28 Feb 2013

Billionaires for Austerity: With Cuts Looming, Wall Street Roots of "Fix the Debt" Campaign Exposed

Democracy NOW!: With $85 billion across-the-board spending cuts, known as "the sequestration," set to take effect this Friday, a new investigation reveals how billionaire investors, such as Peter Peterson, have helped reshape the national debate on the economy, the debt and social spending. Between 2007 and 2011, Peterson personally contributed nearly $500 million to his Peter G. Peterson Foundation to push Congress to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — while providing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

The Media Doesn’t Matter Trend: Beppe Grillo Proves It

By Gerald Celente: The spectacular showing by Beppe Grillo’s Movimento 5 Stelle, which just won more votes in Italy’s general election than any other single party, represents a brand new, powerful, double-barreled trend that will reshape the way political campaigns are run and, in so doing, will reshape the future.
The unanticipated results sent a shock wave across Italy and rattled world equity markets. Taking 180 of Parliament’s 630 seats, Grillo’s party amassed enough votes to not only deny front runner Pier Luigi Bersani the clear majority needed to form a working government, it also sent an even louder message to the entire eurozone: Adesso basta – enough is enough!

Faced with the prospect of still-higher taxes and more German-inspired austerity-as-usual, the Five Star Movement’s anti-establishment/anti-austerity populist showing far exceeded the predictions of the media, pollsters and politicians.

The resurgence of the embattled and disgraced media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi was also unanticipated. But his strong showing was less a sign of popular support than the consequence of the mogul’s overt multi-media-vote-buying campaign, promising amnesty for tax evaders and a $5 billion tax refund to property owners.

Trend 1: Media Doesn’t Matter Beppe Grillo, unlike all the other candidates, spurned Italian TV and instead built his personal presence and party strength via a 73-stop barnstorming tour and a brilliantly orchestrated Internet campaign. Nine months ago he was polling only 5 percent nationally. With the largest social media following of any politician in Europe, Grillo’s “head on the Internet, feet on the ground” rise to prominence was generated through his one million Facebook and Twitter friends and followers.

This is the trend of the future!

Australia central-bank documents strip some mystery from currency

Sarah Turner: The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a clutch of documents on Thursday under the Freedom of Information Act in which it gave its opinion on everything from which of the world’s central banks are holders of the Australian currency to whether the Aussie dollar is overvalued.
According to the RBA, neither the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England nor the Bank of Canada have Australian dollars (or in other words, Australian sovereign bonds) in their vaults.
The RBA said it was their “best guess” that none of the above monetary authorities – as well as another 16 central to boot – hold the Australian currency, though they cautioned that “timely, reliable information is quite difficult to come by.”
At the same time, the RBA said another 16 central banks have publicly reported that they hold Australian dollars, while a further 18 “appear to hold Australian dollars.”
In the RBA’s Australian-dollar-holder category were the monetary authorities of Hong Kong, Switzerland, Brazil, the Russian Federation and Sweden. In the “maybe” category were those of China, France, Germany, India and Indonesia. The “unknowns” included Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain and Egypt.
But the RBA shied away from any definitive statements on who holds its currency now, warning that “any recent changes in reserve composition will not be reflected,” given that the data were collected from central-bank annual reports, “in most cases for 2011.”
Foreign central banks were believed to be buying the Australian dollar for its yield, as the interest rates on the Australian debt that the central banks would hold are often much higher than those of many other countries.

The 5 Stages of Economic Collapse: Financial, Commercial, Political, Social & Cultural – Where is the U.S. Now? + Response

munknee: Having given a lot of thought to both the differences and the similarities between Russia and the U.S. - the one that has collapsed already, and the one that is collapsing as I write this – I feel ready…to define five stages of collapse to serve as mental milestones as we gauge our own collapse-preparedness and see what can be done to improve it. So writes Dmitry Orlov in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled Five Stages of Collapse.

Orlov goes on to say, in part:
…The proposed taxonomy ties each of the five collapse stages to the breaching of a specific level of trust, or faith, in the status quo. Although each stage causes physical, observable changes in the environment, these can be gradual…

The 5 Stages of Collapse

Stage 1: Financial collapse
Faith in “business as usual” is lost. The future is no longer assumed [to] resemble the past in any way that allows risk to be assessed and financial assets to be guaranteed. Financial institutions become insolvent; savings are wiped out, and access to capital is lost.
Stage 2: Commercial collapse
Faith that “the market shall provide” is lost. Money is devalued and/or becomes scarce, commodities are hoarded, import and retail chains break down, and widespread shortages of survival necessities become the norm.
Stage 3: Political collapse
Faith that “the government will take care of you” is lost. As official attempts to mitigate widespread loss of access to commercial sources of survival necessities fail to make a difference, the political establishment loses legitimacy and relevance.

