ANALYSIS: the dramatic change in the status of Gold - The Slog

Why gold is about to change from being a hedge metal to a bank-repairing élite currency

Some of you may have noticed that in the last few weeks, Russia has started issuing gold ‘pieces’ that are legal tender in the RF, and must be accepted at face value in all kinds of payments without any restrictions. Other banks outside Russia are also looking at ‘stamp sheet’ squares of gold grams that can be used in the same way. Inside China, at the top of the financial system a measured debate is well under way about how to create a global ‘super-currency’ backed by gold. The Chinese would favour this of course, because they own more gold than almost anyone now. And although it would be a bind for them (if it indirectly made the Yuan far more highly valued) in terms of their export drive, as a trustworthy multinational currency it would mark another move up for Beijing – bringing with it massive financial services revenue as the hub for 21st century deal-money transmission. In today’s bonkers world, there is more to being a sovereign than physical exports alone.

But in an equally broad sense, gold is shifting its investment positioning as fiat currencies issued by the West begin to look increasingly prone to the inflationary pressures of debt management. Not only that, but those banks we all love to hate are having the same thoughts about how to stabilise their finances through the medium of more flexible forms of gold.

Jim Rogers on Silver Manipulation - SilverFuturist

Jim Rogers: "There's No Reason For The Government To Manipulate Gold Or Silver:" Source

The West Wants The Muslim Brotherhood To Rule Arab Countries - Homs Professor

Morris: Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood will result in them turning into factories for terrorists. The Assad government will never be overthrown by weapons - As the weapons pour into Syria it is inevitable that it will grow into a regional war - This is the final part of a three part interview. Source

Ron Paul: The Film

TheAlexJonesChannel: Many a political researcher and pundit took notice that Ron Paul's farewell address to Congress was a historic and very important speech spelling out that our country (USA) is becoming a corrupt empire and that we're becoming a tyranny of tyrannies.

Lowkey's "Last Ever" Song + Hamas Releases Song Defying Israel & Warns Tel Aviv

FlexEffect21:ask Ron Paul who created Hamas

Senate stalemate: US teeters on brink of 'Fiscal Cliff'

RT: The US is set to plunge over the so-called fiscal cliff as senators failed to reach an agreement to avert $600 billion of tax hikes and cuts. Republicans and Democrats are deadlocked on the issue that could deal a deadly blow to the US economy.
Senators were supposed to reach a deal on Sunday, but were unable to find common ground on the issue. As a result of their indecision Wall Street is beginning to feel the effects, with five consecutive days of sell-offs as investors get cold feet at the prospect of toppling over the ‘Fiscal Cliff.’
"There's still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue," said majority leader Harry Reid to CNN as Congress held a rare Sunday session in a bid to avoid the so-called Fiscal Cliff. "There's still time left to reach an agreement, and we intend to continue negotiations."
The Democrats are pushing for a compromise that stipulates a raise in taxes and curbing government spending, while the Republicans have refused an increase in taxes.
The term Fiscal Cliff refers to a selection of tax cuts laid down by the Bush administration that will come to an end on January 1 along with an automatic increase in taxes and public spending. Economists have predicted that a tumble off the Fiscal Cliff could deal a massive blow to the American economy, sending it into recession. They also predict it will have a knock-on effect in the global economy.

International Federation of Journalists slams bans on Iran channels

Press TV: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the bans by certain Western satellite operators on Iranian channels.

The EU has, however, denied the claims by the European satellite companies.

Ernest Sagaga, the human rights and communications officer of IFJ, a Paris-based global federation of journalists' trade unions, denounced the politically-motivated bans.

“I do hope that this ban is going to be lifted very quickly because it does not serve any useful purpose. It is just limiting the source of information for many people and that is not a good thing,” Sagaga said.

On December 21, Hispasat took Iran's Press TV and Hispan TV off air, and ordered Overon, a subsidiary satellite company, to stop the transmission of the two international TV channels.

