Jim Rickards: An Economic Pearl Harbor We Never Saw Coming!

The Doc: China has acquired 2,000 tons of gold, and need to acquire another 2,000 tons.  China is converting large amounts of dollar derivatives contracts into physical gold.  Tensions are rising between the US & China, and China is secretly stockpiling massive amounts of gold…

As the currency wars were heating up, China wasn’t just stockpiling gold futures contracts.  They also had their hedge funds take positions in a block of highly leveraged derivatives.  Out of the blue China orders these hedge funds to sell these secret holdings-all at the same time.  In 1 single day they dump the equivalent of the entire GDP of Canada, India, or Russia on Wall St. Source An economic Pearl Harbor we never saw coming…

Bitcoin Millionaires vs Paper Billionaires max Keiser with Charles Hugh Smith

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss both the Dow and bitcoin hitting an all time high as the Fed continues to print $85 billion per month for Wall Street handouts whilst the sequester cuts $85 billion from services to the poor, the elderly and soldiers. They also talk about house prices tripling to all time highs in Hong Kong (thanks to quantitative easing) whilst 'surreal' ghost cities are built in mainland China but which nobody can afford and about how incomes in America are collapsing - thanks to quantitative easing. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Charles Hugh Smith of OfTwoMinds.com about both socialism and capitalism leading to debtism. Source

Dr Drone: 'CIA is a terrorist organization, Brennan suits it'

The appointment of John Brennan, the purported architect of Washington's drone operations, as the next CIA director comes as no surprise since the agency is in itself a "terrorist organization." The comment comes as the US Senate has confirmed John Brennan, the top White House adviser on the so-called war on terror, as the next director of the CIA. Last Thursday, the Senate voted 63-34 in favor of Brennan, overcoming Republican Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster of the nomination to demand an answer from the White House over its use of assassination drones. Washington uses assassination drones in several countries, claiming that they target "terrorists." According to witnesses, however, the attacks have mostly led to massive civilian casualties.

Bitcoin and Silver markets too small for biggest players?

SilverFuturist: In 1980s, a few big players led by the Hunt Bros took silver to its all time highs. Then they crashed the market when they got out. The Bitcoin market is smaller than many people in the world, if a millionaire worth a 100 mil wanted to get in they would bid the price to the sky and then crash it when they got out - they would be trading against themselves, whey would they enter the market? - The silver market is smaller than some corporations and banks. So do the big banks really care about silver, and how much are they really involved? The silver market is so small, if a few big players really wanted to get in wouldn't the price fly to the moon? Source

The symbolism of Brennan (aka Dr Drone) being sworn in with hand on Constitution without Bill of Rights

By Madison Ruppert: There has been a great deal of buzz surrounding the swearing-in ceremony of John Brennan as director of the CIA during which he took his oath of office with his hand on the original draft of the US Constitution which, most notably, did not include the Bill of Rights.
Some see this as quite symbolic given the extreme rejection of the most essential rights by the current administration, most notably the wild interpretation of the concept of due process, the claimed authority to kill Americans even when there is no clear evidence of terrorist activity and the claimed authority to indefinitely detain Americans without charge or trial.
The White House wrote, “Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution, dating from 1787, which has George Washington’s personal handwriting and annotations on it.”
Why is that problematic?
“That means, when Brennan vowed to protect and defend the Constitution, he was swearing on one that did not include the First, Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendments — or any of the other Amendments now included in our Constitution,” Marcy Wheeler of Empty Wheel points out. “The Bill of Rights did not become part of our Constitution until 1791, 4 years after the Constitution that Brennan took his oath on.”
Keep in mind, Brennan is referred to as the chief architect of the Obama administration’s highly contentious open-ended drone program.

X Art: JIMMY DAVIS - A PRAYER

Globalfaction: Jimmy Davis - A Prayer [Official Video] featuring Shanade Morrow

Why Italy’s gold could change everything

Italy is about to break ranks in Europe. 

They could easily do the same on Zirp

The Slog: There’s an excellent piece by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at the Telegraph website at the moment. It explains how the blame-game between China and the US is being ratcheted up, and most importantly how Politburos are in the same Premier League of can-kicking as Congresses and Parliaments. Basically, the global ‘economy’ is being kept going by funny-money, the banking system by taxpayers, and the Chinese ‘growth’ by subsidies fuelled from the trade surpluses. Leaving aside this Ponzi-meets-grand larceny arrangement, one day very soon there will be no way to stop a ubiquitous driving down of currency values: push will come to shove, then shove will come to punch, then punch will come to gun. What happens between China and Japan now could be Germany and us within two years. Don’t smile: we’re nearer to it than you think. Say ‘Schäuble’ a few times to yourself each day.
Part of the madness is this curious inability to look up from the drop-handlebars that have for some reason been fitted to the world’s econo-fiscal three-square-wheeled bike. We push currency values down/ so that Western consumers can only afford cheap Asian crap/ so the West’s trade-gap just keeps on getting wider and its debt mountain higher/ so the Chinese retaliate by spending more surpluses on more export-price subsidies/ so the trade gap widens again and the debt gets bigger and…..ad nauseam et infinitum.
I wouldn’t hold your collective breath waiting for sanity to prevail.

