Infinite

NYT On The Housing Recovery: ‘Homes See Biggest Price Gain in Years, Propelling Stocks’ – ZeroHedge: 3 Big Banks Halt Foreclosures In May, Keeping The ‘Recovery’ Dream Alive

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What can you say?

– Homes See Biggest Price Gain in Years, Propelling Stocks (New York Times, May 28, 2013):

Americans are in a buying mood, thanks largely to the housing recovery.

The latest sign emerged Tuesday as the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index posted the biggest gains in seven years. Housing prices rose in every one of the 20 cities tracked, continuing a trend that began three months ago. Similar strength has appeared in new and existing home sales and in building permits, as rising home prices are encouraging construction firms to accelerate building and hiring.

The broad-based housing improvements appear to be buoying consumer confidence and spending, countering fears earlier this year that many consumers would pull back in response to government austerity measures.

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– Keeping The ‘Recovery’ Dream Alive; 3 Big Banks Halt Foreclosures In May (ZeroHedge, May 28, 2013):

What is the only thing better than Foreclosure Stuffing to provide an artificial supply-side subsidy to the housing market? How about completely clogging the foreclosure pipeline, by halting all foreclosure sales, which is just what the three TBTF megabanks: Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Citi have done in recent weeks. Under the guise of ‘ensuring late-stage foreclosure procedures were in accordance with guidelines’, the LA Times reports that these three banks paused sales on May 6th and all but halted foreclosures. Perfectly organic housing recovery – as we noted earlier… and guess what states the greatest number of ‘halts’ are in from these banks – California, Nevada, Arizona – exactly where the surges in price have occurred.

Via The LA Times,

Sales of homes in foreclosure by Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. ground nearly to a halt after regulators revised their orders on treatment of troubled borrowers during the 60 days before they lose their homes.

Read moreNYT On The Housing Recovery: ‘Homes See Biggest Price Gain in Years, Propelling Stocks’ – ZeroHedge: 3 Big Banks Halt Foreclosures In May, Keeping The ‘Recovery’ Dream Alive

Top IRS Officials, Whose Agency Was Under Investigation For Targeting Conservative Groups, Visited The Obama White House More Than 100 Times In 2 Years

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– Lawmakers zero in on IRS meetings at White House (Examiner, May 23, 2013):

Top IRS officials, whose agency was under investigation for targeting conservative groups, visited the Obama White House more than 100 times over two years while the probe was going on, far more often than in previous administrations and frequently enough that Republicans suspect White House officials knew about the targeting.

Lawmakers now investigating the Internal Revenue Service practice zeroed in on those nearly weekly White House meetings to determine whether an IRS official — or someone higher up in the administration — had approved the targeting and whether it was politically motivated.

The frequent meetings also raised questions about the White House’s claims that it couldn’t have instigated the targeting of conservative groups because it took a hands-off approach to the tax agency, going so far as to describe it as independent of the administration even though it’s part of the Treasury Department.

Read moreTop IRS Officials, Whose Agency Was Under Investigation For Targeting Conservative Groups, Visited The Obama White House More Than 100 Times In 2 Years

Operators Of Global Currency Exchange ‘Liberty Reserve’ Ran $6 BILLION Money-Laundering Operation Online

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www.libertyreserve.com:

– Online Currency Exchange Accused of Laundering $6 Billion (New York Times, May 28, 2013):

The operators of a global currency exchange ran a $6 billion money-laundering operation online, a central hub for criminals trafficking in everything from stolen identities to child pornography, federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday.

The currency exchange, Liberty Reserve, operated beyond the traditional confines of United States and international banking regulations in what prosecutors called a shadowy netherworld of cyberfinance. It traded in virtual currency and provided the kind of anonymous and easily accessible banking infrastructure increasingly sought by criminal networks, law enforcement officials said.

Read moreOperators Of Global Currency Exchange ‘Liberty Reserve’ Ran $6 BILLION Money-Laundering Operation Online

Syria Goes Hot: Russia To Deliver Weapons, Deploys Air Defense; Israel Warns Russia; Obama Demands No Fly Zone

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– Syria Goes Hot: Russia To Deliver Weapons, Deploys Air Defense; Israel Warns Russia; Obama Demands No Fly Zone (ZeroHedge, May 28, 2013):

