Here's a story of how a simple, not-very-good economic analyst had to admit that others have pinned the tail to the Bank of America's Ass. This guy's from Business Insider, the place where analysts go, to go anal, i.e. to brown-nose the oligarchs and their paid-off economists, like P. 'Spaceman' Krugman. [and good men like Gonzalo Lira get sphincterised]
Anyway, the news is raining like cats and dogs, and these mutts at Buttock Insiders have finally cottoned on to the big scam. Henry Blodgett (sounds like a PI in a kid's novel) reported the obvious cover-up of Bank of Am's complete lack of cash (later verified by W Buffet's loan), and so BoA (or BAC) tried to blame Blodgett for its stock price plummetting.
That's what happens when you're in the newly-emerging, and yet largely co-opted branch of the alt media. You become a target, until you shut up and tow the party line. Your bosses at Buttock Insiders will probably put the pressure on you.
So, what's it gonna be, Blodgett? Are you gonna join the real journalists in the bunkers or continue to aspire to kissing ass?
checkitout:
Oh My Goodness: Now Bank Of America Is Blaming Its Collapsing Stock On ME
Henry Blodget | Aug. 23, 2011, 1:18 PM | 6,732 | 47
Well, this is quite something.
Earlier, I wrote a post in which I explained why Bank of America's stock is collapsing.
I explained that the stock is collapsing because the market doesn't believe that Bank of America's assets are worth what Bank of America says they are worth. I included some analysis from Zero Hedge and Yves Smith [that's the good stuff- Costick67] focused on different Bank of America assets with some logic on why they might not be worth what Bank of America says they are worth.
And now--get this--Bank of America is apparently blaming its stock collapse on ME!
Seriously!
I was eating a tuna sandwich when I saw the news blip across Bloomberg TV. I almost choked.
Bank of America's statement apparently says that I am making "exaggerated and unwarranted" claims.
But I'm actually not "claiming" anything (read the post here). I'm just pointing out what seems to me to be self-evident, which is that the market doesn't believe that Bank of America's assets are worth what they say they are worth.
(Lest some folks at Bank of America actually believe that the bank's collapsing stock price has something to do with me, I should point out that the stock is down all of 16 cents, or 2%, today. That's following an 8% collapse yesterday. And a 50+% collapse so far this year. And an 85%+ collapse in the past 5 years.)
Now, anytime a bank stock tanks, a whole host of excuses are usually trotted out. Generally, the blame is placed on "shortsellers." This is the first time in 20 years around the markets that I've seen the blame placed on a blog post (or, for that matter, me).
For what it's worth, I am not a "shortseller" of Bank of America stock.
In fact, thanks to the fact that Bank of America bought a company I used to work for, Merrill Lynch, I am actually a Bank of America shareholder. (Not a huge one, thank goodness, but a big enough one that I would prefer Bank of America's stock to be going up).
As a Bank of America shareholder, I am furious that Bank of America once again appears to be headed down the tubes, especially because the bank had several years before the financial crisis and two years after the financial crisis to raise tons of capital and write its assets down to levels that could never be questioned by the market.
The fact that Bank of America did neither of those things has already cost me and other shareholders our shirts. It's also why we as a nation are having to waste our time worrying about Bank of America again (as if there weren't enough other more important things to worry about).
I hope Bank of America is right about its asset values. I hope the market is wrong about them. I hope Bank of America's stock recovers and recoups some value for us shareholders. I hope the government doesn't have to step in again to prevent Bank of America from going bust and taking the whole economy down with it.
But in the event that Bank of America's stock continues to collapse, I also have a plan for fixing the problem once and for all.
In case you're curious, here it is.
In the meantime, I'm going to finish my lunch and try to get over my shock and disbelief that a bank with $2.2 trillion of assets and 300,000 employees is actually issuing statements blaming its collapsing stock price on me.
Is this the Twilight Zone? [it's the Decision Zone. Which side are you on, Blodgett?-Costick67]
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bank-of-america-henry-blodget-2011-8#ixzz1VsTvZ19D
Monday 29 August 2011
Saturday 27 August 2011
centrally planned economy of US
Comrades!
ve hev 5-year plan, viss veakly updates.
as money becomes concentrated in the pockets of the oligarchs,
the economy is characterised by central planning. The government
helps the banks that in turn pay off politicians.
more later
PIIGS can hit the BRICs... up for money
checkitout:
Former IMF Director Witteveen Wants The BRICs To Bail Out The PIIGS
Simone Foxman | Aug. 23, 2011, 7:52 AM | 724 | 6
The International Monetary Fund -- and not the European Central Bank -- should provide the solution to the sovereign debt crisis, wrote former IMF managing director Hendrikus Johannes Witteveen in an editorial published in the Financial Times.
Witteveen argued that the creation of an IMF "debt facility" would permit the fund to provide large-scale temporary financing to heavily indebted countries by borrowing from nations who maintain larger central bank reserves -- in particular China, Japan, or the Middle East.
The former IMF director -- who faced the OPEC oil crisis during his tenure -- argued that this would provide a far bigger pot of financing with which to aid Italy and Spain than the ECB could amass because the fund is not limited to Europe alone.
He drew numerous parallels to the oil crisis in the 1970s.
"The original facilities were helpful because the IMF’s ability to borrow is constrained by its system of financing via quotas related to the size of different countries. So when in 1973 oil prices rose sharply, Opec countries suddenly had balance of payment surpluses far larger than their quota. The facility allowed the fund, which had only relatively small amounts of their currencies, to borrow more and use the funds for loans to countries where the oil price increase had caused deficits not easily financed by commercial banks."
Witteveen also implied that the IMF could hold nations to more stringent economic policies than the ECB.
"A final advantage would be to bring big countries such as Italy and Spain under IMF conditionality. The fund could then take over the work of the ECB, whose courageous buying of indebted countries’ bonds requires adequate fiscal policies. This is clearly more the task of the IMF than of the ECB. It would restore market confidence, so the financing can eventually be taken over again by the normal market mechanisms.
International action is now urgent to avert a vicious recessionary cycle, which many governments – bound by their debt problems – would be unable to counter, even becoming a recessionary force themselves."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/former-imf-director-imf-will-provide-solution-to-eu-debt-crisis-2011-8#ixzz1W4t1I5hr
Former IMF Director Witteveen Wants The BRICs To Bail Out The PIIGS
Simone Foxman | Aug. 23, 2011, 7:52 AM | 724 | 6
The International Monetary Fund -- and not the European Central Bank -- should provide the solution to the sovereign debt crisis, wrote former IMF managing director Hendrikus Johannes Witteveen in an editorial published in the Financial Times.
Witteveen argued that the creation of an IMF "debt facility" would permit the fund to provide large-scale temporary financing to heavily indebted countries by borrowing from nations who maintain larger central bank reserves -- in particular China, Japan, or the Middle East.
The former IMF director -- who faced the OPEC oil crisis during his tenure -- argued that this would provide a far bigger pot of financing with which to aid Italy and Spain than the ECB could amass because the fund is not limited to Europe alone.
He drew numerous parallels to the oil crisis in the 1970s.
"The original facilities were helpful because the IMF’s ability to borrow is constrained by its system of financing via quotas related to the size of different countries. So when in 1973 oil prices rose sharply, Opec countries suddenly had balance of payment surpluses far larger than their quota. The facility allowed the fund, which had only relatively small amounts of their currencies, to borrow more and use the funds for loans to countries where the oil price increase had caused deficits not easily financed by commercial banks."
Witteveen also implied that the IMF could hold nations to more stringent economic policies than the ECB.
"A final advantage would be to bring big countries such as Italy and Spain under IMF conditionality. The fund could then take over the work of the ECB, whose courageous buying of indebted countries’ bonds requires adequate fiscal policies. This is clearly more the task of the IMF than of the ECB. It would restore market confidence, so the financing can eventually be taken over again by the normal market mechanisms.
International action is now urgent to avert a vicious recessionary cycle, which many governments – bound by their debt problems – would be unable to counter, even becoming a recessionary force themselves."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/former-imf-director-imf-will-provide-solution-to-eu-debt-crisis-2011-8#ixzz1W4t1I5hr
double secret, stamp it, in the envelope, 11th-hour loan to Greek banks
they are just this _____ far from drowning.
this new secret loan was supposed to be like the emergency brake on a train.
...an extra lifeboat on a ship.
How far behind can the Greek government be? is this a tandem dive?
7000 leagues under the sea, in Davey Jones' locker.
checkitout:
Greece Activates Last-Ditch Liquidity Rescue Package To Preserve Its Financial System
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/25/2011 22:31 -0400
The biggest news of the day today was not that some old crony capitalist had doubled down yet more of his non-taxable wealth on a bet Bank of America would yet again be bailed out, or that Wall Street is about to be sumberged under 3 feet of water. No, the most notable event from today was what we commented on in our first post from 7 am, namely that: "If we crossed through some spacetime vortex that brought us back in time just two short months ago, to July of this year, today's confirmation that the second Greek bailout has now failed, following the Finnish finance minister's comments that the country will defy Germany and will not give in to demands to abandon its deal for Greek collateral, which in turn has sent the Greek 2 year bond bidless, its yield up 227 bps to an all time record 46.38%, would have been enough to send the futures and the EURUSD plunging." Well, a few hours later, we did get a plunge, even if it was not in the US, but in Germany, where the entire local market flash crashed upon realizing what we noted hours prior: that Greece is now pretty much done. Yet it turns out there was more: unwilling to admit defeat yet, Greece was forced to pull out the last rabbit hiding deep in the recesses of the hat. As the Telegraph reports, "In a move described as the "last stand for Greek banks", the embattled country's central bank activated Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) for the first time on Wednesday night." Such efficiency out of the Greeks for once- not a single Persian was harmed, or even needed, in this 21st century version of Thermopylae: the Greeks did it all on their own.
More: "Although it was done discreetly, news that Athens had opened the fund filtered out and was one of the factors that rattled markets across Europe. At one point Germany's Dax was down 4pc before it recovered. The ELA was designed under European rules to allow national central banks to provide liquidity for their own lenders when they run out of collateral of a quality that can be used to trade with the ECB. It is an obscure tool that is supposed to be temporary and one of the last resorts for indebted banks." So much for temporary: we are rather certain that the only time this last ditch measure is turned off is when Greeks resume paying each other in Drachmas again. The good news: Drachmas, which we hear are now trading on a When Issued basis with several banks, will be back in circulation very soon.
More:
Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe told The Telegraph: "The activation of the so-called ELA looks to be the last stand for Greek banks and suggests they are running alarmingly short of quality collateral usually used to obtain funding."
He added: "This kicks off another huge round of nearly worthless assets being shifted from the books of private banks onto books backed by taxpayers. Combined with the purchases of Spanish and Italian bonds, the already questionable balance sheet of the euro system is looking increasingly risky."
Athens' activation of the ELA will raise concerns that Greece will simply shift debt to Brussels.
By accepting a lower level of collateral the debt in the ELA is, in theory, supposed to be the responsibility of Greece. However, since the Greek state is surviving on eurozone bailouts and Greek banks are reliant on ECB funding, in practice the loans are backed by the eurozone. The terms of lending and other details are not disclosed publicly.
Mr Ruparel said: "Though the ELA is meant to be a temporary emergency solution, we know from Ireland, where the programme has been running for almost a year, that once banks get hooked on ELA they rarely get off it.
Just like Europe's short selling ban: the drastic measure at stock market controls was supposed to last 2 weeks; it has now been extended for months in places. Another thing we are confident is that by the time all is said and done, any selling will be made illegal.
First in Europe and then in the US.
this new secret loan was supposed to be like the emergency brake on a train.
...an extra lifeboat on a ship.
How far behind can the Greek government be? is this a tandem dive?
