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I think it will have a great impact on the goat market too
Toughest question will be Who is your tailor??
JP Morgan also "provides" the debit cards used by food stamp recipients. Get'em Bernie!!!
Pentagon stops giving free guns to police till officials can account for what they've got
Published: Friday, June 08, 2012, 9:54 AM Updated: Friday, June 08, 2012, 10:09 AM
By Associated Press
cleveland.com
Law enforcement and other officials examine surplus gear at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state at an information session on military surplus for state law-enforcement agencies. The Pentagon is putting the brakes on the $2.6 billion program until state coordinators can account for all the guns, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers police have already received.
The Defense Department has stopped issuing weapons to thousands of law enforcement agencies until it is satisfied that state officials can account for all the surplus guns, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers it has given police under a $2.6 billion program, The Associated Press has learned.
The department's Defense Logistics Agency ordered state-appointed coordinators in 49 states to certify the whereabouts of that equipment that has already been distributed through the long-running arrangement overseen by the agency's Law Enforcement Support Office. The temporary halt on transferring weapons applies to all states, agency officials said Thursday.
The program provides police departments and other law enforcement agencies with military equipment ranging from guns and helicopters to computers and air conditioners and even toilet paper. The equipment is cheap or free for law enforcement agencies to acquire, but much of it comes with strict rules that prohibit it from being sold and dictate how it must be tracked.
The military decided to conduct a "one-time clean sweep" of all state inventories instead of reviewing them piecemeal, said Kenneth MacNevin, a spokesman for the federal agency. While some gear, including guns, has been stolen or otherwise gone missing over the years, MacNevin said the reporting requirements themselves aren't new and that the review wasn't prompted by anything specific.
"Leadership decided to make sure we have a good, full accounting for all of this," he said. "We're not doing this based on any thought there's a problem. We're doing it because accountability is accountability."
However, MacNevin said a pair of news media reports and a weeks-long series of AP requests for records were factors in the decision to send letters to the states late last month ordering them to comply with program rules or face suspension from it. Only New Hampshire didn't get a letter, for reasons that weren't immediately clear.
The Arizona Republic reported last month that the Pinal County Sheriff's Office has stockpiled millions of dollars' worth of equipment through the program, distributing some of the gear to non-police agencies, and intended to sell other property, which would violate the program's rules.
"I don't have any info on if something triggered" the Defense Department's recent order, Matt Van Camp, a police detective in Payson, Ariz., who coordinates that state's program, told the AP in an email. "All I know is Arizona is 100 percent compliant on weapons inventory."
A report in March by California Watch, which was founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, found that California police accumulated more equipment during 2011 than any other year in the program's two-decade history. That follows the overall trend in the program, which last year doled out almost $500 million in gear, up by more than double from the year before.
Tim Hoyle, another spokesman for the Battle Creek, Mich.-based Defense Logistics Agency, said all weapons will be withheld until the accounting is completed.
Easier said than done. Most of the state surplus program coordinators who have responded to records requests from the AP say they only keep paper records. The few states that keep electronic records only recently made the switch from paper.
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services, for instance, said it would take its staff members at least 500 hours merely to review the records requested by the AP.
"There are over 800 Illinois law enforcement agencies that submit applications to the state under the LESO program," agency employee Sunny Clark wrote. "CMS would need to go through each file individually in order to gather the records requested, which would be a difficult and time-consuming process."
In a letter dated May 24, the military notified the state of Florida that it had failed to certify that a "complete (100 percent) physical inventory" of weapons, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers was completed in 2011. The agency said it intended to suspend Florida from participating in the Law Enforcement Support Office program if the certifications weren't received by June 22.
But a Florida official who supervises the state coordinator for the program said the letter was sent in error, because the state had, in fact, completed its required annual audit.
"We should be receiving a letter from LESO in the coming days formally rescinding their earlier memo," the official, Mike McClure, wrote in a June 1 email to several colleagues.
Hoyle said the letters were tailored to each state based on the information the agency is seeking.
The surplus program has grown exponentially in recent years, with a record $498 million worth of property distributed in fiscal year 2011. That includes $191 million in aircraft alone and more than 15,000 weapons worth nearly $4.8 million. Military officials said the program has become more popular as law enforcement agencies sustain deep budget cuts.
The sudden cutoff in the supply of free weapons is an "inconvenience," but not a big problem, said Jeff Shadburn, Ohio's program coordinator. Shadburn said he already had collected the information as previously required, but now he simply has to certify the information under the penalty of perjury.
Pentagon stops giving free guns to police till officials can account for what they've got
Published: Friday, June 08, 2012, 9:54 AM Updated: Friday, June 08, 2012, 10:09 AM
By Associated Press
cleveland.com
Law enforcement and other officials examine surplus gear at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state at an information session on military surplus for state law-enforcement agencies. The Pentagon is putting the brakes on the $2.6 billion program until state coordinators can account for all the guns, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers police have already received.
The Defense Department has stopped issuing weapons to thousands of law enforcement agencies until it is satisfied that state officials can account for all the surplus guns, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers it has given police under a $2.6 billion program, The Associated Press has learned.
The department's Defense Logistics Agency ordered state-appointed coordinators in 49 states to certify the whereabouts of that equipment that has already been distributed through the long-running arrangement overseen by the agency's Law Enforcement Support Office. The temporary halt on transferring weapons applies to all states, agency officials said Thursday.
The program provides police departments and other law enforcement agencies with military equipment ranging from guns and helicopters to computers and air conditioners and even toilet paper. The equipment is cheap or free for law enforcement agencies to acquire, but much of it comes with strict rules that prohibit it from being sold and dictate how it must be tracked.
The military decided to conduct a "one-time clean sweep" of all state inventories instead of reviewing them piecemeal, said Kenneth MacNevin, a spokesman for the federal agency. While some gear, including guns, has been stolen or otherwise gone missing over the years, MacNevin said the reporting requirements themselves aren't new and that the review wasn't prompted by anything specific.
"Leadership decided to make sure we have a good, full accounting for all of this," he said. "We're not doing this based on any thought there's a problem. We're doing it because accountability is accountability."
However, MacNevin said a pair of news media reports and a weeks-long series of AP requests for records were factors in the decision to send letters to the states late last month ordering them to comply with program rules or face suspension from it. Only New Hampshire didn't get a letter, for reasons that weren't immediately clear.
The Arizona Republic reported last month that the Pinal County Sheriff's Office has stockpiled millions of dollars' worth of equipment through the program, distributing some of the gear to non-police agencies, and intended to sell other property, which would violate the program's rules.
"I don't have any info on if something triggered" the Defense Department's recent order, Matt Van Camp, a police detective in Payson, Ariz., who coordinates that state's program, told the AP in an email. "All I know is Arizona is 100 percent compliant on weapons inventory."
A report in March by California Watch, which was founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting, found that California police accumulated more equipment during 2011 than any other year in the program's two-decade history. That follows the overall trend in the program, which last year doled out almost $500 million in gear, up by more than double from the year before.
Tim Hoyle, another spokesman for the Battle Creek, Mich.-based Defense Logistics Agency, said all weapons will be withheld until the accounting is completed.
Easier said than done. Most of the state surplus program coordinators who have responded to records requests from the AP say they only keep paper records. The few states that keep electronic records only recently made the switch from paper.
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services, for instance, said it would take its staff members at least 500 hours merely to review the records requested by the AP.
"There are over 800 Illinois law enforcement agencies that submit applications to the state under the LESO program," agency employee Sunny Clark wrote. "CMS would need to go through each file individually in order to gather the records requested, which would be a difficult and time-consuming process."
In a letter dated May 24, the military notified the state of Florida that it had failed to certify that a "complete (100 percent) physical inventory" of weapons, aircraft, Humvees and armored personnel carriers was completed in 2011. The agency said it intended to suspend Florida from participating in the Law Enforcement Support Office program if the certifications weren't received by June 22.
But a Florida official who supervises the state coordinator for the program said the letter was sent in error, because the state had, in fact, completed its required annual audit.
"We should be receiving a letter from LESO in the coming days formally rescinding their earlier memo," the official, Mike McClure, wrote in a June 1 email to several colleagues.
Hoyle said the letters were tailored to each state based on the information the agency is seeking.
The surplus program has grown exponentially in recent years, with a record $498 million worth of property distributed in fiscal year 2011. That includes $191 million in aircraft alone and more than 15,000 weapons worth nearly $4.8 million. Military officials said the program has become more popular as law enforcement agencies sustain deep budget cuts.
The sudden cutoff in the supply of free weapons is an "inconvenience," but not a big problem, said Jeff Shadburn, Ohio's program coordinator. Shadburn said he already had collected the information as previously required, but now he simply has to certify the information under the penalty of perjury.
Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/
» Hubris as the Evil Force in History
By: Paul Craig Roberts| June 12, 2012 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: hubris,
I have always been intrigued by the Battle of Bull Run, the opening battle of the US Civil War, known to southerners as the War of Northern Aggression. Extreme hubris characterized both sides, the North before the battle and the South afterwards.
Republican politicians and their ladies in their finery road out to Manassas, the Virginia town through which the stream, Bull Run, flowed, in carriages to watch the Union Army end the “Southern Rebellion” in one fell swoop. What they witnessed instead was the Union Army fleeing back to Washington with its tail between its legs. The flight of the northern troops promoted some southern wags to name the battle, the Battle of Yankee Run.
The outcome of the battle, left the South infected with the hubris that had so abruptly departed the North. The southerners concluded that they had nothing to fear from cowards who ran away from a fight. “We have nothing to worry about from them,” decided the South. It was precisely at this point that hubris defeated the South.
Historians report that the flight back to Washington left the Union Army and the US capital in a state of disorganization for three weeks, during which time even a small army could have taken the capital. Historians inclined not to see the battle as a victory for the South claim that the southerners were exhausted by the effort it took to put the yankees to flight and simply hadn’t the energy to pursue them, take Washington, hang the traitor Lincoln and all the Republicans, and end the war.
Exhausted troops or not, if Napoleon had been the southern general, the still organized southern army would have been in Washington as fast as the disorganized Union. Possibly the southerners would have engaged in ethnic cleansing by enslaving the yankees and selling them to Africans, thus ejecting from the country the greed-driven northern imperialists who, in the southern view, did not know how to behave either in private or in public.
