Sunday, October 7, 2012

Over 6,000 Cops Will Protect Merkel On Her 6 Hour Visit To Athens

(ed note) This seems to give protesters a green light to riot and loot everywhere else...
Angela Merkel is finally coming to the one country where the local media will not tire of photoshopping her in various Nazi outfits. The result: at least 6,000 policemen (and more like 7,000 according to Spiegel) will be deployed to protect her on her 6 hour visit to Greece on Tuesday, the first since the crisis erupted in 2009, and which has seen Greek unemployment explode from manageable to 25% at last check. Another result: parties from across the spectrum have said they will protest her visit, and strikes will further shut down what is already a completely shuttered economy. "She does not come to support Greece, which her policies have brought to the brink. She comes to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system," said Alexis Tsipras, who leads the opposition Syriza alliance. "We will give her the welcome she deserves."..."We don't want her here," said Yannis Georgiou, 72, who has seen his pension cut by one third. "We will take to the streets against austerity and against the government. Maybe Merkel will hear something and see what we're going through." Finally, with virtually the entire police force tasked with defending Merkel from the residents of her Southeastern European colony, it means that virtually every other place of interest will be left unguarded. Hopefully, nobody in Greece has seen Die Hard with a Vengeance and has access to dump trucks. The one thing Greece has going for it: there is virtually no official gold left anywhere that can be stolen (most of it already has been transferred elsewhere), or otherwise any tourist armed with a camera and located in the vicinity of the National Bank of Greece could film a sequel to what many consider the best Die Hard of all.


Now all the stages are set for bloody battle of suburbs

by David McWilliams, David McWilliams:
A NATIONAL debt crisis, such as the one Ireland is now suffering, tends to follow a four-stage pattern. We see these stages playing out in every episode of national bankruptcy — whether in Latin America, Asia or Western Europe. In Ireland, we are moving towards the third phase.
There is no escaping this pattern because the mathematical corollary of a housing boom is a debt bust. It is only a matter of time.
Now those suggesting that the endgame will be debt repudiation are taking the flak. But it will happen.
Let’s briefly examine the four stages of national bankruptcy.
Read More @ DavidMcWilliams.ie


A Glimpse Inside The Industry That Owns Everything

Standing in Legoland in Carlsbad, California in 2011, fulfilling a promise to my then eight-year-old son William, it hit me. I was strolling around a Blackstone-owned property. We'd woken up in a Homewood Suites, owned by Blackstone-backed Hilton. We'd driven to the park in a rental car from Hertz, owned by private-equity firms Carlyle and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Practically every time I'd opened my wallet that day, it had been to a company owned by private equity. Even on vacation, I couldn't escape. A few months later, I had dinner with Greg Brenneman, who'd held top positions at Continental, Burger King, and Quizno's, all private-equity-owned at the time he was involved. Brenneman is now the chairman of CCMP Capital, whose investments have included 1-800-Flowers.com and Vitamin Shoppe. We talked at length about the ubiquity of PE ownership -- my J. Crew sweater, the Dollar General store in my wife's hometown in the Catskills. I started a running list on my BlackBerry that quickly grew to dozens of examples. Brand names piled up, from Toys "R" Us to Petco. The more I looked, the more I found it.  The numbers are staggering. Private-equity firms globally and collectively had almost $3 trillion in assets at the end of 2011. The companies they own account for about 8 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product by one estimate.



Must Watch...

The ESF and Its History_Part 1




Can The Fed Ever Exit?

  We have extensively discussed the size (here - must read!) and growth (here) of the Fed's largesse in soaking up massive amounts of the primary and second Treasury (and now MBS) markets with the ongoing theme of 'what about the exit strategy?' among other things. The onset of QEternity likely means the Fed's balance sheet will grow to over $4 trillion within the next year and, as UBS notes, although the Fed has suggested that it will not begin an exit strategy until 2015, the magnitude of the excess balance sheet argues for considering whether the Fed has the ability to unwind their balance sheet. We, like UBS, believe that the Fed will find it far more difficult to exit than they have found it to enter given the limitations of the exit tools frequently cited. There are three main tools for reducing the Fed’s balance sheet: asset sales/maturation (bad signaling), reverse repurchase agreements (size constraints), and interest on reserves (inflationary).


