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

by John Galt, February 28, 2012

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

iBubble: Apple's Market Cap Is Now The Same As The Entire Retail Sector, Bigger Than All The Semis

Submitted by Tyler Durden: This is simply stunning: one company, which has two flagship products, has a bigger market cap than the entire Semiconductor space, and is just shy of the entire S&P Retail sector.

'Not for Pub': US drew up secret Assange charges - Stratfor leak

The US prepared a secret “sealed indictment” on Julian Assange over a year ago. That comes from a recent Stratfor mail leak published on a drip-drip basis by WikiLeaks.

The newly-released batch of confidential emails reveals Stratfor's vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, warned his colleagues of the “not for pub” indictment.

Last year, media reports suggested the US might not be able to charge Julian Assange with espionage as no direct links had been found between him and his alleged informant, Bradley Manning.

Burton, a former State Deptartment counterterrorism agent, ended the speculation on whether the US could hook the WikiLeaks founder by saying: "We have a sealed indictment on Assange,” also calling for the sensitive information to be "protected."

‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’...

Anyone's a Terrorist: Fear-mongering machine takes over US

Presidential authorisation for the military to detain terror suspects without charge or trial has left Americans wary. Washington says it's beefing up national security as part of the war on terror. But critics say fear-mongering is dividing, not uniting the nation. Source

Turk - Something Big is About to Happen in Gold & Silver

With gold near $1,770 and silver near $35.50, today King World News interviewed James Turk out of Spain.  Turk told King World News the fact that silver is not pulling back is an indication of how strong that market is right now.  Here is what Turk had to say about the situation:  “This is a great start to the week for the precious metals, Eric.  We need to see this kind of strength to make sure both gold and silver follow through in the next few trading days to confirm the big gains from last week where gold climbed 2.9%, while silver soared 6.4%.  It is remarkable to see both metals hold their gains with no profit taking.  Clearly, traders see something big is about to happen, and so do I.”

"Hoodwinked: an economic hit man reveals why the world financial markets imploded... Lazy Thieves" - Epilogue

In this edition of the show we discuss the book; Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded, written by John Perkins.

Goldman: Germany Is Now On The Hook By €1 Trillion (Or 40% Of GDP)

Submitted by Tyler Durden: Earmuffs time for our German readers.

Goldman Sachs, in estimating the impact of tomorrow's LTRO, lets one slip, namely the fact that despite popular German expectations that European bailouts occur at the ECB level, and Germany is fairly isolated from what happens in Greece (which as of today no longer stays at the ECB, but shifts right through to the Bundesbank) thereby reducing the risk of runaway debt inflation, the true price to Germany is substantial to quite substantial. €1 trillion to be precise. Which just happens to be 40% of German GDP...

Occupy London camp destroyed by police in riot gear

The Occupy London camp outside St Paul's Cathedral was destroyed early Tuesday. Hundreds of officers converged on the camp just before midnight local time and began to dismantle what had been home to around 70 activists.

Bailiffs in high-visibility jackets dragged tents and their contents to garbage trucks and dumpsters where they were crushed. Police in riot gear formed cordons to keep protesters and their supporters out of the camp. Activists say the police were met with peaceful resistance.  However, media reports say around 20 protesters have been detained.

Weed Out Wall St. Crooks! - Max Keiser

'no wrongdoing' settlements, defrauding school children and a morbidly obese, bedridden Volcker Rule. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Karl Denninger of the Market-Ticker.org about rigging Libor, ruining Volcker and shorting Facebook. Source