on just one thing: which presidential candidate (not to mention president) will do the right thing for America, which is to make sure that it doesn't collapse under a record debt load, there is just one answer. And it is not even ours: it comes from the impartial Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Project, aka US Budget Watch ("U.S. Budget Watch neither supports nor opposes any candidate for office. Its reports are intended to promote understanding and discussion of the federal budget and how specific policy proposals would affect the deficit") which today released an analysis on debt sustainability titled "The GOP Candidates and the National Debt." The answer is in the chart below... Full report by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - PDF
Keiser Report: Burning Bankers Pays (E253)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Lloyd Blankfein's suicide twinkie vest, Iceland's parliamentary pelting, manipulation of Libor rates and rampant foreclosure abuse. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Shir Hever about price tagging in Area C of the West Bank and about destroying the competition in Gaza.
Bank of America freezes pension plans
The Business Journal by Adam O'Daniel, Finance Editor
Retirement plans at Bank of America are changing.
The Charlotte-based bank announced in its 2011 annual report that it will freeze the majority of its existing pension plans. In return, the bank says it will increase the amount it contributes to employees 401(k) retirement plans.
The change is effective June 30.
A BofA spokesman was not available for comment.
BofA has about 2,000 employees in the Triad, the majority of which work at a call center in High Point's Piedmont Centre.
Bank of America stops selling mortgages to Fannie Mae
By Jacob Gaffney - Housingwire.com
Bank of America ($8.02 0.07%) is faced with numerous reps and warrants challenges on the mortgage front, and as a result of growing uncertainty, it will no longer sell certain mortgage refinances into Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.
"The issue is tied to ongoing disagreements between Bank of America and Fannie Mae in regards to repurchases," said Dan Frahm, spokesman for BofA.
Specifically, Bank of America will no longer place non-Making Home Affordable Program (MHA) refinance first-lien residential mortgage products into Fannie mortgage-backed securities.
Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 3)
By A. Gary Shilling - Bloomberg.com
Think of all the recent federal programs to keep people who can’t afford them in their four- bedroom houses.
There are the Home Affordable Modification Program, the Home Affordable Refinancing Program and the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program. In addition, there are Hope Now, Hope for Homeowners, the Hardest Hit Funds and, most recently, the proposal to expand HARP to distressed mortgages not covered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
-- Hopeless HAMP: The administration initially said this program would relieve 3 million to 4 million distressed homeowners, but it’s been a miserable failure. That was to be expected because loose-lending practices put many people in houses so unaffordable that, short of canceling their monthly mortgage payments completely, no modification would return them to financial health. About the only thing HAMP has done is delay foreclosures while lenders, under federal government edict, attempt to modify home loans to reduce total monthly payments on mortgage, credit-card and other debt to 31 percent of income.
Comments on Existing Home Inventory
by CalculatedRisk
Analysts are trying to explain the recent sharp decline in existing home inventory and trying to estimate the impact of less inventory on house prices. As an example, Goldman Sachs economist Zach Pandl wrote yesterday:
Inventory of existing homes on the market declined by 21% in the year to January, or by 600,000 units. The "months supply" of existing homes — homes for sale divided by the current sales pace—fell to 6.1 in January, the lowest level since April 2006. Although we consider these declines a modest positive for the housing market outlook, we also think they exaggerate the improvement in excess supply.
JPMorgan Places $72 Billion Bet on Global Homeowners
By Jody Shenn and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has more than tripled its holdings of mortgage securities without U.S. government guarantees to $72 billion as the nation’s biggest bank bets on borrowers from outside the country it calls home.
The investments swelled $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter, climbing from $52.8 billion at the end of 2010 and $19 billion the prior year, according to regulatory data released last week. The bank has primarily been adding debt from outside the U.S., including bonds tied to U.K. and Dutch mortgages, Securities and Exchange Commission filings by New York-based JPMorgan show.
JPMorgan Places $72 Billion Bet on Global Homeowners
By Jody Shenn and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has more than tripled its holdings of mortgage securities without U.S. government guarantees to $72 billion as the nation’s biggest bank bets on borrowers from outside the country it calls home.
The investments swelled $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter, climbing from $52.8 billion at the end of 2010 and $19 billion the prior year, according to regulatory data released last week. The bank has primarily been adding debt from outside the U.S., including bonds tied to U.K. and Dutch mortgages, Securities and Exchange Commission filings by New York-based JPMorgan show.
The Dis-United States of Gas Prices:
Why Fuel Is So Cheap in Denver Thanks to America's overwhelmed oil pipelines, some lucky drivers in the Rockies are getting a big discount on gas.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Right now, it's very, very good to be a commuter in Colorado.
Gas prices have been on the rise for the past two months, as the international game of chicken between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program has sent global price of crude oil up above $120 a barrel. In California, an average gallon of fuel now costs more than $4. In New York, it's about $3.90. Even in Houston, the gas-pumping heart of U.S. refining capacity, motorists are paying more than $3.50. The run-up has many contemplating whether gas prices could break the U.S. economic recovery, as they nearly did in 2011.
P&G to slash 5,700 jobs and cut costs by $10bn Group responds to slowing growth of western markets
By Barney Jopson in New York - FT.com
Procter & Gamble, the world’s biggest consumer goods maker by sales, plans to cut 5,700 jobs and $10bn in costs over the next four years as it responds to market demands to sharpen its performance in the face of slow growth in the west.
Bob McDonald, P&G chief executive, said: “We realise that we have to do it. The environment necessitates it.” Shares in the Cincinnati-based company, which has less exposure to high-growth emerging markets than its main rivals, rose 2.3 per cent to $65.93.
USPS closings plan to eliminate up to 35,000 jobs
(Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service announced plans on Thursday to close or consolidate 223 mail processing centers and eliminate up to 35,000 jobs as part of its strategy to cut costs by reducing its network of facilities.
The Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year as email chips away at mail volumes and as it faces massive annual payments to the federal government.
City Council -
What does -innovative procurement options-mean?
By Peter Ewart - Opinion250.com
In December, Prince George Mayor Shari Green formed a "Select Committee on Business" to get the views of certain business people on the operations of City Hall. This Select Committee has just released its recommendations, and one of them, point number ten, calls for "ensuring" that the city is "open to innovative procurement options."
So what does "innovative procurement options" mean? Some people might simply interpret this phrase as the PG municipal government finding some new ways to acquire goods and services of various kinds. But others, with good reason, might interpret it as code words for "contracting out" and "privatization" of city services.
Is Censorship the New Pluralism?
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Pat Buchanan might have seen the end of the line coming at MSNBC when last month network president Phil Griffin commented on his latest book, "Suicide of a Superpower," by saying, "I don't think the ideas that (Buchanan) put forth are appropriate for the national dialogue, much less on MSNBC."
When Buchanan was let go last week after 10 years as a commentator on the network, no one was surprised.
I don't agree with some of Buchanan's ideas, especially regarding Jews, his questioning of whether World War II had to happen or whether the United States should be involved militarily in the Middle East, but he has every right to his ideas, as we all have the right to our own. It's called free speech.
"A few short weeks will determine the political fate of America for the present generation, and probably produce no small influence on the happiness of society through a long succession of ages to come." --George Washington (1788)
George Washington's birthday (February 22, 1732) was spontaneously celebrated nationally from the date of his death in 1799 until 1879, when Congress officially established the observance. In 1971, however, the celebration was changed from the date of his birthday to the third Monday in February, and with that change arose the generic "Presidents' Day."
What Republican Elites Can Learn from the Arizona Debate There's nothing to be done about the candidates. But the rhetoric on the right? It cost the GOP Wednesday. Its voters have been lied to for too long.
By Conor Friedersdorf - TheAtlantic.com
On an Arizona stage, clad in suits and ties and American flag lapel pins, the remaining GOP candidates debated for the 20th time Wednesday, when voters got perhaps their last chance to see Mitt, Rick, Ron, and Newt taking questions from timid Massachusetts moderate John King. The near consensus among commentators? A certain ornery, sweater-vested Pennsylvanian lost. "Rick Santorum's night was defined by explaining why he voted for things he opposed," National Review's Rich Lowry observed. "He didn't know when to let go on the earmark discussion, which he couldn't possibly win.... Overall, he was too defensive, too insider, too complicated."
Satan Is Not a Campaign Issue
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
In 2008, Rick Santorum spoke at Ave Maria University in Florida. There, he tackled the crucial issue of moral decline in America and did so in explicitly religious language. "Satan has his sights on the United States of America," he said. "Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.
"He attacks all of us, and he attacks all of our institutions," he stated.
Now Santorum obviously has a right to his religious believes. And polls show that Americans agree with him that Satan exists -- 70 percent of Americans, according to Gallup, believe in the devil, and 69 percent believe in hell.
Apple 'has more money than it needs', says chief Tim Cook Apple has fuelled expectations it will begin a major acquisition spree, after telling investors it has more cash than it knows what to do with.
By Katherine Rushton - Telegraph.co.uk
Tim Cook, who in August became chief executive of the world's biggest company by market value, said Apple's current $97.6bn (£62bn) in cash and investments had grown by nearly two-thirds in a year and was "more than we need to run a company".
He told its annual general meeting in Cupertino, California, that Apple was in "active discussions" about what to do with the cash pile. "The board and management team are thinking about this very deeply," Mr Cook said.
Group Files FTC Complaint
Against Google for Privacy Changes
By Grant Gross, IDG News
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should force Google to halt its plan to consolidate user identities across its services and fine the company for violating an October privacy settlement with the agency, privacy group the Center for Digital Democracy said in a complaint filed Wednesday.
Google is not making the changes to its privacy policy to provide convenience to users, as it claims, but to better track them and deliver targeted advertising, the CDD complaint said. "Google has communicated its real plans to expand data targeting throughout all it services, and to better compete against Facebook, to its advertising customers," said Jeffrey Chester, CDD's executive director. "They have failed to tell the truth to consumers."
How Much Would it Cost to build the Death Star?
Centives.net
Building a massive space weapon is all very well, but you have to find the materials to build it with. It's easy to say that "sure, the Death Star would be expensive" but is there actually enough iron in the Earth to make the first Death Star? Centives decided to find out.
We began by looking at how big the Death Star is. The first one is reported to be 140km in diameter and it sure looks like it's made of steel. But how much steel? We decided to model the Death Star as having a similar density in steel as a modern warship. After all, they're both essentially floating weapons platforms so that seems reasonable.
NASA Will Pay You to Eat Astronaut Food for 4 Months
By Carol Pinchefsky - Forbes.com
You read that right. NASA wants volunteers for their four-month simulation to Mars. But instead of conducting tests on confinement and psychological stress, NASA just want to study your tastebuds.
According to Mashable, The space agency is looking for applicants to eat astronaut food for four months during a simulated trip to the Red Planet. Participants will try instant foods, and ones with shelf-stable ingredients, and scientists will record their reactions. The goal of the experiment is to discover what foods people like to consume consistently.
Astronaut ice cream aside, limited supplies (such as flour, sugar and dried meat), and no chance of fresh food limits the space-based diet. This study will gauge if participants can avoid “menu fatigue,” that is, becoming tired of eating the same foods. The study background states that if menu fatigue occurs, astronauts' "overall food intake declines, putting them at risk for nutritional deficiency, loss of bone and muscle mass, and reduced physical capabilities."
Putin praises Cold War moles for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets
By Steve Gutterman
(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power.
Spies with suitcases full of data helped the Soviet Union build its atomic bomb, he told military commanders.
"You know, when the States already had nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels," Putin said, according to state-run Itar-Tass.
Somalia urged to unite behind stable government London conference seeking solution to 20-year conflict calls for dissolution of weak transitional regime in Mogadishu
By Mark Tran and Julian Borger - Guardian.co.uk
World leaders have pledged more help to combat terrorism and piracy inSomalia, but demanded that its politicians form a stable government and backed this up with a threat of sanctions against anyone deemed to be stalling progress.
The conference in London issued a joint statement calling for the dissolution of the weak transitional government that holds power in Mogadishu and in a limited amount of territory outside the capital, with the help of African Union and Ethiopian troops.
Blueprint for China to open up markets Central bank plan to loosen controls on capital
By: Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing - CNBC.com
China should accelerate the loosening of capital controls, its central bank said, in a report outlining the path to a freely tradable currency and more open capital markets.
While China’s economy has grown dramatically over the past three decades, its financial markets have remained mostly closed off from the rest of the world. Opening the capital account would give foreigners far more access to Chinese stocks and bonds and help transform the renminbi into a global currency and potential rival to the dollar.
The proposal signals that officials in favor of bolder economic reforms may be trying to seize the initiative just months before a once in a decade leadership transition is announced.
DIA DIRECTOR: CHINA PREPARING FOR SPACE WARFARE
GROWING THREAT TO UNITED STATES
BY: Bill Gertz - FreeBeacon.com
Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, disclosed new details of China’s space weapons programs last week, including information regarding China’s anti-satellite missiles and cyber warfare capabilities.
Burgess stated in little-noticed written testimony prepared for an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee that Beijing is developing missiles, electronic jammers, and lasers for use against satellites.
Russia warns Israel not to attack Iran
By Alexei Anishchuk
(Reuters) - Russia warned Israel on Wednesday that attacking Iran would be a disastrous and played down the failure of a U.N. nuclear agency mission to Tehran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic program.
"Of course any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference.
Iranian Scientist 'Sought Israel's Annihilation,' Says Widow Semi-official Iranian news agency interviews widow of Mostafa Roshan – leaving no doubt as to nuclear program's goal.
By Gil Ronen - IsraelNationalNews.com
The wife of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an Iranian nuclear scientist who was assassinated in Tehran in January, said Tuesday that her husband"sought the annihilation of the Zionist regime wholeheartedly," according toIran's semi-official Fars news agency.
"Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel," the agency quoted Fatemeh Bolouri Kashani as saying Tuesday.
The Transition to Monetary Freedom
Mises Daily: by Ron Paul Specific Reforms Required
The growth of the American government in the late 19th and 20th centuries is reflected in its increasing presence and finally monopolization of the monetary system. Any attempt at restoring monetary freedom must be part of a comprehensive plan to roll back government and once again confine it within the limits of the Constitution. That comprehensive plan may be divided into four sections: monetary legislation, the budget, taxation, and regulation. We shall begin with monetary reforms, and conclude with a word about international cooperation and agreement. Monetary Legislation
Legal-Tender Laws
As we have seen, the Constitution forbids the states to make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debt, nor does it permit the federal government to make anything a legal tender. One of the most important pieces of legislation that could be enacted would be the repeal of all federal legal-tender laws. Such laws, which have the effect of forcing creditors to accept something in payment for the debts due them that they do not wish to accept, are one of the most tyrannical devices of the present monetary authorities.
Gold Profits from World Turmoil
Interview - GoldSeek.com
The Gold Report: In a recent edition of the Frontier Research Report, you wrote, "As perplexing and disconcerting as it may be, the performance of major global stock markets currently has a much stronger influence on share prices in the mining sector than the actual performance of the underlying commodity." How is that different from previous cyclical dips in the resource commodity space?
Carlos Andres: It's not different at all. The commodity space tends to be viewed with a bit of fear and skepticism by most retail investors and analysts generally. By extension, mining companies are viewed skeptically also, especially those in emerging and frontier markets. As a result, resource companies in emerging and frontier markets tend to be the last to receive investment capital during a bull market in stocks and the first that investors exit when markets get rattled.
Why Silver is the Standout Buy After the Greek Deal
Peter Cooper - SilverBearCafe.com
What’s been holding the price of silver below $34 this year? It’s been the possibility of a disorderly default by Greece. Now that we have an orderly default, and what else is a 73 per cent loss for private bondholders, things have changed.
But the price is very high. $170 billion is the highest sovereign debt restructuring in history. The ECB has made north of $1.5 trillion available to European banks. This is highly inflationary in the monetary sense and will be highly inflationary for consumers down the line.
Why Inflation's Higher Than It Looks
By DAN CAPLINGER - DailyFinance.com
Last fall, Social Security recipients got their first raise in their monthly benefit checks since 2009. Yet, if you're like most people, watching the prices of the things you buy go up all the time makes the government's inflation gauge seem out of touch.
But there's a good reason why the government's estimates don't match up with your experience: They aren't designed to.
Like any statistic, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, is only as effective as the assumptions it makes -- in this case, about what you spend money on. If you spend more on certain things than most people, then the CPI will do a terrible job of reflecting the prices you actually pay.
Bailing Out Banks Is Inflationary
Mises Daily: by Thorsten Polleit
The latest wave of financial-market turmoil has been caused in particular by growing investor concern about the financial health of commercial banks, especially banks in the eurozone.
It seems that investors have been increasingly losing confidence in banks' ability to live up to their payment obligations under "normal" market conditions and to generate sufficient profits going forward.
Such an interpretation may contribute to explaining the depressed valuations of eurozone bank stocks, which have lost around 71 percent of their value since the start of 2007.[1] In contrast, losses for US bank stocks amounted to (just) around 50 percent.
Uncle Sam’s Fire Sale. Minimum Investment: $1 Billion
By Addison Wiggin - dailyreckoning.com
02/22/12 Baltimore, Maryland – In my investment letter, Addison Wiggin’s Apogee Advisory, we spend a great deal of time, money and resources looking for new investment ideas that our subscribers can act on independently. Sometimes what we find instead is outrage.
For example, the federal government is about to dump millions of the foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices to hedge funds and private-equity firms with government connections. If you’re an individual investor who might like to get in on the action, forget it! You’re shut out of this deal.
Homeowners who might be interested in buying the foreclosure property next door? Out of luck. And retirees hoping for a return on their money more than 1.8% on a five-year CD find another avenue closed off.
Opposing Trends in Debt and GDP Growth
By Bill Bonner - dailyreckoning.com
$100 billion down… $40 trillion left to go!
Hey, don’t hold us to those figures. But yesterday European sages cut another deal to stave off the truth. Instead of defaulting openly and honestly — as Greece has done over and over again ever since 1827 — the Greeks will be ‘rescued.’
Sayeth Lucas Papademos, the technocrat leading Greece through its vale of deceit:
"It’s no exaggeration to say that today is a historic day for the Greek economy."
He’s right. It’s no exaggeration. It’s an outright lie!
What’s historic about the 15th rescue?
And as soon as the Greeks are fished out of the water, they’re to be given a shave and a haircut. No kidding. They’re supposed to shave off more public employees, more spending, and more benefits.
MOUNTAINS OF DEBT
By John Hindraker - PowerLineBlog.com
Maybe you have to be Greece before most people get seriously concerned about sovereign debt. Of all the good reasons to evict Barack Obama from the presidency in November, the most fundamental is that he is spending our country into financial ruin. I don’t think most Americans understand how much federal spending and debt have risen during the Obama administration (and even before it, when Democrats took control of Congress in 2007) and are projected to rise in the future under Obama’s budget proposal. These two charts, from the Senate Budget Committee, tell the story in a very simple way. This one shows the federal debt per household from 2000 through 2022; the numbers are actual to the present and thereafter represent the projections in Obama’s FY 2013 budget. Those projections are taken at face value, rosy assumptions and all. Still, the picture is staggering:
Politicians Fiddle While Fiscal Crisis Looms
By John Stossel - PatriotPost.us
Imagine this family budget:
Last year, you earned $24,700. But you spent $37,900, incurring $13,300 in debt, and you were already $153,500 in debt.
So you say, "I promise I'll spend $300 less this year!"
Anyone can see that your cutback is pathetic and that you need to spend much less.
Yet if you add eight zeroes, that's America's budget.
The president says again that he will cut spending -- but don't be fooled. He wants to spend more on some items, those he euphemistically calls "invest(ment) in the things that will help grow our economy." (As though politicians can know what a free market would reveal.)
Quit Worrying, Sovereign Defaults Happen All the Time
By John Maxfield - MotleyFool - fool.com
If aliens were to have landed on the planet Earth and picked up a Wall Street Journal at any point over the past year, they'd be excused for concluding that sovereign defaults are rare and momentous events. Can you think of the last time you read a major newspaper and didn't come across an urgent story about the European debt crisis? I can't -- though I wish I could, just to prove myself wrong.
The reality is that debt crises occur everywhere and all the time. According to Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's magisterial study of the subject, This Time Is Different, "mostcountries in all regions have gone through a prolonged phase as serial defaulters on debt owed to foreigners" (emphasis added). Their book talks about the "universality of default" and says things like "serial default is the norm." And Reinhart and Rogoff would know, as they cataloged literally hundreds of sovereign defaults over the years.
ECB's Mario Draghi magic corrupts bond markets The European Central Bank's blitz of measures to stave off a credit crunch and shore up EMU states are profoundly distorting debt markets and may ultimately do more harm than good.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
ECB boss Mario Draghi has sparked a blistering rally in global asset markets by lending banks as much as they want for three years at 1pc, but bond experts say the side-effects are toxic and the benefits are wearing off.
"It's a sugar rush," said Alberto Gallo, European credit chief at RBS. "It lowers the risk of defaults, but also lowers recovery rates if things go wrong."
Lenders must provide the ECB with collateral, at a haircut of up to 65pc, using up ever more of their balance sheets. The ECB has first claim on these assets, pushing other creditors down the pecking order. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets.
Is the European crisis over or just beginning? Identifying the chasm between perception and reality
By Todd Harrison
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The stock market is never wrong and prices are the ultimate arbiter of variant financial views.
As that dynamic is an ever-changing verdict, the bulls will argue that European policymakers have successfully navigated the sovereign sequel to the first phase of our financial crisis. See Minyanville’s "Five-Step Guide to Contagion."
They are also quick to note the difference between "drugs that mask the symptoms," as administered by the U.S government in 2008, and "medicine that cures the disease," in the form of debt destruction and/or reorganization. See Minyanville’s "Shock & Awe."
Greek Bailout Package: Undemocratic and Unsustainable The EU amends Greece’s constitution.
By Richard Palmer - TheTrumpet.com
With Greece just weeks away from running out of cash, eurozone finance ministers agreed on a new €130 billion ($170 billion) bailout deal in the early hours of February 21 after a 13-hour meeting. The new deal, based on austerity measures implemented by an unelected government, continues to violate Greece’s sovereignty and are bound to fail.
The eurozone’s distrust of Greece borders on contempt. EU and imf officials will have an “enhanced and permanent” position in Greece as a surveillance mechanism. Greece’s repayments must be deposited into an escrow account three months in advance of them becoming due. But this is only atemporary measure, until Greece rewrites its constitution.
Herding Greek Cats from Bondage
By: Jim Willie CB - GoldSeek.com
Listen to the empty words of the last bailout for Greece. Credibility with the Jackass was lost back on the third bailout, well over a year ago, out of the six bailouts in total. Perhaps it is seven comprehensive final bailouts. The pattern is clear. The politicians, without popular support, forge agreements on debt coverage with the Greek officials. The deals fall through, hit the ground, and expose the lack of support even from the European bankers, led by the Germans. The pattern has been vividly clear for over a year, enough for my dismissal of new accords right away on the basis that the German bankers will not conform and agree to the deals struck. The political leaders in France (Sarkozy) and Germany (Merkel) are due to lose their offices, yet they continue to march around at useless summits attempting to cut last ditch agreements that mean nothing. The people are not willing in Germany to hand over any more than the $3 trillion to date, from the start of the common Euro currency experiment. The bankers, like at the Bundesbank, should attend the summits, but that would be too obvious on where the majority of power is held.What is unfolding is a comprehensive Greek Govt debt default from the inability to contain the situation, the impracticality of the austerity budgets put in place, the wreckage that has come to the Greek Economy, and the intractable solution.
• Greece cannot pay its current debts back. Ever.
• More money is NOT the answer.
• Greece cannot even begin to recover while still chained to the Euro and unable to devalue.
• Greek citizens will NOT suddenly decide to pay their taxes.
• Greece’s exit from the EU will be incredibly painful and the country will likely go into a depression.
But:
• Greece is NOT the first country to default (just the first in the EU)
• Greece WILL be able to get back on its feet eventually through devaluation
• The sooner this process starts, the sooner it finishes - look at Iceland
Fitch Cuts Greece, Near-Term Default 'Highly Likely'
By: CNBC.com
Fitch ratings agency on Wednesday slashed its rating for Greek sovereign debt to "C" from "CCC," indicating that default is "highly likely in the near term."
The downgrade comes just after the country secured a second bailout from its creditors and the subsequent announcement by the Greek government that private investors holding Greek debt would be forced to accept a debt swap, in which they exchange their bonds for lower-value debt.
Fearless Prediction: On March 20, Greece WILL Default
BY GONZALO LIRA - FinancialSense.com
On March 20, Greece has to come up with €14.3 billion—or else it will be bankrupt.
Of course, Greece doesn’t have €14.3 billion—that’s why the Troika of the IMF, the EC and the ECB are trying to hammer out a deal to bail them out again: A bailout to the tune of €136 billion. They’ve had marathon-length negotiating sessions, one "crucial emergency meeting" after another—hell, they even called the Pope to send them a case of holy water and a truckload of wooden stakes. I’m serious!
Greek debt accord hostage to political passions Eurozone leaders have put off the day of reckoning for a few more months but the latest €130bn rescue package for Greece offers no path out of the crisis and is hostage to explosive political passions.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Greek elections in April are likely to sweep away the political class tainted by the hated "Memorandum" of the EU-IMF Troika, with the once dominant PASOK party down to 13pc in the latest poll and votes peeling away to the Communists, the Democratic Left, and Syriza.
Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza leader, told the Greek parliament on Tuesday that his country was victim of a "terrorist" assault. "This agreement is binding only on those who signed it. The accord carries the signature of a government with no popular legitimacy. It does not bind Greek democracy, or Greek society, or the Left. Very soon the sovereign people will regain their sovereignty," he said.
Under Volcker, Old Dividing Line in Banks May Return
BY STEVEN M. DAVIDOFF - NYTimes.com
The Volcker Rule, and its limitations on bank trading, may have the unintended effect of dividing the world back into investment banks and commercial banks. The unusual twist here is that Goldman Sachs andMorgan Stanley may end up stuck on the wrong side of the fence, treated under the law as commercial banks instead of the investment banks they once were.
The backdrop to this issue is that it is increasingly clear that banks are simply unable to make as much money from proprietary and other trading businesses as they did before the financial crisis. Take Goldman Sachs. In 2007, Goldman had revenue of $7.6 billion from traditional investment banking, but $31.2 billion in revenue from trading-related operations. Last year, Goldman had just $17.3 billion in revenue related to trading operations.
Short Selling and the Great Depression: Echoes
By Philip Scranton - Bloomberg.com
In the midst of the Great Depression, people who bet on stock-market declines were considered unpleasant, unwanted, un-American, un-something. Yet as a New York Times writer noted in February 1932, "The bearish speculator is not often reviled in healthy markets; it is when prices are declining that opprobrium is heaped upon him."
Short-selling transactions involve a broker "lending" equity shares to an investor, who pledges to return them at a later date. Usually, the broker sells the shares, credits the investor's account, then waits for the investor to repurchase and return them. If the buyback price is lower, the account balance, less fees and interest, represents profit; if the price is higher, the investor adds funds and takes a loss. Short sales can yield big gains when markets collapse, but analysts havelong debated whether they accelerate price slides or instead help establish "fundamental" values after a bubble.
What the App Economy Can Teach the Whole Economy The lessons from an infant industry, including the power of cooperation and importance of regulating with a light touch
By Michael Mandel - TheAtlantic.com
Android, apps, iPhones, Angry Birds, iPads, FarmVille, data contracts: It's a bit jarring to realize that these terms, so familiar today, only date back five years. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007, and the initial distribution of Android the same year, marked the birth of the App Economy.
But the App Economy didn't just mean more fun games and more ways to do work on the go -- it meant more jobs as well. Based on research I did for Technet, the association of high-tech innovative companies, the App Economy has generated nearly 500,000 jobs since 2007. This is an impressive total, especially during the worst labor market downturn since the Great Depression. It's also an indication of the growing macroeconomic impact of the App Economy.
Obama proposes corporate tax cut
and says system needs to change President's plan would set a new corporate tax rate of 28% – but Republicans in Congress say that is still too high
AP - guardian.co.uk
President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end to dozens of loopholes he said helps US companies move jobs and profits overseas. "It's not right and it needs to change," he said.
The president wants to lower the US corporate tax rate from the current 35%, the highest in the world after Japan. Under his plan, manufacturers would receive incentives so that their effective tax rate could be even lower.
Obama's election-year plan would set a new 28% corporate tax rate, still higher than the 25% rate sought by congressional Republicans.
The Paradox of Corporate Tax Reform
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
The White House is proposing to give the horribly pockmarked corporate tax system a major facelift today. The U.S. currently has one of the highest tax rates on corporate income in the world, but it raises a smaller share of GDP than the average developed country. Why? Loopholes, credits, exemptions and the ability to keep money overseas are part of the reason. The tax system is a piece of Swiss cheese that has become more holes than cheese, and the Obama administration is proposing a simple-sounding solution: We'll give you a lower tax rate if you give back the loopholes.
Oh, but it's so not that simple.
The Tax Break That Millions Miss Out On
By DAN CAPLINGER - DailyFinance.com
There's a popular tax break out there that paid more than 26 million workers a total of nearly $59 billion last year. Yet as many as 1 in 4 of those who qualify for this tax credit failed to claim it, missing out on hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars.
That break is the earned income tax credit. Designed to help low- and middle-income wage earners make ends meet, the credit helps reverse the effect of payroll taxes. Despite the best efforts of community organizations and various government agencies, however, the credit doesn't reach some of the families who need it most.
FNC House Prices, Zillow's forecast for Case-Shiller
by CalculatedRisk
Note: The Case-Shiller House Price index for December will be released Tuesday, Feb 28th. CoreLogic has already reported that prices declined 1.4% in December (NSA, including foreclosures). It appears that the Case-Shiller indexes (both SA and NSA) were at new post-bubble lows in December.
• Today from FNC: December Residential Property Values Decline 0.7%
Based on the latest data on non-distressed home sales (existing and new homes) through December, FNC’s national RPI shows that single-family home prices fell in December to a seasonally unadjusted rate of 0.7%. ... As a gauge of underlying home value, the RPI excludes sales of foreclosed homes, which are frequently sold with large price discounts reflecting poor property conditions.
Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 2)
By A. Gary Shilling - Bloomberg.com
In making my case for continued housing weakness, I’ve emphasized the negative effect of excess inventories on house sales, prices, new construction and just about every other aspect of residential real estate.
In housing, as in every goods-producing sector, excess inventories are the mortal enemy of prices. Lower prices are needed to unload surplus inventory, yet they also lead to the creation of more inventory by anxious sellers. The plight of house sellers and the reluctance of buyers are made worse by the realization that house prices can fall, and are falling for the first time in 70 years.
Home prices at lowest point in more than 10 years
By Chris Isidore @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home prices fell to their lowest point in more than a decade in January, which helped to lift the pace of home sales, according to a report from an industry trade group.
The National Association of Realtors reported that the median home price in January fell 2% from December to $154,700. That's the lowest price reading since November 2001, before the run-up in home prices that became known as the housing bubble.
Only 54% of Americans
Have More Emergency Savings than Credit Card Debt
By Ted Rossman - Bankrate.com
NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Only 54% of Americans have more emergency savings than credit card debt, according to a new poll released today by Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE). One in four Americans (25%) has more credit card debt than emergency savings and 16% have neither credit card debt nor emergency savings.
Bankrate's monthly Financial Security Index held at 97.3, unchanged from January and tied for the highest level sinceJune 2011. Any reading below 100 indicates a lower level of financial security compared with 12 months earlier.
Florida Drivers Shelling Out
Nearly $6 A Gallon At Some Gas Stations
By Matthew L. Higgins - Tampa.CBSLocal.com
TAMPA (CBS Tampa) — Talk about pain at the pump! Some Florida drivers are spending nearly $6 a gallon to fill up their gas tanks.
According to GasBuddy.com, motorists are shelling out $5.89 for a gallon of regular gas at a Shell station in Lake Buena Vista, topping out at $5.99 a gallon for premium. It doesn’t get better at a Suncoast Energy station in Orlando, where drivers are paying $5.79 for a gallon of regular.
"Prices over in the Disney World area are much higher than any other place in Florida," Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman, told CBS Tampa, adding that people regularly complain about gas prices in that area.
Historic door-to-door retailer Fuller Brush
files for bankruptcy protection
Ap - WashingtonPost.com
NEW YORK — The Fuller Brush Man is calling ... on bankruptcy court.
Fuller Brush Co. is filing for bankruptcy protection, decades after its fleet of salesmen popularized door-to-door selling in the U.S.
The company, known for its brushes, brooms and cleaning products launched the phrase "I’m your Fuller Brush Man" into the national vernacular and was once so well known that it spawned a 1948 feature film starring Red Skelton called "The Fuller Brush Man." Fuller Brush men traveled door-to-door with suitcases full brushes, personal care and cleaning products.
Survey Finds More Mature Workers
Plan To Work Post-Retirement
By CAREERBUILDER - DailyFinance.com
"Retirement" used to mean the end of one chapter in life spent working and the beginning of a new chapter spent with family and friends, traveling or focusing on hobbies. Yet for many of today's mature workers, their picture of retirement looks very different. It no longer means the end of their career; instead, they are either staying longer at their current jobs or getting new jobs once retired. In fact,a new CareerBuilder study found that 57 percent of workers age 60 plus surveyed said they would look for a new job after retiring from their current company.
When asked how soon they think they can retire from their current job, 11 percent of workers surveyed said they don't think they'll ever be able to retire. Other answers included:
• 1-2 years – 26 percent
• 3-4 years – 23 percent
• 5-6 years – 22 percent
• 7-8 years – 7 percent
• 9-10 years – 7 percent
• More than 10 years – 4 percent
The Middle Class Goes Global
Johannes Jütting - Project-Syndicate.org
PARIS – In the twentieth century, the American dream of a middle-class life inspired the world. Now, in the twenty-first, we are moving at high speed toward a world based on a new geography of growth, with millions of people in the east and the south moving out of extreme poverty to become potentially powerful middle-class consumers. Whether the dreams of this new global middle-class are realized or turn into a nightmare depends on several factors.
In today’s shifting world, with GDP in roughly 80 developing economies rising at twice the rate of per capita growth in the OECD, the club of the world’s richest countries, middle-class citizens paradoxically complain and protest regardless of whether fortunes improve or decline. Moises Naim, a former Venezuelan minister of trade and industry, even warns of a possible "emerging global war of the middle-classes."
Robotics and Health Care: A New Growth Market
By Ray Blanco - dailyreckoning.com
02/21/12 There are truly exciting developments afoot in the field of robotics. Uncomfortably humanlike Japanese toys aside, we are starting to see more and more applications for robot technology gaining steam in the market.
According to the Japan Robotics Association, the consumer robotics market is projected to reach 24 billion this year, and balloon to 66 billion by 2025. I personally think that the long term estimate is a bit pessimistic. Bill Gates is on record for predicting that robots will be as common as computers are today.
Federation on front lines of health law battle
By Paige Winfield Cunningham - The Washington Times
As the Supreme Court prepares for an epic legal clash next month on the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care law, Dan Danneradmits to a certain feeling of vindication.
The president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small-business lobby, said his group launched its legal challenge to the law two years ago, at a time when other business interests and critics of the health law told him the effort was a waste of time.
T-Mobile files opposition to Verizon Wireless spectrum deal
Puget Sound Business Journal by Lance Murray
Just two months after T-Mobile USA was wanting to sell itself to AT&T Inc., the Bellevue-based wireless provider is asking federal regulators to deny Verizon Wireless' proposed $3.9 billion purchase of airwave rights that are held by cable companies.
The T-Mobile/AT&T deal fell apart in December after federal regulators at theFederal Communications Commission and Justice Department opposed the deal on antitrust grounds.
T-Mobile, public interest groups
ask FCC to stop Verizon’s deal with cable firms
By Cecilia Kang - WashingtonPost.com
T-Mobile and public interest groups on Tuesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to block Verizon Wireless’s spectrum and marketing deal with cable firms, saying the transaction would lead to less competition and higher wireless service fees for consumers.
In filings late Tuesday at the FCC, T-Mobile said the $3.9 billion sale of airwaves to Verizon by cable firms would create “excessive concentration” in the wireless market. Verizon Wireless is the nation’s biggest wireless service provider with more than 100 million subscribers.
Gingrich campaign warned 2nd time for financial dealings
By Luke Rosiak-The Washington Times
Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign has received a second warning from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for widespread financial irregularities, saying the campaign must disclose why nearly $1 million was paid to the candidate, staff and a small group of fundraising consultants for questionable reimbursements.
But hours after the FEC letter on its 2011 finances became public, the campaign filed a report for a newer time period, January, that indicated that the problems have become far worse.
Who Do You Trust Less: The NSA or Anonymous? Intelligence officials seem to be polishing up their case to take on Anonymous like a 'stateless' terrorist group.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
The director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Keith Alexander, told various high-level audiences that the loosely affiliated group, Anonymous, would soon have the capability "to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack," according to an anonymously sourced article in the Wall Street Journal today.
The Journal admits that Anonymous "has never listed a power blackout as a goal," but warned that "some federal officials believe Anonymous is headed in a more disruptive direction," anyway.
Obama and Israel: The Silence of 'Friends'
By ROBERT M. GOLDBERG - The American Spectator.org
Pay attention to what he does, not what he now claims.
Oscar Wilde noted "true friends stab you in the front." Which explains why President Obama-- the self-proclaimed "best friend Israel ever had" -- has decided to cut funding for the Jewish state's missile defense system at the same time he wants to restore funding to UNESCO. (Israel's best friends will remember that the President was forced to cut support to the traditional anti-Israel agency by federal law because the organization recognized the Palestinian Authority as a state.)
Two Western Journalists Killed in Syria Shelling
By ROD NORDLAND and ALAN COWELL - NYTimes.com
CAIRO — Syrian security forces shelled the central city of Homs on Wednesday, the 19th day of a bombardment that activists say has claimed the lives of hundreds of trapped civilians in one of the deadliest campaigns in nearly a year of violent repression by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Among the scores of people that activist groups reported killed by rockets and bombs through the day, two were Western journalists, the veteran American war correspondent Marie Colvin, who had been working for The Sunday Times of London, and a young French photographer, Rémi Ochlik. The two had been working in a makeshift media center that was destroyed in the assault, raising suspicions that Syrian security forces might have identified its location by tracing satellite signals. Experts say that such tracking is possible with sophisticated equipment.
Marie Colvin's killing piles pressure on Assad
as civilian death toll rises Nicolas Sarkozy calls death of Colvin and photographer Remi Ochlik an assassination, and says: 'This regime must go'
By Martin Chulov
and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris - Guardian.co.uk
The deaths of veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, and the rising toll of civilian dead inSyria, have prompted renewed calls for an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Their deaths came on a day in which, according to activists, more than 80 people were killed in the besieged district of Bab al-Amr in the city of Homs, which has been under daily attack by the Syrian army for the past three weeks.
Sanctions Alone Won’t Topple Assad
By Meghan L. O’Sullivan - Bloomberg.com
On Feb. 24, the U.S., European nations, members of the Arab League and other sympathetic countries making up the newly established "Friends of Syria" group will gather in Tunisia for an emergency meeting on how to stem the bloodshed in Syria. Their deliberations are almost certain to involve calls for more crippling sanctions to bring about regime change and debates over providing military support to the fractured opposition groups inside the country.
While more economic steps can and should be taken, policy makers need to rethink the incorrect assumption that the more ambitious the objective (regime change, in this case) the more comprehensive and aggressive sanctions must be. Instead of simply looking for more ways to isolate Syria economically, the U.S. and its allies need to think about how sanctions can be used specifically to advance regime change. This will require creating a sanctions policy more subtle and nuanced way than one aiming just to contain a regime, or even to change its behavior.
Warships sail to Syria
By M K Bhadrakumar - ATimes.com
A flotilla of Iranian warships crossed the Suez Canal and docked at the Syrian port of Tartus on Saturday. Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the mission displays Iran's "might" despite 30 years of relentless sanctions.
The flotilla comprised the 18th Fleet of the Iranian navy. The warships would hold exercises and will "train Syrian naval forces under an agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus one year ago".
Consequences of Iran-Israel War
By Brandon Smith - USAWatchdog.com
The latest headline proves, once again, Iran and Israel are moving closer to war. The only question is when. A headline, today, from Debka.com said,“Tehran steps into US-Israel Iran row with threat of pre-emptive strike.” The story goes on to say,“Deputy Chief of Iran’s Armed Forces Gen. Mohammad Hejazi issued a new threat Tuesday, Feb. 21: “Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests… we will act without waiting for their actions.” debkafile’s military sources report that an Iranian preemptive attack on Israel has been in the air for some weeks. It became realistic because the dragging out of the argument between Washington and Jerusalem over a military strike and the two government’s indecisiveness gave Tehran a golden opportunity to further its interests.” (Click here for the complete Debka.com story.) There are many reasons that are given to go to war. Israel may attack first despite being told by Washington not to. Now, we hear Iran may strike first. It cut oil exports to the EU and didn’t wait for sanctions to kick in months from now. There’s really nothing stopping them from striking first if they think they are going to be attacked, likewise for Israel.
What Iranian Elites Think An Inside Look at Views of the West
By Hasnain Kazim, in Islamabad, Pakistan- Spiegel.de
Israeli hawks are threatening a military strike in order to stop Iran's nuclear program and many Republican presidential candidates in the US also support action. A loose survey of students and academics in Tehran shows that even among opponents of President Ahmadinejad, anti-Western sentiment is strong.
These days, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agitates against the United States, Israel and the West, all the while presenting himself as a proud advocate of nuclear energy in his country. The deputy chief of Iran's military forces is threatening to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran's enemies. Bombs believed to have been set by Iranian agents have exploded in India, Georgia and Thailand. And, in a show of force, Iran has dispatched warships to the Mediterranean.
Iran Uses European Oil Dependence as Blackmail on Nukes
by Niall Ferguson - TheDailyBeast.com
In the West’s high-stakes nuclear game with Tehran, Ahmadinejad may hold the stronger hand.
The signs of economic recovery in the United States grow more numerous—and with them rises the probability of President Obama’s reelection. But two crises abroad threaten to rain on the American parade: the European sovereign-debt debacle and the phony war over Iran’s nuclear program. Most commentators treat these two crises as unrelated. But they are in reality two sides of the same crisis. Call it the Euranian crisis.
White House: IAEA visit a 'failure' for Iran
BBC.co.uk
The White House has said it is disappointed that UN nuclear inspectors were barred from a site in Iran, calling the visit a "failure" for Iran.
"It's another demonstration of Iran's refusal to abide by its international obligations," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
IAEA inspectors had sought to clarify the "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear programme.
Tehran insists its nuclear intentions are purely peaceful.
US state department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Tehran's move was "disappointing", but the country wanted to see negotiations move forward.
U.N. Inspectors’ Iran Nuclear Mission Fails
as Tehran Denies Access to Key Site
by Michael Adler - TheDailyBeast.com
IAEA inspectors abandoned their mission to see if Iran is building nuclear weapons after Tehran denied them access to the Parchin military test site, which some suspect may be used for developing nukes.
In a crucial mission at a time of escalating tension over Iran, United Nations nuclear inspectors failed to make progress on finding out whether the Islamic republic seeks the bomb, and the International Atomic Energy Agency wasted no time in announcing this. A terse statement issued just as the IAEA inspectors’ plane was taking off from Iran reported that the mission was a bust. The team had been denied permission to see the suspect Parchin military testing site, despite "intensive efforts” to make it happen during the visit Monday and Tuesday. Iran and the IAEA also failed “to reach agreement on a document … (to resolve issues) in connection with Iran’s nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions."
Iran Drumbeat Watch: Now, on Page 1
By James Fallows - TheAtlantic.com
Anyone following the news already knows this, but for the record: it's very good to see the NYT running, on page one and above the fold*, an analysis of the reckless agitation for a preemptive military strike on Iran, and of the risks this talk holds for all involved. Lots of people wrote these analyses, after the fact, about the panicky rush-toward-war mentality that preceded the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is certainly better to start talking about the problem now, when "hey, wait a minute" thoughts can make a difference.
Experts Say Iran Attack Is Irrational,
Yet Hawks Are Winning the Debate
by Peter Beinart - TheDailyBeast.com
From the chairman of the Joint Chiefs to the head of Mossad, the experts are speaking out against attacking Iran over its nuclear program, but hawks like the GOP presidential candidates are drowning out the warnings.
The debate over whether Israel should attack Iran rests on three basic questions. First, if Iran’s leaders got the bomb, would they use it or give it to people who might? Second, would a strike substantially retard Iran’s nuclear program? Third, if Israel attacks, what will Iran do in response?
AIPAC and the Push Toward War
By Robert Wright - TheAtlantic.com
Late last week, amid little fanfare, Senators Joseph Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, and Robert Casey introduced a resolution that would move America further down the path toward war with Iran.
The good news is that the resolution hasn't been universally embraced in the Senate. As Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports, the resolution has "provoked jitters among Democrats anxious over the specter of war." The bad news is that, as Kampeas also reports, "AIPAC is expected to make the resolution an 'ask' in three weeks when up to 10,000 activists culminate its annual conference with a day of Capitol Hill lobbying."
Former Islamic Insider Offers Warning
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
Last week I quoted from a book by Reza Kahlili, A Time to Betray. This week I had a chance to speak with Mr. Kahlili by phone, and ask him about the Iran crisis. As a former CIA operative who worked inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, he understands the strengths and weaknesses of the Islamic Republic. He knows the Islamist mindset, and the errors that plague U.S. policy.
I asked Mr. Kahlili whether he thought a preemptive strike against Iran was a good idea. "The question is complex," he answered. "You should never have allowed Iran to become what it is today. You have missed opportunity after opportunity."
Colorado may follow Utah’s lead in gold, silver currency
BY KRISTEN WYATT - AP - SLTrib.com
Denver • Worried that the U.S. dollar may not be good as gold, some Colorado lawmakers are pushing a bill to legalize gold and silver coins as usable currency.
The bill would not lead to folks carrying gold nuggets in their purses and would have little practical effect.
Rather, the policy proposal from a small group of conservative lawmakers reflects anxieties about the nation’s financial stability, the domestic consequences of the European debt crisis and chronic deficit spending in Washington, D.C.
Gold Rallies Nearly 2% as Silver Jumps $1.21,
Bullion Silver Eagles Top 7M
by COINNEWS.NET
Gold advanced 1.9% Tuesday after Greece secured a second bailout from the European Union.
"Gold gets a boost from the EU kicking the can down the road," Reuters quotedsaid Rob Kurzatkowski, senior commodity analyst at options Xpress. "Not only does the bailout perhaps delay the inevitable (Greek bankruptcy), but it also opens the door for higher inflation across the euro zone."
Gold prices jumped $32.60 to $1,758.50 an ounce in the April futures contract on the Comex in New York. The settlement price was gold’s best since February 2. The yellow metal moved between an intraday low of $1,727.00 and a high of $1,759.00.
Gold rises over 1 percent on Greek deal uncertainty
By Frank Tang and Amanda Cooper
(Reuters) - Gold rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday, breaking ranks with the euro and equities, as a massive European bailout deal had investors buying the metal amid doubts the bailout will work.
Gold rallied to its highest in more than two weeks after euro zone finance ministers agreed a 130-billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue for Greece. Analysts said the deal bought time for the single-currency bloc but left deep doubts about Greece's ability to recover and avoid default.
The Enduring Popularity of Gold
By Frank Holmes - U.S. Global Investors - GoldSeek.com
The World Gold Council (WGC) reaffirmed the power of the Love Trade in its 2011 Gold Demand Trends report released this week. Gold demand grew 0.4 percent in 2011 despite a 28 percent year-over-year increase in bullion’s average price.
After flirting with the top spot for some time, China emerged as the world’s largest gold market for jewelry and investment during the fourth quarter of 2011 as demand in India weakened. This is the first time China’s demand outpaced India’s in 11 quarters. However, India did retain the gold demand crown for the entire year, purchasing 933 tons compared to China’s demand of 770 tons.
Will the Greek Bailout Make Gold, Silver Rise or Fall?
By: Julian D. W. Phillips - GoldSeek.com
Some investors may feel that the Eurozone debt crisis has been resolved by the bailout from the other E.U. members. Whether it has or has not, is irrelevant to the price of gold, or is it?
There are still hurdles in the way, such as the acceptance by private Greek Bondholders of the 53% haircut and low interest rates they will get until 2015. But let’s assume the best and believe they’ll accept the terms. The first market reactions were to move up and hold new levels without any effervescence in any market. The moves had largely been discounted already. Yes, we’re seeing a shift of money from the U.S. Treasury market to the euro but not in large amounts yet. In this piece we look at the overall prospects for the precious metals.
Silver Will Become a Currency Again
Interview with Eric Sprott - SilverDoctors.Blogspot.com
When asked about his recent efforts to convince silver mining companies to save in silver rather than cash or treasuries Eric responded:
I think we have a bit of a voice in the silver market, and the reason for the letter was just the simple analysis that the paper traders were determining the price…and why should you physical silver producers let that happen?
And that was the primary thing- would you guys please think about what’s happening in your silver market! Plus the fact that it got bombed last year, and are you just going to sit back and lose $25 an ounce that you might otherwise be making, or are you ready to take a stand here? The other very easy argument for me, is when you have your money in a bank, you get no return. You essentially have no return. In fact I think it was expressed very well by the gentleman that runs UC Resources that you actually get a negative return at the end of the year because inflation’s higher than the return you’re getting on your money! I happen to be of the view that having money in the bank is a dangerous thing!
Strong dollar and profit taking are hurdles to gold rally,
buy at $1640-$1670: Barclays
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold has found itself caught between some physical demand support and positively softer investor interest. Gold is in search of its next catalyst, but near term hurdles persist in the form of dollar strength and profit-taking.
-The minutes from the January US FOMC meeting suggested a subtle shift in the possibility of further near term policy action. While further QE remains a possibility, given the current economic backdrop, some members may be content with the loosening affect of extending the horizon of the forward guidance on rates.
Inflation Held in Check by Fear
By: John Browne - FinancialSense.com
History has shown us time and again that out of control money supply expansion creates inflation. In light of the trillions of synthetic dollars that have been injected into the economy by the Federal Reserve over the past five years, most observers (this one included) had expected prices to spiral upward. But in making these determinations, many of us forgot to factor in the supply side of the supply/demand equation. Inflation remains low now because of game changing events that have reduced the demand for money.
Is The Federal Reserve Doing A Good Job?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Have you noticed that very few people in the mainstream media ever directly criticize the Federal Reserve? But why should that be the case? Criticizing top politicians from both major political parties has become a national pastime. Most Americans love to throw mud at either the Republicans or the Democrats. But we are told that the Federal Reserve is "above politics" and that it is absolutely vital that the Fed remain "independent". The reality is that the Federal Reserve has more control over the performance of the U.S. economy than the president even does, and yet most Americans never spend much time thinking about the Fed at all. It is almost as if someone has instructed us to "ignore the man behind the curtain" and most of us just blindly obey. With the economy in such a mess and with the national debt exploding so dramatically, isn't it about time that we had a national conversation about the performance of the Federal Reserve? Isn't it about time that we evaluated whether the Federal Reserve is doing a good job or not?
* * * * *
Fed more powerful than ever... Fed Writes Sweeping Rules From Behind Closed Doors
[Google title for free article pass]
By VICTORIA MCGRANE And JON HILSENRATH - WSJ.com
The Federal Reserve has operated almost entirely behind closed doors as it rewrites the rule book governing the U.S. financial system, a stark contrast with its push for transparency in its interest-rate policies and emergency-lending programs.
While many Americans may not realize it, the Fed has taken on a much larger regulatory role than at any time in history. Since the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul became law in July 2010, the Fed has held 47 separate votes on financial regulations, and scores more are coming. In the process it is reshaping the U.S. financial industry by directing banks on how much capital they must hold, what kind of trading they can engage in and what kind of fees they can charge retailers on debit-card transactions.
As US Debt To GDP Passes 101%,
The Global Debt Ponzi Enters Its Final Stages
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Today, without much fanfare, US debt to GDP hit 101% with the latest issuance of $32 billion in 2 Year Bonds. If the moment when this ratio went from double to triple digits is still fresh in readers minds, is because it is: total debt hit and surpassed the most recently revised Q4 GDP on January 30, or just three weeks ago. Said otherwise, it has taken the US 21 days to add a full percentage point to this most critical of debt sustainability ratios: but fear not, with just under $1 trillion in new debt issuance on deck in the next 9 months, we will be at 110% in no time. Still, this trend made us curious to see who has been buying (and selling) US debt over the past year. The results are somewhat surprising. As the chart below, which highlights some of the biggest and most notable holders of US paper, shows, in the period December 31, 2010 to December 31, 2011, there have been two very distinct shifts: those who are going all in on the ponzi, and those who are gradually shifting away from the greenback, and just as quietly, and without much fanfare of their own, reinvesting their trade surplus in something distinctly other than US paper. The latter two: China and Russia, as we havenoted in the past. Yet these are more than offset by... well, we'll let the readers look at the chart below based on TIC data and figure out it.
Commodities Poised For A New Rally
By Justin Smyth - GoldSeek.com
The market has had an impressive run since the start of the year, but one sector that has lagged is the commodities sector. Unlike general stocks, commodities are still quite a ways away from their 2011 highs. Recession fears and a surging dollar contributed to the weakness in commodities last year. But a number of factors are starting to show the tide potentially turning for the commodities sector going forward in 2012.
Vitol warns crude could pass $150
By Javier Blas - FT.com
The world’s largest independent oil trader says oil prices could jump this year to a record high above $150 a barrel because of growing tensions with Iran.
Ian Taylor, chief executive of Vitol, said on Tuesday that the commodities trading house’s main scenario was for crude oil prices to remain at around current levels of $120 a barrel for the balance of 2012. But he warned: "Geopolitical risk, especially in the Middle East, creates potential material risk to the upside."
How Closely are Oil Prices Tied to Economic Activity?
Tobias Rasmussen and Agustin Roitman for the Oil Drum - OilPrice.com
Recent developments in oil markets and the global economy have, once again, triggered concerns about the impact of oil price shocks around the world. This column wonders whether the fuss is really necessary. It presents evidence of relatively small negative effects of oil price increases.
Increases in international oil prices over the past couple years, explained partly by strong growth in large emerging and developing economies, have raised concerns that high oil prices could endanger the shaky recovery in advanced economies and small oil-importing countries.
Following Keystone Rejection
Canada's Oil Sands Headed to China
By John Daly - OilPrice.com
Beginning in 2005, Congressional Republicans and the oil industry touted the 2,147 mile-long Keystone XL 830,000 barrel per day (bpd) pipeline, running from Canada’s Hardisty, Alberta oil sands to U.S. refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
But last month, in an attempt to force a decision from the Obama administration on the pipeline, congressional Republicans tacked a rider onto legislation extending the payroll tax cut by requiring the government to decide within 60 days on the issue, which was rejected for the foreseeable future.
A repeat of 2008, only worse?
By: Steve Saville, The Speculative Investor - GoldSeek.com
Although it is a long way from being a mainstream view, over the past two months we've read several comments along the lines of: the financial world will soon be immersed in another 2008-style crisis, only worse. In some cases the commentator went as far as to suggest that the next crisis, which will probably soon begin, will make 2008 look like child's play. What, then, do we think are the odds of a 2008 repeat?
There's a high probability of another major financial crisis happening within the next three years. It is almost inevitable, because debt levels are higher now than they were in 2007 and because governments and central banks have stymied the corrective process with their many interventions. However, there is almost no chance that the next crisis will be similar to the last one, for the reason we cited a number of times during the course of last year in response to the "2008 repeat" forecasts that kept cropping up. Just to quickly recap, the monetary backdrop all but eliminated the potential for a 2008-style crisis last year.
Keiser Report: Hang-a-Banker-a-Week! (E252)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss London bars and cafes introducing Facewatch for criminals on the lower ladder of crime while Mayoral candidate, Ken Livingstone, proposes an all together different solution to end the banking crime wave higher up the ladder. They also discuss Greek heists and tweets from Syntagma Square. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Zeus Yiamouyiannis about Greek tragedies and Greek solutions.
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT GREECE?...
Greece Is Still Doomed: Why the New Bailout Is a Fantasy Europe kicks the can down the road,
while Athens continues to burn
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Greece has finally secured a new $170 billion loan from its European landlords, and the terms are just as unrealistic and doomed-to-fail as you expected. The fact that the country requires a second bailout that's practically the size of its economy -- now crashing through $270 billion and still falling* -- tells you what you need to know about the hopelessness of Greece.
The bailout plan offers financial assistance to Greece at sweetheart terms and asks bondholders to accept a 50 percent scalping. But the object of all this pain -- stabilizing Greece's debt at 120 percent of GDP by 2020 -- relies on fairy-tale growth figures that assume the Greek Depression will stop accelerating some time starting ... yesterday. Here's the fantasy chart, courtesy of Felix Salmon:
The leaked report that argues
the entire Greek bailout may be self-defeating... Presenting The Full Greek (Un)Sustainability Analysis -
Take It Away German Media
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
You read headlines that Greece is saved (in a carbon copy release from July 21). Now read the truth behind the lies - presenting the 9 page (so it's brief enough) Greeksustainability (or lack thereof) analysis.