“The Most Powerful Interests Are All Evil: The Security Industrial Complex, The Israel Lobby and Wall Street” – Paul Craig Roberts

from 108morris108:


The Great Scam: America's Richest Politicians Get Richer As Democrat, Republican Wealth Converges


It will, or should, come as no surprise that as a result of the Great Financial Crisis, just as in real life, so in D.C., the wealthiest politicians have gotten wealthier: in fact at least 72 politicos have doubled their wealth in the past 5 years. It will, or should, also come as no surprise, that as a result of the GFC, the average wealth of Republicans (which declined) and Democrats (which rose) has converged, confirming that at least when it comes to the economic disparity between America's two big parties, there is no longer any difference. At least these are the findings of a recent WaPo study looking at how America's lawmakers have benefited from the laws they themselves institute. In other words, while America's laws may be designed for its people, those who actually benefit from this country's fiscal (and of course monetary) policy is just one group: those who continue to transfer wealth from what little is left of the middle class and into their own, mostly offshore, bank accounts. From the WaPo: "You would find that, contrary to many popular perceptions, lawmakers don’t get rich by merely being in Congress. Rich people who go to Congress, though, keep getting richer while they’re there." We are fairly confident that there were no "popular perceptions" that anyone goes to Congress to get wealthy. Congress, and certainly the Senate, are merely vehicles to allow those with power and money to simply perpetuate a status quo that benefits the 1% and takes, what little is left, from everyone else. And sadly, this theft transcends political lines and ideological colors. In short: everyone is doing it, even as America continues to delude itself there is an option. There is none.

Turkish-Syrian Artillery Exchanges Resume On Sunday

The Syrian-Turkish artillery exchanges are becoming a nearly daily tradition: first on Wednesday, when NATO member countries had to be woken up late at night at the request of Turkey to opine on whether Syria had breached Article 4 (leading to a lot fo harsh language by Hillary Clinton), then again on Friday, and now on Sunday, when Syria, (or at least various Al Qaeda factions inside of it, presumably not those endorsed by Turkey) is once again provoking Turkey by firing into the same location as on the previous two occasions, leading to the inevitable Turkish retaliation. All this of course is happening as Turkey deploys ever more military at its Syria border. One of these days, after the latest Syrian 'provocation', Turkey will just snap and invade, taking advantage of the Bill recently passed in Parliament which gives the country permission to invade Syria if it so chooses in retaliation, and of course of NATO's unconditional backstop. And just to add spice to the situation, an unidentified drone will quietly fall out of the skies just because.


Turkey Plays Lee Harvey for NATO Plotters

By Rob Kall, Op Ed News:

Turkey is the fall guy.
The Turkish Parliament provided Prime Minister Recep Erdogan with a broad authorization “to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries” Hurriyet, October 4, 2012. The vote was on party lines with the dominant AKP party forming a majority. Muharrem Ä°nce of the CHP opposition party said: “This motion has no limits. You can wage a world war with [it].”
The warning about the road to war may be near reality. McClatchy Newspapers just reported the following:
ISTANBUL
— One day after winning blanket authority to send forces into Syria, Turkey’s prime minister warned Friday that his country is “not far from war” and said that it would be a “deadly mistake” for the Syrian government to test Turkey’s will.
McClatchy Newspapers, October 6, 2012
Read More @ OpedNews.com


Iran’s Insane Rhetoric

To grasp what is really occurring here we must look at how authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes (or, indeed, authoritarian regimes in general)  function. Authoritarian regimes  must maintain a cloak of authority. Tyrants do not attempt to look or sound weak; they try to project an aura of invincibility and indefatigability. We saw this during the last Gulf War, where Iraq’s information minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf — nicknamed Baghdad Bob in the American media — shot off hundreds of absurd statements during the war about how Iraqi troops were crushing the Americans, quite in contrast to the facts on the ground and right up until American tanks were rolling through the streets of Baghdad. Baghdad Bob was not deluded. He was merely playing his role, and trying to project an aura of regime invincibility — providing propaganda for domestic consumption to keep the Iraqi population loyal to Saddam Hussein. It was a dog and pony show.


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Bill O'Reilly vs. Jon Stewart: The Full Mock Debate

Sick of the official and very serious theater that passes for America'a presidential election? Then enjoy the following less than serious theater courtesy of the comic duo of Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart, whose "Rumble 2012" was the best 90 minute lampoon of America's hypnotic fascination with whose (skewed?) ratings did what first thing in the morning, whose non-sex tape was released over the weekend, who misspoke in the past 12 hours, but most importantly how no matter who is in charge on November 7, nothing will actually change. Finally, what better way to start your Sunday than with a laugh at some politicians' expense?

US Elections: Candidates Are Clueless And Artificial

Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 6 hours ago
"Both candidates are clueless and completely artificial..." - *in CNBC * *Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*
 

Video: I Don`t See Much Value In Stocks Anywhere

Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 12 hours ago
*Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful international investor. He has been frequently featured in Time, The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and is a regular guest on Bloomberg and CNBC.*
 

Sensing danger

noreply@blogger.com (Patrice Lewis) at Rural Revolution - 13 hours ago
Here's my WND column for this weekend entitled Sensing Danger.


Syria in The Crosshairs 

from, InfoWars:

Alex runs down the latest on efforts by the United States, NATO and the European Union to kick-start Syrian intervention under the pretense of protecting Turkey, establish a no-fly zone and work with CIA mercenaries and al-Qaeda to overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad.

