The World's Biggest Bank Just Got Thrown Into The Lieborgate Mess

When on Friday news broke that German regulator BAFIN (which is just like the SEC except that it also regulates, investigates and actually prosecutes, instead of just watching porn all day) was launching a probe of the biggest bank in Europe, and actually, make that the world, Germany's Deutsche Bank, the shares took a quick, brisk hit, sliding 5% with everyone anxiously expecting to find out just which bank will follow Barclays into the scapegoat abattoir (because nobody had any clue Liebor manipulation was going on until a week ago). Yet while external inquiry into banks is to be expected (everywhere but in the US of course, because in the US no banks manipulated anything. Ever) as a proactive act on behalf of regulators to cover their back, things get a little more tricky when the bank itself admits there was an obvious supervision problem. From Reuters: "Two Deutsche Bank employees have been suspended after it used external auditors to examine whether staff were involved in manipulating interbank lending rates, German magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing no sources." Now what can possibly go wrong if the biggest bank in the world, with just shy of $3 trillion in "assets", which just happens to have a 1.68% Core Tier 1 ratio, is suddenly thrust smack in the middle of the scandal that the Economist just aptly named the finance industry's "tobacco moment"?

Protest Turns Deadly In Qatif As Saudis Use Live Ammo On Protesting Shi'ites

Remember Qatif - the "weakest" Saudi authoritarian link, whose daily protests, many of them violent, threatened to topple the government last spring when soaring global food inflation set the MENA region on fire and led to the overthrow of numerous regimes in the Mediterranean rim? It's back, only this time not based on food price concerns, but inflamed religious tensions, arising from the arrest, and shooting, of a senior religious opposition figure, Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Neme. As of minutes ago, Redha Al-boori reports on Twitter, that there have been at least two casuualties as a result of confrontation between Saudi forces using live ammo and protesting Shiites.

The Real Testosterone Junkies

We especially enjoy reading things that we disagree with, and that challenge my own beliefs. Strong ideas are made stronger, and weak ideas dissolve in the spotlight of scrutiny. People who are unhappy to read criticisms of their own ideas are opening the floodgates to ignorance and dogmatism. Yet sometimes our own open-minded contrarianism leads us to something unbelievably shitty.
The financial system is being regulated by clueless schmucks — many of whom would also castigate Zero Hedge as a “big fat hoax”, while ignoring grift and degeneracy within the financial establishment and the TBTF banks. In the face of such grotesque incompetence who can blame market participants for wanting a hedge against zero?

The Collapsing US Economy and the end of the world

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, PaulCraigRoberts.org:

In a recent column, “Can The World Survive Washington’s Hubris,” I promised to examine whether the US economy will collapse before Washington in its pursuit of world hegemony brings us into military confrontation with Russia and China. This is likely to be an ongoing subject on this site, so this column will not be the final word.
Washington has been at war since October, 2001, when President George W. Bush concocted an excuse to order the US invasion of Afghanistan. This war took a back seat when Bush concocted another excuse to order the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a war that went on without significant success for 8 years and has left Iraq in chaos with dozens more killed and wounded every day, a new strong man in place of the illegally executed former strongman, and the likelihood of the ongoing violence becoming civil war.
Upon his election, President Obama foolishly sent more troops to Afghanistan and renewed the intensity of that war, now in its eleventh year, to no successful effect.
Read More @ PaulCraigRoberts.org

The Ancient Metal of Kings

by Richard (Rick) Mills, Ahead of the Herd:

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information...
“The fundamental factors that have driven the gold bull market… remain very much in place.” Morgan Stanley.
“Fears of another banking crisis amid a Greek exit from the euro zone are growing. This also raises the likelihood of further central bank action to calm markets and alleviate a possible slump. Money printing, along with the European Central Bank’s large liquidity injections for the banking system, has been good for gold. And real interest rates are negative in much of the developed world, which will also fuel fears of an eventual jump in inflation.” Moneyweek.com
“Gold meanwhile, shall once again slap the overwhelming number of perma-bears in the face again on its way to a new, all-time high.” Peter Grandich
Better than Gold: Gold’s price has risen because of the abuse and mismanagement of our monetary and currency systems – throughout history, gold has always shone the brightest when trust breaks down, confidence falls and fear climbs.
Central banks money printing is out of control – gold’s price will continue, has to continue, too rise in value against all depreciating paper currencies.
Read More @ AheadOfTheHerd.com