Money for the People: Grillo’s Populist Plan for Italy

By Ellen Brown: Default on the public debt, nationalization of the banks, and a citizen dividend could actually save the Italian economy.

Comedian Beppe Grillo was surprised himself when his Five Star Movement got 8.7 million votes in the Italian general election of February 24-25th. His movement is now the biggest single party in the chamber of deputies, says The Guardian, which makes him “a kingmaker in a hung parliament.”
Grillo’s is the party of “no.” In a candidacy based on satire, he organized an annual “V Day Celebration,” the “V” standing for vaffanculo (“f—k off”). He rejects the status quo—all the existing parties and their monopoly control of politics, jobs, and financing—and seeks a referendum on all international treaties, including NATO membership, free trade agreements and the Euro.
“If we get into parliament,” says Grillo, “we would bring the old system down, not because we would enjoy doing so but because the system is rotten.” Critics fear, and supporters hope, that if his party succeeds, it could break the Euro system.

Why Do People Commit To Behavior Which Consistently Lacks Moral or Ethical Principles?

Charlie Anderson: Call it what you like…thirst for control, money, power, greed, lust or simply a lack of conscience. Does good behavior lead to more good behavior and by the same token does bad behavior lead to more of the bad? The answer depends on our ethical mindset, according to new research published in Psychological Science. What makes a person feel justified in taking advantage over another? Psychological scientist Gert Cornelissen of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and colleagues found that people who have an “ends justify the means” mindset are more likely to balance their good and bad deeds, while those who believe that what is right and wrong is a matter of principle are more likely to be consistent in their behavior, even if that behavior is bad.

Previous research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, found that providing a sense of power to someone instills a black-and-white sense of right and wrong (especially wrong). Once armed with this moral clarity, powerful people then perceive wrongdoing with much less ambiguity than people lacking this power, and punish apparent wrong-doers with more severity than people without power would.
Existing research is mixed when it comes to explaining how previous behavior affects our current moral conduct.
Some researchers find evidence for moral balancing, suggesting that we hover around a moral setpoint. Going over that setpoint by doing a good deed gives us license to engage in more self-interested, immoral, or antisocial behavior. When our moral self-image falls below that setpoint, however, we feel ill at ease and try to compensate by engaging in positive behavior.

If You're An Austrian Woman, Move To Italy

Submitted by Tyler Durden: We know that core and periphery are struggling under the same monetary policy sun as divergences grow wider. We also know that even in the core, the Franco-German divide continues to gape. However, for a 'union' that continues to promote itself as the utopian solution for 27 nations across Europe, it seems there is an even bigger chasm - the gender pay gap. On International Women's Day, Bloomberg's Niraj Shah notes that women earn on average 16% per hour less than men with Estonia (27% gap) and Austria (24%) at the worst end of the spectrum and Italy (6%) and Slovenia (2%) at the most equitable end. And finally, even with a woman running the show, Germany's gender-pay-gap is a surprising 22%. Source

Google to pay $7 million to 30 states to settle Wi-Fi spying investigation

By Madison Ruppert: Google is on the verge of paying $7 million to settle charges from some 30 states surrounding the collection of private data from the Wi-Fi networks of unsuspecting Americans, according to a report. This sum would be less than a drop in the bucket for Google.
Google’s entire business model is based on invading privacy in some quite disturbing ways and their tight relationship with the government has only expanded in recent years. Paying relatively nothing to make states forget about one of the more egregious privacy breaches in recent history is hardly surprising coming from Google.
Previously, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) essentially cleared Google of wrongdoing over the massive breach of privacy and instead fined the company a mere $25,000 for deliberately impeding and delaying the investigation. The decision was made even though a judge said they could be held liable for violating federal wiretapping legislation.
It’s worth noting that according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), as of 2012 at least 9 countries found Google guilty of violating their laws while 12 countries conducted investigations.
According to a report by Hillicon Valley, a blog published by The Hill, the deal has yet to be finalized but could be announced at some point early next week. This was also reported by Reuters.
The $7 million would be split among the 30 or so states involved in the investigation, according to an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen’s spokesperson told All Things Digital, “Our only comment about Google Street View is the investigation is active and ongoing.

Self Help in Health and Life Dylan Charles - Editor WakingTimes

Morris: Dylan is the Editor of a successful online magazine http://wakingtimes.com which showcases maverick ways of living, where science and spirituality meet.
Alternative Health, Sustainability and the elevation of Human Consciousness. Source