The Vatican crumbles as the clown prince grabs the party hat

By Richard Cottrell: The reigning pope becomes the first in 600 years to hand back the Red Velvet Slippers (“I don’t think we’re in the Vatican any more Toto”). The Lateran State seethes with omens and portents that his successor will be black and call himself Peter the Second, according to the predictions of ancient Irish sage and regular bookies’ favorite.
Even as the cardinals cluster in their crisply pressed crimson party frocks and white pinafores, ready for the solemn conclave and the white smoke, the Holy See resembles the German Democratic Republic in its last, doomed days.
Spies from the Vatican secret police scour the corridors searching for priests performing acts that priests are not supposed to perform. The daily business of the Vatican, it seems, is not so much solemn prayer as having it off on a grand scale, and on a fairly ambidextrous basis at that. Is nothing sacred?
Informants and counter-informants gush to the media that at least half the clergy are homosexuals and the other half are playing straight. The Vatican, it seems, is collectively in heat, whichever way you consider matters.
One ex-Dominican monk claims that almost a majority of the recruits to Catholic seminaries are principally engaged in seeking gay heaven. Another quite senior cleric states that he sees nothing wrong in particular with an endless round of parties at which sex in one form or another is the prize attraction, since ‘everyone in Rome knows about it.’

Nickel -The Next Best Metal To Silver - Chris Duane

Rand Paul’s Third Letter to the CIA: Can You Kill with Drones in the USA?

By Michael Krieger: This letter is a few days old, but is very important for every American to be aware of. Essentially, Rand Paul is threatening to filibuster Barack Obama’s nominee for the CIA, John Brennan, due to his refusal to answer a simple question:
Do you believe that the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial?
This should not be a complicated question to answer, yet it seems Obama, Brennan and pretty much every other little power consumed bureaucrat is incapable of doing so.  Below is Rand Paul’s letter reprinted in full (my emphasis added).
February 20, 2013
John O. Brennan
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Brennan,
In consideration of your nomination to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), I have repeatedly requested that you provide answers to several questions clarifying your role in the approval of lethal force against terrorism suspects, particularly those who are U.S. citizens. Your past actions in this regard, as well as your view of the limitations to which you are subject, are of critical importance in assessing your qualifications to lead the CIA. If it is not clear that you will honor the limits placed upon the Executive Branch by the Constitution, then the Senate should not confirm you to lead the CIA.

USA Police State: DHS states electronic devices can be seized at or somewhat near borders for any reason

By Brent Daggett: The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (which could be considered an oxymoron by some), in a two-page executive summary, revealed travelers near the nation’s borders can have their electronic devices seized for any reason.
In 2009, the DHS, one of the responsibilities of which is securing our borders, stated it would conduct a “Civil Liberties Assessment” into its policy of suspicionless search-and-seizures of electronic devices.
While the assessment was originally supposed to be delivered in around 120 days, it actually took three years of waiting before the review was issued.
“We also conclude that imposing a requirement that officers have reasonable suspicion in order to conduct a border search of an electronic device would be operationally harmful without concomitant civil rights/civil liberties benefits,” the executive summary stated.
The suspicionless search-and-seizure policy began in 2008 under the Bush administration.
In that year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency under the umbrella of the DHS, declared CBP had the right to search laptops, electronic devices and printed material of any traveler (U.S. citizen or non-citizen) at the border, absent individualized suspicion.”

Taking Away Our Instincts And Intuition

Morris: In the US, the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is armed to the teeth for a 30 year war, and was issued with pictures of young students for target practice. Who are the evil ones behind all this? A continuous assault on our senses, our health, our minds and souls. Just like they strip a newly recruited soldier into a blank slate to rebuild, they are doing the same to us civilians. We are reduced to corruption! Source

Founded By Geniuses And Run By Idiots - Monty Pelerin's World

mencken2H. L. Mencken correctly observed:
Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping and unintelligent.
Mencken also was prescient:
As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
But this is not about Mr. Mencken. Rather it is about some unknown individual who committed the following to the email world:
idiots(2)Food for thought…
  •  If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without  a license, but not for being in the country illegally … you might live in a  country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
  • If you have to get your  parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not  to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run  by idiots.
  • If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got  here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project  to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction … you might live in a  country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

THE PEOPLE v THE BANKS: Conviction beats Eviction

vigilante33o: For those dealing with the bailiff mafia check out this definitive case law that will protect you.

