White House On Lockdown After Shots Fired; Person Has Been Shot, Obama Out Golfing - Live Feed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 15:28

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 - 15:55 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."

This Is "Not" A Liar

 Presented with no comment...

One Year Later...

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 15:40

Goldman Explans Why Hedge Funds Got Crushed In 2016

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 15:15 "The outperformance of the largest hedge fund short positions relative to the most popular longs helps explain the especially weak returns of equity long/short hedge funds. The average hedge fund has returned -2% YTD compared with +1% for the S&P 500."

NRA Endorses Trump; "A Fantastic Honor" Trump Responds, "I Will Not Let You Down"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 14:56 While hardly surprising, it is now official: the National Rifle Association has endorsed Donald Trump for president at today's convention. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, made the endorsement immediately before Trump walked on stage ABC reports.

Something Stunning Is Taking Place Off The Coast Of Singapore

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 11:58
 

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.”
Read More

Caption Contest: Hammering The Deflation Monster In Japan

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 14:55 "Put her on the end," appears to have been the meme for Yellen at this week's G-7 meeting in Japan, with - rather awkwardly - the Japanese taking center stage. The bipolar Mario Draghi, however, appears most at home with his tool in his hand 'hammering' the deflation monster...

Observations From The Heart Of Silicon Valley

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 14:35 What happens when a system designed to sell to the "greater fool" runs out of fools?

Oklahoma Prepares To Impeach Obama Over Transgender Bathrooms

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 14:15 Oklahoma's Republican-dominated legislature has filed a measure calling for President Barack Obama's impeachment over his administration's recommendations on accommodating transgender students, saying he overstepped his constitutional authority. Lawmakers in the socially conservative state are also expected to take up a measure as early as Friday that would allow students to claim a religious right to have separate but equal bathrooms and changing facilities to segregate them from transgender students.

Tesla Suppliers Warn Musk Expansion Goals Are "Implausible"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 14:02 Having cashed out a few hundred million dollars worth of stock to some dliuted greater fools - with the help of Goldman Sachs - the ugly face of reality of descending on Elon Musk and his government-subsidized car maker. Rather shockingly, given the huge demand, automaking consultants and supply executives, who asked not to be identified, admitted that Tesla has still not finalized the Model 3 design and specifications, warning that Musk's goals were "implausible."

Texas Judge Orders "Intentionally Deceptive" DOJ Lawyers To Take Remedial Ethics Classes

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 13:39 Yesterday we asked rhetorically "who pays when governments lie?" and today we get yet another example of the Obama administration's contempt for the law... but this time, one brave judge in Texas decide it was time to draw the line and ordered the the lawyers at the DOJ's headquarters in Washington to take at least three hours of remedial ethics training a year.

Bank Of Japan Said To Start Preparing For Losses On Its "Huge" Debt Holdings Once QE Ends

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 13:25 While it most likely is just the usual Friday (past) midnight trial balloon by the Nikkei, a media outlet that has promptly become the BOJ's mouthpiece (recall a week ago the new owner of the FT reported that Abe would delay his 2017 sales tax increase, only to see the premier backpedal when the reaction in the USDJPY was not quite as desired), moments ago the Japanese publication reported that the Bank of Japan will "likely set aside funds for the first time to prepare for losses on its huge holdings of Japanese government bonds should the central bank end its monetary easing policy in the future."

Oil Price Slips After Rig Count Decline Stalls

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 13:06 For 20 of the last 21 weeks, US oil rig count has declined as it tracked the lagged oil price lower. That changed today as oil rigs were unchanged week-over-week perfectly syncing with the lagged lows in oil. Total rigs dropped 2 (thanks to gas rigs) to a new record low but even that pace has slowed dramatically. Oil prices are fading modestly on the news...

Chicago Pension Liabilities Jump 168%, Understated By $11.5 Billion

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 12:59 New accounting rules show Chicago has understated its pension liabilities by $11.5 billion. At the end of 2015 the stated liability was $7.1 billion. Today it’s $18.6 billion. That’s a jump in net liabilities of 168%. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hopes pinned on union concessions and help from the state legislature. Neither is likely. Let’s stop pretending there is another solution, because there isn’t.

Firebombing At Google Office Damages Google Earth Demo Car

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 12:40 Less than a month after a still unexplained suicide took place inside a conference room at Apple headquarters, there seems to be more trouble in Silicon Paradise. According to CBS, an incendiary device ignited a fire late Thursday night at the offices of digital giant Google, damaging a Google Earth demo car and leaving a large singe mark on one of the buildings, authorities said.