Overon said the ban on Press TV and Hispan TV followed a similar move by France's Eutelsat company, which had already taken several Iranian satellite channels and radio stations off air. It said the channels were removed because of “a wider interpretation of EU regulations.”

2013 silver predictions - SilverFuturist

$40 and under $20 can both happen. Source

Best of 2012 Double Standards

Afshin talks about the most important events of the year. Source

The Keynesian Legacy Unravels

“Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana

Monty Pelerin: Ideology is powerful, capable of masking unpleasant facts. Whether we recognize it or not, we are all slaves to ideology.

Economists are no different in that regard than other people. They hold preconceived ideas which affect the interpretation of data and facts. In the extreme, ideology is capable of blocking the recognition of contradictory information, effectively blinding a person to valuable evidence.

Keynesian economists believe, regardless of logic and data, that economies can be managed from the top down. In their world, economies are little different than machines. Change some inputs here, speed them up over there, add some lubrication, etc. and the machine will respond in the fashion desired. Output can be “managed” to whatever level needed purely by adjusting the parts of the machine.

Austrian economists on the other hand do not see a machine. They see millions of individuals all making decisions to improve their own lives. The price system provides the coordination among these separate pieces, performing a function no human, supercomputer or government could ever accomplish. For Austrians, economics is a bottom up approach. To effect change, you must change the incentives and disincentives that individual decision makers are afforded.

Sandy Hook - Ritual Satanic Forces - Daryl

Morris: Government sponsored false flags - satanic sacrifices - Like the criminal that wants to get caught - Daryl born in the US and living there - cherishes the constitution and questions just who this .001 percent are that seem to have demonic designs, these mass killings seem to have common factors. Source

Al-Qaida offers bounty for US ambassador in Yemen

RT: Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch has announced it will pay thousands of dollars in gold to anyone who kills the US ambassador in Sanaa, the capital, or any American soldier in the country.
An audio message produced by the al-Malahem Foundation, Al-Qaeda’s media arm, and posted on militant Islamist websites on Saturday, said the group is offering 3kg of gold, worth $160,000, for the ambassador’s head.
It is also offering 5 million Yemeni Riyal (US$23,000) to anyone who kills an American soldier in Yemen.
The message continued that the offer is valid for six months and the bounties were to “inspire and encourage our Muslim nation for Jihad”. However, it did not say how the money could be collected.
The US considers the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda to be the most dangerous in the world.
The audio message comes a day after three Al-Qaeda militants were killed by a US drone strike in Yemen’s southwestern al-Bayda province.

Max Keiser on the Keiser Ethical Silver Round

Max Keiser introduces the Keiser Ethical Silver round. Source

2013: ‘The End Game’- Is the Big Reset Imminent?

The Doc: Raoul Paul sent shock-waves throughout the financial markets in June in what Tyler Durden called the scariest presentation ever, when Paul predicted a complete systemic collapse of the financial system was merely 6-9 months away.  Is the Big Reset still imminent?
‘The world has no engine of growth with most of the G20 countries approaching stall speed at the same time.  The western world is about to enter its second recession in an ongoing depression… For the first time since the 1930′s we are entering a recession- before industrial production, durable goods orders, employment, and private sector GDP have made back their previous highs. ‘
As to the timing of the collapse Paul states: ‘2012- 2013 will usher in the end.  We have about 6 months left…  Assume that no one and nothing is safe.  After that, we put on our tin helmets and hide until the new system emerges.
As to what the collapse will look like: A global banking collapse and massive defaults would bring about the biggest economic shock the world has ever seen.  No trade finance, no shipping finance, no finance for farmers, no leasing, no bond market, no nothing…
The END GAME.   MUST READ!