7000 leagues under the sea, in Davey Jones' locker.
checkitout:
Greece Activates Last-Ditch Liquidity Rescue Package To Preserve Its Financial System
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/25/2011 22:31 -0400
The biggest news of the day today was not that some old crony capitalist had doubled down yet more of his non-taxable wealth on a bet Bank of America would yet again be bailed out, or that Wall Street is about to be sumberged under 3 feet of water. No, the most notable event from today was what we commented on in our first post from 7 am, namely that: "If we crossed through some spacetime vortex that brought us back in time just two short months ago, to July of this year, today's confirmation that the second Greek bailout has now failed, following the Finnish finance minister's comments that the country will defy Germany and will not give in to demands to abandon its deal for Greek collateral, which in turn has sent the Greek 2 year bond bidless, its yield up 227 bps to an all time record 46.38%, would have been enough to send the futures and the EURUSD plunging." Well, a few hours later, we did get a plunge, even if it was not in the US, but in Germany, where the entire local market flash crashed upon realizing what we noted hours prior: that Greece is now pretty much done. Yet it turns out there was more: unwilling to admit defeat yet, Greece was forced to pull out the last rabbit hiding deep in the recesses of the hat. As the Telegraph reports, "In a move described as the "last stand for Greek banks", the embattled country's central bank activated Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) for the first time on Wednesday night." Such efficiency out of the Greeks for once- not a single Persian was harmed, or even needed, in this 21st century version of Thermopylae: the Greeks did it all on their own.
More: "Although it was done discreetly, news that Athens had opened the fund filtered out and was one of the factors that rattled markets across Europe. At one point Germany's Dax was down 4pc before it recovered. The ELA was designed under European rules to allow national central banks to provide liquidity for their own lenders when they run out of collateral of a quality that can be used to trade with the ECB. It is an obscure tool that is supposed to be temporary and one of the last resorts for indebted banks." So much for temporary: we are rather certain that the only time this last ditch measure is turned off is when Greeks resume paying each other in Drachmas again. The good news: Drachmas, which we hear are now trading on a When Issued basis with several banks, will be back in circulation very soon.
More:
Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe told The Telegraph: "The activation of the so-called ELA looks to be the last stand for Greek banks and suggests they are running alarmingly short of quality collateral usually used to obtain funding."
He added: "This kicks off another huge round of nearly worthless assets being shifted from the books of private banks onto books backed by taxpayers. Combined with the purchases of Spanish and Italian bonds, the already questionable balance sheet of the euro system is looking increasingly risky."
Athens' activation of the ELA will raise concerns that Greece will simply shift debt to Brussels.
By accepting a lower level of collateral the debt in the ELA is, in theory, supposed to be the responsibility of Greece. However, since the Greek state is surviving on eurozone bailouts and Greek banks are reliant on ECB funding, in practice the loans are backed by the eurozone. The terms of lending and other details are not disclosed publicly.
Mr Ruparel said: "Though the ELA is meant to be a temporary emergency solution, we know from Ireland, where the programme has been running for almost a year, that once banks get hooked on ELA they rarely get off it.
Just like Europe's short selling ban: the drastic measure at stock market controls was supposed to last 2 weeks; it has now been extended for months in places. Another thing we are confident is that by the time all is said and done, any selling will be made illegal.
First in Europe and then in the US.
Friday 26 August 2011
UPDATE: Humans can cause earthquakes
Right on! We're right up there with the gods of Olympus in rocking the planet
that we live on, for now.
Unfortunately, if we F%^&&*k it all up, we don't have the means to get to the next
habitable planet, but that may be a job for NASA.
We can seed clouds, and we can put fish genes in a tomato.
more later
checkitout: from The Big Picture
Human Activity Can Cause Earthquakes
By Washingtons Blog - August 25th, 2011, 5:44AM
It’s Official: Human Activity Can Cause Earthquakes
Human Activity Is Officially Acknowledged to Cause Earthquakes
The United States Geological Survey is America’s official expert on earthquakes. It’s the Federal agency charged with monitoring, reporting on, researching and stressing preparedness for earthquakes.
So I was surprised to read the following statement by the USGS:
Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations in the United States, Japan, and Canada. The cause was injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the use of reservoirs for water supplies. Most of these earthquakes were minor. The largest and most widely known resulted from fluid injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. In 1967, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 followed a series of smaller earthquakes. Injection had been discontinued at the site in the previous year once the link between the fluid injection and the earlier series of earthquakes was established. (Nicholson, Craig and Wesson, R.L., 1990, Earthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection–A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1951, 74 p.)
Injection Wells Can Induce Earthquakes
The New York Times noted in February:
Researchers with the Arkansas Geological Survey say that while there is no discernible link between earthquakes and gas production, there is “strong temporal and spatial” evidence for a relationship between these quakes and the injection wells.
For decades, scientists have been researching induced seismicity, or how human activity can cause earthquakes. Such a link gained attention in the early 1960s, when hundreds of quakes were recorded in Colorado a few years after the Army began injecting fluid into a disposal well near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory points out:
Induced seismicity [i.e. earthquakes] in oil and gas production has been observed ever since the 1930s, i.e., ever since large scale extraction of fluids occurred. The most famous early instance was in Wilmington, California, where the oil production triggered a series of damaging earthquakes. In this instance the cause of the seismicity was traced to subsidence due to rapid extraction of oil without replacement of fluids.
In the last decade a number of examples on earthquake activity related to oil and gas production as well as injection of liquids under high pressure have been observed, although not with as serious consequences as for Wilmington. Almost all induced seismicity associated with petroleum extraction can be traced to either fluid injection or extraction. In some recent cases injection of produced water (excess water extracted during oil and gas extraction) has produce significant seismic activity. Examples are in Colorado and Texas where gas and oil production yield large volumes of water that must be put back underground. In some cases the water cannot be put back exactly where it was produced and over pressurization of the water causes induced seismicity.
Lawrence Berkeley Lab provides details:
Fluid pressures play a key role in causing seismicity. Explained in simple terms, fluids can play a major role in controlling the pressures that are acting on the faults. The fluid pressure in the pores and fractures of the rocks is called the pore pressure.
Injecting fluids into the subsurface is one way of increasing the pore pressure and thus allowing the faults and fractures to “fail” more easily, thus inducing an earthquake.
That is why in many cases induced seismicity is caused by injecting fluid into the subsurface or by extracting fluids at a rate that causes subsidence and/or slippage along planes of weakness in the earth. Figure 2 is an example of induced seismicity being caused by water injection. Figure 2 is a cross section of the earth showing the location of the earthquakes (green dots), the locations of injection wells (thick blue lines) and production wells (thin lines, these wells extract fluid). Note the large number of events associated with the injection wells.....
that we live on, for now.
Unfortunately, if we F%^&&*k it all up, we don't have the means to get to the next
habitable planet, but that may be a job for NASA.
We can seed clouds, and we can put fish genes in a tomato.
more later
checkitout: from The Big Picture
Human Activity Can Cause Earthquakes
By Washingtons Blog - August 25th, 2011, 5:44AM
It’s Official: Human Activity Can Cause Earthquakes
Human Activity Is Officially Acknowledged to Cause Earthquakes
The United States Geological Survey is America’s official expert on earthquakes. It’s the Federal agency charged with monitoring, reporting on, researching and stressing preparedness for earthquakes.
So I was surprised to read the following statement by the USGS:
Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations in the United States, Japan, and Canada. The cause was injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the use of reservoirs for water supplies. Most of these earthquakes were minor. The largest and most widely known resulted from fluid injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. In 1967, an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 followed a series of smaller earthquakes. Injection had been discontinued at the site in the previous year once the link between the fluid injection and the earlier series of earthquakes was established. (Nicholson, Craig and Wesson, R.L., 1990, Earthquake Hazard Associated with Deep Well Injection–A Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1951, 74 p.)
Injection Wells Can Induce Earthquakes
The New York Times noted in February:
Researchers with the Arkansas Geological Survey say that while there is no discernible link between earthquakes and gas production, there is “strong temporal and spatial” evidence for a relationship between these quakes and the injection wells.
For decades, scientists have been researching induced seismicity, or how human activity can cause earthquakes. Such a link gained attention in the early 1960s, when hundreds of quakes were recorded in Colorado a few years after the Army began injecting fluid into a disposal well near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory points out:
Induced seismicity [i.e. earthquakes] in oil and gas production has been observed ever since the 1930s, i.e., ever since large scale extraction of fluids occurred. The most famous early instance was in Wilmington, California, where the oil production triggered a series of damaging earthquakes. In this instance the cause of the seismicity was traced to subsidence due to rapid extraction of oil without replacement of fluids.
In the last decade a number of examples on earthquake activity related to oil and gas production as well as injection of liquids under high pressure have been observed, although not with as serious consequences as for Wilmington. Almost all induced seismicity associated with petroleum extraction can be traced to either fluid injection or extraction. In some recent cases injection of produced water (excess water extracted during oil and gas extraction) has produce significant seismic activity. Examples are in Colorado and Texas where gas and oil production yield large volumes of water that must be put back underground. In some cases the water cannot be put back exactly where it was produced and over pressurization of the water causes induced seismicity.
Lawrence Berkeley Lab provides details:
Fluid pressures play a key role in causing seismicity. Explained in simple terms, fluids can play a major role in controlling the pressures that are acting on the faults. The fluid pressure in the pores and fractures of the rocks is called the pore pressure.
Injecting fluids into the subsurface is one way of increasing the pore pressure and thus allowing the faults and fractures to “fail” more easily, thus inducing an earthquake.
That is why in many cases induced seismicity is caused by injecting fluid into the subsurface or by extracting fluids at a rate that causes subsidence and/or slippage along planes of weakness in the earth. Figure 2 is an example of induced seismicity being caused by water injection. Figure 2 is a cross section of the earth showing the location of the earthquakes (green dots), the locations of injection wells (thick blue lines) and production wells (thin lines, these wells extract fluid). Note the large number of events associated with the injection wells.....
Thursday 25 August 2011
bankers must eat their peas and then their broccoli
Now, the US government is trying to regularise the medicine for the bankers
because actual justice is not really feasible.
So, there will be periodic deals to fine banks for their rampant fraud at
an agreeably low rate. It's a cost of doing business.
Eat your peas!
Next, comes your broccoli
more later
because actual justice is not really feasible.
So, there will be periodic deals to fine banks for their rampant fraud at
an agreeably low rate. It's a cost of doing business.
Eat your peas!
Next, comes your broccoli
more later
strong industrial growth depends on slave labour
The low cost of labour helped the newly-industrialised West to grow
in leaps and bounds. The money made in the colonies from slave trading
and the farm produce that those slaves produced, created the wealth
that was turned into improvements in engineering, science and
industry.
We see the results around us. The huge buildings in London were all
built on the backs of slaves.
Nowadays we have the wage slaves. The minimum wage dead-end job where
people can barely afford to keep the rain off their heads and clothe and feed
themselves is a situation where no personal growth is available.
The rest of us, if we are indebted to bankers for our car and house and
other credit card purchases, we are indeed working for the bankers as
well as our bosses and again, little growth is possible.
So, these are examples which show that with stagnant wages and inflation
how workers are becoming slaves and thus allowing for great growth. Only
now, we don't have industry, we have bankers and rich folk stashing money
away.
If they stashed it within the confines of those same Western countries, then
that money would circulate. However, the bankers and other oligarchs are
stashing their mone in offshore hide-aways, so the money is vacuumed
out of the economy. Those people have so much money and access to
cheap government credit that they are causing commodity prices (fuel, food)
to skyrocket whenever the cycle comes up for that kind of lucre.
in leaps and bounds. The money made in the colonies from slave trading
and the farm produce that those slaves produced, created the wealth
that was turned into improvements in engineering, science and
industry.
We see the results around us. The huge buildings in London were all
built on the backs of slaves.
Nowadays we have the wage slaves. The minimum wage dead-end job where
people can barely afford to keep the rain off their heads and clothe and feed
themselves is a situation where no personal growth is available.
The rest of us, if we are indebted to bankers for our car and house and
other credit card purchases, we are indeed working for the bankers as
well as our bosses and again, little growth is possible.
So, these are examples which show that with stagnant wages and inflation
how workers are becoming slaves and thus allowing for great growth. Only
now, we don't have industry, we have bankers and rich folk stashing money
away.
If they stashed it within the confines of those same Western countries, then
that money would circulate. However, the bankers and other oligarchs are
stashing their mone in offshore hide-aways, so the money is vacuumed
out of the economy. Those people have so much money and access to
cheap government credit that they are causing commodity prices (fuel, food)
to skyrocket whenever the cycle comes up for that kind of lucre.
Wednesday 24 August 2011
is it a plan or just a bunch of tactics?
Excellent debate going on:
There are two somewhat opposing opinions on the reason for the methods of
market manipulation and fraud that is rife around the world.
Some say that it is the tactics of a bunch of bankers who have infiltrated the
governments of the major players. This is the bad apple theory.
Others say that the governments have been planning this and that there is
a plan to rob and steal, for its own sake. This is the mafia oligarchy option.