It was not southern exhaustion that saved the day for the North. It was southern hubris. The Battle of Bull Run convinced the South that the citified northerners simply could not fight and were not a military threat.
Perhaps the South was right about the North. However, the Irish immigrants, who were met at the docks and sent straight to the front, could fight. The South was dramatically outnumbered and had no supply of immigrants to fill the ranks vacated by casualties. Moreover, the South had no industry and no navy. And, of course, the South was demonized because of slavery, although the slaves never revolted even when all southern men were at the front. When the South failed to take advantage of its victory at Bull Run and occupy Washington, the South lost the war.
An examination of hubris casts a great deal of light on wars, their causes and outcomes. Napoleon undid himself, as Hitler was to do later, by marching off into Russia. British hubris caused both world wars. The second world war began when the British, incomprehensibly gave a “guarantee” to the Polish colonels, who were on the verge of returning that part of Germany that Poland had acquired from the Versailles Treaty. The colonels, not understanding that the British had no way of making the guarantee good, gave Hitler the finger, an act of defiance that was too much for Hitler who had declared Germans to be the exceptional people.
Hitler smacked Poland, and the British and French declared war.
Hitler made short work of the French and British armies. But the British in their hubris, hiding behind the English channel, wouldn’t surrender or even agree to a favorable peace settlement. Hitler concluded that the British were counting on Russia to enter the war on their side. Hitler decided that if he knocked off Russia, the British hope would evaporate and they would come to peace terms. So Hitler turned on his Russian partner with whom he had just dismembered Poland. Stalin, in his own hubris, had recently purged almost every officer in the Red Army, thus making Hitler’s decision easy.
The outcome of all this hubris was the rise of the US military/security complex and more than four decades of cold war and the threat of nuclear destruction, a period that lasted from the end of world war two until Reagan and Gorbachev, two leaders not consumed by hubris, agreed to end the cold war.
Alas, hubris returned to America with the neoconservative ascendency. Americans have become “the indispensable people.” Like the Jacobins of the French Revolution who intended to impose “liberty, equality, fraternity” upon all of Europe, Washington asserts the superiority of the American way and the right to impose it on the rest of the world. Hubris is in full flower despite its defeats. The “three week” Iraq war lasted eight years, and after 11 years the Taliban control more of Afghanistan than the “world’s only superpower.”
Sooner or later American hubris is going to run up against Russia and China, neither of which will give way. Either the US, like Napoleon and Hitler, will have its Russian (or Chinese) moment, or the world will go up in thermonuclear smoke.
The only solution for humanity is to immediately impeach and imprison warmongers when first sighted before their hubris leads us yet again into the death and destruction of war.
» Collapse At Hand
By: Paul Craig Roberts| June 5, 2012 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: dr paul craig roberts,
Ever since the beginning of the financial crisis and quantitative easing, the question has been before us: How can the Federal Reserve maintain zero interest rates for banks and negative real interest rates for savers and bond holders when the US government is adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt every year via its budget deficits? Not long ago the Fed announced that it was going to continue this policy for another 2 or 3 years. Indeed, the Fed is locked into the policy. Without the artificially low interest rates, the debt service on the national debt would be so large that it would raise questions about the US Treasury’s credit rating and the viability of the dollar, and the trillions of dollars in Interest Rate Swaps and other derivatives would come unglued.
In other words, financial deregulation leading to Wall Street’s gambles, the US government’s decision to bail out the banks and to keep them afloat, and the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy have put the economic future of the US and its currency in an untenable and dangerous position. It will not be possible to continue to flood the bond markets with $1.5 trillion in new issues each year when the interest rate on the bonds is less than the rate of inflation. Everyone who purchases a Treasury bond is purchasing a depreciating asset. Moreover, the capital risk of investing in Treasuries is very high. The low interest rate means that the price paid for the bond is very high. A rise in interest rates, which must come sooner or later, will collapse the price of the bonds and inflict capital losses on bond holders, both domestic and foreign.
The question is: when is sooner or later? The purpose of this article is to examine that question.
Let us begin by answering the question: how has such an untenable policy managed to last this long?
A number of factors are contributing to the stability of the dollar and the bond market. A very important factor is the situation in Europe. There are real problems there as well, and the financial press keeps our focus on Greece, Europe, and the euro. Will Greece exit the European Union or be kicked out? Will the sovereign debt problem spread to Spain, Italy, and essentially everywhere except for Germany and the Netherlands?
Will it be the end of the EU and the euro? These are all very dramatic questions that keep focus off the American situation, which is probably even worse.
The Treasury bond market is also helped by the fear individual investors have of the equity market, which has been turned into a gambling casino by high-frequency trading.
High-frequency trading is electronic trading based on mathematical models that make the decisions. Investment firms compete on the basis of speed, capturing gains on a fraction of a penny, and perhaps holding positions for only a few seconds. These are not long-term investors. Content with their daily earnings, they close out all positions at the end of each day.
High-frequency trades now account for 70-80% of all equity trades. The result is major heartburn for traditional investors, who are leaving the equity market. They end up in Treasuries, because they are unsure of the solvency of banks who pay next to nothing for deposits, whereas 10-year Treasuries will pay about 2% nominal, which means, using the official Consumer Price Index, that they are losing 1% of their capital each year. Using John Williams’ (shadowstats.com) correct measure of inflation, they are losing far more. Still, the loss is about 2 percentage points less than being in a bank, and unlike banks, the Treasury can have the Federal Reserve print the money to pay off its bonds. Therefore, bond investment at least returns the nominal amount of the investment, even if its real value is much lower. (For a description of High-frequency trading, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_frequency_trading )
The presstitute financial media tells us that flight from European sovereign debt, from the doomed euro, and from the continuing real estate disaster into US Treasuries provides funding for Washington’s $1.5 trillion annual deficits. Investors influenced by the financial press might be responding in this way. Another explanation for the stability of the Fed’s untenable policy is collusion between Washington, the Fed, and Wall Street. We will be looking at this as we progress.
Unlike Japan, whose national debt is the largest of all, Americans do not own their own public debt. Much of US debt is owned abroad, especially by China, Japan, and OPEC, the oil exporting countries. This places the US economy in foreign hands. If China, for example, were to find itself unduly provoked by Washington, China could dump up to $2 trillion in US dollar-dominated assets on world markets. All sorts of prices would collapse, and the Fed would have to rapidly create the money to buy up the Chinese dumping of dollar-denominated financial instruments.
The dollars printed to purchase the dumped Chinese holdings of US dollar assets would expand the supply of dollars in currency markets and drive down the dollar exchange rate. The Fed, lacking foreign currencies with which to buy up the dollars would have to appeal for currency swaps to sovereign debt-troubled Europe for euros, to Russia, surrounded by the US missile system, for rubles, to Japan, a country over its head in American commitment, for yen, in order to buy up the dollars with euros, rubles, and yen.
These currency swaps would be on the books, unredeemable and making additional use of such swaps problematical. In other words, even if the US government can pressure its allies and puppets to swap their harder currencies for a depreciating US currency, it would not be a repeatable process. The components of the American Empire don’t want to be in dollars any more than do the BRICS.
However, for China, for example, to dump its dollar holdings all at once would be costly as the value of the dollar-denominated assets would decline as they dumped them. Unless China is faced with US military attack and needs to defang the aggressor, China as a rational economic actor would prefer to slowly exit the US dollar. Neither do Japan, Europe, nor OPEC wish to destroy their own accumulated wealth from America’s trade deficits by dumping dollars, but the indications are that they all wish to exit their dollar holdings.
Unlike the US financial press, the foreigners who hold dollar assets look at the annual US budget and trade deficits, look at the sinking US economy, look at Wall Street’s uncovered gambling bets, look at the war plans of the delusional hegemon and conclude: “I’ve got to carefully get out of this.”
US banks also have a strong interest in preserving the status quo. They are holders of US Treasuries and potentially even larger holders. They can borrow from the Federal Reserve at zero interest rates and purchase 10-year Treasuries at 2%, thus earning a nominal profit of 2% to offset derivative losses. The banks can borrow dollars from the Fed for free and leverage them in derivative transactions. As Nomi Prins puts it, the US banks don’t want to trade against themselves and their free source of funding by selling their bond holdings. Moreover, in the event of foreign flight from dollars, the Fed could boost the foreign demand for dollars by requiring foreign banks that want to operate in the US to increase their reserve amounts, which are dollar based.
I could go on, but I believe this is enough to show that even actors in the process who could terminate it have themselves a big stake in not rocking the boat and prefer to quietly and slowly sneak out of dollars before the crisis hits. This is not possible indefinitely as the process of gradual withdrawal from the dollar would result in continuous small declines in dollar values that would end in a rush to exit, but Americans are not the only delusional people.
The very process of slowly getting out can bring the American house down. The BRICS--Brazil, the largest economy in South America, Russia, the nuclear armed and energy independent economy on which Western Europe (Washington’s NATO puppets) are dependent for energy, India, nuclear armed and one of Asia’s two rising giants, China, nuclear armed, Washington’s largest creditor (except for the Fed), supplier of America’s manufactured and advanced technology products, and the new bogyman for the military-security complex’s next profitable cold war, and South Africa, the largest economy in Africa--are in the process of forming a new bank. The new bank will permit the five large economies to conduct their trade without use of the US dollar.
In addition, Japan, an American puppet state since WWII, is on the verge of entering into an agreement with China in which the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan will be directly exchanged. The trade between the two Asian countries would be conducted in their own currencies without the use of the US dollar. This reduces the cost of foreign trade between the two countries, because it eliminates payments for foreign exchange commissions to convert from yen and yuan into dollars and back into yen and yuan.
Moreover, this official explanation for the new direct relationship avoiding the US dollar is simply diplomacy speaking. The Japanese are hoping, like the Chinese, to get out of the practice of accumulating ever more dollars by having to park their trade surpluses in US Treasuries. The Japanese US puppet government hopes that the Washington hegemon does not require the Japanese government to nix the deal with China.
Now we have arrived at the nitty and gritty. The small percentage of Americans who are aware and informed are puzzled why the banksters have escaped with their financial crimes without prosecution. The answer might be that the banks “too big to fail” are adjuncts of Washington and the Federal Reserve in maintaining the stability of the dollar and Treasury bond markets in the face of an untenable Fed policy.