Equity aids the vigilant, not he who sleeps on his rights...

'Iranians are not going to halt enriching uranium anymore'

Press TV: Tehran and P5+1 group are holding talks in the capital city of Kazakhstan over the country's peaceful nuclear energy program. Meanwhile reports coming out of Washington suggest that the US lawmakers have introduced a bill to the Congress in order to tighten the sanctions against the Iranian nation, enabling 'baby bomber' Obama to "impose financial penalties on foreign companies and entities that provide Iran with goods that are critical to its economy." Source

27 Feb 2013

EU report slams Israeli settlements, calls for economic sanctions

RT: An internal report by the European Union has come down hard on the Israeli regime's decision to continue settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem, threatening to end economic projects that involve the Jewish settlements.
An Israeli army bulldozer destroys Palestinian houses in the east Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Silwan in JerusalemТs old city on January 28, 2013. (AFP Photo / Ahmad Gharabli)The harshly worded 15-page report provides recommendations to the 27 member-states for responding to Israel’s activities in the occupied territories – which the document described as “systematic, deliberate and provocative” – and endorses a strategy that aims at “making it impossible for Jerusalem to become the capital of two states.”

Seven of the report’s 10 recommendations propose slapping tough economic sanctions on organizations directly involved in construction projects in the Jewish settlements, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The report also called on the EU’s 27 member-states to “prevent, discourage and raise awareness” about doing business with companies that work in the disputed settlement zones.

It advised EU states to work to ensure that products exported from the settlements not receive an unfair advantage through “preferential tariffs,” and to give consumers an opportunity to make an “informed choice” through clear labeling of products’ origins.

BBC Sucks A Cocks News

The Artist taxi driver 
"You are 100 times more likely to be killed by the government
than by a terrorist."

Jim Willie: Gritty Questions on the Historic Collapse


By Jim Willie: The typical articles over the last many years have featured a particular theme. In the last few months, the central theme in Jackass articles has been the isolation and demise of the USDollar, how it is happening, why it must happen, and its importance in the restoration of the global financial structure. But this week, a sudden urge has come to address an overwhelming list of critical gritty questions. They crop up with clients, colleagues, and friends.
More than a crisis, it is more accurately described as a collapse of a corrupt inequitable monetary system, and a desperate defense by the major Western bankers to preserve their power over nations and their governments, alongside a vile vicious violent attempt by the United States to maintain its privilege as owner of the vast USDollar counterfeit machinery, as controller of vast banking pillars of paper columns, and as commander of a vast military.

The current monetary system has a debt foundation, which is collapsing in lockstep with the rapid breakdown in the sovereign bond market. The last four years have seen a long drawn-out unstoppable process, where the collapse cannot be avoided and must happen. The pathogenesis is obvious to those in the Sound Money camp. The blossom of corruption and complete banker criminal immunity has only hastened the urgent need for the collapse.

Will Italy Be The Spark That Sets Off Financial Armageddon In Europe?

By Michael: Is the financial collapse of Italy going to be the final blow that breaks the back of Europe financially?  Most people don't realize this, but Italy is actually the third largest debtor in the entire world after the United States and Japan.  Italy currently has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 120 percent, and Italy has a bigger national debt than anyone else in Europe does.  That is why it is such a big deal that Italian voters have just overwhelmingly rejected austerity.  The political parties led by anti-austerity candidates Silvio Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo did far better than anticipated.  When you combine their totals, they got more than 50 percent of the vote.  Italian voters have seen what austerity has done to Greece and Spain and they want no part of it.  Unfortunately for Italian voters, it has been the promise of austerity that has kept the Italian financial system stable in recent months.  Now that Italian voters have clearly rejected austerity, investors are fearing that austerity programs all over Europe may start falling apart.  This is creating quite a bit of panic in European financial markets right now.  On Tuesday, Italian stocks had their worst day in 10 months, Italian bond yields rose by the most that we have seen in 19 months, and the stocks of the two largest banks in Italy both fell by more than 8 percent.  Italy is already experiencing its fourth recession since 2001, and unemployment has been steadily rising.  If Italy is now "ungovernable", as many are saying, then what does that mean for the future of Italy?  Will Italy be the spark that sets off financial armageddon in Europe?

America Is Becoming A Communist Country

AJ: "The youngest informant was 8 years old!" David Knight speaks with Virginia Prodan who lived under the President Chauchesku the Romanian Dictator. She warns of America on the same road to communism that Romania fell under.