Ancient Non-Mayan-Manipulation of Non-Market

Trade with Dave: Metals Manipulation Myth Busting 89 year old Super-Human Federal Judge rips through 2,282 page legal complaint in a single weekend.
Dave hasn’t blogged much about the Mayan calendar. For the most part I missed that opportunity, but now that it’s over I’m seeing that although the Mayans may have allowed their calendar to run out a bit early, the Gregorian calendar on the other hand is exhibiting some very mysterious patterns.  Here’s what Dave has noticed.
1.  FDIC insurance levels on bank deposits are scheduled to reset December 31, 2012
http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/unlimited/expiration.html
2.  U. S. Government is scheduled to breach the debt ceiling on December 31, 2012.  Here’s the letter from departing SecTreas Geithner to Congress.
http://www.treasury.gov/connect/blog/Pages/Secretary-Geithner-Sends-Debt-Limit-Letter-to-Congress-12-26.aspx
3.  Federal Reserve Act celebrates its 100th anniversary with the non-expiration of its non 100 year charter:
http://www.llsdc.org/attachments/files/105/FRA-LH-PL63-43.pdf
The Federal Reserve was chartered exactly one hundred years before the Mayan Calendar expired which was exactly ten years before the year that Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. was born.  Who is Robert Patterson?  Well, he’s the judge that just dismissed the silver market manipulation suit against JP Morgan on the same day that the Mayan Calendar expired.  Are you seeing a pattern?

Obama's Meet The Press Interview

Submitted by Tyler Durden: More GOP-bashing, more scapegoating, more "we need to raise taxes to cover a few days of spending" (and pray America's rich have never heard of Belgium), more hope and optimism, in other words more of the same, yet nothing on the last minute executive order hiking Federal spending, nothing on the myth of what really constitutes the spending "cuts", or why it is all really all about preserving the lie of a fair and efficient market: as if more than 10% of the US population actually cares where the DJIA closed on Friday. The full Obama Meet the Press interview below. Source

If Sandy Hook A Hoax Then No Dead Children - Morris

Morris: Its the behaviour of the parents (and the children) that does not add up, not at all. There is also the famous one of the dad first laughing

Belgium to charge Church of Scientology with fraud and extortion

RT: After a long lasting legal battle Belgium prosecutors demand to label the Church of Scientology as a criminal organization and charge it and its leaders with extortion, fraud, privacy breaches, and the illegal practice of medicine. The subpoenas have been sent to the scientologists, the local financial newspaper De Tijd reported.
The charges against the Church of Scientology stem from employment contracts issued to recruit volunteers and members allegedly breaching the country's strict employment laws. In Belgium as in some other countries Scientology is not recognized as a faith.
In 2008 the Belgium Labor Mediation Service complained about number of labor contracts, prompting an investigation.
A judge then ordered raids on Scientology premises where police allegedly “managed to seize a wealth of evidence,” that the organization had spied on and extorted money from its members, the Flanders News reported.

The Truthseeker: 12 Banks of Death

A Nobel Laureate tells us chase out the moneylenders, Named and Shamed the 12 giant banks which feed on death, and 'hundreds' who should join Madoff in the slammer. Seek truth from facts with Nobel prizewinner Ed Prescott, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the world's top crisis economist Steve Keen, legendary investor Jim Rogers, bailout investigator Randall Wray, The Untold History of the United States co-author Peter Kuznick, and Rep. Ron Paul. Source

Apartheid Today: ISRAHELL ON EARTH

This powerful documentary exposes the hell that the Palestinians have been going through since their land was stolen in 1948. From that day on, the world has been hijacked by a cabal of zionists/occultists, and the support given to them by governments has alienated much of the world. IsraHell on Earth looks at the origins of the abomination that is IsraHell and exposes its apartheid crimes. Source

Gawd Save The Con, Plutoni-Yen and The Cliff - WilliamBanzai7

Deathbed theory dreamt by an Indian maths genius is finally proved correct - almost 100 years after he died

By Mark Prigg: Srinivasa Ramanujan, described as a 'natural genius', has finally had the mathematical functions he came up with on his deathbed proved correct

Researchers have finally solved the cryptic deathbed puzzle renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan claimed came to him in dreams.
While on his death-bed in 1920, Ramanujan wrote a letter to his mentor, English mathematician G. H. Hardy, outlining several new mathematical functions never before heard of, along with a hunch about how they worked,
Decades years later, researchers say they've proved he was right - and that the formula could explain the behaviour of black holes.
'We've solved the problems from his last mysterious letters,' Emory University mathematician Ken Ono said.