Let us first look at how the big banks can keep the interest rates on Treasuries low, below the rate of inflation, despite the constant increase in US debt as a percent of GDP--thus preserving the Treasury’s ability to service the debt.
The imperiled banks too big to fail have a huge stake in low interest rates and the success of the Fed’s policy. The big banks are positioned to make the Fed’s policy a success. JPMorgan Chase and other giant-sized banks can drive down Treasury interest rates and, thereby, drive up the prices of bonds, producing a rally, by selling Interest Rate Swaps (IRSwaps).
A financial company that sells IRSwaps is selling an agreement to pay floating interest rates for fixed interest rates. The buyer is purchasing an agreement that requires him to pay a fixed rate of interest in exchange for receiving a floating rate.
The reason for a seller to take the short side of the IRSwap, that is, to pay a floating rate for a fixed rate, is his belief that rates are going to fall. Short-selling can make the rates fall, and thus drive up the prices of Treasuries. When this happens, as these charts illustrate, there is a rally in the Treasury bond market that the presstitute financial media attributes to “flight to the safe haven of the US dollar and Treasury bonds.” In fact, the circumstantial evidence (see the charts in the link above) is that the swaps are sold by Wall Street whenever the Federal Reserve needs to prevent a rise in interest rates in order to protect its otherwise untenable policy. The swap sales create the impression of a flight to the dollar, but no actual flight occurs. As the IRSwaps require no exchange of any principal or real asset, and are only a bet on interest rate movements, there is no limit to the volume of IRSwaps.
This apparent collusion suggests to some observers that the reason the Wall Street banksters have not been prosecuted for their crimes is that they are an essential part of the Federal Reserve’s policy to preserve the US dollar as world currency. Possibly the collusion between the Federal Reserve and the banks is organized, but it doesn’t have to be. The banks are beneficiaries of the Fed’s zero interest rate policy. It is in the banks’ interest to support it. Organized collusion is not required.
Let us now turn to gold and silver bullion. Based on sound analysis, Gerald Celente and other gifted seers predicted that the price of gold would be $2000 per ounce by the end of last year. Gold and silver bullion continued during 2011 their ten-year rise, but in 2012 the price of gold and silver have been knocked down, with gold being $350 per ounce off its $1900 high.
In view of the analysis that I have presented, what is the explanation for the reversal in bullion prices? The answer again is shorting. Some knowledgeable people within the financial sector believe that the Federal Reserve (and perhaps also the European Central Bank) places short sales of bullion through the investment banks, guaranteeing any losses by pushing a key on the computer keyboard, as central banks can create money out of thin air.
Insiders inform me that as a tiny percent of those on the buy side of short sells actually want to take delivery on the gold or silver bullion, and are content with the financial money settlement, there is no limit to short selling of gold and silver. Short selling can actually exceed the known quantity of gold and silver.
Some who have been watching the process for years believe that government-directed short-selling has been going on for a long time. Even without government participation, banks can control the volume of paper trading in gold and profit on the swings that they create. Recently short selling is so aggressive that it not merely slows the rise in bullion prices but drives the price down. Is this aggressiveness a sign that the rigged system is on the verge of becoming unglued?
In other words, “our government,” which allegedly represents us, rather than the powerful private interests who elect “our government” with their multi-million dollar campaign contributions, now legitimized by the Republican Supreme Court, is doing its best to deprive us mere citizens, slaves, indentured servants, and “domestic extremists” from protecting ourselves and our remaining wealth from the currency debauchery policy of the Federal Reserve. Naked short selling prevents the rising demand for physical bullion from raising bullion’s price.
Jeff Nielson explains another way that banks can sell bullion shorts when they own no bullion. (See, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/nielson102411.html) Nielson says that JP Morgan is the custodian for the largest long silver fund while being the largest short-seller of silver. Whenever the silver fund adds to its bullion holdings, JP Morgan shorts an equal amount. The short selling offsets the rise in price that would result from the increase in demand for physical silver. Nielson also reports that bullion prices can be suppressed by raising margin requirements on those who purchase bullion with leverage. The conclusion is that bullion markets can be manipulated just as can the Treasury bond market and interest rates.
How long can the manipulations continue? When will the proverbial hit the fan?
If we knew precisely the date, we would be the next mega-billionaires.
Here are some of the catalysts waiting to ignite the conflagration that burns up the Treasury bond market and the US dollar:
A war, demanded by the Israeli government, with Iran, beginning with Syria, that disrupts the oil flow and thereby the stability of the Western economies or brings the US and its weak NATO puppets into armed conflict with Russia and China. The oil spikes would degrade further the US and EU economies, but Wall Street would make money on the trades.
An unfavorable economic statistic that wakes up investors as to the true state of the US economy, a statistic that the presstitute media cannot deflect.
An affront to China, whose government decides that knocking the US down a few pegs into third world status is worth a trillion dollars.
More derivate mistakes, such as JPMorgan Chase’s recent one, that send the US financial system again reeling and reminds us that nothing has changed.
The list is long. There is a limit to how many stupid mistakes and corrupt financial policies the rest of the world is willing to accept from the US. When that limit is reached, it is all over for “the world’s sole superpower” and for holders of dollar-denominated instruments.
Financial deregulation converted the financial system, which formerly served businesses and consumers, into a gambling casino where bets are not covered. These uncovered bets, together with the Fed’s zero interest rate policy, have exposed Americans’ living standard and wealth to large declines. Retired people living on their savings and investments, IRAs and 401(k)s can earn nothing on their money and are forced to consume their capital, thereby depriving heirs of inheritance. Accumulated wealth is consumed.
As a result of jobs offshoring, the US has become an import-dependent country, dependent on foreign made manufactured goods, clothing, and shoes. When the dollar exchange rate falls, domestic US prices will rise, and US real consumption will take a big hit. Americans will consume less, and their standard of living will fall dramatically.
The serious consequences of the enormous mistakes made in Washington, on Wall Street, and in corporate offices are being held at bay by an untenable policy of low interest rates and a corrupt financial press, while debt rapidly builds. The Fed has been through this experience once before. During WW II the Federal Reserve kept interest rates low in order to aid the Treasury’s war finance by minimizing the interest burden of the war debt. The Fed kept the interest rates low by buying the debt issues. The postwar inflation that resulted led to the Federal Reserve-Treasury Accord in 1951, in which agreement was reached that the Federal Reserve would cease monetizing the debt and permit interest rates to rise.
Fed chairman Bernanke has spoken of an “exit strategy” and said that when inflation threatens, he can prevent the inflation by taking the money back out of the banking system. However, he can do that only by selling Treasury bonds, which means interest rates would rise. A rise in interest rates would threaten the derivative structure, cause bond losses, and raise the cost of both private and public debt service. In other words, to prevent inflation from debt monetization would bring on more immediate problems than inflation. Rather than collapse the system, wouldn’t the Fed be more likely to inflate away the massive debts?
Eventually, inflation would erode the dollar’s purchasing power and use as the reserve currency, and the US government’s credit worthiness would waste away. However, the Fed, the politicians, and the financial gangsters would prefer a crisis later rather than sooner. Passing the sinking ship on to the next watch is preferable to going down with the ship oneself. As long as interest rate swaps can be used to boost Treasury bond prices, and as long as naked shorts of bullion can be used to keep silver and gold from rising in price, the false image of the US as a safe haven for investors can be perpetuated.
However, the $230,000,000,000,000 in derivative bets by US banks might bring its own surprises. JPMorgan Chase has had to admit that its recently announced derivative loss of $2 billion is more than that. How much more remains to be seen. According to the Comptroller of the Currency http://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/capital-markets/financial-markets/trading/derivatives/dq411.pdf the five largest banks hold 95.7% of all derivatives. The five banks holding $226 trillion in derivative bets are highly leveraged gamblers. For example, JPMorgan Chase has total assets of $1.8 trillion but holds $70 trillion in derivative bets, a ratio of $39 in derivative bets for every dollar of assets. Such a bank doesn’t have to lose very many bets before it is busted.
Assets, of course, are not risk-based capital. According to the Comptroller of the Currency report, as of December 31, 2011, JPMorgan Chase held $70.2 trillion in derivatives and only $136 billion in risk-based capital. In other words, the bank’s derivative bets are 516 times larger than the capital that covers the bets.
It is difficult to imagine a more reckless and unstable position for a bank to place itself in, but Goldman Sachs takes the cake. That bank’s $44 trillion in derivative bets is covered by only $19 billion in risk-based capital, resulting in bets 2,295 times larger than the capital that covers them.
Bets on interest rates comprise 81% of all derivatives. These are the derivatives that support high US Treasury bond prices despite massive increases in US debt and its monetization.
US banks’ derivative bets of $230 trillion, concentrated in five banks, are 15.3 times larger than the US GDP. A failed political system that allows unregulated banks to place uncovered bets 15 times larger than the US economy is a system that is headed for catastrophic failure. As the word spreads of the fantastic lack of judgment in the American political and financial systems, the catastrophe in waiting will become a reality.
Everyone wants a solution, so I will provide one. The US government should simply cancel the $230 trillion in derivative bets, declaring them null and void. As no real assets are involved, merely gambling on notional values, the only major effect of closing out or netting all the swaps (mostly over-the-counter contracts between counter-parties) would be to take $230 trillion of leveraged risk out of the financial system. The financial gangsters who want to continue enjoying betting gains while the public underwrites their losses would scream and yell about the sanctity of contracts. However, a government that can murder its own citizens or throw them into dungeons without due process can abolish all the contracts it wants in the name of national security. And most certainly, unlike the war on terror, purging the financial system of the gambling derivatives would vastly improve national security.
About Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following.
Pentagon stops giving out free guns to police
Published: 08 June, 2012, 23:52
http://rt.com/usa/news/pentagon-police-program-guns-420/
New York City police stand in front of a helicopter purchased with funds from the Department of Homeland Security (Michael Nagle/Getty Images/AFP)
TAGS:Crime, Corruption, USA
A Pentagon-led program that equipped more than 17,000 police and sheriff’s departments across the country with military-grade surplus weaponry will be put on hold while auditors try to account for $2.6 billion worth of handouts.
The US Department of Defense made a surprise move on Friday when they announced that the Pentagon program responsible for supplying local law enforcement agencies across America with armored cars, automatic weapons and even aircraft is being temporarily halted while an investigation tries to locate items issued during the last few years of the initiative.
Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Kenneth MacNevin tells the Associated Press that the audit was not triggered by any specific incident, but news of the change in procedure comes after a handful of stories made it to the mainstream media in 2012 alleging mismanagement of the weapons. The agency says that they temporarily suspend the arms program as they take inventory of their last round of handouts, but that could be a major chore until itself: last year the Pentagon gave away half a billion dollars’ worth of military gear through the agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office.
"Leadership decided to make sure we have a good, full accounting for all of this," MacNevin tells AP. "We're not doing this based on any thought there's a problem. We're doing it because accountability is accountability."
Only one month earlier, however, accountability was an issue being brought up for discussion in rural Arizona, where the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was in the spotlight for its relationship with the Law Enforcement Support Office. The Arizona Republic newspaper was able to uncover documents suggesting that Sheriff Paul Babeu's office has been handed more than $7 million worth of Humvees, fire trucks, guns, defibrillators, barber chairs, underwear, thermal-imaging scopes, computers, motor scooters and more from the Pentagon — but not before trying to sell them on the street for extra cash.
“[I]nternal e-mails obtained through public-records requests by The Republic show sheriff's officials touting their ability to get products from the Defense Department at no cost and to fortify their finances by selling the goods at auction,” reported the paper last month. “In a budget presentation to Pinal County supervisors in March, Babeu said he intends to balance his budget in part by auctioning equipment procured from the military.”
Responding to a request by the AP to comment on the Pentagon’s pulling of the plug, Payson, Ariz Detective Matt Van Camp, claims, "I don't have any info on if something triggered” the DoD’s order.
"All I know is Arizona is 100 percent compliant on weapons inventory,” adds the officer, who oversees the state’s relationship with the Defense Logistics Agency program.
The Pentagon fell just short of giving away $500 million worth of gear to small-time agencies last year, including 15,000 weapons worth nearly $3.8 million.
Pentagon stops giving out free guns to police
Published: 08 June, 2012, 23:52
http://rt.com/usa/news/pentagon-police-program-guns-420/
New York City police stand in front of a helicopter purchased with funds from the Department of Homeland Security (Michael Nagle/Getty Images/AFP)
TAGS:Crime, Corruption, USA
A Pentagon-led program that equipped more than 17,000 police and sheriff’s departments across the country with military-grade surplus weaponry will be put on hold while auditors try to account for $2.6 billion worth of handouts.
The US Department of Defense made a surprise move on Friday when they announced that the Pentagon program responsible for supplying local law enforcement agencies across America with armored cars, automatic weapons and even aircraft is being temporarily halted while an investigation tries to locate items issued during the last few years of the initiative.
Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Kenneth MacNevin tells the Associated Press that the audit was not triggered by any specific incident, but news of the change in procedure comes after a handful of stories made it to the mainstream media in 2012 alleging mismanagement of the weapons. The agency says that they temporarily suspend the arms program as they take inventory of their last round of handouts, but that could be a major chore until itself: last year the Pentagon gave away half a billion dollars’ worth of military gear through the agency’s Law Enforcement Support Office.
"Leadership decided to make sure we have a good, full accounting for all of this," MacNevin tells AP. "We're not doing this based on any thought there's a problem. We're doing it because accountability is accountability."
Only one month earlier, however, accountability was an issue being brought up for discussion in rural Arizona, where the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was in the spotlight for its relationship with the Law Enforcement Support Office. The Arizona Republic newspaper was able to uncover documents suggesting that Sheriff Paul Babeu's office has been handed more than $7 million worth of Humvees, fire trucks, guns, defibrillators, barber chairs, underwear, thermal-imaging scopes, computers, motor scooters and more from the Pentagon — but not before trying to sell them on the street for extra cash.
“[I]nternal e-mails obtained through public-records requests by The Republic show sheriff's officials touting their ability to get products from the Defense Department at no cost and to fortify their finances by selling the goods at auction,” reported the paper last month. “In a budget presentation to Pinal County supervisors in March, Babeu said he intends to balance his budget in part by auctioning equipment procured from the military.”
Responding to a request by the AP to comment on the Pentagon’s pulling of the plug, Payson, Ariz Detective Matt Van Camp, claims, "I don't have any info on if something triggered” the DoD’s order.
"All I know is Arizona is 100 percent compliant on weapons inventory,” adds the officer, who oversees the state’s relationship with the Defense Logistics Agency program.
The Pentagon fell just short of giving away $500 million worth of gear to small-time agencies last year, including 15,000 weapons worth nearly $3.8 million.
US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters
http://www.wtop.com/289/2377364/US-Russia-sending-Syria-attack-helicopters
Eric Holder warns of ‘constitutional crisis’
By TIM MAK and JOSH GERSTEIN | 6/12/12 11:31 AM EDT Updated: 6/12/12 1:11 PM EDT
Under threat of a House contempt citation over the botched Fast and Furious gun-walking operation, Attorney General Eric Holder spoke in a conciliatory tone Tuesday about his willingness for “compromises” to avoid what he called “an impending constitutional crisis” over the withholding of documents in response to a congressional subpoena.
“We are prepared to make – I am prepared to make - compromises with regard to the documents that can be made available,” said Holder in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Continue Reading
“I want to make it very clear that I am offering – I myself – to sit down with the Speaker, the chairman, with you, whoever, to try and work our way through this in an attempt to avoid a constitutional crisis, and come up with ways, creative ways, in which to make this material available. But I’ve got to have a willing partner. I’ve extended my hand, and I’m waiting to hear back,” he added in response to a question about the subpoenaed documents posed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.)
(Also on POLITICO: Cornyn calls on Holder to resign)
Holder’s remarks were his most aggressive public offer yet to wheel and deal with Congress to head off a dramatic contempt showdown — Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has scheduled a vote on the citation for June 20 in his committee.
After using the phrase “constitutional crisis” at least three times, Holder noted two hours into the hearingthat “constitutional conflict” might be a better term.
At issue between Republicans and Democrats are the withholding of Justice Department documents in response to a Congressional subpoena. The DOJ claims that previous administrations have reserved the right to withhold deliberative documents.
“There is a basis for the withholding of these documents… the tradition has always been, by members of the Justice Department, whether they were Republicans or Democrats, to withhold deliberative material,” argued Holder. “We have reached out to Chairman Issa, members of the leadership on the House side, to try to work our way through these issues.”
One possible area of compromise appeared to be the issue of wiretap applications related to Fast and Furious that are confidential because they are under a court-ordered seal.
“Will you seek the court’s permission to release the affidavit so that people can read them… and if there’s any problem with something sensitive, could the judge make a decision to remove any truly sensitive information before release?” asked Grassley.
“That would be a truly extraordinary act… I am willing to consider that as a possibility to try to avoid what I think is an impending constitutional crisis,” responded Holder. “We want to make sure that if we do share that information it does not have an impact on ongoing investigations.”
The Attorney General’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee marks the ninth time he’s testified before Congress in the last 16 months on the issue of Fast and Furious. However, he did not seem in a rush to address the matter, declining to speak about it in opening remarks.
Holder’s conciliatory tone was echoed Monday morning by House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in a letter to Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).
“Yesterday, you informed Committee Members that you scheduled a business meeting next week to vote on your draft contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder. I continue to believe that it is possible to resolve outstanding questions regarding this investigation without resorting to contempt,” wrote Cummings.
The Fast and Furious gun-walking operation aimed to investigate drug cartels and weapons traffickers but instead ended up supplying them with weapons. Investigators lost thousands of firearms, many of which crossed the border into Mexico.
Later, firearms linked to the operation were found at the scene of the Dec. 2010 shooting death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Terry’s death led to publicity related to the operation, which the attorney general has previously called “tragic and completely unacceptable.” Holder maintains that he was not aware of the tactics used in the gun-walking operation while it was underway.
Last year, three whistleblowers testified about gun-walking before the House Oversight Committee.
“Here we are, one year later, and the Terry family is still waiting for answers, they’re still waiting for justice. The FBI doesn’t have the shooter in custody, and the Justice Department [hasn’t fully responded to] a subpoena about how all this happened,” Grassley told Holder at the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77327_Page2.html#ixzz1xb
Holder: ‘I Stuck by My Guns’
By Fred Lucas
June 12, 2012
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/holder-i-stuck-my-guns
Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 12, 2012, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
(CNSNews.com) – Embattled Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he has “stuck by my guns” during his time in office.
“I’ve enjoyed my time as attorney general,” he told the panel. “It’s been a tough job. It is one that takes a lot out of you. Some raised concerns as to whether I was tough enough for this job. I think that people will hopefully see that I’ve done this job in a way that is consistent with our values.”
He was responding to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) who asked Holder if he would consider serving a second term as attorney general if Obama is reelected.
“I stuck by my guns,” Holder continued. “I’ve been criticized a lot for the positions that I’ve taken. I’ve lost some. I’ve won more than I’ve lost. I’m proud of the work that I’ve done. More important, I’m proud of the 116,000 people in this United States Department of Justice. This has been the highlight of my career to have been the attorney general of the United States, to work with you all and to serve this president. What my future holds, frankly, I’m just not sure.”
The House Oversight and Government Reform committee, which has been investigating the Justice Department’s involvement in a gunrunning operation dubbed “Fast and Furious,” plans to vote June 20 on whether to hold Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide more than 100,000 subpoenaed documents pertaining to the botched gun sting.
As part of Fast and Furious, a Justice Department program that began in September 2009, law enforcement knowingly allowed about 2,000 U.S. guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels, with the intent of tracking the weapons and making arrests. However, law enforcement lost track of most of the weapons.
The program was halted in December 2010 after two weapons from the program were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
EU: movement of money, people can be limited
Associated Press – 19 mins ago.
http://news.yahoo.com/eu-movement-money-people-limited-144836122--finance.html;_ylt=A2KLOzIJWtdP4yMA3VHQtDMD
BRUSSELS (AP) — European officials are working on range of contingency scenarios covering action that could be to control the movement of people and money in the event of Greece abandoning the euro currency, a European Union spokesman admitted Tuesday.
Olivier Bailly spokesman said Tuesday that, legally, limits could be imposed on movement of people and money across national borders within the EU if it's necessary to protect public order or public security.
"Some people are working on scenarios," he said, adding that the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, was giving legal advice to those who requested it.
