Today’s Window Dressing Fall In Gold


Please do not be bothered by today’s intervention. The following news is what creates the absolute need for QE.
It is the thesis of my Formula of 2006 of no major recovery that gives the foundation to my thesis of QE to Infinity.
Treasury Yield Descending Signals Slowdown By John Detrixhe and Daniel Kruger – Feb 29, 2012 8:55 AM MT
The $10 trillion market for US Treasuries is signaling that the economic recovery may be poised to weaken even as consumer confidence rises toward pre-recession levels.
Yields (USGG10YR) on 10-year Treasury notes, the benchmark for everything from mortgage rates to corporate bonds, fell as low as 1.89 percent yesterday, down from this year’s high of 2.09 percent on Jan. 23, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yield averaged 2.76 percent in 2011 and 3.19 percent in 2010.

How The Patent System Is Rigged To Only Expand What's Patentable


from the keep-turning-the-ratchet dept

When the numbers came out showing that 2011 represented yet another record year for patents granted, it was such a non-surprise that I didn't even bother mentioning it. The number of patents granted just keeps going up. And yes, there were two small dips during the past decade, but they corresponded with the rare situations in which the Supreme Court finally took an interest in some element of patent law and pushed back on the Federal Circuit (the appeals court that handles all patent issues) and the USPTO. We've discussed at length in the past, the problems of having a single appeals court that solely focuses on patent issues, because you lose the diversity of opinions (made worse at times when some of the judges on the panel have been former patent attorneys -- or, most famously, when a judge at the court was the same former patent attorney who wrote the last major update to patent law...).

However, Steve sends over a fascinating Yale Law Journal review article by Jonathan Masur that notes this problem of the Federal Circuit can be explainedstructurally, in that the relationship between the PTO and the Federal Circuit combined with the fact that there's no "adversarial" party contesting a patent grant, means that the patent system is effectively rigged to only expand, even if that goes against the best interests of society:

'Enough is Enough!' Spanish & Greeks unite in austerity rage

It's a day of mass protests across the EU, as people rail against austerity, cuts and economic hardships - which they say are not their fault. Fresh demonstration are brewing across Greece - as the government seeks to implement the drastic austerity measures that came with the latest EU bailout. The demonstrations will be synchronous with those in Spain - where people are angry at their own draconian cuts and bleak prospects.  Source

20 Economic Statistics To Use To Wake Sheeple Up From Their Entertainment-Induced Comas

The Dow has closed above 13,000 for the first time since 2008 and the mainstream media is declaring that a strong economic recovery is underway.  Barack Obama is telling anyone who will listen that his economic policies are a huge success, and U.S. consumers are piling up astounding amounts of new debt.  Unfortunately, this euphoria about the economy will be short-lived.  None of the long-term problems that are destroying the U.S. economy have been solved.  In fact, there are dozens of statistics that can be quoted that prove that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than it was when the recession supposedly ended.  If dramatic changes are not made very rapidly, our nation is going to smash directly into an economic brick wall.  Sadly, most Americans are so addicted to entertainment that they have no idea what is about to happen.  Most of them are "sheeple" that are content to trust that the "experts" know exactly how to fix our problems as they continue to enjoy their entertainment-induced comas.  After all, it is much easier to turn on "American Idol" or "Dancing With The Stars" than it is to think about debt ratios and monetary policy.  But that doesn't mean that we should not try to wake the sheeple up.  It just means that it will not be easy.

Steve Keen on the transmutation of Zombie Banking into Zombie Government!

Ireland will reportedly hold a referendum on Europe's new fiscal treaty for stricter budget discipline. The former prime minister is against it, saying a no vote could force ireland out of the euro. We've seen referendums called for before in the Eurozone crisis -- didn't seem to end well last time for democratic self-determination. Will this be yet another case of "the economic crisis sis too much for democracy" theme? A story of "we need technocrats" to navigate this all to volatile world? Is this euroland or zombie land? Are zombie banks feeding on governments, turning them into zombies too?

