At
least Bank of America got its name right. The ultimate Too Big to Fail
bank really is America, a hypergluttonous ward of the state whose
limitless fraud and criminal conspiracies we’ll all be paying for until
the end of time. Did you hear about the plot to rig global interest
rates? The $137 million fine for bilking needy schools and cities? The
ingenious plan to suck multiple fees out of the unemployment checks of
jobless workers? Take your eyes off them for 10 seconds and guaranteed,
they’ll be into some shit again: This bank is like the world’s
worst-behaved teenager, taking your car and running over kittens and
fire hydrants on the way to Vegas for the weekend, maxing out your
credit cards in the three days you spend at your aunt’s funeral. They’re
out of control, yet they’ll never do time or go out of business,
because the government remains creepily committed to their survival,
like overindulgent parents who refuse to believe their 40-year-old
live-at-home son could possibly be responsible for those dead hookers in
the backyard.
Read More @ RollingStone.com
Read More @ RollingStone.com
by Aaron Dykes, InfoWars.com:
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” — Barack Obama, 2008
Homeland Security has announced the creation of a new FEMA corps to tap volunteers for disaster/emergency responses. The program is a partnership between FEMA and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), itself managed under the Homeland Security umbrella.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to start with 1,600 volunteers dispatched across the country and specially trained to provide “critical disaster services” during an emergency response. Volunteers are not FEMA employees, but will wear branded uniform clothing and will be directed by FEMA. DHS boasts that the entry level positions will prepare these trainees for careers in the ever-bloating disaster response bureaucracy.
Read More @ InfoWars.com
We have long argued that at its core, modern society, at least on a mathematical basis - the one which ultimately trumps hopium every single time - is fatally flawed due to the existence of the flawed concept of modern "welfare" - an idea spawned by Otto von Bismarck in the 1870s, and since enveloped the globe in various forms of transfer payments which provide the illusion of a social safety net, dangles the carrot of pension, health, and retirement benefits, and in turn converts society into a collage of blank faces, calm as Hindu cows. Alas, the cows will promptly become enraged bulls once they realize that all that has been promised to them in exchange for their docility and complacency has... well... vaporized. It is at that point that the final comprehension would dawn, that instead of a Welfare State, it has been, as Bill Buckler terms it, a Hardship State all along. Below we present the latest views from the captain of The Privateer on what the insoluble dilemma of the welfare state is, and what the key problems that the status quo will face with its attempts at perpetuating this lie.
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” — Barack Obama, 2008
Homeland Security has announced the creation of a new FEMA corps to tap volunteers for disaster/emergency responses. The program is a partnership between FEMA and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), itself managed under the Homeland Security umbrella.
The Department of Homeland Security plans to start with 1,600 volunteers dispatched across the country and specially trained to provide “critical disaster services” during an emergency response. Volunteers are not FEMA employees, but will wear branded uniform clothing and will be directed by FEMA. DHS boasts that the entry level positions will prepare these trainees for careers in the ever-bloating disaster response bureaucracy.
Read More @ InfoWars.com
"Welfare" - The Great Delusion
We have long argued that at its core, modern society, at least on a mathematical basis - the one which ultimately trumps hopium every single time - is fatally flawed due to the existence of the flawed concept of modern "welfare" - an idea spawned by Otto von Bismarck in the 1870s, and since enveloped the globe in various forms of transfer payments which provide the illusion of a social safety net, dangles the carrot of pension, health, and retirement benefits, and in turn converts society into a collage of blank faces, calm as Hindu cows. Alas, the cows will promptly become enraged bulls once they realize that all that has been promised to them in exchange for their docility and complacency has... well... vaporized. It is at that point that the final comprehension would dawn, that instead of a Welfare State, it has been, as Bill Buckler terms it, a Hardship State all along. Below we present the latest views from the captain of The Privateer on what the insoluble dilemma of the welfare state is, and what the key problems that the status quo will face with its attempts at perpetuating this lie.