As always, Information Clearing House has a wealth of good articles...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
From Nevada to Fata
By Iftekhar A Khan
It’s none less than the master overseer of the planet himself who simultaneously sits in for the judge, the jury and the executioner to sign the death warrants. Continue
GOP Rep Says U.S. Drone Program Is One Of ‘Righteousness And Goodness’
By Nina Liss-Schultz
House Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King (R-NY), said he’s “not concerned” about the program’s negative fallout, particularly civilian casualties, adding that the U.S. drone policy is one “righteousness and goodness“ Continue
Drones’ Murder of Innocents Highlights U.S. Hypocrisy
By Gene Clancy
As the U.S. and its allies prepare to intervene in Syria, they have seized on the massacre that took place at Houla last week to justify a war. Continue
Insurgents Named Responsible for Syrian Massacres:
By Stephen Lendman
A Syrian documentary aired on June 9, and a June 7 report by Germany's leading broadsheet provide more evidence. Both refutes Western and scoundrel media misinformation. Continue
When Protector Turned Killer
By Vijay Prashad
NATO, in other words, operates as a rogue military entity, outside the bounds of the prejudices of democratic society. The various human rights reports simply underlie the necessity of a formal and independent evaluation of NATO’s actions in Libya. Continue
Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up
Saul Landau on U.S.-Aided Anti-Castro Militants & the Cuban 5
By Democracy Now!
"What did Cuba do to us?," Landau asks. "Well, the answer, I think, is that they were disobedient, in our hemisphere. And they did not ask permission to take away property. They took it away. They nationalized property. And the United States ... has never forgiven them." Continue
Daniel Berrigan: America’s Street Priest
By Chris Hedges
The notion that one has to achieve peace of mind before stretching out one’s hand to one’s neighbor is a distortion of our human experience, and ultimately a dodge of our responsibility. Continue
Family Net Worth Drops to Level of Early ’90s, Fed Says
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
The recent financial crisis left the median American family in 2010 with no more wealth than they had in the early 1990s, erasing almost two decades of accumulated prosperity, the Federal Reserve said Monday. Continue
War or Revolution Every 75 Years. It's Time Again.
By Paul Buchheit
If history repeats itself, we will be part of another revolution of long-subjugated people. Indeed, it has already begun. Continue
In The Name Of My Father
In the Shadow of the Corporate State Madhouse
By Phil Rockstroh
the state, acting through its anonymous operatives, becomes a force of lawlessness abducting, torturing, and killing. Continue
Glad your out there benz:)
Indiana First State to Allow Citizens to Shoot Law Enforcement Officers
Monday, June 11, 2012
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Indiana_First_State_to_Allow_Citizens_to_Shoot_Law_Enforcement_Officers_120611
Police officers in Indiana are upset over a new law allowing residents to use deadly force against public servants, including law enforcement officers, who unlawfully enter their homes. It was signed by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in March.
The first of its kind in the United States, the law was adopted after the state Supreme Court went too far in one of its rulings last year, according to supporters. The case in question involved a man who assaulted an officer during a domestic violence call. The court ruled that there was “no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.”
The National Rifle Association lobbied for the new law, arguing that the court decision had legalized police to commit unjustified entries.
Tim Downs, president of the Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police, which opposed the legislation, said the law could open the way for people who are under the influence or emotionally distressed to attack officers in their homes.
“It’s just a recipe for disaster,” Downs told Bloomberg. “It just puts a bounty on our heads.”
Pileup at the White House
By Dana Milbank, Published: June 11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/car-wreck-at-the-white-house/2012/06/11/gJQAl8MpVV_print.html
It has been a Junius Horribilis for President Obama.
Job growth has stalled, the Democrats have been humiliated in Wisconsin, the attorney general is facing a contempt-of-Congress citation, talks with Pakistan have broken down, Bill Clinton is contradicting Obama, Mitt Romney is outraising him, Democrats and Republicans alike are complaining about a “cascade” of national-security leaks from his administration, and he is now on record as saying that the “private sector is doing fine.”
Could it get any worse?
Early Monday morning, Obama learned that it could. His aides delivered the news to him that his commerce secretary had been cited for a felony hit-and-run after allegedly crashing his car three times over the weekend. In one incident, the previously obscure Cabinet officer apparently rear-ended a Buick, spoke to the car’s occupants, then hit the vehicle again as he left.
Thus did Jay Carney, the oft-besieged White House press secretary, have another briefing carjacked by bad news. And Carney, who either didn’t know the details of the bizarre episode or wasn’t at liberty to divulge them, had to execute a full range of defensive maneuvers.
“I can simply tell you that he was engaged, as has been reported, in a couple of traffic incidents,” Carney began, as if the secretary, John Bryson, had been photographed by a speed camera or two. Bryson “suffered a seizure, was hospitalized. But beyond that I’ll refer you to Commerce for the details.”
“Is the secretary healthy and fit to serve?” inquired Ben Feller of the Associated Press.
“I would refer you to the Commerce Department.”
Ann Compton of ABC News asked whether the White House chief of staff, who spoke to Bryson, considers the incident serious.
“I don’t have a specific response to give you,” Carney said.
CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked about “the timing of the seizure in relation to the accident.”
“I would refer you, as I said in the past, to the Department of Commerce,” Carney answered.
“I’ve been asking them for hours,” Keilar protested.
“I think I would refer you to the Commerce Department,” was Carney’s rote reply.
The former journalist informed the questioners that he “was not a presiding doctor on this case” and could confirm only that “the commerce secretary was alone, he had a seizure, he was involved in an accident.”
“He was involved in several accidents,” called out April Ryan of American Urban Radio.
“Thank you for the correction,” Carney said. He did not sound grateful.
Carney’s non-defense doesn’t suggest much job security for Bryson, who, depending on what caused the episode Saturday, has either a medical problem or a legal problem.
For the White House, it was just the latest entry in the when-it-rains-it-pours ledger. This has been one of the worst stretches of the Obama presidency. In Washington, there is a creeping sense that the bottom has fallen out and that there may be no second term. Privately, senior Obama advisers say they are no longer expecting much economic improvement before the election.
Carney had the unenviable task of confronting the full arsenal of gloom at Monday afternoon’s briefing.
The AP asked about the president’s unfortunate private-sector-is-fine remark. The Reuters correspondent asked about the economic “head winds” from Europe. Ed Henry of Fox News Channel asked about the looming contempt-of-Congress vote against Attorney General Eric Holder. Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News asked about the Supreme Court striking down Obamacare. Norah O’Donnell of CBS News asked about calls for a special prosecutor to probe leaks. Victoria Jones of Talk Radio News asked about the stalled talks with Pakistan.
Carney sought relief by calling on TV correspondents from swing states, but the one from Wisconsin asked about the failed attempt to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the one from Nevada asked about her state’s unemployment rate, the nation’s highest.
Mostly, though, questions veered back to the commerce secretary’s motoring.
AP Radio’s Mark Smith asked whether Bryson “is now on medical leave.”
“I would refer you to the Commerce Department.” (Eight hours later, Carney issued a statement saying that Bryson was indeed taking such a leave.)
Ryan asked about “mandatory physicals” for Cabinet nominees.
“I don’t have any details about that.”
A New York Daily News correspondent asked if Obama has confidence in Bryson staying on the job with a “felony rap.”
This one Carney answered — by not answering. “He is concerned about Secretary Bryson’s health and broadly about the incident,” the spokesman said — in marked contrast to the “absolute confidence” he said a moment later that Obama has in Holder.
Apparently Bryson will have to clean up his own wreckage. This White House has too many other pileups to deal with.
For Washington Sketch columns, go to washingtonpost.com/opinions.
© The Washington Post Company
Border agency overextended on drone program
By Stephen Dinan The Washington Times
Monday, June 11, 2012
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/11/border-agency-overextended-drone-program/
The Homeland Security Department ordered so many drones it can’t keep them all flying and doesn’t have a good plan for how to use them, according to a new audit the department’s inspector general released Monday.
In a blunt assessment, investigators said Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine has a fleet of nine “unmanned aircraft systems” and is awaiting a 10th — though it doesn’t have enough ground support and doesn’t have a good plan for prioritizing missions.
“CBP procured unmanned aircraft before implementing adequate plans,” the investigators said.
The Defense Department uses armed drones overseas in its war on terror, and a U.S. Navy drone crashed on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Monday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.
American law enforcement agencies at all levels are also increasingly turning to drones for use in detecting or preventing crimes in the U.S. But they find themselves butting heads with civil libertarians who worry about intrusion into innocent citizens’ private lives.
The inspector general said given the number of aircraft, CBP should have been able to fly more than 10,000 hours of missions per year, but in the year under review the agency flew less than 4,000 hours.
Underscoring the ad hoc approach, the agency doesn’t have a dedicated budget for running drones, and has had to siphon money from other areas to keep the program afloat. Investigators said the budget woes mean future missions may have to be scrapped — yet the underfunded fleet continues to grow.
“Despite the current underutilization of unmanned aircraft, CBP received two additional aircraft in late 2011 and was awaiting delivery of a tenth aircraft in 2012,” the inspector general said.
In a statement, CBP officials said they accepted the auditor’s recommendations and will work to improve the program.
“CBP’s Unmanned Aircraft System program provides command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability to support personnel and capabilities on the ground,” the agency said.
Since fiscal year 2004, when CBP conducted its first pilot study of using drones, the federal government has spent $240.6 million on the program, with each Predator B drone in the fleet costing about $14 million.
CBP uses drones to help it patrol along the country’s borders, with the agency saying they assist in looking for “potential terrorist and illegal cross-border activity.”
Drones are also stationed in Florida and Texas to help with maritime operations.
In addition to its own missions, CBP has drone missions for the Texas Rangers, the U.S. Forest Service, the FBI and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — the latter of which wanted video of dams, bridges and levees where flooding was occurring.
Investigators also said CBP, at the behest of the State Department, has held “discussions with another country on the use of unmanned aircraft.”
The unmasking of internet trolls: New laws will make websites responsible for vile messages unless they reveal identities of bullies
By James Slack
PUBLISHED: 19:56 EST, 11 June 2012 | UPDATED: 06:43 EST, 12 June 2012
Cowardly internet ‘trolls’ who post vile abuse on Facebook and Twitter will be identified to their victims under laws unveiled today.