Catherine Austin Fitts (from 12:00 onwards). "It’s not a crisis , it’s a plan"
I agree with her, that the concept of a crisis is used to scare us, and that oligarchs PLAN to rob us, but it's just a piss-poor plan because it's unravelling. I'm most proud to have been reading the alt media which has shown me just why these plans are failing. There is some hope that human nature and the laws of physics and natural law will prevail at some point. But, just in case, everybody has to hunker down and don't feed the beast (i.e. EXIT the FIRE economy).
So, I think the oligarchs are leaping from one tactic to another, hoping to save their skins, and it's not working, but they've got so many levers to pull, nobody knows when it will finally come crashing down.
more soon
There are two somewhat opposing opinions on the reason for the methods of
market manipulation and fraud that is rife around the world.
Some say that it is the tactics of a bunch of bankers who have infiltrated the
governments of the major players. This is the bad apple theory.
Others say that the governments have been planning this and that there is
a plan to rob and steal, for its own sake. This is the mafia oligarchy option.
Catherine Austin Fitts (from 12:00 onwards). "It’s not a crisis , it’s a plan"
I agree with her, that the concept of a crisis is used to scare us, and that oligarchs PLAN to rob us, but it's just a piss-poor plan because it's unravelling. I'm most proud to have been reading the alt media which has shown me just why these plans are failing. There is some hope that human nature and the laws of physics and natural law will prevail at some point. But, just in case, everybody has to hunker down and don't feed the beast (i.e. EXIT the FIRE economy).
So, I think the oligarchs are leaping from one tactic to another, hoping to save their skins, and it's not working, but they've got so many levers to pull, nobody knows when it will finally come crashing down.
more soon
Tuesday 23 August 2011
University of the Net
Economics 101
Lesson 1 Markets:
First Task:
watch this video, from 2009. Some prophecies from Max Keiser
about social unrest caused by economic malfeasance.
Have a Keiser Christmas
Let the lesson begin
Outline:
1-Our economies are now artificial (@ 4:40)
2-The cycle of economic life is: (@5:20 )
work, save, capital, investment, democracy, social cohesion
and not speculation
3-economics has meaning to lives. Don’t leave it to professionals. (@8:00)
Lesson 1 Markets:
First Task:
watch this video, from 2009. Some prophecies from Max Keiser
about social unrest caused by economic malfeasance.
Have a Keiser Christmas
Let the lesson begin
Outline:
1-Our economies are now artificial (@ 4:40)
2-The cycle of economic life is: (@5:20 )
work, save, capital, investment, democracy, social cohesion
and not speculation
3-economics has meaning to lives. Don’t leave it to professionals. (@8:00)
counter-offer to Germany
I hear that Germany wants to take over fiscal control of the Eurozone.
In other words, they will tell every country that owes it money,
to do this and sell that.
I say, okay, but on one condition:
They will have to put the screws to the big bankrupt banks. They will string
them along for 6 months, like they did to Greece, feeding them just enough
to stay alive. Meanwhile, they should check the banks' books and find a way
to pull the plug on them, one by one.
Germany will nationalise Douche-bank and Communizt, while France
nationalises Soc-drawer Generale and Big No Pay Paris-baise'.
You're going to benefit from this because you will have committed fraud, for
everybody's benefit. You will take out CDSs on all those banks and cash in.
But, if you move too quickly, the CDSs will not pay off because the guaranteeing
banks will also fold.
So, you get insurance, and then you kill the banks. Simple fraud. Everybody's doing it.
The bondholders will get no warning of their complete fleecing. It's our secret.
If you screw those banks then I'll know that you mean business, and you can
lead the Eurozone. Otherwise, you'll be holding an empty bag if you take
over while the currency is going over a cliff. The big push will come from the banks.
So, what will it be, Deutschland? Lead or be led?
Worried about out of work bankers? Esther Addley solves this
with her story on openings in Pirate consultancy:
@Guardian
Unhappy in your work? Find yourself sporting oversized gold earrings/exotic birdlife on your shoulder and speaking in a comically inauthentic West Country accent? You need the EUNAVFOR Operation Headquarters, or rather, they need you. For the EU's naval force (Somalia), we are excited to learn, seeks a "pirate cultural adviser". The successful candidate will offer "pirate cultural and religious advice" to the operation commander (OpCdr), and advise on "pirate culture, business model and modus operandi". Irritatingly, it seems they must also be "military or ex-military", thus ruling out a three-year-old we know who would otherwise be perfect for the role. We know piracy is a hugely serious crime, the scourge of the Indian Ocean, and no longer involving pieces of eight or any other number. But couldn't we come up with a new name for it that's a bit less, well, arrrrrrr?
.....
Pirates of the Futures Markets are just as handy on the high seas.
In other words, they will tell every country that owes it money,
to do this and sell that.
I say, okay, but on one condition:
They will have to put the screws to the big bankrupt banks. They will string
them along for 6 months, like they did to Greece, feeding them just enough
to stay alive. Meanwhile, they should check the banks' books and find a way
to pull the plug on them, one by one.
Germany will nationalise Douche-bank and Communizt, while France
nationalises Soc-drawer Generale and Big No Pay Paris-baise'.
You're going to benefit from this because you will have committed fraud, for
everybody's benefit. You will take out CDSs on all those banks and cash in.
But, if you move too quickly, the CDSs will not pay off because the guaranteeing
banks will also fold.
So, you get insurance, and then you kill the banks. Simple fraud. Everybody's doing it.
The bondholders will get no warning of their complete fleecing. It's our secret.
If you screw those banks then I'll know that you mean business, and you can
lead the Eurozone. Otherwise, you'll be holding an empty bag if you take
over while the currency is going over a cliff. The big push will come from the banks.
So, what will it be, Deutschland? Lead or be led?
Worried about out of work bankers? Esther Addley solves this
with her story on openings in Pirate consultancy:
@Guardian
Unhappy in your work? Find yourself sporting oversized gold earrings/exotic birdlife on your shoulder and speaking in a comically inauthentic West Country accent? You need the EUNAVFOR Operation Headquarters, or rather, they need you. For the EU's naval force (Somalia), we are excited to learn, seeks a "pirate cultural adviser". The successful candidate will offer "pirate cultural and religious advice" to the operation commander (OpCdr), and advise on "pirate culture, business model and modus operandi". Irritatingly, it seems they must also be "military or ex-military", thus ruling out a three-year-old we know who would otherwise be perfect for the role. We know piracy is a hugely serious crime, the scourge of the Indian Ocean, and no longer involving pieces of eight or any other number. But couldn't we come up with a new name for it that's a bit less, well, arrrrrrr?
.....
Pirates of the Futures Markets are just as handy on the high seas.
Monday 22 August 2011
Chavez is pulling his Au, let's nuke Kaddafi
Pentag: Let's mop up this Libya thing. We've got a new job in Venezuela. We just discovered that their median calorie intake is over 4000/day. They're wasting resources. Send in NATO.
Any excuse to attack their enemy. Even among the Zerohedge readers, the elected
leader of Venezuela (whom the US tried to overthrow) is a dictator (Jon Stewart, as well).
I'm beginning to think they've used brainwashing on everybody, over there!
My guess is that it's in the Corn Flakes.
Anyway, Hugo Chavez is playing the erstwhile champion of the people
by destroying the gold ponzi in London.
So, his choice to move his country's gold assets, which is the owner's right,
is going to destablise markets, and as Timmie Geithner said, "our banks ain't losing a dime."
Ergo, the aircraft carriers are on a path to the Carib, I'm sure.
checkitout: GATA (i wish I'd had 800 bucks to go to their London show)
King World News today broadcasts a fantastic 10-minute interview with Hinde Capital CEO Ben Davies, who spoke at GATA's Gold Rush 2011 conference in London this month. Davies says Venezuela's plan to withdraw its gold deposits from the Bank of England and several bullion banks is "the game changer" in the gold market, exposing the fractional-reserve gold banking system and likely hastening the stampede from "unallocated" gold to "allocated" gold. Gold's explosion in price amid Venezuela's withdrawal of gold is also, Davies says, vindication for GATA, as "this is everything they've been talking about."
It might be added that not only is the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, likely destroying the fractional-reserve gold banking system and blowing up the imaginary "paper gold" it has created, causing a short squeeze. With nationalization Chavez is also destroying the gold-mining industry in his own gold-rich country, thereby doubly constricting world gold supply.
Chavez might not be doing much for Venezuela, but even his hero, the South American revolutionary patriot Simon Bolivar, couldn't have struck such blows
You can listen to the interview with Davies at the King World News Internet site here:
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2011/8/20_B...
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Any excuse to attack their enemy. Even among the Zerohedge readers, the elected
leader of Venezuela (whom the US tried to overthrow) is a dictator (Jon Stewart, as well).
I'm beginning to think they've used brainwashing on everybody, over there!
My guess is that it's in the Corn Flakes.
Anyway, Hugo Chavez is playing the erstwhile champion of the people
by destroying the gold ponzi in London.
We're gonna make him into a saint.
So, his choice to move his country's gold assets, which is the owner's right,
is going to destablise markets, and as Timmie Geithner said, "our banks ain't losing a dime."
Ergo, the aircraft carriers are on a path to the Carib, I'm sure.
checkitout: GATA (i wish I'd had 800 bucks to go to their London show)
King World News today broadcasts a fantastic 10-minute interview with Hinde Capital CEO Ben Davies, who spoke at GATA's Gold Rush 2011 conference in London this month. Davies says Venezuela's plan to withdraw its gold deposits from the Bank of England and several bullion banks is "the game changer" in the gold market, exposing the fractional-reserve gold banking system and likely hastening the stampede from "unallocated" gold to "allocated" gold. Gold's explosion in price amid Venezuela's withdrawal of gold is also, Davies says, vindication for GATA, as "this is everything they've been talking about."
It might be added that not only is the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, likely destroying the fractional-reserve gold banking system and blowing up the imaginary "paper gold" it has created, causing a short squeeze. With nationalization Chavez is also destroying the gold-mining industry in his own gold-rich country, thereby doubly constricting world gold supply.
Chavez might not be doing much for Venezuela, but even his hero, the South American revolutionary patriot Simon Bolivar, couldn't have struck such blows
for the liberation of the rest of the world.
You can listen to the interview with Davies at the King World News Internet site here:
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2011/8/20_B...
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
if you have a Politics or Economics degree, say shiboleth
Politics is about money. No theories or detentes. Just cash and mineral deposits.
Economics is a self-agrandising exercise for the oligarch. A stamp of approval
from the ivory tower. And they paid richly for it.
Economists don't come cheap.
For students of these subjects, you need to recite the mantras of your tutors
even though you know that they are bullshit.
In fact, you likely haven't realised the full damage such half-truths can do, because
all you can think of is a career on the Hill, or in the tower, or the City
making filthy lucre. Screw everybody else, right?
more soon
Economics is a self-agrandising exercise for the oligarch. A stamp of approval
from the ivory tower. And they paid richly for it.
Economists don't come cheap.
For students of these subjects, you need to recite the mantras of your tutors
even though you know that they are bullshit.
In fact, you likely haven't realised the full damage such half-truths can do, because
all you can think of is a career on the Hill, or in the tower, or the City
making filthy lucre. Screw everybody else, right?
more soon
why do conspiracy theorists have long memories?
because it takes a good 50 years for the top secret proof of conspiratorial
knifings to be revealed. Meanwhile, any and all witnesses and journalists
who dare to say a word are killed off.
Lesson number 1: UN Gen Sec.s should shut up and do what the US tells them.
proof 1: failure to communicate
UN General Secretary Dag Hammerskjold was assassinated (it is conjectured)
by the US or UK. He tried to negotiate an end to a Congo war that the UK and US
were promoting in order to benefit from the chaos, thereby getting their hands
on Congo's resources.
proof 2: that's a good doggie
UN Gen Sec Annan and the Annan Plan
It's well known that at the start of the negotiations, US Sec of State Colon Powell
called up Annan and told him to watch out for Turkey's interests, which is what
the Annan plan did.
checkitout:
Thenewathenian.com
Then there is the unfortunate timing of Bush's war in Iraq and his war against fundamentalist Islam, for which he needs Turkish support. Colin Powell's telephone call to Kofi Annan at the start of talks in Buergenstock, asking him to look out for the interests of Turkey, was the height of diplomatic indiscretion.
a bit of threatening language [it just breaks your heart @sarc]
"There is no Plan B," said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week. Far from getting another "bite at the cherry," as one U.N. official puts it, Greek Cypriots may be facing de facto permanent partition of their island, barring them from one of the most fertile and picturesque parts of their beloved homeland.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,612300,00.html#ixzz1VtridSUB
knifings to be revealed. Meanwhile, any and all witnesses and journalists
who dare to say a word are killed off.
