Silent Majority: 55% Of Americans Want Independent To Run Against Trump, Clinton...

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 21:30

It’s happening! According to a new poll, Americans have finally maxed out their tolerance for “lesser evils” in presidential politics. The survey, published by independent research firm, Data Targeting, found a majority of Americans now want an independent candidate to take on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — two of the most disliked candidates in recent history.

"Like It or Not, Donald Trump Will Be Your Next President"

Simply put, the deck has already stacked itself...

In An Interesting Turn Of Events, Russia Proposes Joint Missions With US In Syria

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 21:00 In light of all of the recent tensions between the US and Russia, of which there have been many (here, here, here, here, and here), one would assume that Putin wouldn't be interested in working with the US on anything other than steering clear of each other for time being. However, as RT reports, Russia has extended an olive branch with the US. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu recently told journalists that the US and Russia should fly joint missions together in Syria to fight ISIS.

The Biggest Bubbles: China vs. The U.S.

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 17:15

There is perhaps no other area where the tunnel-vision, hypocrisy, and corruption of the U.S. media is more visible than with respect to its nearly incessant China-bashing. Previous commentaries have exposed such vacuous drivel again and again and again. Admittedly, the numbers involved should give any sober individual cause for concern. They are an obvious symptom of the global phenomenon of worthless, paper currencies being used to pump-up, manipulate, and destabilize our markets – to a degree never before seen in the history of our species. However, singling out China’s markets as being “prone to bubbles” represents hypocritical blindness on the part of the U.S. media which is too absurd to be accidental. 

UN Plots War On Free Speech To Stop "Extremism" Online

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 22:30 The United Nations Security Council wants a global “framework” for censoring the Internet, as well as for using government propaganda to “counter” what its apparatchiks call “online propaganda,” “hateful ideologies,” and “digital terrorism.” To that end, the UN Security Council this week ordered the UN “Counter-Terrorism Committee” — yes, that is a real bureaucracy — to draw up a plan by next year. From the Obama administration to the brutal Communist Chinese regime, everybody agreed that it was time for a UN-led crackdown on freedom of speech and thought online — all under the guise of fighting the transparently bogus terror war.
 

Beijing Astronomers Advise Residents Of "Rare Event" Tomorrow Morning

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 22:00 “From approximately 6:14 a.m. to 6:16 a.m., a small section of the Earth’s atmosphere should be perceptible to the naked eye when looking towards the southwest in Beijing... For anyone who hasn’t seen it before or isn’t sure what to look for, the sky will appear as a small, bluish area that should stand out clearly from its surroundings" 

"He's Burning Down The House" - Clinton Campaign Furious At Sanders Insistence On Democracy

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 16:50 "This is the worst case scenario, and the one people feared the most. Unfortunately he's choosing the path of burning down the house. He continues with character attacks against Hillary. He continues with calling the Democratic party corrupt, and he not only risks damaging Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party but he's currently donig it." said a Clinton ally according to The Hill. With almost every national and state poll showing Sen. Sanders doing much, much better than Secretary Clinton against Donald Trump, it is clear that millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign.




 

Something Stunning Is Taking Place Off The Coast Of Singapore

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 17:58

Activated US, European Missile Defense System Targets Russia

by Stephen Lendman, The Sleuth Journal:
Reckless US rage for dominance risks possible global war, making two earlier ones look mild by comparison – potential nuclear confrontation threatening humanity’s survival if launched.
America’s so-called missile defense shield is intended solely for offense, not defense. Washington claiming otherwise is a ruse. No justifiable threat warrants its deployment.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is acting appropriately in response, explaining “the question is not whether measures will be taken or not. (They’re) being taken to maintain Russia’s security at the necessary level.”
Deploying and activating America’s anti-missile defense system “poses a (direct) threat to Russia.” Putin earlier asked who it targeted.
Washington said Iran despite the Islamic Republic threatening no one. On Thursday, the first US-led NATO’s missile shield was activated at a remote Deveselu, Romania air base.
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Leaking Las Vegas: Lake Mead Plunges To Lowest Level Ever As "The Problem Is Not Going Away"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 17:35 The hopes of an El Nino-driven refill from last summer's plunging levels of the nation's largest reservoir have been dashed as AP reports Lake Mead water levels drop to new record lows (since it was filled in the 1930s) leaving Las Vegas facing existential threats unless something is done. Las Vegas and its 2 million residents and 40 million tourists a year get almost all their drinking water from the lake; and at levels below 1075ft, the Interior Department will be forced to declare a "shortage," which will lead to significant cutbacks for Arizona and Nevada. As one water research scientist warned, "this problem is not going away and it is likely to get worse, perhaps far worse, as climate change unfolds."

The Mother Of All Head & Shoulder Patterns Just Completed The Right Shoulder

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 20:30 China was, in essence, the right shoulder to the greatest head and shoulder pattern in the history of mankind.  Central banks and federal governments will do everything in their power to maintain the present system.  They will attempt anything and likely everything to maintain what ultimately cannot be maintained.  Unfortunately, no one knows how much is too much and the economic, financial, and societal ramifications.  Invest accordingly?!?

WTF Headline Of The Day: GOP Senator Says "US Is Under-Incarcerated," Should Lock Up More People

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 20:00 There are 2.3 million Americans in prison or jail. The U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prisoners. One in three black men can expect to spend time in prison. There are 2.7 million minors with an incarcerated parent. The imprisonment rate has grown by more than 400 percent since 1970, and that increased incarceration has had a very limited effect on crime over the past two and a half decades. So... with that in mind, here is a little more crazy to end the week from Senator Tom Cotton...