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke wants to strip away the cloak of anonymity which shields website users who peddle lies and vicious smears.
Internet companies will be expected to agree to rules over how to deal with libellous comments posted on their sites.
They will be told that – provided they agree to hand over the identity of the abuser to their victim – the internet company itself will be protected from legal action by the victim of abuse.
If they refuse, however, they could be hauled before the courts and fined thousands of pounds for the hateful comments, even though they were made by a visitor to their website.
Officials believe the prospect of protection from a defamation case will be enough of a ‘carrot’ for the likes of Twitter and Facebook to agree to the new regime.
It will finally help to bring to an end the injustice of victims being subject to sickening online abuse – often from those they have never met – with little chance of finding out who is responsible.
In future, they will be able to use the names and email addresses of their tormentors to bring a prosecution for libel.
There have been a string of cases of ‘trolls’ posting lies – such as making accusations of paedophilia – on social networking sites.
Last night, Mr Clarke said: ‘As the law stands, individuals can be the subject of scurrilous rumour and allegation on the web with little meaningful remedy against the person responsible.
‘Website operators are in principle liable as publishers for everything that appears on their sites, even though the content is often determined by users.
‘But most operators are not in a position to know whether the material posted is defamatory or not and very often, faced with a complaint, they will immediately remove material.
Our proposed approach will mean that website operators have a defence against libel as long as they identify the authors of allegedly defamatory material when requested to do so by a complainant.’
The proposals are included in the Defamation Bill, which will be debated by MPs today.
The new powers will be balanced by proposals to stop people falsely claiming critical articles are defamatory simply to get them removed.
A one-year time limit is also being introduced to stop old articles triggering new libel claims.
Another of the issues facing the new legislation is how to identify internet users who leave abuse by using a shared computer, such as in an internet cafe.
Last week, a mother who was sent death threats by so-called internet ‘trolls’ won a landmark legal case against Facebook.
Nicola Brookes was tormented for months by anonymous bullies after she left an innocent message of support for an X Factor contestant on the social networking site.
She went to police to make a complaint but claimed officers told her to go home. But the 45-year-old refused to give up and, on Friday, won a court order forcing Facebook to identify the identities of the trolls. She now hopes to bring a private prosecution against them.
The benefit of the planned law change is that a victim will no longer have to spend large sums of money dragging the case to court.
Instead, they will be able to obtain their accuser’s identity direct from the website hosting their remarks. An internet company that refuses to co-operate can still be dragged to court to reveal the details.
In the case of Mrs Brookes, the information disclosed included the bullies’ names, email addresses and their computers’ internet protocol addresses, which can be used to determine a computer’s location.
Mr Clarke said: ‘The Government wants a libel regime for the internet that makes it possible for people to protect their reputations but also ensures information online can’t be easily censored by casual threats of litigation against website operators.
‘It will be very important to ensure that these measures do not inadvertently expose genuine whistleblowers, and we are committed to getting the detail right to minimise this risk.’
The overall aim of the Defamation Bill is to end ‘libel tourism’ and protect free speech. In recent years London has become the libel capital of the world.
Critics say this is because regulations favour claimants and that the very high costs involved in defending a claim mean many publications are forced to settle out of court, even when they believe what they published was true.
In an attempt to end trivial claims, future claimants will have to show that material has caused them ‘serious harm’. And those from outside the EU will face new hurdles before they can bring a claim in London.
Journalists will also be allowed a defence against defamation where they can show the material is in the public interest.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2157937/New-laws-make-Facebook-Twitter-responsible-internet-trolls-unless-them.html#ixzz1xaPQy1OV
Agree. Just found the story too interesting not to share.
We live in interesting times....
I heard there was all kinds of info on Reddit the day the explosions were heard and the radiation spike occurred but I didn't read any of it as I was busy with weekend stuff.
I agree that there should be some news popping up by now re: the missing people, if nothing else.
North Dakota voters to decide on abolishing property tax
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
North Dakota voters to decide on abolishing property tax
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAYUpdated 2h 20m ago Comments
Reprints & PermissionsNorth Dakota voters will decide Tuesday on the ultimate tax revolt: abolishing the property tax altogether. A citizen-led petition drive has put the daring, all-or-nothing proposal before the voters in a state flush with tax revenue, jobs and prosperity generated by an oil boom.
Sponsored LinksIf the property tax is eliminated, it would be the first time since 1980 — when oil-rich Alaska got rid of its income tax — that a state has discontinued a major tax, reports the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan research group. North Dakota would become the only state not to have a property tax, a levy the state has had since before it joined the union in 1889.
"The oil boom makes it easier to get rid of the tax, but we started this before the oil boom took off," said Charlene Nelson, chairman of Empower The Taxpayer, which is leading the tax repeal effort. "Any state would benefit from this same thing."
North Dakota's political and business establishment has lined up against the measure. The state Chamber of Commerce, farm groups, unions and most elected officials are opposed.
The property tax generates about $800 million a year in North Dakota. Except for a small share for a state medical school, the money is collected by counties and used to fund schools and local governments.
"The property tax is the foundation of local government services," said Connie Sprynczynatyk, executive director of the North Dakota League of Cities. "It's the predictable source of revenue to pay for police and fire and other local services in the community where you live."
Measure 2, as the proposal is called on the ballot, would require state government to make up for property tax revenue lost by local governments but doesn't specify how. Sprynczynatyk said this vagueness makes it uncertain if the measure can be implemented.
North Dakota's attempt to banish the property tax reflects the sparsely populated state's streak of independence and populism.
Despite hot political rhetoric, governments and voters generally tinker with long-established taxing habits — raising and lowering rates, adding and removing tax breaks — rather than attempting radical change. California's Proposition 13, a voter-approved initiative in 1978 that started a nationwide effort to limit property taxes, slashed property tax rates and limited future increases but did not end the tax.
Property taxes date to the 19th century in most states, including North Dakota.
The property tax is the most unpopular of all taxes, according to polling by the Tax Foundation.
Nelson, the tax opponent, hopes North Dakota starts a brush fire elsewhere to end - not just lower — the property tax. "The problem with reducing a tax is it's like a weed. It always grows back," she said.
I've read about a group that set up a new government with representatives from all states. They even elected a president. They were going to meet and I hope this isn't true and that it's not that group
What do you think????
NESARA- Restore America - Galactics News: 380 American Rebels Reported Killed In Michigan Battle
http://?nesaranews.blogspot.com/?2012/06/?380-american-rebels-reporte?d-killed-in.html
See this info I posted a few days ago:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=76418982
NESARA- Restore America - Galactics News: 380 American Rebels Reported Killed In Michigan Battle
http://?nesaranews.blogspot.com/?2012/06/?380-american-rebels-reporte?d-killed-in.html
????????????????????????????????????????????
I really like rys2sense offerings and this one didn't let me down:)
Italy’s bank reportedly takes a ‘Roman Holiday’ leaving depositors holding the bag
Posted on June 11, 2012
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/italys-bank-reportedly-takes-a-roman-holiday-leaving-depositors-holding-the-bag/
June 11, 2012 – ITALY - BNI depositors are unable to make withdrawals / payments, payments of utility bills, mortgage payments, taxes says Peter Giordano, Adiconsum: “Grave of the Bank of Italy’s attitude that takes action without considering the impact on depositors, and especially on single-income families and pensioners.” Adiconsum Bank of Italy asks for an urgent meeting and the lifting of the moratorium. The Bank of Italy authorized the suspension of payments by Bank Network Investments SpA (BNI) without communicating anything to the depositors. Very serious and unacceptable – says Peter Jordan, Secretary General Adiconsum – the attitude of the Bank of Italy SpA in each BNI, because highly prejudicial to the interests of customers. Bank of Italy, in fact, after extending the receivership of the bank, thus giving the impression of an imminent rescue, then gave the green light for compulsory winding up, without giving any prior notice to the depositors, leaving them in no condition to perform any type of operation, even basic ones for daily survival, such as withdrawals / payments, utilities payments, rates, taxes. We must unfortunately note that offensive measures as those adopted to customers BNI – Giordano complaint – not an isolated case. Decisions without taking into account the heavy impact, particularly on savers in possession of a single bank account on which accrediting salary or pension, are not new to Bank of Italy, and also affected depositors of Banca MB. –Google (translated)
Second study predicts imminent irreversible planetary collapse
Posted on June 11, 2012
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/second-study-predicts-imminent-irreversible-planetary-collapse/
June 11 2012 – PLANET - Using scientific theories, toy ecosystem modeling and paleontological evidence as a crystal ball, 18 scientists, including one from Simon Fraser University, predict we’re on a much worse collision course with Mother Nature than currently thought. In approaching a state-shift in Earth’s biosphere, a paper just published in Nature, the authors, whose expertise span a multitude of disciplines, suggest our planet’s ecosystems are careening towards an imminent, irreversible collapse. Earth’s accelerating loss of biodiversity, its climates’ increasingly extreme fluctuations, its ecosystems’ growing connectedness and its radically changing total energy budget are precursors to reaching a planetary state threshold or tipping point. Once that happens, which the authors predict could be reached this century, the planet’s ecosystems, as we know them, could irreversibly collapse in the proverbial blink of an eye. “Once a threshold-induced planetary state shift occurs, there’s no going back. So, if a system switches to a new state because you’ve added lots of energy, even if you take out the new energy, it won’t revert back to the old system. The planet doesn’t have any memory of the old state.” These projections contradict the popularly held belief that the extent to which human-induced pressures, such as climate change, are destroying our planet is still debatable, and any collapse would be both gradual and centuries away. This study concludes we better not exceed the 50 per cent mark of wholesale transformation of Earth’s surface or we won’t be able to delay, never mind avert, a planetary collapse. –Terra Daily
Second study predicts imminent irreversible planetary collapse
Posted on June 11, 2012
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/second-study-predicts-imminent-irreversible-planetary-collapse/
June 11 2012 – PLANET - Using scientific theories, toy ecosystem modeling and paleontological evidence as a crystal ball, 18 scientists, including one from Simon Fraser University, predict we’re on a much worse collision course with Mother Nature than currently thought. In approaching a state-shift in Earth’s biosphere, a paper just published in Nature, the authors, whose expertise span a multitude of disciplines, suggest our planet’s ecosystems are careening towards an imminent, irreversible collapse. Earth’s accelerating loss of biodiversity, its climates’ increasingly extreme fluctuations, its ecosystems’ growing connectedness and its radically changing total energy budget are precursors to reaching a planetary state threshold or tipping point. Once that happens, which the authors predict could be reached this century, the planet’s ecosystems, as we know them, could irreversibly collapse in the proverbial blink of an eye. “Once a threshold-induced planetary state shift occurs, there’s no going back. So, if a system switches to a new state because you’ve added lots of energy, even if you take out the new energy, it won’t revert back to the old system. The planet doesn’t have any memory of the old state.” These projections contradict the popularly held belief that the extent to which human-induced pressures, such as climate change, are destroying our planet is still debatable, and any collapse would be both gradual and centuries away. This study concludes we better not exceed the 50 per cent mark of wholesale transformation of Earth’s surface or we won’t be able to delay, never mind avert, a planetary collapse. –Terra Daily
Developing: Nuclear Cover-Up? Extreme Radiation Levels Prompt EPA Censorship, DHS Hazmat Team
Anthony Gucciardi
Infowars.com
Friday, June 8, 2012
http://www.infowars.com/developing-nuclear-cover-up-extreme-radiation-levels-prompt-epa-censorship-dhs-hazmat-team/
In a developing story that is raising concerns over a potential nuclear cover-up by the EPA, alarming amounts of radiation were reported near the border of Indiana and Michigan and later censored by the EPA online geiger tool. The readings, which were captured in a screenshot, measured as high as 7.139 counts per minute (CPM). This is particularly startling, as the normal radiation levels are generally between 5 and 6 CPM. Sources say that a Department of Homeland Security hazmat team has now been dispatched after ‘years’ of inactivity.