Payday loan companies banned from campus as UK students turn to sex trade to pay off debts


ES: Payday loan companies have been banned from a London university amid fears that students are resorting to desperate measures to pay off debts. The University of East London’s chaplain today said some students have turned to prostitution after getting mired in debt. The university claims to be the first to outlaw the firms — which offer short-term, unsecured loans at crippling interest rates — anywhere on campus, including in magazines, on posters and online.
UEL said the ban had been imposed because more students were  using payday loans to tide themselves over between grants and student loans.
Rev Jude Drummond, the chaplain, said: “We see people at particular times of year in very distressed and emotional states. They’ve no idea where to go and people are leaving their studies because of financial difficulties.”
She added: “It leads to desperate measures. In this area we’ve got a lot of crime and social problems. There’s a lot of people on the streets who are there because of money worries. There’s evidence of people having to turn to sex work because they can’t makes ends meet.”

No Way Fed Will Stop Easing - James Rickards

KitcoNews: James G. Rickards, author of "Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis" and renowned American lawyer, economist and investment banker, sat down w/ Kitco News' Daniela Cambone to discuss his work and the evolving "currency wars". Rickards expands on his sometimes controversial ideas, including the national security risk posed by clandestine gold purchases by China, hidden agendas of sovereign wealth funds, and more! Source

Jim Rogers on Stirling and UK Debt.


"I would not own Stirling or the Euro!"

East Africa tapping into geothermal and making money

liarpoliticians: In East Africa, nations such as Kenya are tapping into geothermal power generation as a way of getting cheaper power generation. They need investment of £20bn to roll it out to the entire country. The UK is pissing* £20bn+ on new nuclear weapons to make the Americans rich.

Italy’s Tea Party makes the breakthrough

By Richard Cottrell: The Italians have predictably come in for a right old drubbing from the global corporate media for their refusal to vote in the correct fashion in this week’s general election. They are mocked for flocking in droves to an outfit run by a comedian. Most people in Italy think all their politicians are comedians, not excluding the indestructible Silvio Berlusconi. So why the fuss about the mop-haired Beppe Grillo, who is incidentally a brilliant and biting political satirist and not some common or garden comedian by any means?
Italian politics have been frozen more or less solid for the past three decades. Now, for the first time an entirely new force has broken through the ramparts of complacency which surround the established political forces of the right and left – Italy’s Dems and Republicans. The names may change, but the policies and the personalities stay the same. Until now, that is.
Grillo’s home-made anti-party is the first new political force of genuine popular substance to appear in substantial strength anywhere in Europe, since the nativity of the Greens – beginning in Germany – 30 years ago. Some may dispute my use of the word ‘substance’ on the grounds that the political agenda of the Five Star Movement seems somewhat vague when it comes to dogma. I urge them to think again. A quarter of the electorate in Italy are actually saying something of genuine significance, which is likely to create a groundswell right around Europe.  And that is the reason why the increasingly nervous elites feel the ground shaking beneath their feet.

Media Moron Mockery - Max Keiser with Antal Fekete

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert notice that the mainstream media mocks the jury in the UK dismissed for being too stupid to understand basic concepts of jury trial like 'guilt beyond a reasonable doubt;' when, in fact, the same media takes financial regulators seriously when they say they can find no evidence of financial crime. They spot Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, on BBC News seemingly incapable of understanding that Libor rigging is 'fraud' and not merely a 'fiction' as he suggests. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to renowned mathematician and monetary scientist, Professor Antal Fekete, about the gold basis - cash versus the nearest futures contract and why that the cash price for gold is never reported is by design. They also discuss gold repatriation from Germany as a trial balloon, to see how much demand there is for cash gold and how it is that permanent backwardation means internal bleeding in the monetary system. Source

Gold & Silver Ep1: Mike Maloney - Hidden Secrets of Money - Currency Vs Money

Why gold and silver: What is "Hidden Secrets of Money"? It is a completely free series that reveals the economic reality that has been hidden from you in plain sight. Discover the secrets that will allow you to unlock the greatest wealth transfer in history.We created this new free video series to allow viewers to turn today's economic crisis into opportunity by simply learning from history.

26 Feb 2013

Al Qaeda in Syria - Neil Sanders

Morris: The West creates, backs and supports the bad guys, so that it can go in and save the world. Source

U.S.-EU Trade Deal is the Foundation For a New Global Economic Order!!!

Dana Gabriel: The U.S. and EU have agreed to launch negotiations on what would be the world's largest free trade deal. Such an agreement would be the basis for the creation of an economic NATO and would include trade in goods, services and investment, as well as cover intellectual property rights.