'For people who work in this area of math, the problem has been open for 90 years,'
Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematician born in a rural village in South India, spent so much time thinking about math that he flunked out of college in India twice, Ono said.
Ramanujan's letter described several new functions that behaved differently from known theta functions, or modular forms, and yet closely mimicked them.
Functions are equations that can be drawn as graphs on an axis, like a sine wave, and produce an output when computed for any chosen input or value.
Ramanujan conjectured that his mock modular forms corresponded to the ordinary modular forms earlier identified by Carl Jacobi, and that both would wind up with similar outputs for roots of 1.

Harvey Organ: China is the Short Behind Gold & Silver Manipulation

The Doc sat down with Harvey Organ again for the 2nd of several interviews regarding the recent massive cartel intervention in the gold and silver markets post the QE4 announcement, the fiscal cliff, the CFTC’s silver probe, and the unprecedented 20 million oz of silver still standing for December delivery.
Harvey stated that recent evidence seems to validate his long held suspicions that China is behind the big gold & silver shorts, and stated that the nation is draining massive amounts of physical metal East.
Harvey also made the shocking allegation that COMEX is settling allocated delivery & storage requests with paper metal,  and stated that he no longer has any faith whatsoever in the numbers reported in the COMEX gold and silver inventories.  

The Doc asked Harvey if there was an explanation for the absolute hammering the metals have received ever since the QE4 announcement:
The reason for the hammering is the control that the bankers need to get on the circumstances.  This is not just the United States!  You’re seeing Europe, Japan, you’re seeing QE going on globally all at once, so the bankers are nervous as hell!  They have to dampen the paper market of gold, but at the same time they’re probably personally purchasing the physical metal, along with China, Russia, all the Stans, Iraq, Iran- this is taking a huge toll on London.

"We Have Passed The Point Of No Return" - Ron Paul On The Fiscal Cliff

 Submitted by Tyler Durden: In a little under three minutes, Ron Paul explains to a somewhat nonplussed CNBC anchor just how ridiculous the charade that is occurring in D.C. actually is. This succinct spin-free clip should be required viewing for each and every asset-manager, talking-head, propagandist, and mom-and-pop who are viewing the last-minute idiocy of the 'fiscal cliff' debacle with some hope that things will be different this time. "We have passed the point of no return where we can actually get our house back in order," Paul begins, adding that "they pretend they are fighting up there, but they really aren't. They are arguing over power, spin, who looks good, who looks bad; all trying to preserve the system where they can spend what they want, take care of their friends and print money when they need it." With social safety nets available to rich and poor, there is no impetus for change and "the country loses," but Paul concludes, the markets are starting to say "there is a limit to this."

Stinky Banker Infestation - Max Keiser with Professor Jonathan Feldman

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert argue over whether things are looking better or worse for the American worker.  While Stacy argues that the return of some manufacturing is a sign that wealth creating jobs may return to the US, Max counters that the system is so corrupt that the chances of labor getting any cut of the wealth is nil and that the Internet giants will prevent the rise of a powerful decentralized economy online. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Professor Jonathan Feldman about the Global Teach-In and about a boycott and short sale campaign and creating an industrial policy for America because right now the US even outsources some military production to China. Source

Fucking Barclays Advert

Barclays Advert from Michael Spicer on Vimeo.

Fuck You, Men’s Rights Activists

Kate Harding: This is Fuck You Week, Jezebel's first annual week of desperate emotional cleansing and unhinged psychic purging.

Fuck you, first of all, for making it nearly impossible for decent men struggling with abusive partners or unfair custody arrangements to get the help they need and deserve. You have forever tainted those issues with your rage-filled, obsessively anti-woman horseshit, to the point where it's become difficult for any rational, compassionate person to trust a man who claims he's been screwed over in family court or abused by a female partner, even if he has.
That's right—I fully understand that those things happen. I fully believe that men in those situations deserve help, and I know they're generally less likely to ask for it than women are, not to mention less likely to find help there for them when they do go looking. I get how our society's ridiculously rigid ideas about masculinity mean that men are brought up to believe needing help will make them look weak, especially if it's a woman who's terrorizing them. I know those same suffocating standards also encourage men to stifle strong feelings and any nurturing tendencies, which deprives them of the right to experience the full range of human emotions without shame. That completely fucking sucks! You know how I know all that, and why I think it sucks?
BECAUSE I'M A FEMINIST.