A number of community reports have came in on the subject in fact, with readers of community boards and concerned citizens offering up some interesting and intriguing information regarding the potential radiation cover-up. Discussion over the information first began to surface on internet boards like Reddit and user-submitted news source Digital Journal. In the Reddit submission, which ultimately reached thousands of comments — many from those in the area who had contacted radiation monitoring stations and other affiliated individuals — and brought some further information to light.
One Reddit reader, an eyewitness who reportedly attends a nearby University shared some concerning information which quickly rose to the top and was later confirmed by accompanying comments. According to the user, a large fleet of hazmat team members and reponse trucks funded by Homeland Security have been dispatched after years of inactivity. The comment, which has been screen captured for preservation, states:
“I work at a large public university next to a small research reactor that’s located near the back of campus. There’s (normally) a large fleet of hazmat response trucks and trailers parked in the nearby lot. Most of them are NIMS early response vehicles funded by Homeland Security (says so right on them). Haven’t seen them move once since I started working a few years ago. Tonight? All gone.”
The Digital Journal submission, however, was promptly edited and much of the shocking detail in the original post was wiped away. They quickly added an edit stating that the measurements must be false due to the fact that they were so high. Comments quickly cited the changes to be inaccurate and bizarre. One comment, currently at the top of the page, states:
“I don’t buy this false alarm stuff for one min! There are other independent sources doing their own measuring and coming up with similar results.”
As the comment mentions, a number of private organizations have recorded the radiation spike using their own methods to monitor the spike. One such measurement coming from the Radiation Network in Fort Wayne, recorded a massive increase in radiation as seen in the released image below:
Amid the publicity, most likely amounting to hundreds of thousands of visitors to Radiation Network’s website regarding this image — which supports the fact that there is a massive and ongoing radiation cover-up — Radiation Network then issued a quick and delayed message on their homepage stating that they must have experienced an error in their system. Additional findings however, which are now censored to the public, confirm the findings once displayed by the Radiation Network. Again, you can view the original numbers in the screen capture showing the results before they were terminated from viewing by the EPA.
Therefore, to add even more credibility to the spike being much more than an unforeseen error, the increase was actually measured from two entirely different and privately owned locations (BlackCat and the Radiation Network). What this means is that the statements regarding the reading being nothing more than small fluke in the system appear to be quite impossible.
This article first appeared at Natural Society
Looks like stripping out stop limits to me, lol.
All the radiation detection in the area lit up like Christmas lights. Then they shut down the system but not before a few managed screen shots
FirstEnergy Says It’s Fixing a Leak at Ohio Nuclear Plant
By Julie Johnsson and Katarzyna Klimasinska on June 07, 2012
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) (FE) is repairing a leak discovered June 6 as it restarted Davis-Besse nuclear station in Ohio following a refueling outage, a company spokeswoman said.
FirstEnergy can’t say for competitive reasons when it expects to complete the repair to the reactor’s coolant system or when the 913-megawatt unit will come online, Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman for the Akron, Ohio-based company said in a telephone phone interview today.
The amount of radioactive water that sprayed through the pinhole-sized leak was “relatively small” and no radiation was discharged from the plant, Young said.
The leak was below the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission threshold for mandatory reporting, Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokeswoman for the agency in Lisle, Illinois, said today in a telephone interview.
Nuclear Cover-Up: Explosions, Military Helicopters Filmed Near Blacked Out Radiation Zone
Anthony Gucciardi
Infowars.com
Friday, June 8, 2012
Eyewitnesses on the ground near the media-blacked-out elevated radiation zone near the border of Indiana and Michigan, where radiation levels hundreds of times higher than normal were quickly removed from public viewing by the EPA, are now sending in a large number of photos and videos documenting massive explosions accompanied by unmarked helicopters, A-10 Thunderbolts, and military personnel. These reports come after a Department of Homeland Security hazmat fleet was sent out to the location after ‘years’ of inactivity.
Those on the ground report that the explosions are ‘loud and deep’, sounding like fireworks with a kick. The explosions are oftentimes followed up with a squadron of helicopters or other aircraft, oftentimes black and unmarked. One Michigan resident reports the following, and is then backed by dozens of organic comments which confirm the findings:
“EXPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE! Also, Large helicopter heading away from Local Air Force base flying toward scene of explosions! These explosions are seriously consistant, loud booms for the last hour or more.”
After generating much interest, the poster was able to capture some of the explosions on tape. While he would be the first to do so, many more videos began to pop up recording both the explosions and the onset of military aircraft flying through the area into the radiation zone. You can view the video below and hear the explosions for yourself:
Pretty sure this little boy will be a sport horse:) I think he is going to be named Free Radical but not sure yet:)
Awakening? Earthquake swarm reported at San Pedro-Pellado volcano- eruption would be first in recorded history
Posted on June 8, 2012
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/awakening-earthquake-swarm-reported-at-san-pedro-pellado-volcano-eruption-would-be-first-in-recorded-history/
June 8, 2012 – CHILE – Apparently, the SERNAGEOMIN has been monitoring an earthquake swarm at Chile’s Tatara-San Pedro (also known as San Pedro-Pellado), possibly numbering in the hundreds of small earthquakes over the last few days. The reports are a little scant and the information coming from different parts of the Chilean government are contradictory: the regional governor of the area was quoted as saying that “it is of volcanic earthquakes, so we are on alert” while the regional director from ONEMI said “at first thought that we were facing a volcanic earthquakes, but known reports of the analysis has led to the conclusion that we were facing tectonic type earthquakes.” The article in La Tercera also mentions that the volcano hasn’t erupted in “decades” while the Global Volcanism Program’s entry for San Pedro says that the last eruption is “unknown,” likely in the Holocene (last 10,000 years). So, there seems to be lots of confusion (not to mention La Tercera calling the volcano “Catinao”). If this is renewed activity at the volcano, it is potentially the first in recorded history. –Wired
I'll have to feed the horses this as they get ready to head to the track!
My second foal was born Wednesday morning - a bay colt with lots of chrome:)
Hitler Is Long The USD, Gets A Margin Call
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/07/2012 19:51 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/hitler-long-usd-gets-margin-call
It's been a while since we had a close encounter with Hitler and specifically his trading prowess. Today we learn just how truly powerless the German is when faced with the terrible trio of Geithner's "strong dollar policy", a CFTC barrage of margin calls, and the fine print of various precious metal ETFs. And of course FX sellside "recommendations" by the TBTFs.
The 'Big Reset' Is Coming: Here Is What To Do
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/07/2012 21:22 -0400
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/big-reset-coming-here-what-do
A week ago, Zero Hedge first presented the now viral presentation by Raoul Pal titled "The End Game." We dubbed the presentation scary because it was: in very frank terms it laid out the reality of the current absolutely unsustainable situation while pulling no punches. Yet some may have misread the underlying narrative: Pal did not predict armageddon. Far from it: he forecast the end of the current broken economic, monetary, and fiat system... which following its collapse will be replaced with something different, something stable. Which, incidentally, is why the presentation was called a big "reset", not the big "end." But what does that mean, and how does one protect from such an event? Luckily, we have another presentation to share with readers, this time from Eidesis Capital, given at the Grant's April 11 conference, which picks up where Pal left off. Because if the Big Reset told us what is coming, Eidesis tells us how to get from there to the other side...
First of all, what is systemic risk?
Typical Systemic Risks:
Wide-spread defaults, sovereign debt crises, devaluations, capital controls, bank holidays, etc.
How it usually happens:
No warning;
Emergency announcement over a weekend;
Drastic measures to “protect the public” against [insert suitable culprits];
Outcome- someone’s value gets expropriated.
Yes, it can happen here –it has in the past.
Usually, the best warning indicator of a major systemic "event" are soaring cross-asset correlations: something we are experiencing right now.
Crisis of 2007-2009 was a “High Correlation” disruption:
Multiple institutions and majority of the population were affected.
Reducing systemic risk called for lowering correlation, i.e. “firebreaks”, de-coupling, etc.
Instead, governments’actions since 2008 have been increasing correlation:
Fiscal Policies –sovereign debts are higher than ever and still growing fast;
Monetary Policies –broken price mechanism = system-wide misallocations and mispricings;
Too-Big-To-Fail –bigger than before the crisis;
Euro Zone Crisis –“solutions” keep increasing interconnectedness – a “mutual suicide” pact;
Financial Regulation –was supposed to reduce the risk but stalled through stiff opposition:
A single JP Morgan trader is reported to run $100 bln CDS book?!?!?!?!?! [ZH: now confirmed, and we all know the story since]
Lack of Transparency –more opacity since the crisis; mark-to-market remains suspended.