There are concerns that the U.S. could use these talks to push the EU to loosen its restrictions on genetically modified crops and foods. In addition, the deal might serve as a backdoor means to implement ACTA which was rejected by the European Parliament last year. A U.S.-EU Transatlantic trade agreement is seen as a way of countering China’s growing power and is the foundation for a new global economic order.

In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama officially announced that the U.S. would launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union (EU). A joint statement issued by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and U.S. President Obama explained that, “Through this negotiation, the United States and the European Union will have the opportunity not only to expand trade and investment across the Atlantic, but also to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system.”

The Israeli regime 'secretly deports' 1,000 Sudanese who will face persecution at home

RT: The Israeli Regime has deported at least 1,000 Sudanese on 'voluntary leave,' Haaretz reported. The UN Refugee agency said it was not informed of the move, and that the deportees were forced to return to Sudan where visiting or living in Israel is a crime.
AFP Photo / Oren Ziv
The repatriation was reportedly carried out secretly over the last few months through a third country.
The UN high commissioner for refugees claimed he had no knowledge of the deportations, and that the repatriation was likely not voluntary because there is no “free will from inside a prison,” the newspaper reported.
Sudan is an outspoken enemy of the Jewish state; a visit to the country is punishable under Sudanese law, and residing in Israel is prosecuted as a grave crime. Sudanese passports state they are valid in every country except Israel. Human rights activists believe the persecution for visiting Israel is enough ground to grant refugee status to Sudanese immigrants.

24 hours to end the bankers’ tax dodge‏



Right now big banks are free to hide billions in international tax havens. But tomorrow the European Parliament could push through a reform that makes them pay their fair share. Germany and the UK are blocking the proposal, and Parliament needs our huge public backing to stand strong and win this landmark reform. We only have 24 hours left -- sign the petition:

Avaaz: Big banks are hiding billions in tax havens around the world. In just 24 hours, the faux European Parliament could be shamed into pushing through a reform to make them pay their fair share of tax on their already oversized profits -- but to win they need our support.

Banksters are using complex accounting tricks to avoid paying tax like the rest of us, and they're not even required to tell us where their money is. But now the faux European Parliament has been forced to shine a light onto their tax avoidance. It's a no-brainer reform that expert economists widely support -- but key shill governments including the UK and Germany are siding with rich banksters to kill the proposal.

Negotiations end in just 24 hours time, and allies in Parliament say that with massive public support, we can win this landmark reform to end banks' tax dodging. Sign the petition and tell everyone -- if we urgently raise 150,000 signatures from across Europe, MEPs will have no choice but to deliver our message right into tomorrow's crucial meeting:

The Coming Water Wars

By Doug Hornig and Alex Daley: Water is not scarce. It is made up of the first and third most common elements in the universe, and the two readily react to form a highly stable compound that maintains its integrity even at temperature extremes.
Hydrologist Dr. Vincent Kotwicki, in his paper Water in the Universe, writes:
"Water appears to be one of the most abundant molecules in the Universe. It dominates the environment of the Earth and is a main constituent of numerous planets, moons and comets. On a far greater scale, it possibly contributes to the so-called 'missing mass' [i.e., dark matter] of the Universe and may initiate the birth of stars inside the giant molecular clouds."
Oxygen has been found in the newly discovered "cooling flows" – heavy rains of gas that appear to be falling into galaxies from the space once thought empty surrounding them, giving rise to yet more water.
How much is out there? No one can even take a guess, since no one knows the composition of the dark matter that makes up as much as 90% of the mass of the universe. If comets, which are mostly ice, are a large constituent of dark matter, then, as Dr. Kotwicki writes, "the remote uncharted (albeit mostly frozen) oceans are truly unimaginably big."
Back home, Earth is often referred to as the "water planet," and it certainly looks that way from space. H2O covers about 70% of the surface of the globe. It makes all life as we know it possible.

Turks condemn government's support for Syrian militants

Residents of the Hatay province in Southern Turkey are in a great dismay over their country's role in the Syrian crisis.

Minister Louis Farrakhan: The Time & What Must Be Done + Farrakhan's Exclusive 2013 Interview.. Topics: Barack Obama, Django Unchained and more


Jonestown Cults And Democracies Pt 2 - Neil Sander

Morris: Our Democracies are a case of which psychopath to choose from, and who chose those psychopaths. This creates a lure to join the Cults. But they in turn are manipulated by the Intel agencies and their chiefs and members. Source

Fiat Currency Bubble Building with Ed Butowsky, Uri Dadush and Martin Hennecke

RT: The US, UK, Japan and eurozone are desperate to grab a slice of someone else's growth if they can't generate any of their own. How badly will this go down with the developing world? And are we seeing a money printing competition? Is printing money a good idea at all? CrossTalking with Ed Butowsky, Uri Dadush and Martin Hennecke.