"Hillary Clinton Is A Danger To World Peace", French Presidential Frontrunner Le Pen Warns

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 12:24 “I think if she was elected she would continue this policy, a destructive policy, a policy of conflict, a policy of imprisonment of Europe in blinded Atlanticism,” Le Pen said. “I think it’s a danger for world peace.”

Will Venezuela Be Forced To Embrace The Dollar?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 12:22 The last phase in all cases of hyperinflation is currency stabilization. This phase is inevitable whether it be because of changes introduced by the government or due to complete rejection of local currency by the population. In order for such a monetary reform to be successful, it is essential that the government first eliminate the main cause of the inflation (the budget deficit). Unfortunately, it does not seem as though the Venezuelan government has any plans to decrease spending, nor does it appear that revenue from oil will be recovering any time soon, meaning that any attempts at currency stabilization will surely fail (just as it did the last time when the bolivar fuerte was introduced in 2008). In light of this situation, it seems that Thiers’ Law is inevitable.

Tear Gas, Bullets Fired As Anti-Government Protesters Storm Baghdad Green Zone; Curfew Imposed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/20/2016 - 11:45 Update: Curfew has been imposed in Baghdad.
The situation in Iraq had already become very dangerous, as we reported in earlier in the month, after the Iraq PM ordered arrests in order to disband Green Zone protests. As Reuters reports, Anti-government protesters are back at it, and have stormed into Baghdad's Green Zone, allegedly reaching the Council of Ministers building.

The FBI Wants To Keep The National Biometric Database A Secret

by Derrick Broze, Activist Post:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is attempting to suppress information about a massive database which contains fingerprints, palm prints, iris, voice, and face scans, as well as other biometric data, of millions of Americans.
In early May the U.S. Department of Justice released a proposal which would exempt the FBI’s biometric database from public disclosure. Specifically, the proposal would exempt the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System from provisions of the federal Privacy Act, which “requires federal agencies to share information about the records they collect with the individual subject of those records, allowing them to verify and correct them if needed.” The proposal is open for public comment until June 6, 2016.
Although the database does contain biometric data on convicted criminals, it also contains information on individuals who were only suspected or temporarily detained under the suspicion of a crime. The system also features data from people fingerprinted for jobs, licenses, military or volunteer service, background checks, security clearances, and other government processes.
Read More

Fed Up with the Fed

by Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds:
Destroying our ability to discover the real cost of assets, credit and risk has not just crippled the markets–it’s crippled the entire economy.
Is anyone else fed up with the Federal Reserve? To paraphrase Irving Fisher’s famous quote about the stock market just before it crashed in 1929, we’ve reached a permanently high plateau of Fed mismanagement, Fed worship and Fed failure.
Read More

Don’t Ask for Freedom – Live It!

by Zen Gardner, Zen Gardner:
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
That quote pretty much sums it up, at least on one level. What’s fundamentally dystopic is that humanity petitions others for their freedom, as if it’s something to be granted by someone else in a position of authority over them. Not only is that counter intuitive at a very deep level, but it reinforces the very paradigm from which they are trying to escape.
It’s very much like putting the cart before the horse – and then the horse complains about it and asks those who did it to change the situation. There may be a time to straighten out a misunderstanding and stupid mistake by pointing out the obvious in a particular situation, but ultimately it’s up to the bridled human to have some “horse sense” and just say no to the situation and be its true independent self and not cooperate with being yoked into bondage and just break free from the bridle and reins…and dump the saddle as well.
Read More

Red Ponzi Update——-Gambling Like Never Before

by David Stockman, David Stockman’s Contra Corner:
In the heyday of its incredible credit and construction boom, China was building two world-scale utility plants each week and opening up a new airport every day. Economic fiction writers like Goldman’s Jim O’Neill, chief propagator of the BRICs myth, declared the Red Ponzi to be the very second coming of capitalism.
Now, by contrast, a Chinese billionaire goes missing practically every day, as a recent Washington Post article explained:

That’s what happened last year when China’s richest man — at least on paper — lost half of his wealth in less than half an hour. It turned out that his company Hanergy may well just be Enron with Chinese characteristics: Its stock could only go up as long as it was borrowing money, and it could only borrow money as long as its stock was going up. Those kind of things work until they don’t.

Read More

/