Month: April 2013

Political Activists May Be Banned From San Francisco’s Public Transportation System

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– Political Activists May be Banned from San Francisco’s Public Transportation System (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 30, 2013):

This article seems innocuous enough…until you keep reading.  At first it appears entirely reasonable that the BART system (Bay Area Rapid Transit) might look to ban riders for a year who act violently while using the service. However; as is becoming increasingly typical these days, what sounds reasonable at first tends to be awful upon deeper inspection.

For example, according to ABC News in San Francisco:

AB 716 won’t only target violent behavior. It can be applied to protestors who have been arrested during free-speech movements.

Read morePolitical Activists May Be Banned From San Francisco’s Public Transportation System

Ron Paul: Police Manhunt For Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Scarier Than Attack

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Related info:

– BOSTON: This Is What Martial Law In The U.S. Looks Like: Americans Ordered Out Of Homes At Gunpoint By SWAT Teams (Videos & Photos):

– Ron Paul: Police manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect scarier than attack (Washington Times, April 29, 2013):

Former Rep. Ron Paul said the law enforcement that swarmed around Boston in the days following the marathon bombings was scarier than the actual terrorist attack.

“The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city,” he said on the Lew Rockwell website, Politico reported. “This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.”

The terror attacks on April 15 in Boston killed three and injured 264.

Mr. Paul, a former libertarian political candidate who served in Congress as a member of the Republican Party, said the door-to-door searches police conducted in Watertown for the bombing suspects were particularly alarming.

They reminded of a “military coup in a far off banana republic,” he said, Politico reported. “Force lockdown of a city. Militarized police riding tanks in the streets. Door-to-door armed searches without warrant. Families thrown out of their homes at gunpoint to be searched without probable cause. Businesses forced to close. Transport shut down.”

Read moreRon Paul: Police Manhunt For Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Scarier Than Attack

20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe

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– 20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe (Economic Collapse, April 29, 2013):

The next Great Depression is already happening – it just hasn’t reached the United States yet.  Things in Europe just continue to get worse and worse, and yet most people in the United States still don’t get it.  All the time I have people ask me when the “economic collapse” is going to happen.  Well, for ages I have been warning that the next major wave of the ongoing economic collapse would begin in Europe, and that is exactly what is happening.  In fact, both Greece and Spain already have levels of unemployment that are greater than anything the U.S. experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Pay close attention to what is happening over there, because it is coming here too.  You see, the truth is that Europe is a lot like the United States.  We are both drowning in unprecedented levels of debt, and we both have overleveraged banking systems that resemble a house of cards.  The reason why the U.S. does not look like Europe yet is because we have thrown all caution to the wind.  The Federal Reserve is printing money as if there is no tomorrow and the U.S. government is savagely destroying the future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have by stealing more than 100 million dollars from them every single hour of every single day.  We have gone “all in” on kicking the can down the road even though it means destroying the future of America.  But the alternative scares the living daylights out of our politicians.  When nations such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy tried to slow down the rate at which their debts were rising, the results were absolutely devastating.  A full-blown economic depression is raging across southern Europe and it is rapidly spreading into northern Europe.  Eventually it will spread to the rest of the globe as well.

The following are 20 signs that the next Great Depression has already started in Europe…

Read more20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe

Macro Collapse Pushes S&P 500 To New All-Time Nominal High And Close

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– Macro Collapse Pushes S&P 500 To New All-Time Nominal High And Close (ZeroHedge, April 30, 2013):

“Horrible” PMI, no problem; just add it to the list of macro data that has missed significantly in recent weeks. Bloomberg’s US Macro index has utterly collapse in recent weeks – now at its worst level in 7 months but apparently if good is good, bad is better, and totally shitty is absolutely awesome. It would appear the world of nominal equity index chasers is now fully cognizant that the reality of their lemming like herding is based on one simple thing (no matter how much they kick and scream and proclaim wisdom about earnings cycles, growth, margins, transformative energy, or new AAPL products) – and that is… Central Bank promises.

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Plastic Bags, Tape, Broomsticks Fix San Onofre Nuclear Plant Leak (ABC 10News – Video, Photo)

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Added: 29.04.2013

Watch the photo here:

– Plastic bags, tape, broomsticks fix San Onofre leak (ABC 10News, April 30, 2013):

SAN DIEGO – An inside source gave Team 10 a picture snapped inside the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) showing plastic bags, masking tape and broom sticks used to stem a massive leaky pipe.

San Onofre owner Southern California Edison (SCE), confirms the picture was taken inside Unit Three, but did not say when. The anonymous source said the picture was taken in December 2012.

Unit Three is the same unit that leaked radiation in January 2012.  SONGS has been shutdown since then as a precaution.

“[Staff] identified a small leak in the water box and will perform maintenance per our scheduling process,” SCE spokeswoman Maureen Brown wrote in a statement. “In the meantime, plastic is in place to direct the water from the small leak to a drain.”