Blowing Up: The Transfer Of French Nuclear Technology To China

By Wolf Richter: Technology transfers, whether on a contractual basis or through theft, have long bedeviled companies that want to benefit from China’s cheap labor and 1.3 billion consumers. Automakers, aerospace companies, technology outfits.... it’s the price they have to pay. But when it seeped out that the largely state-owned nuclear industry in France was trying to sell its secrets to China to make a deal, oh là là!
That the French have been through this with their high-speed train technology, the TGV, was hammered home on Wednesday when China opened the world’s longest high-speed rail line—1,428 miles between Beijing and Guangzhou. It extended the high-speed rail network to 5,800 miles. And the network will practically double over the next three years if government funding continues to flow. By comparison, it will take the US, or more precisely California, an unknown number of years, perhaps as many as 20, to complete the link between San Francisco and Los Angeles [California’s High-Speed Rail to Nowhere].
On the Beijing-Guangzhou line, trains will run at a maximum speed of 186 mph, specs that the TGV mastered decades ago. Initially, China struggled to develop its own technology. After it tripped badly, it decided to import some trains, and the missing technology, from Japan, Germany, and France.
They all got a piece of the pie. Alstom of France won an order for 60 sets of its latest tilt-technology trains, the Pendolino. Three were delivered fully assembled; six were delivered in kits and assembled by an entity of China National Rail; and the remainder were manufactured in China with some imported components and a lot of transferred technology. And that was mostly it for TGV sales in China. Now, China has the ability to manufacture its own trains. It’s pushing the technology to the next level.

2012 – YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY IN REVIEW

The Burning Platform: On January 8 of this year I posted my annual prediction article for this year – 2012 – The Year of Living Dangerously. Now it’s time to assess my complete and utter cluelessness when it comes to predicting things within a given time frame. Despite the fact that myself and everyone else acting like they know what lays ahead are proven wrong time and time again, we continue to make predictions about the future. It makes us feel like we have some control, when we don’t. The world is too complex, too big, too corrupt, too lost in theories and delusions, and too dependent upon too many leaders with too few brains to be able to predict what will happen next. This is the time of year when all the “experts” will be making their 2013 predictions. I haven’t seen too many of these experts going back and honestly assessing their 2012 predictions, which didn’t happen.
What I’ve learned is that “experts” usually have an agenda. Their predictions are designed to convince you to buy the stocks they recommend or purchase their newsletter. Many of these “experts” work for Wall Street, the corporate MSM, a political party or corporate interest. Half of the “experts” represent the status quo and want the masses to think everything is just fine and will steadily improve. The other half are fear mongers that want to scare you into buying their products with predictions of impending collapse at any moment. I like to read the predictions of a wide variety of pundits, bloggers, and so called journalists, while understanding they probably have an agenda.

‘US, Russia plunging into new Cold War’ And its mostly down to the US

Russia Today: Tit-for-tat moves between Russia and the US are plunging the two nations into a new Cold War, says Russia expert Stephen Cohen. Washington’s longtime policy towards Moscow is to blame for the growing tensions.
The ‘reset’ in relations between the United States and Russia is dead, as the Obama administration has never truly cooperated with Moscow, instead pushing the same policy Washington has been imposing on Russia for the past 20 years.
“That policy is advancing NATO toward Russia’s borders, building missile defense on Russia’s borders, interfering in Russia’s internal politics,” Stephen F. Cohen – professor of Russian Studies and History at New York University and Princeton University

The Palestinian Holocaust + The Genocide of the CONGO

What is happening in Palestine! 
"Zionist people, thieves, karma is coming for you, oh yes!"

