Month: June 2012

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare … AS A TAX!!!

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– Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare … AS A TAX (ZeroHedge,June 28, 2012):

In 2009, Obama said that his healthcare reform bill is not a tax:

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

The Supreme Court just upheld Obamacare … as a TAX:

A divided Supreme Court largely upheld the Obama administration’s health-care law, saying the law’s penalty for those who ignore a mandate to carry health insurance counted as a tax and was justified by Congress’s constitutional taxing power.

See also:

– U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CORE OF OBAMA HEALTH CARE

– CHANGE: Obamacare Creates $17 TRILLION In Unfunded Liabilities (Video)

– The Obamacare Mandate: Obama VERSUS Obama (Video) (Hilarious!)

– Judge Napolitano On Obamacare And The Supreme Court (Video)

– New Obamacare Regulation Calls For Free Sterilization For All College Women

Santelli And The November Obamacare ‘Referendum’

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– Santelli And The November Obamacare ‘Referendum’ (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2012):

In a brief clip this morning, CNBC’s Rick Santelli said a lot in a few words. His critical insight was that today’s decision is about process and not preference and that the real decisions will be made in November when it becomes ‘the people’s choice’. He is a big believer in the ‘pragmatic process’ we should all enjoy and suggests today’s SCOTUS decision (doing what they do best in comprehending the law) should be ‘taken with respect’ but notes the analogy to Europe:

“You can try to have the mighty above tell the people below how they should live their lives, what they should get, and ‘the government big enough to give you everything you want, and’, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, ‘big enough to take away everything you have.’ But what are we left with really? We are left with an issue that should, by all indications be voted on by the American public. No matter how the Supreme Court decision worked out; no matter what the legislative process tells us; no matter how ugly this process was to get passed; in the end, I think it’s more than appropriate that this will be, in my opinion, part of the referendum in November as to whether the public wants this or not.“

Americans Are Being Prepared For Full Spectrum Tyranny

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– Americans Are Being Prepared For Full Spectrum Tyranny (ZeroHedge, June 28,2012):

Totalitarian governments, like persistent forms of cancer, have latched onto the long history of man, falling and then reemerging from the deep recesses of our cultural biology to wreak havoc upon one unlucky generation to the next.  The assumption by most is that these unfortunate empires are the product of bureaucracies gone awry; overtaken by the chaotic maddening hunger for wealth and power, and usually manipulated by the singular ambitions of a mesmerizing dictator.  For those of us in the Liberty Movement who are actually educated on the less acknowledged details of history, oligarchy and globalized centralism is much less random than this, and a far more deliberate and devious process than the general unaware public is willing consider.

Unfortunately, the final truth is very complex, even for us…

One cannot place the blame of despotism entirely on the shoulders of globalists.  Sadly, the crimes of elites are only possible with a certain amount of complicity from subsections of the populace.  Without our penchant for apathy and fear, there can be no control.  That is to say, there is no power over us but that which we give away.  We pave the road to our own catastrophes.

Read moreAmericans Are Being Prepared For Full Spectrum Tyranny

Barclays Agrees To Pay Record $453 Million Fine To US And British Regulators In Libor Manipulation Scandal

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– UK drafts in fraud squad as Libor fine hits Barclays (Reuters, June 28, 2012):

LONDON  – Britain said on Thursday it had brought in the fraud squad to investigate possible crimes and would tighten laws over attempts to manipulate lending rates, a scandal which has engulfed Barclays and is expected to spread to other banks.

Shares in Barclays tumbled as much as 18 percent at one point by midday trade, wiping out 4.2 billion pounds from its share price – the biggest one-day fall since 2009, according to Reuters data. Shares were down 14.8 percent at 1113 EDT.

The bank agreed to pay a record $453 million fine to U.S. and British regulators for attempting to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate in 2005-08. It is the first bank to settle in a case that also includes most of the world’s other largest financial institutions.

“This is a scandal, it’s extremely serious. They’ve paid a very large fine and quite rightly but frankly the Barclays management team have some big questions to answer,” Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC.

“Who was responsible? Who was going to take responsibility? How are they being held accountable?” he said.