Lesson number 1: UN Gen Sec.s should shut up and do what the US tells them.
proof 1: failure to communicate
UN General Secretary Dag Hammerskjold was assassinated (it is conjectured)
by the US or UK. He tried to negotiate an end to a Congo war that the UK and US
were promoting in order to benefit from the chaos, thereby getting their hands
on Congo's resources.
proof 2: that's a good doggie
UN Gen Sec Annan and the Annan Plan
to make a Ghana (or Congo)
out of Cyprus
and Annan is still alive.
It's well known that at the start of the negotiations, US Sec of State Colon Powell
called up Annan and told him to watch out for Turkey's interests, which is what
the Annan plan did.
checkitout:
Thenewathenian.com
Then there is the unfortunate timing of Bush's war in Iraq and his war against fundamentalist Islam, for which he needs Turkish support. Colin Powell's telephone call to Kofi Annan at the start of talks in Buergenstock, asking him to look out for the interests of Turkey, was the height of diplomatic indiscretion.
a bit of threatening language [it just breaks your heart @sarc]
"There is no Plan B," said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week. Far from getting another "bite at the cherry," as one U.N. official puts it, Greek Cypriots may be facing de facto permanent partition of their island, barring them from one of the most fertile and picturesque parts of their beloved homeland.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,612300,00.html#ixzz1VtridSUB
Stop worrying about your image. You're a footie player
The Times reported that Wayne Rooney is not paying much tax.
2% on some part of his rather massive income (I'm gonna vom).
Nobody said he was breaking the law. He's just got good accountants.
That's capitalism. If you're rich, the world is your concubine.
So, the Rune complained to the press watchdog.
Look, Wayne. Nobody cares. The footie fans wouldn't read those pages,
even if they could read. They won't mind anyway, as long as you score.
The rest of us think you're all overpaid meatheads, so, no loss.
If he was so worried about his image, he should have stopped using
restaurant coupons. I read a northern paper a couple of years ago (and wrote a story)
about how Wayner and the Wife went to
2% on some part of his rather massive income (I'm gonna vom).
Nobody said he was breaking the law. He's just got good accountants.
That's capitalism. If you're rich, the world is your concubine.
So, the Rune complained to the press watchdog.
Look, Wayne. Nobody cares. The footie fans wouldn't read those pages,
even if they could read. They won't mind anyway, as long as you score.
The rest of us think you're all overpaid meatheads, so, no loss.
If he was so worried about his image, he should have stopped using
restaurant coupons. I read a northern paper a couple of years ago (and wrote a story)
about how Wayner and the Wife went to
that culinary hotbed
(lots of Michelins in the front yard)
suburban Chorley,
suburban Chorley,
coupon in hand,
to a struggling restaurant (only struggling shops send coupons)
to claim a discounted dinner.
"Fookin' 'ell, I'm cheap."
"Fookin' 'ell, I'm cheap."
"The chippie was closed by the health squad, otherwise..."
Sunday 21 August 2011
when Queenie says prosecute, you prosecute
UK Uncut is such a successful protest group that they had
to run into the cops one day. They took on the Queen's
grocer, and now they're in front of the judge on trumped up
charges.
The Met police will also use their heavy-weight officers, leaving
the city vulnerable to another riot.
You gotta have your priorities.
checkitout:
UK Uncut activists plead not guilty to Fortnum & Mason charges
Seventeen anti-tax avoidance activists singled out by CPS for prosecution deny aggravated trespass during March protest
* Shiv Malik
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 August 2011 19.17 BST
Seventeen anti-tax avoidance activists have been singled out for prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service for allegedly attempting to promote their cause with leaflets and banners during a protest at Fortnum & Mason, London, in March.
Explaining to the court why the group had been selected for prosecution, Short said: "This group were in possession of materials [which] enhance the aggravating factors". Describing the materials as "banners, cordon tape, and leaflets", Short added that the CPS believed a number of defendants had "leaflets in bundles or piles on their possession on arrest".
Short told district judge Michael Snow that the Crown believed this signalled their "intention to promote their cause".[sounds like democracy]
Defence solicitors also revealed that they had notified the court that abuse process proceedings had been launched involving promises made by chief inspector Claire Clark. They will allege that the senior officer made false promises to protesters when she told them that they would be free to leave Fortnum and Mason, despite knowing that they would all be arrested as soon as they stepped outside.
The court confirmed that six senior officers from the Metropolitan police would be called to testify. Snow had previously warned that the trials could leave the Met "headless" for weeks.
to run into the cops one day. They took on the Queen's
grocer, and now they're in front of the judge on trumped up
charges.
The Met police will also use their heavy-weight officers, leaving
the city vulnerable to another riot.
You gotta have your priorities.
checkitout:
UK Uncut activists plead not guilty to Fortnum & Mason charges
Seventeen anti-tax avoidance activists singled out by CPS for prosecution deny aggravated trespass during March protest
* Shiv Malik
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 August 2011 19.17 BST
Seventeen anti-tax avoidance activists have been singled out for prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service for allegedly attempting to promote their cause with leaflets and banners during a protest at Fortnum & Mason, London, in March.
Explaining to the court why the group had been selected for prosecution, Short said: "This group were in possession of materials [which] enhance the aggravating factors". Describing the materials as "banners, cordon tape, and leaflets", Short added that the CPS believed a number of defendants had "leaflets in bundles or piles on their possession on arrest".
Short told district judge Michael Snow that the Crown believed this signalled their "intention to promote their cause".[sounds like democracy]
Defence solicitors also revealed that they had notified the court that abuse process proceedings had been launched involving promises made by chief inspector Claire Clark. They will allege that the senior officer made false promises to protesters when she told them that they would be free to leave Fortnum and Mason, despite knowing that they would all be arrested as soon as they stepped outside.
The court confirmed that six senior officers from the Metropolitan police would be called to testify. Snow had previously warned that the trials could leave the Met "headless" for weeks.
face transplant helps banker infiltrate government
Well, it might not have been a face change, but he did change his haircut
and his surname. He's now Cher. Actually, he did this and he didn't have
to break in, like Watergate. The man, Issa, who was in charge of a Congressional
financial watchdog, was likeminded, and hired him.
Cher Haller/Simonyi changed his name to fool everybody else into thinking that he was
not a former (it coulda been worse) Goldman's exec lobbying Congress
in favour of a light touch on Goldman itself.
His excuse? He wanted to honour his Transylvanian heritage.
I've often thought of honouring my Cayman's heritage,
Hey, do it the old fashioned way.
Wait a minute:
Transylvanian? Maybe he's the reincarnation of Vlad Dracul, the Impaler?
He is a banker, and bankers are vampire squid. That's it!
[ode to vein draining]
checkitout:
Think progress
Exclusive: Goldman Sachs VP Changed His Name, Now Advances Goldman Lobbying Interests As Top Staffer To Darrell Issa
By Lee Fang on Aug 18, 2011 at 3:21 am
Peter Haller, also known as Peter Simonyi, a former Goldman Sachs VP now working for Chairman Issa to block regulations on Goldman Sachs
Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then later went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line.[his record got him in, but he knew most would not see the conflict of interest, or would keep quiet about it.][severe cut in pay ]
In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee.
Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs.”
Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 shortly after leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm.
It’s not the first time Haller has worked the revolving door to help out Goldman Sachs. According to a report by the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, Haller — then known as Peter Simonyi — left the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 to work for Goldman Sachs, then quickly began lobbying his colleagues at the SEC on behalf of his new firm. At one point, Haller was requiring to issue a letter to the SEC stating that he did not violate ethics rules and the SEC agreed. A brief timeline of Haller’s work history underscores the ethical issues raised with Issa’s latest letter to bank regulators:
– After completing his law degree in 2000, Haller was employed by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an economist, and later with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Office of Enforcement.
– In April of 2005, Haller resigned from the SEC to take a job with Goldman Sachs. Although he was not a registered lobbyist, he soon began lobbying the SEC on compliance issues on behalf of Goldman Sachs.
– In 2006, Haller left Goldman Sachs, according to a Goldman official who spoke to ThinkProgress.
– In 2008, he took a job with the law/lobbying firm Brickfield Burchette Ritts & Stone.
– In January of 2011, Haller was hired to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee. Under the supervision of Haller, Issa sent a letter dated July 22, 2011 to bank regulators (including the heads of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, FCA, CFTC, FHFA, and Office of Comptroller) demanding documents to justify new Dodd-Frank mandated rules on margin requirements for banks dealing in the multi-trillion dollar OTC derivatives market, like Goldman Sachs.
When he took over the chairmanship of the Oversight Committee this year, Issa dramatically shifted the committee’s focus away from its traditional role of investigating major corporate scandals. Instead, Issa has used the committee to merge the responsibilities of Congress with the interests of K Street and Issa’s own fortune.
In June of this year, ThinkProgress broke the story about Issa’s own complicated relationship with Goldman Sachs. We revealed that Issa purchased a large amount of Goldman Sachs high yield bonds at the same time as he used the Oversight Committee to attack an investigation into allegations that Goldman Sachs had systematically defrauded investors leading up to the financial crisis. This conflict of interest, along with our exclusive story about Issa’s earmarks benefitting his own real estate empire, received coverage in a recent piece by the New York Times.
We also broke a story last month revealing other revolving door conflicts within Issa’s staff. Peter Warren, Issa’s new policy director, maintains some type of financial contract with a student loan lobbying group he led last year, and received a bonus from the lobbying group before leaving to work for Issa. Since joining Issa’s staff, Warren and his colleagues have fought to weaken the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new agency charged with overseeing student loans.
The new revelations about Peter Haller, however, raise even more significant ethical concerns than Peter Warren and other ex-lobbyists working for Issa. Why did Issa hire a high-level Goldman Sachs executive to work on stopping regulations on banks like Goldman Sachs? Haller’s direct involvement in the July letter brings Issa’s ability to lead the Oversight Committee — charged with conducting investigations on behalf of the public interest — into serious doubt.
Update
We have contacted the House Oversight Committee and Mr. Peter Haller. We are waiting for their response.
Update
An official with Goldman Sachs tells ThinkProgress that Peter’s “legal name” was “Peter Haller” during his time with the investment back. However, an official Goldman Sachs letter sent to bank regulators in 2006 shows Peter’s name as “Peter Simonyi.” Additionally, Goldman says that Peter left the bank in 2006. But Peter’s bio on his law firm website indicates that he did not change his legal name until 2008.
Update
Haller tells TPM that he changed his name after his employment at Goldman Sachs to honor his Translyvanian heritage. In his comment, he did not dispute that he worked on Issa’s letter to bank regulators.
Update
The Project on Government Oversight has identified three more letters from Issa’s office bearing Peter Haller’s name, including one that specifically references Goldman. “If Haller’s name change had not been discovered, would anyone have been able to piece together his history?” POGO asks.
Update
Despite the Issa office’s furious efforts to pushback on our story and obfuscate our key findings, the story remains factually true. See our explanation here.
and his surname. He's now Cher. Actually, he did this and he didn't have
to break in, like Watergate. The man, Issa, who was in charge of a Congressional
financial watchdog, was likeminded, and hired him.
Cher Haller/Simonyi changed his name to fool everybody else into thinking that he was
not a former (it coulda been worse) Goldman's exec lobbying Congress
in favour of a light touch on Goldman itself.
His excuse? He wanted to honour his Transylvanian heritage.
I've often thought of honouring my Cayman's heritage,
re-naming myself Offshore and walking away with billions,
and concurrently insulting my whole extended family.
Hey, do it the old fashioned way.
Get married to a guy and then change your name,
that is, if you're the "woman" of the house.
[How many speeds on this tranny's gearbox? rights@ Tim Curry]
that is, if you're the "woman" of the house.
[How many speeds on this tranny's gearbox? rights@ Tim Curry]
Wait a minute:
Transylvanian? Maybe he's the reincarnation of Vlad Dracul, the Impaler?
He is a banker, and bankers are vampire squid. That's it!