“If that’s nuclear technology at work and that’s how we’re going to control leaks I think the public should know,” the inside source said.

Read morePlastic Bags, Tape, Broomsticks Fix San Onofre Nuclear Plant Leak (ABC 10News – Video, Photo)

GM Announces It Is Losing Money On Every Volt Sold, … Will Make Up For It With More Losses

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– Tuesday Humor: GM Announces It Is Losing Money On Every Volt Sold, Will Make Up For It With More Losse (ZeroHedge, April 30, 2013):

In what should not come as a major surprise to anyone, GM just announced that:

  • GM SAYS LOSING MONEY ON EVERY VOLT SOLD

There is good news: being implicitly funded by the US taxpayer means never admitting failure. In fact, the faster one fails, the faster one gets bailed out.

  • GM SAYS NOT GIVING UP ON VOLT

And when failure is not an option, the only other option is even greater failure. And even bigger losses.

  • GM SAYS NEXT GEN VOLT WILL BE $7,000 TO $10,000 CHEAPER

Slowly but surely everyone is figuring out that in the USSA, where making a profit is becoming increasingly impossible, the only credible business model is that of Amazon: lose lots of money but make up for it in volume.

How Much More Is Your CEO Making Than You?

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– How Much More Is Your CEO Making Than You? (ZeroHedge, April 30, 2013):

Three years after Congress first told the SEC that it required public companies to uncloak the details of their CEO compensation relative to his lowly employees; the ever-ready SEC has yet to implement any rules. However, in an effort to ease the tough job that the SEC has, Bloomberg has calculated ratios for the Top 250 companies in the S&P 500, based on industry-specific averages for pay and benefits for the rank-and-file (since companies don’t disclose median worker pay). The table below, of the top 50 companies (meaning highest CEO pay relative to workers), suggests it remains good to be king (and Ron Johnson just made another #1 Spot earning an estimated 1,795x the average JCP employee – money well spent…).

Read moreHow Much More Is Your CEO Making Than You?

Apple Launches $17 Billion Bond Offering: Largest Ever For Non-Financial Firm

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– Apple Launches $17 Billion Bond Offering: Largest Ever For Non-Financial Firm (ZeroHedge, April 30, 2013):

And there it is. Moments ago Bloomberg disclosed the final terms of the just launched Goldman-led syndication of AAPL paper. The total size: $17 billion, which surpasses the previous record set by Roche at $16.5 billion, and makes it the biggest corporate bond synidcation in history. The breakdown:

  • $1B 3Y FRN LAUNCH AT 3ML + 5 BPS
  • $1.5B 3Y FIXED NOTES LAUNCH AT + 20 BPS
  • $2B 5Y FRN LAUNCH AT 3ML+25 BPS
  • $4B 5Y FIXED NOTES LAUNCH AT + 40 BPS
  • $5.5B 10Y FIXED NOTES LAUNCH AT +75 BPS
  • $3B 30Y DEBT LAUNCHES AT +100 BPS

30 Year paper in a tech company whose market cap has fluctuated by roughly $500 billion in the past year, and yielding just under 4%?

Sold to you.

Four-Year-Old Child Of Bird-Flu Infected Man Also Develops H7N9 Virus – So Far 126 Infected, 24 Killed

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– Four-year-old child of bird-flu infected man also develops H7N9 virus (CBS News, April 29, 2013):

A 4-year-old boy has developed the new H7N9 strain of bird flu, the same strain his father had been infected with. Shandong province’s health department says there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, and that the boy is in stable condition at a hospital.

The Jinan Times newspaper says the boy’s 36-year-old father had no direct contact with poultry, but that the family lives near a market that sells live poultry.

The H7N9 virus has infected 126 people in China, killing 23 of them.

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– Shanghai Reports 13th H7N9 Bird Flu Death, Tops Among Chinese Cities (Forbes, April 29, 2013):

Shanghai on Monday reported another H7N9 bird flu death, an 89-year-old man who was admitted to a city hospital on April 12, according to the state-published Shanghai Daily newspaper.

The latest fatality raises to 13 the number of H7N9-related deaths in the city, which is one of China’s most important international business hubs. Nationwide, 24 people have died, the paper said.

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How The CIA Enriches Warlords, Drug Dealers And The Taliban in Afghanistan

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– How the C.I.A. Enriches Warlords, Drug Dealers and the Taliban in Afghanistan (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 30, 2013):

This article from the New York Times further solidifies the notion that we clearly have no idea what we are doing anywhere, whether it relates to the domestic economy or foreign policy. While the American citizenry remains unemployed and increasingly on food stamps, we are paying tens of millions of dollars to Afghan warlords and drug dealers so that they can build their “dream homes.”  My favorite line is: “the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.” Makes sense.  We are simply exporting our domestic economic model abroad.

