25 May 2012

Welcome to the Currency War, Part 1: Iceland and the Tragedy of the Commons


by JOHN RUBINO: Think of devaluation as the monetary equivalent of the “tragedy of the commons”. In a nutshell, if everyone owns something, it is in each individual’s interest to grab what they can as quickly as possible, which soon depletes the resource.
With currency exchange rates, as with fisheries and sheep pastures, there’s an advantage for those who move first and pain for those who dither. Consider Iceland’s nearly-instantaneous recovery from its epic banking crash:
In European Crisis, Iceland Emerges as an Island of Recovery 
VESTMANNAEYJAR, Iceland—Three and a half years after Iceland collapsed in a heap, Dadi Palsson’s fish-processing plant has the air of a surprising economic recovery.
Mr. Palsson arrived at 4 a.m. on a recent workday. Twelve tons of cod were coming in. Soon, his workers would bone, slice and pack the fish for loading onto towering container ships headed abroad.
In 2008, Iceland was the first casualty of the financial crisis that has since primed the euro zone for another economic disaster: Greece is edging toward a cataclysmic exit from the euro, Spain is racked by a teetering banking system, and German politicians are squabbling over how to hold it all together.
But Iceland is growing. Unemployment has eased. Emigration has slowed.
Iceland has a significant advantage over stressed euro-zone countries—a currency that could be devalued. That has turned its trade deficit into a surplus and smoothed its recovery.

An Army of Pedophile Scum!!! - Controlling The Worlds Borders + The Tax Whose Name Cannot be Spoken

A former Catholic priest who was defrocked after it was discovered he had sexually abused young girls is now working as a security screener for the TSA it has been revealed.

The CBS 3 I-Team in Philadelphia reports that Thomas Harkins, a priest in South Jersey until 2002, is now working at a security terminal at Philadelphia International Airport.

Mark Grant And Rick Santelli On Europe's 'Bond-Turned-Bank'-Run


Tyler Durden's pictureSubmitted by Tyler DurdenWe have discussed the realities of Spanish (and Italian and Portuguese and Greek) debt to GDP data relative to the official estimates a number of times over the past few months and just as Mark Grant tells Rick Santelli today, the sugar buzz of self-financed sovereign bond buying hides the truth - until now when that liquidity is fading. From inaccurate data to LTRO ineffectiveness, 'Grantelli' sum it up nicely as  the 'Bond Run' we have seen over the past few months (as professionals flee European banks and sovereigns) has now trickled down to the man-in-the-street and their equivalent - the bank-run.

Conquering fear is the path to our freedom


By Scott D. Snitzer: 
How we humans love to praise ourselves for being rational and logical beings, the Noble Savage as they say, so easily forgetting that it is the primitive, animalistic part of our brain that can take control at any moment in the face of crisis and trauma, decimating that same logic and rationality we wear with so much pride.
Our primordial instincts of “fight or flight” kick into high gear, heightening our awareness by the necessity of survival. It is in this primeval state, where creativity is overshadowed by raw reaction to the perceived threats in our environment at that moment. No tomorrow or next week, but rather just focusing on the danger now, living in the present and usurping higher-level reason for savagery.
As the muscles, heart and lungs engorge with oxygenated blood and our senses heighten, we lose our civilized veneer as our ability to calmly contemplate our situation dissolves. We are at the mercy of our evolutionary process, as our irrational fears have been capitalized upon by politicians, corporations and organized religions; a handful of appointed rulers, who have gained control by promising their followers that they will keep them safe from real, or more often, imaginary and vaguely-defined enemies.

Poison in The Tap Water - Big business running amok

"Extremely toxic byproduct of fertiliser embeds in the brain and disrupts thyroid glands, that causes cancer and destroys health" "Bottle fed babies receiving 250 times the dose" "Linear correlation, severe dental fluorosis across populations and bone defects." "multiple studies from around the world showing lowering of IQ."