Read moreBarclays Agrees To Pay Record $453 Million Fine To US And British Regulators In Libor Manipulation Scandal

U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CORE OF OBAMA HEALTH CARE

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Related info:

– CHANGE: Obamacare Creates $17 TRILLION In Unfunded Liabilities (Video)

– The Obamacare Mandate: Obama VERSUS Obama (Video)

– Judge Napolitano On Obamacare And The Supreme Court (Video)

– New Obamacare Regulation Calls For Free Sterilization For All College Women

– U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CORE OF OBAMA HEALTH CARE (ZeroHedge, June 28, 2012):

Here we go:

  • OBAMA’S HEALTH-CARE OVERHAUL UPHELD BY U.S. SUPREME COURT
  • 5-4 decisions, with Roberts joining the court’s liberals.
  • Court says federal government can’t threaten to withhold money from states that don’t fully comply on Medicaid extension
  • CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS SAYS MANDATE IS NOT A VALID EXERCISE OF CONGRESS’ POWER UNDER COMMERCE CLAUSE AND NECESSARY AND PROPER CLAUSE
  • HEALTH LAW’S MEDICAID EXPANSION LIMITED BY U.S. SUPREME COURT -RTRS
  • ROBERTS, JOINED BY TWO JUSTICES, SAYS MEDICAID EXPANSION VIOLATES CONSTITUTION -RTRS
  • FOUR JUSTICES DISSENT, SAYING THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT GOES BEYOND -RTRSCONGRESSIONAL POWERS UNDER CONSTITUTION -RTRS
  • ScotusBlog conclusion: So the mandate is constitutional
  • The bottom line: the entire ACA is upheld, with the exception that the federal government’s power to terminate states’ Medicaid funds is narrowly read
  • The ACA is upheld as a tax, not a penalty

The bottom line from the WSJ:

A quick overview of the ruling: A divided Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s health-care law, in one of the most anticipated high-court rulings in a generation. The court said Congress was acting within its powers under the Constitution when it required most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty—the provision at the center of the two-year legal battle. It upheld the mandate as a tax, in an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Read moreU.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CORE OF OBAMA HEALTH CARE

Top CIA Spy Accused Of Being A Mafia Hitman (Wired)

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The cover for Evan Wright’s How to Get Away With Murder, available at Byliner. Illustration: Byliner

@Amazon.com:

– How to Get Away with Murder in America: Drug Lords, Dirty Pols, Obsessed Cops, and the Quiet Man Who Became the CIA’s Master Killer (Kindle Single)

– Top CIA Spy Accused of Being a Mafia Hitman (Wired, June 27, 2012):

Enrique “Ricky” Prado’s resume reads like the ultimate CIA officer: veteran of the Central American wars, running the CIA’s operations in Korea, a top spy in America’s espionage programs against China, and deputy to counter-terrorist chief Cofer Black — and then a stint at Blackwater. But he’s also alleged to have started out a career as a hitman for a notorious Miami mobster, and kept working for the mob even after joining the CIA. Finally, he went on to serve as the head of the CIA’s secret assassination squad against Al-Qaida.

That’s according to journalist Evan Wright’s blockbuster story How to Get Away With Murder in America, distributed by Byliner. In it, Wright — who authored Generation Kill, the seminal story of the Iraq invasion — compiles lengthy, years-long investigations by state and federal police into a sector of Miami’s criminal underworld that ended nowhere, were sidelined by higher-ups, or cut short by light sentences. It tracks the history of Prado’s alleged Miami patron and notorious cocaine trafficker, Alberto San Pedro, and suspicions that Prado moved a secret death squad from the CIA to Blackwater.

Read moreTop CIA Spy Accused Of Being A Mafia Hitman (Wired)

US Government Setting Stage To Outlaw Vitamin D Like Raw Milk? MSM Attacks Nutrition

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– Is US government setting stage to outlaw Vitamin D like raw milk? Mainstream media attacks nutrition (Natural News, June 26, 2012):

The United States government has just crossed the threshold of nutritional insanity with an announcement that postmenopausal women should avoid taking vitamin D. This announcement, made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, is tantamount to declaring war on nutrition. In a nation where 90+ percent of the population is chronically deficient in vitamin D, any government edict that encourages people to avoid this lifesaving vitamin will only result in more cancer, more Alzheimer’s disease, more bone fractures, more diabetes and more kidney disease.

… which is, of course, exactly what the medical establishment wants. After all, how are the drug companies supposed to make money treating patients with cancer if they prevent cancer themselves by using dirt-cheap vitamin D?

The mainstream media, predictably, has dutifully followed the government’s anti-nutrition advice by distorting the conclusions of the study and running headlines like this one in USA Today, the corporate-run disinfo outlet:

Read moreUS Government Setting Stage To Outlaw Vitamin D Like Raw Milk? MSM Attacks Nutrition

Two Merck Virologists Expose Merck Vaccine Fraud: Company Faked Mumps Vaccine Efficacy Results For Over A Decade

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– Merck vaccine fraud exposed by two Merck virologists; company faked mumps vaccine efficacy results for over a decade, says lawsuit (Natural News, June 28, 2012):

Breaking news: According to two Merck scientists who filed a False Claims Act complaint in 2010 — a complaint which has just now been unsealed — vaccine manufacturer Merck knowingly falsified its mumps vaccine test data, spiked blood samples with animal antibodies, sold a vaccine that actually promoted mumps and measles outbreaks, and ripped off governments and consumers who bought the vaccine thinking it was “95% effective.”

See that False Claims Act document at:
www.naturalnews.com/gallery/documents/Merck-False-Claims-Act.pdf

According to Stephen Krahling and Joan Wlochowski, both former Merck virologists, the Merck company engaged in all the following behavior:

• Merck knowingly falsified its mumps vaccine test results to fabricate a “95% efficacy rate.”

• In order to do this, Merck spiked the blood test with animal antibodies in order to artificially inflate the appearance of immune system antibodies. As reported in CourthouseNews.com:

Read moreTwo Merck Virologists Expose Merck Vaccine Fraud: Company Faked Mumps Vaccine Efficacy Results For Over A Decade

Furious Turkey Deploys Tanks, Troops To Syrian Border (Video)

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– The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: The Second American Revolution STARTS NOW! – Syria – Europe – Gold – WW III (Video):


YouTube Added: 26.06.2012

– Furious Turkey mobilizes tanks, troops to Syrian border (The Times Of Israel, june 26, 2012):

Erdogan slams ‘murderous’ Assad, warns Damascus that rules of engagement have changed following downing of its jet

The Turkish military mobilized large numbers of reinforcements from its eastern provinces to the Syrian border on Tuesday, amid rising tension with Damascus, after the downing by Syria of a Turkish Air Force jet on Friday, Turkish media reported.

Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier.

Read moreFurious Turkey Deploys Tanks, Troops To Syrian Border (Video)

The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente: The Second American Revolution STARTS NOW! – Syria – Europe – Gold – WW III (Video)

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“The Entire Global Economic System Is In Collapse.”


YouTube Added: 27.06.2012

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about.
– CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

Russia Halts Plans To Supply S-300 Missile System To Syria – Reports

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– Russia halts plans to supply S-300 missile system to Syria – reports (RT, June 27, 2012):

Russia’s main weapons producer has allegedly suspended its contract with Syria to supply S-300 long-range missile systems. Russia’s ‘Vedomosti’ daily published the report, citing unnamed sources within the military-industrial complex.

The very fact of the contract’s existence was not known until it was revealed in an annual report made only last week and published online by the makers of the S-300 systems, Almaz-Antey.

The report states that the company’s largest contracts are with Algeria (which is paying $39 million for a long-range missile defense system), and Syria, which signed a contract for the same system for $105 million.

The report also says that deliveries on the Syrian contract are expected to be made between 2012 and 2013. But ‘Vedomosti’ claims two separate sources, who chose to remain anonymous, have said deliveries have been put on the back-burner “after a direct order from above.”

It’s unclear whether these reports are true, but many are already speculating on the potential reasons for such a step. Some have suggested that Moscow has decided to placate Washington and Tel Aviv, drawing parallels between this situation and the one back in 2010, when Russia cancelled its contract for the same missile system with Iran.

Read moreRussia Halts Plans To Supply S-300 Missile System To Syria – Reports

ECB Contemplates ‘Monetary Twilight Zone’ Neutron Bomb: NIRP (= Negative Interest Rate Policy) !!!

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Former Goldman Sachs managing director & ‘European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is contemplating taking interest rates into a twilight zone shunned by the Federal Reserve’

What could possibly go wrong?

– Europe’s “Monetary Twilight Zone” Neutron Bomb: NIRP (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2012):

Just because ZIRP is so 2009 (and will be until the end of central planning as the Fed can not afford to hike rates ever again), the ECB is now contemplating something far more drastic: charging depositors for the privilege of holding money. Enter NIRP, aka Negative Interest Rate Policy.

Bloomberg reports that “European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is contemplating taking interest rates into a twilight zone shunned by the Federal Reserve. while cutting ECB rates may boost confidence, stimulate lending and foster growth, it could also involve reducing the bank’s deposit rate to zero or even lower. Once an obstacle for policy makers because it risks hurting the money markets they’re trying to revive, cutting the deposit rate from 0.25 percent is no longer a taboo, two euro-area central bank officials said on June 15… “The European recession is worsening, the ECB has to do more,” said Julian Callow, chief European economist at Barclays Capital in London, who forecasts rates will be cut at the ECB’s next policy meeting on July 5. “A negative deposit rate is something they need to consider but taking it to zero as a first step is more likely.” Should Draghi elect to cut the deposit rate to zero or lower, he’ll be entering territory few policy makers have dared to venture. Sweden’s Riksbank in July 2009 became the world’s first central bank to charge financial institutions for the money they deposited with it overnight.”

There is only one problem when comparing the Riksbank with the ECB: at €747 billion in deposits parked at the ECB as of yesterday, the ECB is currently paying out 0.25% on this balance, a move which may or may not be a reason for the depositor banks, primarily of North European extraction, to keep their money parked in Frankfurt. However, once this money has to pay to stay, it is certain that nearly $1 trillion in deposit cash, currently in electronic format, would flood the market. What happens next is unknown: the ECB hopes that this liquidity flood will be contained. The reality will be vastly different. One thing is certain: inflating the debt is the only way out for the status quo. The only question is what format it will take.

More from Bloomberg:

“It won’t help the prospect of a functioning money market because banks won’t be compensated for the risk they’re taking,” said Orlando Green, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. It would make more sense to lower the benchmark rate, thus reducing the interest banks pay on ECB loans, and keep the deposit rate where it is, Green said.

Read moreECB Contemplates ‘Monetary Twilight Zone’ Neutron Bomb: NIRP (= Negative Interest Rate Policy) !!!

Europe ‘Welcomes’ The Spanish Bailout

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– Europe “Welcomes” The Spanish Bailout (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2012):

One just can’t come up with better wording if one tried. From Bloomberg:

  • EUROGROUP WELCOMES SPANISH REQUEST FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
  • EUROGROUP SAYS CYPRIOT RESCUE IS `WARRANTED AT THIS STAGE’
  • EUROGROUP SAYS SPAIN BANK NEEDS ESTIMATE AT EU51B TO EU62B
  • EUROGROUP SEEKS `AMBITIOUS MEASURES’ FROM CYPRUS ON BANKS

And a little change in the original plans:

  • EUROGROUP SAYS SPAIN TO REQUEST TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM IMF

Now Europe is looking to welcome other broke countries for which Germany will pay.

Italy Pays More For 6 Month Debt Than America Pays For 30 Year, As LTRO Claims Its First Bank Insolvency

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– Italy Pays More For 6 Month Debt Than America Pays For 30 Year, As LTRO Claims Its First Bank Insolvency (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2012):

Today Italy had a rather critical Bill auction in which it sold €9 billion in debt due six months from today. Obviously, since the maturity is well inside of the LTRO, the auction itself was rather meaningless from a risk standpoint. Still, the good news is that Italy managed to place the entire maximum amount targeted. The bad news: it cost Italy more to raise 6 months of debt, or 2.957%, than it costs the US to borrow for 30 years (2.70%). Not only that but the average yield 2.957% was the highest since December when the Italian 10 Year was north of 7%, and nearly 50% higher compared to the 2.104% at auction on May 29, or less than a month ago. The Bid/Cover of 1.62 was unchanged compared to the 1.61 at the May 29 auction. From Reuters: “Today’s bill sale points to the sovereign getting this supply away but at yield levels sufficiently elevated to leave a niggling doubt at least as to the medium-term sustainability of the country’s public finances,” said Richard McGuire, a rate strategist at Rabobank. On Tuesday, Spain paid 3.24 percent to sell six-month bills. Madrid is seen at risk of having to ask for more aid after formally requesting a European rescue for its banks this week. But doubts are also growing on Italy’s ability to keep funding its 1.95 trillion euro debt, which makes it the world’s fourth-largest sovereign debtor. Domestic appetite has so far allowed the Treasury to complete 56 percent of its 445-billion-euro annual funding plan.”

It gets worse. Recall that the LTRO was conceived back in December 2011 precisely to facilitate the sovereign debt ponzi in a way where domestic banks would borrow from the ECB only to buy their own sovereign debt, a circumvention of the ECB’s prohibition to buy sovereign debt in the primary market, and a plan that was so circular those who actually could see through it would scream a warning to anyone who cared. Six months later, the chickens have come home to roost:

Read moreItaly Pays More For 6 Month Debt Than America Pays For 30 Year, As LTRO Claims Its First Bank Insolvency

Barclays Found To Engage In Massive Libor Manipulation, Gets Wrist-slapped By Coopted Regulators

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– Barclays Found To Engage In Massive Libor Manipulation, Gets Wrist-slapped By Coopted Regulators (ZeroHedge, June 27, 2012):

We can finally close the case on the massive Libor manipulation issue that we first brough to the world’s attention back in January 2009 when we penned: “This Makes No Sense: Libor By Bank.” As of minutes ago, Barclays is the first bank to admit it has engaged in gross manipulation of the key benchmark rate that sets the cost of capital for $350 trillion in interest-rate sensitive products. As the CFTC notes, as it produly announces an epic wristslap of $200 million for Barclays Bank: “The Order finds that Barclays attempted to manipulate and made false reports concerning two global benchmark interest rates, LIBOR and Euribor, on numerous occasions and sometimes on a daily basis over a four-year period, commencing as early as 2005.” Surely this massive fine will teach them to never do it again, until tomorrow at least, when the British Banker Association once again finds 3 month USD liEbor to be… unchanged. In other news, who would have thought that the fringe “conspiracy” brigade was right all along once again.

From the CFTC:

CFTC Orders Barclays to pay $200 Million Penalty for Attempted Manipulation of and False Reporting concerning LIBOR and Euribor Benchmark Interest Rates

The Order finds that Barclays attempted to manipulate interest rates and made related false reports to benefit its derivatives trading positions

Read moreBarclays Found To Engage In Massive Libor Manipulation, Gets Wrist-slapped By Coopted Regulators

ABC Interview: ‘So If There Was A Problem With Reactor No. 4 SFP It Would Be The End Of Japan?’ – ‘Yes, There Is No One Who Denies That. We Cannot Sleep Peacefully’, Says Japan’s Former Ambassador To Switzerland (Video)

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YouTube Added: 25.06.2012

Description:

In-depth update from ABC-Australia’s Mark Willacy, the ABC’s Japanese-speaking correspondent based in Tokyo.

Willacy interviews Japanese nuclear professor Hiroaki Koide, US energy policy adviser Robert Alvarez, TEPCO spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi, undercover journalist Tomohiko Suzuki and most importantly retired diplomat to Switzerland, Misuhei Murata.

Murata states he has written to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, urging international intervention to save the world from another bigger nuclear catastrophe of the spent fuel pool at Unit 4 failing and releasing huge extra amounts of deadly radiation.

Insane Japan Plans To Burn Drums Of Unprocessed Radioactive Waste From Nuclear Accident At New Facility 100 Km From Tokyo

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– JCO to build incinerator to dispose of low-level radioactive waste (Kyodo News, June 27, 2012):

Nuclear fuel processing firm JCO Co. plans to build an incinerator for disposing of low-level radioactive waste stored at its plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where a fatal criticality accident occurred in 1999, company officials said Tuesday.

JCO will submit necessary documents to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry with the aim of completing the facility by next March, the officials said.

Of the unprocessed waste equivalent to approximately 8,900 200-liter drum cans stored at the plant, the company plans to incinerate the content of about 200, including documents and work clothes used at the uranium-processing plant where the accident occurred, they said.