A Nation of Princelings and Paupers
by James Turk, GoldMoney.com:
Since
China began to embrace economic progress in the 1990s and let the
compelling forces of capitalism take hold to raise living standards in
that country, its impact on world markets has been profound. Chinese
capital has become a major influence in the global economy, and demand
from China has had a huge impact on commodity prices. But an exception
to the Chinese influence has been gold.
China has had little impact on world gold markets. The reason being that Chinese domestic gold production, which over the past several years has grown to make China the largest gold miner in the world, was sufficient to satisfy domestic demand. Consequently, in contrast to other markets in which China has become an important source of demand, it has had little impact on the demand for gold.
Just over a year ago, however, the balance between Chinese gold production and demand began to change. Chinese mining companies were unable to produce enough metal to satisfy the growing domestic demand, with the result that China began importing gold.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
Since
China began to embrace economic progress in the 1990s and let the
compelling forces of capitalism take hold to raise living standards in
that country, its impact on world markets has been profound. Chinese
capital has become a major influence in the global economy, and demand
from China has had a huge impact on commodity prices. But an exception
to the Chinese influence has been gold.China has had little impact on world gold markets. The reason being that Chinese domestic gold production, which over the past several years has grown to make China the largest gold miner in the world, was sufficient to satisfy domestic demand. Consequently, in contrast to other markets in which China has become an important source of demand, it has had little impact on the demand for gold.
Just over a year ago, however, the balance between Chinese gold production and demand began to change. Chinese mining companies were unable to produce enough metal to satisfy the growing domestic demand, with the result that China began importing gold.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
by Charles Hugh Smith, OfTwoMinds.com:
Hedging against catastrophic loss is common-sense, and becomes more so as risk rises.
As a general observation, those with less wealth tend to be unhedged and those with more wealth tend to be hedged. In other words, hedging matters. Hedging has a clubby investment-speculation sound, but it basically means “insurance.”
Since there is a risk your vehicle could be damaged in an accident or stolen, you buy auto insurance to limit your loss should either of those unfortunate but not uncommon “bad things” occur.
“Middle-class” people (i.e. those with some financial security) have auto insurance, while “poor” people (i.e. those with little financial security) often do not. Thus when the accident occurs, the person without the hedge suffers a potentially catastrophic loss. Without a car, they can’t get to work, etc., and if they don’t have enough cash or credit to buy another car, then they have become much, much poorer.
Read More @ OfTwoMinds.com
Hedging against catastrophic loss is common-sense, and becomes more so as risk rises.As a general observation, those with less wealth tend to be unhedged and those with more wealth tend to be hedged. In other words, hedging matters. Hedging has a clubby investment-speculation sound, but it basically means “insurance.”
Since there is a risk your vehicle could be damaged in an accident or stolen, you buy auto insurance to limit your loss should either of those unfortunate but not uncommon “bad things” occur.
“Middle-class” people (i.e. those with some financial security) have auto insurance, while “poor” people (i.e. those with little financial security) often do not. Thus when the accident occurs, the person without the hedge suffers a potentially catastrophic loss. Without a car, they can’t get to work, etc., and if they don’t have enough cash or credit to buy another car, then they have become much, much poorer.
Read More @ OfTwoMinds.com
by Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell:
We
track dominant social themes here at the Daily Bell, and the
spectacular implosion of the “Stop Kony 2012″ campaign is a further
example of how these memes are disintegrating under the pressure of what
we call the Internet Reformation.
We commented on this in this past week, in “Kony 2012 Debunking Shows How Far Alternative Media Has Come.” But we wrote that article before the spectacular implosion of the “artistic creator” of the video, who apparently had a nervous breakdown due to the reception of the video and was sent to a psychiatric facility.