Egypt's historic presidential election - Comment

Millions of Egyptians queued at polling stations to cast their ballots in the country's first free presidential elections since the ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolution last year. The attendance was particularly high in Cairo where long queues stretching outside the polling stations caused traffic jam. The first round of the presidential election in Egypt was held over two days on May 23 and 24, and a run-off would take place on June 16 and 17 if necessary. Final results are expected on June 21. Source

War: what is it good for? BUSINESS


By Ken Hildebrand:
But what does war mean? Well, Webster’s Dictionary defines war as:Monday, May 28, 2012 is Memorial Day. A day to remember and honor the veterans who have fought in all the wars that this nation has been involved in. There will be parades, barbeques and all sorts of activities. Will you take time out of your day to remember those who went to war?
WAR\’WOR\n 1: a state or period of usu. open and declared armed fighting between states or nations 2: the art or science of warfare 3: a state of hostility, conflict or antagonism 4: a struggle between opposing forces or for a particular end
I decided to list some of the wars that we are involved in at this time. I know that I didn’t get them all but here are some of the wars I came up with.
War in Iraq, War in Afghanistan, War on Drugs, War on Terror, War on Violence, Middle East War, War on Women, War on Men, War on Islam, War on Religion, War on Poverty, War on Hunger, War on Obesity, War on Pornography, War of the Sexes, War on Crime, War on Vaginas, War on Guns
Let’s not forget the Tug of War and all of the other Wars that are out there.
Why does everything have to be a war?
I think that war should be defined in the following manner: a period of time where the total destruction of property and the loss of human lives are condoned. A conflict between two parties that can’t get along and these results are the mindless eradication of people that have no idea what is going on.

Alleged al Qaeda video gives support to draconian cyber-security legislation


By Madison Ruppert:
As per usual, the Western-created al Qaeda has emerged from the woodwork to help create support for American policies which hurt the people of the United States.
I have spent a great deal of time here at End the Lie trying to detail the various pieces of cybersecurity legislation (one of which is CISPA) being pushed by our so-called representatives in an attempt to get even more control over the internet and further expand their surveillance capabilities which are already quite substantial thanks in part to companies like Google (and Facebook, of course) and their Big Brother technologies along with the massive data collection industry.
There have been numerous attempts to build support for the legislation through clear false flag-type tactics, like using the leader of Lulz Security, better known as LulzSec, to carry out attacks in concert with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the alleged Russian cyber attack on U.S. infrastructure which turned out to be wholly fabricated.

Logic Will Save Us From Fiscal Armageddon - Alexis Tsipras with a dose of reality for Jonathan Rugman


"It's not a Greek problem it's a European problem... Austerity measures simply not implementable... 
I believe we find ourselves in a similar position to that which prevailed during the cold war between the US and USSR. Both sides had nuclear weapons in their hands, both sides threatened to push the button and activate. When you have a cold war neither side will back down so we do not expect Cameron and Merkel to back down either. 
We are quite sure when the time comes logic will prevail and they will not activate their nuclear weapons."

Jamie Dimon's Little Shop of Horrors! + Fart Club: George Osborne and the elite farters determining Britain’s fate - UK Banned Max Keiser

Alex talks with broadcaster, film-maker, and television show host Max Keiser, who will talk about Greece, the crumbling eurozone, and the Facebook IPO fiasco. Alex also takes your calls. Source

UK economy shrinks more than expected on fall in construction output - Britain's recession is deeper than previously thought after the Office for National Statistics unexpectedly revised down its growth estimate for the first quarter because of a weak construction sector.

Steve Keen’s discussion of parallel currencies gaining currency - Bank Of Russia Says Greece Has A Plan For Parallel Currency


Tyler Durden's picture

Someone apparerntly did not tell Russia to keep its mouth shut... That or, the sleeping bear is starting to awake and cause chaos and mischief:
  • GREECE HAS PLAN FOR PARALLEL CURRENCY, SHVETSOV SAYS
  • RUSSIA'S SHVETSOV SAYS `NECESSITY' FOR GREECE TO LEAVE EURO
  • SHVETSOV SAYS GREEK EXIT WOULD BE GOOD EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS
  • BANK OF RUSSIA’S SERGEY SHVETSOV SPEAKS IN INTERVIEW IN MILAN
Kak skazat Oops po Russki? Cue Greek denials they have any plans about anything. Ever.