Read More @ InfoWars.com


William K. Black On the Failure to Reform the Financial System

from Jesse’s Café Américain:
Obama’s most striking betrayal of his base and his mandate to reform is in his kid gloves treatment of one of the worst financial crimes in American history. And of course he is not alone. The Congress is a disgrace, falling to historic lows in their public approval. The Republicans are shameless in their obstructionism, and there is not a leader worthy of the name amongst the Democrats.
I struggle quite a bit with his motives, constantly arriving at the conclusion that he is held captive by the system that rewarded and elevated him. Ignorance does not suffice, and moral cowardice does not seem appropriate. More likely is the expedient amorality of the modern managerial mind. The deal is what is important.
And sadly enough, there is no real alternative in Romney, who as the modern predatory financial manager will say or do anything to make the deal happen. And the pigmen are licking their lips at the thought that their man might take the reins.
Read More @ Jesse’s Café Américain:


US government planning for ‘Mass Fatalities’?

from crabbydogtrix:



The Master Debater Part II

by Clarice Feldman, American Thinker:
Wednesday the public got to see the president as I have always seen him — a lazy, superficial thinker who is over his head as Chief Executive.
There were so many witty tweets and columns that our side of the aisle was kept laughing as the night wore on. “Mene mene tekel upharsin”, tweeted the great Iowahawk, reminding readers of the words written by a mysterious hand that to the Biblical Daniel correctly signified the end of a king (Belshazzar) and his reign.
I can’t say the online equivalent of graffiti I’m seeing was written by so mysterious a hand, but the signs are just as clear to me that the media and Democratic dream that in the upcoming debates Obama will do much better than he did in the first debate is going to be dashed. (I’m not even going into the next debate which is between the brilliant Paul Ryan and Joe “Yes, we will raise your taxes by a trillion dollars” Biden. In my opinion, he was badly beaten in 2008 by Sarah Palin and I can’t imagine Ryan doing less well against him.)
Read More @ AmericanThinker.com


Colonialism Alive & Well – This is What Wal-Mart Strikers Can Look Forward To: 12,000 Fired Following Strike Against Platinum Mining Company

from NTDTV:

South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum, also known as Amplats, fired 12,000 workers Friday for participating in an unauthorized strike. The move is an effort by the world’s largest platinum producer to push back after a number of strike-induced production stoppages earlier this year.


Truthdigger of the Week: ‘Democracy Now!’

by Alexander Reed Kelly, Truth Dig:

“Democracy Now!” pulled off a broadcast first this week when it circumvented the anti-democratic structure that has formed around the election process and gave two third-party candidates the chance to chime in on issues raised during the national presidential debate.
For television viewers across the country, President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spent 90 minutes attacking each other’s positions on taxes, unemployment, regulations, Social Security, health care, education, congressional gridlock and other domestic issues. Progressive critics agree that debate moderator Jim Lehrer spent the evening lobbing softballs at the two men, losing control early on and failing to get much of substance from either. Peter Baker of The New York Times slobbered over the evening as “a fundamental choice about the future of America.” Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer countered that it was “nothing of the sort.”
Read More @ TruthDig.com


Bill Gates Wants You Dead: ZERO CO2 Emissions

Allow us to be clear: Bill Gates is an elite NWO eugenist. He already has his tens of billions in wealth – and disdain for the rest of us. Unless they release hidden cold fusion or Zero-point energy technology, ZERO CO2 MEANS THEY WANT TO ROLL OUR INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY BACK TO PRE-1800 LIVING STANDARDS. ZERO CO2 MEANS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE LIVING IN EXTREME POVERTY – OR YOU’RE DEAD.
from ScootleRoyale:

“The world today has 6.8 billion people. That’s heading up to about nine billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent!” [About 1 Billion People!] – Bill Gates


Leading World Bank Demographer: Vaccination Campaigns Part Of Population Reduction Policy

by Jurriaan Maessen, Explosive Reports:
On October 2nd a retired demographer at the World Bank admitted that vaccination campaigns are an integral part of the World Bank’s population policies. John F. May, the Bank’s leading demographer from 1992 to 2012, told the French web journal Sens Public (and in turn transcribed by the think-tank May works for) that vaccination campaigns, especially in so-called “high-fertility countries”, are means to achieve population reduction in those countries.
According to May: “The means used to implement population policies are “policy levers” or targeted actions such as vaccination campaigns or family planning to change certain key variables.”
Defining “population policy” as “a set of interventions implemented by government officials to better manage demographic variables and to try to attune population changes (number, structure by age and breakdown) to the country’s development aspirations”, May continues to explain that the World Bank is taking up the lead role in achieving general population reduction.
It is not the first time that World Bank officials boast about their willingness to implement strict population control policies in the Third World. In its 1984 World Development Report, the World Bank suggests using “sterilization vans” and “camps” to facilitate its sterilization policies for the third world. The report also threatens nations who are slow in implementing the bank’s population policies with “drastic steps, less compatible with individual choice and freedom.”:
Read More @ Explosive Reports.com

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