[ode to vein draining]
checkitout:
Think progress
Exclusive: Goldman Sachs VP Changed His Name, Now Advances Goldman Lobbying Interests As Top Staffer To Darrell Issa
By Lee Fang on Aug 18, 2011 at 3:21 am
Peter Haller, also known as Peter Simonyi, a former Goldman Sachs VP now working for Chairman Issa to block regulations on Goldman Sachs
Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then later went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line.[his record got him in, but he knew most would not see the conflict of interest, or would keep quiet about it.][severe cut in pay ]
In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee.
Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs.”
Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 shortly after leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm.
It’s not the first time Haller has worked the revolving door to help out Goldman Sachs. According to a report by the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, Haller — then known as Peter Simonyi — left the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2005 to work for Goldman Sachs, then quickly began lobbying his colleagues at the SEC on behalf of his new firm. At one point, Haller was requiring to issue a letter to the SEC stating that he did not violate ethics rules and the SEC agreed. A brief timeline of Haller’s work history underscores the ethical issues raised with Issa’s latest letter to bank regulators:
– After completing his law degree in 2000, Haller was employed by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as an economist, and later with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Office of Enforcement.
– In April of 2005, Haller resigned from the SEC to take a job with Goldman Sachs. Although he was not a registered lobbyist, he soon began lobbying the SEC on compliance issues on behalf of Goldman Sachs.
– In 2006, Haller left Goldman Sachs, according to a Goldman official who spoke to ThinkProgress.
– In 2008, he took a job with the law/lobbying firm Brickfield Burchette Ritts & Stone.
– In January of 2011, Haller was hired to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee. Under the supervision of Haller, Issa sent a letter dated July 22, 2011 to bank regulators (including the heads of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, FCA, CFTC, FHFA, and Office of Comptroller) demanding documents to justify new Dodd-Frank mandated rules on margin requirements for banks dealing in the multi-trillion dollar OTC derivatives market, like Goldman Sachs.
When he took over the chairmanship of the Oversight Committee this year, Issa dramatically shifted the committee’s focus away from its traditional role of investigating major corporate scandals. Instead, Issa has used the committee to merge the responsibilities of Congress with the interests of K Street and Issa’s own fortune.
In June of this year, ThinkProgress broke the story about Issa’s own complicated relationship with Goldman Sachs. We revealed that Issa purchased a large amount of Goldman Sachs high yield bonds at the same time as he used the Oversight Committee to attack an investigation into allegations that Goldman Sachs had systematically defrauded investors leading up to the financial crisis. This conflict of interest, along with our exclusive story about Issa’s earmarks benefitting his own real estate empire, received coverage in a recent piece by the New York Times.
We also broke a story last month revealing other revolving door conflicts within Issa’s staff. Peter Warren, Issa’s new policy director, maintains some type of financial contract with a student loan lobbying group he led last year, and received a bonus from the lobbying group before leaving to work for Issa. Since joining Issa’s staff, Warren and his colleagues have fought to weaken the recently created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new agency charged with overseeing student loans.
The new revelations about Peter Haller, however, raise even more significant ethical concerns than Peter Warren and other ex-lobbyists working for Issa. Why did Issa hire a high-level Goldman Sachs executive to work on stopping regulations on banks like Goldman Sachs? Haller’s direct involvement in the July letter brings Issa’s ability to lead the Oversight Committee — charged with conducting investigations on behalf of the public interest — into serious doubt.
Update
We have contacted the House Oversight Committee and Mr. Peter Haller. We are waiting for their response.
Update
An official with Goldman Sachs tells ThinkProgress that Peter’s “legal name” was “Peter Haller” during his time with the investment back. However, an official Goldman Sachs letter sent to bank regulators in 2006 shows Peter’s name as “Peter Simonyi.” Additionally, Goldman says that Peter left the bank in 2006. But Peter’s bio on his law firm website indicates that he did not change his legal name until 2008.
Update
Haller tells TPM that he changed his name after his employment at Goldman Sachs to honor his Translyvanian heritage. In his comment, he did not dispute that he worked on Issa’s letter to bank regulators.
Update
The Project on Government Oversight has identified three more letters from Issa’s office bearing Peter Haller’s name, including one that specifically references Goldman. “If Haller’s name change had not been discovered, would anyone have been able to piece together his history?” POGO asks.
Update
Despite the Issa office’s furious efforts to pushback on our story and obfuscate our key findings, the story remains factually true. See our explanation here.
it's hard to dance the Backwardation with a black swan
the Venezuelan two-step.
black swans are those rare events that cannot be predicted, but they
certainly can "f%^&k" things up.
when a guy who's unpopular with the US sees the treatment Kaddafi can get,
then he decides to re-patriate all his country's trinkets.
This surprise action has caused the banks to go crazy and prices of gold to shoot up.
The banks that have played to keep gold and silver prices low, are now
actually looking around for gold. So, they're boosting the price and destroying
their own shorts. Or should I say, "soiling" their shorts.
You see, this is the way that stupid crooks behave. They were given a couple
hundred of tons of gold by Venezuela, for safe keeping.
What they then did was make paper offers worth 100x the value and then
they leased the gold to others. So, that gold does not exist, even though
Venezuela is paying rent to the banks in the UK (JPMorgan, Bank of Nova Scotia and another one)
checkitout:
Perfect Storm Sees Gold & Silver Surge – Chavez Gold Action Leads To Backwardation, Short Squeeze And ‘Havoc’ Concerns
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/19/2011 07:51 -0400
From GoldCore
All major currencies have fallen sharply against gold and silver again today with gold reaching new record nominal highs in Canadian and New Zealand dollars, in sterling, in euros and of course in dollars as turmoil continues in global markets.
In volatile trade, gold is down 1% from new record highs and is trading at 1,860.10 USD , 1,300.40 EUR , 1,126.40 GBP, 1,470.90 CHF and 142,414 JPY per ounce and has risen some 2% in all currencies. Silver has surged by nearly 3% in all major currencies.
Cross Currency Table
The London AM fix was a third consecutive record nominal high in US dollars. Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,862, EUR 1299.28, GBP 1126.91 per ounce (from yesterday’s USD 1,794.50, EUR 1,246.44, GBP 1,087.12 per ounce).
Markets continue to assess the ramifications of Venezuela deciding to repatriate their large gold reserves from London to Caracas. Their reserves are large in gold tonnage terms but small in dollar terms.
Venezuela’s central bank is the world’s 15th largest holder of gold, with 365.8 tonnes, of which some 211 tonnes, worth $12.3bn are held in London with the Bank of England and JP Morgan, Barclays, and Bank Of Nova Scotia.
Many analysts and the Gold Anti-Trust Action Commitee (GATA) have long contended that much of the central bank gold reserves have been leased out by bullion banks and that in the event of central banks choosing to repatriate their bullion, significant supply issues could develop which would lead to a short squeeze and a parabolic increases in prices.
The concern is that other central banks concerned about dollar and currency debasement and expropriation of their gold reserves by embattled large debtor sovereign nations may follow suit.
A short squeeze is quite likely given the scale of global investor and central bank demand.
Already, there is a small degree of backwardation developing in the gold market with certain near term futures contracts now trading at higher prices than longer term contracts. The near term August ’11 contract was trading at $1871.40/oz while June ’12 contract is trading at $1,870/oz (1216 GMT). The spread between spot and longer term contracts has fallen suggesting that gold may soon join silver in backwardation.
Silver has been in backwardation for seven months now and backwardation appears to be deepening again. This morning the September ‘11 contract is trading at $41.41 while December ‘12 is trading at $40.65.
The possibility of backwardation in gold suggests that major investors are concerned about the supply of physical gold. Buyers are concerned about securing supply in the future and are willing to pay a premium for spot or immediate delivery.
It could indicate that the short squeeze anticipated by many is taking place and we could see a sharp upward move in gold prices.
This would not be surprising considering the very small size of the physical bullion markets versus the size of the overall financial and currency markets and considering the high demand coming from investors and central banks globally.
It is worth remembering what happened when silver went into backwardation some months ago. It led to a price surge from $30/oz to over $50/oz in 10 weeks.
Backwardation rarely happens in the gold and silver bullion markets. Since gold futures first started to be traded in 1972 (on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange), there have only been momentary backwardations of a few hours.
It suggests that larger gold bars are difficult to acquire in volume and that the physical market is becoming stressed and less liquid.
Backwardation can end in default, failure to make delivery and in sharply higher prices. A default on the COMEX would have important ramifications for the dollar and could see sharp selling of the dollar and sharp falls on global markets.
Gold backwardation has been warned of by newsletter writer Denis Gartman overnight. He said that if Chavez “does push” for repatriation of $11 billion of gold reserves held in developed nations’ institutions it could lead to backwardation which would wreak ‘havoc’.
Investors should buy “nearer gold” and sell deferred bullion futures, he wrote. October and December futures will trade to premium over February and beyond in this case, Gartman wrote.
Meanwhile, in another sign of gold experiencing a near perfect storm, UBS have said that macro hedge funds were noted buyers and may also have dominated demand during yesterday's Comex sweeps. They said that the funds may have been waiting for a correction to buy but due to concerns of the market moving away from them decided to buy yesterday.
“If participation from the macro hedge fund community has only just started to accelerate, this adds a new dynamic to the gold market.”
In normal financial and economic times, gold would be considered overvalued but we are far from that today and gold is experiencing a near perfect storm which could propel prices higher.
JP Morgan’s call for $2,500 gold by year end does not that outlandish given the fraught financial, economic and monetary conditions today.
A correction remains a real possibility but buying and holding bullion remains the best strategy in today’s volatile markets.
Cost averaging (dollar, euro, pound) is worth considering after the recent price move.
For the latest news and commentary on gold and financial markets please follow us on Twitter.
black swans are those rare events that cannot be predicted, but they
certainly can "f%^&k" things up.
when a guy who's unpopular with the US sees the treatment Kaddafi can get,
then he decides to re-patriate all his country's trinkets.
This surprise action has caused the banks to go crazy and prices of gold to shoot up.
The banks that have played to keep gold and silver prices low, are now
actually looking around for gold. So, they're boosting the price and destroying
their own shorts. Or should I say, "soiling" their shorts.
You see, this is the way that stupid crooks behave. They were given a couple
hundred of tons of gold by Venezuela, for safe keeping.
What they then did was make paper offers worth 100x the value and then
they leased the gold to others. So, that gold does not exist, even though
Venezuela is paying rent to the banks in the UK (JPMorgan, Bank of Nova Scotia and another one)
checkitout:
Perfect Storm Sees Gold & Silver Surge – Chavez Gold Action Leads To Backwardation, Short Squeeze And ‘Havoc’ Concerns
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/19/2011 07:51 -0400
From GoldCore
All major currencies have fallen sharply against gold and silver again today with gold reaching new record nominal highs in Canadian and New Zealand dollars, in sterling, in euros and of course in dollars as turmoil continues in global markets.
In volatile trade, gold is down 1% from new record highs and is trading at 1,860.10 USD , 1,300.40 EUR , 1,126.40 GBP, 1,470.90 CHF and 142,414 JPY per ounce and has risen some 2% in all currencies. Silver has surged by nearly 3% in all major currencies.
Cross Currency Table
The London AM fix was a third consecutive record nominal high in US dollars. Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,862, EUR 1299.28, GBP 1126.91 per ounce (from yesterday’s USD 1,794.50, EUR 1,246.44, GBP 1,087.12 per ounce).
Markets continue to assess the ramifications of Venezuela deciding to repatriate their large gold reserves from London to Caracas. Their reserves are large in gold tonnage terms but small in dollar terms.
Venezuela’s central bank is the world’s 15th largest holder of gold, with 365.8 tonnes, of which some 211 tonnes, worth $12.3bn are held in London with the Bank of England and JP Morgan, Barclays, and Bank Of Nova Scotia.
Many analysts and the Gold Anti-Trust Action Commitee (GATA) have long contended that much of the central bank gold reserves have been leased out by bullion banks and that in the event of central banks choosing to repatriate their bullion, significant supply issues could develop which would lead to a short squeeze and a parabolic increases in prices.
The concern is that other central banks concerned about dollar and currency debasement and expropriation of their gold reserves by embattled large debtor sovereign nations may follow suit.
A short squeeze is quite likely given the scale of global investor and central bank demand.
Already, there is a small degree of backwardation developing in the gold market with certain near term futures contracts now trading at higher prices than longer term contracts. The near term August ’11 contract was trading at $1871.40/oz while June ’12 contract is trading at $1,870/oz (1216 GMT). The spread between spot and longer term contracts has fallen suggesting that gold may soon join silver in backwardation.