Here is the punchline:
The debt trajectory is extremely sensitive to program delays, suggesting that the program could be accident prone, and calling into question sustainability (Table 2). Under the tailored scenario described above, the debt ratio would peak at 178 percent of GDP in 2015. Once growth did recover, fiscal policy achieved its target, and privatization picked up, the debt would begin to slowly decline. Debt to GDP would fall to around 160 percent of GDP by 2020, well above the target of about 120 percent of GDP set by European leaders. Financing needs through 2020 would amount to perhaps €245 billion. Under the assumption that stronger growth could follow on the eventual elimination of the competiveness gap, the debt ratio would slowly converge to that in the baseline, but likely only in the late 2020s. With debt ratios so high in the next decade, smaller shocks would produce unsustainable dynamics, leaving the program highly accident-prone.
Greek debt accord hostage to political passions Eurozone leaders have put off the day of reckoning for a few more months but the latest €130bn rescue package for Greece offers no path out of the crisis and is hostage to explosive political passions.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Greek elections in April are likely to sweep away the political class tainted by the hated "Memorandum" of the EU-IMF Troika, with the once dominant PASOK party down to 13pc in the latest poll and votes peeling away to the Communists, the Democratic Left, and Syriza.
Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza leader, told the Greek parliament on Tuesday that his country was victim of a "terrorist" assault. "This agreement is binding only on those who signed it. The accord carries the signature of a government with no popular legitimacy. It does not bind Greek democracy, or Greek society, or the Left. Very soon the sovereign people will regain their sovereignty," he said.
Greeks will suffer for five years
as part of resolving eurozone crisis Scale of cuts required to implement rescue package prompted analysts to raise spectre of another debt crisis later this year
By David Gow in Brussels - Guardian.co.uk
Greeks will suffer austerity measures for another five years as the price of their government securing a €130bn (£109bn) bailout to prevent national bankruptcy and chaos within the eurozone, it has emerged.
The scale of the wage and spending cuts required to implement the rescue package prompted an array of analysts to raise the spectre of yet another Greek debt crisis later this year and the country's exit from theeuro as recession deepens.
8 Reasons Why The Greek Debt Deal
May Not Stop A Chaotic Greek Debt Default
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The global financial system is not a game of checkers. It is a game of chess. All over the world today, news headlines are proclaiming that this new Greek debt deal has completely eliminated the possibility of a chaotic Greek debt default. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Rather, the truth is that this new deal actually "sets the table" for a Greek debt default. When I was studying and working in the legal arena, I learned that sometimes you make an agreement so that you can get the other side to break it. That may sound very strange to the average person on the street, but this is how the game is played at the highest levels. It is all about strategy. And in this case, the new debt deal imposes such strict conditions on Greece that it is almost inevitable that Greece will fail to meet some of them. When Greece does fail, Germany and the other northern European nations may try to claim that they "did everything that they could" but that Greece just did not "live up to its obligations". So does this mean that we will definitely see a chaotic Greek debt default? No. What this does mean is that the chess pieces are being moved into position for one.
Damian Reece on Eurozone bailout:
this is no permanent rescue for Greece The Telegraph's Head of Business Damian Reece warns that the new Greek rescue package once again only stands to temporarily shore up the country's economy.
Telegraph.co.uk
The €130 billion deal agreed by Eurozone finance ministers is no more than a "short-term debt refinancing deal", Mr Reece said as he warned that the bail-out would do little to mitigate the financial crisis gripping Greece.
"Very little, if any, of the €130 billion will go to a stimulus programme to help the Greek economy grow," Mr Reece said.
"All that has happened is that Greece, basically, has been kept afloat until March 20 when it has got to repay €14.5bn.
"After that I'm afraid it's still anyone's guess."
Euro-Area Central Banks Said to Swap Greek Portfolio Bonds
By Jeff Black - Bloomberg.com
Euro-area central banks will swap the Greek bonds in their investment portfolios for similar securities to avoid enforced losses during a debt restructuring, a euro-area official said.
The swap will happen today and is identical to one the European Central Bank carried out last week with the Greek bonds acquired in its asset-purchase program, the official said. The new Greek bonds will be immune to collective action clauses, or CACs, ensuring central banks don’t incur any losses when a private-sector debt write-down takes place, the official said on condition of anonymity. A spokesman for the Frankfurt-based ECB declined to comment.
Is Germany Secretly Maneuvering
To Kick Greece Out Of The Euro?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
What in the world is going on in Europe? Each day things just seem to get stranger and stranger. We are being told that a "deal" for a second Greek bailout has been reached and that Greece will not default in March. But behind the scenes it seems clear that many politicians in Germany (and in the other northern European countries as well) would like to kick Greece out of the euro. So what exactly is happening here? Well, it is complicated. The United States, along with other members of the international community, put a tremendous amount of pressure on Germany to bail out Greece one more time. Germany does not want to look like the bad guy, so they are going along with this bailout but they are also imposing conditions on Greece this time that will be almost impossible to meet. And when Greece fails to meet its "obligations", that will give the northern Europeans the excuse that they need to kick Greece out of the euro. At this point, many politicians in northern Europe are convinced that Greece is a "lost cause" and that it is not fair to ask northern European nations to pay the price for the financial mistakes of Greece. Greece is basically completely and totally bankrupt, and the nations of northern Europe don't want to have a "financial dependent" on their books forever. They are looking for a "way out", and this new agreement lays the foundation for that.
When Doom Is the Best Choice:
How Greece's Bailout Is Like the Afghan War European leaders will spend $172 billion to delay Greece's collapse, but it's hard to get excited when "success" looks like failure, a feeling that may be familiar to American war planners.
By Heather Horn - TheAtlantic.com
At long last European leaders have agreed to a second bailout for Greece. Don't expect any celebrations, though. The $172 billion agreement, reached in the early hours of Tuesday morning, will reduce Greek debt to around 120.5 percent of the country's GDP by 2020. The modesty of that target -- which might still prove unreachable -- should tell you a lot about how this deal has progressed. In the negotiations, Greece's massive structural problems have become even more obvious, and the enduring message from the process is that (a) this bailout is unlikely to be enough to save Greece and (b) now not just the policymakers, but the people they serve, know it's probably doomed.
Geeks for Greeks! Geeks still have the upper hand, regardless of what the globalists think or do :-) Anonymous Hacks Greek Ministry Website, Demands IMF Withdrawal, Threatens It Will Wipe Away All Citizen Debts
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
If there is one war that Greece could not afford to join, that is with the global computer hacking collective known as Anonymous. Yet as of minutes ago, that is precisely what happened, after Anonymous, as part of what it now calls Operation Greece, took down the Greek Ministry of Justice (http://www.ministryofjustice.gr). While the pretext for the hacking appears to have been an arrest of the wrong people, is seems to have angered Anonymous to the point where they have left an extended message of demands on the Greek website, warning that unless the IMF withdraws from the country and the government resigns, all debts of Greek citizens will be wiped clean.
Dow Jones hits 13,000 but falls back a bit at close
By Joel Stonington - LATimes.com
The Dow Jones industrial average crested 13,000 points for the first time since before the financial crisis, but failed to reach the milestone at Tuesday's close.
The blue chip index's latest surge has been driven by a stream of evidence signaling that the U.S. economy is on the mend. The Dow has risen 20% since Oct. 3.
The Dow first closed above 13,000 in 2007, and reached a peak of 14,164.53 in October of that year. The market was then roiled by the collapse of Lehman Brothers as the financial crisis punished global stock markets.
"The fact that we're hitting 13,000 means that the old high of Dow 14,200 is within reach," said Tom Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at J.P. Morgan. "I think more people are going to be talking about the fact that this is a significant bull market."
Wealthy Enriched by Double-Dipping U.S. Plan
By Elliot Blair Smith, Danielle Ivory
and Gopal Ratnam - Bloomberg.com
In April 2003, Piyush Agrawal deleted his son’s name as president of APS Technologies Inc. He replaced it with his own on a hand-written filing with the Florida Department of State.
That made the 66-year-old retired educator the sole officer and director of the firm and separated its management from a medical supply company run by Agrawal’s two sons. Three months later, he followed his sons into a U.S. program that steers government business to the "socially and economically disadvantaged." It was the Agrawal family’s second time obtaining federal assistance under a benefit thatprescribes that immediate family members should participate only once.
The Price Of Gas Is Outrageous –
And It Is Going To Go Even Higher
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Does it cost you hundreds of dollars just to get to work each month? If it does, you are certainly not alone. There are millions of other Americans in the exact same boat. In recent years, the price of gas in the United States has gotten so outrageous that it has played a major factor in where millions of American families have decided to live and in what kind of vehicles they have decided to purchase. Many Americans that have very long commutes to work end up spending thousands of dollars on gas a year. So when the price of gas starts going up to record levels, people like that really start to feel it. But the price of gas doesn't just affect those that drive a lot. The truth is that the price of gas impacts each and every one of us. Almost everything that we buy has to be transported, and when the price of gasoline goes up the cost of shipping goods also rises. The U.S. economy has been structured around cheap oil. It was assumed that we would always be able to transport massive quantities of goods over vast distances very inexpensively. Once that paradigm totally breaks down, we are going to be in a huge amount of trouble. For the moment, the big concern is the stress that higher gas prices are going to put on the budgets of ordinary American families. Unfortunately, almost everyone agrees that in the short-term the price of gas is going to go even higher.
Surging gas prices threaten to derail economic recovery The average cost for regular gasoline in California has climbed past $4 a gallon, with prospects for even higher prices ahead. The recent dramatic increases nationally and statewide could hurt consumers and, in turn, the broader economy.
By Don Lee and Matt Stevens, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles— Just as the recovery is finally looking real, surging fuel prices are once again looming as a major threat to the financial health of U.S. consumers and the broader economy.
The price surge has been particularly steep in California, in part because of maintenance at some refineries that make the state's cleaner-burning gasoline. Statewide, average pump prices for regular gasoline crossed the $4 mark over the weekend and reached an average of $4.031 a gallon Monday, up 5% in just the last week and nearly 9% higher than a month ago.
Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 1)
By A. Gary Shilling
The collapse in housing and the 33 percent plunge in house prices since 2006 are favoring renting over homeownership. This trend will dominate the housing market for the next four or five years, and put additional pressure on a weak economy.
Policy makers in Washington continue to have a soft spot for homeownership. Many recent government actions can be viewed as attempts to keep people in their homes, even owners who clearly can’t afford them. In addition to specific plans such as the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, and the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, the Obama administration is trying to revive the moribund housing sector by encouraging mortgage lenders and servicers to refinance loans at lower rates.
Picture of the Housing Bubble Collapse
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
As the banking regulator and monetary authority, the Fed was particularly culpable and responsible for the housing asset bubble, the collapse of which is shown in the last chart.
Their 'job' is to take away the punch bowl when the party starts getting out of hand. Instead, first Greenspan and then Bernanke fed and at times even promoted through the stifling of dissent the malinvestment and large scale banking fraud that almost brought the global economy to the brink, and the coming derivatives crisis which almost certainly will if something radical is not done about it.
Regulator outlines new plan for Fannie, Freddie
(Reuters) - The regulator of housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday outlined a new strategic plan for the two government-controlled firms, stepping into a void left by congressional inaction.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said the main goal would be to steer the mortgage finance market in a direction that leaves it dominated by the private sector instead of the government.
U.S. unveils new strategic plan
for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac The Federal Housing Finance Agency recommends gradually shrinking the seized housing-finance giants and creating a new market for mortgage-backed securities.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington— The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to shrink the seized housing-finance giants gradually and create a new market for mortgage-backed securities to help the private sector.
The recommendations came in a new strategic plan for Fannie and Freddie submitted to lawmakers Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has overseen the companies since they were put into government conservatorship in 2008 to avoid their failure.
Grubb & Ellis files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
and agrees to sale Grubb & Ellis will sell its assets to BGC Partners, the parent of a rival real estate brokerage, as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy.
By Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times
Venerable commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis Co. will sell its assets to the parent company of rival Newmark Knight Frank as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy, the firms said Tuesday.
BGC Partners Inc., a New York financial services firm that acquired Newmark Knight Frank in October, agreed to buy essentially all the assets of Grubb & Ellis for an undisclosed price.
Grubb & Ellis will conduct its asset sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and has commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Construction employment
below pre-recession peak in most areas
By Marc Lifsher - LATimes.com
U.S. construction employment is stuck at well below pre-recession levels in all but eight of 337 metropolitan areas, according to the Association of General Contractors of America.
The Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale area in Arizona had the steepest decline, losing 93,600 jobs, a 53% drop since December 2006, the Arlington, Va., trade group reported today.
The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area showed the second worst performance, shedding 73,700 jobs, a 57% plunge since December 2005.
Missouri 4.0 Quake Felt in 13 States
MyFoxNY.com
(NewsCore) - A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck early Tuesday in the southeast corner Missouri, waking up residents in as many as 12 other surrounding states.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit at 3:58am local time (4:58am ET). Its epicenter was located a shallow 3.1 miles (5km) underground, about 150 miles (240km) south of St. Louis, near the New Madrid fault line.
Hundreds reported feeling the quake in Missouri, according to the USGS, with the most significant shaking occurring in Sikeston, a small city about nine miles away from the epicenter.
The Dark Side of 'Smart' Meters
In this invitational presentation to the San Francisco Tesla Society consulting engineer Rob States explains how PG&E's so-called 'smart' meters work and why they endanger health and privacy. He asks the obvious question, "Why would you trust the company that brought you Prop. 16?"
'We can't wait':
Utah lawmakers ratchet up fight for federal lands
BY ROBERT GEHRKE - The Salt Lake Tribune
Utah lawmakers proposed aggressive steps Tuesday to wrest away control of millions of acres of federal lands, a move that would likely draw a protracted court battle, but supporters believe could bring billions of dollars to the state.
"It’s been 116 years that we’ve waited. We can’t wait any longer," said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan. "Our children can’t wait any longer."
If successful, the measures would also explicitly give the state the authority to permit oil and gas exploration, grazing, mining, logging or vehicle travel across Utah’s national parks and monuments.
The Real Defense Budget
By Steve Clemons - TheAtlantic.com
While everyone knows that the defense budget is large -- even in the numbers that the public sees as the formally admitted figures by the Department of Defense -- the truth is that when one scratches beneath the bureaucratic veneer, national security spending is much larger, nearly double the amount US citizens are told.
A Republican, numbers-compulsive defense wonk at the Center for Defense Information, Winslow Wheeler, has published a great summary of what America's defense budget 'really' is.
Pat Buchanan: 300 nukes in Israel yet Iran a threat?
Islamic wars have brought questionable benefit to the US over the last 20 years, former US presidential advisor Pat Buchanan, author of Suicide of a Superpower, shared with RT. A new war in the Middle East will be a disaster for the US and for the world economy, he says. "I opposed the Desert Storm operation in 1991 cleaning Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait because, I said, 'This would only be the first Arab-American war.'" Looking at the number of conflicts in the Islam world that America is taking part in now, one cannot but admit that Buchanan was right 20 years ago. "You cannot replicate the Middle West in the Middle East," Pat Buchanan concluded. From the time of the Cold War the US has military bases all over the world. Today, running a budget deficit of 10 per cent of its GDP, America simply cannot afford to continue "to carry this enormous burden, defending 40 or 50 countries around the world," Buchanan says, "We have to bring troops home." Getting rid of these bases essentially means dismantling the American Empire to help the US survive beyond 2025. America's crusade under the banner of ending tyranny in the world is "utterly utopian".
Russia, China and Iran back Assad
Reuters - FT.com
Russia, China and Iran showed support for Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, on Monday, just days before an international meeting which is likely to put more pressure on him to step down amid an increasingly bloody uprising.
Mr Assad met a senior Russian politician in Damascus, who reiterated Moscow’s support for his reform programme and spoke out against any foreign intervention in the conflict, Russian and Syrian news agencies reported.
An attack on Iran would be an act of criminal stupidity US and Israeli leaders are talking themselves into a disastrous conflict that will make Iranian nuclear weapons a certainty
By Seumas Milne - Guardian.co.uk
After a decade of calamitous western wars in the wider Middle East, the signs are becoming ever more ominous that we're heading for another. And, hard as it is to credit, the same discredited arguments used to justify the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan – from weapons of mass destruction to sponsorship of terrorism and fundamentalist fanatics – are now being used to make the case for an attack on Iran.
War talk about Iran and its nuclear programme has been going on for so long it might be tempting to dismiss it as bluster. The mixed messages about Iran coming from the US and Israeli governments in recent weeks have become increasingly contradictory and bewildering. Maybe it's all a game of bluff and psychological warfare. Perhaps Iran's offer of new talks or this week's atomic energy inspectors' visit might lead to a breakthrough.
Standing on The Edge of The Abyss
with Green Builder Matthew Stein 1/5
Alex Broadcasts from the road on this Tuesday, February 21 edition of the Alex Jones Show. Today's guest is best selling author, engineer, designer, and green builder Matthew Stein. Mr. Stein is the author of When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, When Disaster Strikes
Silver Price Could Double by Year End
By Jason Hamlin - SilverBearCafe.com
Were you cursing at your computer screen when silver nearly tripled during the short 9 months from September 2010 to May 2011? Silver at $20 seemed like an insurmountable threshold for quite some time. This caused many silver investors to give up just prior to the ascent, completely missing the ride towards $50. I believe silver is about to offer a similar ride. While it is unlikely to match the 180% advance mentioned above, look for silver to make new highs in the coming months, with the potential to double to $65 by year end.
China's "Mystery" Gold Buyer
By: Adrian Ash, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
Was the People's Bank of China really buying gold at the rate of 1 ounce in every 8 sold worldwide last quarter...?
SO THOSE MILITANT crazies known to the mainstream media as "gold bugs" – and to the FBI as subversives – got the headline they've been longing for, apparently, last week.
"China central bank in gold-buying push," declared the Financial Times. "It does appear the People's Bank of China has been a significant buyer," agreed a Reuters columnist.
At last, rapture is upon us! Beijing is buying gold in the open market! The FT picks up the story...
Gold's "Consolidation Phase" Continues,
"Time to Deliver" for Euro Leaders,
China "Shows Growth is Priority"
By: Ben Traynor, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
WHOLESALE MARKET gold bullion prices held above $1730 an ounce in Monday morning's London trading – roughly in line with where gold has been for much of February – while European stocks and commodities edged higher amid hopes that policymakers might finally approve Greece's second bailout. US markets are closed for a holiday.
Silver bullion prices were also fairly flat this morning around $33.50 per ounce.
Earlier on Monday, gold bullion prices jumped $14 an ounce in Asian trading after China's central bank eased its monetary policy stance over the weekend.
Central banks continuing to favor gold: Gartman
LONDON (Commodity Online): The world’s central banks to collectively remain buyers of gold, describing the yellow metal as a "currency" competing for "space" on the balance sheets of the world’s reserve banks, said the Investor and newsletter writer Dennis Gartman.
He rhetorically asks "what one might do" if a reserve banker responsible for a nation’s monetary reserves.
"Clearly, given the current political turmoil in Europe, the movement of reserves into European debt would seem far too speculative in nature, for if one were right and the notes or bonds of Germany/France/Spain/Greece were actually to prove wise, the increased two or three hundred basis points earned in yield might be nice but is that worth risking one’s job and one career for. Would it be worth the risk of default?" Gartman added.
Federal Reserve Notes: Fiat Currency
Dan Sewell Ward - SilverBearCafe.com
Thomas Jefferson is reputed to have said that, “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”
Jefferson did not need a crystal ball to see the rise of The Federal Reserve, a private bank which controls the United States’ Money. Jefferson was well aware of the international banksters even in his time. The inevitability of small groups of elite, well-heeled people to group together and prey on their fellow man is not exactly a new thing either.
EU ministers work through night on Greece bailout
By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER
and SARAH DiLORENZO - AP Business Writers
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Eurozone governments worked into the night on Monday, hoping to agree on a long-awaited rescue package for Greece that would save it from a potentially calamitous bankruptcy next month, but several key points of division remained, senior officials said.
Finance ministers meeting in Brussels Monday were still wrangling over how to reduce Greece's debt load further and impose even tighter control over the country's spending, and negotiations were expected to stretch late into the night. Rich countries like Germany and the Netherlands and the International Monetary Fund want to be sure that Athens can eventually survive without aid.
Inflation Everywhere but MSM Says NOT
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
It seems every chance the mainstream media (MSM) gets, it tells us things really aren’t that bad. For example, the headline from the Associated Press (AP) said,"Consumer prices on the rise, but inflation outlook is benign." Who approves the headlines at the AP? Prices are rising, but there is no inflation? Aren’t rising prices the main ingredient of inflation? The story goes on to say, "Consumer prices rose modestly in January on higher costs for food, gas, rent and clothing. But economists downplayed the increase, saying inflation will likely ease in the coming months as prices for raw materials level off."
The Government and the Currency
Mises Daily: by Ludwig von Mises
Media of exchange and money are market phenomena. What makes a thing a medium of exchange or money is the conduct of parties to market transactions. An occasion for dealing with monetary problems appears to the authorities in the same way in which they concern themselves with all other objects exchanged, namely, when they are called upon to decide whether or not the failure of one of the parties to an act of exchange to comply with his contractual obligations justifies compulsion on the part of the government apparatus of violent oppression. If both parties discharge their mutual obligations instantly and synchronously, as a rule no conflicts arise which would induce one of the parties to apply to the judiciary. But if one or both parties' obligations are temporally deferred, it may happen that the courts are called to decide how the terms of the contract are to be complied with. If payment of a sum of money is involved, this implies the task of determining what meaning is to be attached to the monetary terms used in the contract.
A third-party deficit hawk for president?
By Charles Riley @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In the not-so-distant past, a crusading third-party presidential candidate ran a grass-roots, national campaign on a platform of fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.
That candidate's name was Ross Perot, and in 1992 he captured 19% of the popular vote, and at one point even found himself atop the national horse-race polls.
Is America ready for another Perot?
David Walker thinks so.
A former comptroller general of the United States, Walker released a statement Monday saying that 20 years after Perot became a candidate, there are "striking comparisons between the state of the country in 1992 and today."
PayPal co-founder donates millions to Ron Paul super PAC
By Charles Riley @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Silicon Valley renaissance man Peter Thiel donated another $1.7 million in January to a super PAC that backs Ron Paul, according to disclosure documents filed Monday.
The PayPal co-founder donated $1 million on January 3, and followed that up 10 days later with an additional $700,000 gift.
The donations, disclosed in Federal Election Commission filings, account for almost 75% of the $2.3 million collected by the Endorse Liberty super PAC last month.
They aren't the first donations from the entrepreneur, venture capitalist and hedge fund manager.
Are the progressive liberals worried, or bluffing?
Ron Paul’s Billionaire Peter Thiel made a fortune investing in the right ventures at the right time. So why is he investing millions in a doomed presidential campaign?
By David Weigel - Slate.com
The previous 24 hours had been rough on the political tycoons. Foster Friess, the cowboy-hat wearing backer of Rick Santorum, appeared on MSNBC twice: once to joke about women preventing pregnancy by putting Bayer aspirin "between their knees," once to apologize. Sheldon Adelson, whose previous $10 million investment in Newt Gingrich hadn’t netted much, spun the media ‘round again by promising $10 million more. Frank VanderSloot, a national finance co-chair of Mitt Romney’s campaign, was filleted by a Salon report on his Bond villain-esque habit of hushing up critics with lawsuits.
This news cycle was sputtering out when Peter Thiel, the billionaire founder of PayPal, the $2.6 million-angel for a Ron Paul Super PAC, arrived at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. His audience: hundreds of young libertarians, most of them dressed as if they expected to be ambushed by job interviewers, overcrowding every inch of hotel carpet. They were trapped in America's least libertarian city for the third annual Students for Liberty conference. Thiel was the first-night keynoter, assigned the heavy task of pulling college kids away from the hotel bars.
The Time of Big Government is Coming to an End
By Post Carbon - OilPrice.com
As economies contract, a global popular uprising confronts power elites over access to the essentials of human existence. What are the underlying dynamics of the conflict, and how is it likely to play out?
1. Prologue
As the world economy crashes against debt and resource limits, more and more countries are responding by attempting to salvage what are actually their most expendable features—corrupt, insolvent banks and bloated militaries—while leaving the majority of their people to languish in "austerity." The result, predictably, is a global uprising. This current set of conditions and responses will lead, sooner or later, to social as well as economic upheaval—and a collapse of the support infrastructure on which billions depend for their very survival.
Conservatives vs. liberals Debating a liberal is maddening:
They think conservatives are evil, while we think they're silly.
By Charlotte Allen - LATimes.com
A few years ago Ann Coulter published a book titled "How to Talk to Liberal (If You Must)." With all due respect, Coulter, one of my favorite conservative eye-pokers, was wrong. There is no "how" in talking to a liberal. You can't talk to a liberal, period.
Believe me, I've tried. I've got a liberal mother, four liberal siblings and their assorted liberal offspring, and a horde of liberal friends (I went to college and grad school). Whenever I advance to them even the mildest of challenges to liberal orthodoxies, on topics ranging from the welfare state to illegal immigration to abortion, I'm greeted with name-calling, obscenities, shout-overs and, finally, the grave-like silence of ostracism.
Liberals vs. conservatives We are not the same. I equate Republicans' political views with thoughtlessness, intolerance and narcissism. They're neither kind nor empathetic.
By Diana Wagman - LATimes.com
I recently played poker with a bunch of Republicans. My husband and I, both bleeding-heart liberals, are part owners of a cabin in the Sierra outside Fresno, a very conservative area. The Camp Sierra Assn. president has an annual poker game, and this year we, the newcomers, were invited.
No one mentioned politics. We talked instead about our kids and Las Vegas and the odd warm weather. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of very good Scotch. I had fun even though I lost $4.
A Third Voice for 2012
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN - NYTimes.com
EVENTUALLY the "circular firing squad" that is the Republican primary will be over and the last man standing will be the party’s nominee for president. If that candidate is Rick Santorum, I think there is a good chance a Third Party will try to fill the space between the really "severely conservative" Santorum (or even Mitt Romney) and the left-of-center Barack Obama. It would be fitting. After all, this is the 20th anniversary of Ross Perot’s independent candidacy. Perot won close to 20 percent of the vote, and his success was instrumental in making deficit reduction one of Bill Clinton’s top priorities. An independent candidate in 2012 who was a little more, shall we say, "normal" than Perot could have an equally big impact on the winner. I still don’t know if I’d support an independent. Like others, I worry about electing the wrong person by accident. (See: Ralph Nader and George W. Bush.) But I know what I’d pay good money to see: an intelligent independent candidate just taking part in the presidential debates, because it would make both Obama and his Republican opponent better. One independent I’d like to see play that role is David Walker.
David Walker stirs the pot
By ALEXANDER BURNS - Politico.com
David Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general who has carved out a place of some national prominence as a spokesman on deficit- and debt-related issues, puts out an intriguing statement on the anniversary of Ross Perot's presidential announcement:
"Monday, February 20, 2012, represents the 20th anniversary of Ross Perot's first announced run for president. There are striking comparisons between the state of the country in 1992 and today — and a recognition that, once again, Americans and federal elected officials need to wake up to critical challenges facing our nation. Ross Perot earned the gratitude of both supporters and non-supporters of his candidacy by focusing the national debate on several key issues that might otherwise have been ignored. He offered a direct, fact-based and common sense approach to these issues, along with a call to action to address them. We desperately need this sort of truth-telling today.
Election 2012: Jeb Bush vs. Barack Obama WARNING TO: Selfish insecure children and conservatives.
By Mark McGrew - Pravda.ru
This is not a political promotion for any candidate. It is simply an observation of certain facts exposing a foregone conclusion.
Jeb Bush, ex-governor of Florida, the only republican in Florida history to be re-elected, brother of previous President George W. Bush and son of past president George H. W. Bush, has been mentioned a few times in American news lately, with the word "president" in the discussion.
What I have not seen in American news was in China's Xinhuanet.com on January 17, 2012: "Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, calling for closer cooperation between China and the United States."
How the Stinking Rich Ate the Economy Income inequality is accelerating fastest at the top.
Who are the 0.1%?
By Timothy Noah - TheAtlantic.com
"If a $100,000-a-year household thinks itself to be middle class," the neoconservative writer Irving Kristol once wrote, "then it is middle class." This sentiment is widely held, but it makes no mathematical sense. Any family whose income exceeds that of 90 percent of all other families cannot sensibly be called anything but rich. To believe otherwise would oblige you to judge your child mediocre when his teacher gives him an A.
But within the top decile distinctions are nonetheless worth making.
Foreclosure abuse rampant across U.S., experts say
By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES | Fri Feb 17, 2012
(Reuters) - A report this week showing rampant foreclosure abuse in San Francisco reflects similar levels of lender fraud and faulty documentation across the United States, say experts and officials who have done studies in other parts of the country.
The audit of almost 400 foreclosures in San Francisco found that 84 percent of them appeared to be illegal, according to the study released by the California city on Wednesday.
Wells Fargo You’ve deceived, confused
and beaten another senior into submission
By Martin Andelman - Mandelman-ML-Implode.com
This is the story of Patricia Martin, 65 years old, disabled by a crippling back injury, after suffering a stroke and a heart attack, now with a heart function approximately 35 percent of normal. This is a woman who owned her home since purchasing it with her late husband in 1968.
Not a home of great value to anyone but her. The home in which she and her husband raised their children. And the home in which today, she resides along with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The home that has been the centerpiece of her life for 44 years.
Yes, Patricia Martin, despite the challenges of her health, was blessed with a close family who love her and she them. And as I think of her, all I can imagine is that her memories of all the years in that house must mean everything to her.
And yet tomorrow morning, Wells Fargo Bank wants her EVICTED.
The Intractable Tragedy of Long-Term Unemployment Readers share their stories and solutions about the Great Recession's most painful legacy
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
The vast majority of the 5.5 million long-term unemployed have been out of work for more than a year. For this installment of "Working it Out," we asked you if the government should enact special programs to help the long-term unemployed. We've received more than 100 responses. Here are some of the smartest, most heartfelt, and most provocative.
This is our failure as a nation
When people mattered more than arcane ideologies of the hard right, public works programs filled in the gap during economic contractions. We did this not only because it was humane and just, but because it worked. It put money into people's pockets, maintained communities and social capital, and often improved civic infrastructure, which in turn laid the foundations for future prosperity.
The Truth About Long-Term Unemployment In America
Abby Rogers, Gus Lubin and Vivian Giang - BusinessInsider.com
Most people don't understand how someone could fail to find a job for over a year unless he was lazy or somehow defective.
This stigma means that finding a job becomes harder every day that a person has been unemployed.
Nearly four million Americans have been unemployed for over a year. Millions more are not counted because they have given up looking for work, have opted for retirement, or have taken a part-time job.
Millions of jobless file for disability
when unemployment benefits run out
FOXNews.com
Being unemployed for too long reportedly is driving people mad and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in mental illness and other disability claims.
The New York Post reported Sunday that as unemployment checks run out, many jobless are trying to gain government benefits by declaring themselves unhealthy.
For boomers, it's a new era of 'work til you drop'
By JOHN ROGERS - Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When Paula Symons joined the U.S. workforce in 1972, typewriters in her office clacked nonstop, people answered the telephones and the hot new technology revolutionizing communication was the fax machine.
Symons, fresh out of college, entered this brave new world thinking she'd do pretty much what her parents' generation did: Work for just one or two companies over about 45 years before bidding farewell to co-workers at a retirement party and heading off into her sunset years with a pension.
The Entrepreneur State:
Safety Nets for Startups, Capitalism for Corporations Here's a new framework for competitiveness: What if the law were biased, not toward the oil and gas industry or the cotton farmers, but to the creative, the self-employed, and the entrepreneurs?
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
"If it's the economy, stupid, then it's the jobs stupid," Steve Case, the founder of AOL and the CEO of Revolution, recently told me at his Washington, D.C., office. "And if it's the jobs, stupid, then it's the entrepreneurs, stupid."
What would a government built around "It's the entrepreneurs, stupid" look like? Two weeks ago, the president sent to Congress an agenda, prepared by Case's group Startup America, which proposed expanding visas for immigrants, doubling deductions for small companies, and many more worthy ideas targeted to the problem of entrepreneurship.
Gasoline pushes inflation up in January
By Jason Lange
(Reuters) - Gasoline prices jumped in January, leading overall consumer prices higher and offering a reminder of the risks energy costs pose to the economic recovery.
Despite the warning signal, overall consumer prices rose just 0.2 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday, which is unlikely to ring alarm bells at the Federal Reserve.
Test tube hamburgers to be served this year The world's first test tube hamburger will be served up this October after scientists perfected the art of growing beef in the lab.
By Nick Collins - Telegraph.co.uk
By generating strips of meat from stem cells researchers believe they can create a product that is identical to a real burger.
The process of culturing the artificial meat in the lab is so laborious that the finished product, expected to arrive in eight months' time, will cost about £220,000 (EUR250,000).
But researchers expect that after producing their first patty they will be able to scale up the process to create affordable artificial meat products. Mass-producing beef, pork, chicken and lamb in the lab could satisfy the growing global demand for meat - forecast to double within the next 40 years - and dramatically reduce the harm that farming does to the environment.[unbelievable... ! this mentality will be our undoing]
Why Don't Americans Riot Anymore? Undercuting communities' likelihood for civil action; problems have not gone away but some of the capacity to fight them has.
By EMILY BADGER - TheAtlanticCities.com
America hasn't had a rash of mass urban violence in a generation. In fact, the scene of burning inner cities is commonly linked with a single, now distant moment in U.S. history, at the height of racial unrest in the 1960s.
Urban riots, though, have periodically broken out around the world since then. Athens is on fire again. London combusted last summer, right around the same time violent protesters assembled in the streets of manufacturing cities in southern China. And then there was Paris in 2005. In many ways, it's curious this hasn't happened more recently in U.S. cities (or with the Occupy movement for that matter).
Religion for Everyone The decline of religion in the West has brought a decline in community spirit. Could the secular world draw useful lessons from religious life? Alain de Botton offers new ways to find shared meaning.
By ALAIN DE BOTTON - WSJ.com
One of the losses that modern society feels most keenly is the loss of a sense of community. We tend to imagine that there once existed a degree of neighborliness that has been replaced by ruthless anonymity, by the pursuit of contact with one another primarily for individualistic ends: for financial gain, social advancement or romantic love.
In attempting to understand what has eroded our sense of community, historians have assigned an important role to the privatization of religious belief that occurred in Europe and the U.S. in the 19th century. They have suggested that we began to disregard our neighbors at around the same time that we ceased to honor our gods as a community.
Microsoft leaves privacy hole in browser, Google uses it
By David Sarno - LATimes.com
Microsoft Corp. left a big privacy loophole in its Internet Explorer browser and is now going afterGoogle Inc. for driving a truck through it.
Microsoft said Google has been rolling over a privacy safeguard in its Internet Explorer 9 browser that helps users prevent advertisers from placing tracking files on their computers. Microsoft's allegations come a few days after the Mountain View, Calif., search giant took licks for appearing to circumvent privacy protections onApple Inc.'s Safari browser.
"When the IE team heard that Google had bypassed user privacy settings on Safari, we asked ourselves a simple question: Is Google circumventing the privacy preferences of Internet Explorer users too?" Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft's vice president of Internet Explorer, wrote in a blog post. "We’ve discovered the answer is yes."
Google sneaked tracking files onto iPhones,
privacy researcher says A researcher at Stanford says Google made an end run around a privacy feature in Apple's Safari browser, adding outside advertisers' cookies. Google says it did not intentionally do so.
By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times
Google Inc. is under fire once again after allegations that it circumvented privacy protections built into the iPhone in order to track what users are doing online.
A privacy researcher at Stanford University said Friday that the Internet search giant had made an end run around a privacy feature in Apple Inc.'s Safari browser, the default Web-surfing software for tens of millions of iPhone, iPad and Macintosh users.
Obama to meet Israel's Netanyahu on March 5
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
Amid U.S. worries that Israel will attack Iran over its nuclear program, President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on March 5, officials said today.
The announcement was tucked into a statement on the weekend visit to Israel by Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon.
"The visit is part of the continuous and intensive dialogue between the United States and Israel and reflects our unshakeable commitment to Israel's security," said a statement on Donilon's visit.
The statement did not mention Iran.
Israel's Barak, on Japan Visit, Urges More Pressure on Iran
[Google title for free article pass]
By CHESTER DAWSON - WSJ.com - $$
TOKYO—Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak called on Saturday during a visit to Japan for an "urgent" tightening of sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports and access to global financial clearinghouses, urging his Japanese hosts to put more pressure on Tehran to dissuade it from developing nuclear weapons.
"We have to increase the pace of imposing sanctions" on Iran's oil, central bank and access to international credit, Mr. Barak said at a news conference in Tokyo. "This should be done determinedly and in a conclusive manner and urgently."
Syria's crisis is leading us to unlikely bedfellows David Cameron and William Hague are at risk of over-simplifying a dangerous and complex situation.
By Peter Oborne - Telegraph.co.uk
When two car bombings killed nearly 50 people in the heart of the Syrian capital of Damascus just before Christmas, we in the West were quick to challenge claims made on state TV that the atrocities had been carried out by al-Qaeda. We were inclined to award more credibility to the Syrian rebels, who denied that the terror group was involved at all, and insisted that the attacks had been cynically staged by the government, perhaps as a bid for international sympathy.
Consequences To Expect If The U.S. Invades Iran
By Brandon Smith - SilverBearCafe.com
Let’s be honest, quite a few Americans love a good war, especially those Americans who have never had to bear witness to one first hand. War is the ultimate tribally vicarious experience. Anyone, even pudgy armchair generals with deep-seated feelings of personal inadequacy, can revel in the victories and actions of armies a half a world away as if they themselves stood on the front lines risking possible annihilation at the hands of dastardly cartoon-land "evil doers". They may have never done a single worthwhile thing in their lives, but at least they can bask in the perceived glory of their country’s military might.
10 Ways in which Iran is Defying the US and EU Oil Sanctions
By Juan Cole - OilPrice.com
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, the Neocons assured us. Iran would soon be on its knees because of ever more stringent US sanctions on Iran. But Iran just cheekily sent two warships through the Suez Canal to dock at the Syrian port of Tartous. The old Mubarak government in Egypt might not have allowed such a thing, but the Arab Spring has brought to power an Egyptian government eager to demonstrate its independence from Washington.
Iran warships deployed on Syria coast Iranian warships were docked on the Syrian coast today in a fresh round of brinkmanship designed to demonstrate Tehran’s support for its isolated ally amid fears that the uprising could escalate into a regional showdown.
By Adrian Blomfield - Telegraph.co.uk
In a self-proclaimed show of force, officials in Tehran boasted that the presence of the vessels in the port of Syrian Tartus in the Mediterranean was a demonstration of Iran's military "might".
Israel said it was closely monitoring the situation, although there was no sign that it was preparing to put its navy on alert as it did last February, when Iranian warships ventured through the Suez Canal for the first time.
In itself, the mission poses little tangible threat; the two vessels, a 49-year-old corvette and a supply ship, are both dilapidated, reflecting the broader nature of Iran's puny navy.
Another March to War?
By Matt Taibbi - RollingStone.com
As a journalist, there’s a buzz you can detect once the normal restraints in your business have been loosened, a smell of fresh chum in the waters, urging us down the road to war. Many years removed from the Iraq disaster, that smell is back, this time with Iran.
You can just feel it: many of the same newspapers and TV stations we saw leading the charge in the Bush years have gone back to the attic and are dusting off their war pom-poms. CNN’s house blockhead, the Goldman-trained ex-finance professional Erin Burnett, came out with a doozie of a broadcast yesterday, a Rumsfeldian jeremiad against the Iranian threat would have fit beautifully in the Saddam’s-sending-drones-at-New-York halcyon days of late 2002.
Syria must not turn into 'Iraqi scenario' Syria's territorial integrity must be preserved in order to avoid an "Iraqi scenario", according to Rafik Abdessalem, the Tunisian foreign minister.
AFP - Telegraph.co.uk
Syrian opposition groups will take part in an international conference on the crisis in Syria on Friday, he said.
"The Syrian National Council and other opposition groups will be represented at the Tunis meeting," Mr Abdessalem said on Monday following a meeting of foreign ministers from Mediterranean region states in Rome.
"There has been enough killing. There must be radical political change," Mr Abdessalem said after meeting with his counterparts from Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
Top U.N. inspectors in Iran talks on atom bomb accusations
By Parisa Hafezi - TEHRAN | Mon Feb 20, 2012
(Reuters) - Senior U.N. inspectors arrived in Iran on Monday to push for transparency about its disputed nuclear program and several European states halted purchases of Iranian oil as part of Western moves to pile pressure on a defiant Tehran.
Iran denies Western accusations that it is covertly seeking the means to build nuclear weapons and has again vowed no nuclear retreat in recent weeks, but also voiced willingness to resume negotiations with world powers without preconditions.
Iran as continual regional menace
By STEPHEN BLANK - Politico.com
As the crisis generated by Iran’s nuclear programs intensifies, we are learning more about Iran’s regional foreign policy. It demonstrates that Tehran menaces all its neighbors and rivals — not just Israel.
We learned late last year about an Iranian plot to hire a hit man from the Mexican cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington and blow up the Saudi and Israeli embassies there. On Jan. 25, Azerbaijan uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Baku, Michael Lotem. There were also reportedly plans to blow up a Jewish school near Baku — though these were later denied.
Gold and the next Great War
By: Clif Droke - GoldSeek.com
Let’s turn our attention to a cycle which we’ve rarely discussed over the years. The Kress 24-year cycle is one of the components of the 120-year cycle series which is scheduled to bottom in 2014. The 24-year cycle tends to get eclipsed by the longer-term cycles like the 40-year and 60-year cycles (both of which have a major impact on equity prices and the economy). But the 24-year cycle takes on a special significance all on its own: it’s the cycle of war.
The final "hard down" phase of any cycle is defined as the final 8% to 12% of the cycle (averaging 10%). Therefore the final "hard down" phase of the previous 24-year cycle encompassed most of the year 1990. Not surprisingly, the year was a bearish one for stocks. The banking sector was particularly hard hit by this particular 24-year cycle as 1990 was the worst part of the infamous S&L crisis and saw the failure of more than 100 small banks.
Paper, Gold or Chaos?
ChrisMartenson interviews James Rickards
History is replete with the carcasses of failed currencies destroyed through misguided intentional debasement by governments looking for an easy escape from piling up too much debt. James Rickards, author of the recent bestseller Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis, sees history repeating itself today - and warns we are in the escalating stage of a global currency war of the grandest scale.
Whether it ends in hyperinflation, in the return to some form of gold standard, or in chaos - history is telling us we can have confidence it will end painfully. On The Cause of Currency Wars
A currency war in the simplest form is basically when there is too much debt and not enough growth. The overhang of debt impedes growth because it clogs up bank balance sheets and clogs up the savings to investment mechanism and has a lot of negative effects. So there is not enough growth to go around. So countries, in effect, try to steal growth from their trading partners by cheapening the currencies.
Silver Eagles Soar
BY RICHARD MILLS - FinancialSense.com
In World War I severe material shortages played havoc with production schedules and caused lengthy delays in implementing programs. This led to development of the Harbord List – a list of 42 materials deemed critical to the military.
After World War II the United States created the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) to acquire and store critical strategic materials for national defense purposes. The Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA Strategic Materials) oversees operations of the NDS and their primary mission is to "protect the nation against a dangerous and costly dependence upon foreign sources of supply for critical materials in times of national emergency."
How the FED Steals Your Life
By M.N. Gordon - SilverBearCafe.com
Things are going haywire. Prices are shifting about in erratic and unpredictable ways. Take gas prices, for instance. Here in the Golden State we just paid $3.87 per gallon for the cheap stuff.
You’d think at that price the economy would be running red hot. But it’s not. In fact, according to Business Week, "demand in the U.S. is at its lowest point since 1997."
What this means is demand for gas is at a 15 year low yet the price of gas has increased 8 percent since the end of 2011. How could that be?
Greek Rescue Is Not the End of the Story
By SIMON NIXON - WSJ.com
After weeks of brinkmanship, bad blood and missed deadlines, a Greek debt deal may finally be within reach. European finance ministers will meet on Monday to decide whether to approve a €130 billion ($170.9 billion) bailout package designed to bring Greece's debts down to 120% of GDP by 2020.
At times in recent days, a deal had seemed impossible, given the near complete collapse in euro-zone trust in the Greek political class in general and opposition leader—and likely next prime minister—Antonis Samaras in particular. Even now, a deal remains conditional on Greece agreeing to further humiliating sacrifices of sovereignty with bailout money ring-fenced to prioritize payment of debt interest and the euro zone given enhanced powers of scrutiny over Greek affairs.
Can a return to the drachma
save Greece as unemployment soars? Greece's unemployment bomb has detonated. After a deceptive calm, the surge in job losses since last summer is shocking even for those who never believed that fiscal and monetary contraction could possibly lead to any result other than ruin.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
A variant of this lies in store for Portugal as its "internal devaluation" starts in earnest. The young Schumpeterians in charge of the economy insist otherwise, cocksure that shock therapy will triumph without debt relief and devaluation.
But events have a habit of demolishing dreams.
In November alone, 126,000 Greeks lost their jobs in a country of 11m, equivalent to 680,000 Britons in a single month. The unemployment rate jumped from 18.2pc to 20.9pc.
As Athens riots, global markets say 'so what?' So what if it's totally unclear whether or not a second Greek bail-out will be agreed on Monday? So what if, after a week of particularly nasty rioting, parts of Athens now resemble a Mad Max film set?
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
So what if the German cabinet, at the highest level, is split on whether or not Greece should default? So what that nobody can possibly know if such a default would be "orderly" or "disorderly", with global markets remaining sanguine or unleashing months – years – of pent-up frustration?
So what if a Greek payment failure could send bond prices in other eurozone member states plummeting, spreading "contagion" across Western Europe and beyond?
Greek bailout: The pressure is on
By Maureen Farrell @CNNMoneyMarkets
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's officially crunch time. European finance ministers need to agree to the terms of a second bailout to keep Greece from defaulting on an upcoming bond payment.
While it's been widely expected that the Eurogroup (the 17 eurozone finance ministers) will give their approval when they meet Monday, we've been here before.
As part of the deal, the Greek government is expected to be required to maintain an escrow account with enough cash to cover nine to twelve months worth of debt. If the account runs low, the government will be forced to reallocate funds.
Lehman Crisis Veterans
Say Europe Shouldn’t Push Greece Too Far
By Sandrine Rastello and Simon Kennedy - Bloomberg.com
Neel Kashkari, who was on the policy frontlines when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. crumpled in 2008, warns European governments against pushing Greece too far as they impose conditions for aid.
"It can be very politically satisfying to be tough, but if an uncontrolled default were to lead to contagion around the euro zone, that could be very damaging for all of Europe and for the global economy," said Kashkari, who four years ago was an aide to then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and now is head of global equities at Pacific Investment Management Co.
Germany bows to global pressure
and signals Greek rescue deal Europe’s key powers are on the brink of a €130bn (£108bn) debt deal to rescue Greece and avert the first sovereign default in Western Europe in over half a century.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble toned down threats to force Greece out of the euro, bowing to intense pressure from France, Italy, and the US-led bloc of global leaders.
Mr Schäuble said the country is "on the right path" and signalled that pension cuts agreed by the Greek cabinet over the weekend would be enough to secure approval for the loan package from EU ministers on Monday.
Do We Really Know Greece’s Default Will Be Orderly? The market seems to be pricing in an orderly Greek default or a successful "firewall" around the potential instability. Are the unknowns really all known?
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
The equities market is acting like we know Greece's default will be orderly and no threat to financial stability. It is also acting like we know the U.S. economy can grow smartly while Europe contracts in recession. Lastly, the high level of confidence exuded by market participants suggests we know central bank liquidity is endlessly supportive of equities.
What do we really know about the coming default of Greece? Whether we openly call it default or play semantic games with "voluntary haircuts," we know bondholders will absorb tremendous losses that are equivalent to default. We also suspect some bondholders will refuse to play nice and accept their voluntary haircuts. Beyond that, how much do we know about how this unprecedented situation will play out?
Hundreds of thousands march in Spain against reforms
By Paul Day and Toms Cobos
(Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Spain Sunday against reforms to the labor market they fear will destroy workers' rights and spending cuts they say are destroying the welfare state.
Organizers, including the two largest unions Comisiones Obreras and UGT, said as many as half a million people joined the protest in 57 towns and cities, although Spanish police gave no official estimate.
Tax Bill Passed by Congress Broadens Jobless Program
BY JOSH MITCHELL
AND NAFTALI BENDAVID - WSJ.com - $$
[Google title for free article pass]
The economic package that cleared Congress on Friday includes changes to the nation's unemployment-insurance program aimed at helping more Americans stay in jobs and others go back to work.
Those changes, backed by President Barack Obama and some Capitol Hill Republicans, effectively broaden the base of workers who would get help. The provisions were tucked into a $150 billion bill that will extend through December a cut in workers' payroll taxes to 4.2% from 6.2%, prevent a steep drop in doctors' Medicare compensation and renew expiring unemployment benefits.
Italian police seize $6 trillion of fake U.S. bonds
By Elisa Forte and Gavin Jones
(Reuters) - Italian police said on Friday they had seized about $6 trillion worth of fake U.S. Treasury bonds and other securities in Switzerland, and arrested eight Italians accused of international fraud and other financial crimes.
The operation, co-ordinated by prosecutors from the southern Italian city of Potenza, was carried out by Italian, Swiss and U.S. authorities after a year-long investigation, an Italian police source said.
In Alabama, a County That Fell Off the Financial Cliff
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH - NYTimes.com
ONE county jail here is so crowded that some inmates sleep on the floor, while the other county jail, a few miles down the road, sits empty.
There is no money for the second one anymore.
The county roads here need paving, and the tax collector needs help.
There is no money for them, either.
There is no money for a lot of things around here, not since Jefferson County, population 658,000, went bankrupt last fall. There is no money for holiday D.U.I. checkpoints, litter patrols or overtime pay at the courthouse. None for crews to pull weeds or pick up road kill — not even when, as happened recently, an unlucky cow was hit near the town of Wylam.
20 Signs You Might Be A Typical American Worker
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Once upon a time, anyone that was relatively competent and willing to work hard could go out and easily get a job that would enable that person to financially support a family. Unfortunately, that is simply no longer true anymore. Well paying "middle income jobs" are being rapidly replaced with "low income jobs" and part-time jobs. As the economy crumbles, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the typical American worker to survive from month to month. The number of companies that provide benefits such as health insurance has fallen steadily over the past ten years, and paychecks have not been keeping up with the rising prices of food and gas. Average American families are seeing their budgets squeezed like never before, and many of them are going into huge amounts of debt in order to make up the difference. Sadly, this is a problem that has developed over an extended period of time and that is not going to be reversed overnight. Over the past four decades, the ratio of wages and salaries to GDP in America has fallen dramatically. The typical American worker is not as valued as much as he or she used to be, and if current trends continue even more of us will be working part-time jobs or "low income jobs" in the years ahead.
No Bitter Aftertaste From This Stock Offering
By JEFF SOMMER - NYTimes.com
JIM KOCH is well known among beer aficionados for creating the full-bodied brew called Samuel Adams Boston Lager and for helping to foster the craft brew movement in the United States.
He is less well known for playing an important role in another niche revolution — one that has the potential to be at least as significant.
What could be better for the quality of life in America than good beer? That’s a high hurdle, I’m the first to admit, but bear with me.
Foreclosure crisis continues to weigh on US economy
By Priyanka Dayal TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
At first glance, last year's foreclosure numbers seem to show that the nation's foreclosure crisis is on the decline.
But in fact, millions of homeowners are still struggling with foreclosure. For many, the painful process is taking even longer than it used to. And the crisis is expected to last for years.
"People are in the foreclosure process for longer, and their situations are getting more complicated all the time," said Mullen Sawyer, executive director of the Oak Hill Community Development Corporation in Worcester, which operates the NeighborWorks Home Ownership Center of Worcester.
Homeowners get runaround about who holds loans
By Carolyn Said - SFGate.com
Jan Samzelius has been seeking a loan modification on his Marina district house since 2009. He wants to negotiate directly with the mortgage holder - but he can't figure out who it is.
He has made numerous trips to the San Francisco assessor-recorder's office, spent hours on the phone with the loan servicer, and accumulated a 2-foot-high stack of correspondence. But he still doesn't know who owns the note on the house where he lives with his wife, Lena, and stepson Tom.
His quest exemplifies the types of problems with foreclosure paperwork uncovered by San Francisco Assessor Phil Ting in a detailed audit released last week.
18 Statistics That Prove That The Economy Has Not Improved Since Barack Obama Became President
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Has the economy improved since Barack Obama became the president of the United States? Of course not. Despite what you may be hearing in the mainstream media, the truth is that when you compare the U.S. economy on the day that Barack Obama was inaugurated to the U.S. economy today, there is really no comparison. The unemployment crisis is worse than it was then, home values have fallen, the cost of health insurance is up, the cost of gas is way up, the number of Americans living in poverty has soared and the size of our national debt has absolutely exploded. Anyone that believes that things are better than they were when Barack Obama was elected is simply being delusional. Yes, things have stabilized somewhat and our economy is not in free fall mode at this point. But don't be fooled. This bubble of false hope will be short-lived. The problems we are seeing develop in Europe will erupt into another full-fledged global financial crisis and economic conditions in the United States will get even worse. When that happens, what possible " economic solutions" will Barack Obama have for us? We never even came close to recovering from the last great financial crisis, and now something potentially even worse is staring us in the face. This is not a great time to have a total lack of leadership in Washington.
Postal Service seeks 50-cent stamps
By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- A nickel boost in the first-class stamp price to 50 cents is part of the U.S. Postal Service's latest plan to stop bleeding red ink.
The Postal Service released the 5-year business plan to Congress late Thursday in part to push Congress to pass legislation to help them get through ongoing financial woes. Due in large part to declining first-class mail volume, the service recorded a $3.3 billion loss in the final three months of last year, which is usually a profitable period.
Post Office Targets 155,000 Job Cuts
By Douglas A. McIntyre - 247WallSt.com
In a move meant to turn the Postal Service to a profit and turn its net debt into cash, the management of the agency proposes that 155,000 jobs be eliminated between this year and 2016
The plan set by the Postmaster General is meant to salvage the services from a state of near bankruptcy, burdening a drop in use of its services and ever rising pension costs.
Rising gas prices drive inflation
By Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Inflation picked up slightly last month, as rising gas prices took a bigger bite out of consumers' wallets.
The government's key measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, showed prices rose 0.2% from December to January, slightly weaker than the 0.3% increase economists had predicted.
Rising prices at the gas pump were a key factor, increasing 0.9% during the month, the Labor Department said. Improving U.S. economic data, including stronger job growth, and tension with Iran have been driving the price of oil and gasoline higher.
How the US Shale Boom Will Change the World
By Gary Hunt - OilPrice.com
A funny thing is happening on the way to the clean energy future–reality is setting in. There is ‘incontrovertible evidence’ about the economic growth and job creating effects of America’s unconventional oil and gas production boom – more than 600,000 jobs directly attributable to shale gas development. Even President Obama is praising the job creating benefits of ‘America’s resource boom’. America is getting its energy mojo back and that is good news but not the entire story.
Battlefield USA 2012: Gerald Celente on year's top trends
Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute gives RT's Marina Portnaya his predictions for the headlines of tomorrow. OWS movement, US presidential elections, economic embargo on Iran are among the issues discussed.
The New Blacklist
By Pat Bucnanan - Creators.com
My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end.
After 10 enjoyable years, I am departing, after an incessant clamor from the left that to permit me continued access to the microphones of MSNBC would be an outrage against decency, and dangerous.
The calls for my firing began almost immediately with the Oct. 18 publication of"Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?"
A group called Color of Change, whose mission statement says that it "exists to strengthen Black America's political voice," claimed that my book espouses a "white supremacist ideology." Color of Change took particular umbrage at the title of Chapter 4, "The End of White America."
Media Matters parroted the party line: He has blasphemed!
Keiser Report: Fat Cats Spy On You (E251)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the riches made monitoring the population and the pittance paid for agreeing to be monitored. The also discuss the Serious Organised Crime Agency threatening to monitor Stacy for following a link while Max envisions a future in which granny gets it. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Charles Hugh Smith of OfTwoMinds.com about social fractals, tanking energy consumption and a citizenship futures market.
The Divided States of America
By Burt Prelutsky - PatriotPost.us
A few years ago, the folks on Martha's Vineyard, a favorite Massachusetts island getaway for New England liberals, were under siege by a wild turkey named Tom. Unlike most turkeys who can be scared off by waving your hands or shouting at them, Tom enjoyed nothing better than attacking people. Shouting and waving merely egged him on. Compounding the problem, Tom led a flock of like-minded birds. If you think of the Hells Angels, but with wattles and feathers, you've got the picture.
How Companies Learn Your Secrets
By CHARLES DUHIGG - NYTimes.com
Andrew Pole had just started working as a statistician for Target in 2002, when two colleagues from the marketing department stopped by his desk to ask an odd question: "If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that?"
Pole has a master’s degree in statistics and another in economics, and has been obsessed with the intersection of data and human behavior most of his life. His parents were teachers in North Dakota, and while other kids were going to 4-H, Pole was doing algebra and writing computer programs. "The stereotype of a math nerd is true," he told me when I spoke with him last year. "I kind of like going out and evangelizing analytics."