Those who were intently following the USDJPY pair formerly known as the stock market today missed the biggest news of the day: the proxy war in Syria just went hot, following a confluence of news, first that Russia insisted “it would deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Syria despite international criticism, as fears of spillover from the conflict grew” and in logical retaliation to yesterday’s decision by Europe to lift an arms embargo to the Al Qaeda-supported, Qatari mercenaries operating in Syria, also known as “rebels”, leading Israel’s defense minister Moshe Yaalon to immediately signal that “its military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria“, while back in the US “the White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a no-fly zone inside Syria that would be enforced by the U.S. and other countries such as France and Great Britain, two administration officials told The Daily Beast.” And just to make it very clear that Russia is absolutely not bluffing, it announced overnight that its four regiments of S-300 air defense systems have been deployed at the Ashuluk firing range in southern Russia as part of another snap combat readiness check of the Russian armed forces “The missions will be carried out in conditions of heavy electronic warfare to test the capabilities of the air defense units to the highest limit.” And to think: the threat of a global war, over some natgas pipelines from Qatar to Europe, and a threat to Gazprom’s monopoly.

From AFP:

Russia insisted Tuesday it would deliver anti-aircraft missiles to Syria despite international criticism, as fears of spillover from the conflict grew after three Lebanese soldiers were killed in a border-area attack.

Read moreSyria Goes Hot: Russia To Deliver Weapons, Deploys Air Defense; Israel Warns Russia; Obama Demands No Fly Zone

US Mint Resumes Selling One-Tenth Ounce Gold Coins … At A 40% Premium To Spot!

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– US Mint Resumes Selling One-Tenth Ounce Gold Coins… At A 40% Premium To Spot (ZeroHedge, May 28, 2013):

When news broke a month ago that the US Mint had suspended selling one-tenth ounce gold coins, perhaps the most surprising news was that there were thousands of consumers willing to pay the exorbitant retail premium demanded by the US mint, with the resulting order deluge promptly sapping the mint’s stretched inventories. Well: we have good news – as of moments ago the US mint has once again restocked on the popular denomination (with a 20,000 production limit), and without a limit per household. The even better news: the coin will set you back just $195. This means a “tiny” 40% premium to spot. Is there indeed a massive disconnect between spot and physical as the Mint is telegraphing? Nah: must be all those shipping and wrapping costs for the fancy box the coin is put in. Oh wait, the gift box is another $5.95 per order. And no, it isn’t the shipping and handling either: that is another $4.95. In other words: the full delivery of one coin to your front door step would cost $200 per one tenth of an ounce. Oh well: we are fresh out of ideas then.

 

Eric Holder Under Investigation By House Judiciary Committee For Lying Under Oath

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– Eric Holder Under Investigation By House Judiciary Committee For Lying Under Oath (ZeroHedge, May 28, 2013):

With the euphoric market once again serving as a much needed distraction from far bigger geopolitical issues, many have forgotten the plethora of scandals the Obama administration has recently found itself engulfed in. This may change shortly, following news that the head of the US Department of Justice, Eric Holder himself, is now being investigated for lying under oath. Will he too receive an extended absence of leave (with pay) after pleading the fifth, or will the circle of lies slowly but surely start to unwind? Of course, in the New Normal it is probably not only expected, but given, that the chief legal enforcer is just a little more equal when it comes to the same justice he is tasked to enforce.

From The Hill:

The House Judiciary Committee is investigating whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath during his May 15 testimony on the Justice Department’s (DOJ) surveillance of reporters, an aide close to the matter told The Hill.

Read moreEric Holder Under Investigation By House Judiciary Committee For Lying Under Oath

The Real Numbers: Half Of America In Poverty … And It’s Creeping Upward

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Don’t miss:

– 40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

– The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty — and It’s Creeping Upward (Alternet, May 26, 2013):

The Census Bureau has reported that one out of six Americans lives in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much, much worse.

The Census Bureau has reported that 15% of Americans live in poverty. A shocking figure. But it’s actually much worse. Inequality is spreading like a shadowy disease through our country, infecting more and more households, and leaving a shrinking number of financially secure families to maintain the charade of prosperity.

1. Almost half of Americans had NO assets in 2009

Analysis of  Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney’s famous  47 percent, the alleged ‘takers,’ have taken nothing. Their debt exceeded their assets in 2009.

2. It’s Even Worse 3 Years Later

Since the recession, the disparities have continued to grow. An  OECD report states that “inequality has increased by more over the past three years to the end of 2010 than in the previous twelve,” with the U.S. experiencing one of the widest gaps among OECD countries. The 30-year  decline in wages has worsened since the recession, as low-wage jobs have replaced formerly secure middle-income positions.