Everyone knows this but only few are willing to accept the implications; fewer still are willing to act.
What are the key systemic risks:
The already unfolding crises:
The Euro zone, Argentina.
Redistribution of wealth:
ZIRP –Taking from net savers for the benefit of net debtors.
Inflation targeting –Debasing debts at the expense of savers and bond holders.
Pending tax hikes for top earners.
Financial Marshall law:
FBAR and FATCA raise penalties and tighten reporting on all financial assets held offshore.
Argentina –Currency controls; “Dollar-sniffing”dogs at the airports and border crossings.
Governments co opt banks to police the assets within the system:
FATCA - all foreign financial institutions to report on all US customers or face 30% withholding.
Swiss banks have been firing US clients; deal on reporting is inthe works.
Swiss banks have agreed to report on their German and UK customers’accounts.
FINANCIAL REPRESSION IS AN ARRAY OF POLICY TOOLS THAT PRECLUDE CAPITAL FLIGHT AND ENABLE WEALTH TRANSFER FROM THE SAVERS TO THE DEBTORS
What to look for:
There are always losers and winners –many more losers than winners.
Majority has “normalcy bias” – tendency to underestimate risk of disaster.
Only a few heed the risks and make proper contingency arrangements.
Historically, financial disaster preparedness has enabled accelerated wealth creation.
Systemic Insurance is the only way to protect wealth from “High Correlation” events.
But more than anything, the one biggest giveaway is near endless complacency: the more the pros exhibit it, the closer we are:
Western economies have enjoyed V-shaped recoveries and domestic peace for over 65 years.
Mainstream investors have never experienced a “reset” or repression, financial or political.
Disdain for history and post-WWII Western exceptionalismunderpin collective hubris:
"There can be few fields of human endeavor in which history counts for so little as in the world of finance.Past experience, to the extent that it is part of memory at all, is dismissed as the primitive refuge of the those who do not have insight to appreciate the incredible wonders of the present.” - John K. Galbraith
Complacency is misplaced – despite apparent normality, the risks are high and growing.
One simple example of the true cost of systemic risks in vitro:
Analyze This: Crisis of September 2008 Without The Bailouts = ? $$,$$$,$$$,$$$,$$$
What's the big deal: they bailed us out before, they will do it again.
Wrong: "Due to massive new debts and politics governments’ capacity for future bailouts is limited."
Which means that systemic hedges should be used by everyone. At what cost though:
Price of Systemic Insurance = Probability of Disruption X Potential Loss Severity
As Eidesis notes: Insurance is cheap whenever consensus under?estimates the Probability of Disruption.
Or, worse, when the status quo is artificially keeping the price of systemic insurance low to prevent the general public from realizing just how precarious reality truly is. Remember:
"When it becomes serious, you have to lie" Jean-Claude Junker
So if we are handed cheap insurance options, where should we be looking? Long-time Zero Hedge readers likely already know the answer:
SAFE HAVEN ASSETS –KEY REQUIREMENTS
Ideal Attributes – Valuable, uniform, divisible, portable, storable.
No One’s Liability–Physical form, unlevered, non-financial custody; no reliance on capital markets.
Multiple Exit Strategies – Diversity of buyers; ability to exit via different currencies.
Geographic Diversification ? The only feasible way to manage sovereign risks.
Flexibility – Ownership arrangements must be actively managed to address evolving conditions
Exposure to Safe Haven assets via financial instruments IS NOT Systemic Insurance
SAFE HAVEN ASSETS –DEFENSIVE, LONG TERM STRATEGY
Proven Safe Havens for preserving value through the “trough” of a crisis:
Real Estate – “Real” but immovable; not uniform, usually owned with leverage; easily taxable.
Diamonds – Valuable, portable and storable but neither uniform nor divisible.
Art, Antiques, Collectables – Issues with subjective valuations, authenticity and provenance.
ART, ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES HAVE BEEN PROVEN HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN PRESERVING VALUE OVER TIME. HOWEVER, ABILITY TO OBTAIN FAIR VALUE IN TIMES OF DISTRESS IS OFTEN LIMITED.
Which leaves...
Precious Metals can preserve value through a crisis AND provide liquidity during a crisis:
Silver–“Poor Man’s Gold” but impractical for large sums.
Platinum –The bullion is not as readily available as gold.
Palladium –Somewhat esoteric.
GOLD –Always liquid, widely available, universally accepted, deepest markets, global pricing
Gold – 2,500-year unbroken track record of liquidity and “Safe Haven” performance.
But don't take our word for it... Or that of Eidesis. How about that of... the Federal Reserve:
Here is the FRBNY explaining why people own gold:
“For centuries, gold had a profound impact on history, as a symbol and a storehouse of wealth accepted universally around the world.“
“When people are worried about political instability, war or inflation, they often put their savings into gold.”
“Gold functions as a medium of exchange, particularly in areas where currencies are distrusted.”
Why the US government nationalized gold:
The 1933 prohibition against gold ownership “prevented hoarders from profiting after Congress devalued the dollar (in terms of gold)”by 41%.
ACCORDING TO THE NY FED –GOLD IS A “PHENOMENAL ASSET” AND AN “IMPORTANT STORE OF VALUE”
GOLD NATIONALIZATION OF 1933 PRECLUDED THE SAVERS FROM PROTECTING THE VALUE OF THEIR ASSETS
What else does the Fed tell us:
THE FED –WE STORE FOR OTHERS; OUR OWN IS OUTSIDE THE BANKS!
“As of early 2008, the Fed’s vault contained roughly 216 million troy ounces of gold“–“about 22 percent of the world’s official monetary gold reserves.”
“The United States owns approximately 27 percentof the monetary gold”–“262 million troy ounces as of 2007.”
“A majority of [the U.S.] reserves is held <…> at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and West Point, New York. Most of the remainder is at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints and the San Francisco Assay Office.”
WATCH WHAT THEY DO; NOT WHAT THEY SAY:
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT STORES ITS GOLD WITH THE MILITARY, NOT THE BANKS.
APPROXIMATELY 49% OF ALL MONETARY GOLD IS PHYSICALLY LOCATED ON THE U.S. SOIL.
Which means that as we approach the date with the Grand Reset which Raoul Pal predicted could come as soon as the end of the year, and which Soros has as under 3 months and counting, there is only one question:
Wonder what will be the "tipping point" that will bring the masses out into the street??? Food shortage??
What would it take to get me there, I wonder.....
Mole helps Rep. Issa whack Justice Dept.
By Jordy Yager - 06/07/12 05:00 AM ET
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/231387-mole-helps-rep-issa-whack-doj
With the help of a mole, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has turned the tables on Attorney General Eric Holder.
Issa has long been exasperated with Holder, claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been withholding information on a controversial gun-running operation. But through an anonymous source, Issa has obtained information about the initiative that is under a federal court-ordered seal.
Giving such information out is a federal crime, raising the question of whether the Justice Department will seek to prosecute what Republicans are calling a whistleblower.
Issa has asked the DOJ for the documents — wiretap applications it used in the botched federal gun-tracking Operation Fast and Furious — for months. The California lawmaker has taken preliminary steps to move contempt-of-Congress citations against Holder, but it remains unclear if GOP leaders support that move. This new controversy could help Issa attract more Republican support for a contempt-of-Congress resolution.
If Holder does launch an investigation into where the leak originated, the powerful Republican could paint the move as an attempt by the DOJ to hide the documents’ contents. It would also raise the possibility that DOJ investigators will seek information from Issa, who has been trying to determine who approved the “gun-walking” tactics used in Fast and Furious along the U.S.-Mexico border.
On the other hand, not launching a probe would mean turning a blind eye to a criminal breach and could lead Issa’s source and others to reveal other information sealed by a judge.
Issa told Fox News on Wednesday that he has no intention of shining the light on his source: “We’re not going to make our whistleblower available. That’s been one of the most sensitive areas, because some of the early whistleblowers are already feeling retribution. They’re being treated horribly.”
Asked earlier this week where he got the wiretap applications, Issa told The Hill, “You can ask, but you should have no expectation of an answer. By the way, if I asked you where you got yours, would you give me your sources?”
Of course, there is some political risk for Issa. The Obama administration could point out that he is stonewalling federal authorities after complaining throughout this Congress of being stonewalled by DOJ.
As the lead congressional investigator of Fast and Furious, Issa says the documents show top-ranking DOJ officials signing off on the condemned “gun-walking” tactics used in the failed operation. Senior DOJ officials have repeatedly denied that they approved the botched initiative.
The documents have not been made public, and Issa has apparently broken no laws by being given the information.
Regardless, the DOJ is not pleased.
“Chairman Issa’s letter makes clear that sealed court documents relating to pending federal prosecutions being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California have been disclosed to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in violation of law,” wrote Deputy Attorney General James Cole to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Issa this week.
“This is of great concern to us,” the letter added.
A spokesman for the DOJ declined to comment about whether it was planning to launch an investigation into the leak.
Democrats say that Issa is exaggerating what he has. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member on Issa’s panel, reiterated this week that top-ranking DOJ officials didn’t personally review any of the six wiretap applications related to Fast and Furious. Issa sent Cummings the information he received from his source.
In the past, the DOJ has justified not turning over the wiretap applications to Issa by saying that doing so could jeopardize the current criminal cases it is prosecuting.
Two former prosecutors for the DOJ, who were not familiar with the details of this article, independently told The Hill that defense lawyers could use an instance of documents being leaked in violation of a court-ordered seal to justify seeking a mistrial.
It is unlikely that the DOJ, if it does investigate the leak, will have grounds to go after Issa for accepting the documents. In past instances of court-ordered seals being broken, it is the actual breaker of the seal who is held responsible, which in this case could mean criminal contempt proceedings and possible jail time.
The battle between Issa and the DOJ has escalated over the past month, with House Republican leaders writing a letter to Holder asking him to hand over information about who was responsible for Fast and Furious. The letter also asked whether the DOJ misled Congress on when officials, including Holder, became aware of the program.
Issa is set to square off against Holder on Thursday when the attorney general is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. The Republican lawmaker will appear on a panel to discuss oversight of the DOJ.
Under the now-defunct Fast and Furious initiative, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under the DOJ, authorized the sale of firearms to known and suspected straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartels, but lost track of many of the weapons. Some of those guns might have contributed to the December 2010 shooting death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.