Silver has been in backwardation for seven months now and backwardation appears to be deepening again. This morning the September ‘11 contract is trading at $41.41 while December ‘12 is trading at $40.65.
The possibility of backwardation in gold suggests that major investors are concerned about the supply of physical gold. Buyers are concerned about securing supply in the future and are willing to pay a premium for spot or immediate delivery.
It could indicate that the short squeeze anticipated by many is taking place and we could see a sharp upward move in gold prices.
This would not be surprising considering the very small size of the physical bullion markets versus the size of the overall financial and currency markets and considering the high demand coming from investors and central banks globally.
It is worth remembering what happened when silver went into backwardation some months ago. It led to a price surge from $30/oz to over $50/oz in 10 weeks.
Backwardation rarely happens in the gold and silver bullion markets. Since gold futures first started to be traded in 1972 (on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange), there have only been momentary backwardations of a few hours.
It suggests that larger gold bars are difficult to acquire in volume and that the physical market is becoming stressed and less liquid.
Backwardation can end in default, failure to make delivery and in sharply higher prices. A default on the COMEX would have important ramifications for the dollar and could see sharp selling of the dollar and sharp falls on global markets.
Gold backwardation has been warned of by newsletter writer Denis Gartman overnight. He said that if Chavez “does push” for repatriation of $11 billion of gold reserves held in developed nations’ institutions it could lead to backwardation which would wreak ‘havoc’.
Investors should buy “nearer gold” and sell deferred bullion futures, he wrote. October and December futures will trade to premium over February and beyond in this case, Gartman wrote.
Meanwhile, in another sign of gold experiencing a near perfect storm, UBS have said that macro hedge funds were noted buyers and may also have dominated demand during yesterday's Comex sweeps. They said that the funds may have been waiting for a correction to buy but due to concerns of the market moving away from them decided to buy yesterday.
“If participation from the macro hedge fund community has only just started to accelerate, this adds a new dynamic to the gold market.”
In normal financial and economic times, gold would be considered overvalued but we are far from that today and gold is experiencing a near perfect storm which could propel prices higher.
JP Morgan’s call for $2,500 gold by year end does not that outlandish given the fraught financial, economic and monetary conditions today.
A correction remains a real possibility but buying and holding bullion remains the best strategy in today’s volatile markets.
Cost averaging (dollar, euro, pound) is worth considering after the recent price move.
For the latest news and commentary on gold and financial markets please follow us on Twitter.
people are defined as non-Palestinians
watch how these two stories ignore the Palestinians altogether,
as they discuss human suffering of Israelis and Egyptian police officers.
Meanwhile, the people who have suffered disproportainately have been
the prisoners of Gaza who have been straifed by airplanes.
oh, and it's not an accident. The BBC is biased, and believes in the words of the title above.
1 bbc
Israel 'regrets' deaths in Egypt and promises inquiry
The Israeli defence minister has said he "regrets" the deaths of Egyptian policemen on the Gaza border, as Cairo considers recalling its ambassador.
Without confirming Israeli forces had killed the five policemen, Ehud Barak said he had ordered a joint inquiry to be held with the Egyptian army.
Israeli forces had pursued militants after attacks on Thursday, he said.
A rocket killed one person and injured at least four in the Israeli city of Beersheba on Saturday.
Israeli sources identified it as a Grad rocket, adding that two children were slightly injured when Grads hit another town, Ofakim.
Hamas militants have confirmed they fired missiles Grad missiles at Ofakim, in retaliation for Israeli attacks this week, AFP news agency reports. There was no immediate comment on the Beersheba attack.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Yolande Knell Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem
Both the Israeli foreign ministry and defence ministry put out statements expressing regret for the deaths - following consultations between ministers, the military and intelligence officers.
They said an Israeli military inquiry would take place, followed by a joint examination with the Egyptian army to determine what went wrong.
However these comments are unlikely to satisfy Egypt's interim government. And they have not quelled protests outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
In recognition of the dangers of a significant escalation in tensions between Israel and Egypt, the Israeli government has also emphasised its continuing commitment to the 1979 peace treaty signed by the two countries. The defence ministry said this had great strategic importance for the stability of the Middle East.
* Egypt and Israel's 'cold peace'
Since Thursday's attacks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 20 rockets into Israel.
In Cairo, the deaths of the Egyptian policemen prompted angry crowds to gather in protest outside the Israeli embassy.
The Egyptian cabinet spokesman Mohammed Hegazy told the BBC that Cairo had not yet taken a decision to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv, contrary to earlier reports quoting a cabinet release.
That statement had said Egypt was recalling its ambassador until Israel explained why it had reportedly shot the policemen. It said Cairo held Israel politically and legally responsible for the deaths.
But Mr Hegazy said the statement was a "draft" and not finalised.
The latest violence began on Thursday when gunmen attacked Israeli civilian buses near the Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing eight people.
Egyptian officials say Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed - including the policemen.
Tensions between Israel and Egypt have escalated sharply, the BBC's Yolande Knell reports from Jerusalem.
Their 30-year-old peace treaty was already being tested after the long-time Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, was forced from office earlier this year, our correspondent says.
2 bbc
as they discuss human suffering of Israelis and Egyptian police officers.
Meanwhile, the people who have suffered disproportainately have been
the prisoners of Gaza who have been straifed by airplanes.
oh, and it's not an accident. The BBC is biased, and believes in the words of the title above.
1 bbc
Israel 'regrets' deaths in Egypt and promises inquiry
The Israeli defence minister has said he "regrets" the deaths of Egyptian policemen on the Gaza border, as Cairo considers recalling its ambassador.
Without confirming Israeli forces had killed the five policemen, Ehud Barak said he had ordered a joint inquiry to be held with the Egyptian army.
Israeli forces had pursued militants after attacks on Thursday, he said.
A rocket killed one person and injured at least four in the Israeli city of Beersheba on Saturday.
Israeli sources identified it as a Grad rocket, adding that two children were slightly injured when Grads hit another town, Ofakim.
Hamas militants have confirmed they fired missiles Grad missiles at Ofakim, in retaliation for Israeli attacks this week, AFP news agency reports. There was no immediate comment on the Beersheba attack.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Yolande Knell Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem
Both the Israeli foreign ministry and defence ministry put out statements expressing regret for the deaths - following consultations between ministers, the military and intelligence officers.
They said an Israeli military inquiry would take place, followed by a joint examination with the Egyptian army to determine what went wrong.
However these comments are unlikely to satisfy Egypt's interim government. And they have not quelled protests outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
In recognition of the dangers of a significant escalation in tensions between Israel and Egypt, the Israeli government has also emphasised its continuing commitment to the 1979 peace treaty signed by the two countries. The defence ministry said this had great strategic importance for the stability of the Middle East.
* Egypt and Israel's 'cold peace'
Since Thursday's attacks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 20 rockets into Israel.
In Cairo, the deaths of the Egyptian policemen prompted angry crowds to gather in protest outside the Israeli embassy.
The Egyptian cabinet spokesman Mohammed Hegazy told the BBC that Cairo had not yet taken a decision to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv, contrary to earlier reports quoting a cabinet release.
That statement had said Egypt was recalling its ambassador until Israel explained why it had reportedly shot the policemen. It said Cairo held Israel politically and legally responsible for the deaths.
But Mr Hegazy said the statement was a "draft" and not finalised.
The latest violence began on Thursday when gunmen attacked Israeli civilian buses near the Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing eight people.
Egyptian officials say Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed - including the policemen.
Tensions between Israel and Egypt have escalated sharply, the BBC's Yolande Knell reports from Jerusalem.
Their 30-year-old peace treaty was already being tested after the long-time Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, was forced from office earlier this year, our correspondent says.
2 bbc
Israelis Hurt In Palestinian Rocket Attacks
By Emma Hurd, Middle East correspondent | Sky News – 41 minutes
....Several Israelis have been injured in a series of rocket attacks from Gaza, as Palestinian militants hit back after a series of airstrikes.
At least a dozen Grad and Qasam rockets were fired from the territory, most landing in open ground.
But one came down in an industrial area in the city of Ashdod, wounding at least six people.
Israel has pounded Gaza in retaliation for Thursday's co-ordinated attack near Eilat that killed eight Israelis, six of them civilians.
One of the airstrikes killed the commander of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and several of his deputies.
Israel blames the PRC for sending a "terrorist squad" from Gaza to carry out the co-ordinated attack along Egypt's border with Israel, in which several vehicles were hit by gunfire and heavy weapons.
The assault was the deadliest inside Israel for three years.
Israeli officials claim to have evidence that attackers entered Egypt via smuggling tunnels from Gaza and travelled down through the Egyptian Sinai to cross into Israel.
Officials warned the assault shows that Egypt's grip on the Sinai - an area where various militant groups, including some linked to al Qaeda, are known to operate - has weakened since February's ousting of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
In the past week, the transitional military rulers in Egypt have sent 2,000 troops to the area to try to re-assert control after a series of attacks against the gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel.
The two nations, under the peace deal between them, traditionally co-operate over security.
But relations are changing, and reports that one of the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza missed and hit a group of Egyptian soldiers, killing several of them, may further strain the partnership.
The increase in violence by Palestinian militants has raised fears that it could mark the start of a prolonged campaign.
Next month, the Fatah-led Palestinian Government in the West Bank is to ask the UN General Assembly to recognise the Palestinian territories as a "state".
The move - fiercely opposed by Israel - is expected to be accompanied by a wave of protests.
Saturday 20 August 2011
the jokes up. It's either us or the nukes
UPDATE: Thanks to Nature Bats Last for providing back-up, on call (below)
It's as if the dinosaurs had studied history and said,
"oh ya, we're about to go extinct"
We, as humans, have language and conscious thought, and rationality.
Nevertheless, we are staring extinction in the face, thanks to the Fukushima
disaster that is smoldering away in N Japan.
Nukes in general engender a policy of secrecy, until it can no longer be hidden.
Suicidal volatile substances handled by people interested in secrecy and
financial gain, even if this means the death of millions. is that rational?
There once was a time when the US used nuke bombs to subjugate Japan.
One of the survivors, a Mr Tanaguchi, who came out of the bombing with red sores all over his body, said it plainly "NUCLEAR POWER AND MANKIND CANNOT CO-EXIST."
from Democracy Now and Amy Goodman:
From Hiroshima to Fukushima: Japan’s Atomic Tragedies
In recent weeks, radiation levels have spiked at the Fukushima nuclear power reactors in Japan, with recorded levels of 10,000 millisieverts per hour (mSv/hr) at one spot. This is the number reported by the reactor’s discredited owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., although that number is simply as high as the Geiger counters go. In other words, the radiation levels are literally off the charts. Exposure to 10,000 millisieverts for even a brief time would be fatal, with death occurring within weeks. (For comparison, the total radiation from a dental X-ray is 0.005 mSv, and from a brain CT scan is less than 5 mSv.) The New York Times has reported that government officials in Japan suppressed official projections of where the nuclear fallout would most likely move with wind and weather after the disaster in order to avoid costly relocation of potentially hundreds of thousands of residents.
...“Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.” While those words could describe how the Japanese government has handled the nuclear catastrophe, they were said by atomic scientist Edward Teller.
2 France's nuclear subcontractors polluted the countryside
This didn't just happen. Nukes are a government thing. The French gov must have known about the dumping.
(I also recently saw a video about how Naples is also surrounded by
nuclear waste)
checkitout:
Guest Post: Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/20/2011 12:25 -0400
Submitted by Guy McPherson of Nature Bats Last
Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
About a decade ago I realized we were putting the finishing touches on our own extinction party, with the party probably over by 2030. During the intervening period I’ve seen nothing to sway this belief, and much evidence to reinforce it. Yet the protests, ridicule, and hate mail reach a fervent pitch when I speak or write about the potential for near-term extinction of Homo sapiens.
“We’re different.”
“We’re special.”
“We’re too intelligent.”
“We’ll find a way out. We always do.”
We’re humans, and therefore animals. Like all life, we’re special. Like all organisms, we’re susceptible to overshoot. Like all organisms, we will experience population decline after overshoot.
Let’s take stock of our current predicaments, beginning with one of several ongoing processes likely to cause our extinction. Then I’ll point out the good not quite so bad news.