3. Based on wage figures, half of Americans are in or near poverty.

Read moreThe Real Numbers: Half Of America In Poverty … And It’s Creeping Upward

Russia To Deliver S-300 Anti-Aircraft Missile Defense System To Syria ‘To Deter Foreign Intervention’

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– Russian arms ‘to deter foreign intervention in Syria’ (BBC News, May 28, 2013):

Russia says it will go ahead with deliveries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, and that the arms will help deter foreign intervention.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the missiles were a “stabilising factor” that could dissuade “some hotheads” from entering the conflict.

Russia also criticised an EU decision not to renew an arms embargo on Syria.

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Mr Ryabkov said the contract for the S-300 missile systems had been signed several years ago.

“We consider these supplies a stabilising factor and believe such steps will deter some hotheads from considering scenarios that would turn the conflict international with the involvement of outside forces,” he was quoted as telling journalists.

Russia’s envoy to Nato, Aleksandr Grushko, said Moscow was acting “fully within the framework of international law”, in delivering the arms.

“We are not doing anything that could change the situation in Syria,” he said. “The arms that we supply are defensive weapons.”

The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says the Russian statement could be seen as an escalation. He says there had been reports that Moscow was holding back on delivering the arms, in exchange for an Israeli commitment not to carry out further air raids over Syria.

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the Russian missile systems had not yet left Russia.

“I hope they will not leave, and if, God forbid, they reach Syria, we will know what to do,” he said.

Read moreRussia To Deliver S-300 Anti-Aircraft Missile Defense System To Syria ‘To Deter Foreign Intervention’

Here Is The Very Long List Of U.S. Weapons Designs And Technologies Compromised By Hackers

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– A list of the U.S. weapons designs and technologies compromised by hackers (Washington Post, May 28, 2013):

Weapon designs and technologies compromised

The following is reproduced from the nonpublic version of the Defense Science Board report “Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat”:

Table 2.2 Expanded partial list of DoD system designs and technologies compromised via cyber exploitation

SYSTEM DESIGNS

Terminal High Altitude Area Defense

Patriot Advanced Capability-3

Extended Area Protection and Survivability System (EAPS)

F-35

V-22

C-17

Read moreHere Is The Very Long List Of U.S. Weapons Designs And Technologies Compromised By Hackers

Chinese Hackers Breach Top U.S. Weapons System Designs

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Update:

– Here Is The Very Long List Of U.S. Weapons Designs And Technologies Compromised By Chinese Hackers

?The charge by a defense panel comes a month visit by China’s president to Calif.


Chinese hackers have allegedly compromised the designs of top weapons systems, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, The Washington Post reports. This photo from Northrop Grumman Corp., shows a pre-production model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

– Confidential report lists U.S. weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies (Washington Post, May 28, 2013):

Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science Board.

Russia Criticizes EU For Dropping Syrian Al-Qaeda Rebel Terroists Arms Ban

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Flashback:

–  U.S. 4 Star General Wesley Clark, Oct 3, 2007: ‘We’re Gonna Attack And Destroy The Governments In 7 Countries In 5 Years’ … ‘Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan And Iran’ (Video)

See also:

– Russia Sends At Least 12 Warships To Syria (Times Of Israel)

Information on the Syrian Al-Qaeda rebels down below.

– Russia Criticizes EU for Dropping Syrian Rebel Arms Ban (VOA Nrews, May 28, 2013):

Russia has criticized the European Union’s decision to amend its arms embargo on Syria, saying the move will hurt efforts to hold a peace conference aimed at ending the country’s violence.

The EU agreed Monday to keep sanctions against the Syrian government, but to allow weapons to be sent to the main opposition Syrian National Coalition.

Read moreRussia Criticizes EU For Dropping Syrian Al-Qaeda Rebel Terroists Arms Ban

Southern California Wildfire Burns 1,000 Acres; Thousands Flee

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– Southern California fire burns 1,000 acres; thousands flee (CNN, May 28, 2103):

Crews in Southern California struggled to get the upper hand on a fast-moving wildfire in Santa Barbara County early Tuesday.

Known as the White Fire, the blaze had already charred some 1,000 acres after getting its start Monday afternoon, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Madsen said. The flames were 5% contained.