From the New York Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

Kind of like Corzine at MF Global!

Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.

Read moreHow The CIA Enriches Warlords, Drug Dealers And The Taliban in Afghanistan

CME President on Gold: ‘They Don’t Want Certificates, They Want the Real Product’

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– CME President on Gold: “They Don’t Want Certificates, They Want the Real Product” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 30, 2013):

What’s interesting about gold, when we had that big break two weeks ago we saw all the gold stocks trade down significantly, we saw all the gold products trade down significantly, but one thing that did not trade down, was gold coins, tangible real  gold.  That’s going to show you, people don’t want certificates, they don’t want anything else.  They want the real product.

– Terrence Duffy, President and Executive Chairman of CME Group Inc,. on Bloomberg TV yesterday (April 29, 2013)

I’m actually still in a state of shock that the head of the CME Group would make such an observation and in such blunt terms.  I mean the guy admits that volume on his exchanges suck, yet basically claims paper gold (one of their marquee products) is becoming irrelevant. In my mind there are two likely explanations for this.  1) This is how he has started to feel personally and he is loading up on physical gold rather than his company’s paper products and would like some cover if that is ever unearthed. 2) This is what people close to the gold market are telling him and he’d rather make it clear he understands that paper is paper and gold is gold and that there is a big difference.  So “caveat emptor” if you are hanging around the COMEX.

His comments on gold come in at the 0:40 mark.  Simply stunning.

Bee Deaths: EU To Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides (BBC News)

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Honeybees are vital for pollinating crops

– Bee Deaths: EU To Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides (BBC News, April 29, 2013):

The European Commission will restrict the use of pesticides linked to bee deaths by researchers, despite a split among EU states on the issue.

There is great concern across Europe about the collapse of bee populations.

Neonicotinoid chemicals in pesticides are believed to harm bees and the European Commission says they should be restricted to crops not attractive to bees and other pollinators.

Read moreBee Deaths: EU To Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides (BBC News)

‘Female DNA Found On Bomb In Boston Attack’ (WSJ)

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Related info:

– Judge Andrew Napolitano: FBI Created 17 False Flag Terrorist Attacks (FOX News Video)

– New Boston Bombing Suspect … Is This Woman:

How many women do you know that would put their purse on a bag of trash???


(Click on image to enlarge.)

Meet her friends:

– Total Media Blackout Now Under Way On Most Likely Suspects In Boston Marathon Bombing – Photos BANNED By MSM

AND NOW:

– Female DNA Found on Bomb in Boston Attack (Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2013):

Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks, though they haven’t determined whose DNA it is or whether that means a woman helped the two suspects carry out the attacks, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.

The officials familiar with the case cautioned that there could be multiple explanations for why the DNA of someone other than the two bombing suspects—Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar—could have been found on remnants of the exploded devices. The genetic material could have come, for example, from a store clerk who handled materials used in the bombs or a stray hair that ended up in the bomb.

Read more‘Female DNA Found On Bomb In Boston Attack’ (WSJ)

The More Illegal Immigrants That Go On Food Stamps The More Money JPMorgan Makes

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Related info:

– Shocking US government leaflet tells Mexican immigrants they can collect food stamp benefits without admitting they’re in the country illegally (Daily Mail)

– Judicial Watch Uncovers USDA Records Sponsoring U.S. Food Stamp Program For Illegal Aliens (Judicial Watch)

– US Households On Foodstamps Hit Record High (ZeroHedge)

And don’t believe for one moment that elite puppet Mitt Romney would have made any difference at all (compared to elite puppet President Obama).

– The More Illegal Immigrants That Go On Food Stamps The More Money JP Morgan Makes (Economic Collapse, April 28, 2013):

Recently uncovered documents prove that the Obama administration has been working with the Mexican government to increase the number of illegal immigrants on food stamps, and when more illegal immigrants go on food stamps JP Morgan makes more money.  As you will read about below, JP Morgan has made at least 560 million dollars processing Electronic Benefits Transfer cards.  Each month, JP Morgan makes between $.31 and $2.30 for every single person on food stamps (and that does not even include things like ATM fees, etc).  So JP Morgan has a vested interest in seeing poverty grow and the number of people on food stamps increase.  Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been aggressively seeking to expand participation in the food stamp program.  Under Obama, the number of people on food stamps has grown from 32 million to more than 47 million.  And even though poverty in America is absolutely exploding, that apparently is not good enough for the Obama administration.  It has now come out that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided the Mexican government with literature that actively encourages illegal immigrants to enroll in food stamps.  One flyer contains the following statement in Spanish: “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”  The bold and the underlining are in the original document in case you were wondering.  Overall, federal spending on food stamps increased from 18 billion dollars in 2000 to 85 billion dollars in 2012, and at this point one out of every five U.S. households in now enrolled in the food stamp program.  When people illegally or fraudulently enroll in the food stamp program, it makes it harder for those that desperately need the help to be able to get it.