Descending into lawlessness - Gerald Celente

A look back at the major events of 2012, and trends for 2013

Japanese security firm to rent surveillance drones for use in private homes

By Madison Ruppert: Just when you thought the rapid advance of drone technology couldn’t get any more unbelievable, a Japanese security firm has announced that they will offer surveillance drones on a rental basis for a meager $58 per month starting some time after April 2014.
Offering rental drones for private use is quite novel although it seems to be part of a larger trend towards using or planning to use drones in non-military applications ranging from broadcast television news-gathering to traffic monitoring and police use (also see below video):

Yet with the development of drone sensors capable of capturing 36 square miles in a single blink, the rise of long-distance solar-powered electric drones along with drone-based systems capable of employing EMP missiles and automatically spotting and tracking people from 25,000 feet and drones with facial recognition, biometrics and threat assessment capabilities, these drones seem like child’s play.

Former Icelandic bank executives jailed for fraud

Reuters: TWO former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a €53m loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.
All three of the small North Atlantic island's top banks collapsed in quick succession in October 2008 due to big debts incurred during a rapid overseas expansion.
Glitnir was the first to fall after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused international credit markets to freeze up.
A Reykjavik court sentenced Glitnir's former chief executive, Larus Welding, and former head of corporate finance, Gudmundur Hjaltason, each to nine months in jail, of which six months were suspended for two years. They had denied the charges.
Prosecutors said the two approved a loan to a company which owned shares in Glitnir so that the company could in turn repay a debt to Morgan Stanley.
The decision, taken outside the regular decision-making process, meant Glitnir was too exposed to the company and cost the bank at least 53.7 million euros ($71 million), the prosecution said.
The sentence was less than the jail terms of at least five years demanded by Iceland's special prosecutor, who is looking into alleged wrongdoing connected to the crisis.

Senator Feinstein's Gun Grabbing Bill Causes Outrage, Petition Started + BLAME THE ATHEISTS! + School Shootings and Their Link to Psychotropic Drugs

The latest White House petition garnering attention demands that Senator Dianne Feinstein be tried in federal court for treason against the constitution for her role in introducing legislation that would go a long way to repealing the second amendment.

Friday Humor: Top Ten Reasons Why Fiat Currency Is Superior To Gold

By John Butler: In the spirit of the holidays and hope for a more prosperous 2013, I thought my readers might appreciate a little humour to partially offset the relentless doom and gloom associated with the Amphora Report. So please, don’t take this edition too seriously. But if you happen to stumble across a ‘paperbug’ or two over the holidays, perhaps you could share some of the points made here. Humour sometimes helps people realise just how hopelessly misguided they are. Cheers!

---

Number 10: There Is Not Enough Gold (Or Silver) In The World To Serve As Money

Let’s begin with the obvious. We know that central banks the world over have printed money at exponentially growing rates for years. There is now so much paper and electronic money floating around the world that gold (or silver) can not possibly be expected to keep up. You can’t print gold, after all, you need to find it, dig it out of the ground, refine it, etc, a hugely expensive and time-consuming process which practically ensures a stable rather than exponentially growing supply of the stuff.
Of course, we know that an exponentially growing supply of money is a good thing. How else can an economy hope to grow, especially one bearing an exponentially rising debt burden! We need all that new money to pay all that new interest, don’t we? And don’t forget, most things keep getting more expensive, like food and fuel. Don’t we need more money to pay for all that too? What about government entitlements that keep growing in size? If we didn’t have a constant flow of new money, how on earth would we pay for all of that? It is essential that we keep the printing presses rolling.

Oliver Stone: ‘US has become an Orwellian state’

Americans are living in an Orwellian state argue Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick, as they sit down with RT to discuss US foreign policy and the Obama administration’s disregard for the rule of law.
­Both argue that Obama is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and that people have forgiven him a lot because of the “nightmare of the Bush presidency that preceded him.”
“He has taken all the Bush changes he basically put them into the establishment, he has codified them,” Stone told RT. “It is an Orwellian state. It might not be oppressive on the surface, but there is no place to hide. Some part of you is going to end up in the database somewhere.”
According to Kuznick, American citizens live in a fish tank where their government intercepts more than 1.7 billion messages a day. “That is email, telephone calls, other forms of communication.”