I am not one to rejoice at this sort of thing. In fact, it is a personal and familial tragedy for the person involved, obviously. On the other hand, the video itself was fairly despicable, in my view, and obviously and evidently the intention was to create a power elite meme.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com
We
track dominant social themes here at the Daily Bell, and the
spectacular implosion of the “Stop Kony 2012″ campaign is a further
example of how these memes are disintegrating under the pressure of what
we call the Internet Reformation.We commented on this in this past week, in “Kony 2012 Debunking Shows How Far Alternative Media Has Come.” But we wrote that article before the spectacular implosion of the “artistic creator” of the video, who apparently had a nervous breakdown due to the reception of the video and was sent to a psychiatric facility.
I am not one to rejoice at this sort of thing. In fact, it is a personal and familial tragedy for the person involved, obviously. On the other hand, the video itself was fairly despicable, in my view, and obviously and evidently the intention was to create a power elite meme.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com
from WealthCycles:
Obama
administration officials have agreed to tap the United States’
emergency oil supplies in a bid to depress high gasoline prices, Reuters
reported today, citing two U.K. sources. The report contradicts White
House denials a day earlier that U.S. President Barack Obama and U.K.
Prime Minister David Cameron had reached an agreement to release
supplies from their respective stockpiles in conjunction with releases
from the International Energy Agency.
If implemented, the move would mark the second time in under a year the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) would be used to intervene in the oil market.
In effect, the U.S. strategy would be to sell oil purchased for an average cost of $29.76 per barrel, according to the SPR website, then refill it later at an inevitably higher cost. U.S. consumers might enjoy lower gas prices for a month or two, but U.S. taxpayers would bear the higher cost of replenishing the reserves. Speculators and the political fortunes of U.S. President Obama would be the primary long-term beneficiaries of the penny-wise/pound-foolish scheme.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
from The Financial Survival Network:
The
Financial Survival Network hit a major milestone two weeks ago. Our 1
millionth download! And for this we issue a heartfelt thank you. You
make the show possible. You are why we do this. Your financial health
and your family’s security is why we’re here and why we’ve been
successful. The show has been growing 20-30 percent a month. And we only
started in August of 2011. So obviously you see the value, and we are
grateful.
We’re going to keep giving you information that is often difficult to obtain. If you believed the main stream media, right now you’d be dancing in the streets because the economic recovery is here. But we all know that this is a farce. The recovery hasn’t arrived and it won’t for quite a while. This is why you need to be prepared so that you can get through this depression with a large portion of your wealth in tact. So we hope that you’ll continue to listen and spread the word.
And don’t forget to sign up for the free Financial Survival Toolkit and the Weekly Newsletter.
Click Here to Listen to the Podcast
Obama
administration officials have agreed to tap the United States’
emergency oil supplies in a bid to depress high gasoline prices, Reuters
reported today, citing two U.K. sources. The report contradicts White
House denials a day earlier that U.S. President Barack Obama and U.K.
Prime Minister David Cameron had reached an agreement to release
supplies from their respective stockpiles in conjunction with releases
from the International Energy Agency.If implemented, the move would mark the second time in under a year the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) would be used to intervene in the oil market.
In effect, the U.S. strategy would be to sell oil purchased for an average cost of $29.76 per barrel, according to the SPR website, then refill it later at an inevitably higher cost. U.S. consumers might enjoy lower gas prices for a month or two, but U.S. taxpayers would bear the higher cost of replenishing the reserves. Speculators and the political fortunes of U.S. President Obama would be the primary long-term beneficiaries of the penny-wise/pound-foolish scheme.
Read More @ WealthCycles.com
from DollarVigilante.com:
Hello from beautiful Cafayate,
I’ve spent the last week enjoying all that Cafayate has to offer, including amazing wine, cigars, golf, asados and parties with the likes of Doug Casey, Bill Bonner and dozens of other interesting and freedom-minded people. It truly is one of the coolest places on Earth down here at Doug’s Gulch.