Citi: "This Is The First European Election In Which Voters Didn't Do The Right Thing"

Tyler Durden's picture When a note by a Citi FX strategist begins with the following proclamation endorsing outright fascist despotism, you know it's going to be good: "This is the first European election in which voters didn't do the right thing." Perhaps if Citi would be so kind to overrule the democratic vote, in which 55% or the majority of the people voted against the "right thing",
  and impose its own unelected Italian dictator, just like Goldman did in November 2011, that long EURUSD call would be happier? Then it only gets better: "Elections are more problematic than market scares or sentiment shifts as they can't be undone by printing money" (sic). True: some things outright money debasement by central banks can't buy - for everything else there are Siberian Gulags. And the absolute punchline: "Still the outcome does not seem so dire that a bit of growth and ECB flexibility could not turn it around." Why yes, all Europe needs is a "little growth" obviously in lieu of lots of growth, but frankly it will settle for any growth - something it has been unable to do under the wise tutelage of the banker-dominated oligarchy for the past four years, as for that little "ECB flexibility" - wink wink: just where would you like those Euro Stoxx Steve?
From Citi's Steven Englander:
1) The bad news first. This is the first European election in which voters didn't do the right thing. Instead they gave surprising support to politicians who reject austerity and, in some cases, the euro.

Ron Paul: Gun Confiscation will Lead To Revolution

AJ: Alex welcomes former Congressman Ron Paul to break down the use of force by federal agents to enforce unjust and unconstitutional laws and the victimization of Americans for simply engaging in commercial transactions.

25 Feb 2013

'US, Israelis can't stand truthful voice of Iran media'

PressTV - Voice of the Voiceless: Isaeli owned Eutelsat in France doing 'all it can so that the truthful Iranian voice will not get the chance to be heard'. The comment comes as the European satellite provider Eutelsat is putting excessive pressure on another satellite provider to take Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam news network off the air in a blatant assault on the freedom of speech. Eutelsat has threatened the Slovenia-based satellite communications company -- Satellite Telecommunications Network (STN) -- to remove Al-Alam from its platform within the next 48 hours or face punitive measures.

Keshe's Free Energy Technology Will Make Today's Military 'Useless'


21stCenturyWireTV: 21st Century Wire reporter Patrick Henningsen investigates the groundbreaking free energy science and advanced space ship technology brought forward by Iranian nuclear physicist, M.T. Keshe, head of the Keshe Foundation in Belgium. Keshe's recent lecture on Jan. 30, 2013 at Imperial College in London, revealed some incredible information about Iran's space ship program, and also about a Peace Treaty which is currently in the hands of the world's super powers, as we wait to see if the the world's 'super-powers' will continue to cover-up these new breakthroughs that allowed Iran to apprehend two US drones, applications in faster than light travel, nuclear gravity-magnetic field plasma science and advanced medical treatment for the terminally ill. The implications of what Keshe has revealed is potentially world changing. Source

When they came for the Raw Milk drinkers…

Ron Paul: While I oppose most gun control proposals, there is one group of Americans I do believe should be disarmed: federal agents. The use of force by federal agents to enforce unjust and unconstitutional laws is one of the major, albeit overlooked, threats to liberty. Too often Americans are victimized by government force simply for engaging in commercial transactions disproved of by Congress and the federal bureaucracy.
For example, the offices of Rawesome Foods in Venice, California, have been repeatedly raided by armed federal and state agents, and Rawesome’s founder, 65-year old James Stewart, has been imprisoned. What heinous crime justified this action? Rawesome sold unpasteurized (raw) milk and cheese to willing customers – in a state where raw milk is legal! You cannot even drink milk from a cow without a federal permit!
This is hardly the only case of federal agents using force against those who would dare meet consumer demand for raw milk. In 2011 armed agents of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided the business of Pennsylvanian Amish farmer Dan Allgyer. Federal agents wasted a whole year and who knows how many millions of our tax dollars posing as customers in order to stop Allgyer from selling his raw milk to willing customers.

