August 2009 – Page 3 – Infinite Unknown

UK can’t find $13bn in military hardware

August 21, 2009 by Infinite

The US government still holds the record:

– Donald Rumsfeld on CBS News one day before 9/11: Pentagon Cannot Account For 2,3 TRILLION Dollars
What a coincidence!

– Former Assistant Secretary of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: Financial Coup d’Etat:
Sure enough, that fall, significant amounts of moneys started leaving the US, including illegally. Over $4 trillion went missing from the US government. No one seemed to notice. Misled into thinking we were in a boom economy by a fraudulent debt bubble engineered with force and intention from the highest levels of the financial system, Americans were engaging in an orgy of consumption that was liquidating the real financial equity we needed urgently to reposition ourselves for the times ahead.

Auditors have been unable to find 6.6 billion pounds ($13 billion) worth of British military equipment including vehicles, weapons and radios used by troops, a report said Thursday.

The government has ordered a shakeup at the Ministry of Defence after the auditors found holes in its record keeping, the Financial Times reported.

The findings raised concerns about whether critical resourcing decisions for Afghanistan have been taken by MoD officials without knowing where billions of pounds of equipment, including machine guns, night vision goggles as well as spare parts, is located, the newspaper said.

The National Audit Office has refused to sign off on MoD accounts because of an “inadequate level of evidence” that 6.6 billion pounds of its assets existed, the FT said.

US: Government Permission Will Be Required To Travel

August 21, 2009 by Infinite

Starting this year, Americans will have to get government approval to travel by air. As Privacy Journal revealed last fall, henceforth “Permission Now Needed to Travel Within U.S.” Getting a reservation and checking-in for air travel will soon require Transportation Security Administration authorization. That permission is by no means assured: For example, if your name matches a “no-fly” list, even mistakenly, you can be denied the right to a reserve a seat on a flight. If your name is on a “selectee” list, you and your possessions will be searched more thoroughly before you can board. What is going on here?

Protecting air safety is essential, but professional screening at airports already provides for it. Giving the TSA as an official agency the additional authority to decide who gets to go where reaches beyond safety into overextended governmental power. This newly minted “Secure Flight” rule fundamentally imbalances long-standing citizens’ rights both to travel and to be left alone. If your name appears among hundreds of thousands on “watchlists,” you assert that the government should not require ID to fly, you don’t want to reveal your date of birth for concern about identity theft, or you don’t choose to declare your gender, you can stay home.

By combining the requirement for government photo IDs in order to fly with checking government watchlists including potentially every passenger, “Secure Flight” puts the federal government into the business of licensing travel. All travelers will need government OK in order to board a flight, or take a cruise. What the government can allow one day, it can forbid the next. All things considered, isn’t this a higher-tech and later-day version of South African domestic passports or eastern European checkpoints? In fact, because of the high technological capacity of the U.S. version, aren’t its implications for travel control of plane, train, bus and subway travel much more far reaching? It’s incredible that something like this is happening relatively unrecognized in America.

Philip Giraldi: Wag The Dog, Again

August 21, 2009 by Infinite

A must read article by former CIA field officer Philip Giraldi.

Philip Giraldi was the foreign policy advisor to Ron Paul during his last presidential run.

giraldi
Philip Giraldi

aipac_rules_america

Israeli media reports that visiting National Security Adviser General Jim Jones and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have told the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop complaining about Iran because the US is preparing to take action “in eight weeks” demonstrate that even when everything changes in Washington, nothing changes. President Barack Obama has claimed that a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a high priority but the Israelis and their allies in congress and the media have been able to stonewall the issue. Israel has made no concessions on its settlement policy, which is rightly seen as the single biggest obstacle to eventual creation of a Palestinian state, and has instead pushed ahead with new building and confiscations of Arab homes. Obama has protested both Israeli actions but done nothing else, meaning that Israel has determined that the new US president’s policies are toothless, giving it a free hand to deal with the Arabs. Vice President Joe Biden’s comments that Israel is free to attack Iran if it sees fit was a warning that worse might be coming. If the Israeli reports are true, it would appear that the Obama Administration has now bought completely into the Israeli view of Iran and is indicating to Tel Aviv that it will fall into line to bring the Mullahs to their knees. In short, Israel gets what it wants and Washington yet again surrenders.

President Obama’s ultimatum that Iran must start talks and quickly “or else” may be based on the belief that pressuring the government in Tehran will produce a positive result. If that is the judgment, it is wrong. Sanctions did not force Italy to change its policies in 1935, nor those of Japan five years later. Saddam Hussein survived them in the 1990s, and they have most certainly not brought the Cuban government down after fifty years of trying. The Iranian government will only respond by closing ranks against foreign pressure. Quite possibly, the only result an enhanced sanctions regime backed by a military threat will produce is a war, which would be catastrophic both for the United States and for Iran. Nor would it be particularly good for Israel in spite of what the current crackpot regime in Tel Aviv might think.

Warren Buffett: We’re Going to Be Crushed Under Mountain of Debt

August 21, 2009 by Infinite

– Pimco: Dollar to Weaken as Reserve Status Erodes

warren-buffett

A highly influential American has finally hit the panic button about the tremendous mountain of debt the country is piling up.

Last year, Warren Buffett says, we were justified in using any means necessary to stave off another Great Depression. Now that the economy is beginning to recover, however, we need to curtail our out-of-control spending, or we’ll destroy the value of the dollar and many Americans’ life savings.

Some not-so-fun facts from Buffett’s editorial today in the New York Times:

Congress is now spending 185% of what it takes in
Our deficit is a post WWII record of 13% of GDP
Our debt is growing by 1% a month
We are borrowing $1.8 trillion a year

$1.8 trillion is a lot of money. Even if the Chinese lend us $400 billion a year and Americans save a remarkable $500 billion and lend it to the government, we’ll still need another $900 billion.

So, where’s it going to come from? Most likely the printing press. And, ultimately, Buffett says, that will destroy the value of the dollar.

CIA hired Blackwater mercenaries to try to hit al-Qaeda

August 21, 2009 by Infinite

Reminds me of ……. the Roman Empire, which hired lots of mercenaries in its ‘last days’.

– CIA hired Blackwater mercenaries to kill al Qaeda: oops, forgot to tell Congress (Examiner)
– CIA Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones (New York Times)
– Source: CIA hired Blackwater to help hunt al Qaeda leaders (CNN)
– CIA terror link puts rebranded Blackwater under fire again (Guardian)

Blackwater changed its name to XE because of the really bad image.

Millions of taxpayer money at work!

blackwater

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA hired private contractors from Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of al-Qaeda, but a spokesman says it never resulted in the capture or killing of any terrorist suspects.

Former Rep. Porter Goss was CIA director at the time, and the contract ended during his time in office, according to a former senior intelligence official and another person familiar with the program. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified.

The New York Times first reported Blackwater’s involvement late Wednesday on its website.

UK Has Record July Deficit as Recession Curbs Taxes

August 21, 2009August 21, 2009 by Infinite

– Britons bottom of list for economic faith in government and banks (Guardian)

– David Cameron warns spending could lead to Britain defaulting on its debt (Guardian)

– Public finances much worse than feared (Guardian):
“The public finances data were far worse than expected,” said Peter Dixon at Commerzbank. “Tax revenues have clearly collapsed.”

This is also not a recession, but the “Greatest Depression”.

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) — Britain had an 8 billion-pound ($13.2 billion) budget deficit in July, the largest for the month since records began in 1993, as the recession ravaged tax revenue and the cost of unemployment benefits surged.

The shortfall compared with a surplus of 5.2 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. It came in a month when the Treasury usually gets a boost from quarterly tax payments. Britain last had a deficit in July in 1996.

The U.K. will have the biggest deficit in the Group of 20 next year, when Prime Minister Gordon Brown faces re-election, according to the International Monetary Fund. Brown is urging G- 20 leaders to keep up a coordinated fiscal stimulus until a world economic recovery is more certain. The Conservative opposition says spending cuts and possible tax increases are needed to curb debt.

“They’re completely disastrous numbers,” Paul Mortimer- Lee, an economist at BNP Paribas SA, said on Bloomberg Television in London. “With the economy in a parlous state, not much tax is being collected. The chancellor’s estimate for the deficit is going to be overshot by a considerable margin.”

The Treasury forecasts a deficit of 175 billion pounds in the fiscal year that began in April. In the first four months, the shortfall was 50 billion pounds, more than triple the level a year earlier.

Swine Flu: The DynCorp ‘COINCIDENCE’

August 22, 2009August 20, 2009 by Infinite

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge: I Was Pressured To Raise Terror Alert To Help Bush Win

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

tom-ridge

In a new book, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge reveals new details on politicization under President Bush, reports US News & World Report’s Paul Bedard. Among other things, Ridge admits that he was pressured to raise the terror alert to help Bush win re-election in 2004.

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was “blindsided” by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush’s re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

Dave Weigel, writing for the Washington Independent, notes that in the past, Ridge has denied manipulating security information for political reasons. In 2004, for example, he said, “We don’t do politics in the Department of Homeland Security.”

Swiss bank UBS to hand over names of 4,450 clients to US

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

“Shulman pointed out that U.S. citizens have until Sept. 23 to voluntarily disclose their tax-avoidance or face “stiffer civil or possible criminal” charges. He added that U.S. citizens with hidden UBS accounts can still voluntarily disclose their account information to U.S. tax authorities before the deadline even if they previously received a notice from the Swiss bank. He added that bank notices will be sent out in stages and many letters may not be received by account holders until after the Sept. 23 voluntary deadline.”

Tax evasion just got a lot harder, IRS commissioner says

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Thousands of Americans who thought they had a secret Swiss bank account will have their names and account details given to the U.S. Internal Revenue Services under an agreement announced Wednesday among U.S. and Swiss authorities and the Swiss bank UBS.

The IRS said Americans would no longer be able to evade taxes so easily by hiding their assets in offshore accounts.

The agreement comes as U.S. tax authorities conduct a criminal investigation into Americans who used Swiss bank accounts at UBS AG to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

The settlement follows demands from the U.S. authorities that the bank hand over details on more than 50,000 customers. According to the settlement, U.S. tax authorities will gain access to 4,450 accounts of Americans who have accounts with UBS, and will drop a lawsuit against UBS in federal court demanding the names.

However, the agency expects to have access to hundreds of additional accounts through other agreements. An IRS official said the total number of names disclosed could be in the “high 5,000s.”

“Wealthy Americans who have hidden their money offshore will find themselves in a jam,” said IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. “You can expect us to continue to be aggressive with institutions that are helping Americans avoid taxes.”

US: New Jersey City Plans Curfew to Combat Rising Crime

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

The US city of Patterson is considering imposing a curfew on all it residents in an attempt to combat spiralling crime.

View Larger Map

The measure would be the first time an American city has imposed a curfew in a non emergency situation.

Residents in Patterson, New Jersey, would face imprisonment or fines if they are caught outside between the hours of midnight and 7am although people travelling in cars would not be included.

The Mayor of Patterson, which has a population of 147,000, said the drastic measure was being considered following a spate of shootings linked to drugs.

The curfew would last for at least two months and will be voted on by city leaders next month.

Paterson, New Jersey’s third-largest city, has had six murders and 30 shootings already this year.

Dr. Russell Blaylock: Harmful Effects of Swine Flu Vaccine

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

Very important information!

About Dr. Russell Blaylock:

Dr. Blaylock is a board certified neurosurgeon, author and lecturer. He attended the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed his general surgical internship and neurosurgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina.

During his residency he ran the neurology program for one year and did a fellowship in neurosurgery after his residency. For the past 25 years he has practiced neurosurgery in addition to having a nutritional practice. He recently retired from both practices to devote full time to nutritional studies and research.

During his residency training he worked with the eminent neurosurgeon, Dr. Ludwig Kempe. Together they developed the transcallosal removal of intraventricular tumors, which is still used today.

Dr. Blaylock presented their cases utilizing this technique to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. They also developed the ventriculolymphatic shunt in the treatment of hydrocephalus.

In addition, they conducted neuroanatomical studies together with the aim of developing improved approaches in vascular intracranial surgery. He has continued a close personal friendship with Dr. Kempe over the ensuing years, who at age 91 continues to study neuroanatomy, ornithology and is an editor of a major journal on medieval studies.

Of special note, Dr. Kempe climbed the Himalayan mountains at age 87, a testament of his robust health and enduring love of adventure.. It was during his residency that Dr. Blaylock did much of the primary work on intraventricular monitoring of craniocerebral trauma patients, which was reported in the scientific literature.

He also worked closely with Dr. Peter Jannetta during Dr. Jennettas early research on vascular compression of the cranial nerves as a cause of trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. Dr. Blaylock was one of the first neurosurgeons to utilize high-intensity nutritional supplementation in craniocerebral trauma patients, which met with great success.

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More information on swine flu and vaccination:

Dr. Russell Blaylock: How to reduce the toxic effects if force vaccinated

August 20, 2009August 20, 2009 by Infinite

Commentary:

– Neural therapy (Wikipedia)

– Neuraltherapie (Wikipedia)

I would as soon as possible inject Procain (Procain hydrochloride) above, in, under and around the place of vaccination.

You should really do this ASAP to have the greatest benefit.

I have also seen already strong local reactions to vaccines disappear fast. Here you have to inject Procain at the border of the inflammation, on the “healthy side”, surrounding the inflammation.

Most people don’t know it, but Procain is a very effective anti-inflammatory, “toxin blocker”.

You will survive ANY snake, spider bite if you have Procain with you.

Yes I know you might think that this is impossible, but it works!

Source where you can read more about Neural Therapy and how to apply it:
– Manual of Neural Therapy According to Huneke (Complementary Medicine)
– Lehrbuch der Neuraltherapie nach Huneke: (Regulationstherapie mit Lokalanästhetika)

This is an excellent book on Neural Therapy and I highly recommend it for any health practitioner out there.

Dr. Blaylock’s List of suggestions on How to Reduce the Toxic Effects of the A/H1N1 Vaccine, is as follows:

1. Number one on the list says Dr Blaylock, is to bring a cold pack with you and place it on the site of the injection as soon as you can, as this will block the immune reaction. Once you get home, continue using a cold pack throughout the day. If you continue to have immune reactions the following day, have cold showers and continue with the cold press.

2. Take fish oil. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil supplements, is a potent immune suppressant. If you take high dose EPA you will be more susceptible to infections, because it is a powerful immune suppressant. However, in the case of an immune adjuvant reaction, you want to reduce it. Studies show that if you take EPA oil one hour before injecting a very powerful adjuvant called lipopolysaccharide (LPS), it would completely block the ability of the LPS to cause brain inflammation. Take a moderate dose everyday and more if needed to tame a cytokine storm.

3. Flavonoids are third on the list, namely curcumin, quercetin, ferulic acid and ellagic acid, particularly in a mixture. The curcumin and quercetin in particular have been found to block the ability of the adjuvants to trigger a long-term immune reaction. If you take it an hour before the vaccination, it should help dampen the immune reactions says Dr Blaylock.

4. Vitamin E, the natural form that is high in gamma-E will help dampen the immune reactions and reduces several of the inflammatory cytokines.

5. An important ingredient on the list is Vitamin C at a dose of 1000 mg, taken four times a day between meals. It is a very potent anti-inflammatory and should be taken in a buffered form, not as absorbic acid, says Dr Blaylock.

6. Also use astaxanthin as it’s an anti-inflammatory. According to Dr Blaylock, fatal reactions to vaccines in aboriginal and African children occurred in those who were deficient in carotinoids, like astaxanthin. It is a good protection against the toxic effects of the vaccine.

7. Likewise, it was found that children who were deficient in zinc had a high mortality rate. Zinc is very protective against vaccine toxicity. (Do not use zinc mixed with copper however, as copper is a major trigger of free-radical generation according to Dr Blaylock).

Dennis Kucinich: Health Care Wanted … Dead or Alive

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

dennis-kucinich

The masquerade is over! The “public option” is … dead.

Health care reform is now a private option: WHICH FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY DO YOU WANT? You have to choose. And you have to pay. If you have a low income, under HR3200 government will subsidize the private insurance companies and you will still have to pay premiums, co-pays and deductibles.

The Administration plan requires that everyone must have health insurance, so it is delivering tens of millions of new “customers” to the insurance companies. Health care? Not really. Insurance care! Absolutely. Cost controls? No chance.

You will next hear talk about “co-ops.” The truth is that insurance company campaign contributions have co-opted the public interest.

I need your help to spread the word and rally the nation around true healthcare reform which covers everyone and maintains fiscal integrity without breaking our nation’s bank! Your contribution will empower our efforts to continue to fight for the single-payer, not-for-profit health care bill, HR676 “Medicare for All,” which I co-authored with John Conyers.. The bill now has 85 sponsors in the House.

The hotly-debated HR3200, the so-called “health care reform” bill, is nothing less than corporate welfare in the guise of social welfare and reform. It is a convoluted mess. The real debate which we should be having is not occurring.

Police State: Cops pepperspray, taser mentally challenged, deaf man, while using the toilet

August 20, 2009 by Infinite

– Police State: Cops Taser Child 19 Times Leaving Him in a Coma

– Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children

Judge Napolitano: Everything the Government Runs is Bankrupt!

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

“Medicare is broke.”

“Medicaid is broke.”

“Social security is a bigger Ponzi scheme and a bigger fraud than anything Bernie Madoff ever dreamed of and it’s broke.”

Added: August 19, 2009

Real change or why you should have voted for Ron Paul:

Liberty and Economics – Ludwig von Mises

Added: August 18, 2009

Pimco: Dollar to Weaken as Reserve Status Erodes

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

dollar-bills
File photo of U.S. one dollar bills. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg New

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) — Pacific Investment Management Co., the world’s biggest manager of bond funds, said the dollar will weaken as the U.S. pumps “massive” amounts of money into the economy.

The dollar will drop the most against emerging-market counterparts, Curtis A. Mewbourne, a Pimco portfolio manager, wrote in a report on the company’s Web site. The greenback is losing its status as the world’s reserve currency, he said.

“Investors should consider whether it makes sense to take advantage of any periods of U.S. dollar strength to diversify their currency exposure,” Mewbourne wrote in his August Emerging Markets Watch report. “The massive amounts of U.S. dollar liquidity produced in response to the crisis” have helped reduce demand for the currency, he wrote.

The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, touched 78.823 today, the lowest this week. It has fallen 12 percent from this year’s high in March as U.S. authorities pledged $12.8 trillion to combat the recession. China, the world’s largest holder of foreign-currency reserves, and Russia have both called for a new global currency to replace the dollar as the dominant place to store reserves.

“While we have not yet reached the point where a new global reserve currency will arise, we are clearly seeing a loss of status for the U.S. dollar as a store of value even in the absence of a single viable alternative,” Mewbourne wrote.

China: Stocks Enter Bear Market as Index Falls 20% From High

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

– China: Credit tightening threatens ‘giant Ponzi scheme’

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) — China’s stocks fell, driving the benchmark index into a so-called bear market more than 20 percent below this year’s high, on concern the nation’s economic recovery will falter as the government reins in lending.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.7 percent to 2,774.77 as of 2:44 p.m. local time today, increasing its loss since the 14-month high on Aug. 4 to 20.2 percent. The gauge remains 59 percent below its record level on Oct. 16, 2007.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package, coupled with record bank lending in the first six months, helped the Shanghai index to more than double this year from the low on Nov. 4. The rally faltered as new loans in July declined to less than a quarter of June’s level, the regulator allowed initial share sales after a nine-month moratorium and companies including Yunnan Copper Industry Co. reported losses. China follows Russia among the so-called BRIC bloc of major emerging economies to have entered bear markets.

Hacker (Ex-US Secret Service) charged with biggest ever US credit card fraud

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

credit-cards

A hacker who had once worked with the US secret service has been charged with the biggest credit card identity theft ever recorded in the US.

Albert Gonzales, 28, of Miami, and his accomplices, allegedly stole at least 130 million accounts from big retail companies.

Gonzales is accused of working with two unidentified Russian conspirators to hack into the databases of retail chains, and then selling the information around the world.

VW shares slumped over 40% in the last 10 trading days

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

VW shares fell 13,98% today.

3 Months: (Durchschnitt = Average)

Hedge funds build up short bets on VW again

volkswagen-up-car
A new Volkswagen UP! car is seen during the ceremonial announcement of the New Small Family vehicles production at the Volkswagen car manufacture plant in Bratislava June 2,2009. (REUTERS)

LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge funds have increased their bets on a fall in voting shares in Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen, according to data on Tuesday, despite the heavy losses suffered by such funds last year.

Hedge funds shorting VW (VOWG.DE) were caught out in October when VW shares more than quadrupled after Porsche announced it had effective control of 74.1 percent of VW.

This left less than 6 percent tradeable in the market and saw funds scrambling to cover their positions.

Nevertheless, figures from Dataexplorers on Tuesday show that stock out on loan — a good indication of short interest — for VW’s ordinary shares has doubled in the past month to 2 percent of total issuance.

Police State: Cops Taser Child 19 Times Leaving Him in a Coma

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

– Police State: Cop Tasers Mom In Front of Her Children

Added: August 16, 2009

US: Unemployment Spike Compounds Foreclosure Crisis

August 19, 2009 by Infinite

– Brace for a New Wave of Foreclosures, the Dam is About to Break

In the first quarter, most foreclosures came from prime, not subprime, loans as more unemployed people got caught in foreclosures, economists say.

The country’s growing unemployment is overtaking subprime mortgages as the main driver of foreclosures, according to bankers and economists, threatening to send even higher the number of borrowers who will lose their homes and making the foreclosure crisis far more complicated to unwind.

Economists estimate that 1.8 million borrowers will lose their homes this year, up from 1.4 million last year, according to Moody’s Economy.com. And the government, which has already committed billions of dollars to foreclosure-prevention efforts, has found it far more difficult to help people who have lost their paychecks than those whose mortgage payments became unaffordable because of an interest-rate increase.

“It’s a much harder nut to crack, unemployment,” said Mark A. Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute. “It’s much easier to bash lenders than to create jobs.”

During the first three months of this year, the largest share of foreclosures shifted from subprime loans to prime loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The change to prime loans — traditionally considered safer — reflects the growing numbers of unemployed who are being caught up in the foreclosure process, economists say.

Monsanto to Charge as Much as 42 % More for New Seeds!

August 18, 2009 by Infinite

– Monsanto lobbyists to be placed in charge of food safety by Obama
– US Association of Physicians calls for Moratorium on GMO Foods
– Greenpeace: No need for condoms – GE corn can do the job
– Austrian Government Study Confirms Genetically Modified (GM) Crops Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety
– The World According to Monsanto – A documentary that Americans won’t ever see.
– Life running out of control – Genetically Modified Organisms
– At stake is no less than control of the world’s food supply.
– BIODIVERSITY: Privatisation Making Seeds Themselves Infertile
– Biotech giants demand a high price for saving the planet
– Exposed: the great GM crops myth:
The biggest study of its kind ever conducted – the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development – concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger.

Professor Bob Watson, the director of the study and chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when asked if GM could solve world hunger, said: “The simple answer is no.”

GM food is all about profit and it kills you.

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed maker, plans to charge as much as 42 percent more for new genetically modified seeds next year than older offerings because they increase farmers’ output.

Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans will cost farmers an average of $74 an acre in 2010, and original Roundup Ready soybeans will cost $52 an acre, St. Louis-based Monsanto said today in presentations on its Web site. SmartStax corn seeds, developed with Dow Chemical Co., will cost $130 an acre, 17 percent more than the YieldGard triple-stack seeds they will replace.

“Our pricing has the flexibility built in to ensure the grower captures the greatest return from his seed investment, irrespective of market volatility,” Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant said today in a statement.

Poll: Only a third of nurses willing to have swine flu vaccine

August 18, 2009 by Infinite

– Leaked Government letter to neurologists reveals concern about swine flu vaccine

Only a third of nurses have said they are willing to have the vaccine against swine flu amid fears it has not been tested enough, a survey has found.

swine-flu-vaccination
Only a( ignorant) third of nurses willing to have swine flu vaccine

Frontline health and social care workers will be among the first to be vaccinated in October along with people with serious underlying health problems and pregnant women.

However a survey by Nursing Times has found many frontline nurses have reservations.

Only one in three said they are prepared to have the H1N1 vaccine with a third undecided and the rest saying no.

Almost 1,500 nurses were polled, of whom 91 per cent said they were frontline.

It comes after news that parents are also concerned about the vaccine, with worries predominantly about the safety of its contents, side effects, and the amount of testing that will be done.

Of the nurses who said they would not get vaccinated, 60 per cent said concern about the safety of the vaccine was the main reason.

The Federal Reserve is running low on ammo

August 18, 2009 by Infinite

On Monday the Fed announced it had purchased another $7 billion worth of Treasuries under its quantitative easing program. Readers will recall that in last week’s FOMC statement, the Fed said it was extending the Treasury purchase program by a month, to the end of October, while maintaining its total purchase commitment of $300 billion.

After today’s $7 billion purchase, the Fed has just $40 billion left. Spread out over the next 10 weeks, that doesn’t give it very much ammo. To date, purchases have averaged over $12 billion per week. That is set to fall to $4 billion.

Because I’m a glutton for this stuff, I thought I’d put together a quick chart showing the progress of the Fed’s Treasury purchase program.

CalPERS Admits California “Pension Costs Unsustainable”

September 6, 2009August 18, 2009 by Infinite

– New CALPERS Strategy Is Just Begging For Trouble

– CalPERS Invested More than $110 Million with Former ‘Car Czar’
CalPERS has invested more than $110 million with financier Steven Rattner, who resigned as President Barack Obama’s “car czar” amid an investigation into his dealings with New York’s public employee pension fund.

calpers-headquarters
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) Headquarters Complex

In an unusual display of honesty CalPERS Actuary Says “Pension Costs Unsustainable”

The CalPERS chief actuary says pension costs are “unsustainable,” and the giant public employee pension system plans to meet with stakeholders to discuss the issue.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat anything,” Ron Seeling, the CalPERS chief actuary said as he neared the end of his comments. “We are facing decades without significant turnarounds in assets, decades of — what I, my personal words, nobody else’s — unsustainable pension costs of between 25 percent of pay for a miscellaneous plan and 40 to 50 percent of pay for a safety plan (police and firefighters) … unsustainable pension costs. We’ve got to find some other solutions.”

Dwight Stenbakken of the League of California Cities told the seminar that pension benefits are “just unsustainable” in their current form and difficult to defend politically.

“I think it’s incumbent upon labor and management to get together and solve this problem before it gets on the ballot,” he said.

“I actually think it is sustainable,” said Terry Brennand of the Service Employees International Union. He said the basic problem is investment losses, not high benefit levels.

“What is sustainable?” said Lou Paulson of the California Professional Firefighters. He said proposals to extend the retirement age for firefighters from 50 to 55 would result in more injuries with advancing age, driving up workers’ compensation costs.

Sustainability In Eyes Of Beholder

The California Firefighters Association and the Service Employees International Union think the plan is sustainable. I think it is too, if they are willing to put 25% of their pretax pay in every year at retire at 60 after 25 years of service.

Otherwise, they are speaking as extremely biased beneficiaries of massive public handouts, not as impartial unbiased observers.

8% annual returns are not sustainable, at least not with long-term yields at 3.5%. Indeed chasing performance is one of the reasons CalPERS suffered the losses it did. CalPERS is attempting to get 8% returns in a 4% return world.

Perhaps the crisis is just too noticeable to deny any longer, but it’s refreshing to see a bit of reality from CalPERS even as the unions are in a massive state of denial.

Politically Unfeasible Solutions