Feinstein's Gun Control Bill Will Trigger The Next American Revolution

Brandon Smith: All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party - Mao Tse Tung

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military - William Burroughs

Revolution?  Yes, it all sounds rather “extreme”, but the cold hard reality of our era is not going to comfort us with diplomacies and niceties, so honestly, why should I have to sugar coat anything?  We live in extreme times and there is no longer room for prancing around the ultimate consequences of that which is taking place in America today.  This country is increasingly sliding towards the edge of internal conflict.  The Liberty Movement and true Constitutionalists see it, subsections of Republicans and Democrats see it, and most of all, the federal government sees it.  In fact, they may even be counting on it. 

Over the past two years alone, multiple draconian policies have been enacted through executive order by the Obama Administration which build upon the civil liberty crushing actions of George W. Bush and press far beyond.  The Patriot Acts, the FISA domestic spy bill, the bailouts of corrupt international banks, attempts at CISPA and SOPA, actions like the NDAA authorizing the treatment of U.S. citizens as “enemy combatants” without rights to due process; all paint a picture so clear only a one-celled amoeba (or your average suburban yuppie) would not see it.  You and I, and everyone else for that matter, have been designated potential targets of the state.  Our rights have been made forfeit.

Sandy Hook Shooting Hoax - Morris

Morris: There is no evidence for what is said to have happened at the Sandy Hook School in Connecticut - No pictures of the door shot up - nor of 600 students being evacuated - the one picture of children being taken out is apperently from an emergency drill earlier in the year. The Connecticut Health officer (Medical Examiner) in charge of the post mortems made a meaningless speech saying he had not seen all the children - The rifle the alleged shooter used was found in the trunk of a car - The brother of the alleged shooter has been locked up (silenced) for his own safety - The parents have not spoken except for one father who was seen to be joking around before the cameras came on

Russian Policies in 2012 A Look Back - SovietBear

Morris: Russia will be a Full SuperPower by 2015. Russia is also introducing a lot of nationalistic laws - banning US NGOs and US adoptions. Russia has its own mind again. Source

Argentina: a case study in how an elite political dynasty is used to further the new world agenda

By Dave Truman: I have a new theory: globalization is rather like making a sponge cake. With just a few local variations, you can smell the same rancid ingredients baking wherever you come across them in the world.

Note: be sure to read Dave’s previous article, “Home thoughts from Uruguay”

First, you need generous proportions of monetized debt. The more you can muster the better. You will not get the results you want (rampant inflation and a widening of the gap between the rich few and the many poor) without it.

Second, you need to add a sprinkling of corrupt politicians. Their role is to provide the illusion that the ordinary people of any country (known these days as Plebs in Britain) actually have some say over their lives. In reality, politicians are there to make sure that genuine local economies and communities are dismantled and national assets and infrastructure are stripped bare. Now things are really cooking.

Third, add some genetically modified education; this will ensure that the capacity of the masses for independent critical thinking is destroyed.

Finally, don’t forget to ice it all with an artificially sweetened, bought and paid for mass media in order to mask the taste of the unsavoury filth that has been cooking inside – and viola!

The Real Crisis: "People Have Lost Trust In The Government And The Market"

Submitted by Tyler Durden: The death of the 'cult of equities' was a popular topic this year among both fringe blogs and the best-known institutional asset managers and sell-side strategists. As AP discusses in this excellent article, ordinary Americans - defying decades of investment history - are selling stocks for a fifth year in a row. It's the first time ordinary folks have sold during a sustained bull market since relevant records were first kept during World War II. The answer is both complex and simple but summed up best by a former stock analyst's comment that in order to buy stocks "You have to trust your government. You have to trust other governments. You have to trust Wall Street, and I don't trust any of these." With Fed policy trying to force investors back into stocks (at any cost), a former fund manager notes, presciently that, "When this policy fails, as it will, baby boomers will pay the cost in their 401(k)s." Are we the new 'Depression Babies'? We suspect so.