UN Bureaucracy Just a Formality Before US Military Attack On Syria

by Susanne Posel, Occupy Corporatism:
The Syrian National Council (SNC) has rejected the international plan for regime change in Syria because current Syrian President Bashar Assad would have the right to participate in the agreement.
At a conference in Geneva this past weekend, the UN brokered “deal” for the “creation of a transitional national unity government” made the illusion to executive powers given to Syria. Russian representatives asserted that Assad should be part of the interim administration. The ultimate transitional government would also oversee the drafting of a new Syrian Constitution and advise the electoral process.
The international community, headed by the UN has agreed to devise a scheme to remove Assad from the Syrian government and chose his successor by “mutual consent”. Several oppositional groups in Syria are vying for representatives that might replace Assad.
Read More @ OccupyCorporatism.com

New July 6th Obama Executive Order Seeks ‘Control’ Over Communications During ‘Crisis’

Executive Order — Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions
from Prison Planet:
ASSIGNMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTIONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. The Federal Government must have the ability to communicate at all times and under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions. Survivable, resilient, enduring, and effective communications, both domestic and international, are essential to enable the executive branch to communicate within itself and with: the legislative and judicial branches; State, local, territorial, and tribal governments; private sector entities; and the public, allies, and other nations. Such communications must be possible under all circumstances to ensure national security, effectively manage emergencies, and improve national resilience. The views of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and the public must inform the development of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications policies, programs, and capabilities.
Sec. 2. Executive Office Responsibilities.
Sec. 2.1. Policy coordination, guidance, dispute resolution, and periodic in-progress reviews for the functions described and assigned herein shall be provided through the interagency process established in Presidential Policy Directive-1 of February 13, 2009 (Organization of the National Security Council System) (PPD-1).
Read More @ PrisonPlanet.com

RED ALERT: Obama Seizes TOTAL CONTROL

from Fabian4Liberty:

The Obama Admin is seizing total control. The road to tyranny is here, what are you doing about it?

Beyond Barclays: Laying out the Libor Investigations

by Cora Currier, Pro Publica:

Last week, the British bank Barclays was slapped with $450 million in fines and penalties for manipulating information used to set a critical interest rate.
Settlements filed by government regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. show this manipulation happened in two ways: first, Barclays’ traders attempted to steer rates up or down in order to benefit trades they had made to profit off of those rates. Separately, the filings show that during the financial crisis, Barclays tried to counter reports that it had financial troubles by changing the interest rate it reported.
If you’re just catching up to this, here’s some background on the scandal, and how we’ll likely see government action on other banks besides Barclays.
What are these interest rates? How could one bank manipulate them?
The Libor, or London Inter Bank Offered Rate, is a short-term interest rate [1] that’s meant to reflect the cost of borrowing between banks. A panel of banks submits estimates daily to a
trade group [2], the British Bankers’ Association. Thomson Reuters compiles an average rate for them, discarding any very high or low submissions. That rate is used to set rates for an estimated $360 trillion [3] worth of financial products, all the way down to consumer loans and mortgages. (An analogous process sets the Euribor, for Eurozone banks. For help cutting through all the jargon, see this helpful explainer [4] from American Public Media.)

Read More @ ProPublica.org

Must Listen: The Nightmare Scenario [Ties into the Olympics]

from e33State:

Voice of Republic Broadcasting Network’s Mike Rivero

The EUGENICS Club: ‘Buffett Makes Annual Donation to Bill Gates Foundation’

[Ed. Note: If you don't get the headline, or if you're not sure what Eugenics is and why Bill & Warren are both proponents of it, start here.]
from Zero Hedge:
Warren Buffett, the billionaire who pledged to donate most of his wealth to charity, contributed stock valued at $1.52 billion in his annual gift to the
foundation created by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates.
Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), donated about 18.4 million of his company’s Class B shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to a filing issued yesterday. The shares closed at $82.54 in New York.
Buffett, a trustee of the foundation, is the third-richest man in the world, with a net worth of about $46 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily rankingof the wealthiest people. He has campaigned to promote
charitable giving.
“I urge people to unbutton their wallet, pull out a check, reach into their purse, whatever it takes,” Buffett, 81, said last year in a YouTube video. “You will find that when you give a dollar and something of yourself, a lot more than a dollar comes out the other end.”
Read More @ Zero Hedge.com

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