By Wolf Richter: The US economy, and by extension the world economy, is desperately waiting for the spring escape velocity to finally
kick in.
This American phenomenon has been forecast to occur for six
years in a row now, with the prior five forecasts having turned out to
be just a mix of political wishful thinking and unfettered Wall Street
hype, followed by a shrug and an “ah shucks, maybe next year.”
So while we were still waiting for the escape velocity, world trade,
one of the major indicators of what’s going on in the globalized
economy, has descended into a very unpropitious slump.
World trade volume dropped 0.5% in March from February, after it had
already dropped 0.7% in February, the CPB Netherlands Bureau for
Economic Policy Analysis, a division of the Ministry of Economic
Affairs, just reported in its March world trade report. For the first quarter, volume was down 0.8%, after a 1.5% increase in the fourth quarter.
To eliminate the inherent volatility of these kinds of monthly
numbers, the CPB offers what it calls trade “momentum” data – which it
defines as “the change in the three months average up to the report
month relative to the average of the preceding three months.” It
eliminates some of the monthly up-and-down noise.
That trade momentum measure slumped 0.8% in March, after having edged
down 0.3% in February. This is what it looks like, going back to 2010.
Note the steep dive since late last year that entered negative territory
in February:
Sargon of Akkad
UK MHRAs start feminist BBC boycott on live youtube hangout.
Stefan Molyneux: Between the poles of strong atheism and strict atheism lies agnosticism, the argument that gods are very unlikely, but cannot logically be ruled out as utterly impossible. Agnosticism is considered a cautious, tentative and scientific approach to the question of the existence of gods - Stefan Molyneux's seminal book "Against the Gods?" makes a powerful case against agnosticism and for the positive acceptance of the nonexistence of supernatural beings.
Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Max's personal Vietnam called 'HSBC Now' and he is going up the Thames River of financial fraud to meet George Osborne who is sitting on a pile of skulls of the victims of austerity. They discuss the wishes and knishes and misallocation of capital.
By Jack Outis: Year 2005. I am waiting at a law firm for my appointment. Two women talking at the office next door, one is the lawyer, the other the client. Their door is almost open. They can’t see me but I hear everything they say.
Long story short, a guy had been hired by a company but he quit the job to go work with the competition and the first employer wanted to get back at him. This is the most meaningful part of their conversation,
Client: I want you to sue him for breach of contract
Female Lawyer: Won’t work, he quit before he signed
Client: I know, I just want him to run out of money & suffer. Just find a way…
The client was an older lady in her early sixties and her words stuck in my mind, like an ear worm:
“I know it does not make sense I just want him to run out of money and suffer”
My lawyer arrived and interrupted my listening but even later that day I kept thinking about those words the older woman said, the same night I wrote that sentence on a piece of paper and took a good long look at its sheer cynicism. Then the translation hit me,
ORIGINAL: “I know it does not make sense I just want him to run out of money and suffer”
TRANSLATION: “Rules don’t apply to me, I just want to be right”
I tried other translations but I kept coming back to the first one
“Rules don’t apply to me, I just want to be right”
RT: The Western narrative has closely mirrored talking points generated from
within the halls of power. Where does the Western media's inability and
unwillingness to report the Ukrainian story come from? Is Western media
merely the instrument of the rich and powerful? And what is
journalism's main purpose? CrossTalking with Manuel Ochsenreiter and
Dmitry Babich.
Extremist Israeli land thieves (aka 'settlers') have vandalized a church in the southern city of Beersheba ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Palestine.
Orwellian UK BANNED Press TV: Israeli police said the outside walls of the church were sprayed with anti-Christian graffiti on Friday.
Security officials suspect that the move is the latest in a series of hate crimes, with Israeli extremists as the main suspects.
They say there has been a recent spate of hate crimes, mainly in the form of vandalism and graffiti, targeting churches and mosques.
Christian leaders have condemned the recent anti-Christian hate crimes by Israeli extremists.
Israeli settlers also regularly carry out price tag raids against Palestinians and their properties.
Price tag attacks are acts of vandalism and violence against Palestinian properties as well as Islamic holy sites.
The United Nations has recorded “399 attacks” of this kind by Israeli settlers, which have “resulted in Palestinian injuries or property damage.”
RT: Over 400 cities worldwide will see millions marching against the US chemical and agricultural company Monsanto in an effort to boycott the use of Genetically Modified Organizms in food production.
Marches are planned in 52 countries in addition to some 47 US states that are jointing in the protest.
Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on March Against Monsanto
“MAM supports a sustainable food production system. We must act now to stop GMOs and harmful pesticides,” said Tami Monroe Canal, founder of March Against Monsanto (MAM) in a press release ahead of the global event.
The movement was formed after the 2012 California Proposition 37 on mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food initiative failed, prompting activists to demand a boycott of the GMO in food production.
“Monsanto’s predatory business and corporate agriculture practices threatens their generation’s health, fertility and longevity,” Canal said.
The main aim of the activism is to organize global awareness for the need to protect food supply, local farms and environment. It seeks to promote organic solutions, while “exposing cronyism between big business and the government.”
This American phenomenon has been forecast to occur for six
years in a row now, with the prior five forecasts having turned out to
be just a mix of political wishful thinking and unfettered Wall Street
hype, followed by a shrug and an “ah shucks, maybe next year.”