Internet On, Inhibitions Off: Why We Tell All
By Matt Ridley - WSJ.com
It is now well known that people are generally accurate and (sometimes embarrassingly) honest about their personalities when profiling themselves on social-networking sites. Patients are willing to be more open about psychiatric symptoms to an automated online doctor than a real one. Pollsters find that people give more honest answers to an online survey than to one conducted by phone.
But online honesty cuts both ways. Bloggers find that readers who comment on their posts are often harshly frank but that these same rude critics become polite if contacted directly. There's a curious pattern here that goes against old concerns over the threat of online dissembling. In fact, the mechanized medium of the Internet causes not concealment but disinhibition, giving us both confessional behavior and ugly brusqueness. When the medium is impersonal, people are prepared to be personal.
Google accused of illicit iPhone tracking
by Emma Woollacott - TGDaily.com
Google's been accused of 'tricking' Safari to bypass security settings and track iPhone and iPad users' locations through cookies.
Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer has told the Wall Street Journal that the conmpany's advertising networks have been delivering cookies to user's machines, even when the browser's set to block them.
Normally, Safari would block cookies coming from advertising networks. But the Google code concerned 'tricked' the broser into thinking that a web form was being submitted to Google; and this isn't blocked, as it allows the browser to check that the form was sent successfully.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has cited the case as demonstrating the need for a 'Do Not Track' policy.
"For a long time, we’ve hoped to see Google respect Do Not Track requests when it acts as a third party on the web, and implement Do Not Track in the Chrome browser," it says.
How Google Tracked Safari Users
By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries - WSJ.com
Google and other advertising companies have been following iPhone and Apple users as they browse the Web, even though Apple’s Safari Web browser is set to block such tracking by default.
How have they been able to do it? Well, first they made Safari think the user was submitting an invisible form associated with the ad.
That technique allowed the companies to then place a “cookie” – a small text file that is stored on the user’s computer and can be used to track online activities. Google disabled its code after being contacted by The Wall Street Journal.
Biomass: Just Because it's Green Doesn't Mean it's Clean
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
Florida residents last year filed a legal challenge against a company that was planning to build a biomass incinerator in the Florida Panhandle. They complained the incinerator project was a "toxic nightmare" for the coastal area. Now, a new study conducted on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation finds that it might be awhile before burning wood instead of fossil fuels pays off for the environment. This suggests that maybe things aren't always as green as they seem.
Beirut River mysteriously turns blood red
The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond
February 16, 2012 – LEBANON – The Beirut River mysteriously turned blood red Wednesday after a stream of unidentified red liquid began pouring from the southern bank of the river in Furn al-Shubbak. The source of the liquid had yet to be determined Wednesday evening, as the river continued to empty the red-colored water into the Mediterranean Sea. Government and local officials rushed to the scene at the Chevrolet crossing of Furn al-Shubbak Wednesday morning in an attempt to locate the sewage canal that was dumping the red-colored water but they were unable to locate the source. Accusations were traded among officials from the municipalities of Hadath, Hazmieh, Sin al-Fil, Furn al-Shubbak and Shiyah. Eyewitnesses working in the area told The Daily Star this was not the first time the river had turned a different color. Several business owners around the Chevrolet crossing said that colored water pours into the river roughly every two months but no one pays attention to it.It was the quantity and brightness of the red liquid that grabbed the attention of many passersby and commuters on different bridges in the city Wednesday. Environment Minister Nazem Khoury said the source of the water was likely from Hazmieh or Baabda. “I call on the municipalities of Hazmieh and Baabda to cooperate swiftly to find the source of the pollution and its type,” Khoury said in a statement.
China backs Assad before Syrian forces open fire at funeral Beijing's deputy foreign minister argues for 'stability' as regime continues to target protesters
By Conal Urquhart and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
China has urged President Bashar al-Assad's regime to engage with the Arab League and the Syrian opposition as Syrian security forces continue to target pro-democracy protesters.
The Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhai Jun met President Assad on Saturday shortly before Syrian troops opened fire on a funeral procession in Damascus.
Zhai, who met Syrian opposition and government representatives, said China was "deeply concerned by the escalating crisis" but added that "the Chinese experience shows a nation cannot develop without stability".
Tensions With Russia Loom Over Trade Debate
By Tom Barkley - WSJ.com
Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.), who as chairman of the Finance Committee oversees trade issues, headed Friday to Russia on a fact-finding mission with the aim of lifting U.S. trade restrictions before the country is expected to join the World Trade Organization this summer.
Baucus plans to meet with President Dmitry Medvedev, as well as Russia’s trade and foreign ministers, to prepare for a difficult debate that stands to broaden far beyond trade to address ongoing concerns about the former Cold War foe’s actions on Iran, Syria and human rights.
US military chief cautions against Israeli attack on Iran General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, says a strike 'at this time would be destabilising'
By Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
The United States is stepping up efforts to dissuade Israel from attackingIran's nuclear facilities, with a strong public warning by the US military's most senior figure and the dispatch of two high-ranking officials to Jerusalem.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said in a television interview that it was "not prudent at this point" to attack Iran, and "a strike at this time would be destabilising".
U.S., Britain urge Israel not to attack Iran
By Josef Federman- AP - WashingtonTimes.com
JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States andBritain on Sunday urged Israel not to attackIran’s nuclear program as the White House’s national security adviser arrived in the region, reflecting growing international jitters that the Israelis are poised to strike.
In their warnings, both U.S. ArmyGen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and British Foreign Minister William Hague said an Israeli attack on Iran would have grave consequences for the entire region and urgedIsrael to give international sanctions against Iranmore time to work. Gen. Dempsey said an Israeli attack is "not prudent," and Mr. Hague said it would not be "a wise thing."
Iran suspends oil exports to Britain and France
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tehran (CNN) -- Iran's oil ministry announced Sunday that it had stopped crude exports to British and French companies.
The order came several days after Iran threatened to cut oil exports to some European Union countries in retaliation for sanctions put in place by the EU and the United States in January, a ministry spokesman said in a statement.
"Iran has no difficulty in selling and exporting its crude oil. ... We have our own customers and have designated alternatives for our oil sales. We shall sell to new customers, who will replace French and UK companies," ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad-Rahbar said.
Iran could trigger 'new cold war', says Hague If Iran obtains nuclear weapons capability, it will be a disaster in world affairs, warns the foreign secretary
By Ben Quinn - The Guardian
Iran's nuclear programme risks plunging the world into "a new cold war" that would be without the "safety mechanisms" of the old rivalry between the west and the USSR, according to the foreign secretary, William Hague.
He said that Iran was clearly continuing to pursue a nuclear weapons programme and warned that this would trigger an arms race among rival Middle Eastern states, who, he claimed, would also want to develop nuclear weapons.
US officials believe Iran sanctions will fail,
making military action likely
By Chris McGreal in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
Officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme, and believe that the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so.
The president has made clear in public, and in private to Israel, that he is determined to give sufficient time for recent measures, such as the financial blockade and the looming European oil embargo, to bite deeper into Iran's already battered economy before retreating from its principal strategy to pressure Tehran.
Paul says US 'slipping into a fascist system'
APNews - TownHall.com
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul warned the U.S. is "slipping into a fascist system" dominated by government and businesses as he held a fiery rally Saturday night upstaging established Republican Party banquets a short distance away.
The Texas congressman drew a couple thousand standing and chanting people to Kansas City's Union Station as the party's establishment dined on steak across the street at the Missouri GOP's annual conference. Kansas Republicans were holding a similar convention in a suburb across the state line.
[The Totalitarians, an 8-week online course at the Mises Academy, runs from February 26 — April 28, 2012. You can enroll online.]
In many ways, the absolute state dreamed up by Machiavelli and other Renaissance Europeans couldn't hold a candle to the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. If the old absolutists claimed potential and occasionally de facto total control over the lives of subjects, the total-war regimes made numerous "great leaps forward" to achieve ubiquitous surveillance, eradication of even the claim to individual rights, creation of concentration camps, ethnic cleansing on a scale unprecedented in human history, and mass killings of whole categories of individuals branded as "enemies of the state."
It may be an irony that the incubation period of the totalitarians was exactly contemporaneous with a breathtaking acceleration of Western thinking about power and liberty before World War I: Acton, the Austrian School of economics, the late 19th-century critique of the state, the recognition that war is the health of the state, and so forth. Tragically, only a generation or so later, the statists, socialists, and totalitarians seemed to have swept the field. Already before World War I, the imperial warfare-welfare state appeared to be in the ascendant. The First World War seemed to drive the last nails into liberty's coffin.
AGENDA 21 IN ONE EASY LESSON
by Tom DeWeese - NewsWithViews.com
Awareness of Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development is racing across the nation as citizens in community after community are learning what their city planners are actually up to. As awareness grows, I am receiving more and more calls for tools to help activists fight back. Many complain that elected officials just won't read detailed reports or watch long videos. "Can you give us something that is quick, and easy to read that we can hand out," I'm asked.
So here it is. A one page, quick description of Agenda 21 that fits on one page. I've also included for the back side of your hand out a list of quotes for the perpetrators of Agenda 21 that should back up my brief descriptions.
"Global sustainability requires the deliberate quest of poverty, reduced resource consumption and set levels of mortality control." -Professor Maurice King
Birth of an abomination
In simple terms Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is the end of civilization as we know it. It is the end of private property, the elevation of the collective over the individual. It is the redistribution of America’s wealth to the global elite, it is the end of the Great American Experiment and the Constitution. And, it is the reduction of 85% of the world’s population.
In 1992, twenty years ago this summer, Agenda 21/Sustainable Development was unveiled to the world at the UN’s Earth Summit in Rio. (While Agenda 21 was introduced in June, 1992, it was already installed as public policy in communities across the country as early as 1987.)
AGENDA 21: THE END OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION - PART 2
By Kathleen Marquardt - NewsWithViews.com
In part I, I gave you the first half of the overview of Agenda 21. This is part 2 of the overview. Keep in mind that it is just an overview; I will expound upon the key aspects in later articles.
In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development. The Earth Charter
As Tom DeWeese puts it, "The fact is, Agenda 21 is a blueprint to completely change our society to a top-down planned central economy in a strange mixture of Socialism, fascism and corporatism. This is a political movement led by those who seek to control the world economy, dictate development and redistribute the world’s wealth. They use the philosophical base of Karl Marx, the tactics of Adolph Hitler, and the rhetoric of the Sierra Club."
U.S. Dollar Will Take Beating in the End
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
In the simplest of terms, the U.S. dollar will take a beating in the end. That is going to be the result of all the bailouts and money printing to save an insolvent banking system. Today, I bring you two videos that speak to the dollar calamity that lies in front of the entire planet. The first is an audio interview with one of my favorite economists, John Williams of Shadowstats.com. Williams has a paid subscription newsletter that features analysis of what I call the "real" or "true" numbers such as unemployment, GDP and inflation. These are areas where the government uses accounting gimmicks to make the economy look better than reality. For example, unemployment is reported by the government to be 8.3%; but if it was computed the way the government dit it in 1994 or earlier, the true unemployment would be 22.5% (according to Shadowstats.com). The government numbers hide the fact the country and the U.S. dollar are both headed for deep trouble. The second video also talks about the dollar calamity and the effect it will have not only on the U.S. but the entire world. The videos are not long, but they are current and very thought provoking. Please enjoy.
John Williams of Shadow Stats
"This is end of the world type stuff"
The Largest Event In Human History
China soon will overtake India as top gold market
By Kelvin Chan-Associated Press - WashingtonTimes.com
HONG KONG — China is poised to overtakeIndia to become the world’s biggest gold market this year as rising incomes fuel demand for the precious metal and a weak rupee diminishes Indian purchases, an industry group said Thursday.
The amount of gold bought in China rose 20 percent in 2011 over the year before to 770 metric tons, the World Gold Council said in its annual report. That put China behind only first-place India, where 933 metric tons were bought.
Shanghai Futures Exchange cuts gold margins by over 30%
BEIJING (Commodity Online): The Shanghai Futures exchange (SHFE) has lowered its margin requirements for trading in gold in a bid to attract more investors and boost trading volumes. The new margins will be effective from March 01, 2012
The exchange has cut margin required for the first trading day of the month before delivery from 15% to 10%- a more than 30% cut in margin requirements. For the last two days before the final trading day of the contract, margin has been halved, from 40% to 20%.
The Deflationary Undertow Before The Inflationary Wave
By Gonzalo Lira
War between Israel and Iran now seems inevitable. Leon Panetta claimed that it would be this coming spring—and I see no reason to doubt him.
How an Israeli-Iranian war will play out—that is, whether it will draw in more geopolitical actors (such as the U.S.), or if it will be a series of limited attacks, counter-attacks, and then stalemate—is impossible to predict. War tends to take on a life of its own.
But we can predict how it will affect the global markets.
The Ameliorate Effects of Debt and Defaults
BY PAUL NOLTE - FinancialSense.com
Going back to the halcyon days of the Nixon administration, the duo of Woodward & Bernstein were admonished to follow the money. In the wonderful world of the internet, following the money might be a bit easier. The numbers are certainly much larger and their impact is just as important to investors as it was to the investigative reporters attempting to put all the puzzle pieces together.
Coming into office, Ben Bernanke had the unseemly moniker of "helicopter Ben" in reference to his comment regarding his "solution" to a Depression type of event in the US economy. Unfortunately for investors around the world, not only has Ben fired up the helicopter, but global central banks have expanded their balance sheets to incredible levels that investors would have never thought possible even in late 2008 as TARP began. According to Bianco Research, combined balance sheets of the Fed, ECB, Bank of Japan and Bank of England have more than tripled in size in just over three years from just over $4 trillion to nearly $14 trillion by yearend 2011. Consumers may be wondering where all that money has gone, as it hasn’t found its way into their back pockets. Economic growth, while better than the depths of the recession in early 2009, remain a long way from what historically has been a "normal" recovery. Thanks to the debt overhang that remains looming over the economy, this recovery is indeed very different than those of any since the Great Depression.
The Uptick’s Downside
Nouriel Roubini - Project-Syndicate.org
RIO DE JANEIRO – Since late last year, a series of positive developments has boosted investor confidence and led to a sharp rally in risky assets, starting with global equities and commodities. Macroeconomic data from the United States improved; blue-chip companies in advanced economies remained highly profitable; China and emerging markets slowed only moderately; and the risk of a disorderly default and/or exit by some members of the eurozone declined.
Moreover, under its new president, Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank appears willing to do anything necessary to reduce stress on the eurozone’s banking system and governments, as well as to lower interest rates. Central banks in both advanced and emerging economies have provided massive injections of liquidity. Volatility is down, confidence is up, and risk aversion is much lower – for now.
Just as Greece complies at last, Europe pulls the plug Officials from the EU and the International Monetary Fund made two grave errors when they swooped into Greece in mid-2010 and dictated the now hated "Memorandum".
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The regime of drastic cuts has tipped the economy into a violent downward spiral. They thought that private industry would muddle through as the state went through the austerity mincer. What the EU-IMF "Troika" did not fully understand is how many firms were really part of the state in disguise.
"The Greek government outsources everything," said one official with close knowledge of the events.
March 23, 2912 GREEK DEFAULT EXCLUSIVE:
SENIOR US BANKERS GIVEN EXPLICIT TIMETABLE
FOR ATHENS DEFAULT DOCUMENTS RAISE AWKWARD QUESTIONS
FOR WASHINGTON, IMF & BERLIN
Hat4UK Blog
A written document giving firm dates and detailed actions for a planned Greek default has been in the possession of two top Wall Street bank currency trading bosses since the second week in January. The Slog has separate but corroborative sources affirming the existence of the document, and a conviction among senior bank staff that – at least at the time – the plan represented "a timetable, not a contingency". The plan gives a firm date of March 23rd for default to be announced after the close of business.
Senior bankers on Wall Street have been given detailed documentation setting out a timetable to Greek default, including firm dates and technical ‘orders’ about last use of the euro as a currency there. The revelation arrived at Slogger's Roost last Monday, since when I have been trying to obtain corroboration. This arrived in the early hours of today (Thursday). One of the banks is Barclays Capital (Barcap) run by controversial figure Bob Diamond. The other must remain anonymous for the time being, in order to protect sources.
Keiser Report: German Empire vs Greek Carthage (E250)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss a 'Grexit' after the Carthaginian peace deal and also safety net critics and collateralized hemlock futures. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Chris Whalen of Tangent Capital about Greek deals, gold and raising interest rates to save the economy.
Bail-out delay prompts fear of Greek euro exit
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Greece fears it is being pushed out of the euro after eurozone ministers delayed a decision on its second bail-out for another five days.
"We are continually faced with new terms ... In the euro area, there are plenty who don't want us anymore. There are some playing with fire, domestically and abroad. Some are playing with torches and some are playing with matches. But the risk is equally great," Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos told reporters in Athens on Wednesday (15 February) after a three-hour conference call with his 16 counterparts from the eurozone.
Greek politicians have pledged not to undo spending cuts after April elections and to find another €325 million of flesh to trim from the budget.
Plot Thickens in Eurozone Crisis Despite fresh austerity measures, Greece could still fail to secure a new EU-IMF bailout and default on its debt. But the plan for a fiscal compact to accelerate European integration forges ahead, explains this Backgrounder.
Author: Christopher Alessi - CFR.org
The euro was introduced in 2002 as the single currency of the European Union, consolidating the largest trading area in the world and soon rivaling the dollar for global supremacy. However, the accumulation of massive and unsustainable deficits and public debt levels in a number of peripheral economies threatened the eurozone's viability by the end of its first decade, triggering a eurozone sovereign debt crisis. The crisis highlighted the economic interdependence of the EU, while also underscoring the lack of political integration needed to provide a coordinated fiscal and monetary response. Germany--and, to a lesser extent, France--reluctantly stepped into this political vacuum. The eurozone's wealthiest members called on weaker states to embrace strict austerity measures, inciting popular unrest and toppling governments in Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Italy. Yet in spite of a number of euro rescue deals agreed upon by EU leaders, market volatility persisted into 2012, calling into question the future of the euro.
Europe’s fiscal union still lacks a blueprint
by Nicolas Véron - Bruegel.org (Brussels think tank)
The improvement of eurozone market conditions in January can be attributed to several factors, including the progress made by Prime Minister Mario Monti in Italy, and some constructive if Delphic signals coming from Berlin. It also suggests that a lot of bad news was already priced in in December, including a "credit event" on Greek debt that would trigger payment of credit-default swaps, as now looks very likely. But the eurozone’s fundamental design problems remain unresolved. Even the main positive driver of investor sentiment, the European Central Bank’s long-term refinancing operations offering cheap 3-year liquidity to banks, creates risks of its own. The ECB must have decided to open that window with a heavy heart. A few hard realities have not changed, and if anything have become more inescapable.
Auditor: EU agencies mismanaging their budgets
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - A report by the European Court of Auditors has found problems in the way the EU's 31 agencies manage their budgets. The findings are likely to fuel the debate about the usefulness of the bodies in a time of austerity.
The report - sent on Wednesday (15 February) to the European Parliament and seen by EUobserver - analyses the costs, financial management and "operational efficiency" of 22 out of the EU's 31 autonomous agencies.
'The Troika's Policies Have Failed' European Doubts Growing over Greece Debt Strategy For months, European leaders have been trying to find a way out of the Greek debt crisis. But austerity is merely driving the country deeper into economic despair. Is it time for a radical rethink? Many think the answer is yes.
By SPIEGEL Staff
It would have been hard for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to find a more appropriate setting from which to promote her policies for Greece. She is sitting in a wide leather chair in Berlin's Neues Museum, home to Egyptian treasures and classical antiquities. The ancient columns towering behind her lend the scene an Acropolis-like air.
It's Tuesday of last week, and Merkel has been invited by a foundation to join in a discussion on the future of Europe. A young woman stands up and identifies herself as a foreign student studying in Germany and a "despairing representative of a younger Greek generation." She says that, of course, she would like to return to her home country after completing her studies. "But whenever I make inquiries about work in Athens," she says, "I'm only offered jobs in Germany."
House Republicans warn of European-style debt crisis Geithner says balancing budget in three 'would kill this economy'
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)—House Republicans clashed repeatedly Thursday with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner over the budget, warning that the White House’s proposal made a European-style debt crisis more likely.
Rep. Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the House Budget Committee, asserted that the Obama plan doesn’t lay out a plan to reduce health-care spending over the long run.
President Barack Obama’s budget plan seeks to stabilize the debt as a percentage of GDP over the next decade, and proposes $360 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid.
Iran Warns 6 Countries in Europe It Will Cut Off Oil
By RICK GLADSTONE and ALAN COWELL - NYTimes.com
Besieged by international sanctions over the Iranian nuclear programincluding a planned oil embargo by Europe, Iran warned six European buyers on Wednesday that it might strike first by immediately cutting them off from Iranian oil.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said the threat was conveyed to the ambassadors of Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal in separate meetings at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. Officials said in an earlier report by Press TV, Iran’s state-financed satellite broadcaster, that Iran had already cut supplies to the six countries was inaccurate — but not before word of the Press TV report sent a brief shudder through the global oil market, sending prices up slightly.
165 Banks On the Brink
By Philip van Doorn - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- With year-end data for 99% of the nation's savings and loan associations now available, there are 165 undercapitalized institutions on the TheStreet'sBank Watch List, which is 12 more than last quarter. This is despite 13 banks being shuttered by regulators since the final third-quarter watch list was published in November.
Based on fourth-quarter regulatory data supplied by HighlineFI for the nation's banks and savings and loan associations -- and factoring-in the 13 bank and thrift failures -- 155 institutions were undercapitalized at year-end, according to the regulatory guidelines that apply to most institutions.
YOU have bank risk... MFGlobal Reveals You Are A Bank Counter-Party
By Barry Ritholtz
The esteemed former Fed Chairman, Paul Volcker, introduced a very simple regulatory concept that bears his name: The Volcker Rule. It was part of the Dodd-Frank regulatory reforms passed after the financial crisis of 2008-09.
There has been enormous pushback against what should be a simple piece of prophylactic rules on proprietary trading by depository banks (see this Jamie Dimon commentary as an example). Why? The profits of speculation goes to banks, driving bonuses and compensation; but the ultimate risk of loss lay with the FDIC and taxpayer. If the banks blow up, someone else besides the banker pays.
Privatized gains, socialized losses.
I want to take a few moments to briefly explain why this rule is so important to taxpayers, especially following the collapse of MF Global and the loss of billions of client assets.
From the globalists... Does it Matter Who Runs the World Bank?
By Nancy Birdsall - Global Development: Views from the Center
With Robert Zoellick’s announcement that he will step down from the World Bank presidency at the end of June, now comes the question of who his successor will be, particularly whether it will be an American. Just a few days ago I commentedon the awkwardness of the situation for the White House. The White House has committed in international fora to an open, merit-based, transparent process, but domestic politics (including some would argue continued support for the World Bank from the Congress) dictates that it make every possible effort to place an American once again in that office.
It does matter who runs the World Bank and how she or he arrives there. Why?
Capital Shrugged
Mark Spitznagel - Project-Syndicate.org
LOS ANGELES – Capitalism’s greatest strength has been its resiliency – its ability to survive the throes and challenges of crises and business cycles to fuel innovation and economic growth. Today, however, more than four years into a credit crisis, a conspicuous enigma calls this legacy into question.
Despite recent hopes of recovery in the US, including an inventory catch-up in the fourth quarter of 2011, real US GDP growth has remained persistently below trend. Moreover, although seasonally adjusted January employment data have brought the unemployment rate down to 8.3% (while total jobs were actually lost in January), the more realistic rate of "underemployment" remains over 15% and the labor-force participation rate is at a record 30-year low. And the US is clearly not alone in its malaise, with the eurozone fighting a far more urgent sovereign-debt crisis.
Percent of mortgage loans In-Foreclosure by State
by CalculatedRisk
The MBA noted that judicial states generally have the most loans in the foreclosure process. The graph below shows the percent of loans in the foreclosure process by state and by foreclosure process. Red is for states with a judicial foreclosure process. Because the judicial process is longer, those states typically have a higher percentage of loans in the process.
Nevada is an exception. But Nevada had the largest quarterly decline, and for the first time in years is not in the #2 spot behind Florida - Nevada has dropped to #4.
The Grand Game of Perception Management
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
he economy will expand if you believe it is expanding--because you'll be "animal spirited" into buying a lot of stuff on credit that you can't afford.
It all boils down to perception--that's the insight at the heart of the Grand Game of Perception Management. Economists speak of magical "animal spirits" that fuel economic expansion, but this is simply a colorful term for perception management: when people perceive others reaping outsized gains in profits or pleasure from taking risky bets and freely spending borrowed money, then they will feel an overpowering urge to follow the herd and leverage their capital (if any) and disposable income (if any) into risky bets and zealous over-consumption, i.e. "animal spirits."
Conversely, when said risky bets blow up and participants have lost their ever-lovingderrieresby following the herd, then "animal spirits" quickly dissipate as the herd thunders off a cliff to its financial demise.
* * * * *
The Great Depression Is The Best Case
CBO says jobless benefits encourage joblessness
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
Generous unemployment benefits are a great way to boost the economy in the short term but are leading hundreds of thousands of workers to stay out of the workforce longer than they would otherwise, according to the latest report byCongress’s official scorekeeper.
The report by the Congressional Budget Officecomes as President Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to forge an agreement to extend those generous benefits, as well as continue the 2 percentage-point payroll tax holiday for the rest of this year.
WHO KILLED THE JOBS?
By John Hinderaker - PowerlineBlog.com
This chart tells you just about everything you need to know as you prepare to vote in 2012. Prepared by the Republican Study Committee, it depicts the percentage of Americans in the labor force from January 2005 (commonly known as the "good old days" through January 2012. The decline in the number of working Americans is staggering. And note that Barack Obama became president in January 2009, about 3/4 of the way through the gray "recession," and just before the "stimulus" that is marked with a red dot. What has happened since Obama took office is that the jobs situation has steadily deteriorated:
More Doctors 'Fire' Vaccine Refusers Families Who Reject Inoculations Told to Find a New Physician; Contagion in Waiting Room Is a Fear
By SHIRLEY S. WANG - WSJ.com
Pediatricians fed up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of concern it can cause autism or other problems increasingly are "firing" such families from their practices, raising questions about a doctor's responsibility to these patients.
Medical associations don't recommend such patient bans, but the practice appears to be growing, according to vaccine researchers.
In a study of Connecticut pediatricians published last year, some 30% of 133 doctors said they had asked a family to leave their practice for vaccine refusal, and a recent survey of 909 Midwestern pediatricians found that 21% reported discharging families for the same reason.
Overreach: Obamacare vs. the Constitution
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
Give him points for cleverness. President Obama’s birth control “accommodation” was as politically successful as it was morally meaningless. It was nothing but an accounting trick that still forces Catholic (and other religious) institutions to provide medical insurance that guarantees free birth control, tubal ligation and morning-after abortifacients — all of whichviolate church doctrine on the sanctity of life.
The trick is that these birth control/abortion services will supposedly be provided independently and free of charge by the religious institution’s insurance company. But this changes none of the moral calculus. Holy Cross Hospital, for example, is still required by law to engage an insurance company that is required by law to provide these doctrinally proscribed services to all Holy Cross employees.
Obama Budget Director
Undermines Legal Case For ObamaCare
Peter Suderman | Reason.com
Part of the Obama administration's legal defense of ObamaCare's individual mandate to purchase health insurance rests on the argument that the penalty for not paying is justifiable under the conressional power to tax. ObamaCare doesn't actually require anyone to purchase anything, the argument goes; the law just makes people pay a tax if they don't.
Courts have so far not been kind to this argument (in part because taxes must be intended to raise revenue rather than control behavior), and now a senior member of President Obama's staff seems to deny it as well. Here's an exchange between GOP Rep. Scott Garrett and newly appointed White House budget chief Jeffrey Zients from a congressional budget hearing earlier:
Rep. Scott Garrett grills OMB director Jeffrey Zients
Foreclosures on the Rise Again
By: Diana Olick - CNBC Real Estate Reporter
One in every 624 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in January, up 3 percent from the previous month, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. Foreclosure activity froze in many states in 2011, due to processing delays after fraud, or so-called "Robo-signing," were uncovered in the fall of 2010. The thaw is now on.
"We expect the pattern of increasing foreclosures to continue in the coming months, especially given the finalized mortgage and foreclosure settlement reached in early February between 49 state attorneys general and five of the nation's largest lenders," said RealtyTrac's CEO Brandon Moore in a written release. "Foreclosure activity increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than 12 months in Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, following a pattern we saw in late 2011 in states such as California, Arizona and Massachusetts."
Mortgage Settlement Not Only Thing Plunging Prices
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
New data just released revealed delinquency rates for mortgage holders is up in the last quarter of 2011. Now, the national mortgage delinquency rate is 6.01%, up from 5.88% in the third quarter of 2011 according to TransUnion. This downward trend in real estate prices will not be slowed by this bad news. Also, keep in mind, because of the $26 billion foreclosure fraud deal just agreed to (that lets the biggest banks off the hook for forgery and perjury), the banks are only going to be empowered to spike the pace of foreclosures in 2012. This is all negative for prices in a market where nearly half of all homes in America (11 million) are worth less than the mortgage. More mortgage delinquencies plus more foreclosures will equal more bank owned inventory, and when you have a lot of something, the price goes down. It is a law of economics not even the Federal Reserve can defeat.
Apple's Mac Makeover 'Mountain Lion' Software Brings Mobile Features to Mac
By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO - WSJ.com
CUPERTINO, Calif.—Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook wants to make its Mac more like an iPhone.
In an interview at the company's headquarters here, Mr. Cook unveiled a new version of the company's Mac operating system that incorporates several features from the software that powers Apple's hit mobile devices.
Named "Mountain Lion," the new version of OS X is the clearest sign yet of Apple's belief that the mobile, laptop and desktop world are destined to converge—and that Apple wants to be a catalyst.
Google Must Remember Our Right to Be Forgotten
Authors: Richard A. Falkenrath,
Shelby Cullom
and Kathryn W. Davis Adjunct Senior Fellow
for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security - CFR.org
Last month the European Commission proposed adding a new "right to be forgotten" to privacy law. This deceptively simple idea is a ticking time-bomb in the booming internet economy. It is also essential – both for Europeans and Americans – to protect personal privacy in the age of pervasive social media and cloud computing.
The stakes are huge. Two weeks ago Facebook announced aninitial public offering that could value the company at up to $100bn. Facebook is worth so much because of the data it holds on its 845m users. Yet it succeeds only to the extent it can monetise the data. If a sizeable fraction of users could easily compel Facebook to delete all their personal data, the company's value would be lower.
Google's new privacy policy, released last month, points even more firmly to the need for a right to be forgotten. The new policy is clear: it explains Google's practices of maintaining digital files on its users indefinitely; of identifying its users across all its services; and of integrating this data across all Google's digital services – search, Gmail, Picasa, YouTube, Earth, Voice, Android, Chrome, Wallet, etc.
Obama Pushes Global Tax
by GARY DEMAR - GodFatherPolitics.com
When taxes are high in one state, businesses and individual tax payers have the freedom to move to another state. The number of millionaires who have left New York is getting to Red Sea proportions. Rush Limbaugh moved his operation to Florida, a state that doesn’t have a state income tax. Lebron James was considering joining the New York Knicks until he found out how much he would be paying in New York state and city taxes. Like Limbaugh, he chose Florida. He plays for the Miami Heat.
It’s not just the politicians who want to stick it to the rich. A Siena College poll reported that 72% of New York voters support the tax to avoid further budget cuts. The union-backed "99 New York" rally supported extending the "millionaire’s tax" on New Yorkers with incomes over $200,000. It was due to expire December 31, 2011.
Navy Seal Warns False Flag is Coming:
Ed Asner Reports 1/2
On this Monday, February 13 edition of the Alex Jones Show, Alex talks with film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, Ed Asner. Mr. Asner will play the chairman of a new investigation of the September 11th attacks in the film "A Violation of Trust," formerly "Confessions of a 9/11 Conspirator." The film will pit the 9/11 Commission Report and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reports against the work of 9/11 researcher Dr. David Ray Griffin and the scientific research highlighted by leading 9/11 truth organizations, including Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
Navy Seal Warns False Flag is Coming:
Ed Asner Reports 2/2
Military Chaplains to be Charged
with Sedition and Treason for Preaching Against Sin
by DA TAGLIARE - GodFatherPolitics.com
One of the main news topics this past week involved President Obama’s mandate that Catholic and other religious institutions were required to provide free medical coverage for birth control. Then the president seemed to offer an olive branch, but upon closer examination the branch turned out to be deadly hemlock and not olive. He said that the insurance companies would have to provide the free birth control to the employees of religious institutions, which is virtually the same disregard for strong religious beliefs and to many Americans an outright violation of the Frist Amendment.
In all of the news and discussions, no one paid any attention to the effects this was having on our military personnel, especially the chaplains. The Catholic Church had issued a denomination wide letter in which they informed parishioners that the Church "cannot and will not comply with this unjust law."
UN general assembly backs call
for Assad to quit as Syrian president Russia and China oppose resolution which backs Arab League plan calling on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down
By David Batty - Guardian.co.uk
The UN general assembly has approved a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls on the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down and strongly condemns human rights violations in Syria by his regime.
The vote in the 193-member body was 137-12 with 17 abstentions.
Russia and China, who vetoed a similar resolution in the security council, voted against the resolution.
There are no vetoes in the general assembly and its resolutions are not legally binding, but they do reflect world opinion on major issues.
A ‘cosmic wager’ on the Muslim Brotherhood
By David Ignatius - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood began three years ago in his famous June 2009 speech in Cairo.
Ten members of the Brotherhood were invited to listen to the address, and they heard a passage crafted especially for them:
"America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments — provided they govern with respect for all their people."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn’t attend the speech, but there was a message tailored for him, too, when Obama said: "Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away." Obama certainly had that right.
Eagle vs Dragon: 'US, China rivalry leads to new arms race'
Paul Craig Roberts - Chinese Vice President Shi Jin-ping has met with US President Barack Obama in Washington in an effort to smooth out their differences. Tension between the two nations have escalated recently with the US criticizing China's currency policies and Washington bolstering its military presence in the Asia Pacific.
Sanctions may be changing Iran’s nuke plans Tehran offers to resume U.N. talks
By Shaun Waterman-The Washington Times
Iran’s leaders "may be changing their mind" about pressing ahead with their nuclear program in the teeth of international sanctions, the U.S. intelligence chief told senators Thursday.
Tehran has offered to resume stalled talks with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, according to a letter from its chief nuclear negotiator reported by Agence France-Presse.
The Iranian Nuclear Threat Goes Global
Itamar Rabinovich - Project-Syndicate.org
TEL AVIV – The current drive to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal reflects two important, and interrelated, changes. From Israel’s perspective, these changes are to be welcomed, though its government must remain cautious about the country’s own role.
The first change is the escalation of efforts by the United States and its Western allies to abort the Iranian regime’s nuclear quest. This was instigated in part by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s finding in November 2011 that Iran is indeed developing a nuclear weapon, and that it is getting perilously close to crossing the "red line" – the point beyond which its progress could no longer be stopped. Moreover, the US and its allies understand that failure to take serious action might prompt Israel to launch its own unilateral military offensive.
Iran and the U.S.-Saudi Relationship
SLOUCHING TOWARD TEHRAN
By Scott Johnson - PowerlineBlog.com
It’s hard to escape the feeling that events are building toward a cataclysm in the Middle East. Iran appears to have engaged in three or four assassination attempts against Israelis in foreign countries this week — in New Delhi, in Bankgkok, in Tbilisi, and in Singapore (this last one reportedly denied by Israel). The bombs fit a pattern.
Iranian denials of involvement are a little bit hard to square with events in Bangkok, where an Iranian man blew off his legs and injured several bystanders as a series of explosions rocked the city. Andrew Buncome’s Independent story on the Bangkok bungle includes a photo with a straight-on view of the would-be bomber’s stumps. Somewhere inside that legless man is a Monty Python joke struggling to run free.
Life in America Under Agenda 21
with whistleblower Charlotte Iserbyt 1/4
Charlotte Iserbyt is the consummate whistleblower! Iserbyt served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education, during the first Reagan Administration, where she first blew the whistle on a major technology initiative which would control curriculum in America's classrooms. Iserbyt is a former school board director in Camden, Maine and was co-founder and research analyst of Guardians of Education for Maine (GEM) from 1978 to 2000. She has also served in the American Red Cross on Guam and Japan during the Korean War, and in the United States Foreign Service in Belgium and in the Republic of South Africa. Iserbyt is a speaker and writer, best known for her 1985 booklet Back to Basics Reform or OBE: Skinnerian International Curriculum and her 1989 pamphlet Soviets in the Classroom: America's Latest Education Fad which covered the details of the U.S.-Soviet and Carnegie-Soviet Education Agreements which remain in effect to this day. She is a freelance writer and has had articles published in Human Events, The Washington Times, The Bangor Daily News, and included in the record of Congressional hearings.
Life in America Under Agenda 21
with whistleblower Charlotte Iserbyt 2/4
Life in America Under Agenda 21
with whistleblower Charlotte Iserbyt 3/4
Life in America Under Agenda 21
with whistleblower Charlotte Iserbyt 4/4
Debt saturation ensures much higher gold and silver
By: John Embry - GoldSeek.com
....The main subject I want to address today is the staggering debt situation throughout the industrialized world and the impact it will have on the value of paper money and by extension, gold and silver. However, before I get to that topic, I would like to make a few comments about the price action of gold and silver in the last four months of 2011, price action that incidentally set the stage for the explosive price rises we've seen in the first six weeks of this year.
Up until Labor Day last year, gold was enjoying an excellent year, rising by comfortably over 30 percent in price in eight months. This strong advance reflected the turmoil in Europe, the U.S. debt rating downgrade, excessive money creation worldwide, and widespread economic and financial deterioration generally. Ergo, gold was acting exactly as it should in these circumstances.
International Forecaster February 2012 (#5) -
Gold, Silver, Economy + More
By: Bob Chapman,
The International Forecaster - GoldSeek.com
By decree, by the privately owned Federal Reserve, zero interest rates are here to stay. You do not get to borrow at those rates, only the member banks do. In the latest currency swap (loan) from the Fed to the ECB, European Central Bank, as we noted in previous issues over the last two months, that Europe has been forced to join the Anglo-American system. The system of zero interest rates and the continual creation of money and credit. Due to the Fed’s ability to create endless supplies of money and credit it eventually took over the control of ECB and European monetary policy. These policies starkly point out the zero interest rates and monetary policy of endless money creation is the path to be taken probably by all in the system to lesser or greater degrees. That means no savings and that leaves speculation and the purchase of gold and silver related assets. Looking at monetary history we would categorize this policy as Neanderthal. The recession/depression that the Fed has been tying to neutralize via zero interest rates and quantitative easing hasn’t worked and it won’t work. What is worse is the Fed knows it won’t work. Greenspan and Bernanke saw 21 years of such policy not work in Japan, yet they learned very little from living history. An example that zero interest rates do not work and render currency meaningless is the housing market. They cannot even lower bank home inventory with 3.8% loans.
Soros increases Gold bets by 75%
but says price will not hit $2000/oz this year
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Billionaire investor George Soros has raised his bullish bets on the SPDR Gold Trust, as per recent data by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Soros' flagship Soros Fund Management LLC added 37100 shares, taking its total ownership to 85450 shares as of end Dec 2011. This represents a more than 75% jump in the Fund's holdings.
The Federal Reserve’s Explicit Goal: Devalue the Dollar 33%
By Charles Kadlec - DailyReckoning.com
02/14/12 The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level.
An increase in the price level of 2% in any one year is barely noticeable. Under a gold standard, such an increase was uncommon, but not unknown. The difference is that when the dollar was as good as gold, the years of modest inflation would be followed, in time, by declining prices. As a consequence, over longer periods of time, the price level was unchanged. A dollar 20 years hence was still worth a dollar.
Dow's Tumble Is Worst in 2012
By JONATHAN CHENG - WSJ.com
The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its steepest fall of the year as questions about the latest Greek bailout added to concerns about industrial stocks.
The Dow gave up 97.33 points, or 0.8%, to 12780.95, the biggest tumble since Dec. 28. The blue-chip index narrowly avoided a triple-digit loss, extending a 33-day streak in which the Dow has avoided falling by 100 points or more. That is the longest such run since a 44-session streak that ended on Jan. 28, 2011.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 7.27 points, or 0.5%, to 1343.23, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 16 points, or 0.6%, to 2915.83.
Marc Faber speaks of Imminent Market Crash
Oil rallies to $120 on Iran EU export fears
By Javier Blas in London
and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran - FT.com
Crude oil hit a six-month high of nearly $120 a barrel on Wednesday amid fears that Iran, the world’s third-largest oil exporter, could pre-empt a European Union oil embargo by cutting its own exports to the region.
The oil market was spooked after an Iranian state-owned broadcaster reported that the country had stopped sales to six European countries. The report was initially denied by the Ministry of Oil in Tehran, which later said it could neither confirm nor deny the news.
The report sent oil prices sharply higher. Brent crude hit a session high of $119.99 a barrel, the highest since August last year, when the International Energy Agency ordered the release of its members’ strategic petroleum reserves to fight the supply shortage caused by the civil war in Libya.
Default Therapy
By Eric Fry - DailyReckoning.com
02/15/12 Laguna Beach, California – The Greek crisis has been solved…again. Let’s see…that’s probably about 24 "solutions" during the last 24 months.
But since these solutions never seem to solve anything, Europe’s central bankers, technocrats and politicians get to huddle together every few weeks and solve the crisis over and over again. It's kind of like Disneyland for euro-meddlers. They get to keep going on their favorite ride over and over again.
Sure, they have to wait in line for a while each time, but the ride is so worth it! Lots of meddling, lots of intervening, lots of "tough negotiations," lots of prescribing what’s best for others, while spending lots of money that belongs to someone else.
If that’s not an "E-Ticket," what is?
Eurozone crisis: Greece 'can't take any more cuts'
BBC.co.uk
The Greek people have been pushed to the limit by austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF, public order minister Christos Papoutsis says.
He said Greeks had made "superhuman" efforts, and "can't take any more".
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos says all remaining issues with the austerity package will be solved in time for a conference call with eurozone chiefs later.
Nigel Farage: "If I Was a Greek I Would Have Been Out Joining Those Protests"
Socialist Destruction Unleashed in Greece
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
Early Monday morning, after three days of intense negotiations, the Greek government approved the latest austerity measures demanded by other EU nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) by a vote of 199 to 74. In return, they get the latest bailout of $171 billion that nation needs in order to avoid default on March 20th, when a $19.1 billion payment on its debts is due -- if EU finance ministers approve the accord when they meet on Feb. 15. Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, who addressed the nation on Saturday night, had urged the Cabinet to approve the deal, warning of "social explosion, chaos" if it failed.
Furious Greeks set Athens on fire
A New Greece?
by Ian R. Campbell - StockResearchPortalBlog.com
I am sure you are aware the Greek Parliament in the early hours of Monday, February 13 passed a so-called ‘austerity bill’ that is said will result in private investors taking a 60% – 70% ‘haircut’ on the Greek Sovereign Debt owed to them. Among other things, that bill calls for a 22% reduction in the Greek minimum wage, as well as pension and job cuts. The 70% haircut that seems now to be settled (at least by the Greek Parliament) on the portion of Greek debt that is privately owned amounts to – as best I can tell – to something in the order of €100 billion (or about U.S.$132 billion). I made that calculation based on the following (approximate) numbers and percentages that I have taken from various sources. I can’t attest to their accuracy:
Total Greek debt - €350 billion
% privately owned - 40%-55% (say 50%)
Amount of that debt that is privately owned - €175 billion
Current exchange rate €1 = U.S.$1.32 - U.S.$152 billion
'Who runs Greece? Bankers who pit poor vs poor'
Adrian Salbuchi, author and consultant talks to RT, suggesting it's the bankers, who are responsible for the economic downturn in the first place.
Greece Is on Pace for the Worst Recession in Modern History If only the country's deeper crisis ended there
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
The Greek economy shrank nearly 7% in 2011, the fifth straight year the country has been in a recession. GDP has shriveled by a sixth since 2006, and unemployment has tripled over that period to 20%. With new rounds of austerity just announced, and a default yet to come, the nightmare isn't even close to being over. Will Greece be the deepest recession of the last 30 years?
It's getting there. Argentina's output plummeted 20 percent peak-to-trough when it defaulted in 2001, and Latvia's economy has shrunk by a fifth since 2008. Uri Dadush, an economist with the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, told Reuters that "on the current path, which is not sustainable in my view, we may very well see Greek GDP go down 25-30 percent, which would be historically unprecedented. It's a disastrous crisis for them." (Russia's GDP fell a spectacular 44% in the 1990s, but the dissolution of the Soviet Union is categorically different from a recession within a single country, so some analysts exclude it.)
Farage: Globalist Troika Driving Greece Towards Violent Revolution
As China’s Currency Rises, U.S. Keeps Up Its Pressure
By DAVID LEONHARDT - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — With little fanfare, China’s currency has appreciated significantly in the last year and a half, leading many economists to question whether the exchange rate is still the most important economic issue for the United States to press with China’s leaders.
The rise of the renminbi — up 12 percent since June 2010 on an inflation-adjusted basis and 40 percent since 2005 — has helped American companies by effectively reducing the cost of their products in China. In the last two years, American exports to China have risen sharply.
Moody’s places more than 100 banks on review
By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday it was placing over 100 financial firms across the world on ratings review due to the euro-zone crisis and other issues.
Moody’s New York office said in a statement that 17 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations would be placed under review.
The global capital markets "are confronting evolving challenges, such as more fragile funding conditions, wider credit spreads, increased regulatory burdens and more difficult operating conditions," Moody’s said.
Wanted to Buy: MF Global Claims
By DAN STRUMPF
Since MF Global Holdings Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection last year, some customers of its failed brokerage have had little choice but to wait for the full return of their cash.
That is beginning to change. Lately, investors that gobble up claims in bankruptcy or other distressed situations have begun approaching former MF Global customers with offers to buy their claims for cash, at a discount.
The moves are similar to offers that emerged after the December 2008 disclosure thatBernard Madoff's investment-advisory firm was a Ponzi scheme. Speculators ranging from boutique investment firms to big banks have been transacting for claims of defrauded Madoff customers with the expectation that the trustee will be able to recover and return additional funds.
25 Signs That The Nazification Of America Is Almost Complete
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The United States of America is becoming more like Nazi Germany every single day. In fact, the Nazification of America is almost complete. The parallels between Nazi Germany and the United States of today are going to absolutely shock many of you. Most Americans simply have never learned what life was really like back in Nazi Germany. Under Adolf Hitler, Germany was a Big Brother totalitarian police state that ruthlessly repressed freedom and individual liberty. Under Adolf Hitler, Germany adopted socialism, dramatically increased government spending and raised taxes to astronomical levels. Under Adolf Hitler, abortion became legal in Germany, the government took over health care and Christianity was pushed out of the public schools and out of public life. To prove all of these points, I am going to use extensive quotes from two sources. Kitty Werthmann was a child living a peaceful life in Austria when Hitler took over her nation. Her eyewitness accounts about what life was like under Nazi Germany are invaluable. In addition, I will also be quoting extensively from author Bruce Walker. He is the author of a book entitled "The Swastika Against The Cross: The Nazi War On Christianity", and during his years of research he has uncovered some absolutely jaw dropping stuff. After reading the information in the rest of this article, there should be no doubt that the United States is becoming just like Nazi Germany.
Peter Schiff Explains The Federal Reserve
Empty, foreclosed houses burden cities, neighborhoods Abandoned or bank-owned houses pose growing problems for neighbors and officials in Washington cities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.
By Sanjay Bhatt - Seattle Times staff reporter
On a Monday morning last October, Covington police knocked on the door of a house in foreclosure. They got no response.
Inside, police counted five teenage squatters, two wanted on outstanding warrants. They found broken furniture, stained carpets and rotting garbage. Upstairs there were many empty bottles of cough syrup that police say the squatters drank to get high.
"It was an absolute pigsty," Police Chief Kevin Klason said about the house in Covington's Crofton Hills development. "They were still using the toilet even though it would not flush."
Obama's Budget: It's My Money, America
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
On Monday, President Obama released his budget to the world. As per his usual Orwellian arrangement, Obama called this budget his attempt to implement "fiscal responsibility." Obama's attempt at "fiscal responsibility" works about as well as Madonna's attempts at virginity.
Underlying his massive $3.8 trillion proposal, which also calls for tax increases amounting to nearly $2 trillion, is the overwhelming sense that President Obama thinks this is his money to spend. How else to explain his blithe assurances that his budget will ensure that everyone "gets a fair share ... does their fair share ... plays by the same rules"? Did we suddenly elect him third-grade teacher of the United States? Or does a dictator determine what a "fair share" means?
In light of the economic outlook, almost all members agreed to indicate that the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy and currently anticipates that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014, longer than had been indicated in recent FOMC statements. In particular, several members said they anticipated that unemployment would still be well above their estimates of its longer-term normal rate, and inflation would be at or below the Committee's longer-run objective, in late 2014. It was noted that extending the horizon of the Committee's forward guidance would help provide more accommodative financial conditions by shifting downward investors' expectations regarding the future path of the target federal funds rate. Some members underscored the conditional nature of the Committee's forward guidance and noted that it would be subject to revision in response to significant changes in the economic outlook.
Keiser Report: Tombstone Austerity (E249)
Many Of You Will Not Believe
Some Of The Things Americans Are Doing Just To Survive
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
You might not want to read this article if you have a weak stomach. Most Americans have absolutely no idea what is going on in the dark corners of America, and when people find out the truth it can come as quite a shock. Many of you will not believe some of the things Americans are doing just to survive. Some families are living in sewers and drain tunnels, some families are living in tents, some families are living in their cars, some families will make ketchup soup for dinner tonight and some families are even eating rats. Some homeless shelters in America are so overloaded that they are actually sending people out to live in the woods. As you read this, there are close to 50 million Americans that are living below the poverty line, and that number rises a little bit more every single day. America was once known as the greatest nation on earth, but now there is decay and economic despair almost everywhere you look. Yes, money certainly cannot buy happiness, but the lack of it sure can bring a lot of pain. As the economy continues to decline, the suffering that we see all around us is going to get a lot worse, and that is a very frightening thing to think about.
Poor America - P a n o r a m a [B B C] -
Broadcast Date: 13th February 2012
Senators introduce new cybersecurity act
Elinor Mills, CNET News - ZDNet.com
A group of senators today introduced a bipartisan cyber security bill that includes some new regulation requirements but does not give the president emergency authorities to interfere with the Internet as a previous version did.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 calls for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess risks and vulnerabilities of computer systems running at critical infrastructure sites such as power companies and electricity and water utilities and to work with the operators to develop security standards that they would be required to meet.
Preschooler’s Homemade Lunch
Replaced with Cafeteria “Nuggets” State agent inspects sack lunches, forces preschoolers to purchase cafeteria food instead
By Sara Burrows - CarolinaJournal.com
RAEFORD — A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.
The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes in the More at Four classroom that day.
The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs - including in-home day care centers - to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.
Cohen Introduces Postmark Payment Act
Congressman Steve Cohen
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today introduced the Postmark Payment Act of 2012, a bill that would require that any payment of a bill or invoice, if sent by U.S. mail, be considered sent on the date its envelope was postmarked. The bill would exempt any payment where another method, such as electronic payment, is required by regulation, contract, or law.
"Each month, thousands of Americans are charged late fees and penalties for bills they believed in good faith they had paid on time, through no fault of their own,” Congressman Cohen said. “This bill would make sure consumers are held to the same payment standards used by the Internal Revenue Service."
Obama to unions: See you later His labor allies are undermined as the president signs a law that will discourage workers from organizing
BY JOSH EIDELSON - Salon.com
On Tuesday President Obama signed a bill that will make it harder for workers to form a union. This bill, the FAA Reauthorization Act, passed Congress last week despite an outcry from major unions. Dozens of House Democrats voted for it, as did most Democratic senators.
To appreciate what that means, try to imagine a Republican president and Republican Senate majority leader signing off on a bill with pro-union language despite thundering objections from most big businesses. Your imagination may not be good enough to picture that, which tells you everything you need to know about the asymmetry between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to labor.
The First and Foremost Freedom: Freedom of Religion
By Chuck Colson - PatriotPost.us
Folks, we are facing the battle of our lifetime: The battle over freedom of religion.
I've been talking a lot lately about the Obama Administration's relentless attempts to restrict religious freedom.
You know by now that the Catholic bishops have strongly rejected the president's so-called "accommodation" to exempt religious organizations from paying for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization.
Good for the bishops. What the president outlined changed nothing: religious organizations will still have to provide insurance that covers services that violate their religious beliefs, even if they don't have to pay for them directly.
"We have two American flags always: one for the rich and one for the poor. When the rich fly it means that things are under control; when the poor fly it means danger, revolution, anarchy." - Henry Miller
With each passing week it seems this country spirals further into the depths of a frightening dystopian fantasy reminiscent of Huxley and Orwell’s dark world of isolation, fear and government brutality portrayed in their masterpieces Brave New World and 1984. I keep speculating whether it’s me that’s crazy and not the things I’m witnessing on a daily basis. The President signs the National Defense Authorization Act, passed by an overwhelming majority of Congress, which allows the government to imprison American citizens indefinitely without charge. And there is barely a squeak from the docile masses as they are soothed by Obama promising to never use that part of the law. I bet you $10,000 a President will invoke that portion of the NDAA in the very near future.
25 Signs That The Nazification Of America Is Almost Complete
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The United States of America is becoming more like Nazi Germany every single day. In fact, the Nazification of America is almost complete. The parallels between Nazi Germany and the United States of today are going to absolutely shock many of you. Most Americans simply have never learned what life was really like back in Nazi Germany. Under Adolf Hitler, Germany was a Big Brother totalitarian police state that ruthlessly repressed freedom and individual liberty. Under Adolf Hitler, Germany adopted socialism, dramatically increased government spending and raised taxes to astronomical levels. Under Adolf Hitler, abortion became legal in Germany, the government took over health care and Christianity was pushed out of the public schools and out of public life. To prove all of these points, I am going to use extensive quotes from two sources. Kitty Werthmann was a child living a peaceful life in Austria when Hitler took over her nation. Her eyewitness accounts about what life was like under Nazi Germany are invaluable. In addition, I will also be quoting extensively from author Bruce Walker. He is the author of a book entitled "The Swastika Against The Cross: The Nazi War On Christianity", and during his years of research he has uncovered some absolutely jaw dropping stuff. After reading the information in the rest of this article, there should be no doubt that the United States is becoming just like Nazi Germany.
The Progressive Legacy: Part II
By Thomas Sowell - PatriotPost.us
"Often wrong but never in doubt" is a phrase that summarizes much of what was done by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the two giants of the Progressive era, a century ago.
Their legacy is very much alive today, both in their mindset -- including government picking winners and losers in the economy and interventionism in foreign countries -- as well as specific institutions created during the Progressive era, such as the income tax and the Federal Reserve System.
From Argentina to Athens?
By Mohamed A. El-Erian - Project-Syndicate.org
NEWPORT BEACH – Let me set the scene: an increasingly discredited economic policy approach gives rise to growing domestic social and political opposition, street protests and violence, disagreements among official creditors, and mounting concerns among private creditors about a disorderly default. In the midst of all of this, national leaders commit to more of the same harsh austerity measures that they have been unable to implement for two years. Official creditors express skepticism, in private and public, but hold their collective nose and get ready to disburse yet another tranche of money into what they fear is a bottomless pit.
Sound familiar? It should, but not just because it encapsulates Greece today. It is also what Argentina faced in 2001. Unless Europe reflects on key lessons from that experience, the parallels that extend to Greece may also end up including a financial meltdown, a deep output collapse, and social and political turmoil.
CrossTalk: Falklands Argie-Bargie
China's Xi Jinping calls for 'deep' US-China ties
BBC.co.uk
Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping has called for deeper "strategic trust" in a speech to business leaders, on the second full day of his US visit.
Both countries should act to "reduce misunderstandings and suspicion" via closer communication, he said.
Earlier, he met congressional leaders from the Senate and House of Representatives on Capitol Hill.
Update on the Planned Wars Against Syria and Iran Syria to Hold Elections and Enact a New Constitution in Less than Two Weeks … Will U.S. and Its Allies Attack Anyway?
by George Washington's Blog
Syria to Hold Multi-Party Democratic Elections and Enact New Constitution on February 26th
Agence France-Presse reports:
Syria’s president decreed a vote this month on a new constitution that would effectively end nearly 50 years of single party rule, state media said, as troops reportedly stormed centres of dissent.
***
Bashar al-Assad called the ballot for February 26, in a move clearly aimed at placating growing global outrage over the bloodshed.
Under the newly proposed charter, freedom is “a sacred right” and “the people will govern the people” in a multi-party democratic system, state television said.
Amid attacks, U.S. officials voice fears of Iran-Israel war On Tuesday, Thailand officials said an Iranian was critically injured in a grenade explosion, another Iranian was arrested and a third was at large after fleeing a Bangkok home following a series of apparently accidental blasts.
By John Walcott, Bloomberg News - Seattle times
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials and defense analysts are concerned that a covert war of assassinations between Israel and Iran could escalate out of control.
"Things are heating up, and there is a surge" of assassination attempts, said Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury Department official and now director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Doug Casey: Is A US-Iran War Inevitable?
Interview by Louis James of Casey Research Doug Casey: Is A US-Iran War Inevitable?