French Artists Strike Out Against Evil American Empire

By Wolf Richter: Théâtre Royal de Luxe, a street-theater company in France, decided to sue an evil American multinational giant, or so it seems. But there are complications: Royal de Luxe is at the confluence of political connections, government subsidies, Coca-Cola commercialism, perhaps even world domination, and certainly, awesome art.
While it performs a variety of street shows, Royal de Luxe is internationally known for its giant marionettes that are suspended from reinvented construction implements or fantasy vehicles. Actors in livery, perched on the implement or swarming around the giant’s ankles, pull on ropes to get the giant to open its eyes, move an arm, turn the head, walk step by halting step.... The shows have been a huge success around the world.
Jean-Luc Courcoult started the theater company in 1979 with a play on the streets of Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France. Over the years, styles changed, and the company moved around a bit. In October, 1989, while in Toulouse, according to its own website, “the company received a call from the mayor of Nantes who offered subsidies and the use of a warehouse on the banks of the Loire River.” It was “an offer that could not be refused.”
And that generous mayor? Jean-Marc Ayrault, member of the Socialist Party. He’d been elected a few months earlier, and has since been reelected time and again, while also having been elected to the National Assembly. He who in June, 2012, became the Prime Minister of France. Voilà.

The Coming Isolation of USDollar - Golden Jackass

Jim Willie CB: The typical human reaction to any infection, vermin, danger, or toxicity is to stand back, to isolate the agent, to trap it, to prevent its further spread or release, then to remove it in a safe secure way if possible using trained professionals. Eventually decisions must be made on the level of acceptable risk on the removal, like what is willing to be lost or damaged or killed in the process. Risk analysis, cost trade-offs, and minimization decisions must be evaluated and executed. The toxic agent in global trade, global banking, and global bond market is the USDollar. In 2009, the Jackass began making a certain firm point. Those nations that depart from the entire USDollar system early will be the leading nations in the next chapter, with stronger foundations, richer solvency, emerging economies, healthier financial markets, efficient credit engines, growing wealth, stronger political helm activity, and better functioning systems generally. Imagine a contaminated blood system that infects, corrupts, and destroys all interior organs from the spread of the toxin. Those nations that stick with the crumbling USDollar system stubbornly will find a horrible fate with devastating effects, rampant economic damage, broken financial markets, sputtering credit engines, tremendous loss of wealth, wrecked supply lines, poverty spreading like wildfire, ruined political structures, social disorder, isolation from the rest of the world, and a fast ticket to the Third World. That is EXACTLY what is happening in the last several months. A division has begun, as the East has been busily installing the next generation platforms, as related to trade, banking, and commercial integration.

No More Industrial Revolutions, No More Growth?

Charles Hugh Smith: The common feature of the transformative technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries is that they were one-offs that cannot be duplicated.

What if the engines of global growth that worked for 65 years (since 1945) have not just stalled but broken down? The primary "engines" have been productivity gains from industrialization, real estate development and expansion of consumption based on the continual expansion of debt and leverage--in short-hand, financialization.

The Status Quo around the globe has responded to the obvious endgame of financialization (the 2008 financial crisis) by doing more of what has failed: expanding credit and leverage, flooding the global economy with liquidity (money available for borrowing), credits and subsidies for real estate development and a near-religious belief in "the next industrial revolution" that will spark rapid growth in employment, profits and productivity.

"The usual suspects" for the next engine of growth include nanotechnology, biotechnology, unconventional energy and Digital Fabrication, i.e. 3-D printing and desktop foundries. But are any of these capable of not just replacing jobs and revenues in existing industries, but creating more jobs and expanding revenues and profits?

There is a growing literature on this very topic, as many start questioning the quasi-religious faith that there will "always" be another driver of growth, i.e. the expansion of wealth, profit, employment and assets.

The Status Quo dares not even entertain this question