What Does The Next OPEC Meeting Have In Store?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 19:30 Amid a backdrop of oil prices near $50 per barrel, a sharp drop in Nigerian production due to sabotage, turmoil in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia operating with a new oil minister, and Iran aggressively pumping close to pre-sanction levels; the next OPEC meeting on the 2nd of June will act as little more than a forum for continued altercations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Deutsche Bank Investigates How "Improper" Private Trades Made Six Employees $37 Million

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 19:00 Deutsche Bank is investigating a series of trades that may have improperly generated millions of dollars in personal profits for a handful of current and former employees.

Venezuela Launches Biggest Ever "Military Exercise" In History: A Preview Of What's Coming

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 18:04 Venezuela is preparing for the biggest military exercises in its history on Saturday after the South American country’s government said it’s on high alert as the opposition pushes for a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro. "This is the first time we are carrying out an exercise of this nature in the country. In terms of national reach, it’s going to be in every strategic region."

Here Are The Highest Paying Companies In America... At The Moment

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 17:40 Just as we cautioned those who saw the best cities for jobs data, we again warn everyone who reviews the highest paying companies data that now may not be the best time to pick up and head out to the West Coast in hopes of landing that dream tech job.

One Year Later...

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 17:20

Hawkish Fed Slams Stocks To Longest Losing Streak In 20 Months

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 16:43

Weekend Reading: Yellen’s Line In The Sand

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 16:25 The central bank already missed the “window of opportunity” for normalizing rates in a manner that doesn’t hamper the recovery. While the big news for the market was the release of the April 27th FOMC minutes which once again suggested the Federal Reserve may be on a path to hike rates sooner rather than later. The reality is simple, with the markets hovering on critical support, a Presidential election just around the corner and no real evidence of economic recovery, the likelihood of a rate hike in June is approaching zero.

Sliver Slams: Three Things to Think About

by Bix Weir, Road to Roota:
Those of use who have witnessed the silver price being slammed down over these many years for no apparent reason have learned to deal with moments like this. It has now become very easy to witness for most as they know that in the end silver will be set free from manipulation and you DON’T want to be caught out of the market at that moment.
Just to reassure you here are 3 things to understand about any violent silver price slam between now and the end of the year:
1) The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets is tasked with maintaining orderly markets and maintaining investor confidence. It is in their Job Description so when the price of silver begins to rise too fast they are required to STOP the rise in order to “maintain orderly markets” and they have the legal authority to use the Exchange Stabilization Fund as authorized by the Gold Reserve Act to trade and control in ANY “financial security”…which is everything traded on the markets.
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Unintended Consequences, Part 1: Easy Money = Overcapacity = Deflation

by John Rubino, Dollar Collapse:
Somewhere back in the depths of time the world got the idea that easy money — that is, low interest rates and high levels of government spending — would produce sustainable growth with modest but positive inflation. And for a while it seemed to work.
But that was an illusion. What actually happened was textbook, long-term, surreally-vast misallocation of capital in which individuals, companies and governments were fooled into thinking that adding new factories, stores and infrastructure at a rate several times that of population growth would somehow work out for the best.
China, as with so many other things, was the epicenter of this delusion. In response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis it borrowed more money than any other country ever, and spent most of the proceeds on infrastructure and basic industry. It’s steel-making capacity, already huge by 2008, kept growing right through the Great Recession, and now dwarfs that of any other country.
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Texan Plans to Build Gold Depository

by Ryan McMaken, Lew Rockwell:
Last year, we covered a story coming out of Texas in which the state government was planning to institute a state-controlled “gold depository” that would allow individuals to store their gold in a presumably safe place outside the United States banking system.
This proposition was met with emotionally-charged denunciations from Americans in far away northeastern American states where it was claimed this measure was contrary to the “supremacy clause” and just a terrible idea in general because it undermined faith in the US’s central government and the Federal Reserve System.
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Supreme Court Decision Celebrated by Lovers of Big Government

from The Daily Bell:
The Government Just Got More Powerful. (And That’s a Good Thing.) … Here’s the most important legal principle that you’ve probably never heard of: If a regulation issued by a government agency turns out to be ambiguous, the agency, not the court, gets to resolve the ambiguity. It’s called the Auer principle, after the 1997 Supreme Court decision that established it. … Few people have noticed, but on Monday the court made it clear that Auer is going to be with us for a long time. – Bloomberg
Cass R. Sunstein wrote this Bloomberg opinion article, and he is very happy about the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding Auer.
Sunstein is the academic who not so long ago proposed that government enter chat rooms and other ‘Net facilities by subterfuge in order to propose counter-arguments to “conspiracy” theorists.
He’s a philosophical authoritarian who unfortunately has a great deal of mainstream clout. His views on regulation and government power are influential in the US and around the world.
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Policy by Lies, America’s Descent Into Insanity

by Gordon Duff, New Eastern Outlook:
Few Americans know what they have lost. Few understand to what extent they have been victimized by something far beyond a police state, far beyond simple surveillance, far beyond the obvious loss or rights and privacy that some accepted so readily less than two decades ago in order to “be safe.”
At the center of it all is the Department of Homeland Security, a shadowy bureaucracy tasked with examining every aspect of the lives of every American and producing a “threat profile” using a “predictive algorithm.”
While Americans worry about their gun purchases being tracked and cataloged, they have no idea what has already been done and there’s over 700,000 government “agents,” from border control to “TSA” to local police including 41 “other” agencies of which only 16 have recognizable acronym titles anyone has ever heard of.
Americans know their email and phone calls are listened to but what they don’t know is how social scientists at a dozen universities, working for agencies like the DHS, Department of Defense, NSA and DARPA have learned to handle “big data.”
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