US-Iranian saber-rattling or impending shoot-out? In his usual, candid manner, contrarian investor Doug Casey talks about why he believes it's serious this time… why the US is the greatest threat to peace today… why Iran might move towards a gold standard… and what smart investors should do. L: Doug-sama, I've heard you say you think the US is setting Iran up to be the next fall guy in the wag-the-dog show – do you think it could really come to open warfare? Doug: Yes, I do. It could just be saber rattling during an election year, but Western powers have been provoking Iran for years now – two decades, really. I just saw another report proclaiming that Iran is likely to attack the US, which is about as absurd as the allegations Bush made about Iraq bombing the US, when he fomented that invasion. It's starting to look rather serious at this point, so I do think the odds favor actual fighting in the not-too-distant future.
Iran threatens to cut some oil exports to Europe,
touts nuclear advances
By Thomas Erdbrink and Joby Warrick - WashingtonPost.com
TEHRAN — Iran lashed out against Western sanctions on Wednesday with new threats to cut oil sales to European countries and defiant claims of progress in its nuclear facilities, statements that U.S. officials dismissed as “bluster” and signs of increasing desperation within the country’s senior leadership.
On a day of confusing and sometimes contradictory claims, Iranian officials also signaled a willingness to negotiate with world powers over the future of Iran’s nuclear program. A letter from Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator to the European Union welcomed new talks as “the best means to broaden cooperation” and defuse the crisis, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. E.U. officials confirmed the receipt of the letter.
Iran loads 'first domestically-made nuclear fuel'
BBC.co.uk
Iran has staged an elaborate ceremony to unveil new developments in its nuclear programme.
Tehran says it has used domestically-made nuclear fuel in a reactor for the first time, and also unveiled more efficient enrichment centrifuges.
State TV showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspecting the rods as they were loaded into a reactor.
Western countries fear Iran wants to make nuclear weapons; Tehran says it only wants to produce its own energy.
Iran War Would Cost Trillions:
Will the GOP Pay More Taxes for That?
By Steve Clemons - TheAtlantic.com
While GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is doing all he can in this election cycle to gin up a debate about U.S. foreign policy and a measure of the costs and benefits, the debate about Iran, China, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel's security has been taking place in a gravityless environment.
Mitt Romney's opening foreign-policy opus at the Citadel criticized Obama for defense cuts with promises to boost America's defense commitments abroad, to boost military spending on hardware and ships in the Pacific -- to do everything we have been doing but more.
CB’s Trying to Keep Gold from Rising Violently
By Jim Sinclair - InvestorMind Blog
Today legendary trader and investor Jim Sinclair told King World News that central banks are trying to keep the price of gold from rising violently. Sinclair also believes we are entering a period where currencies will lose their ability to function as money and instead will act more like casino chips, while gold ascends. Here is what Sinclair had to say about the ongoing financial crisis: "What needs to be understood by our listeners, Eric, is when a haircut takes place, what you give with one hand, you take with another. Now the problem becomes the problem of a bank’s asset having been reduced and the bank’s ability to function reduced and the bank’s abilities to positively pass tests of liquidity have been reduced. And the psychology of the stability of a system has been reduced."
Modestly positive outlook for gold in near term
By Ross Norman - CommodityOnline.com
After a rollicking start to the year in which it has gained 12.4% YTD, gold is starting to flat-line, rocking higher and lower respectively on Euro-friendly reports from Greece and dollar positive economic news.
The approval of austerity measures on Sunday by the Greek government has prompted a modest bout of Euro strength, the corollary to which has been modestly firmer gold prices. But the gold price rise is relatively muted which cynics might point to as a surefire indicator that Papademos may have difficulty in persuading his people to take it on the nose yet again - others might suggest it was just a ruse to secure a second bout of aid. In short, if the gold price is saying anything, it is saying "we don't believe you". After three days of intense rioting in Athens, many will agree.
The largest national holders of gold
have retained their reserves, but should they sell?
LONDON (Commodity Online): The vast array of macro insecurities has provided a fertile backdrop for gold, particularly when concerns escalated over the US debt ceiling last year and the Fed pushed out the guidance for the first interest rate hike this year. However, broad risk reduction and the need for liquidity have still been able to pressure prices lower. One underlying positive for the market has been the continued appetite for net buying from the official sector globally amid the sovereign debt issues, said Barclays Capital in a research note.
Monetary Inflation versus "Price Inflation"
By: Steve Saville, The Speculative Investor - GoldSeek.com
In our 11th January 2012 commentary we argued that a certain 'technical analyst' was wrong to extrapolate gold's recent price action into a forecast of imminent deflation. We did so by pointing out that a) the year-over-year (YOY) rate of growth in US True Money Supply (TMS) was about 14% at the time, b) December-2011 was the 36th consecutive month in which the YOY rate of TMS growth was 10% or more, and c) if the YOY rate of TMS growth remained above 10% for two more months then it would be the longest period of double-digit money-supply growth in US history. That is, we pointed out that far from being in 'danger' of experiencing a serious bout of deflation, the US was in the midst of a record-breaking period of monetary inflation.
Is Western Democracy Real or a Facade?
By Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org
The United States government and its NATO puppets have been killing Muslim men, women and children for a decade in the name of bringing them democracy. But is the West itself a democracy?
Skeptics point out that President George W. Bush was put in office by the Supreme Court and that a number of other elections have been decided by electronic voting machines that leave no paper trail. Others note that elected officials represent the special interests that fund their campaigns and not the voters. The bailout of the banks arranged by Bush’s Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs chairman, Henry Paulson, and Washington’s failure to indict any banksters for the fraud that contributed to the financial crisis, are evidence in support of the view that the US government represents money and not the voters.
European End Game The striking similarity between today’s eurozone situation and the end of Bretton Woods.
BY HANS-WERNER SINN - International-Economy.com
The financial community claims nearly unani- mously and somewhat vociferously that the euro- zone is suffering from a confidence crisis that can only be solved by wielding a "big bazooka." If the rescue fund is large enough, goes the argument, markets will be assuaged, interest spreads will shrink, and the distressed countries will manage to refinance their public debt. But as popular as this
view may be, it is far too optimistic. Of course markets are jittery, and the risk of self-reinforcing run-
away processes is real. However, markets have every reason to be ner- vous. There is not just the self-inflicted instability of mutually infecting speculators, but a fundamental distortion of prices for goods, labor, and capital that would need a currency realignment that is impossible within a currency union. Whoever offers his guarantee for the funds powering the big bazooka should know that such a guarantee will be drawn even- tually, given that the debtor countries lack the competitiveness to be able to redeem their debt.
Greek economy spirals down as EU forces final catharsis A Greek default and traumatic ejection from the euro moved a step closer last night after eurozone finance ministers cancelled a crucial meeting, accusing Athens of failing to flesh out austerity cuts.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The escalating brinkmanship came as fresh data showed that Greece's economy contracted by 6.8pc last year and at an accelerating 7pc rate in the last quarter, far worse than expected by the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "troika".
The country appears to be in a self-feeding downward spiral that is playing havoc with budget targets, leaving Greece with a Sisyphean task of ever deeper cuts.
Eurozone meeting on Greece
called off after Athens fails to meet key demands in time
By Associated Press - WashingtonPost.com
BRUSSELS — Two steps forward, one step back. So goes the frenzied effort across Europe to bail out Greece and save it from a potentially devastating default on its debts.
A meeting of the finance chiefs of the 17 euro countries to discuss Greece’s second multibillion bailout planned for Wednesday was called off Tuesday evening after Athens failed to deliver in time on several demands made by its partners in the currency union.
Misery in Athens 'New Poor' Grows from Greek Middle Class Aid workers and soup kitchens in Athens are struggling to provide for the city's "new poor." Since the economic crisis has taken hold, poverty has taken hold among Greece's middle class. And suicide rates have nearly doubled.
By Johannes Korge and Ferry Batzoglou - Spiegel.de
If this crisis has reached Piraeus, then it's done a good job of hiding itself. Even on this cold February night, the luxury cars are lined up outside the chic, waterfront fish restaurants in this port suburb of Athens. But Leonidas Koutikas knows where to look. Not even 50 meters off the main promenade, around two corners, misery is everywhere. Koutikas finds a family of five living behind a tangled tent that has been attached to the wall of an apartment building.
The World from Berlin 'Greece Cannot Be Ruled Against the Will of its People'
Spiegel.de
Greece may now have passed the austerity measures demanded from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, but the country's political system is showing signs of stress. Additional pressure from Europe isn't helping. German commentators warn that political radicalization cannot be ruled out.
One can perhaps understand the European Union's lack of trust when it comes to pledges emanating from Greece. Despite multiple promises of political reform and fiscal austerity, progress has been slow in some areas (privatization of government held assets, for example) and virtually non-existent in others (such as the collection of billions in back taxes).
The Global Future of Europe’s Crisis
Kemal Derviş - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – It is now clear that the eurozone crisis will continue well into 2012, despite early February’s recovery in stock markets. Negotiations between Greece and the banks over Greek sovereign debt may yet be concluded, but sufficiently wide participation by banks in the deal remains very much in doubt. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has raised the issue of official-sector debt reduction, possibly even by the European Central Bank, sending the message that a "haircut" for private bondholders will not be enough to return Greece to financial sustainability.
The Coming World Government
By David Jones - NewDawnMagazine.com
By ADRIAN SALBUCHI—
Lucid and aware people observing world events unfold over the past decade or so – say, since September 11, 2001 – will have surely asked themselves what on Earth is going on here? We see ever-growing violence, war, outright lies, invasions, false flags, social upheavals, poverty, ruin and the death of millions… The world’s become a pretty dangerous and pitiful place to live in, and it only gets worse…
Which leads us to the obvious question: Why? Why is all this happening? Can we explain it away as Man’s wicked nature? Or his folly and ignorance? Perhaps just a series of bad mistakes and wrong turns on key issues?
ROTHSCHILDS WANT IRAN’S BANKS
By Pete Papaherakles - AmericanFreePress.net
Could gaining control of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) be one of the main reasons that Iran is being targeted by Western and Israeli powers? As tensions are building up for an unthinkable war with Iran, it is worth exploring Iran’s banking system compared to its U.S., British and Israeli counterparts.
Some researchers are pointing out that Iran is one of only three countries left in the world whose central bank is not under Rothschild control. Before 9-11 there were reportedly seven: Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Iran. By 2003, however, Afghanistan and Iraq were swallowed up by the Rothschild octopus, and by 2011 Sudan and Libya were also gone. In Libya, a Rothschild bank was established in Benghazi while the country was still at war.
Canada housing bubble ready to burst Cash in as yet another housing bubble bursts
By Associate Editor David Stevenson - MoneyWeek.com
Canada is one of the few Western economies to have rebounded strongly from the Great Recession.
Indeed, in some ways it’s as if it never happened. Annual output has surged above the previous peak in 2008. The trade surplus in December rose to a three-year high. And all the jobs that were lost during the downturn have been recovered.
What’s more, Canada has managed to pull this off without spending money like mad. This year’s government budget deficit (the shortfall of tax revenues against state spending) will only be about 2.5% of GDP.
Volcker Rule Faces Harsh Critics as Effective Date Nears
Cheyenne Hopkins, Silla Brush
and Phil Mattingly - WashingtonPost.com
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The world’s largest banks demanded a wish list of changes to a proposed U.S. ban on proprietary trading, seeking to escalate the lobbying effort against the Volcker rule five months before it takes effect.
In scores of comment letters filed yesterday, bankers and their trade associations said the so-called Volcker rule would increase risk, raise investor costs, hurt U.S. competitiveness and be vulnerable to legal challenge.
"The proposal, if implemented in its current form, will overly restrain our customer-facing market-making business and our risk-mitigating hedging activities to the detriment of our customers," Colm Kelleher, co-president of Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities group, and Jim Rosenthal, the firm’s chief operating officer, wrote in a letter posted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s website. "Moreover, we believe that the proposal, if implemented as is, would have severe negative consequence for the markets and the U.S. financial system."
Regulators weigh massive public input on 'Volcker rule' The SEC has received about 15,000 comments on the proposed 'Volcker rule,' which would stop banks from using their own money to trade for profit rather than fulfilling a client's order.
By Nathaniel Popper, Los Angeles Times
Regulators are confronting some 15,000 public letters attempting to influence the final shape of one of the most controversial elements of the 2010 financial reform bill.
Five regulatory agencies have until July to complete a new rule that would ban proprietary trading at Wall Street firms, a move that some believe would make the U.S. financial system safer. The rule named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker would stop banks from using their own money to trade for profit rather than fulfilling a client's order.
Obama’s budget calls for pay raises;
federal workforce size would remain flat
By Ed O’Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama wants to give raises to people collecting federal paychecks, but in his new budget proposal, troops would get a larger pay boost than civilian employees.
The White House budget plan released Monday would increase federal civilian pay by a modest 0.5 percent, a bump that would end a two-year cost-of-living pay freeze. Uniformed military personnel would receive a 1.7 percent raise in 2013, the increase indicated by law, according to the proposal.
'Modest' raise in Obama's proposed budget
doesn't satisfy workforce
By Joe Davidson - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama won’t please many folks with the federal employee provisions in the fiscal year 2013 budget plan he released Monday.
The president wants to end the two-year freeze on basic pay rates and give workers a small, 0.5 percent bump next year. But employee contributions for retirement benefits would rise 0.4 percent in each of the next three years.
To federal workers, this is giving with one hand while taking away with the other.
"The end result of these proposals is essentially another year of the federal pay freeze," the Federal Managers Associationsaid in a release.
Consumers holding back, especially on cars
By Chris Isidore @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Retail sales rose in January, but were dragged down by an unexpected decline in auto sales, according to government data released Tuesday.
Overall retail sales were up 0.4% compared to December, the Commerce Department reported. That's only half the gain forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The biggest problem was a 1.1% decline in auto sales in the government report. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.7% in the latest report.
Do the Long-Term Unemployed Deserve Special Treatment? There's no debate that long-term unemployment is an economic and social crisis. But what we can or should do for these millions of workers is an open question.
By Marty Nemko - TheAtlantic.com
More than 5 million people have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more, up from 1.2 million in 2007. Today, half of the unemployed take 10 months or longer to land a job. The toll on them, their families, and society is enormous. This week's "Working it Out" question is: Should anything be done to help the long-term unemployed? If so, what would be your #1 recommendation?
Work is so core to people's identity, and the lack of money from six months' unemployment can result in losses of even basics such as health care and housing. Consider the record 3.2 million homes that have been foreclosed in the last three years. And we're not talking just about the uneducated. A Pew Trust study(p. 6, fig. 6) found that 21% of unemployed workers with a bachelor's degree have been out of work for a year, only 2 percentage points more than that of high school dropouts!
USPS: The Cursed Carriers
Mises Daily: by Brian Anderson
From the original conception of the United States Postal Service in the 1700s to the technologically advanced market of today, the words that enumerated to Congress the power to "establish Post Offices and post Roads" have never been more than a waste of ink.
In Uncle Sam, the Monopoly Man, William C. Wooldridge explains well the historical patterns of failure within the United States Postal Service (USPS):
More than a decade before Parson Weems immortalized the cherry tree, the United States Post Office was losing money. For most of the years since Postmaster General Thomas Osborne reported the first deficit to President George Washington, it has continued to lose money, receiving all the while less critical attention than the cherry tree it antedates. Yet the stars in their courses do not ineluctably dictate a government postal monopoly.
Home-schooling demographics change, expand
By Alesha Williams Boyd and Sergio Bichao, USA TODAY
DUNELLEN, N.J. – There was a time when Heather Kirchner thought mothers who home-schooled their children were only the types "who wore long skirts and praised Jesus and all that."
That was before the New Jersey resident decided to home-school her own daughter, Anya.
Kirchner favors jeans, and like the two dozen other families that are part of the year-old Homeschool Village Co-op in Central Jersey, she doesn't consider herself to be particularly religious. "I was definitely not ready to hand over to anybody my 5-year-old, my baby," she says. "I would hate to miss this. They grow too quickly."
What Obama's 2013 Budget Means for Entrepreneurs
by Kent Hoover - Portfolio.com
The president's fiscal 2013 plan calls for tax increases for many business owners and less money for Small Business Development Centers. But the budget does contain a few nuggets specifically aimed at encouraging would-be entrepreneurs.
President Barack Obama today released his budget proposal for next year, which calls for a $901 billion federal deficit. That’s less than this year’s projected deficit of $1.33 trillion, but it falls far short of the president’s promise in 2009 to cut the annual federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.
Polls show business owners are concerned that continued large deficits will lead to higher taxes and higher interest rates. Obama’s budget proposal doesn’t do much to ease those concerns.
Roses Are in the Red: Why Local Florists Are Fading
Local flower shops are in peril, thanks to the Internet, grocery stores, and the recession
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
A question for the gentlemen* out there: When you leave work today and stop off to buy your special someone a Valentine's Day bouquet of flowers, will you:
A) Make the trip to your local florist and plunk down some unfathomable sum for a dozen perfect roses?
B) Pop into the grocery store and grab a decent enough looking bunch along with a bottle of wine?
C) Hope you find one of those street vendors selling bouquets that look like they fell off the back of a truck?
D) None of the above, because you had a little foresight and called 1-800 FLOWERS a week ago?
If you're like a growing number of Americans over the past few recession-racked years, chance are you answered anything but A. After all, few people wants to go out of their way to spend an extravagant amount on a gift that will be dead within days. And therein lies the problem for the mom and pop florists who have been selling us our Valentine's Day roses for years, and now find their business model drooping.
ObamaCare Architect: Premiums to Soar
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
Once again for the Obama administration, lofty promises are giving way to hard reality. On September 22, 2010, in an informal discussion regarding the healthcare bill, the president contended that "as a consequence of the Affordable Care Act, premiums are going to be lower than they would be otherwise; health care costs overall are going to be lower than they would be otherwise. And that means, by the way, that the deficit is going to be lower than it would be otherwise." That was then. Over the weekend it was revealed that MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, the chief architect of ObamaCare, backtracked on the analysis he performed two years ago. He told officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado the price of insurance premiums will "dramatically increase" under the reforms.
"Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?" -- Thomas Jefferson
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." -- Patrick Henry
Liberty is always tenuous. Those who enjoy it seem to be a minority in the world. That's why liberty must not only be preserved by those who currently benefit from it; it must also be fought for and constantly renewed for future generations, because there are always those who wish to restrict or eliminate our freedoms.
Arbitraging Fed Policies with Rental Housing Cash Flows
BY DANIEL AMERMAN CFA - FinancialSense.com
By forcing interest rates to record low levels, the Federal Reserve has effectively vaporized most interest income along with most of the ability to benefit from compound interest, with devastating results for many retirees, retirement investors and pension funds.
However, in the process of creating artificially low interest rates for an entire economy, the Fed has also opened up unusually profitable opportunities for individual investors with certain types of investments. Record-low interest rate levels are the most powerful of six different factors that are currently working together to increase owner cash flows from the purchase (or refinancing) of investment real estate in the United States.
Towns go dark with post office closings
By Cezary Podkul and Emily Stephenson
(Reuters) - Postal officials were blunt in December when they stood before 120 residents in Dedham, Iowa, to tell them why their town's post office has to close. The Internet, officials said, was killing the U.S. Postal Service.
"Well, I have no Internet," resident Judy Ankenbauer said at the meeting. Like many of Dedham's 280 residents, Ankenbauer said she still relies on the post office to buy stamps and send letters and packages.
Mortgage delinquencies rose in late 2011
By Nancy Rivera Brooks - LATimes.com
More people were late with their home-loan payments in the last three months of 2011, the second quarter in a row that defaults increased.
Credit data giant TransUnion said serious mortgage delinquencies, loans on which borrowers were at least 60 days behind on payments, rose to 6.01% in the fourth quarter from 5.88% in the previous quarter.
The increases in those two quarters followed nearly two years of decline.
"To see that, quarter over quarter, fewer homeowners were able to make their mortgage payments is not welcome news," said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. housing in TransUnion's financial services business unit.
FHA a beneficiary in mortgage settlement
By Brady Dennis - WashingtonPost.com
The landmark $25 billion settlement with banks last week over fraudulent foreclosure practices might aid more than struggling homeowners. Part of the proceeds also will help plug a projected shortfall in the reserves of the Federal Housing Administration.
Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said in a conference call with reporters Monday that the financial firms involved in the settlement agreed to provide up to $1 billion to shore up the capital reserve fund of the FHA, which provides mortgage insurance on loans made by approved lenders throughout the country.
Faulty reasoning keeps Fannie and Freddie
out of foreclosure deal The chief regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is adamantly opposed to principal forgiveness, a key element of the foreclosure settlement. But analyses show he's wrong.
By Michael Hiltzik - LATimes.com
You can love or you can hate the recent $25-billion federal-state mortgage foreclosure settlement, but there's no getting around one simple fact: There's a huge, gaping hole right in the middle of it.
The hole is that if your home loan has been bought from your lender by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you're not eligible for the mortgage relief encompassed by the deal.
Since Fannie and Freddie control well more than half of all outstanding mortgages, this shortcoming looks to be what engineers would call "non-trivial."
Pew report: One in eight voting registrations inaccurate
By Michael Muskal - LATimes.com
One out of eight voting registrations is inaccurate, and about a quarter of those people eligible to cast a ballot are not even registered, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Center on the States.
The report describes a voting system in confusion, with about 1.8 million dead people listed on the rolls, some 2.8 million with active registrations in more than one state and 12 million with serious enough errors to make it unlikely that mail, from any political party or election board, can reach the right destination. In all, some 24 million registrations contain significant errors.
A Warning Sign For The World
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Any financial system that is based on debt is doomed to fail. Today, we are living in the greatest debt bubble that the world has ever seen, and if all of a sudden people could not use credit to buy things our economy would immediately ground to a halt. Unfortunately, no debt bubble can last forever. When this current debt bubble finally bursts, faith in the financial system is going to disappear, credit is going to freeze up and there is going to be a massive wave of bank failures. Right now, Greece is a warning sign for the world. Nobody wants to lend money to Greece, the Greek banking system is dying, one out of every four businesses has already shut down, unemployment is soaring and the Greek economy has now been in recession for five years in a row. Sadly, the economic implosion in Greece is rapidly accelerating. The Greek economy shrunk at a 7 percent annual rate during the 4th quarter of 2011. That wasn't supposed to happen. Things were supposed to be getting better in Greece by now. But instead the Greek depression is getting even worse, and very soon the rest of the world is going to be going through what Greece is currently experiencing.
Insanity! Is Barack Obama
Going To Unilaterally Slash The Size
Of The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal By Another 80 Percent?
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Barack Obama wants to disarm America. There simply is no other way to explain his reckless behavior. On Tuesday it came out that the Obama administration is considering plans to unilaterally slash the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal by up to 80 percent. From a military standpoint, this is utter insanity. Early in his presidency, Barack Obamasigned a treaty with Russia that restricts both nations to a maximum of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads. But now Obama wants to cut the size of the U.S. arsenal down to as low as 300, without requiring the Russians to do anything. In addition, we don't even have a treaty with the Chinese, and we have no idea how many deployed nuclear warheads they have. For all we know, it could be in the thousands. Unfortunately, very few people are speaking up about this. Most Americans just assume that we have such a massive nuclear arsenal that nobody would ever dare to mess with us. Well, that was true back in the 1980s, but that is not true today. If Barack Obama does unilaterally slash the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal by 80 percent, that would make another world war much more likely. If we are sitting there with far fewer nukes than Russia and China have, they will not fear us nearly as much.
NRC: Michigan nuclear plant cited for safety violations
By Jim Barnett, CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, has been cited for three safety violations, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, joining two other U.S. nuclear plants in getting extra scrutiny from inspectors.
The worst of the violations stems from a September 25, 2011, incident at the Palisades Power Plant in which half of the control room indicators were lost because of an electrical fault "caused by personnel at the site," the NRC announced in a news release.
The Invincible Military Industrial Complex Leon Panetta’s dream is Eisenhower’s nightmare
By Veronique de Rugy - Reason.com
During his 1961 farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned the American people that one of the greatest threats to freedom came not from enemies abroad but from “the conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry,” which over time would lose sight of defending the United States and become devoted only to its own perpetuation. Today, writes Contributing Editor Veronique de Rugy, we are living Ike’s nightmare. Defense spending is not just one of the most sacrosanct parts of the budget but also one of the largest and most inscrutable. Adjusting for inflation, military spending has grown for an unprecedented 13 consecutive years and is now higher than at any time since World War II.
A Clarion Call for Emerging Markets
By Eswar Prasad - Project-Syndicate.org
ITHACA – With 2012 underway, it is worth reflecting on how a decade of strong economic growth in emerging markets led to last year’s resounding political transformations. From the dramatic events in the Middle East, to the groundswell of support for the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in India, leaders in emerging markets are getting a clear message from the streets that growth is not everything. They ignore this message at their peril.
Emerging-market economies delivered solid growth during the 2000’s, and even survived the global financial crisis without a growth collapse. But the specter of rising corruption is compromising the legitimacy of their economic gains and eroding support for further reforms needed to sustain their growth momentum.
India walks tightrope as U.S. toughens Iran sanctions
By Simon Denyer - WashingtonPost.com
NEW DELHI — A bomb attack Monday on an Israeli diplomat’s car in New Delhi underlines the tough balancing act that India has to perform as it attempts to manage its relations with the United States and Israel, and with Iran.
Despite Iran’s denial that it was involved, the incident complicates an equation that India has managed adroitly for years. As U.S. pressure mounts on Iran, the government in New Delhi finds itself in an increasingly uncomfortable position: Its dependence on Iranian oil and unwillingness to join U.S.-led sanctions against Iran put it at odds with Washington over a top U.S. national security priority.
Israeli attack on Iran would be complex operation
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAY
If Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, the strike would probably take the form of a complex air assault involving scores of planes that would have to penetrate Iranian air defenses and attack up to a couple of dozen targets simultaneously, analysts say.
"This would be way more sophisticated than anything that's ever been done before," said Charles Wald, a retired Air Force general who led the coalition air campaign in Afghanistan that helped topple the Taliban.
By contrast, Israel's strike on Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor in 1981 and an attack in Syria in 2007 were simpler operations that required Israel to hit a single above-ground target. Neither country had sophisticated air defense capabilities.
U.S. carrier crosses Hormuz amid rising Gulf tensions
By Warda Al-Jawahiry
(Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group sailed through the Strait of Hormuz Tuesday more than a month after Iran warned a different carrier -- USS John C. Stennis -- not to return to the Gulf as Iranian navy boats sailed by.
Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if Western moves to ban Iranian crude exports cripple its energy sector.
Tuesday aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln -- part of the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet -- sailed through the strait of Hormuz with the Cape St George destroyer cruising behind.
U.S. concerned about spike in Iran-Israel ‘shadow war’
By Guy Taylor-The Washington Times
The "shadow war" between Israel and Iran is escalating, Middle East analysts say, as a wave of terrorist incidents in far-flung corners of world unsettles U.S. officials.
Monday’s bombing of an Israeli diplomat’s car in New Delhi, a foiled attack the same day on Israeli officials in Tiblisi, Georgia, and an explosion involving a suspected Iranian bomb maker in Bangkok on Tuesday are just the latest examples.
Iranian patrol boats shadow US aircraft carrier
as it passes through Strait of Hormuz
By Associated Press - WashingtonPost.com
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN — Iranian patrol boats and aircraft shadowed a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group as it transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
The passage ended a Gulf mission that displayed Western naval power amid heightened tensions with Tehran, which has threatened to choke off vital oil shipping lanes.
Iran’s measure of desperation
By Jackson Diehl - WashingtonPost.com
If Iran or its proxies were responsible for the attack on an Israeli diplomat in the Indian capital of New Delhi Monday, it will be another indication that the Iranian leadership is willing to take desperate risks in striking back against its enemies.
Last year, many analysts refused to believe at first that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard would have tried to sponsor a bombing in a Washington restaurant to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States, using a Mexican drug gang. Yet the evidence was convincing.
Is Gold Money?…
Don't Ask Ben Bernanke, Examine the Federal Reserve
BY PETER KRAUTH, Global Resources Specialist, Money Morning
If you really care about your financial future, here's something you need to know.
It's about a story that received almost zero coverage from the mainstream press. I can't say that I am surprised.
It involves gold.
Thanks to requests by Bloomberg News under the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Reserve has revealed unprecedented details concerning the personal holdings of its regional bank presidents.
What they found is nothing short of stunning ...
....Nearly 2,000 years ago Aristotle laid out what characteristics make for good money. According to Aristotle:
• It must be durable.
• It must be portable.
• It must be divisible.
• It must be consistent.
• It must have intrinsic value.
So it's no accident that the most common basis for money – in all of human history – has been gold.
Barclays: Gold fundamentals intact,
target $1800 on breakout above $1675
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Given that real interest rates are expected to remain negative for longer while concerns over currency debasement and inflationary pressures have resurfaced, the backdrop remains fertile for gold. However, gold still has hurdles to overcome, such as the further strengthening of the dollar, technical resistance levels and profit-taking.
The macro-environment is positive on the back of a stronger than expected US non farm payroll data, lower unemployment and solid growth in factory orders for December. The Eurozone has started 2012 in a good note, with January PMI coming out positive.
Dollar Weakness "Creating Gold Demand"
after Greek Deal, Time for American Austerity
"Is Not Now" says White House
By: Ben Traynor, BullionVault - Goldseek.com
SPOT MARKET gold prices touched $1733 per ounce Monday morning – 0.5% up on last week's close – as stock markets, commodities and the Euro all rallied following Greece's vote in favor of new austerity measures.
Silver prices meantime hovered around $33.90 per ounce – 0.8% up on the end of last week – while government bond prices dipped and the Dollar fell on the currency markets.
"The weakness in the Dollar...creates a bit of demand for gold," reckons Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal dealing at Swiss precious metals refiner MKS.
Iran presses ahead with dollar attack Last week, the Tehran Times noted that the Iranian oil bourse will start trading oil in currencies other than the dollar from March 20. This long-planned move is part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s vision of economic war with the west.
By Garry White - Telegraph.co.uk
"The dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme is nothing more than a convenient excuse for the US to use threats to protect the 'reserve currency’ status of the dollar," the newspaper, which calls itself the voice of the Islamic Revolution, said.
"Recall that Saddam [Hussein] announced Iraq would no longer accept dollars for oil purchases in November 2000 and the US-Anglo invasion occurred in March 2003," the Times continued. "Similarly, Iran opened its oil bourse in 2008, so it is a credit to Iranian negotiating ability that the 'crisis’ has not come to a head long before now."
Let's Return to the Gold Standard
By GEORGE MELLOAN - The American Spectator.org
Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman have been right all along, never more so than in this age of massive debt.
The futile search for El Dorado, the city of gold, is the stuff of legends, among them a sardonic poem by Edgar Allen Poe about a knight who wasted his life in that pursuit. At first glance, the quest for something far more substantial, an international gold monetary standard, might seem equally Quixotic in today's world where those who govern are disdainful of standards of any kind, including those laid down by the United States Constitution.
But first glances can deceive. The popular pressure for serious monetary reform is building as consumers see their buying power eroded by the sinking value of the dollar. Congressman Ron Paul, despite his naïve foreign policy views, is doing well on the presidential campaign trail on the strength of his demand for abolition of the Federal Reserve Board and a return to sound money. His message is getting a surprisingly receptive response from young audiences on college campuses.
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." ~Einstein
Pareto's Principle
When I began seriously researching for the book I'm working on, "Psychopathic Economics," two principles really surprised me.
The first was a much deeper review of the '80/20 Rule', which states that 80 percent of the profits come from just 20 percent of the product line. Most often, 80 percent of the business generated is created by 20 percent of the work force (usually the sales team). In many cases 80 percent of the product line is purchased by 20 percent of the customer base. When businesses wind up on the ropes, 80 percent of the time they cut into that 20 percent muscle.
US-China trade deficit now largest in world history
By Gene J. Koprowski - DailyCaller.com
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is meeting U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House on Feb 14, Valentine’s Day. Their talks are likely to turn on Tibet and trade. But China’s veep isn’t expected to deliver a box of chocolates to the American president. China’s enormous trade advantage, now the largest nation-on-nation trade deficit in the history of the world, has put it in the enviable negotiating position of being able to say "bu" — that is, "no" — to most American demands.
The U.S trade deficit with China today is 28 times larger than it was during the Reagan era, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. That daunting deficit has grown by 18 percent per year since China first entered the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Greece Is Burning and Nobody Cares
By Alex Planes - Fool.com
Greece is burning. Not that this is a new phenomenon. But it sounds so sinister, so ominous.
When you find out why it's burning, it becomes a tragicomedy. The Greek government -- led by unelected economist Lucas Papademos -- promises to slash the safety net of many Greek citizens for a big sack of bailout money. Ordinary Greeks, whose futures are being mortgaged, are very angry. Things burn. Then everyone goes home and waits for the money to arrive.
The process repeats with such frequency that a lengthyWikipedia page has sprung up to catalog each outburst, hence the tragicomedy. And why shouldn't the country erupt in flames every so often? The country is a tinderbox with half its young people unemployed and 20% of the broader populace jobless.
Athens in Flames Violent Clashes as Parliament Passes Austerity Bill The Greek parliament has passed an austerity package that clears the way for a 130-billion-euro EU/IMF rescue package intended to save Greece from default. Violent protests against the austerity measures took place in Athens and elsewhere, with at least 120 people injured.
Spiegel.de
In the end, the Greek government managed to get its controversial austerity packagethrough parliament, but the price was high. Coalition parties had to deal with a number of rebel lawmakers, while at least 120 people were injured in some of the most violent protests Athens has seen in months.
A majority of 199 members of parliament voted to approve the package on Sunday night, with a total of 74 lawmakers casting votes against it. The tough austerity package details €3.3 billion ($4.35 billion) in budget cuts for this year alone, including public-sector layoffs, cuts in the minimum wage and reductions in some pensions.
Greece faces death by a thousand cuts
unless it leaves the euro Lucas Papademos was suitably apocalyptic. If the terms of the second Greek bailout were not approved, the Greek prime minister warned over the weekend, there would be a "disorderly bankruptcy that would create conditions of economic chaos and social explosion.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
"The savings of the citizens would be at risk. The state would be unable to pay salaries, pensions, and cover basic functions, such as hospitals and schools, and … the country - public and private sector alike - would lose all access to borrowing and liquidity would shrink.
"The living standards of Greeks would collapse. The country would drift into a long spiral of recession, instability, unemployment and prolonged misery. These developments would lead, sooner or later, to exit from the euro."
"We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has become ripe for burning. The centre of Athens is in flames."
– Costis Hatzidakis, conservative parliamentarian
On Sunday, the Greek parliament approved a new round of austerity measures that will further deepen the 5-year depression and sever the last fraying threads of social cohesion. In order to secure a 130 billion euro loan, Greek political leaders agreed to comply with a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) that will not only intensify the sacrifices of ordinary working people, but also effectively hand the control of the nation's economy over to foreign banks and corporations.
Marc Faber -
Is Greece Irrelevant for global Markets - 10 feb 2012
Greece Becomes a Third-World Country
247WallStreet.com
The news media has given a great deal of coverage to the austerity programs Greece has accepted in order to get it another 130 billion in aid, the riots in the streets of Athens that are part of protests against these measures, and the high unemployment in the southern European nation. The effect of these events, and others that include a five-year recession, is that Greece is on the brink of moving from a developed nation to the equivalent of a third-world one.
The usual trend for national economies, if they are advancing economically, is that they make the transition from the third world to the level of "developing nations." China and India are usually considered to be at this level. The next and last level of advancement is to the status of "developed nation." The U.S., Japan and much of Europe are among those countries. Their gross domestic products rarely grow as fast as those of developing nations, but developed nations have high GDP per capita, high levels of education among their citizens, and strong consumer middle classes. Economists argue that those middle classes have lost ground over the past several years because of the bite of the recession, but they are still present and drive a great deal of economic growth.
SPIEGEL Interview with George Soros 'Merkel Is Leading Europe in the Wrong Direction' Global investor George Soros considers the German government's policies in the euro crisis to be disastrous. In a SPIEGEL interview, he warns of a vicious circle triggered by Chancellor Angela Merkel's strict austerity measures and pleads for more money to be pumped into the countries most plagued by the debt crisis.
Speigel.de SPIEGEL: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is praised globally as "Mrs. Europe" and at home she is more popular than ever in polls -- partly thanks to her strong refusal to constantly pledge more German money to the euro rescue effort. Why do you feel her policies are wrong? Soros: I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership qualities, but she is leading Europe in the wrong direction. To solve the euro crisis, I advocate a two-phase policy -- which is first austerity and structural reforms as Germany implemented them in 2005, but then also a stimulus program. If you do not provide more stimulus in Europe, you will push many European countries into a deflationary debt spiral. And that would be extremely dangerous.
Why America’s Bailout Won’t Look Like Greece’s
By: Rick Ackerman - GoldSeek.com
Americans can take comfort in the likelihood that the showdown between mortgage lenders and homeowners will not resemble Greece’s battle-to-the-death with its creditors. In the U.S., the banks are slowly losing ground to a populist, election-year tide that eventually will force lenders to accept a moratorium on mortgage debt for tens of millions of homeowners. In the rapidly escalating legal battle to bring this about, last week’s $25 billion settlement between the banks and the U.S. did not settle much of anything, since the banks in theory can still be sued into oblivion by aggrieved homeowners. The plaintiffs will be claiming in effect and with a straight face that they got in over their heads because lenders forced them to borrow more than they could repay. Who would have imagined just a decade ago that an army of reckless borrowers would seek the protection of the courts under the remorseless deadbeat’s battle flag "Kick me, beat me, make me write bad checks"? That’s what it’s come down to, evidently, and woe to any bank that asks the court for help in turning a family out onto the street. The five big banks that signed onto the deal are undoubtedly running scared, since the legal latitude afforded those who could conceivably claim "questionable lending practices" has been widened to include just about anyone who lives in a home – including, presumably, tens of millions more homeowners who are not yet underwater but eventually will be. Keep in mind that the costs of the yet-to-be-unveiled Homeowner Bailout Act of 2014 have already been socialized, since the GSEs have been originating 90% of all new mortgage loans.
Gerald Celente - Jeff Rense 09 Feb 2012
The Empire Of Liberty:
Thomas Jefferson, Ron Paul
And The Sacred Fire Of Freedom
By Ralph Benko - Forbes.com
Who stands in opposition to "the [central] bank of the United States, public debt, a navy, a standing army, American manufacturing, federally funded improvement of the interior, the role of a world power, military glory, an extensive foreign ministry, loose construction of the Constitution, and subordination of the states to the federal government"? Hint, these words were not written about Rep. Ron Paul.
This is Garry Wills's description of Thomas Jefferson. The elite political class looked with disdain, and now looks with a certain measure of bemusement, upon Dr. Paul. Paul represents the re-emergence of a great American tradition. That tradition reawakens in the person of Ron Paul, who has a fair claim to be our era’s Thomas Jefferson. As Jefferson’s heir he commands deep respect if not always (as in the case of this Supply Side, Hamiltonian, writer) complete fealty.
White House Economic Adviser:
'We Need a Global Minimum Tax' Gene Sperling, director of the White House's national economic council, said today at an official meeting that "we need a global minimum tax"
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
"He supports corporate tax reform that would reduce expenditures and loopholes, lower rates for people investing and creating jobs in the U.S., due so further for manufacturing, and that we need to, as we have the Buffett Rule and the individual tax reform, we need a global minimum tax so that people have the assurance that nobody is escaping doing their fair share as part of a race to the bottom or having our tax code actually subsidized and facilitate people moving their funds to tax havens," Sperling said.
The White House adviser then said that more details would be forthcoming, though "not in gory detail."
WH Economic Adviser:
"This Is A Democratic Budget"
And "We Need A Global Minimum Tax"
Trouble for Online News Sites
247WallStreet.com
One of the challenges traditional news media face is that advertising has begun to move online. As its turns out, the news media does not do much better on the internet than in the old world of media ads. Marketers like search, and perhaps sports and entertainment. These marketers have not flooded to news sites. That means the news industry is likely to be crippled even more than in the past because it has failed to actively target its online readers.
A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism shows that excellence in journalism in the news business is terribly threatened. News organizations have been unable to keep up with much of the rest of the content industry online in terms of growth, because their sites fail to provide good targeting for advertisers who spend the most money — brand marketers. As Pew puts it:
Obama unveils $3.8 trillion budget
By Charles Riley @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget request Monday that hikes taxes on the rich, spends new money on infrastructure and education, but does little to reform the entitlement programs that pose the biggest long-term threat to the federal budget.
"We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said in his budget message.
What Matters in President Obama's 2013 Budget The budget released today isn't about to become the law. It's a multi-trillion-dollar conversation piece that's designed to get people talking about the president's priorities. So let's talk...
By Derek Thompson - Telegraph.co.uk
The reason President Obama's 2013 budget matters is not that it's a preview of the year's laws. The vast majority of its provisions are dead-on-arrival. It includes $1.5 trillion in tax hikes that won't happen and $350 billion in immediate stimulus that can't pass.
The White House's budget matters for two other reasons. First, it forces the president to put numbers next to his priorities. Second, it gives everybody in Washington something to look at and talk about. It's an expensive, ornate conversation piece, like a Fabergé egg for policy wonks.
Volcker defends namesake rule against banks
By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- The namesake of the so-called Volcker rule defended the policy in a letter to the Federal Reserve on Monday, and criticized banks for lobbying against it.
"With active cooperation among the agencies and with constructive consultation instead of futile stonewalling, an important reform can soon be put into place," said Paul Volcker, a former Fed chairman, in an essay accompanying his letter. Both documents were attained by CNNMoney.
Short-selling Getting to the naked truth - The Economist.com
Economist.com
A regulatory probe sheds light on manipulative shorting
SHORT-SELLERS perform a valuable function in financial markets, exposing managerial incompetence, corporate fraud or plain overvaluation. Their reward, all too often, is calumny. Witness regulators’ rush to ban shorting in 2008 in response to sustained political attacks on the practice.
Like any form of trading, however, shorting is open to abuse. Some firms claim to have been victims of illegal “naked” shorting, where the seller does not arrange to borrow the shares in time to deliver them to the buyer within the standard settlement period. This, they say, has long been a favoured tool of unprincipled traders looking to launch bear raids—usually on small stocks but also, in times of turmoil, on bigger fish like Lehman Brothers. Hedge funds and the prime brokers that serve them have tended to counter that such accusations are smokescreens put up by bosses to mask their own failings.
U.S. Taxes Really Are Unusually Progressive
By Clive Crook - TheAtlantic.com
If you ask me, Jonathan Chait, a writer I respect, has made an ass of himself in a fight he picked with Veronique de Rugy over taxes and progressivity. She offended him by saying that America's income taxes are more progressive than those of other rich countries. Chait assailed her "completely idiotic" reasoning, called her an "inequality denier", "a ubiquitous right-wing misinformation recirculator" and asked if it was really any wonder he cast insults now and then at such "lesser lights of the intellectual world". (Paul Krugman said he sympathises. With Chait, obviously. The only danger here is in being too forgiving,Krugman advises. Chait may think the de Rugys of this world are only lazy and incompetent, but we know them to be liars as well.)
Just one problem. On the topic in question, De Rugy is right and Chait is wrong.
Mortgage Settlement Will Plunge Real Estate Values
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
It is official. State and federal governments have condoned forgery, perjury and fraud in what’s been called the "robo-signing" foreclosure debacle. Last week, the five biggest banks in America signed on to a $26 billion deal that, basically, lets them off with a slap on the wrist for fraudulently foreclosing on homes in the last few years. I am not going to go on and on about how unfair and unjust this deal was or how the rule of law has been thrown down the stairs. I am going to focus on the fallout of this morally corrupt deal.
Why Are Record Numbers Of Young Adults
Jobless And Living At Home With Mom And Dad?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
In the United States today, unemployment among those age 18 to age 34 is at epidemic levels and the number of young adults that are now living at home with Mom and Dad is at an all-time high. So why are so many of our young adults jobless? Why are record numbers of them unable or unwilling to move out on their own? Well, there are quite a few factors at work. Number one, our education system has completely and totally failed them. As I have written about previously, our education system is a joke and most high school graduates these days are simply not prepared to function at even a very basic level in our society. In addition, college education in the United States has become a giant money making scam that leaves scores of college graduates absolutely drowning in debt. Many young adults end up moving back in with Mom and Dad because they are drowning in so much debt that there are no other options. Thirdly, the number of good jobs continues to decline and this is hitting younger Americans the hardest. Millions of young people enter the workforce excited about the future only to find that there are hordes of applicants for the very limited number of decent jobs that are actually available. So all of this is creating an environment where more young adults are financially dependent on their parents that ever before in modern American history.
Fox closes Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano
JUDGE NAPOLITANO FIRED
AFTER THIS BROADCAST OF FREEDOM WATCH
Google-Motorola Mobility deal approved by U.S. regulators
By Jessica Guynn - LATimes.com
Google Inc. may be on the verge of closing the biggest deal in its 13-year history -- one that will escalate competition with Apple Inc.
Its $12.5-billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility got approval from U.S. and European antitrust regulators Monday, bringing it significantly closer to manufacturing phones, tablets and other consumer devices such as a home entertainment system for the first time.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment but said the Internet search giant hopes to close the deal early this year.
Although officials in Washington and Brussels concluded that the Motorola deal would not stifle competition, U.S. and European regulators warned they would monitor to make sure none takes place.
The Big Transition Looming at Ford
By John Rosevear - Fool.com
Despite some breathless headlines, shares of Ford didn't fall significantly after the automaker announced the departure of two senior executives last Thursday. (The stock did fall on Friday, but then so did most of the market.)
At first glance, some Ford shareholders might have been inclined to agree with the headline-writers -- the departures of CFO Lewis Booth and Global Product Development chief Derrick Kuzak, both key drivers of Ford's remarkable renaissance, certainly look like major losses for the Blue Oval.
Frontier Airlines to cut 446 more jobs in Milwaukee
Denver Business Journal by Rich Rovito, Reporter
Frontier Airlines, which has been slashing flights at Milwaukee's airport as it refocuses its operations on Denver, signaled Monday that it plans to lay off another 446 of its Milwaukee-area workers.
The layoffs at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport are expected to occur between April 15 and April 30, according to a notice filed Monday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development by Frontier’s parent company, Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
Feds shut down Amish farm for selling fresh milk
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
The FDA has won its two-year fight to shut down an Amish farmer who was selling fresh, raw milk to eager consumers in the Washington region, after a judge this month banned Daniel Allgyerfrom selling his milk across state lines, and he told his customers he’ll shut his farm down altogether.
The decision has enraged Mr. Allgyer’s supporters, some of whom have been buying from him for six years and who say the government is interfering with their parental rights to feed their children. But the Food and Drug Administration, which launched a full investigation complete with a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and a straw-purchase sting operation against Mr. Allgyer’s Rainbow Acres Farm, near Lancaster, said unpasteurized milk is unsafe and said it was exercising its due authority to stop its sale from one state to another.
America's Pipe Dream
By Aimee Duffy - The Motley Fool
When Americans clamor for energy independence, the focus of said clamoring typically falls on increasing oil and gas production. But what most advocates and proponents don't realize is that energy independence is impossible right now -- not because of natural resources, but because we lack the midstream infrastructure to process and transport our domestic energy supply.
Midstream assets, specifically pipelines and processing centers, are more crucial than we think and will play a key role in America's energy future.
5.6 earthquake felt across California's north coast
By Ken Schwencke and Dalina Castellanos - LATimes.com
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake was felt across a wide swath of California's north coast but there were no reports of damage.
The temblor was reported Monday afternoon six miles from Weitchpec, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It occurred at 1:07 p.m.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was 17 miles from Westhaven-Moonstone, 18 miles from Trinidad, 31 miles from Eureka and 218 miles from Sacramento.
U.S. plans new talks with North Korea
By Guy Taylor-The Washington Times
The State Department said Monday that U.S. officials will engage in direct talks with North Korea later this month, signaling the first major development in the tense relations between the West and Pyongyang since the death of longtime North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
Glyn Davies, the U.S. special representative forNorth Korea policy, will meet with Kim Kye-gwan, North Korean first vice foreign minister, on Feb. 23 in Beijing, State Department officials said.
Ten Things President Obama
Needs to Hear From China’s New Leader
BY JOSEPH A. BOSCO - WeeklyStandard.com
Chinese leaders announced that Vice President Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s designated successor to Chinese president Hu Jintao, will try to correct "the trust deficit" when he visits Washington this week. Xi told a gathering of Chinese and U.S. officials commemorating the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s opening to China that he hoped his visit "can play a positive role in advancing the Sino-U.S. cooperative partnership."
To build mutual trust and become genuine partners, here are ten things Xi could say to President Obama:
Taiwan. We in Beijing and you in Washington successfully intervened in Taiwan’s recent presidential campaign to ensure the reelection of pro-China incumbent Ma Ying-jeou. We will express our appreciation to your administration and to Taiwan’s voters by permanently renouncing the use of force to compel unification and by withdrawing our 1,500 missiles targeting the island.
Blood Brothers:
The alliance between Mexican cartels
and U.S. gangs may be the most serious threat
to our national security
by Richard Valdemar - Borderland Beat Reporter Chivis
Like the unwanted dandelions that sprout in lawns, cartel and gang partners continue to adapt and survive. Whatever code of conduct that may have restrained them in the past has disappeared.
Their terrible acts of violence and cruelty continue to escalate. The systematic corruption of our police, courts and political system is their goal. Those who they cannot corrupt, they murder. Journalists, police, judges, soldiers, religious leaders, women and children are all potential victims.
Nixon Then, China Now
By Minxin Pei - Project-Syndicate.org
CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – When US President Richard Nixon embarked on his historic trip to China 40 years ago, he could not have imagined what his gamble would unleash. The immediate diplomatic impact, of course, was to reshape Eurasia’s geopolitical balance and put the Soviet Union on the defensive. But the long-term outcome of America’s rapprochement with China became visible only recently, with the economic integration of the People’s Republic into the world economy.
Had Nixon not acted in 1972, China’s self-imposed isolation would have continued. Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening of China to the world would have been far more difficult.
Road to Damascus… and on to Armageddon? Western politicians and media are not yet fighting World War III, but they are talking themselves into it.
by DIANA JOHNSTONE - CounterPunch.org
Paris - What if pollsters put this question to citizens of the United States and the European Union :
"Which is more important, ensuring disgruntled Islamists freedom to overthrow the secular regime in Syria, or avoiding World War Three?"
I'll bet that there might be a majority for avoiding World War III.
But of course, the question is never framed like that.
That would be a "realistic" question, and we Westerners from the heights of our moral superiority have no time for vulgar "realism" in foreign policy (except the eccentric Ron Paul, crying out in the wilderness of Republican primaries).
PETRUS ROMANUS (Pt 6) The False Prophet And The Antichrist Are Here
Tom Horn's RaidersNewsNetwork.com
In the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby by director Roman Polanski, Mia Farrow plays Rosemary Woodhouse, a naive young housewife who agrees to become pregnant but through a series of spooky events comes to believe her husband has made a pact with eccentric neighbors Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer) to use the unborn child in some sort of occult ritual.
On the night they have planned to try to conceive, Mrs. Castevet brings separate dishes of chocolate mousse to Rosemary and her husband Guy. Rosemary takes a few bites, but disliking the chalky under-taste, quietly throws it away. A few minutes later, she becomes dizzy and passes out. She then has what she thinks is a nightmare in which the Castevets and other neighbors are in her bedroom watching as she is raped by a demonic presence. The dream is so vivid she suddenly screams out, "This is no dream—this is really happening!" When she wakes, there are scratches all over her body, and her husband tells her that in order not to miss the opportunity for conception, he had engaged her body for sex while she slept.
Bank failures in Ill, Ind bring 2012 total to 9
BusinessWeek.com
WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday closed small banks in Illinois and Indiana, increasing to nine the number of U.S. bank failures this year, a slower pace than in 2011, when there were 92 bank closures.
The number of closures already had dropped sharply in 2011 from the two previous years, when banks were working their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. But by this time last year, regulators had shuttered twice as many banks -- 18.
The Terminal Beginning Of The Western Financial World
by Jim Sinclair - JSMineset.com
The real terminal beginning of the Western Financial world was this week.
Kicking the can down the road is limited by the practical viability of the US dollar and US Treasury Securities market.
QE will go to infinity because there simply is no other tool that can create the amounts of liquidity required instantly by the destruction of the Western world financial system. This destruction was delivered to us via those that have securitized everything.
When you add to this that no default will be declared a default by the International Swaps and Derivative Association you have a guarantee that QE will go to infinity at the cost of the US currency market first and the US bond market second. I put this epic event in the year 2015. I give the US dollar no longer than June of 2012 before the cracks in its armor are visible to all.
Permanent Gold Backwardation
BY CASEY RESEARCH - FinancialSense.com
Guest editorial by Keith Weiner The Root of the Problem Is Debt
Worldwide, an incredible tower of debt has been under construction since President Nixon's 1971 default on the gold obligations of the US government. His decree severed the redeemability of the dollar for gold and thus eliminated the extinguisher of debt. Debt has been growing exponentially everywhere since then. Debt is backed with debt, based on debt, dependent on debt and leveraged with yet more debt. For example, today it is possible to buy a bond (i.e., lend money) on margin (i.e., with borrowed money).
The time is now fast approaching when all debt will be defaulted on. In our perverse monetary system, one party's debt is another's "money." A debtor's default will impact the creditor (who is usually also a debtor to yet other creditors), causing him to default, and so on. When this begins in earnest, it will wipe out the banking system and thus everyone's "money." The paper currencies will not survive this. We are seeing the early edges of it now in the euro, and it's anyone's guess when it will happen in Japan, though it seems long overdue already. Last of all, it will come to the USA.
Conflict between Iran, West could raise gold prices: HSBC
LONDON (Commodity Online): Tensions between the West and Iran may be escalating and this could be bullish for Gold prices, said HSBC in a research note.
According to HSBC, elections are slated for March 2 in Iran, the first presidential votes since 2009, when Ahmadinejad’s reelection triggered months of riots. Gold prices rose during that time.
Western sanctions are beginning to impact economic activity as media reports say that Iran had to cancel grain purchases because of a lack of foreign exchange. The media reports note Iran offered gold stored overseas or oil in return for food. More sanctions may come if the U.S. sanctions Iran’s main tanker group, the privately run National Iranian Tanker Company, or on the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company.
Now, It is perfect time to buy gold coins: WSG
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): It is perfect time to buyGold coins to take advantage of unusually low gold prices, said Wholesale Gold Group (WSG), an US based gold and Silver investment firm, in a report.
According to the report, gold prices are currently undervalued and may double or triple in the years to come. This is due to the economic crisis unfolding in the EuroZone, which is forcing governments to print money in unprecedented amounts.
Keiser Report: FBI vs Gold Standard 'Extremists' (E248)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the gold standard extremism and how your dollar got to be worth just 3.8 cents. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Francine McKenna of reTheAuditors.com about the crimes and illegitimate activity of the MF Global collapse.
Vietnam has written the book on gold;
the West should read it
By: Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer, GATA - GoldSeek.com
The Agence France-Presse story from Hanoi appended here demonstrates a few things not plainly understood by the financial news media and even economists in the West:
1) Gold is money, and sometimes much better money than governments offer. 2) Because of that, governments seek to control gold and its price. 3) A negative real rate of interest -- what in the West is starting to be called "financial repression" -- pushes people out of government currencies and into gold.
Buffet thrashes gold, yet again
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Warren Buffet's distaste for Gold is well known and despite the meteoric appreciation in the value of gold, his view does not seem to have changed.
In a preview to his annual shareholders letter, Buffet says that companies like Exxon Mobil and other productive assets like farmland and real estate are not only superior to gold but in fact safer in the long run.
Warren Buffett: gold has no value Berkshire Hathaway chairman and famous investor Warren Buffett has dismissed gold as a "valueless asset".
By Emma Wall - Telegraph.co.uk
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has dismissed gold as a valueless asset saying that it has no inherent value. In an article for Fortune magazine, Buffett said that gold investors were pinning their hopes on future demand.
He warned that gold was a self-inflating bubble, created by investors desperate for a viable alternative to property and shares.
The infamous investor warned that investors in gold would be left with egg on their face when the price eventually crashed.
Why Warren Buffett Is Wrong on Gold
By Alix Steel - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet ) -- Warren Buffett, legendary investor and head of Berkshire Hathaway, has slammed gold, yet again, saying it doesn't have any use and isn't procreative.
In an adaption of his upcoming shareholder letter published on Fortune's Web site, Buffett rips into the intelligence of owning gold, saying that real demand for gold, defined as industrial and decorative, is incapable of soaking up new production and that the gold you own doesn't "do" anything. At the end of the day, gold is just an ounce of gold worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.
A King Dollar GOP?
By Lawrence Kudlow - PatriotPost.us
Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy.
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be "almost treasonous."
Republicans in Washington are equally unimpressed by Bernanke. Rep. Paul Ryan recently criticized the Fed for bankrolling our huge budget deficits and thereby accommodating a profligate fiscal policy. And former Federal Reserve Board Governor Kevin Warsh, a Bernanke intimate before he left last April, just leveled criticism at the Fed's extensive zero-interest-rate policy and its "operation twist." (Warsh, by the way, was an economic official in the George W. Bush White House.)
Argentina limits daily financial transaction
per person to 1.000 Pesos (230 dollars) Argentina limited the use of cash in the country’s financial markets as President Cristina Fernandez tightens oversight of currency transactions to help contain capital flight and prepare for what is anticipated a 'difficult' year for the Treasury and the Argentine economy.
MercoPress.com
The government will restrict daily cash transactions to 1.000 Pesos (231 US dollars) per person, down from 10.000 Pesos, according to a statement in the Official Gazette. The measure affects activity in the stock and bond markets, investment funds and in the futures markets. Operations above the limit will have to be done through Argentine bank accounts that are authorized by the central bank.
"They are forcing a higher level of formality in the economy, as cash transactions allow more irregularities," said Felipe Hernandez, an analyst at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. "This is in line with other measures to prevent money laundering, for which the government has been under a great deal of pressure."
Is PIMCO too big to fail? Special report: The twilight of the Bond King
By Jennifer Ablan and Matthew Goldstein - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - He is the man who made bond investing sort of sexy - and now he may pay the price.
Over more than three decades, Bill Gross, co-founder of asset-management giant PIMCO, has made so much money for clients that he has become the barometer by which other bond traders are judged. His West Coast perch, prescient calls on the U.S. economy and devotion to yoga only added to the mystique.
But the very recipe that enabled Gross to dominate his industry may now be conspiring against him.
Get Ready for $5 Gas This Year: Ex-Shell CEO
By: Margo D. Beller - Special to CNBC.com
Get ready to pay $5 a gallon for gasoline this year.
John Hofmeister, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy and the former CEO of Shell Oil’s U.S. operations, warned that there is a "better than 50 percent chance" the price of gas will spike on continued heavy demand in emerging markets and weak public policy at home.
He also sees West Texas crude prices touching "the midteens to $120 a barrel some time this year."
"What’s really unprecedented is developing countries, particularly China and India, have this insatiable need for more oil and that has not been taken into account when we think of public policy in this country," he said.
Why the World Needs America Foreign-policy pundits increasingly argue that democracy and free markets could thrive without U.S. predominance. If this sounds too good to be true, writes Robert Kagan, that's because it is. -- By ROBERT KAGAN - WSJ.com
History shows that world orders, including our own, are transient. They rise and fall, and the institutions they erect, the beliefs and "norms" that guide them, the economic systems they support—they rise and fall, too. The downfall of the Roman Empire brought an end not just to Roman rule but to Roman government and law and to an entire economic system stretching from Northern Europe to North Africa. Culture, the arts, even progress in science and technology, were set back for centuries.
Democracy is ending in the land where it began Greece's plight has alerted the world to the way the EU extinguishes democracy.
By Christopher Booker - Telegraph.co.uk
It is peculiarly appropriate that the country that gave the world the words "democracy" and “tragedy” should now be the beacon which alerts the world to the fact that the EU is extinguishing democracy – part of a wider tragedy that will eventually lead to the extinction of the EU itself. But what of our own country’s part in this horrible drama?
It already seems an age since we were told, last June, that David Cameron had "won his fight" to prevent the EU extracting a loan of billions of pounds from Britain to help Greece pay off some of the colossal debt it has run up since it was so foolishly allowed to join the euro. The next move, we learned, was that we would have to lend the money anyway, not through the EU but through the IMF.
ATHENS IN FLAMES
John Hinderaker - PowerlineBlog.com
Athens is burning tonight, as leftists and others protest against the Greek Parliament’s vote in favor of the measures that are required by the EU in exchange for a 130 billion Euro bailout–enough to keep Greece afloat for now, at least. The rioters have nothing intelligent or constructive to say. They believe, evidently, that Greeks are entitled to consume far more than they produce, forever. Nice work if you can get it...
One irony of the Greek crisis is that politicians and commentators alike seem to assume that cutting government spending, lowering the minimum wage, etc., will cause Greece’s economy to decline further. Reuters, for example, says:
The rebellion and street violence foreshadowed the problems the government faces in implementing the cuts, which include a 22 percent reduction in the minimum wage – a package critics say condemns the Greek economy to an ever-deeper downward spiral.
Rioters Burn Buildings as Greek Parliament Votes on Cuts
By Tom Stoukas, Eleni Chrepa and Marcus Bensasson - Bloomberg.com
Rioters set fire to buildings and battled police in downtown Athens as the Greek Parliament prepared to vote on Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’s austerity package to avert the nation’s collapse.
Ten fires were burning in central Athens including buildings housing aStarbucks Corp. (SBUX) cafe, a bank and a movie theater, a fire department spokesman said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with official policy. The blazes were near a bank that was set on fire in May 2010, killing three bank employees, during a general strike against Greece’s first bailout package.
Greek Parliament Backs Austerity as Riots Continue
By Maria Petrakis, Natalie Weeks
and Marcus Bensasson - Bloomberg.com
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos won parliamentary approval for austerity measures to secure an international bailout after rioters protesting the measures battled police and set fire to buildings in downtown Athens.
A total of 199 lawmakers voted in favor and 74 against, Parliament Speaker Filippos Petsalnikos said in remarks carried live on state-run Vouli TV. When, on Nov. 16, Papademos won a mandate from the Parliament to implement budget measures and secure the bailout of 130 billion euros ($172 billion) he received the support of 255 lawmakers in the 300-strong chamber.
Greek parliament approves new spending cuts amid protests
By Anthee Carassava - LATimes.com
REPORTING FROM ATHENS -- As thousands of protesters took to the streets and violence ripped through central Athens, Greece’s parliament on Sunday approved yet another round of punishing public spending cuts to secure international rescue funds and ease fears of a calamitous financial collapse, potentially perilous for global markets and Europe’s single currency.
Although widely anticipated, the outcome offered some respite for Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, visibly drained and despondent three months after being called in to negotiate the complex loan-cum-debt restructuring deal.
Will Currency Devaluation Fix the Eurozone?
Mises Daily: by Frank Shostak
The NYU professor of economics Nouriel Roubini said in Davos, Switzerland, on January 25, 2012, that tight policies are making the recession in the eurozone worse. According to Roubini what Europe needs is less austerity and more growth. In particular, the NYU professor is concerned about the deep recession in the eurozone's peripheral countries: Spain, Portugal, Greece — all are on a strict regime of austerity. For instance, in Spain the yearly rate of growth of government outlays stood at minus 12.4 percent in November against minus 15.7 percent in the month before. In Portugal the yearly rate of growth stood at minus 3.6 percent in December against minus 2.5 percent in November. In Greece the yearly rate of growth fell to 2.9 percent in December from 6.2 percent in the prior month.
Germany's Carthaginian terms for Greece The last time Germany needed a bail-out from world creditors, it secured better terms than shattered Greece last week.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The US, Canada, Britain, France, Greece, and other signatories at the London Debt Agreement of 1953 granted Chancellor Konrad Adenauer a 50pc haircut on all German debt, worth 70pc in relief with stretched maturities. There was a five-year moratorium on interest payments.
The express purpose was to give Germany enough oxygen to rebuild its economy, and to help hold the line against Soviet overreach. This sweeping debt forgiveness caused heartburn for the British - then in dire financial straits, themselves forced to go cap in hand to Washington for loans. The Greeks had to forgo some war reparations.
MF Global: It's Not Over Until It's Over
By Francine McKenna - Forbes.com
Despite several reports over the last few weeks to the contrary, I don’t believe the missing client assets at MF Global have“vaporized” nor do I believe the trail to the truth – and civil or criminal prosecutions – has gone cold.
What has disappeared is any will on the part of regulators and prosecutors to act on the information staring them in the face.
It is, unfortunately, in the best interest of the parties you’re counting on to investigate what happened at MF Global and to bring those responsible to justice to sell the story that chaos and calamity caused the money to innocently disappear. In that case, they reason, no one in particular is responsible.
China Instructs Banks to Roll Over
$1.7 Trillion in Debt to Avoid Mass Default
By Mike Shedlock
A few years ago local Chinese municipalities had little debt. Today they have a $1.7 trillion mountain of it, nearly all of it financing economically non-viable projects in the name of "stimulus".
The proposed "solution" of course is to roll the debt over, while adding still more to the debt mountain, hoping things will get better.
Please consider China tells banks to roll over loans
China’s stimulus response to the global financial crisis saddled its provinces and cities with Rmb10.7tn ($1.7tn) in debts – about a quarter of the country’s GDP – and more than half those loans are scheduled to come due over the next three years.
China tangled up in industrial espionage
By Peter Lee - ATimes.com
It looks like someone got their hands caught in DuPont's cookie jar. The jar in question was DuPont's closely-held knowhow in the manufacture of titanium dioxide.
According to a criminal indictment unsealed in US federal court on February 8, USA Performance Technology Inc (USAPTI), a company in Oakland, California, conspired to sell DuPont's trade secrets and a major Chinese state-run corporation, Pangang Group, conspired to acquire them.
Bernanke: Housing problems hold back recovery
By Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Lingering problems in the housing market continue to restrain America's economic recovery and limit the effectiveness of Federal Reserve policies, Ben Bernanke said Friday.
"The economic recovery has been disappointing in part because U.S. housing markets remain out of balance," the Fed chairman said in prepared remarks at the International Builders' Show in Orlando, Fla.
Federal Reserve policies meant to drive down long-term interest rates have had "less effect... than they otherwise would have had," he said, as even creditworthy households find it difficult to obtain mortgages or refinancing.
Bernanke renews push for foreclosed rentals Rental plan could help housing imbalance, Fed chief says
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday made a renewed push for programs to convert foreclosed homes into rental units to help revive the housing market.
"With home prices falling and rents rising, it could make sense in some markets to turn some of the foreclosed homes into rental properties," Bernanke said in a speech in Orlando at the National Association of Home Builders conference, according to a copy of prepared remarks. "Real-estate-owned to rental programs appear to have some potential for success."
Why housing demand defies real estate fundamentals
By Diana Olick, CNBC.com
Anyone with any cash in hand should be buying a house right now.
That's what any real estate agent will tell you, obviously, but that's also what many investors now believe.
Unfortunately, the potential home-buying public … isn't buying it.
January's consumer confidence report found a drop in the number of Americans who plan to buy a home in the next six months. If, however, you take out the confidence issue, the fundamentals for buying are strong:
Housing crisis losses - who pays?
By Carolyn Lochhead - SFGate.com
Washington -- The $26 billion settlement reached last week by state attorneys general to aid distressed homeowners, nearly half of it going to California, doesn't much dent $7 trillion.
That's what's been lost since the housing bubble peaked in late 2006. Home prices have dropped nationwide by a third, and by nearly half in California. Median Bay Area residential prices peaked at $665,000 in mid-2007, according to DataQuick, and last month were $351,500.
Mortgage settlement is great — for politicians and banks The settlement mostly requires mortgage lenders and servicers to comply with what I would have thought was already the law, which prohibits, you know, criminal fraud.
By Michael Hiltzik - LATimes.com
I hate a parade. And the parade of rosy self-congratulation staged last week by the creators of the $25-billion mortgage fraud settlement with five big banks is the kind of parade I really hate.
There certainly are some big winners in the deal, which has the approval of 49 of the 50 state attorneys general. Start with its godfathers. President Obama took to the podium a couple of hours after the deal's announcement to declare that it will "speed relief to the hardest-hit homeowners."
Pimco: Foreclosure Deal Cheaper Than Pensions
By Jody Shenn - Bloomberg.com
The government’s deal with banks over their foreclosure practices after 16 months of investigations is cheap for the loan servicers while costly for bond investors including pension funds, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Scott Simon.
In what the U.S. called the largest federal-state civil settlement in the nation’s history, five banks including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) andJPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) committed $20 billion in various forms of mortgage relief plus payments of $5 billion to state and federal governments yesterday.
U.S. jobs gap between young and old is widest ever
By Hope Yen-Associated Press - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Squeezed by a tight job market, young Americans are especially struggling. They have suffered bigger income losses than other age groups and are less likely to be employed than at any time since World War II.
An analysis by the Pew Research Center, released Thursday, details the impact of the recent recession on the attitudes of a generation of mostly 20- and 30-somethings.
Don't Be Fooled, The Obama Unemployment Rate Is 11%
By Peter Ferrara - Forbes.com
When Barack Obamaentered office in January, 2009, the labor force participation rate was 65.7%, meaning nearly two-thirds of working age Americans were working or looking for work.
When the recession supposedly officially ended in June, 2009, the labor force participation rate was still 65.7%.
In the latest, much celebrated, unemployment report, the labor force participation rate had plummeted to 63.7%, the most rapid decline in U.S. history. That means that under President Obama nearly 5 million Americans have fled the workforce in hopeless despair.
Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM and ROBERT GEBELOFF - NYTimes.com
LINDSTROM, Minn. — Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.
He says that too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means. He supports politicians who promise to cut government spending. In 2010, he printed T-shirts for the Tea Party campaign of a neighbor, Chip Cravaack, who ousted this region’s long-serving Democratic congressman.
NRA official: Obama wants to outlaw guns in 2nd term
By Sean Lengell - WashingtonTimes.com
A top official with the National Rifle Association said Friday that President Obama will move to "destroy" gun rights and "erase" the Second Amendment if he is re-elected in November.
While delivering one of the liveliest and best-received speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said the president's low-key approach to gun rights during his first term was "a "conspiracy to ensure re-election by lulling gun owners to sleep."
Obama to unveil budget with higher taxes, more deficits
By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times
President Obama will release an election-year federal budget Monday that is loaded with deficit spending and tax increases on the wealthy but avoids tough choices on the soaring costs of entitlements, independent analysts and Republican lawmakers say.
The president’s budget request to Congressforecasts a deficit of $1.33 trillion in the current fiscal year — even higher than expected — and calls for at least $1.5 trillion in tax hikes over the next decade. By including $350 billion in short-term stimulus spending, Mr. Obama is submitting a plan that is ready-made for his re-election campaign but has no chance of passing a divided Congress.
Success of health reform
hinges on hiring 30,000 primary care doctors by 2015
By Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
On a chilly afternoon at a community clinic in Southeast Washington, three young doctors are busily laying the foundation for the health-care law’s success.
Jacob Edwards flips through a manual on skin conditions, diagnosing a rash that looks like chicken pox. Jessica O’Babatunde consults her supervisor on treating an adolescent’s obesity, which is literally off-the-charts. And Julie Krueger peppers 3-year-old Daphauni with questions at her physical: How do you spell your name? What did you eat for breakfast? What’s your favorite vegetable? (Cheese.)
"What a shock. Obamacare doesn't lower costs, doesn't increase coverage, and has turned into a wildly unpopular, labyrinthine government overreach."
(Rep. Trey Gowdy. R-SC)
The Daily Caller has the story of Obamacare's chief architect admitting defeat, telling states that preiums will rise - even with the subsidy for individual insurance - by 31%.
In 2011, officials in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado ordered reports from Gruber which offer a drastically different portrait in 2012 from the one Obama painted just 17 months ago.
"As a consequence of the Affordable Care Act," the president said in September 2010, "premiums are going to be lower than they would be otherwise; health care costs overall are going to be lower than they would be otherwise."
End of the Constitution Obamacare birth-control mandate
would defeat the First Amendment
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner-The Washington Times
Is America sliding toward autocratic rule? This is the essential question of Barack Obama’s presidency. Mr. Obama vowed to "fundamentally transform" the United States. Despite his incompetence and economic failure, the president is making good on his central promise: the destruction of our constitutional republic. He is trying - piece by painful piece - to reverse the legacy of the Founding Fathers. Conservatives have underestimated him at their peril. For Mr. Obama is not simply an inept, liberal president in the mold of Jimmy Carter. He is an ideological revolutionary who seeks to sweep away traditional America.
Ginsburg’s Right, U.S. Constitution Is a Bad Model
By Noah Feldman - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter had a close shave with public embarrassment recently -- which might seem impossible for a man who has been dead for almost 33 years.
Here’s why: In the late 1940s, Frankfurter advised B.N. Rau, the chief draftsman of the Indian Constitution, not to include a due process clause such as the one that the U.S. Constitution cribbed from Magna Carta. The concept was viewed as an inspiring-yet-vague term that had plagued arguments of the U.S. Supreme Court for two generations. Rau listened, omitting the clause, which had previously enjoyed support from the other drafters, and India was better for it.
U.S. Constitution Too Old, Ginsburg Says
By Stephen Flurry - TheTrumpet.com
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg must have missed the memo about Egypt’s radical Islamist transformation over the past 12 months. Since Hosni Mubarak’s government crumbled under heavy pressure from the United States, Islamic extremists have been assaulting Coptic Christians, raping their wives and daughters, and burning their homes and churches to the ground. They’ve ambushed Israel’s embassy, prompting a late-night emergency evacuation in September. They won’t recognize the State of Israel and they’ve vowed to dissolve the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
Obama, Explained As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office, two conflicting narratives of his presidency have emerged. Is he a skillful political player and policy visionary — a chess master who always sees several moves ahead of his opponents (and of the punditocracy)? Or is he politically clumsy and out of his depth — a pawn overwhelmed by events, at the mercy of a second-rate staff and of the Republicans? Here, a longtime analyst of the presidency takes the measure of our 44th president, with a view to history.
By JAMES FALLOWS - TheAtlantic.com
IN THE LATE 1990s, when his fellow University of Chicago professor Barack Obama had just run for the Illinois State Senate and long before a newly inaugurated President Obama named him to his Council of Economic Advisers, the economist Austan Goolsbee was on the most terrifying airplane trip of his life. He was traveling on Southwest Airlines from St. Louis back to Chicago’s Midway Airport. The plane got into a thunderstorm, and for a while many passengers thought they were doomed.
* * * * *
Dr. Bill Deagle w/ Jeff Rense 2012/02/07 -
Multiple Updates (including Fukushima info)
Fukushima reactor readings raise reheating concern
Temperature inside No 2 reactor may have risen to 82C, and Tepco reportedly steps up cooling efforts
By Justin McCurry in Tokyo - Guardian.co.uk
Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant inJapan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said the temperature inside No 2 reactor – one of three that suffered meltdown after last year's earthquake and tsunami – may have reached 82C on Sunday.
Earthquake: Magnitude 3.3 quake rattles near Fort Bragg
By Ken Schwencke - LATime.com
A shallow magnitude 3.3 earthquake was reported Sunday afternoon eight miles from Cape Vizcaino, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 2:32 p.m. Pacific Standard Time at a depth of 0 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was nine miles from Rockport, 18 miles from Fort Bragg and 155 miles from Sacramento.
2/10/2012 -- MUST SEE !
2011 earthquakes WORLDWIDE plotted
and animated (with sound intensity)
Google says its new privacy policy
complies with FTC settlement
By Jessica Guynn - LATimes.com
Google is rebutting charges that its new privacy policy violates a settlement it struck with federal regulators last year.
The Internet search giant told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that its policy complies with the settlement, according to a self-assessment report the company handed over in January.
The report, obtained by Politico Friday, says Google has gone to "exceptional lengths" to tell its users what data it harvests and what it does with it.
Google settled charges last year that it violated privacy laws by exposing Gmail users' personal information when rolling out its now-defunct Google Buzz social networking service. The breach prompted an angry backlash from consumers and privacy advocates who say the Mountain View, Calif., company disclosed personal information without their knowledge or consent.
U.S. Air Force planning to purchase up to 18,000 iPads
By Deborah Netburn - LATimes.com
The U.S. Air Force is thinking about buying some iPads — somewhere between 63 and 18,000 of them.
In a notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website, the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command office says it is specifically interested in purchasing the iPad 2, but will also consider other brand-name tablet devices. The tablets will be used as electronic flight bags for flight crew members and trainers — replacing the hefty bag of manuals and navigation charts currently used by pilots and navigators that can weigh as much as 40 pounds.
Waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world,
Waiting for the end of the world.
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming
‘cause you really started something.
Elvis Costello, Waiting for the end of the world
Be afraid. Be very afraid. The Return of the Keyboard Warriors - a prized Return of the Living Dead spin-off - is at hand. From Republican chicken hawks to public intellectuals, right-wing America is erupting in renewed neo-conservative revolt. The year 2012 is the new 2002; Iran is the new Iraq. Whatever the highway - real men go to Tehran via Damascus, or real men go to Tehran non-stop - they want a war, and they want it now.
Go ahead and jump Exhibit A is an op-ed piece at the Wall Street Journal [1] - similar to countless others popping up virtually everyday not only in this Masters of the Universe vehicle but also in the Washington Post and myriad rags across "Western civilization".
UK is open to bilateral talks with Argentina
on any issue except Falklands’ sovereignty UN British ambassador warned Argentina on Friday that Britain would "robustly" defend the Falkland Islands if necessary, but added that his country remained open to bilateral talks with Buenos Aires on any issue except the Islands' sovereignty.
MercoPress.com
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant was speaking to reporters after Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the UN Security Council to ask for help in stopping what he said was Britain's "militarization of the South Atlantic".
"We are not looking to increase the war of words, but clearly if there is an attempt to take advantage of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war by Argentina, then we will obviously defend our position and defend it robustly" Lyall Grant said.
Billions at stake as Russia backs Syria
By James O'Toole @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Russia's controversial stance in the Syrian crisis has left many wondering what Moscow stands to gain by backing the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Analysts say political and strategic concerns are Russia's primary motivation: Moscow is pushing back against what it sees as excessive Western interventionism in sovereign states, and fears losing an old allythat is its last foothold in the Middle East.
But economic ties -- valuable military contracts and energy investments that could be lost if the Assad regime fails -- play a key role as well.
Arab League urges joint
UN-Arab peacekeeping mission in Syria Resolution calls on UN security council to send monitors to Syria as Arab League decides to scrap its own mission to the country
By Harriet Sherwood and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
Arab leaders have called for a joint United Nations-Arab peacekeeping force to end bloodshed in Syria and agreed to end all diplomatic co-operation with Damascus.
The 22-member Arab League, meeting in Cairo on Sunday, adopted a resolution calling for renewed international efforts to end the 11-month conflict and scrapped its own monitoring mission to Syria.
The Next War on Washington’s Agenda
by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - CounterPunch.org
Only the blind do not see that the US government is preparing to attack Iran. Washington has deployed missiles directed at Iran in its oil emirate puppet states, Oman and the UAE, and little doubt in the other US puppet states in the Middle East. Washington has beefed up Saudi Arabia’s jet fighter force. Most recently, Washington has deployed 9,000 US troops to Israel to participate in "war games" designed to test the US/Israeli air defense system. As Iran represents no threat unless attacked, Washington’s war preparations signal Washington’s intention to attack Iran.
Will Iran Be Attacked? Paul Craig Roberts 1/2
Will Iran Be Attacked? Paul Craig Roberts 2/2
USA, Israel gearing up for Valentine's Day massacre
By Lisa Karpova - Pravda.Ru
The west, and particularly the USA, are turning the Middle East and North Africa into a no-man's land. It's become a place where no one is safe and there is complete and total instability. There are kidnappings, rapes, mutilations, burnings, hangings, beheadings...every savagery the mind can conceive of and more.
All this is thanks to the terrorists the west and the USA have trained, armed and funded.
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria. Moscow and Beijing explained that if adopted, the resolution would enable NATO to 'replay' the Libyan scenario in Syria. There have already been several attempts to do so.
U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf
By Warda Al-Jawahiry
(Reuters) - Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.
Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.
Iran to unveil nuclear achievements
News -- GOPUSA
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.
Entering into The Age of Darkness with Dr. Francis Boyle 1/4
Entering into The Age of Darkness with Dr. Francis Boyle 2/4
Entering into The Age of Darkness with Dr. Francis Boyle 3/4
Entering into The Age of Darkness with Dr. Francis Boyle 4/4
Dollar and America on the Road to Ruin
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
In the last week or so, I’ve noticed an unusual amount of really well written and researched articles warning of impending doom and financial horror. These articles are not written by a bunch of angry uneducated bloggers but by money managers, investors and financial writers. All are people who got it right leading up to the meltdown of 2008, and my bet is they are right again. The mainstream media (MSM) told you after the 2008 crash, "Nobody saw that coming," which is a bold faced lie that will not work again.
Jim Quinn of TheBurningPlatform.com wrote a tour de force of troubling realities you will never hear on the MSM. Quinn lays out the case for coming ruin with stats, charts and razor sharp logic in a post called "Illusion of Recovery–Feelings vs. Facts." In his summation, Quinn says, "There is no avoiding the final collapse of a boom created solely by credit expansion. Those in power will never voluntarily relinquish their grand game of pillaging the wealth of the nation, so economic collapse will be the ultimate result. They will continue to use propaganda, printing presses, and half-truths to further their agenda. But those who examine the facts will come to a logical conclusion that we are being sold a great lie."
OWS & the planned “endgame” for the U.S.
By Doug Hagmann & Joseph Hagmann - CanandaFreePress.com
Are you baffled by the wording, timing and bipartisan support of recent legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Expatriation Act, SOPA, PIPA and ACTA? Are you concerned over the enhancement of domestic security measures that appear to be targeting and incrementally ripping away the rights of law abiding American citizens? Are you concerned about the evolving DHS “domestic extremist” definitions? Have you wondered about the true origins of the financial crises and what appears to be a quickening of events in all sectors of our lives? How about the origins of the current “Occupy Movement?” When and why everything started? Who and what is to blame? If so, you’re not alone.
10 Things That Every American Should Know
About The Federal Reserve
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
What would happen if the Federal Reserve was shut down permanently? That is a question that CNBC asked recently, but unfortunately most Americans don't really think about the Fed much. Most Americans are content with believing that the Federal Reserve is just another stuffy government agency that sets our interest rates and that is watching out for the best interests of the American people. But that is not the case at all. The truth is that the Federal Reserve is a private banking cartel that has been designed to systematically destroy the value of our currency, drain the wealth of the American public and enslave the federal government to perpetually expanding debt. During this election year, the economy is the number one issue that voters are concerned about. But instead of endlessly blaming both political parties, the truth is that most of the blame should be placed at the feet of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has more power over the performance of the U.S. economy than anyone else does. The Federal Reserve controls the money supply, the Federal Reserve sets the interest rates and the Federal Reserve hands out bailouts to the big banks that absolutely dwarf anything that Congress ever did. If the American people are ever going to learn what is really going on with our economy, then it is absolutely imperative that they get educated about the Federal Reserve.
Peter Schiff - Kerry Lutz - 03 Feb 2012
Discussing the coming dollar crisis and a lower American standard of living
Ben Bernanke is Every Gold Bug's Best Friend
By Frank Holmes, Guest Writer, Money Morning
After prices fell 10% in December, many investors wondered if the bull market in gold was running out of steam.
That was before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke swooped in with a "red cape" and fired the bulls back up.
Since the Fed reassured the world that interest rates will remain at "exceptionally low levels" for another two years, gold has jumped more than 3%.
Precious Metals Benefit From Continued Dollar Weakness
By: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis - GoldSeek.com
The dramatic rise in the price of precious metals — especially silver — in January was due in some part to the weakness in the U.S. Dollar, with both gold and silver rising from their near term lows seen at the end of December 2011.
The inverse relationship in the valuation of the U.S. Dollar versus precious metals has continued to increase, with the U.S. Dollar approaching all-time lows against most major currencies, except against the Euro and the Pound Sterling.
Reasons why Gold is the best ever investment vehicle
By Daryl B. Chapman
Lots of companies are closing and laying off employees because of different reasons. It is not new to us that even major corporations are closing because of liquidation, lack of customer spending and unaffordable loan payments.
Although, there are people who announce that the recession is long over, the increasing number of people being laid off is something that is hard to miss out. With that said, experts are suggesting that people invest in something that is commercial and with high appraisal value like gold. On the other hand, many are still oblivious about the Gold industry and why gold is a good investment in today’s failing economy. Let’s learn why. Following are the top reasons why many believe that gold is a good venture.
Waiting to Pounce on Precious Metal Profits
By Adam Brochert - GoldSeek.com
Let me start by re-iterating that I am a secular permabull on physical precious metals, particularly Gold. When you're dealing with the end of the road for the current international monetary system (a la the 1930s and the 1970s), there's only one asset that is a complete no-brainer to own. As a hint, that asset is shiny and owned by every central bank in the world "just in case."
However, I also like to trade. When trading, I would sell or buy anything if I though there was a profit to be had. For example, my subscribers and I have been short senior Gold stocks as a "scalp" trade over the past week. Does this make me a traitor? I don't think in those terms, as I am a more practical Gold bug/bull. The more paper I make, the more metal I can buy.
Global crude oil market fundamentals are tight: Barclays
NEW YORK: (Commodity Online): After a long slumber, oil prices have attempted a breakout to the upside, with the value of the OPEC basket reaching a nine-month high above $114 per barrel. Given the flow of more positive macroeconomic data and the drift of several geopolitical situations towards escalation, the path of least resistance for prices is still to the upside.
The overall state of global oil market fundamentals appears to be tighter than implied by recent US oil data releases, the latter of which also appear to be out of line with US macroeconomic data releases. In our view, there appears at this moment to be a sharp and unexpected demand surge from both Asia and the FSU, to which a severe European cold snap has added to create tighter prompt market conditions than either expected, or is implied by the US oil data.
China's Rebalancing Should Be Good for Gold Demand
By: Ben Traynor, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
....The classic signs of an investment mania are there. Mass participation, frenzied buying, an established narrative that something is a 'sure thing'. But though this may look like the-mania-before-the-crash, that doesn't mean it is.
China's industrial development is still very much a work in progress. The likely next phase is a rebalancing of wealth away from industry and towards households. Given the demonstrable appetite for gold among Chinese consumers, this should be a major supporting factor for global gold demand.
SBSS 10. The Silver Paradigm Shift
Debt Slavery:
30 Facts About Debt In America That Will Blow Your Mind
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
When most people think about America's debt problem, they think of the debt of the federal government. But that is only part of the story. The sad truth is that debt slavery has become a way of life for tens of millions of American families. Over the past several decades, most Americans have willingly allowed themselves to become enslaved to debt. These days, most of us are busy either going into even more debt or paying off the debt that we have accumulated in the past. When your finances are dominated by debt, it makes it really hard to ever get ahead. Incredibly, 43 percent of all American families spend more than they earn each year. Even while median household income continues to decline (now less than $50,000 a year), median household debt continues to go up. According to the Federal Reserve, median household debt in America has risen to $75,600. Many Americans spend decades caught in the trap of debt slavery. Large numbers of them never even escape at all and die in debt. It can be a lot of fun to spend lots of money and go into lots of debt, but it can be absolutely soul crushing to toil and labor for years paying off those debts while making others wealthy in the process. Hopefully this article will inspire many people to try to escape the chains of debt slavery once and for all.
Debt Beats the Economy in a Growth Race
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
02/09/12 Baltimore, Maryland – Get out your chopsticks! Brush up on your sushi! Learn to read backwards and upside down!
Yes…we’re going to Japan!
The gist of the Japanese situation is this:
The bubble burst in 1990. But rather than let their big businesses go belly up, the Japanese used every trick in the book. Counter-cyclical deficits up the Shinanho. ZIRP (zero interest rate policy). And QE too.
The economy didn’t grow. It didn’t collapse. It just got stuck…like a moth in amber. No new jobs. No new output. And get this, Japan is expected to lose 40% of its working age population by 2050.
Euro crisis averted? Don’t believe a word of it Greece may be clinging on, but the eurozone’s real problems remain resolutely unaddressed.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
There’s nothing like the long Christmas break for calming things down. Back in early December, it looked as if the euro was on its last legs. Then everyone went on holiday, and by the time they got back, seemed quite to have forgotten what they were originally panicking about.
No one honestly believes the eurozone crisis has been vanquished, but since early January there has been a lull in the storm and even a sense of beginning to get on top of things. The European Central Bank’s promise of unlimited liquidity for the stricken banking system seems to be turning things around. Successful resolution of the Greek debt talks yesterday has added to the impression of a crisis in retreat.
Keiser Report: Black Holes & Gold Hills (E247)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the latest discoveries of blackholes in the financial universe and the populations growing permanently poorer as a result. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Dr. Yanis Varoufakis about financial horror, a currency from which you can't escape and the Greek situation.
Greece bows to new austerity measures –
but still a bailout deal is not finalised
• Creditors demand to see Athens act on new pledges
• Default looms in weeks if bailout cash is withheld
By Ian Traynor - Guardian.co.uk
European finance ministers are piling the pressure on Greece to come good on pledges to slash public spending to the bone before closing a deal on a new €130bn (£109bn) bailout – even as the prospect of a disastrous default looms closer.
Following weeks of brinkmanship that have poisoned relations between the bankrupt country and its eurozone creditors, ministers and senior officials from the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund have been wrangling over whether to activate the bailout, which would prevent an outright insolvency at the end of March, when Greece has to redeem more than €14bn in debt.
Greek officials reach austerity deal
that could pave way for bailout
By Michael Birnbaum and Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
BERLIN — Stuck between looming bankruptcy and a flatlined economy, Greek politicians agreed Thursday to make a sweeping series of cuts that they hope will secure an international bailout, layering more pain onto what is already a deep recession.
But in a sign of the sheer size of Greece’s challenges, European officials said the measures were not enough to send over the $173 billion bailout, and they insisted more steps be taken even as Greeks say they are reaching their pain limit.
The Lesson of Greece for Flint, Michigan
By: Rick Ackerman - GoldSeek.com
The financial world was on pins and needles Wednesday as it awaited Europe’s latest, quasi-momentous decision on the fate of Greece. The Greeks themselves, no fools, were a step ahead of the politicians and bankers, rioting in the streets. Many of them have probably imbibed enough austerity to last a lifetime. Keep tightening one’s belt a notch at a time and eventually you’re left with two bloody torso halves. Not that the bankers would mind the mess as long as they get paid. So what, actually is at stake in this latest chapter of the eurobailoutpalooza? The rescue package under discussion amounts to a piddling €130 billion, and we can’t see how it’s going to make much of a difference. Even if it’s only intended to buy a little time, a sum as meager as that may not see the Eurocrisis through the weekend, much less through 2012. For perspective, Flint, Michigan’s unfunded retirement and health benefits total about three times as much. Is Flint in worse shape than Greece? Hard to say, although the close proximity of such charming resorts as Corfu and Rhodos, as opposed to beautiful downtown Detroit, would seem to tip the quality-of-life numbers in favor of the Greeks, even the down-and-out day-trippers.
ECB's Draghi shuns rate cuts, boosts bank bazooka The European Central Bank (ECB) has held interest rates at 1pc and doused hopes of further cuts despite a credit contraction over the winter and falls in the M3 money supply.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, said the bank had not even discussed possible rate cuts over coming months and brushed aside the latest slump warnings by International Monetary Fund.
"We are less pessimistic than the IMF, certainly," he said, insisting that eurozone data has begun to perk up with signs of "stabilisation at low levels".
The IMF expects eurozone GDP to shrink by 0.5pc this year, with drastic falls of 2.2pc in Italy and 1.7pc in Spain. It warned of a dangerous downward spiral if Europe's debt crisis is allowed to fester.
"Desperate Shot in the Dark" of Quantitative Easing "Will Boost Inflation & Gold" Say Analysts
By: Adrian Ash, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
London Gold Market Report
The WHOLESALE MARKET gold price slipped 0.6% to $1730 in London on Thursday morning, regaining most of that dip as the European Central Bank kept its key lending rate on hold and the Bank of England extended its purchases of UK government bonds to £325 billion ($515bn).
When completed, this new Quantitative Easing will see the Bank hold nearly one-third of the UK's outstanding national debt.
Dylan Ratigan: 'Greedy Bastards' Pt. 1
Sucking America dry
Dylan Ratigan: 'Greedy Bastards' Pt. 2
Money Market Funds are in the Fight of Their Lives
BY SHAH GILANI, Capital Waves Strategist, Money Morning
Money market funds aren't exactly the safe-haven investments they're cracked up to be.
In September 2008, when Lehman Brothers failed, money market investors fled funds in droves, exposing investors and capital markets across the globe to huge systemic risks.
Now, to better safeguard investors and prevent the commercial paper market from shutting down in future crises, SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro is proposing to re-make the money market mutual fund industry in the image of banks.
The insiders are selling heavily July was last time insiders were equally as bearish
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — Corporate insiders are now selling their companies’ stock at a rate not seen since late last July.
That’s a scary parallel indeed, since that late-July spike in selling came just days before one of the more painful two-week periods in the stock market in years.
In early August, as you may recall, the U.S. government lost its triple-A credit rating, and the bottom dropped out of the stock market. Between the last week of July and the second week of August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,000 points.
Gross Raises Treasury Holdings to 2010 Level
By Susanne Walker - Bloomberg.com
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross, a year after banishing U.S. government debt from the world’s biggest bond fund, increased his holdings of Treasuries to the highest level since July 2010.
Gross boosted the proportion of U.S. government and Treasury debt in Pimco’s $250.5 billion Total Return Fund in January to 38 percent from 30 percent in December, according to a report placed on the company’s website. He raised mortgages to 50 percent, the highest since June 2009, from 48 percent in December. Newport Beach, California-based Pimco doesn’t comment directly on monthly changes in its portfolio holdings.
US House passes bill banning insider trading by Congress House passes weaker version of Senate bill to bar Congress from using information they obtain on the job to profit from trades
Reuters - Guardian.co.uk
The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to curb insider trading by lawmakers and other government officials, despite objections from both Democrats and Republicans that it was weaker than a version passed by the Senate last week.
Postal Service loses $3.3 billion in first quarter
By Ed O'Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
The holidays weren’t merry or bright for the U.S. Postal Service.
The nation’s mail delivery service lost $3.3 billion in its first quarter, which runs from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 and encompasses the holiday shopping and shipping season.
Total mail volume reached 43.7 billion pieces, a 6 percent decrease from the previous year, USPS said. Revenues on first class and standard mail dropped 3.7 percent to $650 million.
The Postal Service Just Lost $3.3 Billion: Blame Congress Yet again, Washington's inability to compromise has real-world consequences worth billions of dollars
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
The slow disintegration of the U.S. Postal Service might be the single most embarrassing sign of how dysfunctional our federal government has become.
If not, it's got to at least be in the top five.
Today, the USPS announced a $3.3 billion quarterly loss. This wasn't a total surprise. Even though the holiday shopping season usually buoys its revenue, USPS has been losing money for five years. By now, we all know the post office is officially on fire. And, as you probably guessed, the House and Senate can't reach an agreement on how to save it.
Keiser Report: It's All Legal, Folks! (E246)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the supercommittee that runs America, the perils of Draghi's "blitz" and the IMF turnaround on austerity for Greece. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Gonzalo Lira about austerity, printing and running.
Landmark settlement
announced on foreclosure, mortgage fraud
By Brady Dennis and Sari Horwitz - WashingtonPost.com
State and federal officials on Thursday announced a settlement of $26 billion with five of the nation’s banks over flawed and fraudulent foreclosure practices that affected several million homeowners and became commonplace after the housing boom turned to bust in recent years. It is the largest government-industry settlement in more than a decade.
The deal marks the culmination of more than 16 months of negotiation between lenders and a collection of state and federal officials. It aims to help troubled borrowers by requiring the banks to reduce the amount borrowers owe on their mortgages, lowering their interest rates and paying restitution to homeowners who suffered mortgage-related abuses. It will force lenders to revamp how they interact with struggling mortgage holders and bar them from trying to foreclose on borrowers while simultaneously negotiating mortgage modifications.
Foreclosure Deal to Spur U.S. Home Seizures
By Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn - Bloomberg.com
The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may trigger a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely.
Lenders slowed the pace of foreclosures as they negotiated withattorneys general in all 50 states for more than a year over allegations of faulty and fraudulent paperwork used to repossess homes. With today’s agreement, banks are likely to resume property seizures.
Marc Faber - Stansberry Radio
Tim Berners-Lee Takes the Stand to Keep the Web Free
By Joe Mullin - Wired.com
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, testified in a courtroom Tuesday for the first time in his life. The web pioneer flew down from Boston, near where he teaches at MIT, to an eastern Texas federal court to speak to a jury of two men and six women about the early days of the web.
His trip is part of an effort by a group of internet companies and retailers trying to defeat two patents — patents that a patent-licensing company called Eolas and the University of California are saying entitle them to royalty payments from just about anyone running a website with “interactive” features, like rotating pictures or streaming video.
Coming Soon: Smart Television!
By Patrick Cox - DailyReckoning.com
02/09/12 Marco Island, Florida – My colleague Ray Blanco and I recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The big story this year was the convergence in consumer electronics. Specifically, it was the arrival of extraordinary high-definition 3-D as well as “smart” TVs. In fact, Ray and I had backstage passes for the biggest 3-D events.
We were also able to talk to executives, scientists and engineers at many cutting-edge technology company. Without a doubt, the hottest topics and most-dazzling presentations at CES this year involved televisions. When I say television, though, I’m talking about an entirely new iteration of the old technology.
Self-Interest and the Pathology of Power:
the Corruption of America Part 2 (February 9, 2012)
By Charles Hugh Smith - OfTwoMinds.com
The self-interest of the alcoholic is to keep drinking. Is this truly in his best interests? The answer illuminates the pathology of power in America.
If we ignore the lip-service showered on "reform," we find that there is really only one strategy in America: extend and pretend. Individuals, households, communities, cities, states, enterprises and the vast sprawling Empire of the Federal government and its many proxies--all are engaged in extend and pretend.
The closest analog is a seriously ill alcoholic who tells himself he just has a hang-over when it's abundantly clear he is suffering from potentially terminal cancer.With a hang-over, extend and pretend is the only strategy that works: you can try various "magic potions" to relieve the symptoms, but the only real cure is to give the body enough time to cleanse itself of the toxins you've created and pretend to be functioning in the meantime.
When the Powers-That-Be Can Label All Americans Terrorists, They Can Arbitrarily Harass Anyone They Dislike
Government Uses Anti-Terror Laws to Crush Dissent and Help the Too Big to Fail Businesses
Submitted by George Washington - ZeroHedge.com
For years, the government has been using anti-terror laws to crush dissent and to help the too big to fail businesses compete against smaller businesses (and see this).
This trend is getting worse by the day.
On January 31, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security’s Behavioral Science Division pointed to the following as indicators of potential terrorism (please note – as you review the list – that some indicators are conservative, some are liberal and some are bipartisan):
• “Reverent of individual liberty”
• “Anti-nuclear”
• “Believe in conspiracy theories”
• “A belief that one’s personal and/or national “way of life” is under attack”
• “Impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”
• “Insert religion into the political sphere”
• “Those who seek to politicize religion”
• “Supported political movements for autonomy”
• “Anti-abortion”
• “Anti-Catholic”
• “Anti-global”
• “Suspicious of centralized federal authority”
• “Fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”
• “A belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in … survivalism”
Given that most Americans fall into one or more of these categories, the powers-that-be can brand virtually anyone they dislike as being a terrorist.
FBI Terrorist Alert:
Beware of Those Who 'Reference the Constitution or Bible'
By Mark Alexander PatriotPost.us
Memo to Ron Paul supporters -- and anyone else interested in restoring constitutional integrity. "Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression." --James Madison (1788)
The FBI held a press conference this week on a terrorist alert bulletin, which it sent to every federal, state and local law enforcement agency across the country. Unfortunately, that bulletin continued a trend of "terrorist profiles" issued since Barack Hussein Obama has been in office. This particular alert identified such broad ideological characteristics that it can be construed to include the activities of tens of millions of law-abiding Americans.
The FBI counterterrorism division report concluded that those who believe that our government has exceeded its constitutional limits or are protesting for restoration of constitutional integrity might pose a threat. By that definition, anyone associated with the "Tea Party movement" is suspect, and that's the problem with this sweeping and politically motivated "bureaucrap."
Are YOU willing to defend The Constitution?
'We the People' Loses Appeal With People Around the World
By ADAM LIPTAK - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — The Constitution has seen better days.
Sure, it is the nation’s founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written national constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning.
In 1987, on the Constitution’s bicentennial, Time magazine calculated that "of the 170 countries that exist today, more than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S. version."
A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different. "The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere," according to a new study by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia.
[note: the use of biometric ID for travelers; beginning of the mark?]
DHS Announces Permanent Global Entry Program
By: George Dooley - TravelAgentCentral.com
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the publication of a final rule that would establish Global Entry—a U.S. Customs and Border Protection(CBP) voluntary initiative, which allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.
DHS says the move will streamline the international arrivals and admission process at airports for trusted travelers through biometric identification—as a permanent program.
"Global Entry expedites the customs and security process for trusted air travelers through biometric verification, while helping DHS ensure the safety of all airline passengers," said Secretary Napolitano. "Making Global Entry permanent will improve customer service at airports across the country and enable law enforcement to focus on higher-risk travelers."
* * * * *
Media Making Emergency Preparations To Cover War With Iran
by Alexander Higgins
Major western news outlets, including FOX, CBS, NBC and Reuters, rent rooftops, prepare emergency broadcast infrastructure, and deploy senior producers to Israel to cover war with Iran.
Israel news agencies are reporting the western media outlets are obtaining assets and gearing up infrastructure to provide live coverage of war with between Iran and Israel.
News outlets, including FOX, CBS, NBC and Reuters have started renting rooftops in Tel-Aviv and Helena to pprovide live video broadcast of a war that that those familiar with the situation say will start within the next few months.
Happy Hour: Niall Ferguson Calls For War w. Iran
In Response to Escalating Threats between West and Iran,
Iranian Official Calls On Regime To Attack Israel
By: Y. Mansharof & A. Savyon - MEMRI.org
Introduction
As the reciprocal war of words between the Western and Iranian media escalated, and in response to Israeli declarations regarding the necessity of stopping Iran's nuclear program with a military strike, Alireza Forghani, a staunch supporter of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei[1] and, until recently, governor of Kish Province, called on the Iranian regime to attack and annihilate Israel. His article, titled "Iran Must Attack Israel by 2014" and published February 4, 2012 on numerous pro-regime websites,[2] follows an article he published a month ago praising jihad against the Americans and emphasizing the Iranians' hope for a war in which they would die as martyrs.[3]
Iranian Parliament's Website: Attack Israel this Year Majlis says area between Lod and Jerusalem,
Tel Nof Air Base should be targeted.
Iranian blog: 9 minutes are enough to finish Israel.
By Gil Ronen - IsraelNationalNews.com
The Iranian parliament's official website has published an article calling on the government to attack Israel before the end of the year.
According to Israeli TV Channel 2's veteran Middle East expert, Ehud Yaari, the article cites three reasons for the call.
First – a religious fatwa allowing such a strike. Second – threats from Israel regarding a planned strike on Iran. And third – Iran's alleged military capability to carry out such an attack.
The article specifies that the area between Lod and Jerusalem should be targeted, as well as Tel Nof Air Force Base.
Global rabble rousers and hot heads promote hatred of Israel...
Global March to Jerusalem: Speakers at Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Conference Claim That Mosques in Jerusalem and Medina are 'Under Direct Threat of Jewish Designs'
MEMRI.org
On February 2-3, 2012, delegates from various countries in Asia converged in Karachi to discuss their preparations for a Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ).
The Global March to Jerusalem is an international march led by leftist and Islamic leaders. It aims to coordinate activists from various countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, who will form groups of marchers. From Asia, the march will set out from India on March 9 and proceed to Jordan. The GMJ follows the First Asian Convoy to Gaza (December 2010-January 2011).
U.S. military beginning review of Syria options
By Barbara Starr - CNN.com
Although the U.S. focus remains on exerting diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria, the Pentagon and the U.S. Central Command have begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities, CNN has learned.
The options are being prepared in the event President Barack Obama were to call for them. Two senior administration officials who spoke about the review to CNN emphasized that U.S. policy for now remains the use of non-military options.
The focus on diplomatic options was underscored by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
Fmr. Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff:
Russia Is Ready to Use Military Power to Defend Iran and Syria Former Member of Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov: Russia Is Ready to Use Military Power to Defend Iran and Syria; Attack on Syria or Iran Is Indirect Attack on Russia; U.S. in Libya Like Hitler in Poland
MEMRI.org Interviewer: "Dr. Leonid, do you think that these preparations and very large maneuvers, which will soon be conducted by Russia, are meant as preparation for war, or rather, a military strike against Iran?" […] Leonid Ivashov: "These maneuvers and training will demonstrate Russia's readiness to use military power to defend its national interests and to bolster its political position. The maneuvers will show that Russia does not want any military operations to be waged against Iran or Syria. I assume that the people in the West and in Israel who design the schemes for a large geopolitical operation in the greater Middle East region draw a direct connection between the situation in Syria and in Iran. Indeed, these two countries are allies, and both are considered guaranteed partners of Russia. The only question, therefore, is who they will try to destroy first as a stable country: Syria or Iran. […]
A Very Different Take
On The "Iran Barters Gold For Food" Story
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Much has been made of today's Reuters story how "Iran turns to barter for food as sanctions cripple imports" in which we learn that "Iran is turning to barter - offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tanker loads of oil - in return for food", and whose purpose no doubt is to demonstrate just how crippled the Iranian economy is as a result of the ongoing US embargo. Incidentally this story is 100% the opposite of the Debka-spun groundless disinformation from a few weeks ago that India was preparing to pay for Iran's oil in gold (they got the asset right, but the flow of funds direction hopelessly wrong). While there is certainly truth to the fact that the US is actively seeking to destabilize the local government, we wonder why? After all as the opportunity cost for the existing regime to do something drastic gets ever lower as the popular resentment rises, leaving the local administration with few options but to engage either the US or Israel. Unless of course, this is the ultimate goal. Yet going back to the Reuters story, it would be quite dramatic, if only it was not the case that Iran has been laying the groundwork for a barter economy for many months now, something which various other analysts perceive as the basis for the destruction of the petrodollar system.
Could Putin's Nationalist Crisis
Lead Russia to Redraw its Borders? The Russian leader is struggling to balance some of his country's most powerful social and historic forces.
EURASIANET - TheAtlantic.com
Don't look now, but Vladimir Putin, the man who wants to reclaim the Russian presidency in March, seems to be losing touch with one of his key constituencies - nationalists.
This development has several important implications for Russia, as well as for Russia's neighbors in Eurasia. It may improve the chances that Russia can find a balancing point between republican political ideals and nationalism, thus encouraging the development of a genuinely democratic nation-state. It just as easily may stimulate attempts to change Russia's current state borders, something that could have unpredictable repercussions.
Gorbachev: Russia faces turmoil as Putin won't change
By Guy Faulconbridge and Kiryl Sukhotski
(Reuters) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Thursday Russia faced turmoil because Vladimir Putin was unable and unwilling to carry out fundamental reform of a tightly-controlled political system.
Prime Minister Putin, facing the biggest protests of his 12-year rule, has tried to present himself to Russia's 109 million voters as a leader who can carry out gradual reform, after imposing order on the chaos of the 1990s.
Why Our Currency Will Fail
BY CHRIS MARTENSON PHD - FinancialSense.com
The idea that the very same economic forces that are currently plaguing Greece, et al., are somehow not relevant to the United States' circumstances does not hold water. As goes the rest of the world, so goes the US.
When we back up far enough, it is clear that money and debt are there to reflect and be in service to the production of real things by real people, not the other way around. With too much debt relative to production, it is the debt that will suffer. The same is true of money. Neither are magical substances; they are merely markers for real things. When they get out of balance with reality, they lose value, and sometimes even their entire meaning.
The High Cost of 0%
BY JIM WILLIE - FinancialSense.com
The interminable extension by the US Federal Reserve on the 0% rate into 2014 represents history in the making. It is the adoption of pure heresy in monetary policy, making it mainstream. Worse, it forces foreign central banks to adopt the same destructive policy in the Competing Currency War. Once upon a time, the highest priests from the central bank would admit in a guiding tone that accommodation on interest rates must be temporary. Nowadays it is engrained in the market mindset and permanent in monetary policy. The chronic 0% means the entire financial and monetary system is totally irreparably broken. The old pendulum where the tilt was toward bonds during recession, then toward stocks during recovery, that is all gone, shattered by the endless financial crisis. One must incorporate a new thinking, that the entire financial and monetary system is totally irreparably broken, then adapt in fierce defense. Larry Fink of Blackrock private equity firm made news today by suggesting that 0% bond yields offer no return on investment. How true! He did not offer any accurate reflection of reality that the financial structures are broken, nor that all attempts at remedy were flimsy and misdirected. He gave the ALL IN signal for buying stocks in 2012, thus putting on the risk trade. The immediate ancillary signal is to back up the truck and load up with GOLD also.
Trigger-happy central banks spark bond euphoria Corporate bonds have enjoyed a spectacular rally over the last month as central banks flood the world with liquidity, and cash-rich companies bask in glory as gilt-edged assets.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"The credit market's on fire," said Suki Mann at Societe Generale. "We have seen a massive grab for yield. The mood is so good that even if Greece were to default it would probably make no difference."
The average borrowing cost for high-grade US companies has dropped to 3.52pc, just shy of all-time lows. American firms took advantage of the hunt for safe yield to raise $70bn (£44bn) last week alone, led by McDonald's and IBM.
The recovery in Europe has been electric since the European Central Bank (ECB) opened the floodgates in December, lending banks €489bn (£410bn) at 1pc for three years, with more to come later this month.
Fed’s Williams: If Recovery Falters, QE3 Is on the Table
By Michael S. Derby, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- If the economic recovery falters, the Federal Reserve should provide more stimulus through bond buying to get things back on track, a top central bank official said Wednesday.
"The policy actions the Fed takes from here will depend on how economic conditions develop, and they will change as economic circumstances change," Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said.
Capturing the ECB
Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – Nothing illustrates better the political crosscurrents, special interests, and shortsighted economics now at play in Europe than the debate over the restructuring of Greece’s sovereign debt. Germany insists on a deep restructuring – at least a 50% “haircut” for bondholders – whereas the European Central Bank insists that any debt restructuring must be voluntary.
In the old days – think of the 1980’s Latin American debt crisis – one could get creditors, mostly large banks, in a small room, and hammer out a deal, aided by some cajoling, or even arm-twisting, by governments and regulators eager for things to go smoothly. But, with the advent of debt securitization, creditors have become far more numerous, and include hedge funds and other investors over whom regulators and governments have little sway.
Equity markets sing a different tune from IMF Global investor sentiment is now not only split down the middle, but the split is getting deeper and wider. The optimists and pessimists are further apart than ever.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
Those who insist "the worst is behind us" are clashing with those who fear we could face another big lurch.
I've noticed lately that such forecast polarisation is often apparent even within individuals. Seasoned financial professionals flit from bullish to bearish, from "risk on" to "risk off", sometimes within the same conversation. There is profound uncertainty, with recent share price rises seeming to compound the sense of confusion, rather than providing "relief".
Euro Declines as Greek Leaders
Fail to Agree on Pension Cuts for Bailout
By Masaki Kondo and Kristine Aquino - Bloomberg.com
The euro declined after Greek leaders failed to agree on pension cuts, threatening to derail negotiations with creditors to receive a rescue package.
The common currency weakened against 10 of its 16 major counterparts before euro-area finance ministers hold an emergency meeting in Brussels today. The pound held onto a decline from yesterday on prospects the Bank of England will expand its asset-purchase program at a meeting.
On again... Off again... Greece agrees on bailout terms Political leaders finally decide on a course that would avert a chaotic default for the debt-choked nation
By Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
After three days of high drama, political posturing and brinkmanship,Greece's coalition government reached a tentative agreement on the draconian terms required to unlock €130bn (£109bn) in aid for the crisis-hit country on Wednesday night, although the marathon negotiations were set to continue into the small hours.
One senior aide said that by the time the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, boarded a plane at 7am to attend Thursday's eurogroup meeting in Brussels, he would have the "finalised text of the agreement in his hands".
Treasuries Rise as Greek Leaders Fail
to Agree on Economic Austerity Plan
By Wes Goodman - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries snapped a two-day decline after Greek leaders failed to agree on economic measures needed to earn a second aid package, driving investor appetite for the relative safety of U.S. debt.
Demand for a haven from Europe’s fiscal crisis sent U.S. Treasuriessurging in the past year, with debt due in 10 years or longer returning 30 percent. The gain is second only to Ireland among 144 government bond indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies, after accounting for currency changes. The Treasury Department is scheduled to auction $16 billion of 30-year bonds today.
Greek deal prospects rise, euro ministers to meet
By Lefteris Papadimas and John O'Donnell
(Reuters) - Prospects for a deal on a second international bailout for Greece brightened on Wednesday when euro zone finance ministers were summoned to talks in Brussels while Greek political leaders met to approve a tough new reform and austerity program.
Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker invited ministers from the 17-nation single currency area to meet on Thursday evening and the International Monetary Fund said managing director Christine Lagarde would also attend.
China May Invest Tens of Billions
of Euros to Assist Europe, Academic Says
By Bloomberg News
China may "move shortly" to help Europe resolve its debt crisis by providing an investment of as much as 100 billion euros ($132 billion), said Yuan Gangming, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The money would probably go to the European Financial Stability Facility, the euro bailout fund, said Yuan, adding that the forecasts are his own and don’t necessarily represent government plans. Economists from the academy provide policy advice without direct involvement in decisions.
IMF Urges Beijing to Prepare Stimulus
[Google title for free article pass]
By SHEN HONG in Shanghai
and BOB DAVIS in Beijing - WSJ.com $$
China should be prepared to sharply stimulate its economy if Europe's growth falls more than anticipated, the International Monetary Fund said, adding to expectations that Beijing could turn to spending if conditions significantly worsen.
In its China economic outlook report released on Monday, the IMF urged China to run a deficit of 2% of GDP rather than looking to reduce the country's deficit as planned, given the uncertainty in the global economy.