But perhaps the most interesting thing has been the people who have brought their non-free thinking relatives from places like the US and seeing how they react to their first experiences with freedom. In many ways they are like these laboratory-bound beagles who were videotaped seeing sunlight and walking on solid ground for the first time in their lives (warning: this video will make you cry):
Read More @ DollarVigilante.com
Hello from beautiful Cafayate,
I’ve spent the last week enjoying all that Cafayate has to offer, including amazing wine, cigars, golf, asados and parties with the likes of Doug Casey, Bill Bonner and dozens of other interesting and freedom-minded people. It truly is one of the coolest places on Earth down here at Doug’s Gulch.
But perhaps the most interesting thing has been the people who have brought their non-free thinking relatives from places like the US and seeing how they react to their first experiences with freedom. In many ways they are like these laboratory-bound beagles who were videotaped seeing sunlight and walking on solid ground for the first time in their lives (warning: this video will make you cry):
Read More @ DollarVigilante.com
by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca:
The latest terrorist attack in Damascus is described by the media as yet another government sponsored initiative geared towards killing Syrian civilians.
The CTV-AP report of this tragic event resulting in 27 deaths and some 140 wounded is riddled with contradictions. First it acknowledges that the target of the attacks was government buildings including Air Force Intelligence and National Security buildings in Damascus:
Now why on earth would it do that? The answer: “The attacks occurred in areas where government security is typically high, raising opposition suspicions that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible.” (Ibid, emphasis added)
Read More @ GlobalResearch.ca
The latest terrorist attack in Damascus is described by the media as yet another government sponsored initiative geared towards killing Syrian civilians.
The CTV-AP report of this tragic event resulting in 27 deaths and some 140 wounded is riddled with contradictions. First it acknowledges that the target of the attacks was government buildings including Air Force Intelligence and National Security buildings in Damascus:
Two explosions rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus Saturday … The twin suicide car bombs were aimed at intelligence and security buildings in the capital. (CTV, March 17, 2012, emphasis added)
Obviously, it follows, says the report, that the Syrian regime is responsible for targeting its own government buildings.Now why on earth would it do that? The answer: “The attacks occurred in areas where government security is typically high, raising opposition suspicions that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible.” (Ibid, emphasis added)
Read More @ GlobalResearch.ca
by Ethan A. Huff, NaturalNews.com:
(NaturalNews)
The federal government’s illegal war on drugs is big business for
lobbyists who profit on making sure you never have access to marijuana,
whether for recreational or medicinal purposes. And one such lobbyist, John Lovell, reportedly raked in nearly $400,000 from the California Police Chiefs Association
(CPCA) for helping to defeat California’s Proposition 19, a 2010 ballot
measure that would have legalized marijuana in the Golden State and
generated billions of dollars in new state tax revenues.
The Republic Report‘s Lee Fang writes that, based on a comprehensive review of the lobbying contracts anti-marijuana groups had during the Prop. 19 battle, Lovell’s name showed up as a major recipient of lobbying funds for his help in making sure the proposal never got passed. And with his services, CPCA was able to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal funding for drug war programs that are a significant source of police force revenue.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews)
The federal government’s illegal war on drugs is big business for
lobbyists who profit on making sure you never have access to marijuana,
whether for recreational or medicinal purposes. And one such lobbyist, John Lovell, reportedly raked in nearly $400,000 from the California Police Chiefs Association
(CPCA) for helping to defeat California’s Proposition 19, a 2010 ballot
measure that would have legalized marijuana in the Golden State and
generated billions of dollars in new state tax revenues.The Republic Report‘s Lee Fang writes that, based on a comprehensive review of the lobbying contracts anti-marijuana groups had during the Prop. 19 battle, Lovell’s name showed up as a major recipient of lobbying funds for his help in making sure the proposal never got passed. And with his services, CPCA was able to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal funding for drug war programs that are a significant source of police force revenue.