We’re headed for extinction via global climate change
It’s hotter than it used to be, but not as hot as it’s going to be. The political response to this now-obvious information is to suspend the scientist bearing the bad news. Which, of course, is no surprise at all: As Australian climate scientist Gideon Polya points out, the United States must cease production of greenhouse gases within 3.1 years if we are to avoid catastrophic runaway greenhouse. I think Polya is optimistic, and I don’t think Obama’s on-board with the attendant collapse of the U.S. industrial economy.
Apparently — too little, too late — a couple people have noticed a few facts about Obama. This “awakening” might explain why his political support is headed south at a rapid clip.
But back to climate change, one of three likely extinction events. Well, three I know about: I’m certain there are others, and any number can play. With four months remaining in the year, the U.S. has already tied its yearly record for the most billion-dollar weather disasters. Russia is headed directly for loss of 30% of its permafrost by 2050. Tundra fires could accelerate planetary warming. This year, the Northeast Passage was open as of 27 July. This is a massively dire situation for the Arctic. In fact, we have passed a de facto tipping point with respect to Arctic ice. This latter outcome is stunning, but only to those who follow the horrifically conservative and increasingly irrelevant Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Nature is responding with hybrid bears, suggesting the near-term loss of all polar bears. Indeed, all Earth’s systems are rapidly declining. Many organisms can’t keep up as they try to stay ahead of an overheating planet.
As the living planet decays, we keep piling on. Examples abound. Here’s one tiny example among thousands, from that pesky BP well at Deepwater Horizon. It’s out of the news cycle, but it’s not done destroying life in the Gulf of Mexico. But perhaps this tidbit belongs beneath the heading of …
We’re headed for extinction via environmental collapse
Nature is bankrupt, just like Wall Street and the USA. Thanks for playing, but you lose. The banksters on Wall Street “win.” But only in the short term. In the long run, we’re all dead (as first stated by John Maynard Keynes).
Among the consequences of taking down more than 200 species each day: at some point, the species we take into the abyss is Homo sapiens (the wise ape). The vanishing point draws nearer every day. Our response, in the industrialized world: Bring on the toys. Burn all fossil fuels. Harvest the rain forests and strip-mine the soil. Pollute the water, eat the seed bank.
And, most importantly, figure out how we can make a few bucks as the world burns.
We have our hand in a monkey trap, and we can’t let go.
We’re headed for extinction via nuclear meltdown
Safely shuttering a nuclear power plant requires a decade or two of careful planning. Far sooner, we’ll complete the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy. This is a source of my nuclear nightmares.
When the world’s 442 nuclear power plants melt down catastrophically, we’ve entered an extinction event. Think clusterfukushima, times 400. Ionizing radiation could, and probably will, destroy every terrestrial organism and, therefore, every marine and freshwater organism. That, by the way, includes the most unique, special, intelligent animal on Earth.
[WHAT HE MEANS IS THAT IF THE ECONOMY FAILS, NOBODY WILL LOOK AFTER THE NUCLEAR PLANTS, SO THEY'LL ALL BLOW UP- Costick67]
Ready for some good news?
Meanwhile, back on Wall Street
The Securities and Exchange Commission is busily covering up Wall Street crimes, just as they did during the last presidential administration. And, as it turns out, they’ve been performing this trick for two decades. Finally, though, the S&P is taking the U.S. to the woodshed.
The S&P knows what the media and politicians know: U.S. national debt isn’t really $14 trillion and change, as we’ve been led to believe. In fact, it exceeds $200 trillion. And, back when it was a mere $10.5 trillion, it exceeded the value of all circulating currencies as well as all the gold ever mined. It cannot be paid off, ever. The response will be default. With luck, it’ll happen quickly and completely, thus sending us directly to the new dark age (with the post-industrial Stone Age soon to follow).
......end
hmf- PRIMITIVE!
"I'm a stone-age romeo...primitive lovin' cuz I ain't got a tv set"
It's as if the dinosaurs had studied history and said,
"oh ya, we're about to go extinct"
We, as humans, have language and conscious thought, and rationality.
Nevertheless, we are staring extinction in the face, thanks to the Fukushima
disaster that is smoldering away in N Japan.
Nukes in general engender a policy of secrecy, until it can no longer be hidden.
Suicidal volatile substances handled by people interested in secrecy and
financial gain, even if this means the death of millions. is that rational?
There once was a time when the US used nuke bombs to subjugate Japan.
One of the survivors, a Mr Tanaguchi, who came out of the bombing with red sores all over his body, said it plainly "NUCLEAR POWER AND MANKIND CANNOT CO-EXIST."
from Democracy Now and Amy Goodman:
From Hiroshima to Fukushima: Japan’s Atomic Tragedies
In recent weeks, radiation levels have spiked at the Fukushima nuclear power reactors in Japan, with recorded levels of 10,000 millisieverts per hour (mSv/hr) at one spot. This is the number reported by the reactor’s discredited owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., although that number is simply as high as the Geiger counters go. In other words, the radiation levels are literally off the charts. Exposure to 10,000 millisieverts for even a brief time would be fatal, with death occurring within weeks. (For comparison, the total radiation from a dental X-ray is 0.005 mSv, and from a brain CT scan is less than 5 mSv.) The New York Times has reported that government officials in Japan suppressed official projections of where the nuclear fallout would most likely move with wind and weather after the disaster in order to avoid costly relocation of potentially hundreds of thousands of residents.
...“Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.” While those words could describe how the Japanese government has handled the nuclear catastrophe, they were said by atomic scientist Edward Teller.
2 France's nuclear subcontractors polluted the countryside
This didn't just happen. Nukes are a government thing. The French gov must have known about the dumping.
(I also recently saw a video about how Naples is also surrounded by
nuclear waste)
checkitout:
Guest Post: Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/20/2011 12:25 -0400
Submitted by Guy McPherson of Nature Bats Last
Three Paths To Near-Term Human Extinction
About a decade ago I realized we were putting the finishing touches on our own extinction party, with the party probably over by 2030. During the intervening period I’ve seen nothing to sway this belief, and much evidence to reinforce it. Yet the protests, ridicule, and hate mail reach a fervent pitch when I speak or write about the potential for near-term extinction of Homo sapiens.
“We’re different.”
“We’re special.”
“We’re too intelligent.”
“We’ll find a way out. We always do.”
We’re humans, and therefore animals. Like all life, we’re special. Like all organisms, we’re susceptible to overshoot. Like all organisms, we will experience population decline after overshoot.
Let’s take stock of our current predicaments, beginning with one of several ongoing processes likely to cause our extinction. Then I’ll point out the good not quite so bad news.
We’re headed for extinction via global climate change
It’s hotter than it used to be, but not as hot as it’s going to be. The political response to this now-obvious information is to suspend the scientist bearing the bad news. Which, of course, is no surprise at all: As Australian climate scientist Gideon Polya points out, the United States must cease production of greenhouse gases within 3.1 years if we are to avoid catastrophic runaway greenhouse. I think Polya is optimistic, and I don’t think Obama’s on-board with the attendant collapse of the U.S. industrial economy.
Apparently — too little, too late — a couple people have noticed a few facts about Obama. This “awakening” might explain why his political support is headed south at a rapid clip.
But back to climate change, one of three likely extinction events. Well, three I know about: I’m certain there are others, and any number can play. With four months remaining in the year, the U.S. has already tied its yearly record for the most billion-dollar weather disasters. Russia is headed directly for loss of 30% of its permafrost by 2050. Tundra fires could accelerate planetary warming. This year, the Northeast Passage was open as of 27 July. This is a massively dire situation for the Arctic. In fact, we have passed a de facto tipping point with respect to Arctic ice. This latter outcome is stunning, but only to those who follow the horrifically conservative and increasingly irrelevant Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Nature is responding with hybrid bears, suggesting the near-term loss of all polar bears. Indeed, all Earth’s systems are rapidly declining. Many organisms can’t keep up as they try to stay ahead of an overheating planet.
As the living planet decays, we keep piling on. Examples abound. Here’s one tiny example among thousands, from that pesky BP well at Deepwater Horizon. It’s out of the news cycle, but it’s not done destroying life in the Gulf of Mexico. But perhaps this tidbit belongs beneath the heading of …
We’re headed for extinction via environmental collapse
Nature is bankrupt, just like Wall Street and the USA. Thanks for playing, but you lose. The banksters on Wall Street “win.” But only in the short term. In the long run, we’re all dead (as first stated by John Maynard Keynes).
Among the consequences of taking down more than 200 species each day: at some point, the species we take into the abyss is Homo sapiens (the wise ape). The vanishing point draws nearer every day. Our response, in the industrialized world: Bring on the toys. Burn all fossil fuels. Harvest the rain forests and strip-mine the soil. Pollute the water, eat the seed bank.
And, most importantly, figure out how we can make a few bucks as the world burns.
We have our hand in a monkey trap, and we can’t let go.
We’re headed for extinction via nuclear meltdown
Safely shuttering a nuclear power plant requires a decade or two of careful planning. Far sooner, we’ll complete the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy. This is a source of my nuclear nightmares.
When the world’s 442 nuclear power plants melt down catastrophically, we’ve entered an extinction event. Think clusterfukushima, times 400. Ionizing radiation could, and probably will, destroy every terrestrial organism and, therefore, every marine and freshwater organism. That, by the way, includes the most unique, special, intelligent animal on Earth.
[WHAT HE MEANS IS THAT IF THE ECONOMY FAILS, NOBODY WILL LOOK AFTER THE NUCLEAR PLANTS, SO THEY'LL ALL BLOW UP- Costick67]
Ready for some good news?
Meanwhile, back on Wall Street
The Securities and Exchange Commission is busily covering up Wall Street crimes, just as they did during the last presidential administration. And, as it turns out, they’ve been performing this trick for two decades. Finally, though, the S&P is taking the U.S. to the woodshed.
The S&P knows what the media and politicians know: U.S. national debt isn’t really $14 trillion and change, as we’ve been led to believe. In fact, it exceeds $200 trillion. And, back when it was a mere $10.5 trillion, it exceeded the value of all circulating currencies as well as all the gold ever mined. It cannot be paid off, ever. The response will be default. With luck, it’ll happen quickly and completely, thus sending us directly to the new dark age (with the post-industrial Stone Age soon to follow).
......end
hmf- PRIMITIVE!
"I'm a stone-age romeo...primitive lovin' cuz I ain't got a tv set"
hatred and catharsis
any good writer should grab people's interest by presenting
facts in an interesting and compelling way, but should
not leave the reader/viewer more frustrated. So what follows
is a compendium of corruption, as written by some of the
many experts that are being ignored by the mainstream media.
The end will have a possible future scenario where the bankers
freak out and the public hits the streets looking for bankers
to decapitate. This scenario might help us cope while we wait
for the financial armageddon to hit.
from Nick Shaxson treasureislands.org
I couldn’t help thinking that in a sane and decent world such a move would be a blow to Sir Richard, not the Chancellor. People would note that a prominent and wealthy businessman was avoiding British tax and think less of him. Instead, he has a knighthood and is widely feted.”
This is exactly, exactly, the same point I made in Treasure Islands – and about exactly the same man.
It’s all the more significant this, coming from the chosen newspaper of, among many others, Britain’s feral elite.
... Salon / Yves Smith:
For most citizens, one of the mysteries of life after the crisis is why such a massive act of looting has gone unpunished. There is undeniable evidence of institutionalized fraud.
James K. Galbraith:
The corruption and collapse of the rule of law, in the financial sphere, is basically irreparable.”
Matt Taibbi:
“Underneath that little iceberg tip of exposed evidence lies a fraud so gigantic that it literally cannot be contemplated by our leaders, for fear of admitting that our entire financial system is corrupted to its core.
New York Times:
The lack of prosecutions — the Justice Department has brought three cases against employees at large financial companies and none against executives at large banks — has left private litigants, mainly investors and consumers, standing more or less alone in trying to hold financial parties accountable.
-“When federal authorities don’t fulfill their obligation to enforce the law, they essentially give an imprimatur to the financial entities to do whatever they want and disregard the law,” said Kathleen C. Engel, a professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston.
-The shrieking liberal left blames capitalism and demands more social welfare benefits for their entitled constituents. The fact is we have not had true capitalism in this country since 1913.
“Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven’t had capitalism. A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.” – Ron Paul
catharsis and the just desserts, served cold
Rollover 1981
David morgan, does a re-enactment, wherein he shows how bad an actor he is, but he also noted that a bank run would occur with only 1% of deposits withdrawn in a given day.
catharsis part 2
Reggie Middleton was about 2 weeks ahead of the "bank run" on bank stocks in France
Just As Predicted Over The Past Month, The French Bank Run Seems To Have Commenced Featured
* Written by ReggieMiddleton
Attention subscribers! The French Bank run has BEGUN! Below is grab of the CDS chart of just one our subject banks as run candidate featured in the subscriber document, Italy Exposure Producing Bank Risk...
[CDS on one French bank]
today's numbers from theautomaticearth on blogspot:
* Société Générale: -34.82% YoY, -36.39% over 6 months, -30.28% over one month.
* Crédit Agricole: -30.9% YoY, -31.66% over 6 months, -30.8% over one month.
* Deutsche Bank: -31% YoY, -17.61% over 6 months, -16.48% over one month
* RBS: -35.61% YoY, -25.12% over 6 months, -17.73% over one month
facts in an interesting and compelling way, but should
not leave the reader/viewer more frustrated. So what follows
is a compendium of corruption, as written by some of the
many experts that are being ignored by the mainstream media.
The end will have a possible future scenario where the bankers
freak out and the public hits the streets looking for bankers
to decapitate. This scenario might help us cope while we wait
for the financial armageddon to hit.
from Nick Shaxson treasureislands.org
I couldn’t help thinking that in a sane and decent world such a move would be a blow to Sir Richard, not the Chancellor. People would note that a prominent and wealthy businessman was avoiding British tax and think less of him. Instead, he has a knighthood and is widely feted.”
This is exactly, exactly, the same point I made in Treasure Islands – and about exactly the same man.
It’s all the more significant this, coming from the chosen newspaper of, among many others, Britain’s feral elite.
... Salon / Yves Smith:
For most citizens, one of the mysteries of life after the crisis is why such a massive act of looting has gone unpunished. There is undeniable evidence of institutionalized fraud.
James K. Galbraith:
The corruption and collapse of the rule of law, in the financial sphere, is basically irreparable.”
Matt Taibbi:
“Underneath that little iceberg tip of exposed evidence lies a fraud so gigantic that it literally cannot be contemplated by our leaders, for fear of admitting that our entire financial system is corrupted to its core.
New York Times:
The lack of prosecutions — the Justice Department has brought three cases against employees at large financial companies and none against executives at large banks — has left private litigants, mainly investors and consumers, standing more or less alone in trying to hold financial parties accountable.
-“When federal authorities don’t fulfill their obligation to enforce the law, they essentially give an imprimatur to the financial entities to do whatever they want and disregard the law,” said Kathleen C. Engel, a professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston.
-The shrieking liberal left blames capitalism and demands more social welfare benefits for their entitled constituents. The fact is we have not had true capitalism in this country since 1913.
“Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven’t had capitalism. A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.” – Ron Paul
catharsis and the just desserts, served cold
Rollover 1981
David morgan, does a re-enactment, wherein he shows how bad an actor he is, but he also noted that a bank run would occur with only 1% of deposits withdrawn in a given day.
catharsis part 2
Reggie Middleton was about 2 weeks ahead of the "bank run" on bank stocks in France
Just As Predicted Over The Past Month, The French Bank Run Seems To Have Commenced Featured
* Written by ReggieMiddleton
Attention subscribers! The French Bank run has BEGUN! Below is grab of the CDS chart of just one our subject banks as run candidate featured in the subscriber document, Italy Exposure Producing Bank Risk...
[CDS on one French bank]
today's numbers from theautomaticearth on blogspot:
* Société Générale: -34.82% YoY, -36.39% over 6 months, -30.28% over one month.
* Crédit Agricole: -30.9% YoY, -31.66% over 6 months, -30.8% over one month.
* Deutsche Bank: -31% YoY, -17.61% over 6 months, -16.48% over one month
* RBS: -35.61% YoY, -25.12% over 6 months, -17.73% over one month
the Crazy Oligarchs Show
This is it, folks.
Just as the financial world is imploding, our oligarchs are heading, shocked, into
the realisation that their machinations are not only not working anymore,
but also starting to destroy their "iron-clad" investment portfolios.
They're losing their cool, and their discretion and we're gonna
start picking off their misdemeanours and note them in case
any FUTURE administration would dare to enforce the
law upon the upper classes.
case 1 Senator's got a bullet with your name on it
Senator Tom Coburn
bon mots:
Obama was a welfare recipient
Let the poor bleed to death, without benefits
Senators would duck if I had a gun
bonuses:
-Sandoval Obama's man in New Mexico STFU
-Mitt Romney goes to Martha's Vineyard to spill a drink on Obama,
post the Koch-party in Cape Cod
case 2 Please ignore Ron Paul, I'm the one to bribe
Governor Perry of Texas
after calling Bernanke a traitor-in-waiting for his future QE3,
Perry went to press the flesh and was caught in the receipt
of a bribe message from a passing banker.
Is this why oligarchs are now arresting people left and right
for taking photos? Is there nowhere that a corrupt businessman
can hide the act of bribing politicians?
How is a democracy to operate?
checkitout: zerohedge
Bank of America's Dead Drop To Rick Perry: "We Will Help You Out"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/19/2011 10:15 -0400
Should we be surprised, frightened, disgusted or simply say "we knew it", that in the informal mixer just after Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke at a Politics and Eggs breakfast in Bedford, New Hampshire, an unknown gentlemen approaches a casual Perry like an Ian Flemming character, and proceeds to dead drop the following: "Bank of America... We will help you out"... and silently moves on. At least we know now who is funding what, and whose interests potential future president Perry will be paid to defend.
Fast forward to precisely 40 minutes into the blow clip (full event can be found here).
And for those who believe the man is a plant, we believe it is James Mahoney, Director of Public Policy for BoA. You can see a photo of him here. He's on the board of directors for the New England Council, the sponsors of yesterday's Politics and Eggs breakfast.
Naturally, we would be delighted for Bank of America to refute this assumption.
Just as the financial world is imploding, our oligarchs are heading, shocked, into
the realisation that their machinations are not only not working anymore,
but also starting to destroy their "iron-clad" investment portfolios.
They're losing their cool, and their discretion and we're gonna
start picking off their misdemeanours and note them in case
any FUTURE administration would dare to enforce the
law upon the upper classes.
case 1 Senator's got a bullet with your name on it
Senator Tom Coburn
bon mots:
Obama was a welfare recipient
Let the poor bleed to death, without benefits
Senators would duck if I had a gun
bonuses:
-Sandoval Obama's man in New Mexico STFU
-Mitt Romney goes to Martha's Vineyard to spill a drink on Obama,
post the Koch-party in Cape Cod
case 2 Please ignore Ron Paul, I'm the one to bribe
Governor Perry of Texas
after calling Bernanke a traitor-in-waiting for his future QE3,
Perry went to press the flesh and was caught in the receipt
of a bribe message from a passing banker.
Is this why oligarchs are now arresting people left and right
for taking photos? Is there nowhere that a corrupt businessman
can hide the act of bribing politicians?
How is a democracy to operate?
checkitout: zerohedge
Bank of America's Dead Drop To Rick Perry: "We Will Help You Out"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/19/2011 10:15 -0400
Should we be surprised, frightened, disgusted or simply say "we knew it", that in the informal mixer just after Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke at a Politics and Eggs breakfast in Bedford, New Hampshire, an unknown gentlemen approaches a casual Perry like an Ian Flemming character, and proceeds to dead drop the following: "Bank of America... We will help you out"... and silently moves on. At least we know now who is funding what, and whose interests potential future president Perry will be paid to defend.
Fast forward to precisely 40 minutes into the blow clip (full event can be found here).
And for those who believe the man is a plant, we believe it is James Mahoney, Director of Public Policy for BoA. You can see a photo of him here. He's on the board of directors for the New England Council, the sponsors of yesterday's Politics and Eggs breakfast.
Naturally, we would be delighted for Bank of America to refute this assumption.
Friday 19 August 2011
the US performs great when there's no competition
As we know the markets are bastions of corruption, where US banks
are amongst the leaders. Competition has been squeezed out of the market
by anti-competitive activities such as government-sanctioned fraud (see below).
If there were true capitalism and punishment for crime, the banks'd be broke.
Well, that's the natural outgrowth of lawlessness brought on by
globalisation and free flow of capital. Du-uh. winning.
Opening up markets was a lie perpetrated by bought politicians
to help their rich benefactors. Now, every country is in
Palookaville, putting out financial fires left and right.
Ha Joon Chang taught us that the actual growth that happened in
the US before the Reagan years was largely due to protected markets.
[you could get a degree in Economics just by watching his videos on YuTb]
They controlled incoming trade through tariffs and other barriers as did almost
every other country. Makes sense that you would protect your markets
because as a politician, you want the best for your country.
You don't want globalisation if it means economic hitmen are gonna
come knocking on your door every other day.
Nor will you appreciate the death threats , the IMF and WB.
You'll hate it when you're running from assassins.
And your public will hate it when they're enslaved and stealing rainwater
because they can't afford to pay for piped water.
So, globalisation is a scam. International flows of money are a scam,
or enable scams, like the ones we're seeing.
So, when all these rich Western countries' economies collapse, and they pick up
the pieces, if they have any sanity and freedom of action, they'll start
protecting their markets and looking after domestic needs. If they need a few
computers or disposable toys, then they'll call up the Chinese, and not until
that time.
[THE BENEFIT OF PROTECTIVE BARRIERS. TIGER=IMF/WB/US-UK banks]
Transcript:
"you know what would happen?"
"shredded duck",
"and we're not even in Chinatown"
"shredded duck",
"and we're not even in Chinatown"
It's like a family. If they can sew a button, they don't need to buy a new shirt.
Why force them to go outside the confines of their home and spend
what little money they have to buy a new shirt?
For a slightly wonky explanation of US economic history, see this from Zerohedge:
Perhaps nobody does a better job to explain said futility than Bill Buckler in his latest edition of The Privateer, which we urge everyone, and most certainly the POTUS who just requested more fiscal stimulus, to read in order to take a step back from theoretical, and wrong, textbook formulations and to see the stimulus forest for the burning trees.
Putting The Cart On Top Of The Horse:
For a human lifetime, since the 1930s in the US and across the developed world, the health and “growth” of an economy has been “measured” by how much has been consumed. Part of this consumption, it is true, is the natural result of prior production. But over the decades, an increasing proportion of it has been done by means of borrowed money. Worse still, the calculations of economic “growth” have included consumption by government. Government, by its nature, produces NOTHING. Any government, even one which is limited to protecting life and property and issues no debt whatsoever, is a cost on the economy. The fact that this cost is necessary does not negate the fact that it is a cost.
It is one thing to measure this cost in terms of money. It is another thing entirely to measure it in terms of the real wealth which has been consumed by government. The ONLY way to increase the wealth of an individual or a nation of individuals is to produce MORE than is consumed. The difference - which is SAVINGS - can then be used to produce more real wealth with more efficient means and thus less real effort. This is the only way that an economy can genuinely “grow”. This is what transformed the US from an all but untouched potential into a continent-girdling economic powerhouse. It was not done by means of currency manipulation. It was not done by means of government borrowing. It was not done by all encompassing rules and regulations. It was done by means of political AND economic freedom.[AND DON'T FORGET PROTECTED MARKETS- Costick67]
criminal activity by any other name would still stink.
if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's fraud.
checkitout:
from 24gold
Watch How They Steal The Money
by Nathan Lewis - New World Economics
... The "bailout" is not just a way to add more new debt, it is a way to roll over existing debt that matures. Every month that passes, a little more Greek debt matures. The bankers get paid back €1.00 instead of having their debt default, as it certainly would have if not for various "bailouts." Greece's government owes just as much money, but now it owes the money to, essentially, German taxpayers rather than bankers. So who takes the loss when Greece later defaults? Why, German taxpayers! Who didn't even own the stuff until a little while ago. The same applies for Portugal, and now Italy and Spain.
... I think it is funny that people then get upset about "bankers' bonuses." As if that mattered, when crime of this magnitude is happening in front of your eyes. "You killed my mother and my brother and my sister, so I think you should wear less expensive shoes." This is the talk of slaves.
...
Asset Sales: Once you've corrupted governments to this degree, you might as well go whole hog. Sovereign debt, for the most part, is unsecured. If it defaults, the lender has no recourse. So why is Greece's government being forced into "asset sales"? Because, when you've already got them bent over, you don't just stop halfway. When you get mugged in an alley, does the mugger only take half your money?
...
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