Good reason to red-carpet Merkel
By Francesco Sisci - ATimes.com
BEIJING - If a political Europe is ever to be born, its conception will have been in Beijing last week, during the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Within a period of about nine months, the gestational period for humans, we shall know if this new polity will be really born or we shall witness a miscarriage or an abortion.
In the Chinese capital, Merkel, in fact, spoke as the head of a European government, not simply as the leader of one EU member state; and indeed China, long fond of the political European Union, treated her as such.
Greeks build fence to ward off asylum seekers
BY NIKOLAJ NIELSEN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Greece has started construction of a 12.6-km-long razor-wire-topped fence designed to keep out migrants, but described as "pointless" by the European Commission.
The fence, costing an estimated €5.5 million, is being built in the Evros region on the Greek-Turkish border where the vast majority of irregular migrants try to cross into the EU. It is to be completed in September.
The European Commission on Tuesday (7 February) said the fence is a national issue. But it also poured scorn on the project. "Fences and walls are short-term solutions to measures that do not solve the problem. The EU is not and will not co-finance this fence ... It is pointless," a spokesman for home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told press in Brussels.
Iran, Greece Fears Yield to Central Bankers, Stock Gains
By John Detrixhe and Flavia Krause-Jackson - Bloomberg.com
Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Syria’s bloody crackdown and Greece’s potential default are leaving markets unfazed as central bankers take unprecedented steps to prevent the global economy from crumbling.
The VIX, a measure of equity volatility known as the "fear index," fell to 17.1 on Feb. 3, the lowest level since July, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch MOVE index, which measures swings in bond prices, closed at 72.3 on Feb. 6, about the least since July 2007. JPMorgan Chase & Co's index of implied volatility on currencies dropped to 10.1 today, its lowest since March.
Francois Hollande will spark next euro crisis Small-town mayor out of his depth as French leader
By Matthew Lynn - MarketWatch.com
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Tulle sounds like a pleasant enough little place. A pretty market town in central France, it is in the heart of some fine farming country, and has a fine old cathedral. Still — and meaning no disrespect to its 15,000 people — a few years in charge of its parking permits and refuse collection hardly seems like the best qualification for dealing with potentially the greatest economic crisis that Europe has faced since the end of World War II.
Italy's premier pushes back on debt... Mario Monti, Italy’s prime minister,
aims to set a new growth agenda for Europe
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has slashed pensions, begun a broad economic restructuring and agreed to a European treaty that tightens fiscal controls — all in the name of proving his country is serious about controlling debt.
As he arrives for his first official visit with President Obama on Thursday, he’s begun pushing back.
With Europe at risk of a new recession, Monti is pressing what he sees as the next battle in the region’s financial crisis: finding ways to renew growth at a time when countries remain overburdened by debt and major powers such as Germany are intent on enforcing fiscal discipline.
Bernanke Economy Proves Critics Clueless on Fed
By Caroline Salas Gage - Bloomberg.com
The numbers are proving Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s critics wrong.
More than a year after Republicans from House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio to presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas warned that the Fed’s second round of asset purchases risked a sharp acceleration in prices, the surge has failed to materialize. The personal-consumption-expenditures price index rose 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in December, near the central bank’s 2 percent target.
Dispelling Mainstream Media
Pro-Fed Hype and Non-Inflation Myths
BY KARL DENNINGER - FinancialSense.com
.... Bloomberg, like the rest of the media and Bernanke himself, love to cite "core" inflation as well. But you don't live in a "core" world; you consume both food and energy. The CPI index says that for a "median" family about 15% of your budget will go to "food and beverages", with 7.8% of it being "food at home." For a median income of $50,000 this is $3,900 a year, or $325 a month. I can buy that number.
But what's it look like if you're making $12/hour and have $24,000 a year in income -- over the poverty line, but rather typical of "modern" blue collar wages? Is it still 7.8% of your budget or is it much higher? Of course it's much higher.
The U.S. and China: A Duel to the Debt
By Alex Dumortier - Fool.com
n this period of "exceptional uncertainty" (to quote Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke), where can investors turn for a considered perspective on the current environment? Produced to feed the beast of the 24-hour news cycle, the bulk of financial journalism and commentary today isn't worth the servers it is stored on. One notable exception to that rule is Buttonwood, the financial markets column of The Economist. Philip Coggan is the columnist -- arguably the most influential position in financial journalism (along with the head of Lex at the Financial Times).
Deciphering the headlines
With the developed world facing fiscal and monetary crises, Coggan's new book, Paper Promises: Debt, Money, and the New World Order, is a veritable enigma machine for investors who wish to decipher today's headlines (the U.S. edition was released Monday). In an email interview last week, Coggan shared his observations on some of the most pressing topics of the day. In the first of two articles, he explains why the current international monetary system is on its last legs and discusses the possibility of the Chinese renminbi replacing the dollar in a successor system:
Will MF Global Customer Interests Be Crushed by Big Banks?
By Matt Koppenheffer - Fool.com
I'm not a lawyer. I don't even play one on TV. As a result, one of the most difficult aspects of breaking down the MF Global(OTC: MFGLQ) case has been trying to understand how the legal system works in this kind of situation.
At this point, my nagging suspicion is that it simply doesn'twork. Or at the very least, a quagmire of overlapping rules and regulations has created a labyrinth that not even some of the sharpest legal minds (or at least some of the most well-paid legal minds) seem to be able to navigate.
Not that the legal issues are the only maze that those working on MF Global have had to navigate.
Congress May Crush Key Tool For IRA Inheritors
Deborah L. Jacobs, Forbes Staff
Don’t look now, but a provision buried in the latest transportation funding bill would deal a fatal blow to an important strategy for estate planning with IRAs.
The proposed legislation is the Highway Investment, Job Creation And Economic Growth Act of 2012. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) has recommended a provision that would limit the use of so-called stretch IRAs unless those accounts have been converted to a Roth. These modifications are described in comments which download here as a PDF.
Here’s the bottom line on stretch IRAs and how this proposal could affect your ability to benefit heirs with retirement assets.
Why Wall Street Should Stop Whining
By Matt Taibbi - RollingStone.com
Everybody on Wall Street is talking about the new piece by New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, entitled "The End of Wall Street as They Knew It."
The article argues that Barack Obama killed everything that was joyful about the banking industry through his suffocating Dodd-Frank reform bill, which forced banks to strip themselves of "the pistons that powered their profits: leverage and proprietary trading."
Having to say goodbye to excess borrowing and casino gambling, the argument goes, has cut into banking profits, leading to lower bonuses and more extreme decisions like Morgan Stanley’s recent dictum capping cash bonuses at $125,000. In response to that, Sherman quotes an unnamed banker:
The End of Wall Street as They Knew It After surprisingly successful financial reform, public vilification, and politics that have turned against them, the Masters of the Universe are masters no longer.
By Gabriel Sherman - NYMag.com
On Wall Street, bonus season is a sacred ritual. It is the annual rite where net worth and self-worth get elegantly reduced to a single number. During the 25-year boom that abruptly ended in 2008, the only principle that really mattered come bonus time was how you ranked against the guys to your right and left. The system was governed by a kind of atavistic justice: You eat what you kill. From the outside, the seven- and eight-figure payouts that star bankers earned could seem obscene, immoral even. But on the inside, the outlandish compensation reflected a strict, almost moral logic. "Wall Street is a meritocracy, for the most part," as a senior Citigroup executive put it to me recently. "If someone has a bonus, it’s because they created value for their institution." The sanctity of the bonus was built on the idea that Wall Street pay was simply the natural order of capitalism.
ObamaCare's Great Awakening HHS tells religious believers to go to hell. The public notices.
WSJ.com
The political furor over President Obama's birth-control mandate continues to grow, even among those for whom contraception poses no moral qualms, and one needn't be a theologian to understand why. The country is being exposed to the raw political control that is the core of the Obama health-care plan, and Americans are seeing clearly for the first time how this will violate pluralism and liberty.
***
In late January the Health and Human Services Department required almost all insurance plans to cover contraceptive and sterilization methods, including the morning-after pill. The decision came after passionate lobbying by religious groups and liberals from the likes of Planned Parenthood, amid government promises of compromise.
Jobs rebound dampens QE3 prospects: Fed officials
By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer
(Reuters) - The pick-up in jobs has caught the eye of two top Federal Reserve officials who said on Wednesday that continued improvement in the beleaguered labor market dampens prospects for more economic stimulus measures from the central bank.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker pointed to better-than-expected data in recent months that show the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, a still-high level that casts intrigue on the Fed's next move to boost the economy, if any.
New York, California Said to Be Signing
on to Multistate Foreclosure Deal
By David McLaughlin - Bloomberg.com
New York and California are joining a multistate accord with banks over foreclosure practices, a person familiar with the matter said today.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who have been among the most outspoken in pushing for changes to the accord, were among those who hadn’t joined as of a Feb. 6 deadline. More than 40 states signed on, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is helping to lead talks with the banks, said that day.
Meet the Obscure Federal Regulator
Who’s Not Helping Homeowners
By Cora Currier, ProPublica - via Truthdig.com
Last week, ProPublica and NPR raised questions about a risky investment strategy at Freddie Mac that would pay off if homeowners stayed trapped in expensive mortgages. It’s just the latest example of how government-owned Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae havefrustrated many by not putting homeowners first.
Fannie and Freddie are required to help homeowners while earning profits so they can pay back the taxpayers who bailed them out. Here is our guide to the little-known federal regulator, Edward DeMarco, ultimately in charge of the two companies. You may have never heard of him, but as The Washington Post put it, he’s "the most powerful man in housing policy."
States Negotiate $25 Billion Deal for Homeowners
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and SHAILA DEWAN - NYTimes.com
After months of painstaking talks, the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $25 billion settlement that could provide relief to more than two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad government settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide.
Postwar Rent Controls
Mises Daily: by Robert L. Scheuttinger and Eamonn F. Butler
The rent that a landlord charges for his accommodation is merely an instance of a price for a commodity, like all other prices for all other commodities. And like all other prices and all other commodities, rents have been a prime target for government restrictions. The postwar experience with rent control has been particularly revealing in regard to the adequacy of controls in general.
Governments have three main reasons for imposing rent control. The first is the fear that those who can pay will get all the housing and the poor will be left in the cold. The second is that landlords benefit too much from rents that can be indefinitely raised. The third is that a rise in rents is a form of inflation, and so should not be allowed.
100 million working age Americans don't have jobs. What Are We Going To Do If The Number Of American Adults That Can't Take Care Of Themselves Continues To Set New Records?
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Today, the number of American adults that can't take care of themselves is at an all-time record high. So what are we going to do if the number of people dependent on the government keeps going up? Some folks like to point out that most Americans that have recently become dependent on the government would rather be working, but because of a lack of jobs they have gotten into a position where they cannot take care of themselves anymore. Some other folks like to point out that the number of Americans that abuse the system and that enjoy being dependent on the government is steadily increasing. Sadly, both of those positions are true. It is a fact that the percentage of working age Americans that actually have jobs has declined dramatically over the past several years because of a lack of jobs. It is also a fact that a growing percentage of Americans believe that it is the job of the government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave. What people need to understand is that the government is the problem and not the solution. We desperately need more jobs in this country, but the federal government has been absolutely killing job growth, it has been creating a culture of government dependency, and it has been going into gigantic amounts of debt trying to take care of so many people. So what are we going to do if the number of American adults that can't take care of themselves continues to set new records year after year?
Speaking Up Is Hard to Do: Researchers Explain Why
By Elizabeth Bernstein - WSJ.com
Robert Murphy, an online marketing representative in San Francisco, was invited to a business meeting with his boss and six colleagues a few weeks ago. He had attended previous meetings on the subject, and he prepared with additional research. He brought a thick sheaf of notes and contracts with him to the conference room.
So what did he contribute to the discussion? Absolutely nothing.
"I just sat there like a lump, fixated on the fact that I was quiet," says Mr. Murphy, 31 years old.
Goldman’s Hawker Beechcraft
Names 'Turnaround Kid' Steve Miller as CEO
By Mary Schlangenstein - Bloomberg.com
Hawker Beechcraft Inc., the jet maker partly owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), named turnaround specialist Steve Miller as chief executive officer as the company works to avoid breaching debt covenants.
Miller’s hiring spurred American International Group Inc. (AIG), the bailed-out insurer for which he is chairman, to review succession plans. Miller, 70, was designated in 2010 to serve as interim CEO at AIG in the event that Robert Benmosche has to step down while fighting cancer.
The new chief takes over immediately at Wichita, Kansas- based Hawker Beechcraft, which has been close to violating loan terms as a softer global economy saps business-aircraft demand. Hawker Beechcraft hired Perella Weinberg Partners LP as a financial adviser in December, and its bonds have been tumbling.
U.S. Likely to Approve Google Bid for Motorola
By Jeff Bliss - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Justice Department will probably give antitrust approval next week to Google Inc. (GOOG)’s bid for Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and to plans by a consortium led by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) to buy Nortel Network Corp. patents, said two people familiar with the matter.
In its investigation of the deals, the Justice Department became concerned with the increasing tendency of patent holders suing to stop other companies from using their essential smartphone technology, one of the people said. The department will continue to examine companies such as Google that haven’t sworn off the practice, one of the people said.
Florida’s poor can use food stamps to buy staples like milk, vegetables, fruits and meat. But they can also use them to buy sweets like cakes, cookies and Jell-O and snack foods like chips, something a state senator [Ronda Storms] wants stopped.
....[Her] bill would also require the state to launch a culturally sensitive campaign to educate people about the benefits of a nutritious diet. Supporters say it would help recipients follow healthy eating habits and prevent taxpayer funds from being used to purchase luxury foods like bakery cakes when they can whip up a cheaper box mix.
What a dilemma. On the one hand, this bill promotes the exact same nanny-state behavior that Republicans howl about when Michelle Obama or Michael Bloomberg starts nattering on about salt consumption or fatty foods. On the other hand, it punishes welfare recipients, something that's always good for a round of applause from right-wing audiences. What's a conscientious conservative to do?
New York's Koch-Fueled Binge:
Saltz and Davidson on Distasteful Donations
By Jerry Saltz and Justin Davidson - NYMag.com
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced plans to renovate its double-fountain Fifth Avenue plaza with $60 million of David H. Koch’s money. Koch, a libertarian Tea Party backer, and sworn enemy of many progressive causes, takes political positions anathema to many who benefit from his largesse. The latest donation prompted art critic Jerry Saltz and architecture critic Justin Davidson to discuss whether arts institutions should take any and all donations, however distasteful they might find the donor.
McCarthy, Beck, and the New Hate For more than 60 years, a feedback loop of conspiracy theories has flared when tough times make people long for order and control.
By Arthur Goldwag - TheAtlantic.com
Flash back half a century and you'll hear much of the same agitated rhetoric that we hear today. On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy stood before a woman's Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, and declared that the U.S. was engaged in "a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity." The odds, he intimated, were very much against us.
"The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency," he said, is "because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this Nation."
Homegrown Terrorism Has Shrunk to Minuscule Proportions
By Kevin Drum - MotherJones.com
Today's chart comes from Charles Kurzman of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security. It shows the steady decline over the past decade in indictments forsupport of terrorist attacks in the United States: [see chart]
The number of violent plots carried out by Muslim-Americans was also down substantially in 2011, and virtually all of them were disrupted early. From the report: "Of the 20 Muslim-Americans accused of violent terrorist plots in 2011 only one, Yonathan Melaku, was charged with carrying out an attack, firing shots at military buildings in northern Virginia. Nobody was injured."
FBI warns of threat from anti-government extremists
By Patrick Temple-West
(Reuters) - Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.
These extremists, sometimes known as "sovereign citizens," believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.
The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.
Fisker is not another Solyndra ... yet
By Peter Valdes-Dapena and Steve Hargreaves - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- When Fisker Automotive announced it was laying off about two dozen workers at its Delaware factory, comparisons arose to Solyndra, the solar cell manufacturer that went bankrupt despite billions of dollars in U.S. government help.
Yes, the California based electric car maker and Solyndra both got a lot of government assistance, but analysts say those comparisons are unfair and premature.
Honda messed with the wrong woman Ordinary dispute becomes a PR nightmare
By Al Lewis
DENVER (MarketWatch) — Things to note about Heather Peters, the 46-year-old consumer who recently humiliated American Honda Motor Co. Inc. in a California small claims court and turned an ordinary customer dispute into a public relations nightmare:
• She used to drive BMWs and other high-end vehicles. She bought her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid because she was down on her luck and thought it would get 50 miles per gallon as advertised.
• She wasn’t some failed, two-bit lawyer who let her law license lapse. She practiced business litigation, defending corporations. She worked at Barger & Wolen, which has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Calif., New York and London.
Google Privacy Changes Must Be Stopped,
Argues Lawsuit Seeking FTC Action
By Sara Forden - Bloomberg.com
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s planned changes to its privacy policy violate a consent order signed with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last year and should be blocked, a Washington advocacy group said in a lawsuit.
Google’s plan to streamline privacy settings for some 60 different services and products on March 1 would allow the company to combine more information about users, reduce users’ control of their own data and give more personal information to advertisers, theElectronic Privacy Information Center said. The group seeks to compel the FTC to enforce the consent decree.
Scaled-back ethics measure
moves toward approval in House
By Paul Kane - WashingtonPost.com
A scaled-back ethics bill headed toward likely passage in the House on Thursday despite complaints from senators that Republican leaders had jettisoned several key provisions thatwon overwhelming Senate support last week.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) unveiled legislation that formally bans lawmakers and staff members from making financial trades based on non-public information they receive in their positions. Rather than holding an open, freewheeling debate, as the Senate did last week, House Republicans have put the ethics legislation on a fast-track schedule that forbids amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for passage.
Open Letter to Congress on SOPA: Take a Breath
by Michael del Castillo - Portfolio.com
It’s not often that dozens of organizations with disparate agendas gather together under a single cause and ask Congress to think. But yesterday, February 6, that’s exactly what approximately 70 organizations, including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, human rights groups, a group of moms and a comedy site—did and the cause that drew them together was the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).
"Now is the time for Congress to take a breath, step back, and approach the issues from a fresh perspective," the groups wrote in a joint letter addressed to Congress.
The letter asked members of Congress to take time to think about the true extent of online infringement, and to do so using "unbiased sources" and in the public's eye.
Obama’s Middle East Malady
Zaki Laidi - Project-Syndicate.org
PARIS – No sooner did US President Barack Obama welcome home American troops from Iraq and laud that country’s stability and democracy than an unprecedented wave of violence – across Baghdad and elsewhere – revealed the severity of Iraq’s political crisis. Is that crisis an unfortunate exception, or, rather, a symptom of the failure of Obama’s Middle East diplomacy, from Egypt to Afghanistan?
Syria: rockets rain down on Homs as violence escalates More than 200 rockets fall in space of three hours on opposition-controlled suburb of Baba Amr, according to residents
By Julian Borger, Luke Harding
and Chris McGreal in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
The Assad government escalated its military onslaught on the Syrian opposition with the most intense bombardment of rebel-held areas so far, as the west and the Arab world scrambled to find a new diplomatic strategy without Russian and Chinese help.
Tanks and heavy artillery were used on an unprecedented scale, according to witnesses. More than 200 rockets fell in the space of three hours on just one part of Homs, the opposition-controlled suburb of Baba Amr, residents said.
China’s Syrian Folly
By Steve Tsang - Project-Syndicate.org
NOTTINGHAM – In vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s draft resolution on Syria, China claims that it has acted in the interests of the Syrian people, a position articulated in the People’s Daily, the newspaper of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, in a commentary appearing under the pen name Zhong Sheng. The characters for "Zhong Sheng" mean the sound of a bell, but they are phonetically the same as "the voice of China." The word play was no accident: the voice of China on this issue is as clear as a bell.
Iran envoy:
We could hit US forces anywhere in world if attacked Reported remarks by ambassador to Russia come as sanctions tighten financial noose on Iran
msnbc.com news services
DUBAI — Iran is capable of hitting U.S. military forces anywhere in the world if attacked by the United States, its ambassador to Moscow was quoted as saying at a news conference on Wednesday.
Reuters reproted that Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi saying the United States would be making a mistake if it carried out a military strike on Iran, although Washington has announced no such plans.
Will Iran Be Attacked?
By Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org
Washington has made tremendous preparations for a military assault on Iran. There is speculation that Washington has called off its two longest running wars–Iraq and Afghanistan–in order to deploy forces against Iran. Two of Washington’s fleets have been assigned to the Persian Gulf along with NATO warships. Missiles have been spread amongst Washington’s Oil Emirate and Middle Eastern puppet states. US troops have been deployed in Israel and Kuwait.
Washington has presented Israel a gift from the hard-pressed american taxpayers of an expensive missile defense system, money spent for Israel when millions of unassisted americans have lost their homes. As no one expects Iran to attack Israel, except in retaliation for an Israeli attack on Iran, the purpose of the missile defense system is to protect Israel from an Iranian response to Israeli aggression against Iran.
U.S. and Israel Split on Ways to Deter Iran
By MARK LANDLER and DAVID E. SANGER - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Amid mounting tensions over whether Israel will carry out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and Israel remain at odds over a fundamental question: whether Iran’s crucial nuclear facilities are about to become impregnable.
Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, coined the phrase “zone of immunity” to define the circumstances under which Israel would judge it could no longer hold off from an attack because Iran’s effort to produce a bomb would be invulnerable to any strike. But judging when that moment will arrive has set off an intense debate with the Obama administration, whose officials counter that there are other ways to make Iran vulnerable.
International 'militarisation' in Syria
growing closer, warns US official The international community may be forced to 'militarise' the crisis in Syria unless president Bashar al-Assad stops the onsalught on his people, a senior US official warned on Wednesday.
By Alex Spillius - Telegraph.co.uk
The official from the State Department told The Daily Telegraph that while the White House wants to exhaust all its diplomatic options, the debate in Washington has shifted away from diplomacy and towards more robust action since Russia and China blocked a United Nations resolution condemning Syria.
The Pentagon’s Central Command has begun a preliminary internal review of US military capabilities in the region, which one senior official called a "scoping exercise" that would provide options for the president if and when they were requested.
In the Bullring with Gold
BY FRANK HOLMES - FinancialSense.com
After prices fell 10 percent in December, many investors wondered if the bull market in gold was running out of steam. That was before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke swooped in with a "red cape" and fired the bulls back up. Since the Fed reassured the world that interest rates will remain at "exceptionally low levels" for another two years, gold has jumped more than three percent.
UBS described the situation simply, "if investors needed a (further) reason why they should be long gold now, they got it yesterday … a more accommodative policy is a very good foundation for gold to build on the next move higher."
Gold, silver and platinum to remian bullish in 2012
CommodityOnline.com
The Gold Report: Byron, anyone who reads your reports knows two things: you like to tell stories and you like precious metals. The gold price has spent the last 11 years trending higher. Do you see it continuing upward?
Byron King: I anticipate that gold, silver and platinum will all continue to rise in price. There are currency-driven reasons why metal prices are going to keep rising, as well as other issues with overall supply and falling production.
In terms of production, the gold and the platinum production spaces are very precarious. A few very bad things could happen at random and knock global production for a loop and seriously impact supply. Think in terms of a major mine accident in, say, South Africa. Supply could fall off a cliff overnight.
Where a Nation’s Gold and Your Gold Should be Held – Part I
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
Purpose of Holding Gold
Most central banks hold their nation’s gold in the vaults of the world’s leading financial centers’ central bank vaults. These include New York, London, and Canada among others. In a peaceful, cooperative world, this is sensible as one of the prime purposes of central banks holding gold is to cover the nation’s international trade payments when their own currency becomes unacceptable and their reserves of foreign exchange are depleted. By positioning the gold outside the country, it’s instantly accessible for payments or guarantees of payments.
PIMCO's El-Erian favors bonds, gold
By Sam Forgione
(Reuters) - Given the fragile state of the global economy and brewing geopolitical risks, investors should be underweight equities while favoring "selected commodities" such as gold and oil, Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-chief investment officer of bond fund giant PIMCO, told CNBC on Tuesday.
El-Erian also said that bond investors should "concentrate exposures seven years and within because that's what the Fed can secure in terms of the yield curve." He added that investors should be "careful of the long end of the yield curve, which is more vulnerable."
Palladium could surge by 125% within 10 months
CommodityOnline.com
By Brett Eversole
You've probably never considered this precious metal before. But you should today...
The last time a trade like this set up, investors walked away with a double in just 10 months. And every similar trade in the last seven years was a winner.
At DailyWealth, we love "contrarian" investing ideas. The more an investment idea is hated, the more we're ready to step up and buy. At the point of maximum pessimism, there probably aren't many people left to sell... and just a little bit of buying interest can turn things around.
It's 1980 Again
Mises Daily: by Doug French
Discussion of gold has gone from nonexistent a decade ago to the question of whether its price is in bubble territory, and now a policy question in the Republican primary. Ron Paul has been stumping for a return to the gold standard for decades, and the populace has finally caught up.
The issue resonates with young people who worry about a dire future with a dollar crash and nationwide poverty. The gold issue is hot enough that Newt Gingrich has promised to appoint a gold commission, with The Case for Goldcoauthor Lewis Lehrman and Jim Grant as cochairman.
The Fed Resumes Printing
BY BUD CONRAD - FinancialSense.com
The Federal Reserve recently announced important policy changes after its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Here are the three most important takeaways, in its own words:
• The Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions – including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run – are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.
• The Committee judges that inflation at the rate of 2 percent, as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate. In the most recent projections, FOMC participants' estimates of the longer-run normal rate of unemployment had a central tendency of 5.2 percent to 6.0 percent.
• The Fed released FOMC participants' target federal funds rate for the next few years.
It's Time To End the Greek Rescue Farce Whether it be an escrow account or a budget commissioner, the latest demands by Germany show just how absurd negotiations over Greece's future have become. It is high time to bring an end to this tragicomedy.
A Commentary By Stefan Kaiser - Spiegel.de
For the past two years, Greece has wrangled with the euro-zone states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over its so-called "rescue." Austerity measures have been agreed to, aid has been paid and private creditors have been forced to accept "voluntary" debt haircuts. Despite all this, Greece is in even worse shape today than it was then. Its economy is shrinking, the debt ratio is rising and the country and its banks have been cut off from capital markets. There isn't even the slightest sign that the situation might improve. Something has gone very wrong with this rescue.
China Bail Out Europe?
Quite The Opposite Actualy,
As Chinese Banks Cut European Exposure
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Hardly a week passes without some washed out, discredited legacy media outfit bringing up the "China will bail out Europe" rumor from the dead if only for a few minutes, just so the robots which have now shifted from stocks to the EURUSD, ramp the currency higher and stop out the weak housewife hands. So while we know what the wishful thinking within the status quo (and those who wish to receive its advertising dollars) is, here is the reality. From Reuters which translates China's Financial News: "Chinese banks and companies in the northern port city of Tianjin have cut their exposure to Europe as the euro zone debt crisis festers. In a recent survey of 53 banks and 15 firms done by the local foreign exchange regulator, 11 banks said they had cut or stopped trade finance for European countries with high debt risk, suspended derivatives business with European banks, cut or stopped lending to foreign peers, particularly those from Europe, the newspaper said."
Dr. Nick Skrekas on Greece-Troika Austerity
& Bailout Unpopular Failures -6 Feb 2012
Greek trump card fails
as stronger Europe shrugs off break-up threat Europe’s dominant powers and institutions are for the first time willing to risk a Greek default and ejection from the euro if Athens refuses to comply with austerity demands, calculating that the eurozone system is now strong enough to withstand a contagion shock.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The European Central Bank’s flood of cheap credit for three years has removed the immediate threat of a banking crisis and proved a powerful tonic for confidence, transforming the character of the crisis.
Bond yields have plummeted in both Italy and Spain since November, largely decoupling from the ups and down of daily events in Athens. The effect has been to nullify Greece’s trump card: the implicit threat to bring down the whole edifice if treated too harshly.
Europe Decides Not to Play America’s Game
By William Pfaff - Truthdig.com
The annual Munich Security Conference is regularly the scene for the complaints of American official and semiofficial participants deploring Europe’s failure "to pull its weight" in defense, "free-riding" on American efforts, and failing to spend more money on trans-Atlantic arms purchases. Instead they spend money on their own-make arms and military aircraft, such as the French Rafale and EADS’ Eurofighter, which they sell to such overseas markets as India that might otherwise buy American.
Courtesy restrains the European participants from asking what the threat is, against which Europe is being defended by the United States. The complaint reasonable Americans usually make in this matter is that the U.S. is massively over-armed against any existing or plausible future threat to the United States itself.
Why France Might Copy America's New Deal,
in a Very French Way Presidential candidate François Hollande wants to channel Franklin Roosevelt, with a twist.
By Heather Horn - TheAtlantic.com
Should France get a New Deal of its own? How about a "French dream"? Americans watching the French presidential election and listening to Socialist Party candidate François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy's leading challenger, are likely to find a lot of his terms and ideas strangely familiar.
"Culture is part of the French dream," Hollande declared at an event in Nantes in January, echoing a familiar campaign slogan. The French Dream is also the title of his collection of speeches, released last August. "Culture is not a cost, not an expense, but an investment," Hollande continued at Nantes. Culture is the antidote to the current "fear of the other, the sense of decline," and "French culture abroad is a way to make our language, our production, and paradoxically our economy more prominent," he said.
Bernanke repeats vow to shield U.S. from Europe fallout
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday renewed a pledge to prevent Europe's financial crisis from damaging the U.S. economy in testimony before Congress that mirrored remarks he made last week.
"We are in frequent contact with European authorities, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely and take every available step to protect the U.S. financial system and the economy," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Senate Budget Committee.
The Fed chairman maintained a cautious tone on the U.S. outlook and did not refer to surprisingly strong U.S. jobs data released on Friday.
Keiser Report: It's All Legal, Folks! (E246)
Bernanke tells Senate:
Focus on growth now, deficit cuts later
By Suzy Khimm - WashingtonPost.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke kept to his message of caution on Tuesday, warning a Senate panel that sharp spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect in early 2013 could slow the nation's economic recovery if federal officials do not take further action.
Despite the recent upturn in the jobs market, Bernanke said while testifying before the Senate Budget Committee on the state of the economy, "the pace of the recovery has been frustratingly slow." He cautioned the lawmakers not to impede near-term growth in the name of cutting the long-term deficit, reiterating the arguments he made to the House Budget Committee last week.
Will the Government Put Money Market Funds Out of Business?
By Megan McArdle - TheAtlantic.com
Immediately after Lehman Brothers failed, a money market mutual fund called Reserve Primary "broke the buck"--it did not have enough money in its coffers to pay the shareholders what they'd had. Since money market funds are essentially used as bank accounts, this was a big problem--and it triggered a bank run on the money markets, which ended only when the government stepped in and said it would backstop these funds.
Despite their major role in the financial crisis, these funds haven't attracted nearly as much attention in the press, or the wonk-world, as more theatrical financial instruments like synthetic CDOs. Not many financial journalists own synthetic CDOs. Most of us probably have money market accounts.
Industry attacks SEC proposals
to regulate money market funds
By Christopher Condon - WashingtonPost.com
The mutual-fund industry rejected plans for new rules governing money market funds, escalating a three-year confrontation with regulators over how to make the investments safer.
Two proposals being worked on by the Security and Exchange Commission’s staff "are neither constructive nor likely to make financial markets more resilient," Paul Schott Stevens, president and chief executive of the Investment Company Institute, said in a statement posted on the group’s Web site.
A Recovery, if We Can Keep It The evidence is mounting that the U.S. recovery is really, truly gathering momentum. Let's just hope Europe and Washington do their jobs.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
When the January unemployment report showed job creation accelerating and the unemployment rate dropping, I declared it a turn-the-corner moment for the recovery.
The evidence is mounting that the recovery is on -- really, truly on -- as Tuesday delivered four pieces of good news that touch all corners of the improving economy. First, the Dow just hit its highest closing level since May 2008. Second, the number of unemployed people per job opening* fell below 4.0 (from a high of nearly 7.0) for the first time since the end of 2008. Third, consumer borrowing rose by far more than analysts expected in December, we learned this afternoon, which suggests that consumers are rediscovering their appetite for debt. Fourth, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified today that the falling unemployment rate probably understates the weakness of the job market. That sounds like bad news for the job market -- and the job market is indeed rife with bad news -- but it bodes well for advocates of monetary support for the economy. The worse Bernanke thinks the economy is, the more likely the Federal Reserve will consider extraordinary means to keep pushing the recovery into overdrive.
ILLUSION OF RECOVERY – FEELINGS VERSUS FACTS
By James Quinn
The last week has offered an amusing display of the difference between the cheerleading corporate mainstream media, lying Wall Street shills and the critical thinking analysts like Zero Hedge, Mike Shedlock, Jesse, and John Hussman. What passes for journalism at CNBC and the rest of the mainstream print and TV media is beyond laughable. Their America is all about feelings. Are we confident? Are we bullish? Are we optimistic about the future? America has turned into a giant confidence game. The governing elite spend their time spinning stories about recovery and manipulating public opinion so people will feel good and spend money. Facts are inconvenient to their storyline. The truth is for suckers. They know what is best for us and will tell us what to do and when to do it.
Bernanke Says 8.3% Unemployment
Understates Weakness in U.S. Labor Market
By Craig Torres and Josh Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the 8.3 percent rate of unemployment in January understates weakness in the U.S. labor market.
"It is very important to look not just at the unemployment rate, which reflects only people who are actively seeking work," Bernanke said today in response to questions at a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee in Washington. "There are also a lot of people who are either out of the labor force because they don’t think they can find work" or in part- time jobs.
Goldman: No Labor Force Participation Rebound in Sight
by CalculatedRisk
In a research note released last night, Goldman Sachs economist Sven Jari Stehn looked at the population revisions from the 2010 Census and argued that there is "No Labor Force Participation Rebound in Sight".
This is a key point. Some of the recent decline in the participation rate was expected due to demographics (mostly aging of the population), but most analysts expected some rebound in the participation rate this year as the economy (hopefully) improves. Goldman is now expecting the participation rate to stay flat through 2013.
California not among states that OK bank settlement More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.
By Alejandro Lazo and Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington— More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.
"This enables us to move forward into the very final stages of remaining work," said Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller, who heads the multi-state settlement negotiations. "Federal and state officials, as well as representatives from the banks, continue to address matters that they must complete before finalizing any settlement."
The Downward Mobility of the American Middle Class,
and Why Mitt Romney Doesn’t Know
By Robert Reich
January’s increase in hiring is good news, but it masks a bigger and more disturbing story – the continuing downward mobility of the American middle class.
Most of the new jobs being created are in the lower-wage sectors of the economy – hospital orderlies and nursing aides, secretaries and temporary workers, retail and restaurant. Meanwhile, millions of Americans remain working only because they’ve agreed to cuts in wages and benefits. Others are settling for jobs that pay less than the jobs they’ve lost. Entry-level manufacturing jobs are paying half what entry-level manufacturing jobs paid six years ago.
Student debt pushing more people toward bankruptcy,
lawyers say More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys have seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys says.
By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times
Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday.
More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys say they've seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, with nearly half the lawyers reporting a significant increase in such cases, according to the report by the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.
Nearly one-quarter of attorneys say the number of potential student loan clients has risen 50% to 100%, while 39% of attorneys report increases of 25% to 50%.
According To A New DHS Report,
If You Love "Individual Liberty"
Of If You "Believe In Conspiracy Theories"
You Are A Potential Terrorist
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Do you love America? Are you against a one world economy and a one world government? Do you deeply love individual liberty? Do you believe in conspiracy theories? If you answered any of those questions affirmatively, then you are a potential terrorist according to a brand new Department of Homeland Security report that was just released in January 2012. The report is entitled "Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970 to 2008", and it was produced by the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" for the Department of Homeland Security. As you will see detailed later on in this article, the most shocking part of this report is when it discusses the "ideological motivations" of potential terrorists. The report shamelessly attempts to portray red-blooded Americans that love liberty and that love their country as the enemy. Once upon a time, deeply patriotic Americans were considered to be the backbone of America, but today they are considered to be potential terrorists.
Believe In A Return To The Gold Standard?
You Are Now Officially An Extremist According To The FBI
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just when we thought the US could not sink any further in its usurpation of civil rights, here comes the FBI to advise all those who tend to think that the broken economic model of the past century is the cause for the global insolvency, that wanton fiat diluation and reckless debt issuance does not 'fix' the problem of uber-leverage, and that the gold standard is the proper way to return to monetary stability, will henceforth be considered extremists. From Reuters: "Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday. These extremists, sometimes known as "sovereign citizens," believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference." And the most epic line ever written: "The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard." So... the US did not go bankrupt by going off the gold standard? But why did the US "go bankrupt" then? We are confused.
02.05.2012 Judge Napolitano Rant: What If....
Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress
By Shaun Waterman-The Washington Times
Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s … a drone, and it’s watching you. That’s what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congresspassed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace.
The FAA Reauthorization Act, which PresidentObama is expected to sign, also orders theFederal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015.
Privacy advocates say the measure will lead to widespread use of drones for electronic surveillance by police agencies across the country and eventually by private companies as well.
3D printing is a reality... 83-year-old has jaw replaced by 3D-printed mandible
By Mark Brown - Wired.co.uk
Belgian and Dutch doctors have replaced an 83-year-old woman's badly infected jaw with a bespoke 3D-printed mandible.
The lower jaw of the elderly woman needed to be removed, which would normally affect vital functions like breathing, speaking, chewing, and swallowing. Traditional reconstructive surgery is a lengthy and risky process, especially considering the age of the patient.
So instead, a tailor-made implant was created. Metal-focused additive manufacturer LayerWise from Leuven in Belgium used a method developed by the Research Institute Biomed at Hasselt University, also in Belgium, to create the fake jaw.
Farmers Plan Biggest U.S. Crop Boost Since 1984,
Led by Corn: Commodities
By Jeff Wilson and Whitney McFerron - Bloomberg.com
U.S. farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, taking advantage of the highest agricultural prices in at least four decades.
They will sow corn, soybeans and wheat on 226.9 million acres, the most since 1984, a Bloomberg survey of 36 farmers, bankers and analysts showed. The 2.5 percent gain means an expansion the size of New Jersey, as growers target fields left fallow last year and land freed up from conservation programs.
Why Is Global Shipping Slowing Down So Dramatically?
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
If the global economy is not heading for a recession, then why is global shipping slowing down so dramatically? Many economists believe that measures of global shipping such as the Baltic Dry Index are leading economic indicators. In other words, they change before the overall economic picture changes. For example, back in early 2008 the Baltic Dry Indexbegan falling dramatically. There were those that warned that such a rapid decline in the Baltic Dry Index meant that a significant recession was coming, and it turned out that they were right. Well, the Baltic Dry Index is falling very rapidly once again. In fact, on February 3rd the Baltic Dry Index reached a low that had not been seen since August 1986. Some economists say that there are unique reasons for this (there are too many ships, etc.), but when you add this to all of the other indicators that Europe is heading into a recession, a very frightening picture emerges. We appear to be staring a global economic slowdown right in the face, and we all need to start getting prepared for that.
FHA Streamlines Approvals,
While Toughening Up on Large Loans
By Jerry Ascierto - HousingFinance.com
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently greased the wheels on its notoriously slow approval process, and the move is already paying dividends.
At the end of December, the FHA issued new rules regarding which loans need to go through regional and national loan committees—a time-consuming process which has gummed up the agency’s bottlenecked pipeline.
Fannie Mae expands online sales of foreclosed homes
Puget Sound Business Journal
by Jeff Clabaugh, Broadcast/Web Reporter
Fannie Mae, which began a pilot program in Orlando, San Diego and Detroit in 2010 to take offers for Fannie Mae-owned houses online, is expanding the online program nationwide.
Through its HomePath program, real estate agents can now submit offers on behalf of potential buyers online, get online confirmation and track the status of their offers through the HomePath.com website.
Fed's REO-to-Rental Experiment Begins
By Jerry Ascierto - HousingFinance.com
The shadow market now has its first formal government program.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) took the first step in its Real Estate Owned (REO) Initiative on Wednesday, outlining how investors could pre-qualify to bid on transactions in the initial pilot phase.
The Initiative allows investors to purchase pools of foreclosed single-family properties in the nation’s hardest-hit metros, with a catch—those properties must remain rentals for a certain number of years.
Banks Paying as Much as $35,000 Cash to Homeowners
in Short Sales; Why and How Many?
By Mike Shedlock - GlobalEconomicAnalysis.blogspot.com
In a short sale, banks forgive the difference between what is owed and the sale price of the house. Recently, however, banks have started giving cash back to the sellers. So far, the programs are a drop in the bucket. There are millions of pent-up foreclosures and JP Morgan is doing 5,000 short sales a month, hardly enough to make a dent.
Still, "short sales represented 9 percent of all U.S. residential transactions in November, the most recent month for which data is available, up from 2 percent in January 2008, according to Corelogic."
Canada’s Housing Bubble Is Stretched to the Limit Put your ear plugs in and get ready for a massive explosion.
BY ROBERT MORLEY - TheTrumpet.com
You have to empathize with people in Canada who want to buy a house. In boom cities like Regina, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto house prices have inflated virtually non-stop for more than a decade.
Income growth though—what income growth?
Consequently, it is virtually impossible for the typical person to purchase a home without bankrupting himself in the process. For many families, even with two incomes, buying a house is stretching beyond the breaking point.
Number of Homeless Female Vets Grows
HousingFinance.com
The number of homeless women veterans has doubled from 1,380 in fiscal 2006 to 3,318 in fiscal 2010, reveals recent government estimates.
The number has grown as the overall number of women veterans has doubled from 4 percent of all veterans in 1990 to 8 percent, or an estimated 1.8 million, today. The number of women vets will also continue to increase as service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan.
CIA digs in as Americans withdraw from Iraq, Afghanistan
By Greg Miller - WashingtonPost.com
The CIA is expected to maintain a large clandestine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the departure of conventional U.S. troops as part of a plan by the Obama administration to rely on a combination of spies and Special Operations forces to protect U.S. interests in the two longtime war zones, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials said that the CIA’s massive stations in Kabul and Baghdad will probably remain the agency’s largest overseas outposts for years, even if they shrink from record staffing levels set at the height of American efforts in those nations to fend off insurgencies and install capable governments.
Syrian emails say American psyche is 'easily manipulated' Anonymous cyber group hacked messages believed to be giving advice to Bashar al-Assad ahead of an interview on ABC News
By Harriet Sherwood - Guardian.co.uk
Bashar al-Assad was advised that the "American psyche can be easily manipulated" when he was preparing for a television interview withABC's Barbara Walters in December, according to leaked emails reported to have come from within the Syrian regime.
In an insight into the contempt shown for international public opinion by those advising the Syrian leader, one of his media aides suggested "the American audience doesn't really care about reforms. They won't understand it and they are not interested to do so".
Why Is The U.S. Giving Egypt 1.5 Billion Dollars In "Aide?"
Saudi Arabia Promises To Go Nuclear if Iran Does
By Jeffrey Goldberg - TheAtlantic.com
More evidence that Saudi Arabia will not sit idly by if Iran goes nuclear, which means more evidence that the Middle East could be looking at a terrible nightmare, a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region, which means that the chance for escalation to accidental nuclear war (which I wrote about here) would eventually be quite high:
A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat and member of the ruling royal family has raised the spectre of nuclear conflict in the Middle East if Iran comes close to developing a nuclear weapon.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington, warned senior Nato military officials that the existence of such a device "would compel Saudi Arabia ... to pursue policies which could lead to untold and possibly dramatic consequences".
China buys up Saudi, Russian oil to squeeze Iran
By Judy Hua and Alex Lawler
(Reuters) - China is scouring the world for alternative oil supplies to replace a fall in its imports from Iran, as it seeks to negotiate lower prices from Tehran, and has been drawing heavily on Saudi Arabia.
Industry sources told Reuters that Beijing had bought the bulk of an increase in crude oil supplies from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia in the last few months.
The world's second-largest oil consumer is also importing more cargoes from West Africa, Russia and Australia to replace reduced supplies from Iran.
IRAN AND ISRAEL: ONLY HALF THE STORY
By Barry Lando - Truthdig.com
In the brief interview he gave NBC before the Super Bowl, President Obama declared, “I’ve been very clear that we’re going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and creating an arms race, a nuclear arms race, in a volatile region.”
Sounds like a very laudable goal, right? Except for the fact that, as I recentlyblogged, the nuclear arms race in the Middle East is already under way. It began almost 50 years ago when Israel developed the bomb.
The Federal Reserve's Explicit Goal:
Devalue The Dollar 33%
By Charles Kadlec, Contributor - Forbes.com
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level.
An increase in the price level of 2% in any one year is barely noticeable. Under a gold standard, such an increase was uncommon, but not unknown. The difference is that when the dollar was as good as gold, the years of modest inflation would be followed, in time, by declining prices. As a consequence, over longer periods of time, the price level was unchanged. A dollar 20 years hence was still worth a dollar.
Ron Paul Warns Of Federal Reserve Power Grab
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Not only was Obama’s appointment of Richard Cordray to the misnamed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unconstitutional, but the newly minted federal leviathan itself is in direct violation of Constitution, specifically the Tenth Amendment.
In January, Obama thumbed his nose at Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution. It states that the president "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint" officers to the government.
Barclays on gold:
We are bullish and looking for break above $1763
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Barclays is bullish onGold and awaiting for a break above $1763, the investment bank said in a recent report. However, gold still has hurdles to overcome such as potential bouts of dollar strength, technical resistance levels and profit-taking, the report adds.
Although gold prices have surrendered most of their weekly gains, they remain in positive territory as real interest rates are expected to remain negative for longer while concerns over currency debasement and inflationary pressures have resurfaced, the backdrop remains gold fertile.
Gold to average $1,850/oz in 2012: HSBC
LONDON (Commdity Online): HSBC is maintaining its forecast for an average Gold price of $1,850 for 2012 and the anxieties about large and unsustainable government debt, easy monetary policies and mounting geopolitical risks.
"A shift in focus from eurozone sovereign debt to the U.S. and its fiscal problems in an election year may stimulate investor demand for gold," HSBC added.
According to HSBC, the rising mine output, sluggish jewelry demand and a large scrap supply should curb but not reverse the Gold rally.
The Gold Standard Debate Rages On
BY PATER TENEBRARUM - FinancialSense.com
The fact that Newt Gingrich has picked up the gold standard issue in his quest for the nomination has provoked a bit of a reaction. You can safely ignore the 'unelectable' guy after all, but Gingrich is apparently still (wrongly, we believe) thought of as a contender.
Floyd Norris has written an article at the NYT discussing the subject. It has its share of unintentionally funny moments. To be sure, Norris starts out with an observation with which we agree:
Gold prices may correct this week, but trend remains up
By Debbie Carlson - CommodityOnline.com
Gold prices could retreat a bit this week following five weeks of gains, but overall market watchers said any correction by the yellow metal next week should be light and short-lived, as the overall trend for Gold remains higher.
Prices fell on Friday and were mixed on the week. The most-active April gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $1,740.30 an ounce, up 0.28% on the week. March Silver settled at $33.749 an ounce, down 0.12% on the week.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts -
The Usual 3 AM NY Time Bear Raid
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Gold was hit hard by a selling flurry around 3 AM Eastern Time, with most of the selling timed to events in London.
Check out the plunge in gold lease rates on 2 February in the last chart.
Silver proved to be more resilient.
If and when the metals brokers and their pyramid of leverage breaks, be careful about any holdings you may have that are mingled with theirs, otherwise your victory may be marred by a loss of funds related to the collateral damage of a default and a financial reorganization.
Gold: How much is China really importing?
By Bob Kirtley, SK Options Trading - CommodityOnline.com
"Who is supplying the additional, yet unrecorded, quantities ofGold to the Chinese market? Is it a covert operation with Russia, South America, an African state or indeed any number of the illustrious banks domiciled in the West?"
The chart above gives us a clear picture of just how China has changed from being an exporter of gold to an importer of considerable amounts of gold in a few short years. However, is this the full story?
A Short History of American Money, From Fur to Fiat What do animal pelts, tobacco, fake wampum, gold, and cotton-paper bank notes have in common? At one point or another, they've all stood for the same thing: U.S. currency.
By David Wolman - TheAtlantic.com
Before independence, America's disparate colonial economies struggled with a very material financial hang-up: there just wasn't enough money to go around. Colonial governments attempted to solve this problem by using tobacco, nails, and animal pelts for currency, assigning them a set amount of shillings or pennies so that they could intermix with the existing system.
The most successful ad hoc currency was wampum, a particular kind of bead made from the shells of ocean critters. But eventually the value of this currency, like that of other alternative currencies of the day, was undermined by oversupply and counterfeiting. (That's right: counterfeit wampum. They were produced by dyeing like-shaped shells with berry juice, mimicking the purple color of the real thing.)
How to Prolong an Inevitable Market Correction
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
02/06/12 Baltimore, Maryland – Last week came and went. As near as we could tell, nothing was settled. The trends in motion stayed in motion… No end in sight.
On Friday, Americans were still convinced that they were never going broke. The Europeans were still squabbling about how they were going to keep from going broke And the Japanese were telling each other that going broke wouldn’t be so bad.
For the United States of America, the road to hell has never been so smooth. The country has been borrowing its way to ruin for many years. But now, the skids are greased. The wheels are oiled. Strap on your seat belt. Whee!
Yes, It Is Halftime In America –
So Now Is The Time To Get Your Financial Priorities In Order
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Did you see the Chrysler commercial featuring Clint Eastwood that aired during the Super Bowl the other night? It was entitled "It's Halftime In America", and it was truly a great ad. To me, it was the most memorable Super Bowl ad this year by far. It conjured up images of the America that so many of us remember so fondly. It reminded us of how life in this country used to be. Unfortunately, America is currently headed down a road that is taking us in the opposite direction. Yes, it is halftime in America, but there is no guarantee that what is ahead is going to be great. In fact, if we continue to make the same choices that we have been making, a national nightmare is inevitable. Let us hope and pray for a fundamental change of direction for America, but let us also prepare for what is going to happen if that does not take place. There is a "pause in the action" at the moment, so now is the time to get your financial priorities in order. Now is the time to prepare for the storm that is coming. If you wait until the storm is right on top of you it will probably be too late.
Chrysler Commercial - It's Halftime in America
Clint Eastwood Gives America a Pep Talk He says America is about to stand up.
Is that a big win for Obama?
By John Dickerson - Slate.com
Did the first Obama re-election ad run during theSuper Bowl? You might have missed it since the president wasn't even mentioned. It was a Chryslerad, although even that wasn’t obvious. Instead, more than 111 million viewers were greeted by that tough-talking American icon Clint Eastwood as he delivered what amounted to a locker room speech to the country. “It's halftime in America,” he intoned, as the New York Giants and New England Patriots went in for their midgame break. He heralded the auto industry’s revival and said it is a model for a nation poised for a comeback. By the end of the stirring message, pollsters could probably have found a majority of the country ready to elect the city of Detroit president.
Pelosi, Soros Support
Most Dangerous Threat to America: UN Taxation
By Daniel J. Mitchell - Townhall.com
What’s the worst policy idea that would cause the most damage to society?
I’m tempted to say the value-added tax since our hopes of restraining the federal government will be greatly undermined if we give the buffoons in Washington a new source of revenue. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why Mitt Romney may be an ever greater long-term threat to American exceptionalism than Barack Obama.
But even though the VAT is fiscal poison, it’s not the most dangerous policy proposal.
At the top of my list is global taxation.
Is the U.S. “Decoupling” from the European Crisis?
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Selling pressure earlier in the week gave way to strong demand for equities as concerns over the European debt crisis have been moved to the backburner. Investors have instead been focusing on the improved U.S. economic and employment picture.
In an article by Reuters reporter Edward Krudy earlier this week there was a significant quote worth mentioning. The quote is from Ryan Larson, head of equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management. Larson said, "The U.S. appears to be slowly, slowly in the early stages of a decoupling from the euro zone."
Stalemate in talks on Greek austerity measures Greek politicians refused to yield to the austerity demands of their "troika" paymasters despite a stark warning from German chancellor Angela Merkel that the stand-off threatened the "entire eurozone".
By Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
The three main political parties in Greece's national unity government were reportedly given until 11am to respond to international demands on tougher spending cuts. But the deadline passed with no response - except for politicians claiming there was no deadline.
Sources in Athens said the talks between Greece and its creditor banks were on hold while Lucas Papademos, the Greek prime minister, vacillated between negotiations with his own politicians and the "troika" officials from the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Greece to Eliminate 15,000 Government Jobs
By NIKI KITSANTONIS and DAVID JOLLY - NYTimes.com
ATHENS — Despite new evidence of a deteriorating economy, Greece said on Monday that it would cut 15,000 state jobs this year as part of new austerity measures it intends to adopt to secure new debt agreements from international lenders.
Athens is racing to push through economic changes that it hopes will persuade its private sector creditors to grant easier debt repayment terms and will prompt Europe to release 130 billion euros, or $171 billion, in the next round of bailout money it needs to avoid defaulting on bond payments due in March.
Shanghai shipping slump as IMF warns China on euro slump Shanghai shipping volumes contracted sharply in January as Europe's debt crisis curbed demand for Asian goods, stoking fresh doubts about the strength of the Chinese economy.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The shipping specialist Lloyd's List said container traffic through the Port of Shanghai - the world's largest - fell by 100,000 boxes in January from a year earlier, or 4pc. Volumes fell by over one million tonnes.
The figures may have been distorted by China's Lunar Year but there has been a relentless slide in the Shanghai transport data for months.
"China's shipping markets face grievous challenges," said the Shanghai International Shipping Institute. It acknowledged that the industry in the grip of downturn and likely to face a "worsening situation" in early 2012.
Tom Woods Interviews Walter Williams -
Peter Schiff Radio 02-03-12
MF Global trustee has traced most missing funds Trustee hopes to distribute more funds ‘as soon as possible’
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A trustee seeking to distribute customer securities overseen by bankrupt MF Global Inc. said Monday that a majority of the cash that disappeared from the commodities broker has been found.
"The trustee’s investigators have now traced a majority of the cash transactions, totaling more than $105 billion, made in and out of MF Global Inc. in the last week before bankruptcy and are completing the process of tracing the remaining transactions," the trustee said. "These included liquidation of customer securities, proprietary positions and other items. The securities included complex instruments, such as off-balance sheet repurchase transactions involving sovereign-debt securities and derivative structures."
Karl Denninger - Warren Pollock Open Discussion
Paul Could Force Fed Changes on GOP
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Ron Paul, trailing in delegates needed for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, could be positioning himself to force his party to accept changes in the way the Federal Reserve operates.
The Texas congressman is attracting an expanding base of supporters passionate about his plainspoken message of sapping government power in favor of individual freedom. It’s not enough to make him his party’s standard bearer, say Republican strategists, yet if he follows through on a promise to remain in the race and collect delegates until the party’s convention in August, he could gain the clout needed to highlight his signature goal of curtailing the power of the central bank.
Ben Bernanke Sees His Shadow
BY GRANT WILLIAMS - FinancialSense.com
.... February 2012 finds the world in its own time loop as we remain trapped in our very own Groundhog Day watching politicians try endless new and inventive ways to ‘fix’ a simple problem of way, WAY too much debt. It isn’t complicated. The world grew fat and happy on the sugar rush provided by a decades-long injection of cheap and easy credit and now it’s time for the crash diet. Trying to avoid the ‘crash’ seems to be uppermost in everybody’s mind.
Interesingly enough, the Fed’s very own Groundhog Bailabankout Ben testified before the House Committee on the Budget on February 2nd and, having been dragged from his burrow into the day-light, Ben saw all kinds of shadows:
Will Big Banks Get Free Pass
in Robo-Signing Mortgage Mess?
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
The State AG’s are supposed to settle the enormous mortgage mess for a mere $25 billion. The alleged fraud has been reported to be in the neighborhood of $13.5 trillion. Will the crooked big banks who perpetrated this scam on America get a free pass in the so-called "robo-signing" mess? There have been multiple lawsuits over the rip-offs, and there are at least a few states that are holding up the settlement for a better deal and the right to proceed with possible criminal investigations. NASDAQ.com is reporting some of the negotiations going on with a story filed yesterday that said, "New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman expressed confidence Friday that his main concern with a pending settlement of alleged foreclosure abuses by U.S. banks would be resolved, but he didn’t commit to participating in an agreement. Schneiderman also said the settlement is being structured so as to not interfere with a separate probe into the packaging of shaky loans into mortgage- backed securities, a practice that preceded the financial crisis."
Ohio, Ky. mum on robo-signing
By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn - News.Cincinnati.com
Tens of thousands of local families who lost their homes, or who are at risk of losing them now to foreclosure, could be helped by a mega-settlement over careless foreclosure practices by major U.S. lenders during the nation's housing meltdown.
Attorneys general in all 50 states faced a late Monday deadline to sign off on a proposal that would deal out $25 billion in damages from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial.
Deal Is Closer for a U.S. Plan on Mortgage Relief
By SHAILA DEWAN and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - NYTimes.com
With a deadline looming on Monday for state officials to sign onto a landmark multibillion-dollar settlement to address foreclosure abuses, the Obama administration is close to winning support from a crucial state that would significantly expand the breadth of the deal.
The biggest remaining holdout, California, has returned to the negotiating table after a four-month absence, a change of heart that could increase the pot for mortgage relief nationwide to $25 billion from $19 billion.