Public Trust Forecloses On Major Corporations

By Trade with Dave: Dave’s had a nagging feeling lately.  You know that Groundhog Day movie feeling… that pilot is circling the airport waiting for the snowplows to get out of the way feeling.  It’s just that we’ve been in the same pattern for five years and it’s time for the pattern to change and I think it just did. 
Remember Occupy Wall Street.  Well, there were a few problems with Occupy Wall Street, but if you focus on the most obvious one it would be, well, the lack of focus.  Dave has mentioned a couple of times a fellow by the name of Emmerich de Vattel and his writing of The Law of Nations, a work of political philosophy published in 1758.
Dave wrote about it here within the context of a Peter Thiel floating libertarian island of sovereignty (aka open sourcing your own jail cell)  
Dave also mentioned it here while elaborating on the distinction between “legal” and “lawful” in the context of sovereign nations such as the City of London and the LIBOR scandal: here
When you invoke de Vattel, you need to be really careful because there is a decent chance that you are either going to end up forming an entirely new government (following the requisite revolution) or you are going to end up hanging from a gallows or languishing in a prison (or the Ecuadorian embassy) for longer than the TV show Friends will run in syndication.  Invoking the “law”, as in the idea as introduced by Moses for example, can be quite disruptive to the status quo.  Notice the publication date on de Vattel’s Law of Nations and you get a feeling for how it served as a precursor to some pretty big changes in the global landscape.

CRONY CAPITALISM: Boris Johnson, Tim Yeo, conflicts of interest, ignored evidence, and utterly pointless London taxi regulations

yeosmall
The Slog: In 2010, consultations took place about a maximum age limit for London taxis. The main supposed motivation for having a maximum age involved the question of pollutants being emitted by older taxis. In fact, scientific testing showed conclusively that the new generation of London taxis were no better than the old ones: for that reason, the Department of Transport actually advised Local Authorities not to implement an Age Limit on Taxis on the basis of emissions. All evidence and objections on this basis were ignored by Mayor Boris Johnson, and the coming Age Limit for taxis was formally announced.
Eco City Vehicles supply new taxis to cab drivers in London. The Chairman of ECV is Jolly Green Giant Tim Yeo (right). 
During 2011, further scientifically valid arguments were raised with the Mayor. There were protests by owners of older taxis, but these too were ignored. In January 2012, the Age Limit for taxis was introduced, forcing hundreds of drivers out of work….but doing nothing to reduce pollution.

Former Obama press secretary says he was told to deny existence of deadly drone program

By Madison Ruppert: Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that he was told to deny the very existence of the Obama administration’s drone program that has killed untold numbers of civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration will not say if they claim the authority to similarly kill Americans on U.S. soil without charge or trial.
While we know very little about the administration’s assassination program, we do know that they claim the authority to kill Americans abroad without clear evidence based on secret meetings all built upon a similarly secret legal justification.
While Gibbs said he was told to “not even discuss that it exists,” the current press secretary called drone strikes “legal,” “ethical,” and “wise.”
“When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was you’re not even to acknowledge the drone program,” Gibbs said on MSNBC. “You’re not even to discuss that it exists.”
“Here’s what’s inherently crazy about that proposition,” Gibbs said. You’re being asked a question based on reporting of a program that exists. So you’re the official government spokesperson acting as if the entire program – pay attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Ted Nugent: The Sheeping of America

Ted Nugent makes a surprise call in to thank Alex Jones for waking him up to the NWO. Ted & Alex also discuss the growing police state under dictator 'baby bomber' Obama and the current attacks on the 2nd amendment from the socialist liberals that control the senate. http://www.tednugent.com/ Source

Stefan Molyneux on Breaking the Set with Abby Martin

Abby Martin interviews Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, about the economy, the apparatus of the state and the philosophy of anarchism.

Londoners Doubt The BBC News

SpotLightchannel1: A series of vox pop interviews on the streets of London.

Jonestown Not A Mass Suicide Pt 1 - Neil Sanders

Morris: Neil gives us the chronology of events that in no way suggest any mass suicide took place. In part 2 Jonestown is considered along with other cults.

Climate Change in 12 Minutes - The Skeptic's Case

Stefan Molyneux: By Dr. David M.W. Evans "We check the main predictions of the climate models against the best and latest data. Fortunately the climate models got all their major predictions wrong. Why? Every serious skeptical scientist has been consistently saying essentially the same thing for over 20 years, yet most people have never heard the message. Here it is, put simply enough for any lay reader willing to pay attention..."

Fascist UK: Tree Surgeon Arrested For Carrying A Chainsaw

AlanWattResistance: IOU 1 Chainsaw, signed: Cunt in black uniform

24 Feb 2013

Eric Sprott: Is the West Dishoarding Its Sovereign Treasure?