It is certainly a good thing to help fellow Americans that are suffering.  It is a crying shame that more than a million public school students in America are homeless.  That should not be happening in the “wealthiest nation on earth”.

Read moreThe More Illegal Immigrants That Go On Food Stamps The More Money JPMorgan Makes

At $72.8 TRILLION Presenting The Bank With The Biggest Derivative Exposure In The World (Hint: Not JPMorgan)

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I told you when Bilderberg Josef Ackerman left Deutsche that things will get very interesting soon enough .

– At $72.8 Trillion, Presenting The Bank With The Biggest Derivative Exposure In The World (Hint: Not JPMorgan) (ZeroHedge, April 29, 2013):

Moments ago the market jeered the announcement of DB’s 10% equity dilution, promptly followed by cheering its early earnings announcement which was a “beat” on the topline, despite some weakness in sales and trading and an increase in bad debt provisions (which at €354MM on total loans of €399.9 BN net of a tiny €4.863 BN in loan loss allowance will have to go higher. Much higher). Ironically both events are complete noise in the grand scheme of things. Because something far more interesting can be found on page 87 of the company’s 2012 financial report.

The thing in question is the company’s self-reported total gross notional derivative exposure.

And while the vast majority of readers may be left with the impression that JPMorgan’s mindboggling $69.5 trillion in gross notional derivative exposure as of Q4 2012 may be the largest in the world, they would be surprised to learn that that is not the case. In fact, the bank with the single largest derivative exposure is not located in the US at all, but in the heart of Europe, and its name, as some may have guessed by now, is Deutsche Bank.

Read moreAt $72.8 TRILLION Presenting The Bank With The Biggest Derivative Exposure In The World (Hint: Not JPMorgan)

Dallas Fed Implodes: Biggest Drop And Miss On Record Send Market To Intraday Highs

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– Dallas Fed Implodes: Biggest Drop And Miss On Record Send Market To Intraday Highs (ZeroHedge, April 29, 2013):

If this doesn’t send the S&P to new all time highs nothing will. Moments ago the Dallas Fed reported its April General Business Activity report and in short it was the biggest miss to expectations on record, plummeting from 7.4 to -15.6, on expectations of a 5.0 print and the lowest since July 2012. It was also the biggest one month drop on record. Since all of this will be attributed to balmy spring weather in New Zealand, extra rainfall in the Russian Steppes, the US sequester, evil European fauxterity, Cyprus deposit confiscation, and of course, Bush, there is no point in commenting on this disaster at all. And why comment: judging by the market’s response which is now at the day’s highs, it is not as if anyone even pretends any data matters. The only hope now for those expecting a 20,000 on the DJIA is that the ISM due out soon, will print at 0 and everything will be permanently fixed. In other news the daily prayer to praise St. Bernanke begins at 11 am when POMO ends. Please orient yourself to face the Marriner Eccles building when bowing down.

Biggest miss on record:

Read moreDallas Fed Implodes: Biggest Drop And Miss On Record Send Market To Intraday Highs

Joe Biden: Gun Control ‘Will Pass Before The Year Is Out’

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See also:

– Vice President Joe Biden: The ‘Affirmative Task’ Before Us Is To ‘Create A NEW WORLD ORDER’ (Video, April 5, 2013)

– Biden: Economy kept McCain from victory over Obama (AP, April 27, 2013):)

Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that Arizona Sen. John McCain probably would have beat his boss in the 2008 presidential election had the economy not collapsed.

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On gun control, Biden said it’s never been a simple issue, but that Congress has miscalculated how deeply the public feels about it and has failed to stand up to groups like the National Rifle Association, particularly after the shootings in Newtown. He said the public is looking to Congress to be mature enough to figure out a way to diminish the chance it will happen again.

“For the first time ever, you have people who are for gun safety, for increasing background checks,” Biden said. “Two out of three of them say it will be a major determining factor in how I vote. That’s the political dynamic that has changed. So I think we’re going to get this anyway. I think this will pass before the year is out, within this Congress.”

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CHINA IS ON FIRE: China Orders Troops And Tanks To North Korean Border, Deploys Anti Aircraft Carrier Missiles Off Cost Of Taiwan, Sends More Than 40 Fighter Jets To Senkaku Islands, And Warns Philippines To Immediately Withdraw From Disputed Islands

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– CHINA IS ON FIRE: China Orders Troops And Tanks To North Korean Border, Deploys Anti Aircraft Carrier Missiles Off Cost Of Taiwan, Sends More Than 40 Fighter Jet To Senkaku Islands, And Warns Philippines To Immediately Withdraw From Disputed Islands (InvestmentWatch, April 28, 2013)