Anonymous brings down Interpol website in retaliation for 25 arrests

Supporters of the Anonymous hacker group attacked Interpol's main website after the international police agency conducted a number of hacker arrests across the globe.
The website Interpol.int was unreachable for a half hour on Wednesday. Access was later restored, although the loading time remains slow. The attack appears to have been conducted using a botnet. Anonymous Twitter accounts tweeted “interpol.int seems to be #TangoDown. We can’t say that this surprises us much," and "Looks like interpol.int is having some traffic issues. Now who would have expected that?”
The attacks came as Interpol announced the arrests of 25 suspected Anonymous members, aged between 17 and 40, who it alleges planned coordinated cyber-attacks against Colombia’s defense ministry and presidential websites, Chile’s Endesa electricity company and national library, among other targets. The arrests were part of Operation Unmask, during which police in Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Spain seized computers, mobile phones, credit cards and cash at 40 locations in 15 cities.

Alex Jones "Are You Pathetic Scum that Deserves to Die?"

latest documentary shatters the hoax of the terrorism, revealing instead that government is history's greatest killer. Now a 21st century technocratic global corporate tyranny seeks to kill billions with the superweapons it has created under a police state control grid and through the central banking warfare model it brought to life. Source

The Dangers of Water Fluoridation with Whistleblower Jeff Green

Alex also talks with Jeff Green, the national director of Citizens for Safe Drinking Water in San Diego, California. Green is responsible for initiating a congressional investigation on arsenic, radon and fluoride and provided evidence and testimony for a 2006 Nation Research Council Report on Fluoride.

Why are Nigerian politicians allegedly funding unrest in the country? - Africa Today

A former Nigerian military ruler has denied claims he was behind a sect waging a terror campaign that has claimed over 1,000 people in the past year.

THE EXISTENTIAL FINANCIAL PROBLEM OF OUR TIME

by SIMON BLACK


[Editor's note: Tim Price, a frequent Sovereign Man contributor and Director of Investment at PFP Wealth Management in London, is filling in for Simon today.]


In December last year, the poet Alice Oswald withdrew from the TS Eliot poetry prize on the grounds that the prize was being sponsored by an investment company (Aurum, a fund of hedge funds manager).
How you feel about this principled stance may depend on whether you are a UK taxpayer. If you are a UK taxpayer, you will probably feel relieved that your tax pounds are no longer being squandered on the Arts Council’s sponsorship of the prize in question “a tiny victory” but a victory nevertheless against the arrogant dissipations of the state.
Ms Oswald seems to believe that poetry prizes should be funded with everybody else’s money, rather than by a private patron grown-up enough to be responsible for its discretionary expenditure (private patronage being what you might call “traditional” in the arts).
As a graduate in English Language and Literature, this commentator has no animus against poets. But I am not sure we want them in charge of the economy. They are notorious for starving in garrets for a reason.

The Cure to Greek’s Debt Crisis: War with Turkey



The nation of Greece is now officially in default according to Standard and Poor’s (click here to read the story in full). The Troika and German expansionist government has declared that they would support the second bailout to preserve the status quo of confusion, deception, and deliberate subjugation of the Greek people. Unfortunately for the Germans, NATO, the European Union, and United States, a wildcard has been thrown into the fire by non other than the Greek Foreign Minister, Stavros Dimas. In an article from The Athens News on February 16th, the Foreign Minister said the following at a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Greece joining NATO:
“Since the mid-1970s, Greece has been facing a standing threat by one of its [Nato] allies, Turkey.
Nato’s silence since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus has been deafening. The systematic dispute of Greece’s sovereign rights by Turkey is, and is being treated by the Greek people as, a real and direct threat. In that light, Greece’s participation has not managed to respond to this significant threat,” the foreign minister said.

'Britain on path of bankruptcy'

A prominent professor says UK's economic and financial model is a failure amid Chancellor George Osborne's announcement that the country has run out of money.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Rodney Shakespeare, professor of binary economics, to further discuss the issue. Source