Cashless Society:
Bank of America Refuses Cash for Mortgage Payment
ActivistPost.com
In another example that we appear to be rapidly moving into a cashless society, Bank of America in California refused to accept cash for a mortgage payment. The manager of the bank said it was against their policy to accept legal tender physical currency (aka U.S. dollars) as payment for BoA mortgages.
The customer attempting to pay his mortgage, firefighter Robert Somerton, recorded the ordeal in Lakeport branch which made the bank manager so upset that he called the police. The police detained Somerton for a half hour before releasing him with a warning that he may never return to that BoA branch or he'll be arrested.
What The Mortgage Relief Plan Would Do For Homeowners
By Deborah L. Jacobs, Forbes Staff - Forbes.com
After more than a year of wrangling over various mortgage relief proposals, influential state leaders seem close to adopting a plan that Pres. Obama announced Feb. 1. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York and California’s attorney general, KamalaHarris have indicated they are closer to agreement than in the past.
There are two important elements of the plan and details of both have been a subject of fierce disagreement. One, which could be worth about $25 billion, relates to how much money would be allocated to benefit homeowners and the specific relief they would receive. The other involves the power states would have to investigate past practices by banks, oversee future ones and monitor compliance with the plan.
Total Recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is getting hit from all sides as he struggles to keep his office.
By MATT NAUGLE - Spectator.org
Wisconsin, the birthplace of the American socialist movement and the first state to allow public employees to unionize, has a blunt conservative governor named Scott Walker who has become a familiar face in the national spotlight.
Walker, who signed Republican-backed legislation last year to eliminate most public sector unions' abilities to collectively bargain while requiring employees to start contributing to their pensions (5.8% of their salaries, on average) and double their health care premium (12.4% of premiums), has balanced a budget that started with a $3.6 billion deficit.
US states near $25bn foreclosure settlement California close to sharing in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms; deal would come today
By Dominic Rushe - Guardian.co.uk
The US states hardest hit by the housing collapse will decide today whether to sign off on a potential $25bn settlement with America's biggest lenders, the largest industry fine since 1998's massive multi-state agreement with the tobacco industry.
Government officials have been trying for over a year to negotiate a settlement with states to agree to a package of loan write-downs, refinancings and other homeowner assistance, as well as cash penalties for some of the US's largest lenders.
Foreclosure deal doesn’t go far enough, some groups say
By Brady Dennis - WashingtonPost.com
As state and federal officials near completion of a settlement with banks over shoddy foreclosure practices, a question that has loomed over the talks for months remains: Is it a good enough deal?
After nearly 500 days of drawn-out negotiations, public infighting and private cajoling, the emerging settlement would force banks to overhaul their mortgage-servicing practices. It could also require the banks to pay as much as $25 billion in penalties that would be put toward helping struggling homeowners and borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure in recent years.
Bernanke's Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Take-over -
Bill Fleckenstein with Judge Napolitano
Low-skilled workers hit hard by recession Unemployment drop still leaves low skill workers behind
By Michael A. Fletcher - WashingtonPost.com
ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — The nation’s jobless rate has declined to its lowest level in three years, a fact that has left Jamie Bean, an unemployed air-conditioner repairman, feeling more left out than ever.
Bean, 36, lost his job in December. Now he is scrambling to keep up with child-support payments to his wife, who is also unemployed. "As it stands now, I can’t afford to get divorced," he said, managing a wry smile.
FBI warns of threat from anti-government extremists
By Patrick Temple-West
(Reuters) - Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.
These extremists, sometimes known as "sovereign citizens," believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.
The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.
Cloudy With a Chance of Weapons and Gold A report from a semi-annual machine gun festival,
held just this side of Fort Knox.
By DAN PETERSON - Spectator.org
The machine guns roared, pouring tens of thousands of bullets into the night's blackness. Suddenly: Ka-WHOOOMP! WAAHHHMP! WHA-OOOOMP!! Enormous fireballs flashed into yellow-white existence, mutating into billows of orange flame 100 feet high. The pulse of shock and heat hit my skin. As the explosions faded, the night air was lit by an endless fusillade of red and green tracer rounds, the incandescent muzzle blast of automatic weapons, and flames from burning vehicles…
Just a typical evening in the green autumn hills of north-central Kentucky.
Typical twice a year, I should say. Every April and October, the Knob Creek Gun Range, fittingly located in Bullitt County, Kentucky, hosts "The World's Largest Machine Gun Shoot and Military Gun Show." Knob Creek Range lies just a few miles north of Fort Knox, home to the United States Bullion Depository and the 147 million ounces of gold in its vaults. As the names suggest, the range is only a short hop from the distillery where Knob Creek Whiskey is made (more about that superb nine-year-old bourbon later).
Amazon to launch first brick-and-mortar store
By Sarah Halzack - WashingtonPost.com
Amazon may be venturing beyond the world of online retail to set up its first brick-and-mortar shop, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The store will be in Seattle and its focus will be pricier merchandise such as tablet computers, the report says. And its footprint won’t be nearly as large as that of big box retailers such as Barnes & Noble.
Temperature of Reactor Rises at Fukushima Plant
By Tsuyoshi Inajima - Bloomberg.com
Tokyo Electric Power Co. injected boric acid into a reactor at its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to prevent an accidental chain reaction known as re- criticality after temperatures rose in the past week.
The temperature of the No. 2 reactor was 70.1 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) as of 6 a.m. today, according to preliminary data, Akitsuka Kobayashi, a spokesman for the utility, said by phone. The reading fell from 72.2 degrees at 5 a.m. this morning, and is below the 93 degrees that’s used to define a cold shutdown, or safe state, of the reactor.
Egypt to put foreign NGO workers
on trial over 'banned activity' claims Egyptian move is latest in long-running row over crackdown on US-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights
AP - Guardian.co.uk
Egyptian officials say 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, have been referred for trial for alleged involvement in banned activity and illegally receiving foreign funds.
The decision on Sunday by investigating judges is likely to further sour relations between Egypt's military rulers and the US, the Arab nation's chief western backer for more than 30 years.
Russia raps West, sends mission to Syria
By Will Englund - WashingtonPost.com
MOSCOW – A meeting scheduled for Tuesday between top Russian officials and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is being portrayed by the Russian government as an attempt to bring about “the swiftest stabilization of the situation in Syria” in response to the growing conflict.
The move is an effort to seize the initiative on Syria from the Western powers – and from the United States, in particular – and to prevent an international intervention.
24 Signs That We Are Getting Dangerously Close
To A Major War In The Middle East
Michael - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Is 2012 the year when we will see a major war in the Middle East? For years we have heard about rising tensions in the Middle East, and for years we have heard politicians express concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but now things really do seem to be reaching a boiling point. In just the past few days, the U.S. government has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran and has totally shut down the U.S. embassy in Syria. The truth is that we are getting dangerously close to a major war in the Middle East. So will Israel strike Iran at some point in the next few months? Will the U.S. military intervene in the rapidly escalating conflict inside of Syria? If a major war does erupt, it could send the price of oil skyrocketing and there is the potential that the war could broaden very quickly. Hezbollah has already indicated that it will side with Syria, and there is always the potential that Hamas could as well. Russia and China have both stated that they are completely opposed to military action by the United States against Iran and Syria, and they have even hinted that they would possibly even help defend those countries. As the nations of the world take sides, there is even the potential that we could see World War III develop. Let us hope that it never comes to that, but with the world as unstable as it is right now, you never know what may happen.
US shutters embassy in Syria
as calls continue for Assad to step aside Obama maintains opposition to military intervention following Russia and China veto of UN security council resolution
By Chris McGreal in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
The US has closed its embassy in Damascus in a move which increased diplomatic pressure on the Syrian regime as President Barack Obama declared he opposed military intervention.
The withdrawal on Monday of the ambassador Robert Ford and the 17 remaining staff comes amid increasingly brutal attempts by Syrian security forces to put down uprisings in Homs and other cities.
U.S. shuts embassy as Obama tells Assad to go
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
An international standoff on Syria intensified Monday as the U.S. shuttered its embassy in Damascus and Britain recalled its ambassador amid an increase in violence that many now believe is headed for full-blown civil war.
President Obama asserted that a peaceful resolution to the 11-month-old conflict should and could be negotiated without foreign military intervention.
U.S. closes embassy,
pulls diplomats from Syria as violence intensifies
By Alice Fordham and Karen DeYoung - WashingtonPost.com
DAMASCUS, SYRIA — The United States closed its embassy in Damascus on Monday amid escalating violence in Syria and an increasingly urgent effort by the Obama administration and like-minded governments to raise pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.
After the failure of an anti-Assad resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed a U.S. call to form an international political coalition, similar to the one that preceded military intervention in Libya, to coordinate anti-Assad actions.
US undercuts message to Israel
By Gareth Porter - ATimes.com
WASHINGTON - When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius last week that he believed Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was ostensibly yet another expression of alarm at the Israeli government's threats of military action.
But even though the administration is undoubtedly concerned about that Israeli threat, the Panetta leak had a different objective. The White House was taking advantage of the current crisis atmosphere over that Israeli threat and even seeking to make it more urgent in order to put pressure on Iran to make diplomatic concessions to the United States and its allies on its nuclear program in the coming months.
America’s red lines in the sand on Iran U.S. startlingly naive on Iran
By Richard Cohen - WashingtonPost.com
There are three red lines when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program. The first is the moment when Iran tunnels so deeply underground that Israeli bombs will be incapable of doing real damage. The second is when the tunneling goes even deeper, and the United States’ "bunker buster" bombs will be insufficient. And the third — well, that has already passed. It is the conviction that the current Iranian regime will never let Israel live in peace.
Iran Crisis Heats Up
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
The U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that Iran is probably one year away from having a nuclear device, indicating “a red line for us, and … for the Israelis.” Then Panetta said, “If we have to do it, we will do it.” This is one of the strongest statements from a U.S. official to date. In recent days Israeli officials have talked openly of striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. It seems there is something of an American-Israeli chorus in this regard. Can we take it seriously?
The Los Angeles Times ran a piece titled “Israel’s intentions toward Iran remain unclear.”According to this article, recent Israeli threats may be “a bluff to spur tougher sanctions.” Observing the statements of U.S. and Israeli officials, this seems probable. If you are planning a preemptive attack there is no point discussing it publicly. But if your strategy is to compel other nations to carry out sanctions, trusting they are frightened by the prospect of war, then you will talk openly about the possibility of war.
Obama orders Iranian Central Bank freeze
in new wave of sanctions Executive order halts transactions by Iranian bank in US, despite concerns that it may drive up petroleum costs
By Chris McGreal in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
Barack Obama has ordered the freezing of Iranian government assets in the US, including transactions by the Iranian Central Bank, in tightened sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme.
The White House said the executive order by the president "re-emphasises this administration's message to the government of Iran – it will face ever-increasing economic and diplomatic pressure until it addresses the international community's well-founded and well-documented concerns regarding the nature of its nuclear programme".
In warning to neighbors,
Iran threatens to hit any country
that originates attack against it
AP - WashingtonPost.com
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will target any country where an attack against it is staged, a senior Guard commander warned Sunday, the latest Iranian threat tied to growing tensions over its nuclear program and Western sanctions.
Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s most powerful military force, did not elaborate. His comments appeared to be a warning to Iran’s neighbors not to let their territory or airspace be used as a base for an attack.
Iran - Israel ready to Cripple Iran
IRAN WARNS WORLD OF COMING GREAT EVENT Says 'evil hegemony' soon will be defeated by power of Allah
By Reza Kahlili - WND.com
Amid crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event.
"In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated," Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning.
Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that "Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious."
In case you're interested in the propaganda...
The Coming is Upon Us - Translation:
Reza Kahlili (Author of "A Time To Betray")
More Iranian propaganda... but THEY believe it, making the situation touchy and dangerous.
AYATOLLAH: KILL ALL JEWS, ANNIHILATE ISRAEL Iran lays out legal case for genocidal attack
against 'cancerous tumor'
By Reza Khalili - WND.com The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people.
The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide.
Calling Israel a danger to Islam, the conservative website Alef, with ties to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the opportunity must not be lost to remove "this corrupting material. It is a ‘jurisprudential justification' to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm."
Ahmadinejad "Jesus WILL Return"
(As a Servant to Imam Mahdi) and I will be his President
'Engineering War on Iran: All Options on the Table?'
RT.com - News Question: How do you convince the world that – even though you’re armed to the teeth and have a bad track record of invading countries - you really have "no choice" but make a "pre-emptive military strike" against another country you don't like?
This must be the question over which the political, military and psychological warfare planners are wracking their brains in the key global power elite decision-making centres in New York, London, Tel-Aviv and Washington….
No, I’m not referring to the State Department, Pentagon, White House, Congress and their counterparts in Britain and Europe. Those folks just take their orders and execute them.
I’m referring to the real decision-makers at Bilderberg, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations and AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) meetings.
In a Focus on Gold, History Repeats Itself
By FLOYD NORRIS - NYTimes.com As it was in 1980, could it be again in 2012?
The 1980 presidential election was fought by a Democratic incumbent weakened by a poor economy amid worries that the United States had lost its ability to compete in the world. Gold prices had risen to unprecedented levels as the election approached, and the Republican nominee hinted he might propose a return to a gold standard.
That Republican, Ronald Reagan, won the election and soon appointed a commission to study the role of gold in monetary systems. To gold bugs, it appeared to be the best chance in decades to move the country toward gold and away from what they like to call "fiat money," a currency anchored by nothing more than government dictates.
Peter Hambro:
Gold prices to surge as trust in currencies falls
RT.com - Business
Gold price may reach up to $5.000 per ounce if the debt crisis gets worse and people begin to panic predicts Peter Hambro, founder of one of the largest gold producers in Russia Petropavlovsk plc.
However, Mr. Hambro says a more realistic forecast for the nearest future is "somewhere between $1.850 – $2200, somewhere around $2000 on average for 2012".
Peter Hambro believes that as the debt crisis escalates and the euro along with the dollar drop, gold will turn into a safe asset gaining in value.
"There is so much uncertainty, financial uncertainty in Europe, the need to stimulate American economy is being done in effect by printing money. There is political instability in Syria, in Iran and it’s causing a lot of problems. The financial imbalances between the West and China and India are causing the system to creek as well. The only way to solve these issues is for money, the Dollar, the Euro to be devalued against real assets", says Peter Hambro.
Global liquidity may chase gold bullish: HSBC
LONDON (Commodity Online): Global liquidity could chaseGold prices higher. An important foundation of the gold rally is rising global liquidity levels, said HSBC in a research note.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a House of Representatives committee Thursday that the bank would consider additional quantitative easing if progress toward full U.S. employment remains inadequate. There has been a ramp-up in the European Central Bank’s balance sheet, in conjunction with the Fed’s and Bank of England’s already-expansionary monetary policies.
Gold: Debt, Deficits, Doom, and Gloom
BY JOHN R ING - FinancialSense.com
Last month gold plunged more than $200 in less than a week and the dollar soared, trumping even gold. The move caused a catfight among letter writers with investors and central bankers questioning gold’s safe haven status. By contrast, the US Treasury sold more debt despite growing concern about the US economy and politically dysfunctional Washington. In the seventies, gold corrected more than 50 percent, dropping $100 before heading higher. In the eighties, gold pulled back $100 after reaching $510 per ounce before reaching new highs. So, why the disconnect?
Is US Mint gold coin January sales signal return to fundamental driven demand?
CommodityOnline.com
Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev, a non Executive member of the GoldCore Investment Committee, has analyzed the data of US Mint coin sales in January and has looked at them in their important historical context going back to 1987.
January data from the US Mint on sales of Gold coins presents an interesting picture, both in terms of seasonality and overall demand for the asset class.
Some background to start with. Gold prices have been moving sideways with some relatively moderate volatility in recent months. Between August 2011 - the monthly peak in US Dollar-quoted price and January 2012, price has fallen 4.55%, but in the last month, monthly move was 10.82% and year on year prices are up 30.4%.
Greece on "knife edge" in last hours to agree bailout
By Angeliki Koutantou and George Georgiopoulos
(Reuters) - Greece's prime minister scrambled on Sunday to convince lenders and politicians to sign off on a 130 billion euro ($171 billion) rescue, after hisfinance minister said just hours remain before the euro zone abandons the country to its fate.
A technocrat appointed in November, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is trying to ensure cash-strapped Greece avoids sinking into a chaotic default when big bond redemptions come due next month.
Euro zone insists no Greek rescue without reforms
By Jan Strupczewski
(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers told Greece it could not go ahead with an agreed deal to restructure privately held debt until it guaranteed to implement reforms to secure a second financing package from the euro zone and the IMF.
Euro zone ministers had hoped to meet on Monday to finalize the second Greek bailout, which has to be in place by mid-March if Athens is to avoid a chaotic default, but the meeting was postponed because of Greek reluctance to commit to reforms.
The Euro: to be or not to be? The future of the Euro is becoming increasingly dull
RT.com - Business News
None of the experts at the Russian Forum 2012 are in doubt. Even if the ‘end of the world’ scenario for the Euro doesn’t play out, the economic recovery will be painful and long lasting.
So will it be farewell to the Euro?…
Paul Krugman, renowned economists and a Nobel laureate is all but pessimistic about the future of Greece.
"They (Greece) will default on their debt. In fact they already have. The question is whether they will also leave the Euro, which I think at this point is more likely than not," he said.
Charles Wyplosz, Professor of International Economics, shares the doom and gloom scenario. A major crisis is most likely to take place, with Greece and Portugal defaulting at some point soon. "These are small countries, small debts – that’s ok," Wyplosz comments. But Italy is likely to be the next, with the banks following suit. That’s when the European Central Bank will come in, which may take around a year or so to happen.
Romania, IMF Agree on $664 Million Tranche
as Balkan Nation’s Growth Slows
By Irina Savu and Andra Timu - Bloomberg.com
Romania and the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement to unlock about 505 million euros ($664 million) in funds from its standby loan, IMF Mission Chief Jeffrey Franks said.
The eastern European country met the terms of its 5 billion-euro accord by narrowing its budget deficit to 4.35 percent of gross domestic product last year from 6.5 percent in 2010, Franks said at the end of a two-week visit to the capital Bucharest to conduct the fourth review of Romania’s accord.
Quantitative Easing and Money Growth:
Potential for Higher Inflation? The enormous quantity of excess reserves can create an even greater expansion in the money supply.
by Daniel L. Thornton - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
After Lehman Brothers announced on September 15, 2008, that it was seeking bankruptcy protection, the Federal Reserve massively increased the size of its balance sheet through a wide range of new lending facilities. As reliance on these facilities waned, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) undertook a large-scale asset purchase program, commonly referred to as "quantitative easing" (QE), whereby it purchased $1.75 trillion in longer-term debt; this first program is commonly called QE1. In November 2010, the FOMC announced it would purchase an additional $600 billion in longer-term Treasury securities (QE2). These actions and the FOMC’s decision to reinvest principal payments from maturing securities more than tripled the Fed’s balance sheet: from about $900 billion before Lehman’s announcement to about $2.8 trillion currently. This essay discusses the potential of these actions for growth of the money supply and inflation.
Jim Rogers on Ben Bernanke, the Dollar and "Saving the Saver"
Expect China to Shape the Next Bretton Woods Pact
By Philip Coggan - Bloomberg.com
When the world economy heads into crisis, the international currency system often breaks down. This occurs either because debtors can’t meet their obligations, or because creditors fear they are not being repaid in sound money. The first condition exists today in the euro zone; the second is likely to emerge in the China-U.S. relationship.
So how might these conditions change the system? Much discussion concerns whether the U.S. dollar will be replaced as the global reserve currency by the Chinese yuan or whether it will simply be one of a number of reserve currencies that includes the euro, yuan and yen.
GERALD CELENTE:
War, Bank Runs, Riots n Gold Going Mainstream Pt 1/4
(info wars, alex jones)
GERALD CELENTE:
War, Bank Runs, Riots n Gold Going Mainstream Pt 2/4
(info wars, alex jones)
GERALD CELENTE:
War, Bank Runs, Riots n Gold Going Mainstream Pt 3/4
(info wars, alex jones)
GERALD CELENTE:
War, Bank Runs, Riots n Gold Going Mainstream Pt 4/4
(info wars, alex jones)
SEC Allows Some of America's Biggest Wall St. Banks To Continually Flout the Law
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
The NY Times has discovered that the Banks that were rescued by the public have turned into serial fraud offenders. JP Morgan is near the top of their ranks, with Goldman Sachs and Bank of America not far behind. Only Citigroup seems to have fallen out of favor.
This is not news to any of the regular patrons of the Cafe, but it is good to see the mainstream media taking notice. Perhaps they might have a look at the Silver manipulation investigation that the CFTC has been sitting on for over three years. Not to mention the outrageous theft of customer money by MF Global and the Banks.
Goldman Sachs Mortgage-Backed Securities Suit
Granted Class-Action Status
By Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg.com
A suit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) may go forward as a class action on behalf of all investors in a $698 million mortgage-backed securities offering, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled.
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. granted a request by the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi to let it represent more than 150 investors in the offering, according to an opinion Baer gave to the parties yesterday. The opinion hasn’t been released publicly, and a clerk in Baer’s chambers declined to provide a copy today.
Obama administration to move forward
with closing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
By Brady Dennis - WashingtonPost.com
The Obama administration plans to push forward this spring with efforts to wind down government-backed housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and attract more private funding to mortgage markets, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Thursday.
Geithner told reporters that administration officials have begun more intensively exploring legislative options for overhauling the nation’s housing finance system with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well as with academics and outside advocacy groups.
Risk of new bank failures grows Dayton Business Journal by Ginger Christ, Reporter
As many as 17 Ohio banks could close or fail within the next two years without corrective action or a merger occurring, according to New York-based Invictus Consulting Group LLC, which completed stress and sustainability tests on all banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation . More than 750 banks nationwide are at risk of failing in the next several years, which could further extend the financial crisis, according to the report.
Of the 231 financial institutions in the Buckeye State, 17, or 7.4 percent, have a five ranking, meaning they are the most-vulnerable for closure.
Jeffrey Tucker makes the Case
Against the Federal Reserve and the Banking Cartel
Summers Says U.S. Economy on 'Right Road'
.... Mitt says he's skeptical
By Cheyenne Hopkins - Bloomberg.com
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the latest jobs report shows the economy is "on the right road" while Glenn Hubbard, an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said he’s skeptical about the meaning of the January numbers.
"Unlike many of the favorable past reports, if you look beneath the surface of this one almost every indicator within it is favorable," Summers said today on ABC’s "This Week," where he appeared with Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business School.
Bullard Says Fed Bond Purchases Not Needed
as U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls
By Steve Matthews - Bloomberg.com
A new round of Federal Reserve bond purchases isn’t warranted because the U.S. job market and broader economy are strengthening faster than expected, according to St. Louis Fed President James Bullard.
"The economic news and economic data, including today’s data, has been surprising to the upside," Bullard said yesterday, referring to employment gains. "I need to see significant deterioration in the economy and some threat of deflation or inflation moving significantly below our inflation target before" backing more bond buying by the Fed, he said in a Bloomberg News interview.
Everything We Know About the Long-Term Unemployed Who they are, where they are, and how they got left behind.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
.... Who are the long-term unemployed? They're mostly the very-long-term unemployed. Of the 5.5 million people out of work for more than 27 weeks, 4 million have been out of work for more than 52 weeks, according to this fantastic report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Here are four things we know about the very-long-term unemployed:
1) They're older.
2) They're pretty well educated.
3) They're more likely to be black or Asian.
4) They're ... everywhere (except for maybe the deep south).
Keiser Report: The Vaporized & The Deleted (E245)
I Can’t Take It Anymore!
When Will The Government Quit
Putting Out Fraudulent Employment Statistics?
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
On Friday, the entire financial world celebrated when it was announced that the unemployment rate in the United States had fallen to 8.3 percent. That is the lowest it has been since February 2009, and it came as an unexpected surprise for financial markets that are hungry for some good news. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payrolls jumped by 243,000 during the month of January. You can read the full employment report right here. Based on this news, pundits all over the world were declaring that the U.S. economy is back. Stocks continued to rise on Friday and the Dow is hovering near a 4 year high. So does this mean that our economic problems are over? Of course not. A closer look at the numbers reveals just how fraudulent these employment statistics really are. Between December 2011 and January 2012, the number of Americans "not in the labor force" increased by a whopping 1.2 million. That was the largest increase ever in that category for a single month. That is how the federal government is getting the unemployment rate to go down.
Biderman's Daily Edge 2/3/2012: Is BLS Data Skewed?
Employment Stats and Charts
St Louis Fed Research - FRED [Federal Reserve Economic Data]
A few examples [34 pages, 50 charts/page]:
Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons (U6RATE)
Special Unemployment Rate:
Unemployed and Discouraged Workers (U4RATE)
Average Weekly Earnings of All Employees:
Total Private (CES0500000011)
BNY Mellon Sues Alabama's
Bankrupt Jefferson County Over Sewer Revenue
By Joel Rosenblatt - Bloomberg.com
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., as trustee for $3.6 billion of sewer warrants, sued bankrupt Jefferson County, Alabama, claiming it’s entitled to all of the county’s system revenue.
The bank, in a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Birmingham, Alabama, seeks a judgment that it is entitled to the system revenue, capital expenditures, the payment of sewer warrants and revenue for non-operating expenses, according to the filing.
If the court disagrees, it should issue a judgment "granting the trustee such other and further relief" that it determines to be "just and appropriate," according to the filing by the New York-based bank.
Renting out foreclosures
By Misty Williams - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Throughout metro Atlanta, thousands of vacant homes now owned by the federal government sit languishing — dragging down home values and adding to a mass of housing woes that stunt the region’s economic recovery.
Atlanta’s nearly 4,600 government-owned foreclosed properties is No. 1 in the nation, far outnumbering those in Phoenix, Las Vegas and other major metro areas hit hard by the housing bust, according to a report last month from the Federal Reserve. Statewide, Georgia has more than 6,400 of the homes, second only to California, with nearly 9,000.
Gene B. Sperling: Obama’s jobs creator
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Just before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3, a frustrated President Obama gathered Gene B. Sperling and the economic team in the White House and told them to design a jobs package he could offer the American public.
Obama had spent much of the year locked in negotiations with Republicans over the national debt, with little to show for the effort but a sagging approval rating. He had wanted to argue publicly for ideas to create jobs, but hesitated in the midst of negotiations. Liberal critics reprised a familiar critique of the Obama White House: that it too often bows to political constraints and forfeits what’s right for what’s possible or easy.
Print News Media Go Live With Video Programming
By BRIAN STELTER - NYTimes.com
The newest addition to the newsroom of Politico makes a statement about the news Web site’s priorities. It’s a stage set with lights, microphones, an anchor desk and five high-definition cameras so that reporters and editors can produce hours of live programming for Internet viewers.
The race is on at places that, until recently, did not think they could be or would be in the live video business. The Internet and a fleet of devices like the iPad have made it possible for, say, The Wall Street Journal to compete with CNBC and CNN for viewers’ time.
American Airlines’ plan for pension bailout draws criticism
By Steven Mufson - WashingtonPost.com
American Airlines has saved $2.1 billion since 2006, thanks to two congressional measures that allowed it to reduce contributions to its pension plans. The company said it would make up any shortfall later.
Later has come, but there’s been a change in that plan.
American Airlines, whose parent company filed for bankruptcy in November, said this week that it wants to terminate its four pension plans for 130,000 workers and retirees and ask the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. to bail out its unfunded pension obligations to the tune of $9 billion. It would be the largest PBGC bailout ever. Without the congressional relief, the gap would have been smaller, the PBGC said.
Boeing lands $1.8B deal with India
Dayton Business Journal by Joe Cogliano, Senior Reporter
The Boeing Co. will get nearly $1.8 billion to build C-17 airplanes for India.
Late Thursday, the Defense Department announced the award, which includes delivery of 10 aircraft for the Indian Air Force during the next two years. The contract is being administered by the Air Force Security Assistance Center, or AFSAC, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The C-17’s will be built by Boeing in Long Beach, Calif. However, Boeing's deals have a big impact in the Dayton region, where it has 23 different suppliers based on its 2010 annual report. The aerospace giant has roughly 500 suppliers in Ohio and spent more than $4.7 billion in purchases from Ohio companies in 2010, supporting an estimated 150,000 jobs in the state. Boeing, which has an office in Dayton, has 600 employees in Ohio and more than 6,600 retirees.
Forget Romney or Obama, the voters want Tim Tebow: poll
By Ben Berkowitz
(Reuters) - He won't be in this Sunday's Super Bowl and his Denver Broncos are already 50-to-1 longshots for next year's National Football League title, but if Tim Tebow swapped the pigskin for politics, he just might be a shoo-in for the White House.
Asked which NFL playoff quarterback they would choose for president of the United States in the coming election, more than one in four voters go for Tebow, according to the results of a new Reuters/Ipsos poll of likely voters released on Friday.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows... For Romney and Paul,
a strategic alliance between establishment and outsider
By Amy Gardner - WashingtonPost.com
RENO, NEV. — The remaining candidates in the winnowed Republican presidential field are attacking one another with abandon, each day bringing fresh headlines of accusations and outrage.
But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul haven’t laid a hand on each other.
They never do.
Despite deep differences on a range of issues, Romney and Paul became friends in 2008, the last time both ran for president. So did their wives, Ann Romney and Carol Paul. The former Massachusetts governor compliments the Texas congressman during debates, praising Paul’s religious faith during the last one, in Jacksonville, Fla. Immediately afterward, as is often the case, the Pauls and the Romneys gravitated toward one another to say hello.
Is Ron Paul Selling Out To Mitt Romney -- Already?
By Joe Conason - NationalMemo.com
Watching Ron Paul and Mitt Romney campaign for president, they would seem to be polar opposites in their perspectives on critical issues, from economic policy to foreign affairs. Romney has never suggested anything as radical as abolishing the Federal Reserve system or returning the nation’s currency to the gold standard (and as a conventional capitalist, he never will).
The ideological chasm between them may be even deeper on national security and foreign relations. To Romney, Paul’s opposition to war and promises to slash defense spending represent left-wing apostasy, while his neoconservative advisers and bellicose rhetoric must be equally appalling to the Texan.
A Battle the President Can't Win
By Peggy Noonan - PatriotPost.us
His decision on Catholic charities makes Romney's big gaffe look trivial.
What a faux pas, how inept, how removed from the essential realities of America. Yes, I'm referring to President Obama. But let's do Mitt Romney first.
He's taken heavy fire for his interview with CNN's Soledad O'Brien, in which he said, "I'm not concerned about the very poor."
Every criticism has been true. It was politically inept, playing into stereotypes about Republicans and about his own candidacy. It was Martian-like in its seeming remove from the concerns of everyday citizens. We're in a recession here! It was at odds both with longtime American tradition and with rising conservative concern over the growth and changing nature of what used to be called the underclass.
According To The FBI,
Internet Privacy Is Now Considered To Be Suspicious Activity
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
When you use the Internet in a public place, do you prefer to have as much privacy as possible? Well, that makes you a potential terrorist. According to the FBI, Internet privacy is now considered to be suspicious activity. If you are out in public and you attempt to keep snoopers from peeking at your computer screen, then according to the FBI they should gather as much information about you as they can and they should report you to the authorities immediately. If this seems completely and totally ridiculous to you, then you are not alone. Millions of Americans have become deeply concerned about the constantly expanding definition of "suspicious activity" in the United States. Sadly, the federal government is now engaging in an all-out attempt to have us all spy on one another. All over America, the Department of Homeland Security is running ads promoting the "See Something, Say Something" campaign. They even had 8,000 stadium workers at the Super Bowl this year go through special training on how to spot potential terrorists. So the next time you see a hot dog vendor, keep in mind that he might also be part of a special anti-terrorism task force.
US Intel Director Prepares Public for False Flag Event
Tony Cartalucci - TheIntelHub.com
"…it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be.
Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it.
(One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even semi-overtly, which could then be portrayed as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression.)"
New False Flag! U.S. Intel Director Prepares Public.
Infowars Nightly News
SOPA: Anti-Piracy or Censorship?
Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales vs.
Copyright Alliance’s Sandra Aistars
DemocracyNow.org
Congressional support for a pair of anti-piracy bills is weakening after Wednesday’s historic online protest in which thousands of websites went dark for 24 hours. Hollywood film studios, music publishers and major broadcasters support the anti-piracy legislation, saying it aims to stop the piracy of copyrighted material over the internet on websites based outside the United States. "We’re talking about sites that are operated and dedicated to piracy and that are really preventing individual creators across the country from having an economic livelihood from their creative pursuits," says Sandra Aistars, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, whose members include the Motion Picture Association of America, NBCUniversal, Time Warner, Viacom, ASCAP and BMI. But critics say the bills could profoundly change the internet by stifling innovation and investment, hallmarks of the free, open internet. "Wikipedia could be defined as a search engine under these [bills]," says Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. "That would mean that it would be illegal for Wikipedia to link to a site, even if we’re writing an encyclopedia article explaining to the public what is The Pirate Bay, what is going on here, and we want to send you there so you can go and take a look for yourself. That would become illegal. This is outrageous, and it’s just not acceptable under the First Amendment."
CITIZEN SUSPECT:
WE’RE ALL UNDER ATTACK IN THE WIKILEAKS CASE
Truthdig.com
Our civil liberties and First Amendment rights are threatened by the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Julian Assange case; if Mitt Romney’s father was still around, he’d probably endorse Obama; meanwhile, Fox News is ruining the GOP. These discoveries and more below.
Occupy the Super Bowl: Indiana’s New Anti-Union Law Sparks Protest at Sport’s Biggest Spectacle
DemocracyNow.org
Occupy protesters in Indianapolis are gearing up to use the media spotlight on Sunday’s Super BowlXLVI to rally for union rights outside the statehouse. Earlier this week, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a so-called "right to work" measure into law that critics say will result in lower wages and diminished collective bargaining rights. Indiana workers have received the backing of the National Football League Players Association, which has called "right to work" "a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights."
The United Nations Wants To Crash
The World Economy In Order To Save The Environment
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The United Nations says that the earth is in great danger and that the way you and I are living is the problem. In a shocking new report entitled, "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing" the UN declares that the entire way that we currently approach economics needs to be changed. Instead of focusing on things like "economic growth", the UN is encouraging nations all over the world to start basing measurements of economic success on the goal of achieving "sustainable development". But there is a huge problem with that. The UN says that what we are doing right now is "unsustainable" by definition, and the major industrialized nations of the western world are the biggest culprits. According to the UN, since we are the ones that create the most carbon emissions and the most pollution, we are the ones that should make the biggest sacrifices. In addition, since we have the most money, we should also be willing to finance the transition of the developing world to a "sustainable development" economy as well. As you will see detailed in the rest of this article, the United Nations basically wants to crash the world economy in order to save the environment. Considering the fact that the U.S. and Europe are in the midst of a horrible economic crisis and are already drowning in debt, this is something that we simply cannot afford.
Loosing our 'FREEDOM to FAIL' will will ultimately serve to reduce everyone to the lowest common denominator...
U.N. leaders consider world tax
to fund social protection, services 'We will need a modest but long-term way
to finance this transformation'
By Susan Roylance, Deseret News
NEW YORK — Outside the United Nations headquarters, hundreds of people were shouting and waving banners Tuesday that read "China and Russia – No Veto." These people wanted support from the Security Council of the U.N. to oust the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.
Inside the U.N., another group of civil society leaders demanded a basic level of social security as they promoted a "social protection floor" at a preparatory forum for the Commission on Social Development, which began Feb. 1.
"Gasland" Director Josh Fox Arrested
at Congressional Hearing on Natural Gas Fracking
DemocracyNow.org
The Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Josh Fox was handcuffed and arrested Wednesday as he attempted to film a congressional hearing on the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as fracking, which the Environmental Protection Agency recently reported caused water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming. Fox directed the award-winning film, "Gasland," which documents the impact of fracking on communities across the United States, and is now working on a sequel. Fox says he was arrested after Republicans refused to allow him to film because he did not have the proper credentials. "We wanted to report on what happened [at the hearing]. I was not interested in disrupting that hearing. It was not a protest action," says Fox. "I was simply trying to do my job as a journalist and go in there and show to the American people what was transpiring in that hearing, so that down the line, as we know there will be a lot of challenges mounted to that [Pavillion, Wyoming] EPA report
Tens of thousands protest against Putin
By Charles Clover Courtney Weaver
and Catherine Belton in Moscow - FT.com
Tens of thousands of Muscovites rallied against Vladimir Putin’s regime on Saturday, defying expectations that the protest movement was losing steam or would be kept indoors by temperatures of minus 20C.
Organisers said more than 160,000 attended the rally, on Bolotnaya square 800m from the Kremlin, though the consensus was 60,000 – 100,000. Organisers had given themselves the goal of at least equalling the turnout at the last major rally, on December 24, which numbered up to 100,000.
Clinton Calls for ‘Immense Pressure’ on Assad
By Glen Carey and Elizabeth Konstantinova - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. will work with its allies to put “immense pressure” on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down after Russia vetoed a resolution aimed at ending fighting, Secretary of State Hillary Clintonsaid.
"Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people’s right to have a better future," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Sofia today. "Assad must go."
Russia, China veto U.N. resolution on Syria
By Colum Lynch and Alice Fordham - WashingtonPost.com
UNITED NATIONS — Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a U.N. resolution condemningSyria’s violent repression of anti-government demonstrators, effectively quashing efforts to isolate President Bashar al-Assad’s government as it intensifies a nearly year-long crackdown.
The veto dealt a blow to attempts by the United States and its European partners to rally behind an Arab League plan that would require Assad to yield power and make way for a democratically elected unity government. The vote followed weeks of negotiations in which diplomats had significantly watered down the resolution in a bid to win broad support.
France calls for EU-Arab action group on Syria
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - France has warned that China and Russia's UN veto will not stop the EU and its Arab allies from helping the opposition in Syria.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote in a communique on Saturday (4 February) night: "France is not giving up. It is in consultations with its European and Arab partners to create a 'Friends of the Syrian People Group' with the aim of providing help from the international community for implementing the Arab League initiative."
He added that China and Russia are effectively "encouraging the Syrian regime to continue with its cruel and hopeless policy."
Syria: It’s not just about freedom
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
Imperial regimes can crack when they are driven out of their major foreign outposts. The fall of the Berlin Wall did not only signal the liberation of Eastern Europe from Moscow. It prefigured the collapse of the Soviet Union itself just two years later.
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria could be similarly ominous for Iran. The alliance with Syria is the centerpiece of Iran’s expanding sphere of influence, a mini-Comintern that includes such clients as Iranian-armed and -directed Hezbollah, now the dominant power in Lebanon; and Hamas, which controls Gaza and threatens to take the rest of Palestine (the West Bank) from a feeble Fatah.
'Israel to strike Iran in April, May or June' – US Defense Sec
RT.com - News
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that Israel could attack Iran in the next few months. This follows Israeli reports that Iran has the capability to develop four nuclear bombs and reach the US with a missile strike.
Panetta sees a 'strong possibility' of an Israeli strike on Iran in either April, May or June, according to Thursday’s Washington Post. The attack would occur before Iran enters a so-called 'immunity zone', when its nuclear facilities will be too heavily fortified for an attack to succeed.
Post columnist’s David Ignatius, who broke the story, believes the overriding fear in Israel is that Iran has come close enough to making a nuke that only the USA will be capable of militarily stopping them.
War of nerves: Iran’s warships arrive in Saudi Arabia
RT.com - News
Two Iranian naval ships have docked in the Saudi port of Jeddah. Iranian officials say the move aims to project the country's "power on the open seas" and "confront Iranophobia."
The supply ship Kharg and destroyer Shaid Qandi docked on Saturday in the Red Sea port in line with orders from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran’s news agency, Fars.
"This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia," Fars quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying.
The commander added that the mission would last between 70 and 80 days, but did not specify its route.
Gold may hit $2,000 within 3 months: James Turk
CommodityOnline.com The Gold Report: Given the volatile 2011 market and the fact that gold trades at seasonally lower prices in the summer, James, what led you to say you believe we've already hit the low for the gold price in 2012? James Turk: We started this year in an unusual position. Normally, we see seasonal strength in the last quarter. We didn't get it. We'd been in a correction since the high in Silverback in April 2011. The high in gold came during the summer, which was very unusual, but basically both metals have been moving sideways. Starting from the end of a correction, value is more important than seasonality. Clearly, gold and silver both represent good, undervalued assets at the moment.
Gold Breaks Bearish Trendline; Key Target for Silver at $37
BY RICHARD RUSSELL - FinancialSense.com
....If the year 2012 has a title, the title should be "uncertainty."
Nobody's asking, "What happens if there's a recession in the next year?" Or "What if unemployment is 9% or more at presidential election time?" If either of the above occur, the GOP could run a donkey, and it would be our next president. Obama must have a good economy to win.
What about gold? Remember gold? Don't worry about the yellow metal. Over the last week gold has broken out above a bearish trendline and the direction is now UP. The next task -- for gold to trade in the 1800s.
Getting back to the gold standard
Commentary: Jim Grant says gold, not paper currency, is the future
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Jim Grant’s rise to power may be delayed.
The legendary Wall Street writer, publisher of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, has been mentioned by two of the rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. Newt Gingrich said if elected president, he’d name Grant to help run a commission looking at a possible return to the gold standard. And Ron Paul said, if elected president, he’d go all-in and name Grant — one of Wall Street’s best-known gold bugs — as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve.
As Paul wants to abolish the Fed, it would doubtless be a temporary post. But Grant says he found the offer — which came out of the blue — very flattering.
Gold: The target is between $2,750 to $3,000 by June 2013
By David Nichols - CommodityOnline.com
It's not often that a financial market tells us its intentions in a clear and obvious way. But occasionally it happens.
And it just happened last Wednesday.
First, to set the stage: Gold came into last week off a 17-week correction, with the direction of the next 17 weeks still up in the air. The big correction in 2008 lasted 34 weeks, so gold was at a critical balance point heading into the Fed meeting -- it was either going to move into the next up leg now, or in 17 weeks, in early May.
Syrians buying 30 times more gold
in the aftermath of the uprising
DAMASCUS (Commodity Online): Syria's 10-month-old uprising has seen an upturn in ordinary people Buying Gold, according to a report this week from the Financial Times.
"I realized gold's value because of the crisis," the FT quotes a Syrian accountant called Rasha, who it says is using her entire monthly salary to Buy Gold.
One Syrian Gold seller meantime says the numbers of people Buying Gold at his store is 30 times higher than before the crisis began.
Silver: Elliott Wave analysis targets $158.34/oz in Wave 3
By Alf Field - CommodityOnline.com
I have received numerous emails asking about silver. This article was prompted by a question enquiring what the Silverprice might be if my Gold forecast of $4,500 proved to be correct. As I own some silver bullion and a number of silver mining shares, the question caused me to pause and take a closer look at silver.
Gold and silver tend to move in tandem, not in an exact synchronization, but enough to suggest that the Major waves of both metals should coincide from a time perspective. We know that in gold the Major ONE wave peaked in March 2008 at $1003 and that Major TWO declined to $680 in November 2008.
European debt crisis remains supportive influence for gold
LONDON (Commodity Online): Concerns about Greece and Portugal are underpinning demand for gold, said Commerzbank in a research note.
According to Commerzbank, Gold defied a downward trend in commodity prices and a firmer U.S. dollar Tuesday. The metal is higher again so far Wednesday.
"There has still been no breakthrough in negotiations between the so-called Troika and Greece on debt restructuring, and the tug-of-war is therefore continuing," they added.
Ingredients for Inflation
BY DOCK TREECE - FinancialSense.com
The definition of inflation is a very hotly debated issue among investors, economists, and of course politicians. Long-time readers will know we’ve written about it many times before, but given recent developments feel the need to provide a brief refresher course to help investors understand the risks quickly emerging in financial markets.
Inflation was defined as expansion in money supply for years and years – and it still is by economists from the Austrian school of thought. However, in the early 2000s the FederalReserve conveniently stopped keeping track of M3 – the broadest measure of money supply which most had used to gauge inflation.
They're lying to you... In Giant Misdirection,
Americans Save More
While Their Real Wealth Declines Faster Americans save more at almost zero interest
as their dollars drop in value
by Bill Sardi - LewRockwell.com
What a time for Americans to begin replenishing their savings accounts, at the exact time when they are likely to be penalized for doing so.
For the past 30 years Americans have been saving less and less money and only with the recent economic downturn beginning in 2008 did Americans begin to re-stock their savings accounts. The American consumer economy has benefited as Americans chose to spend rather than save.
But suddenly, savings are on the way up again, up to 4% in December 2011 from 3.5% in November, the highest savings rate increase in five months.
War, Bank Runs, Riots & Gold Going Mainstream 1/4
War, Bank Runs, Riots & Gold Going Mainstream 2/4
War, Bank Runs, Riots & Gold Going Mainstream 3/4
War, Bank Runs, Riots & Gold Going Mainstream 4/4
China Considers Offering Aid in Europe’s Debt Crisis
By KEITH BRADSHER and LIZ ALDERMAN - NYTimes.com
HONG KONG — Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Thursday thatChina would consider working with the International Monetary Fundto help shore up Europe’s finances. But he left unclear whether China was willing to drop conditions that so far have made its proposed help unappealing to European nations.
While Chinese leaders have pledged not to link political demands to financial investments, they have sought concessions, such as getting the European Union to relax trade strictures against low-cost Chinese goods. Mr. Wen’s comments came at a Beijing news conference after he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on the first day of her three-day visit to China.
China’s Wen Raises Euro Funding Prospect
By Bloomberg News
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao raised the prospect of contributing to the euro-area’s bailout programs, telling Chancellor Angela Merkel thatChina may be prepared to assist in resolving its debt crisis.
The Chinese government is considering funding options for the temporary European Financial Stability Facility and its permanent successor, the European Stability Mechanism, through theInternational Monetary Fund to help stabilize the monetary union, Wen said yesterday after meeting Merkel in Beijing. China has previously said that it needs more detail on any plan to contribute funds to the euro area.
Greece: European Central Bank,
other central banks must be part of debt relief deal
AP - WashingtonPost.com
ATHENS, Greece — The European Central Bank and national central banks should be part of a debt relief deal with near-bankrupt Greece’s private sector creditors ahead of a pressing deadline early next week, the Greek Finance Minister said Thursday.
Evangelos Venizelos said the deal should also involve reducing the interest rates Greece pays its European partners and the International Monetary Fund for its first bailout agreed in May 2010
Who's Still OK With Deficit Spending Now?
By Chuck Butler - DailyReckoning.com
02/02/12 St. Louis, Missouri – I had to laugh yesterday when the New York traders came in and didn't sell the currencies right away… I said to myself, "Self, maybe the 'big boys' read the Pfennig and now know that I've uncovered their 'game,' so they have to lay low for a while!" HA! Whatever the case, the currencies held their gains most of the day, and even added on in some cases.
CBO: How Hosed Are We?
By Megan McArdle - TheAtlantic.com
The latest Budget and Economic Outlook is out from the CBO, and boy is it grim reading. The projections continue to deteriorate, largely because the recession has been longer and deeper than the CBO projected. We can now expect $1 trillion deficits even past Obama's first term.
Aha! You want to say. "It's mostly the fault of George Bush and his nefarious tax cuts for the rich!"
If only it were so simple. The ten year cost of the Bush tax cuts is $2.8 trillion, but only about a quarter of that is for the taxes on high earners; the rest is for tax breaks affecting those making less than $250,000 a year. Moreover, "extend tax policies" also assumes that we fix the AMT to prevent it from hitting middle-income voters. That costs another $800 billion over 10 years--about the same as the "tax cuts for the rich".
Baltic Dry: The Death Of An Index
247WallSt.com
Just what does a cratering Baltic Dry Index mean? Frankly, it looks and acts as though it is signaling the next recession is here already rather than signaling that it is coming. That flies in the face of many current trends, but perhaps it is the woes of Europe. After all, Belgium is the first country so far to have two negative GDP quarters and the other Eurozone nations are somehow claiming that they will escape a 2012 recession. There is a lot more to the story.
Keiser Report: Chutzpah Economics (E244)
Bernanke Won’t Trade Inflation Goal for Jobs
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank will seek to keep prices rising at a 2 percent rate and rejected suggestions that it would sacrifice its inflation goal to boost employment.
"Over a period of time we want to move inflation always back toward 2 percent," Bernanke said today in Washington in response to a question from Republican Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee. "We're always trying to bring inflation back to the target."
Rising Deficits Pose Major Threat to Economy: Bernanke
By: Jeff Cox - CNBC.com
Rising federal budget deficits are posing a significant threat to the U.S. economy and are likely to cause a crisis if not brought under control, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday.
Calling the situation "unsustainable," the central bank leader pointed out that surging health-care costs, along with the high level of government spending used to pull the economy out of recession, are creating fiscal hazard.
Fed chief warns Congress
against hampering growth while cutting debt
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Thursday cautioned lawmakers against taking any steps that would hurt economic growth as they work to cut the nation’s debt, and he defended the central bank’s recent actions to support the economy.
In testimony before the House Budget Committee, Bernanke urged Congress to put a priority on finding a sustainable level of federal spending over coming decades.
But, he said, they also must "take care not to unnecessarily impede the current economic recovery." Supporting growth now, he said, "will lead to lower deficits and debt in coming years."
Geithner: Dodd-Frank critics
are toying with another financial meltdown
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner swung back at critics of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law Thursday, arguing that those detractors are pushing for a repeat of the financial crisis.
Both in Congress and on the campaign trail, the Obama administration's reforms have come under fire. Lawmakers are pushing several bills that would repeal portions of the law, and every major Republican candidate has vowed to kill it as one of their first acts in office.
Timothy Geithner defends financial overhaul from GOP criticism
By Jim Puzzanghera - LATimes.com
Reporting from Washington—
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has a message for voters as they listen to Republican presidential candidates call for repeal of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law: Remember the pain.
"I would say remember 2008 and 2009," Geithner told reporters Thursday during a news conference touting the benefits of the overhaul. "Remember the fact that the reason why we're living with very high unemployment with millions of Americans that have lost their homes, terrible damage to the basic economics of America is because of the failures that caused this crisis in the financial system."
Goldman Sachs likely to avoid criminal charges
in DOJ probe, insiders say
By MARK DECAMBRE - NYPost.com
Goldman Sachs is ready to turn over a new gold-plated leaf.
Nearly nine months after the Justice Department launched a probe into whether the Wall Street firm misled clients and lied to lawmakers, executives are increasingly optimistic that the bank will avoid criminal charges and focus on what it does best: minting money.
The DOJ investigation into Goldman was spurred by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who, in a scathing report in April, accused Goldman executives of unloading subprime loans on unsuspecting clients and misleading Congress during testimony in 2010.
House votes to freeze congressional, federal pay
By Ed O'Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
House lawmakers voted Wednesday night to freeze their pay and the salaries of congressional staffers and civilian federal employees, scoring a symbolic victory for congressional Republicans who have targeted government compensation as an example of excessive federal spending.
On a vote of 309 to 117, GOP supporters scored the two-thirds majority needed to approve the measure under a suspension of normal procedural roles.
It Is Safe to Resume Ignoring the Prophets of Doom ... Right?
By ADAM DAVIDSON - NYTimes.com
I remember the first time I interviewed a relatively unknown economist named Nouriel Roubini. It was 2005, and as we sat in his New York University office, he laid out his scary vision of the future. Roubini is a specialist in the flow of money around the world and the crises that (sometimes) result. But on that day he wanted to talk about the U.S. housing market.
Homeowners, he said, had become too used to financing their lifestyles with money siphoned from overvalued homes. This housing bubble would pop, he warned, and send the world into a vicious recession, possibly even a depression. I remember leaving his office both stunned and confused. Only after calling a few leading economists was I reassured that this Roubini guy was expressing a fringe view that merited little attention. Like a lot of reporters that year, I turned around a tongue-in-cheek story about Dr. Doom and his scary (but probably best ignored) world view. Oops!
Fantastic Mr. Frum:
How he learned to stop worrying
and love debt, deficits, and the dollar
Fed's Low Rates Killing Credit, Slowing Recovery: Gross
By: Jeff Cox- CNBC.com
The Federal Reserve's zero-interest-rate policy is hampering economic recovery by discouraging bank lending, Pimco bond titan Bill Gross said in an analysis.
For banks, a healthy lending environment exists where they can borrow at low rates in the short term and lend at significantly higher rates over the long term, a situation that creates a profit through a positively slopedyield curve.
When the slope is tighter, banks still can make money if they can count on the principal value, rather than the yield, of their bonds rising. Bond prices rise when yields fall.
The question was asked if it made sense for Treasury to permit bids and awards at negative interest rates in marketable Treasury bill auctions. [A Treasury employee] noted that there were operational issues associated with such a rule change, but that the hurdles were not insurmountable. It was the unanimous view of the committee that Treasury should modify auction regulations to permit negative rate bidding and awards in Treasury bill auctions as soon as feasible.
Put simply, the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, composed mostly ofWall Street types, is urging that investors be allowed to pay the government for the privilege of lending it money. For example, an investor would be able to bid and then pay the government $101 for a $100 Treasury bill.
Thomas Friedman and the End of "Average"
By Bill Bonner - dailyreckoning.com
02/02/12 Baltimore, Maryland – We got a chuckle out of Thomas Friedman. Maybe he would be good as a brick mason. Or maybe a baker. Shame he got caught up in journalism. He has no talent for it.
In a recent column he tells us that "Average is over." Typically, it makes no sense. What Friedman seems to mean is that an average person can’t expect to do very well in today’s America. He says average guys are being replaced by robots and Chinese people.
There’s even a new device that will make waiters obsolete. You go into a restaurant. You find a computer at your table. You use it to order your food.
Okay, so what?
Making It in America
By ADAM DAVIDSON - TheAtlantic.com
In the past decade, the flow of goods emerging from U.S. factories has risen by about a third. Factory employment has fallen by roughly the same fraction. The story of Standard Motor Products, a 92-year-old, family-run manufacturer based in Queens, sheds light on both phenomena. It’s a story of hustle, ingenuity, competitive success, and promise for America’s economy. It also illuminates why the jobs crisis will be so difficult to solve.
I FIRST MET MADELYN "Maddie" Parlier in the "clean room" of Standard Motor Products’ fuel-injector assembly line in Greenville, South Carolina. Like everyone else, she was wearing a blue lab coat and a hairnet. She’s so small that she seemed swallowed up by all the protective gear.
The Health Care Racket
by RALPH NADER - CounterPunch.org
Looking at millions of individual bills that makeup the 2.7 trillion dollars of annual health care costs opens a gigantic window on the massive waste, redundancy, profiteering, fraud and sometimes criminal over-billing.
Here is a partial example of what I mean, in the words of Philip M. Boffey, the estimable science writer for the New York Times:
"Why does an appendectomy in Germany cost roughly a quarter what it costs in the United States? ($3,285 compared to $13,123). Or an MRI scan cost less than a third as much, on average, in Canada? ($304 compared to $1,009)."
"Americans continue to spend more on health care than patients anywhere else. In 2009, we spent $7,960 per person, twice as much as France, which is known for providing very good health services. And for all that spending, we get very mixed results—some superb, some average, some inferior—compared with other advanced nations."
The company aims to cut labor costs 20% under bankruptcy protection, and will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions. Some management jobs would also be cut.
AMR also proposes to end its traditional pension plans. The move has been strongly opposed by the airline's unions and the U.S. pension-insurance agency.
CEO Thomas Horton said the company hopes to return to profitability by cutting spending more than $2 billion per year and raising revenue by $1 billion per year.
. . . Horton said cost-cutting will include restructuring debt and aircraft leases, grounding older planes, and changing labor contracts.
Pay cut for bureaucrats Overpaid federal employees don’t need a raise in a malaise
By The Washington Times
Those with a government job are sitting pretty. A typical fed’s total compensation averages 16 percent more than that of his neighbor at an equivalent private-sector gig. In this troubled economic time of 8.5 percent unemployment, nothing beats the public dole’s 100 percent job security. President Obama thinks this cushy setup isn’t enough; he wants federal bureaucrats to get even more money. On Wednesday, theHouse put the kibosh on that.
Senate approves bill
banning insider trading by lawmakers, 96-3
By Alexander Bolton and Josiah Ryan - TheHill.com
The Senate voted 96 to 3 Thursday to prohibit members of Congress from using non-public information for personal financial gain but beat back a slew of amendments to further limit congressional perks.
The Senate action puts pressure on House Republicans to pass similar legislation to quell allegations of congressional self-dealing at a time when Congress’s approval rating is at an all-time low
PACs Americana A dispatch from the future, where PACs have absorbed America's political parties.
By Jon Lovett - TheAtlantic.com
In retrospect, the transformation began the way most major changes in society begin: without anyone fully realizing what was taking place. Yes, when the Supreme Court handed down its 2010 Citizens United decision — allowing virtually unlimited spending by corporations and individuals to sway elections — there was a fair amount of outrage, mostly from the left. President Barack Obama, then in his first term, spoke out against what he called the corporate takeover of our democracy. But even those who imagined the threat posed by this unfettered influence could not have conceived of what would happen in the years that followed.
Gallup Points to Weaker Employment Report Tomorrow [Friday]
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
Gallup released their latest employment poll today and the news doesn't bode well for tomorrow's January employment report. According to the most recent survey U.S. employment, without seasonal adjustment, increased to 8.6% as of the end of January and 8.7% as of February 1st. Either way you look at it the recent upward trend is the opposite of what we want to be seeing at this point.
Own Vs. Rent Riles Government Housing Policy
By: Diana Olick - CNBC Real Estate Reporter
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants under government conservatorship, together owned 182,212 foreclosed properties as of the end of September.
While they aggressively market and sell these homes to investors and owner-occupants alike, the numbers are still too high; these number could go far higher, as foreclosures previously stalled by paperwork issues come back into process.
That’s why the federal regulator overseeing the two is launching a bulk sale program, offering investors the chance to buy foreclosed properties at a discount, as long as those investors turn the properties into viable rentals for a specified number of years.
Improving the TV-to-computer connection
By Mark A. Kellner-The Washington Times
If you have more house than cable TV outlets, or if you simply must watch "Judge Judy" or a Washington Nationals game out on the deck using a tablet computer, a small $179 device could make your life a whole lot easier.
What’s more, I believe the technology in Elgato’s HDHomeRun could be a key part of the future of broadcasting, in which television and computing are merged. It may not be that far off, and, well, I think it makes sense. After all, there should be little to keep cable TV programs away from your computer screen.
Venezuela Announces "Irrevocable" Withdrawal
from World Bank’s Arbitration Body Venezuela has now placed itself directly in the line of fire with the globalist elites
By Ewan Robertson - Venezuela Analysis
The Venezuelan government has announced Venezuela’s "irrevocable" withdrawal from the World Bank affiliated arbitration body the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
According to an official statement released by Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday this week, the move has been taken on the grounds of defending national sovereignty and "to protect the right of the Venezuelan people to decide the strategic orientation of the social and economic life of the nation".
Long-term commitment for U.S. forces in Afghanistan
By Shaun Waterman-The Washington Times
Top U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials Thursday downplayed talk of an early American pullout from Afghanistan, saying U.S. combat forces will stay there until the end of 2014, and there is a commitment for much longer than that.
CIA Director David H. Petraeus told lawmakers the media had "over-analyzed" comments by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. wanted to step back from its leading role in combat and move to training and supporting Afghan forces as soon as next year.
* * * * *
Will Israel decide to attack Iran? Israel's profound choice on Iran No one disputes that Iran poses a threat to Israel. What will Netanyahu decide?
By Chuck Freilich - LATimes.com
In the end it will come down to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu. His senior officials will make their cases, but he alone will have to make one of the most critical decisions in Israel's history: whether to attack Iran's nuclear program. I do not envy him.
There has been much media speculation lately about possible Israeli military action, largely from those who have never borne the crushing weight of momentous national decisions. Israelhas made many controversial decisions over the decades, some mistaken. One thing that cannot be said is that it has taken major military action lightly. Rarely if ever have the stakes been higher.
Doug Casey on the Coming War with Iran
Doug Casey, Chairman - CaseyResearch.com
(Interviewed by Louis James, Editor, International Speculator) L: Doug-Sama, I've heard you say you think the US is setting Iran up to be the next fall guy in the wag-the-dog show – do you think it could really come to open warfare? Doug: Yes, I do. It could just be saber rattling during an election year, but Western powers have been provoking Iran for years now – two decades, really. I just saw another report proclaiming that Iran is likely to attack the US, which is about as absurd as the allegations Bush made about Iraq bombing the US, when he fomented that invasion. It's starting to look rather serious at this point, so I do think the odds favor actual fighting in the not-too-distant future.
Chairman of Joint Chiefs to Israelis:
U.S. Won’t Join Your War on Iran
by GARETH PORTER - CounterPunch.org
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers.
Dempsey’s warning, conveyed to both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, represents the strongest move yet by President Barack Obama to deter an Israeli attack and ensure that the United States is not caught up in a regional conflagration with Iran.
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
– William Hughes Mearns, 1899
One of the most uncommented on ironies today is that Israel is threatening military action to prevent Iran from continuing the same clandestine route to nuclear weapons that Israel took; just as Israeli planes destroyed nuclear reactors in Syria and Iraq to prevent those countries from following Israel’s lead.
A parallel irony: President Obama champions an economic embargo to force Iran to back off its nuclear program. Yet, for more than half a century one American president after another declined to sound any alarums over Israel’s secret drive for nukes. Indeed, U.S. leaders refused to even officially acknowledge the foreboding intelligence about Israel’s intentions that American analysts were providing. That flimflam continues to this day.
Effort to Rebrand Arab Spring Backfires in Iran
By ROBERT F. WORTH - NYTimes.com
TEHRAN — It was meant to be a crowning moment in which Iranput its own Islamic stamp on the Arab Spring. More than a thousand young activists were flown here earlier this week (at government expense) for a conference on "the Islamic Awakening," Tehran’s effort to rebrand the popular Arab uprisings of the past year.
As delegates flooded into a vast auditorium next to a space needle in western Tehran, a screen showed images of the Iranian revolution in 1979, morphing seamlessly into footage of young Arab protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.
US Nuclear Sub Heads Towards Persian Gulf Additional destroyer also on way to region near Strait of Hormuz
Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
Following the announcement that a third US aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, would be heading to patrol waters near the Strait of Hormuz in March, it has also been revealed that the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen are also likely to heading towards the Persian Gulf in the build up to a possible attack on Iran.
"Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf," reports RT, citing Interfax News Agency.
Washington State Considers Gold and Silver as Legal Tender
WRITTEN BY ALEX NEWMAN - TheNewAmerican.com
In an effort to protect the property of citizens from the harmful effects of inflation created by the Federal Reserve, lawmakers in Washington State introduced a bill over the weekend to declare gold and silver legal tender within the state. Sound-money advocates across the nation immediately praised the effort.
Citing several provisions of the U.S. Constitution and various rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, the legislation notes that only gold and silver are to be considered legal tender by the states. The bill also blasts the federal government for imposing an unconstitutional monetary system on the states and for unjustly confiscating citizens’ wealth by allowing the Fed to create money.
Gold gallops 11%, silver up 20% Analysts expect bullion to test $2,000/oz this year
By Vicky Kapur - Emirates247.com
Spot gold prices rose $171 per ounce, or 10.91 per cent, during the first month of 2012, while the price of silver went up by $5.35 per ounce, or 19.2 per cent, in the same period. The yellow metal is currently trading at $1,736 an ounce while the white metal is at $33.22 per ounce.
With the dollar index seeing a steady decline, the inverse correlation with precious metals is playing out its course, pushing prices up. Adding multiple variables to that simple equation is the ongoing financial negotiations and policy stalemate in Europe and the US, respectively.
The Next 17 Months For Gold
By David Nichols - SeekingAlpha.com
It's not often that a financial market tells us its intentions in a clear and obvious way. But occasionally it happens.
And it just happened last Wednesday.
First, to set the stage: gold came into last week off a 17-week correction, with the direction of the next 17 weeks still up in the air. The big correction in 2008 lasted 34 weeks, so gold was at a critical balance point heading into the Fed meeting -- it was either going to move into the next up leg now, or in 17 weeks, in early May.
Bullion Tallying Biggest Monthly Gain this Century
By Ben Traynor - SilverBearCafe.com
Gold bullion prices were headed for their biggest calendar month gain this century by Tuesday lunchtime in London.
Gold prices hit $1745 per ounce – just shy of 14% higher than the dollar gold bullion price set at the last London Fix of 2011. By this measure, January 2012 looked set to record the fourth-largest calendar month gain in the last three decades, and the biggest since September 1999, the month that saw the signing of the Central Bank Gold Agreement, which limited the sales of gold bullion by signatory central banks.
Gold's Chinese dragon
By Claudia Assis - MarketWatch.com
The Chinese don’t need a reason to buy precious metals, but it certainly helps that doing so is considered particularly auspicious around the Lunar New Year.
Celebrations surrounding the "Spring Festival," as the holiday is also called in China, significantly boosted sales at two popular Chinese gold retailers. The Chinese celebrated the Spring Festival, marking the year of the dragon, between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28. During that week, sales at jewelers Caibai and Guohua increased 50% over last year's Spring Festival, said Chinese news agency Xinhua, citing the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Bill Gross Explains Why
"We Are Witnessing The Death Of Abundance"
And Why Gold Is Becoming The Default "Store Of Value"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While sounding just a tad preachy in his February newsletter, Bill Gross' latest summary piece on the economy, on the Fed's forray into infinite ZIRP, into maturity transformation, and the lack thereof, on the Fed's massive blunder in treating the liquidity trap, but most importantly on what the transition from a levering to delevering global economy means, is a must read. First: on the fatal flaw in the Fed's plan: "when rational or irrational fear persuades an investor to be more concerned about the return of her money than on her money then liquidity can be trapped in a mattress, a bank account or a five basis point Treasury bill. But that commonsensical observation is well known to Fed policymakers, economic historians and certainly citizens on Main Street." And secondly, here is why the party is over: "Where does credit go when it dies? It goes back to where it came from. It delevers, it slows and inhibits economic growth, and it turns economic theory upside down, ultimately challenging the wisdom of policymakers. We’ll all be making this up as we go along for what may seem like an eternity. A 30-50 year virtuous cycle of credit expansion which has produced outsize paranormal returns for financial assets – bonds, stocks, real estate and commodities alike – is now delevering because of excessive “risk” and the "price" of money at the zero-bound. We are witnessing the death of abundance and the borning of austerity, for what may be a long, long time."
Shares or bullion? Commentary: How best to play the gold market in February
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — Should gold bugs in February bet on bullion over the shares of gold mining companies?
Many believe they should, on the theory that, just as it did in the first few weeks of this year, bullion would continue outperforming shares
But let’s get a reality check on that belief by analyzing the portfolios of the nearly 200 advisers tracked by the Hulbert Financial Digest.
The Most Volatile Metal? Silver Is The Prime Suspect
By Taras Berezowsky - SeekingAlpha.com
Even though Eastman Kodak (EK) has declared bankruptcy, there is just enough industrial demand being mustered in the solar panel, battery and conductor sectors, not to mention investment in ETFs and physical metal, to give the silver price its best start in a new year since 1983.
According to a recent article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, silver as a commodity is back in business. The silver price hit $33.8575 yesterday (up 22 percent since Dec. 31), and a survey of analysts points to a price average of $37.50. Silver is notorious for its volatility, and indeed proved the most volatile metal tracked by Bloomberg over the last eight months, dropping 44 percent over that time period.
Silver Powering 20 Million Homes
as Glut Subsides: Commodities
By Nicholas Larkin - Bloomberg.com
Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Record industrial demand for silver and resurging investor interest is diminishing a supply surplus, driving the metal used in everything from solar panels to batteries into its best start to a year in almost three decades.
Manufacturers will use 15,415 metric tons, 2.5 percent more than in 2011 and reducing the glut by 41 percent to 3,297 tons, Barclays Capital estimates. Investors may buy 2,000 tons through exchange-traded products, after selling 1,300 tons last year, Morgan Stanley predicts. Prices will average $37.50 an ounce in the fourth quarter, 11 percent more than now, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 13 analysts shows.
The Silver Singularity Is Near
By Mike Scully - SeekingAlpha.com
....As physical silver is removed from the foundation of the paper market, leverage will increase until a leveraged short can't get the silver and defaults on his contract. That's when promises are broken, confidence turns to panic, and the leveraged derivatives house of cards comes toppling down.
To continue my multiple metaphors, that's when the derivatives dam breaks. That's the 101st Elmo buyer entering Walmart with a thousand determined shoppers close behind him. That's what folks like Ray Kurzweil might call "the singularity". It's the point when all hell breaks loose and things go hyperbolic. The stampede for physical silver will begin.
Counterfeit Money, Counterfeit Policy
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
What is the difference between printing money and counterfeiting? There is none.
Counterfeiting is illegal because it is the false creation of value. The counterfeiter takes low-value paper and turns it into high-value money, which is fundamentally a claim on the real productive value of the economy that issues the currency and recognizes it as a proxy means of exchanging that productive value.
Counterfeiting is illegal because the counterfeiter creates no additional value--he creates only the proxy for value. Creating real value--adding meaningful goods or services to the economy--is tedious, hard work. How much easier to simply transform near-worthless paper into a claim on actual goods and services.
Short China: Its commodities bubble is set to pop
Commentary: Empire-building, overpopulation, greed, hoarding
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Commodities guru Jim Rogers wrote: “Bull in China, Investing Profitably in the World’s Greatest Market.” A former partner of hedge genius billionaire George Soros, he blamed the Fed for igniting two catastrophic financial bubbles back in 2007. So he shorted Fannie Mae, banks and home builders, abandoned America just before the 2008 meltdown, and moved to China.
Greece nears debt deal with banks but EU clash looms Greece was on the brink of a deal with private creditors on Wednesday night after weeks of brinkmanship.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
But the simmering clash with EU officials and the International Monetary Fund has yet to be resolved and remains a larger threat.
"We are just one step, just a formality, from completion," said Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek finance minister.
The deal will slice €100bn off Greece's debt and leave banks, pension funds, and other bondholders nursing effective losses above 70pc, but it does not in itself avert the risk of a Greek default in March.
European Fiscal Pact: Int'l. Financial Dictatorship
WRITTEN BY BOB ADELMANN - TheNewAmerican.com
Monday’s meeting of the European Union in Brussels resulted in agreement of 25 of the 27 member states to inflict upon themselves and their hapless and increasingly powerless citizenry the tools of international fiscal dictatorship.
The purpose of the "fiscal pact" is to enforce "budgetary discipline" so that the present euro crisis can be contained and future such crises averted. In the short run that means granting the European Central Bank (ECB) additional power to expand its reserves so that bailouts to failing countries can continue, subject to enforcement rules. In the longer run, the pact puts in place the primary tool of coercion, the European Stability Mechanism, to be effective in July.
IMF presses Greece to cut wages,
says new rescue deal is due in ‘a matter of days’
AP - WahsingtonPost.com
ATHENS, Greece — Greece and the IMF said Wednesday that negotiations for landmark debt deals will be concluded in a "matter of days," raising hopes that the country will dodge a disastrous default in the spring.
Greece is in talks with private creditors to have them take losses on their bondholdings and with its international bailout rescuers to receive new loans.
Gerald Celente - Talk Radio Europe - 24 January 2012
Greece Warns It Will Soon Be
In "Condition Of Absolute Poverty"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
And while the bankers (on both sides of the table) haggle about how to best leech Greece even dryer (with a solution due any hour, day, week now), the actual people are starting to wave the white flag of surrender. Because the opportunity cost of every additional coupon payment is having a direct, immediate and increasingly more dire impact on virtually every aspect of the economy. Kathimerini reports that "about 160,000 jobs will be lost this year in the commerce sector, according to the National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE) as the constant decline in disposable income has led to a sharp drop in turnover and a steep rise in the number of enterprises shutting down."
Bundesbank sinks deeper into debt saving Europe Germany's Bundesbank has entirely exhausted its stock of private assets and run up a quarter of a trillion euros in liabilities propping up the eurozone system, testing the political limits of EMU solidarity in Germany.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The operations are part of the European Central Bank's 'TARGET2' network of automatic payments between the national central banks of the Euroland club. The Bundesbank has already provided €496bn (£413bn) to countries in trouble, chiefly Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
"This is reaching the danger point. It is already one and a half times the total budget of the German government," said Professor Frank Westermann of Osnabrück University. "If any of the crisis countries exits the euro or if there is an EMU break-up, the Bundesbank bears extreme risks."
Britain should be preparing
to make the most of the euro break-up The week when Alex Salmond firmed up the details of the coming referendum in Scotland about breaking up the UK was a strange time for the Prime Minister to be singing the praises of the UK's monetary union and berating the eurozone as structurally flawed.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
But he was right. I don't think, though, that he has drawn the right conclusions about the euro.
Throughout the eurozone the accent remains on austerity. This sounds right, not least because it mirrors what is open to us all as individuals. And it sounds morally right as well. We overspent, got ourselves into a nasty pickle and therefore what we need now is a good dose of hardship.
Corruption in Fascist Business Model
BY JIM WILLIE - FinancialSense.com
Few can define fascism. Many cannot recognize it. History provides shocking stories of its past episodes. But its root structural feature is the tight relationship between the state and large corporations of a nation, which permit enormous fraud and lead to grand inefficiency, even while aggression and war accompany its handiwork in an ugly fabric weave. Nowhere is the bond more scummy and corrupt than with the banking industry, not in general but in Wall Street where defense of the USDollar has come. That defense was contracted from the USGovt to Wall Street, whose ties developed into a vast network of corruption. That cozy relationship led to the gutting of Fort Knox and its gold bullion in the 1990 decade of so-called prosperity. The 0% gold leasing resulted in vast speculation schemes, private multi-$trillion profit, and absent collateral for the USDollar itself. The other cozy connection is with the defense contractors, where war generates colossal cash flows, some of which result in kickbacks to Congress. The Fascist Business Model is a cord to strangle the neck of a nation. The rage of nationalism, the eradication of liberties, the pursuit of conjured enemies, the constant sense of alert, the attack on enemies with alienation of allies, all tend to effectively conceal the theft and corruption.
Bernanke mission may boost Obama Commentary: Fed just doing its job
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Some of the Republican presidential hopefuls have used the Federal Reserve as a punching bag, with both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich saying they would replace Chairman Ben Bernanke if they were elected.
So it was not an idle question when Bernanke was asked at the press conference following the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee last week whether he would resign if a new Republican president asked him to.
The Fed chairman would not be drawn in. "I’m not going to get involved in political rhetoric," he responded. "I have a job to do."
* * * * *
The Impending Undeclared Default Of 5 Major US Banks
by Jim Sinclair - JSMineset.com
The following interview with Ellis Martin of www.EllisMartinReport.com covers in detail the impending undeclared default of 5 major US banks this week by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.
This even has the potential to cause a second financial crisis that would require significant financial intervention. If you have time to spare, listen to this interview. If you don’t have time to spare, listen to it anyway.
Breaking News Ellis Martin Report with Jim Sinclair
ISDA on Greek Default Definition
SilverDoctors.blogspot.com
You ask the ISDA what their definition of a Greek default is (if a 70% haircut is not a default!)? Well, that depends on what your definition of "is" is.
From the ISDA, with commentary:
A CDS is triggered when a Credit Event occurs. There are three Credit Events that are typically used for Western European Sovereigns (including Greece), they are: Failure to Pay;Repudiation/Moratorium and Restructuring. We will focus on Restructuring for these purposes.
The Restructuring Credit Event is triggered if one of a defined list of events occurs, with respect to a debt obligation such as a bond or a loan, as a result of a decline in creditworthiness or financial condition of the reference entity. The listed events are: reduction in the rate of interest or amount of principal payable (which would include a "haircut"); deferral of payment of interest or principal (which would include an extension of maturity of an outstanding obligation); subordination of the obligation; and change in the currency of payment to a currency that is not legal tender in a G7 country or a AAA-rated OECD country. The decline in creditworthiness or financial condition requirement is intended to filter out restructurings that occur as a result of improved financial condition.
Are CDS triggered by a declaration by a rating agency that the Reference
Entity has been downgraded or is in "default"?
Meet the bankers who decide whether Greece has defaulted
Posted By David Bosco - ForeignPolicy.com Monday, October 24, 2011
.... The ISDA website reports that the members of the determinations committee for Europe include most major banks that issue credit default swaps, including Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley, Société Générale, and UBS. The committee also includes a smaller number of players active in buying CDS instruments.
Obama’s next bailout Proposed settlement hides payoff
to banks worth hundreds of billions
By Rebel A. Cole - The Washington Times
On Jan. 23, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun L.S. Donovan met in Chicago with several Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) in an attempt to strong-arm them into signing up for an administration-backed agreement to settle the "robo-signing" scandal. Wall Street would pay what sounds like a large fine ($25 billion), and in exchange, the state AGs would relieve the bankers of all legal liabilities related to the fraudulent mortgage-lending practices that led directly to the 2008 financial meltdown and a 30 percent drop in U.S. home prices.
Doug Noland on Global Government Ponzi Finance
Get ready for QE3, QE4, QE5, QE6, QE7... [podcast]
James J Puplava CFP with Douglas Noland - FinancialSense.com
Jim welcomes to Financial Sense Newshour Douglas Noland, Senior Portfolio Manager atFederated Investors Inc. Doug discusses the global credit crisis, and believes the greatest bubble in the history of mankind is ready to unfold.
Persistent Questions About the Future of the US Economy
Bill Bonner - SilverBearCafe.com
First, it was clear from the get-go that there was a bubble in finance and housing. The only people who couldn’t see it were the people in finance and housing…and the feds. It reached its peak in ’05-’07…then, exploded.
Second, it was obvious that the US economy entered a period of debt destruction — a Great Correction, we called it. There was never really any hope of ‘recovery.’ Once it blows up, you can’t put the pieces of a bubble back together.
Third, the question then was how long the Great Correction would last…which depended on what it was correcting. No one knows. We’re still correcting the debt bubble, which could take another 10 years or so. But this correction could be tough; there are other things going on. Which led us to start asking questions about what we don’t know:
Philly Fed's Plosser Slams 2014 Low-Rate Forecast
Reuters - CNBC.com
A top Federal Reserve official sharply criticized the U.S. central bank's decision last week to telegraph ultra low interest rates for nearly three more years, saying on Wednesday the move undermined confidence and caused confusion.
The Fed's policy-setting committee, citing a bleak outlook for the fragile economic recovery, said last week it expected to keep rates "exceptionally low" at least through late 2014. The forecast, which was contingent on economic conditions, pushed the target date some 18 months later than a previous forecast and it sparked a rally in stocks and bonds.
CBO: Taxes Will 'Shoot Up
by More Than 30 Percent' Over Next 2 Years
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - The amount of money the federal government takes out of the U.S. economy in taxes will increase by more than 30 percent between 2012 and 2014, according to the Budget and Economic Outlookpublished today by the CBO.
At the same time, according to CBO, the economy will remain sluggish, partly because of higher taxes.
"In particular, between 2012 and 2014, revenues in CBO’s baseline shoot up by more than 30 percent," said CBO, "mostly because of the recent or scheduled expirations of tax provisions, such as those that lower income tax rates and limit the reach of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), and the imposition of new taxes, fees, and penalties that are scheduled to go into effect."
California at Risk of Running Out of Money by March
Reuters - CNBC.com
California needs to come up with more than $3 billion to avoid burning through its cash by March, according to the state controller, who urged borrowing and delaying some payments.
"Assuming no additional revenue loss, erosion of borrowable internal funds, or significant spikes in spending, $3.3 billion of cash solutions are needed to address California's liquidity needs during this period," State Controller John Chiang said in a letter to the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released on Tuesday.
MF Global's missing cash mostly accounted for
By DANIEL WAGNER, Associated Press - CNSNews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of the $1.2 billion reported missing from the failed brokerage MF Global has been traced to customer accounts and banks, people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Brokerages are supposed to keep customer money separate from company money. That way, customers are protected if the brokerage fails.
Freddie Mac Gets Paid To Obstruct Refinancings
By Felix Salmon - SeekingAlpha.com
Jesse Eisinger and Chris Arnold have a really good story about Freddie Mac today (FMCC.OB), a company which is preventing mortgage refis at the same time as it’s making enormous prop bets that homeowners are going to continue to find it hard to refinance.
Back in September I noted that mortgage bonds are trading well above par just because investors are well aware that refis are hard to come by for many homeowners, and said that those investors were "taking unfair advantage of the fact that homeowners are locked into above-market mortgage rates". What I never dreamed of was that the investors and the rule-setters were the same people — in this case, Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac Halts Use of Derivatives Tied to High Interest Rates
By Clea Benson and Lorraine Woellert
Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Freddie Mac stopped making investments in derivatives known as inverse floaters last year after a regulatory exam raised questions about the mortgage company’s controls, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.
An FHFA examination "identified concerns regarding the controls, including risk management, surrounding the inverse floaters," the oversight agency said in a statement. "FHFA and Freddie Mac agreed that these transactions would not resume."
Why Home Prices Have Much Further To Fall
By Lance Roberts - SeekingAlpha.com
There has been a deluge of articles recently about the upticks in the housing data. The consensus is that these data points are surely pointing, finally, to a bottom in the depressing decline of real estate. Let me acknowledge that I do not dispute the improvement in the data regarding home starts, permits, pending sales, etc., however, let's be clear that all of these data points are still mired at very depressed levels. So, while optimism is certainly always a welcome thing, for the average American, the world is quite different.
American Airlines may cut up to 14,000 jobs
By David Koenig, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
DALLAS — American Airlines wants to cut labor costs by 20 percent and eliminate 12,000 to 14,000 jobs at the nation’s third-biggest airline.
American’s top labor-relations executive told employees at a closed-door meeting about the expected job cuts, according to a source familiar with the situation.
American and parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection back in November. The company has about 88,000 workers, including those at short-haul affiliate American Eagle.
19 Crazy Things That School Children
Are Being Arrested For In America
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
With each passing year, the difference between America's prisons and America's public schools becomes smaller and smaller. As you read the rest of this article, you will be absolutely amazed at some of the crazy things that school children in America are being arrested for. When I was growing up, I don't remember a single police officer ever coming to my school. Discipline was always handled by the teachers and by the principals. But today, there are schools all over the country that have police officers permanently stationed in the halls. Many other schools will call out police officers at the drop of a hat. In the classrooms of America today, if you burp in class, if you spray yourself with perfume or if you doodle on your desk, there is a chance that you will be arrested by the police and hauled out of your school in handcuffs. Unfortunately, we live in a country where paranoia has become standard operating procedure. The American people have become convinced that the only way that we can all be "safe" is for this country to be run like a militarized totalitarian police state. So our public schools are run like prisons and our public school students are treated like prisoners.
Rense & Tim Rifat -
Rothschild's US Presidential Elections and Iran War
Obama's deadly secret Administration tries to justify killing Americans
By THE WASHINGTON TIMES-The Washington Times
Now that it’s in full campaign mode, the Obama administration can’t stop talking about things once regarded as secret. President Obama has been bragging about the once-shadowy SEAL Team 6 so much you’d think he was going to tap it to be his running mate. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta caused a flap with Pakistan on Sunday when he told "60 Minutes" he "believed" that "somebody must have had some sense" thatOsama bin Laden was hiding out in Abbottabad, though he had no proof. President Obama piled on during his "historic" Google Plus video chat on Monday, in which he tore the fig leaf from U.S. covert drone strikes inPakistan’s tribal areas.
Facebook to go public, raise $5B
By Barbara Ortutay and Michael Liedtke-The Washington Times
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook made a much-anticipated status update Wednesday: The Internet social network is going public eight years after its computer-hacking CEO Mark Zuckerbergstarted the service at Harvard University.
That means anyone with the right amount of cash will be able to own part of a Silicon Valley icon that quickly transformed from dorm-room startup to cultural touchstone.
Apple Invades $3.8 Trillion Workplace Market
as IPad Leads: Tech
By Peter Burrows - Bloomberg.com
Apple Inc. (AAPL), without much effort on its part, is making rapid headway in selling to corporations.
After years of being the also-ran to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) in the workplace, Apple has seen its iPad become a standard business tool. According to an IDG Connect survey, 51 percent of managers with iPads say they "always" use the device at work, and another 40 percent sometimes do. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents use the iPad for business when outside the office.
Apple Reaching Out to TV Component Suppliers
By Christina Bonnington - Wired.com
Rampant speculation says Apple has a full-fledged, big-screen TV project in the works — an iTV, if you will. Now Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Apple has been contacting component makers for its set, leading him to believe it will almost definitely land in 2012.
In a note to investors on Tuesday, Munster wrote that a "major TV component supplier" told him Apple has been in touch with them regarding TV components. However, Munster also conceded that Apple may never actually release a TV at all.
Windstalks... Forget Wind Turbines -
a Completely New Type of Wind Farm is in Development
By Energy Digital - OilPrice.com
A design firm from New York, Atelier DNA, has developed a concept that uses cattail like stalks instead of traditional turbine blades for harnessing the power of wind. Planned for the city of Masdar, being built just outside of Abu Dhabi, the "Windstalk" project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition, generating renewable energy in an artistic way from a plethora of international submissions.
Traditional wind turbines' biggest downfalls include noise pollution, inadvertent bird death trapping and general difficulties in installing such large structures. Atelier's new stalk design generates electricity when the wind sets them waving—minus the dreadful noise or danger posed to birds. Another advantage will be the density at which the stalks will be able to be built whereas turbines need to be spaced about three times the rotor's diameter from each other.
Boeing's Move To South Carolina
Could Help Revive American Manufacturing
by Justin Weinstein - SeekinAlpha.com
The imbalance of imports to exports within the United States can be measured through the near $39 billion trade deficit the United States currently has. This disproportion of exports to imports did not develop quickly, but rather was a culmination of many factors that led factories in America to become obsolete and put workers out of work.
Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station - Illinois Nuke facility Faulty insulator caused US nuclear reactor shutdown, NRC inspecting water pumps
AP - WashingtonPost.com
CHICAGO — A failed electrical insulator blamed for a power loss to a nuclear reactor in northern Illinois was replaced Tuesday, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission began a special inspection into how some equipment responded to the outage, officials said.
Exelon Energy began preparations to re-start the Unit 2 reactor at the Byron Generating Station about 95 miles northwest of Chicago, though it was unclear how soon it could return to service, spokesman Paul Dempsey said.
Small Leak Could Have Escaped Plant, San Onofre, San Diego Unit 3 was shut down for a possible leak
By Michelle Wayland and Lauren Steuss - NBCSanDiego.com
Federal regulators say a tiny amount of radiation could have escaped into the atmosphere from a Southern California nuclear power plant after a water leak prompted operators to shut down the reactor.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks says a small amount of radioactive gas "could have" escaped the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station on the northern San Diego Coast.
Chavez Threatens Banks and Land Owners Refusing His Orders
WRITTEN BY ALEX NEWMAN - TheNewAmerican.com
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalize private banks which refuse to obey an official mandate and finance the regime’s development projects, sparking more concerns about the future of Venezuela and its ailing economy. The socialist "President" also vowed to step up his failed land confiscation and redistribution schemes.
The Venezuelan ruler has already taken over around a dozen banks and directly controls almost a third of the nation’s banking sector. Millions of acres of farmland have also been seized by the regime and redistributed to build collective farms, resulting in a dramatic decrease in agricultural production which has forced the once relatively prosperous nation to import increasing quantities of food.
A dragon dance in the Negev
By M K Bhadrakumar - ATimes.com
There is no record of dragons in the nomadic life of the Negev desert, which dates back at least 4, 000 years (some say 7,000). That may be about to change in the Year of the Dragon.
The Bedouins of the Negev will soon witness the sight of a Chinese-built railway line snaking its way through the melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains and the wadis and deep craters, leading north from the resort city of Eilat in the Gulf of Aqaba toward the eastern Mediterranean.
As the Syrian Crisis Deepens Will Russia Step in Before the UN?
By Juan Cole - OilPrice.com
The events of the past five days in Syria may be a game changer, both domestically and internationally. Last Thursday, opposition forces said, 100 people were killed. Massacres were alleged in two towns. The daily death toll has been rising. On yesterday, Monday,AFP reported another 29 persons killed, including 23 civilians and 6 members of the security forces. Troops moved into the rebel-held town of Rankus north of Damascus, after besieging and shelling it for days. Rebels blew up a gas pipeline. Rebel troops, made up of deserters, ambushed a minivan carrying 6 regime military personnel on their way to quell the rebellion.
Fighting over Syria at the UN
By Victor Kotsev - ATimes.com
Some analysts say that the ongoing confrontation at the United Nations Security Council over Syria brings back memories from the Cold War; the analogy, however, is far from perfect. The face-off and all the bargaining that is apparently going on under the counter is more symptomatic of a situation where multiple players and alliances vie for power in a free-for-all brawl than of the bipolar world order that ended a little over two decades ago.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seems doomed, but its day of reckoning might take some time to come.
Get used to it: Intervention in Syria is coming
Hussein Ibish - NowLebanon.com
The United States faces a terrible conundrum regarding Syria. The Obama administration wants the regime of Bashar al-Assad gone, but it does not want to see the unfolding of the very processes—conflict and possible international intervention—that seem to be emerging as the only viable means to achieve that.
This means that the United States has condemned itself to thus far playing an almost entirely reactive role, even in the context of the limited means at its disposal to influence events in Syria. However, standing on the sidelines and warning all players not to do what they are already doing is not going to work.
Assad may start regional war
if UN tells him to step down – Gulf sources
DEBKAfile
In confidential conversations with his advisers, Syrian President Bashar Assad is reported by Persian Gulf sources Tuesday, Jan. 31 to have threatened to start up armed hostilities in the region if the UN Security Council Tuesday night endorses the Arab League proposal for him to step down and hand power to his deputy.
Those sources told DEBKAfile that the heads of the Syrian armed forces and intelligence have been given their orders and some units are on the ready. Other Middle East sources reported that the Lebanese Hizballah has also shown signs of military preparations in the last few hours. And the Russian flotilla berthed at the Syrian port of Tartus, led by the Admiral Kutznetsov aircraft carrier, also appears to be on the alert for ructions in the wake of the Security Council Syria session.
No exit in the Persian Gulf
By Michael T Klare - ATimes.com
Ever since December 27, war clouds have been gathering over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow body of water connecting the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean and the seas beyond. On that day, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that Tehran would block the strait and create havoc in international oil markets if the West placed new economic sanctions on his country.
"If they impose sanctions on Iran's oil exports," Rahimi declared, "then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz." Claiming that such a move would constitute an assault on America's vital interests, President Barack Obama reportedly informed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Washington would use force to keep the strait open. To back up their threats, both sides have been bolstering their forces in the area and each has conducted a series of provocative military exercises.
War on an 'If': 'Iran threat a tool of regime change'
Inspectors from the UN's nuclear watchdog say Iran seems committed to resolving all nuclear issues. The statement comes after a three-day visit by the IAEA, which Tehran's called "constructive". Experts have been attempting to verify the peaceful nature of Iran's atomic programme. The West has recently stepped up economic sanctions against the Islamic state, suspecting it of developing nuclear weapons. Washington's intelligence chief has warned of an increasing likelihood that Iran could attack America or its allies. The U.S. is beefing up its military presence in the Persian Gulf, by sending a third aircraft carrier to the region. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern says people have been misled into thinking Iran is a clear and present danger.
Israel Screams For Iran War
While EU Falls Off Economic Cliff Along With US
By Elaine Meinel Supkis - SilverBearCafe.com
International corporations, financiers and Bilderberg-type secret conspiratorial societies of rich people have worked hard to make themselves incredibly rich and incredibly powerful only to destroy their own world they created. This is what happens when unbridled greed teams up with total power: it destroys its own self. We are watching aghast as rich people who run our media here and who control Congress have pushed everyone not just off the economic cliff but the war cliff. That is, they are pushing as hard as possible to start a ruinous war with Iran and egging on China to wage open economic warfare with us using guns and them using a mountain of US debt and dollars they hold.
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." ~ Thomas Jefferson
Well here we are, caught between resistance in the S&P 500 around the 1,330 area and support around the 1,300 price level. My last two articles have discussed why I was expecting a top in the coming days and weeks ahead, but prices just continued to work higher.
Interview with John Williams of Shadow Statistics Pt 1
John Williams Pt. 2: Hyperinflation
Silver may be poised for solid gains in 2012
LONDON (Commodity Online): Silver may be poised for solid gains in 2012 after a poor showing in 2011 and strong demand for the metal, said optionsXpress in a research note.
"Technically, the (Comex) March Silver contract has made significant progress, but prices need to sustain rallies above $35 to keep the rally going" optionsXpress added.
Silver has been one of the strongest commodities during January. "Oversold conditions and increased demand from industrial users of the metal have contributed to the rebound," OptionsXpress said.
Silver Opportunity Begins Anew
By Kevin McElroy - SeekingAlpha.com
....I still believe we'll breach new record highs in silver - and I stand by my prediction of $130 an ounce or so.
I'm still buying physical silver, as well (and you'll be the first to know when I stop buying and start selling).
And hopefully you're well aware of the main reason that I prefer to buy physical silver - but here it is again:
I buy physical silver (and gold) to protect some portion of my cash savings from the likelihood of currency crisis and inflation. I don't have the expectation of getting rich from my physical silver and gold holdings - but I expect my holdings will be safe from government fiat.
The U.S. Dollar Is Under Attack
By Robert Hallberg - SeekingAlpha.com
The U.S. dollar has enjoyed a rally since the middle of last year, partly as a result of the debt crisis erupting in Europe, taking the problems of the dollar out of the headlines. However, there are good reasons to believe that this rally is soon coming to an end as the dollar is back under attack again. First, Iran and India announced that they will start trading crude oil using gold instead of dollars. Then shortly after the Fed announced that it is going to keep interest rates low until 2014.
Keiser Report: Starving the Economy (E243)
Deficit Is Again Set to Top $1 Trillion
By DAMIAN PALETTA - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON—Tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January 2013 would slow the economy and raise unemployment next year unless policy makers strike a deal to keep those changes from kicking in or offset their impact, the Congressional Budget Office warned.
But while such an agreement would boost the economy in the short term, it also would expand the federal budget deficit over time if not combined with other policy changes, the nonpartisan CBO said.
Policy makers will have to decide soon how to handle the near-term economic strains as well as the future problems caused by rising government debt, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said.
Why the Latest Euro Zone Debt-Crisis Agreement
Shows How Europe Just Doesn’t Get It
By MICHAEL SCHUMAN - Business.Time.com
I just landed in Rome for some on-the-ground reporting on the latest twists and turns in the euro zone debt crisis, and I immediately got some sound insights from our reporter here, Stephan Faris. Stephan watches the situation in Italy more closely than I do, and he makes the point that Rome simply would not pursue any meaningful economic reform if Italy got bailed out or received more help from the European Union. The pressure of the crisis, he contends, is necessary to force Italy’s politicians to implement pro-growth reforms and reduce debt. Without it, Italy would simply continue on as usual, no matter what poor growth the economy may suffer, or how many young people are unable to find jobs. The entrenched interests are simply too powerful, the politicians too wary of taking unpopular measures. What most people don’t understand about the euro zone, Stephan explained, is that reform is impossible without the crisis.
Davos 2012 - Global Economic Outlook
Greece Fights for Second Bailout
By Jonathan Stearns and James G. Neuger - Bloomberg.com
Greece pledged a last-ditch effort to prevent the collapse of a second rescue package from creditors, aiming to complete talks this week on a financial lifeline that’s been in the works for six months.
Greek Premier Lucas Papademos said he would try to meet German-led demands for a bigger debt writedown by investors and deeper budget cuts by his government. Stocks rose after European Union leaders endorsed key planks of a strategy to fight the financial crisis, agreeing to accelerate the setup this year of a full-time 500 billion-euro ($659 billion) rescue fund and backing a deficit-control treaty.
Greek officials attack EU and IMF as debt talks stall Prime minister Lucas Papademos calls crisis meeting to ask backers for further concessions after 'tough and honest' discussions in Brussels and Frankfurt
By Phillip Inman and Helena Smith - Guardian.co.uk
Greek officials launched a vociferous behind the scenes attack onEuropean Union and International Monetary Fund negotiators as talks in Athens over the country's mounting debts appeared to stall.
Prime minister Lucas Papademos told aides that a crisis meeting of party leaders would be called as early as Thursday to thrash out a response to an increasingly intransigent negotiating team sent by Brussels, which is demanding severe austerity measures before sanctioning a further €130bn (£109bn) of bailout funds.
German jobs miracle as Latin unemployment soars Germany is enjoying the greatest jobs boom in 20 years even as unemployment rises to post-EMU highs across southern Europe, stretching the euro's North-South divide ever closer to breaking point.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The latest Eurostat data shows that the two halves of the currency bloc have diverged dramatically. Germany's jobless rate dropped to 5.5pc in December, the lowest since reunification in 1990, with even lower rates of 4.9pc in Holland and 4.2pc in Austria.
The jobs miracle is in cruel contrast to the slump in the southern bloc, where unemployment has risen relentlessly as austerity bites.
Are Companies More Powerful Than Countries?
By RANA FOROOHAR - Business.Time.com
In 2008, after Lehman Brothers fell and the financial crisis and global recession began, the conventional wisdom was that we were entering an era in which government would take back power from business. In fact, just the opposite has happened.
The high profile political figures here at Davos disappointed — Merkel was angry and depressed by turns, and Geithner was defensive. Europe remains a mess, the U.S. vulnerable, and emerging markets — the only bright spot in the last three years — are slowing down. Politicians have few solutions to the huge problems of the day — labor bifurcation, debt, and inequality. Markets want answers, but leaders can’t give them — in part because for them, nearly any sort of action poses political risk.
JIM ROGERS INTERVIEW 30 JAN 2012
The Debt Supercycle Part II: On Borrowed Time
BY JAMES J PUPLAVA CFP - FinancialSense.com
"In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions–including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run–are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014."
Something is wrong with our economy. Given the recent pronouncements by the Fed, it is unlikely to improve in the short or intermediate term. America is drowning in debt and our financial experts keep advocating larger doses of "debt heroin" to fix the problem. In the last decade, total outstanding debt has increased from $28 trillion in 2000 to approximately $54 trillion in 2010. During that same period of time U.S. GDP has grown from $9.9 trillion in 2000 to $14.6 trillion in 2010. It is now taking close to $6 of debt to produce $1 in GDP. This is clearly unsustainable. America's economy is now beginning to malfunction.
Why Economists are Rooting for Inflation
By STEPHEN GANDEL - business.time.com
In most people’s minds inflation is up there with unemployment as one of the main ills you don’t want an economy to come down with. But in fact a growing number of economists are arguing that rising prices are exactly what we need to cure our the current economic maladies. It may not be the best answer, but it could be the easiest one to achieve.
The latest economists to get on the inflation bandwagon are Menzie Chinn of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jeffry Frieden, who teaches international monetary policy at Harvard. The two professors, who wrote a book about the financial crisis called Lost Decades that was published in September, and who recently penned an articlefor Foreign Policy magazine, argue that the reason recoveries after financial crises are painfully slow is that credit shocks stymie everyone. Banks stop making loans in order to heal. Consumers use extra cash to pay down debts. And governments lapse into gridlock as politicians argue over who should take the hit for their countries’ debts: taxpayers, government workers or the poor. But Chinn and Frieden argue there is a way to heal banks, borrowers and the government at the same time: Higher prices.
Fed Bank Presidents’ Holdings
Range From Ranchland to Equities
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve regional bank presidents provided unprecedented disclosure of their wealth, revealing assets ranging from a Missouri farm and Texas ranchland to stocks and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities.
The officials, who oversee Fed operations ranging from bank supervision to emergency lending, disclosed the documents today in response to requests from Bloomberg News under the Freedom of Information Act. The regional banks said they weren’t subject to the terms of the act, even as they responded to the request.
Baltic Dry Index Signals Renewed Market Collapse
By Brandon Smith - Alt-Market.com
Much has been said about the Baltic Dry Index over the course of the last four years, especially in light of the credit crisis and the effects it has had on the frequency of global shipping. Importing and exporting has never been quite the same since 2008, and this change is made most obvious through one of the few statistical measures left in the world that is not subject to direct manipulation by international corporate interests; the BDI. Today, the BDI is on the verge of making headlines once again, being that is plummeting like a wingless 747 into the swampy mire of what I believe will soon be historical lows.
Fed heads reflect America’s wealth gap Wide wealth gap revealed between regional presidents
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It turns out the Federal Reserve is lot like America.
The Fed’s 12 district-bank presidents on Tuesday disclosed their assets in 2010, and lo and behold there’s a wide gap between the few very rich presidents and the others — not exactly like the gap between the so-called 1% and the 99%, but close.
There are nine presidents who could be called members of the middle class: James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed; Charles Evans, the president of the Chicago Fed; Esther George, the new president of the Kansas City Fed Bank; Narayana Kocherlakota of the Minneapolis Fed; Jeffrey Lacker of the Richmond Fed; Sandy Pianalto of the Cleveland Fed; Charles Plosser of the Philadelphia Fed; Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed; and John Williams of the San Francisco Fed.
Three female regulators' warnings
about financial crisis were ignored
McClatchyDC.com
By Keith Chrostowski | The Kansas City Star
More people in positions of power — government regulators, especially — should have foreseen the subprime financial crisis coming.
They could have saved us from this mess.
But wait …
Three regulators did indeed ring warning bells — at the right time, in the right places, and loud enough for other banking and financial system overseers.
All three were women: Brooksley Born, Sheila Bair and Susan Bies.
All three were ignored.
You may have heard before about the warnings issued by Born, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the 1990s, and Bair, the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 2006 to 2011.
UPS profit falls 29% on pension accounting changes
By Mia Lamar - MarketWatch.com
United Parcel Service Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings dropped 29% on a hefty charge tied to the shipping giant's recent decision to change its pension accounting method.
UPS last week reported it would shift to a mark-to-market system of accounting under which the company will recognize gains and losses in its pension plans on an annual basis instead of spreading the impact over time. The change has no impact on benefits paid to plan participants or its pension funding.
Washington state considering changes
to government pension plans
By Brad Shannon - McClatchyDC.com
State lawmakers carved some $7 billion in long-term pension costs last year by putting a freeze on cost-of-living-adjustments in two older retirement plans. New ideas this year could further trim the state’s long-term liabilities.
Republican Sen. Joseph Zarelli has floated a bill that would force new hires in state and local governments into what are called hybrid pension plans, which are optional now. Hybrid plans are split – one half providing a traditional pension payment in a worker’s retirement years, the other half providing a contribution to an investment fund much like an IRA or 401(k) that the worker would manage.
Is Freddie Mac Betting Against the American Homeowner?
By CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS - Business.Time.com
The non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica, in cooperation with National Public Radio, published a story yesterday revealing that Freddie Mac, the government-owned mortgage financier, has recently been purchasing derivatives that would make the company money “if homeowners stay trapped in expensive mortgages with interest rates well above current rates.” The story, titled “Freddie Mac Bets Against American Homeowners” argues that these derivative purchases are unethical because they give Freddie Mac “a powerful incentive” not to help homeowners refinance at today’s historically low rates. The article states that “no evidence has emerged that these two decisions were coordinated,” but it does imply that there is something wrong with Freddie tightening its lending standards and then attempting to profit off the knowledge that these standards would be tighter.
Freddie Mac Betting Against Struggling Homeowners
by CHRIS ARNOLD - NPR.org
Freddie Mac, a taxpayer-owned mortgage company, is supposed to make homeownership easier. One thing that makes owning a home more affordable is getting a cheaper mortgage.
But Freddie Mac has invested billions of dollars betting that U.S. homeowners won't be able to refinance their mortgages at today's lower rates, according to an investigation by NPR andProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom.
These investments, while legal, raise concerns about a conflict of interest within Freddie Mac.
"We were actually shocked they did this," says Scott Simon, who heads the mortgage-backed securities team at the giant bond trading and investment firm called PIMCO. "It seemed so out of line with their mission, out of line with what Congress wanted them to do."
Bernanke's Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Take-over -
Bill Fleckenstein with Judge Napolitano
Home prices decline for a third straight month The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.
Nineteen of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index fell in November — the second consecutive month that every metro area other than Phoenix was down and the third consecutive month that the overall index has declined. The index fell 1.3% from October to November and 3.7% from November 2010.
Home Prices Tumble
By MIA LAMAR - WSJ.com
U.S. home prices fell again in November, according to the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller indexes, indicating continued struggles for the beleaguered housing market.
The sector has remained sluggish despite lower prices and interest rates due to a slowly improving economy, an abundance of foreclosures and tighter mortgage requirements.
Case Shiller Home-Price Index Falls 3.7%
By Alex Kowalski - Bloomberg.com
Residential real estate prices fell more than forecast in November, showing distressed properties are hampering improvement in the U.S. housing market.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities declined 3.7 percent from November 2010 after decreasing 3.4 percent in the year ended in October, the group said today in New York. Economists projected a 3.3 percent drop, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.
House prices continue to fall
despite broader signs economic improvement Average prices drop to 2003 levels in 19 out of 20 US cities, with only Phoenix bucking the trend, new survey shows
By Dominic Rushe - Guardian.co.uk
House prices have continued to fall across the US even as the wider economy has picked up, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.
For the second consecutive month home prices fell in 19 out of 20 cities measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller index, leaving average prices at levels seen in mid-2003. This was the third month in a row that average prices had fallen.
Homeownership rates fall to 66% as downturn nears a bottom
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
Fewer Americans own homes and many of them are continuing to see values decline.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the nation's homeownership rate fell to 66% in the fourth quarter, continuing a seven-year drop from a fourth-quarter peak of 69.2% in 2004.
At the same time, U.S. home prices fell 1.3% in November from October and were 3.7% below 2010 levels, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index indicates.
Foreclosures Draw Private Equity as U.S. Rents Homes
By John Gittelsohn - Bloomberg.com
Private equity firms are jumping into distressed housing as the U.S. government plans to market 200,000 foreclosed homes as rentals to speed up the economic recovery.
GTIS Partners will spend $1 billion by 2016 acquiring single-family homes to manage as rentals, Thomas Shapiro, the fund’s founder said. That followed announcements this month that GI Partners, a Menlo Park private equity fund, expects to invest $1 billion, and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management LP will spend $450 million on similar housing.
Real House Prices and House Price-to-Rent
by CalculatedRisk
A monthly update: Case-Shiller, CoreLogic and others report nominal house prices. It is also useful to look at house prices in real terms (adjusted for inflation) and as a price-to-rent ratio.
Below are three graphs showing nominal prices (as reported), real prices and a price-to-rent ratio. Real prices are back to 1999/2000 levels, and the price-to-rent ratio is also back to 2000 levels.
The first graph shows the quarterly Case-Shiller National Index SA (through Q3 2011), and the monthly Case-Shiller Composite 20 SA and CoreLogic House Price Indexes (through November) in nominal terms as reported.
Homeowner wins back her house after fighting foreclosure Karen Mena managed to get a foreclosure on her San Bernardino home rescinded. But she continues to negotiate with Bank of America over loan terms and could still lose the house.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
Foreclosure commonly represents the end of a struggle. A borrower can't pay a mortgage, loses a home and moves on.
But Karen Mena, a 38-year-old county worker, never gave up. Mena fought even after her San Bernardino home was no longer hers. And she won the three-bedroom house back — at least for now.
The ordeal isn't over yet. The eviction was stopped and Bank of America canceled the foreclosure because of the possibility that the loan would be modified to make it more affordable.
Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Declines
By Kathleen Madigan - WSJ.com
U.S. consumer confidence in January gave back some of the huge gains posted in the previous two months, according to a report released Tuesday. Views on labor markets darkened.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer confidence retreated to 61.1 this month from a revised 64.8 in December, first reported as 64.5. The January index was far less than the 68.0 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism As the Ten Commandments instruct, envy is corrosive to the individual and to those societies that embrace it.
By ARYEH SPERO - WSJ.com
Who would have expected that in a Republican primary campaign the single biggest complaint among candidates would be that the front-runner has taken capitalism too far? As if his success and achievement were evidence of something unethical and immoral? President Obama and other redistributionists must be rejoicing that their assumptions about rugged capitalism and the 1% have been given such legitimacy.
More than any other nation, the United States was founded on broad themes of morality rooted in a specific religious perspective. We call this the Judeo-Christian ethos, and within it resides a ringing endorsement of capitalism as a moral endeavor.
Verizon Crosses Web Lines Wireless Arm Touts Comcast
Even as Phone Giant Battles Cable in FiOS Fight
By ANTON TROIANOVSKI, THOMAS CATAN
and SHALINI RAMACHANDRAN - WSJ.com
As Verizon Communications Inc. pushes for more cable-television and high-speed Internet subscribers, a new competitor is emerging: its own subsidiary, Verizon Wireless.
This month, Verizon Wireless stores in Seattle and Portland, Ore., began offering home Internet, cable and telephone service from Comcast Corp. as part of a new joint marketing deal between the cellphone provider and several cable companies.
Will Lifeline guarantee high-speed Internet access for all? Life, liberty and high-speed Internet access for all?
By Deborah Netburn - LATimes.com
Under the Lifeline program, low-income Americans were guaranteed affordable access to basic phone services for the last 25 years. Soon, the program might also help subsidize their access to high-speed Internet as well.
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission, which manages Lifeline, said it will spend $25 million on a pilot program to examine what it would take to ensure low-income Americans have affordable access to broadband Internet.
The Coming Tech-led Boom Three breakthroughs are poised to transform this century as much as telephony and electricity did the last.
By MARK P. MILLS AND JULIO M. OTTINO - WSJ.com
In January 1912, the United States emerged from a two-year recession. Nineteen more followed—along with a century of phenomenal economic growth. Americans in real terms are 700% wealthier today.
In hindsight it seems obvious that emerging technologies circa 1912—electrification, telephony, the dawn of the automobile age, the invention of stainless steel and the radio amplifier—would foster such growth. Yet even knowledgeable contemporary observers failed to grasp their transformational power.
Drug-Resistant Bugs Found in Organic Meat
By Jill U. Adams, ScienceNow - Wired.com
If you’re paying premium prices for pesticide- and antibiotic-free meat, you might expect that it’s also free of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Not so, according to a new study. The prevalence of one of the world’s most dangerous drug-resistant microbe strains is similar in retail pork products labeled "raised without antibiotics" and in meat from conventionally raised pigs, researchers have found.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA), a drug-resistant form of the normally harmless S. aureus bacterium, kills 18,000 people in the United States every year and sickens 76,000 more. The majority of cases are linked to a hospital stay, where the combination of other sick people and surgical procedures puts patients at risk. But transmission also can happen in schools, jails, and locker rooms (and an estimated 1.5% of Americans carry MRSA in their noses). All of this has led to a growing concern about antibiotic use in agriculture, which may be creating a reservoir of drug-resistant organisms in billions of food animals around the world.
47 Signs That China Is Absolutely Destroying America
On The Global Economic Stage
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Have you ever watched a football game or a basketball game where one team dominates the other team so badly that calling it a "blowout" would be a huge understatement? Well, that is what China is doing to the United States. China is absolutely destroying America on the global economic stage. Once upon a time, the Chinese economy was a joke and the U.S. economy was the most powerful the world had ever seen. But over the past couple of decades the U.S. economy has decayed and declined while the Chinese economy has skyrocketed. Today, China makes more steel, more automobiles, more beer, more cotton, more coal and more solar panels than we do. China has the fastest train in the world, the fastest computer in the world and they export twice as much high-tech equipment as we do. In 2011, our trade deficit with China was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world, and China has now accumulated more than 3 trillion dollars in foreign currency reserves. Every single day, we lose more jobs, more businesses and more of our national wealth to China. In technical economic terms, China has "taken us out behind the woodshed" and has beaten the living daylights out of us. Unfortunately, most Americans are so addicted to entertainment that they don't even realize what is happening.
Soros Helped Nazis During WWII: Infowars Nightly News
Iran launches Spanish TV channel Hispan TV will deal blow to 'dominance seekers',
says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
AP - Guardian.co.uk
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has officially launched a Spanish-language satellite TV channel, saying it would deal a blow to "dominance seekers" – remarks that were an apparent dig at the US and the west.
Iran's broadcasting company said Hispan TV, the first Spanish-language channel airing from the Middle East, will broadcast news, documentaries, movies and Iranian films 24 hours a day.
The launch is Tehran's latest effort to reach out to friendly governments in Latin America and follows Ahmadinejad's tour of the region earlier in January, which included stops in Cuba and visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador.
Iran Now a 'Top Threat' to U.S. Networks, Spy Chief Claims
By Noah Shachtman - Wired.com
American officials have complained for years that U.S. networks were crawling with Russian and Chinese hackers. On Tuesday, the nation’s top intelligence official told Congress that there’s a new danger to America’s information security: Iran. Too bad he didn’t provide much evidence to back up the claim.
"Russia and China are aggressive and successful purveyors of economic espionage against the United States," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper noted in his prepared testimony (.pdf) to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "Iran’s intelligence operations against the United States, including cyber capabilities, have dramatically increased in recent years in depth and complexity. We assess that FIS [Foreign Intelligence Services] from these three countries will remain the top threats to the United States in the coming years."
Iran, perceiving threat from West,
willing to attack on U.S. soil, U.S. intelligence report finds
By Greg Miller - WashingtonPost.com
U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to perceived threats from America and its allies, the U.S. spy chief said Tuesday.
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said in prepared testimony that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington that was uncovered last year reflects an aggressive new willingness within the upper ranks of the Islamist republic to authorize attacks against the United States.
Niall Ferguson- By 2021 There Could Be
A Restored Middle Eastern Caliphate
Iran now may support attacks in U.S., official says
By Jonathan S. Landay - McClatchyDC.com
WASHINGTON — Iran's top officials now may be more willing to sponsor attacks in the United States, the top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday in a warning that reflected rising tensions over Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper also said that while al Qaida remained a danger, the deaths of Osama bin Laden and other key figures had seriously degraded the core terrorist organization's ability to mount major strikes.
Iranian attack on America
and allies increasingly likely – intelligence chief Washington openly blames Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei for first time over Saudi ambassador plot
By Julian Borger - Guardian.co.uk
The head of US intelligence has warned that there is an increasing likelihood that Iran could carry out attacks in America or against US and allied targets around the world.
The warning from the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, reflects rapidly rising tensions over Iran's nuclear programme after the US and EU announced embargoes on the Iranian oil trade in the past few weeks, Israel leaked details of its preparation for a possible conflict and both the west and Iran boosted their military readiness in the Gulf.
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