By Adam Taggart: And if so, what will happen once it's done?
We are well into the financial crisis. Everyone’s trying to keep it together, even though it would appear from the reading of the economy things are not going well at all here. And everyone's ignoring things.
But I think, in their hearts, the Central Bankers must know what they’re doing is totally irresponsible. And the tell of that irresponsibility which is the debasing of the currencies is the fact that real things will go up in value. This should be reflected in the price of gold and silver.
So expresses Eric Sprott, CEO and founder of Sprott Asset Management, and one of the most experienced and vocal advocates for owning precious metals.
The past decade has validated Eric's thesis, as gold has risen considerably against all world fiat currencies. But what vexes him is that in recent years, when currency debasement has accelerated to extreme levels, precious metals prices have been clearly suppressed, particularly versus the U.S. dollar.
As the topic of price manipulation is nothing new, Eric finds his focus increasingly drawn to where the precious metals are going at these bargain prices - who is accumulating and who is dishoarding:
I’ve done a lot of work on the flow of metals. I come up with a net change of 2,300 tons a year in new buying in gold when the supply of gold hasn’t even gone up in the last twelve years. And you keep wondering: Well, where’s all this gold coming from?

Dan Bongino @ Guns Across America Rally in Annapolis, MD

opditch: Dan Bongino, former US Secret Service Officer and former US Senate Candidate speaks at the Annapolis, MD Guns Across America Rally. Jan 19th, 2013. SIGN UP! http://bongino.com

Pakistan Relying On China - Anonymous Part 2

Morris: 3 factors for Pakistan: Elections in Pakistan in next 2 or 3 months - Americans withdrawing from Afghanistan 2014 - Growing Chinese Influence. The Gwadar Port in The Arabian Sea was just handed over to China. Source

The greedy crooked banksters who have ruined this country are still taking home even more money than anyone else!

By Rowan Bosworth-Davies: I don't think there is much dispute that the financial crisis and the recession which has followed which has done so much to destroy the living standards and the future hopes of so many millions of working people in this country, was caused by the criminal antics of the investment bankers, who allowed their greed and their avarice to overcome any sense of prudence and sound banking judgement, they might once have possessed.
This period of scandalous mis-management, downright criminality, bankers' hubris, and coupled with gross regulatory incompetence has effectively brought this country to its knees, and now, thanks to another period of arrogant political misjudgement, it now looks as if we are going to experience an even greater period of financial upheaval.  As our Triple A rating starts to take lumps from the global financial markets, as the pound devalues possibly to parity with the Euro, inflation rises, and wages get squeezed even tighter, porky millionaire's son, Georgie Osborne flip-flops around like a beached bloater, desperately trying to persuade us that his policies are working, opening and shutting his mouth, but with nothing of value coming out.

The Pope is gambling that a younger man can win back the Church’s soul!

Doubts grow about motives forretiring’ as Italian and Greek sources offer further clues


ben16
Smoke gets in your eyes?
The Slog: If I recall correctly, it was some time in May last year that a reliable and generous media tipster for The Slog, now largely retired, told me to start looking more closely at financial corruption within the Vatican, and the emergence of a powerful clique using the Papacy’s assumed innocence as a front for its activities. I did note what he said, and I did use a Roman contact to fill me in on anything of relevance. But as so often happens in a world where the unexpected has become commonplace (and invention almost ubiquitous) I moved onto urgent stories and ignored the importance of that one. Big mistake.
Having arrived to a techno-blackout here in France, three days into it I (briefly) got a signal on my mobile and texted a close friend in London to ask what, if anything, of significance had happened. ‘The Pope has resigned’ said the reply. ‘Very funny’ I texted back.  Later that day, having established it was true, I drove over to a friend’s house and went online to read the coverage. As so often with the British press, the vast majority of the coverage was respectful and concerned about the Pope’s health. I simply couldn’t believe that such a historically unique event was being written about in a way that almost suggested normality.

Karzai orders USA out of two provinces, citing torture and murder

RT: The Afghan government has demanded the withdrawal of all US Special Forces on Sunday from the Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks, accusing them of harassing, torturing and murdering innocent civilians.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai (Reuters/Omar Sobhani)Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said that President Hamid Karzai had ordered the ministry of defense to kick out the US Special Forces, which he accused of fueling “insecurity and instability” in the volatile provinces, which are close to the capital Kabul.
The US Special Forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local people in these provinces,” Faizi told a press conference.
A further statement released by the Afghan president’s office said that the decision to expel them was made by the National Security Council.

“After a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as US Special Force[s] stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people," it said.
"A recent example in the province is an incident in which nine people were disappeared in an operation by this suspicious force and in a separate incident a student was taken away at night from his home, whose tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge.