NY Teamsters Pension Becomes First To Run Out Of Money As Expert Warns "Pension Tsunami" Is Coming

"This is a quiet crisis, but it’s very real. There are currently 200 other plans on track for insolvency - that’s going to affect anywhere from 1.5 to 2 million people.  The prognosis is bleak minus some new legislative help. Municipal and state plans are the next to go down - that’s a pension tsunami that’s coming."

China Backs Russia To Veto Western-Backed UN Sanctions On Syria

China backed Russia on Tuesday, when both nations vetoed to protect the Syrian government from a UNSC resolution, blocking an attempt by Western powers to impose sanctions over accusations the Assad regime had (again) used chemical weapons.

Making The Same Mistakes Again (Remember The 'Lord Clive')

"Every night on American television news programs, pundits, politicians, and retired generals perform their sabre rattling, stating that the world at large had better cooperate with the US or else... If this does play out along the lines of the sinking of the Lord Clive, it will be the American people who will pay the price for their leaders’ reckless behavior."

Obamas To Make Over $60 Million From Book Deal

Several publishers are outbidding each other in a blockbuster auction for the global rights to two books by Barack and Michelle Obama, where the latest bid has surpassed a record $60 million for presidential memoirs.

Energy, Money, And The Destruction Of Equilibrium

"No matter what the economic leaders say, these actions prove to me and many others that their mental models of the world have failed. They’re able to hide behind authority and academic vocabulary which if put in plain terms for the lay person could be described as theft, ponzi, tyrannical and moronic."

Caught On Tape: Uber CEO Argues With Driver Over Declining Fares - "Take Responsibility For Your Own Shit"

“Bullshit.  Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!”

Meanwhile, In Germany...

The floats at Karneval parades across southern and western Germany are known for their biting satire. As The Local reports, this year the main target of their derision was only ever going to be one man.

Lavrov Vs. McCain: Is Russia An Enemy?

If we believe the struggle is for “global democracy” and “human rights,” then that may put Putin on the other side. But how then can we be allies of President el-Sissi of Egypt and Erdogan of Turkey, and the kings, emirs and sultans of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman? But if the new world struggle is about defending ourselves and our civilization, Russia would appear to be not only a natural ally, but a more critical and powerful one than that crowd in Kiev.

RBOB Slides After Surprise Gasoline Inventory Build; New Record Glut In Crude

After a volatile day of White House rumors and denials, and OPEC headlines, WTI and RBOB ended the day lower ahead of tonight's API data which showed a slightly smaller than expected crude build (+2.5mm against expectations of +3mm). However RBOB prices tumbled after an unexpected build.

March Hike Odds Soar Above 75% After Hawkish Assault From Dudley, Williams

The Fed is really doing its best to convince the market that a March rate hike is coming, and it seems to be working.

The Dow Streak May Be Finally Over, But In February Everything Was Up

Just Buy The Dip? FBN Says Don't Overthink Stocks

For nine straight days, the buy-the-f##king-dip crowd has been ubiquitous...

Trump Proposes Cutting State Department Budget By 37%

The White House is proposing to cut spending by 37% for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development budget, in order to free up some of the billions in funding Trump has promised the Defense department.

Tax Strike? IRS Has Received 13% Fewer Returns This Year

As of the end of last week, the Internal Revenue Service had received 13.3% fewer tax returns from individual filers than last year (42.5 million versus 49.0 million).  Moreover, visits to the IRS.gov website are down 16.2%.  All this has put a crimp in tax refunds, which are down 14.4% versus last year ($103 billion versus $121 billion).

BofA's Institutional Clients Are Suddenly Selling Everything

Bank of America clients’ optimism continued to wane last week as clients sold US equities for the second consecutive week after having been net buyers the prior 14 weeks since the election. Even private clients who have been the most aggressive buyers in the past few months, joined the selling? What did they sell: pretty much everything.

Putting It All Together...

Population growth, economic growth, and resultant energy consumption are inexorably slowing. The Federal Reserve knows it can not stop this and is simply slowing the inevitable with interest rate cuts to incent greater consumption via skyrocketing credit/debt...

YouTube Users Now Watch 1 Billion Hours Per Day, Set To Surpass US TV Viewership

YouTube viewers world-wide are now watching more than 1 billion hours of videos a day, set to eclipse the 1.25 billion hours of television Americans watch daily. This stunning number represents a 10-fold growth since 2012, when YouTube users clocked in 100 million hours per day.

"It's T-Day" - Trader Warns "Standby For Disappointment"

"Trading on the back of U.S. stimulus could be a dead theme by Friday..."

Massive East Coast Internet Outage Pinned On Amazon Cloud Failure

"We've identified the issue as high error rates with S3 in US-EAST-1, which is also impacting applications and services dependent on S3. We are actively working on remediating the issue."

Number Of Distressed US Retailers Highest Since The Great Recession

"Moody's-rated US retailers rated Caa or Ca today make up just over 13% of our total rated retail portfolio, which is the highest level since the Great Recession.  As they struggle to survive, distressed retailers can take more desperate measures, including highly promotional pricing that can border on irrational.  This leaves stronger firms with the choice of either competing in a race to the bottom, or giving up sales in order to preserve margin."

Oil Spikes On OPEC/White House Headlines

A double-whammy of bullish news hit WTI crude futures shortly after 1300ET today sending prices soaring. First, The White House denied earlier rumors on changes to the ethanol mandate; and then Reuters confirmed OPEC production cut compliance steady at 94%.

Tech Tyrants Strike Back: Angela Warren, SGT Report & Stan Deyo

from Hagmann Report:
Tonight on the Hagmann and Hagmann Report…
Pizzagate broke during the weirdest and most furious General Election in anyones memory.  Those with eyes to see and even a tea spoon of discernment saw a demonized Hillary Clinton throw out disingenuous platitudes and generic rhetoric while her opponent, 45th President of the United States, President Donald J Trump worked overtime to quell his obvious incredulity, trusting that the people would respond on November 8, 2016.
And boy, did the people respond.  Special Team Hagmann “thank you’s” are in order to the great Americans in: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.  You folks did it and this nation is grateful.  As a Kalifornia transplant, I am grateful.
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Those Systems That Aren’t Busy Being Born Are Busy Dying

by Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds:
What we have is a bunch of sclerotic, dying institutions and systems resisting anything and everything that threatens to disrupt the status quo.
One way to understand the rising sense of disintegration and discord around the globe is to realize that those systems that aren’t busy being born are busy dying–and virtually none of our primary systems are busy being born.
The line is from Bob Dylan’s song It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding): “he not busy being born is busy dying.”
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Wikileaks Busts McCain in Russian Cash Treason Before Russian Ambassador Died (VIDEO)

by Barry Soetoro The Sleuth Journal:
Wikileaks BUSTS Senator John McCain asking Russia for Campaign Cash! Two days before Wikileaks revealed this shocking treasonous act, Russian UN Ambassador (Vitaly Churkin) DROPS DEAD from a heart attack!
Was Churkin killed to cover up McCain’s illegal campaign money scheme — or was Churkin only ‘relocated’ to protect McCain from treason charges?
US Senator John McCain keeps smearing Donald Trump and other free thinkers as being somehow “involved with Russia” or “agents of Putin.”
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SILENT ON OBAMA FOR 8 YEARS, GLOBALIST GEORGE BUSH COMES OUT SWINGING AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP

by Geoffrey Grider, Now The End Begins:
Bush was asked about the media’s role in light of President Donald Trump’s recent characterization of the media as “enemies of America.” He noted he spent a lot of time during his two terms trying to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to embrace an independent press.
FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH OPENS UP ON TRUMP’S WAR WITH THE MEDIA, RUSSIA AND TRAVEL BAN AFTER 8 YEARS OF SILENCE ON BARACK OBAMA
In a wide-ranging interview that shied away from directly criticizing the current commander in chief, former President George W. Bush said it’s critical for the media to hold accountable “people who abuse their power.” He also rejected the current administration’s controversial immigration policy.
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PIZZAGATE | NEW TUNNEL DISCOVERY. Connects At Least 4 Of Alefantis’s Properties

from Steemit:
“As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without.”
There are miles of old abandoned water tunnels directly under a lot of Alefantis’s properties of interest. The picture above is of workmen in one of the tunnels circa 1900s.
First off there is a bit of background on the tunnels then there’s a map outlining all the properties of interest in relation to the tunnel network. I’ve also included examples of some of the tunnels discovered.
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Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander Admits to Having Terror Cells Situated and Ready to Strike in US (VIDEO)

by Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit:
A recent video posted this week shows Islamic Republic strategist, Hassan Abbassi, discussing the destructive potential of Iran’s hidden army within the US.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander Abbassi admitted to having terror cells situation and ready to strike in the United States.
Abbassi: I’ll be brief. We have two million Iranians there. Be certain that I will raise a guerilla army from amongst them against you. You know this well. Look how vulnerable you were on 9-11 when four Arabs who don’t know how to fight managed to endanger your foundations.
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Poll: Half of College Students Believe Their Student Loans Will Be Forgiven

by Katherine Rodriguez, Breitbart:
Half of college students believe their student loans will be forgiven after graduation, according to a recent poll.
LendEDU, “a private firm that connects students and their families with student loans and loan refinancing,” conducted a survey that found 49.8 percent of students believe the government would forgive their student loans after graduation, the New York Post reported.
Despite what these students believe, there are actually a limited number of instances where the government can forgive student loans.
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Peru’s Silver Production Surged Early In 2016, Then Suffered Double-Digit Decline in December

by Steve St. Angelo, SRSRocco Report:
While Peru’s silver production surged in the beginning of 2016, it experienced a double-digit decline in December versus the same month last year. Peru is the second largest silver producing country in the world, trailing Mexico by approximately 40 million oz, but now leading third-ranked China by a wide margin.
Peru started off 2016 with a bang by increasing silver production 14% in the first three months of the year:
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Trump Considers Quitting UN Human Rights Council

by Carol Adl, Your News Wire:
President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council.
The Trump administration has reportedly accused the UNHRC of being biased against Israel and are questioning its usefulness.
Press TV reports:
A final decision on whether the US would leave the council is expected to be made by the president himself, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as well as the new US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, POLITICO reported, citing informed sources.
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