Read More @ NaturalNews.com
from The Financial Survival Network:
The
Financial Survival Network hit a major milestone two weeks ago. Our 1
millionth download! And for this we issue a heartfelt thank you. You
make the show possible. You are why we do this. Your financial health
and your family’s security is why we’re here and why we’ve been
successful. The show has been growing 20-30 percent a month. And we only
started in August of 2011. So obviously you see the value, and we are
grateful.We’re going to keep giving you information that is often difficult to obtain. If you believed the main stream media, right now you’d be dancing in the streets because the economic recovery is here. But we all know that this is a farce. The recovery hasn’t arrived and it won’t for quite a while. This is why you need to be prepared so that you can get through this depression with a large portion of your wealth in tact. So we hope that you’ll continue to listen and spread the word.
And don’t forget to sign up for the free Financial Survival Toolkit and the Weekly Newsletter.
Click Here to Listen to the PodcastMorgan Stanley, Italy, Swaps And Misplaced Outrage
One of the big stories of the week was that Morgan Stanley “reduced” its exposures to Italy by $3.4 billion mostly by unwinding some swaps they had on with Italy. Morgan Stanley booked profit of $600 million on the unwind. The timing couldn’t have been worse coming on the heels of the “Darth Vader” resignation at Goldman Sachs, attracting more attention to profits on derivatives trades was the last thing the investment banks need. Much of the outrage seems misplaced though. In this case, don’t blame Morgan Stanley, blame Italy, and be very afraid of what else Italy has done.The Fed's Stress Test Was Merely The Latest "Lipstick On A Pig" Farce
Last week we learned two things: that Jamie Dimon specifically telegraphed he is now more powerful than the Fed, and that the US economy is back down to the same March 2009 optical exercises in financial strength gimmickry to stimulate rallies. Recall that on FOMC day, the market barely budged on Bernanke's ambivalent statement and in fact was in danger of backing off as the readthrough was that of no more QE... until JPM announced a major stock buyback and dividend boost. The catalyst: a successful passing of the latest and greatest Stress Test, which according to experts was "much more credible" than all those before it. Wrong. The test was merely yet another complete farce and a total joke. But as expected, the test had its intended effect: financial shares soared across the board, and banks promptly took advantage of investors and robot gullibility to sell equity into transitory strength. Bloomberg's Jonathan Weil explains.2011 - The Year Of The Earthquake: A Visual And Auditory Guide
If
there is one thing 2011 taught us is that one totally unpredictable
and unexpected event, such as the great March 11 Tohoku earthquake,
tsunami, and Fukushima disaster, can wreak massive havoc on otherwise
stable economic ecosystems, models and forecasts. According to many,
most certainly the Fed, the events in Japan had a major spillover effect
on global GDP that lasted for months, in turn forcing fiscal and
monetary responses around the world. A true black swan. As the
following brief video summarizes, 2011 was the year of earthquakes. Has
the earth become increasingly unstable? Will the pattern from 2011
continue into 2012 and beyond? Is mother nature getting angrier? We
have no idea, but we do know that the following clip is quite awesome:
make sure you have your volume turned up high.Guest Post: Global Trade Fragility
Yesterday I got my new iPad. Yeah, I bought one like millions of other suckers. Apple
can take my dollars and recycle them buying treasury bills and so
partially fund, at least for a short while, America’s unsustainable debt
position. But really, I bought one to enjoy the twilight of the
miraculous system of global trade. An iPad is the cumulative
culmination of millions of hours of work, as well as resources and
manufacturing processes across the globe. It incorporates tellurium,
indium, cobalt, gallium, and manganese mined in Africa. Neodymium mined
in China. Plastics forged out of Saudi Crude. Aluminium mined in
Brazil. Memory manufactured in Korea, semiconductors forged in Germany,
glass made in the United States. And gallons and gallons of oil to
ship all the resources and components around the world, ’til they are
finally assembled in China, and shipped once again around the world to
the consumer. And of course, that manufacturing process stands upon the
shoulders of centuries of scientific research, and years of product
development, testing, and marketing. It is a huge mesh of processes.
I hope your taking advantage of our new ads, they were chosen to help you prepare for the coming global financial collapse...
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