Read moreSouthern California Wildfire Burns 1,000 Acres; Thousands Flee

75% Of Honey Bought At The Supermarket Isn’t REAL Honey

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– Seventy-five percent of honey bought at the supermarket isn’t real honey (Natural News, May 28, 2013):

Large scale tests on US supermarket honey now reveal that roughly 75 percent of honey on the market isn’t even real. According to investigation by Food Safety News, today’s mass produced honey is often times void of real pollen, artificially processed and laundered from China. Honey manufacturing experts and the World Health Organization agree that real honey must contain true microscopic particles of pollen, to be considered real, with an identifiable source. Honey void of pollen is an artificial, nutrition-void, watered-down scam.

Watered down, heated, pressurized honey not real at all

Much of the honey hitting supermarket shelves is derived from an ultra filtering procedure that heats honey to high temperatures, forcing the natural substance at high pressure through extremely small filters to remove pollen. In this way, manufacturers conceal the identity of the source of the honey, which is a technique used by the Chinese, who have illegally dumped tons of their honey on the U.S. market for years. The Chinese are responsible for dumping dangerous antibiotics, artificial sweeteners, and leeching copious amounts of heavy metals into imported honey products.

The Food Safety News investigation

Read more75% Of Honey Bought At The Supermarket Isn’t REAL Honey

Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis Skyrocketing As Women Everywhere Receive Dangerous And Unnecessary Mammograms

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– Breast cancer overdiagnosis skyrocketing as women everywhere receive dangerous and unnecessary mammograms (Natural News, May 28, 2013):

The studies just keep rolling on in with more and more evidence showing that the breast cancer screening ritual known as mammography is not everything that it is cracked up to be. One of the latest studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), for instance, analyzed more than 30 years’ worth of data on mammography and found that nearly 1.5 million women have been needlessly treated for cancers that were not at all harmful or that technically did not even exist.

Dr. Archie Bleyer, an oncologist at the Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Institute, and his colleagues took on the task of poring through the myriad of published data on mammograms since the time they first became widely popularized as a breast cancer screening tool back in the 1970s. After adjusting the data to account for changing lifestyle trends, the use of hormone replacement therapy, and other outside factors that might have skewed the data, the team estimated that mammography has been responsible for nearly doubling the overall detection rate of early-stage breast cancers.

Read moreBreast Cancer Overdiagnosis Skyrocketing As Women Everywhere Receive Dangerous And Unnecessary Mammograms

Confirmed: US Government Records ALL Private Telephone Calls!

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– Confirmed: US government records ALL private telephone calls (Natural News, May 28, 2013):

There is no such thing as privacy in America anymore, as evidenced by the fact that our own government violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment on a daily basis – for our own good, of course.

In an inadvertent admission that likely made his former bosses cringe, retired FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente, in a May 1 interview with CNN‘s Erin Burnett regarding the Boston Marathon terrorist bombings, clearly insisted that the nation’s primary law enforcement agency was clearly capable of recording all private telephone calls.

From Glenn Greenwald, of Britain’s The Guardian newspaper:

The real capabilities and behavior of the U.S. surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done by the U.S. government, it operates behind an impenetrable wall of secrecy. But a seemingly spontaneous admission this week by a former FBI counterterrorism agent provides a rather startling acknowledgment of just how vast and invasive these surveillance activities are.

‘We certainly can find that out’

Read moreConfirmed: US Government Records ALL Private Telephone Calls!

Japan: Stocks Extend Overnight Plunge – Down Over 14% From Highs

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– Japanese Stocks Extend Overnight Plunge – Down Over 14% From Highs (ZeroHedge, May 27, 2013):

As if the overnight session in Japan was not bad enough, futures markets are indicating yet more weakness from the market that seemed (until 3 days ago) incapable of falling. With a 14.3% drop from its May 22nd highs, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is struggling to find buyers for this dip. What is interesting is the bid for European peripheral debt and equity markets this morning and the bounce in US futures (with no commensurate move in JPY which is hovering around 101). Gold and Silver are up around 1% with the USD unchanged. Treasury Futures imply a rise of 1-2bps in yield.

and just as the NKY saw its blow-off top, now US equities are ignoring the drop (for now)…

Pennsylvania Judge Sentenced For 28 Years For Selling Kids To The Private Prison System

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Pennsylvania judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. has been sentenced to almost three decades in jail after conspiring with private prisons to trade kids for cash.


– Pennsylvania Judge Sentenced For 28 Years For Selling Kids to the Prison System (IntelliHub, May 22, 2013):

In the private prison industry, longer sentences earn more money from the state.

Since 2003, Ciavarella received millions of dollars in bribes for condemning minors to maximum prison sentences. In one case, Ciavarella sentenced a 10-year-old to two years in a detention facility for accidentally bottoming out his mother’s car.

According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, over 5,000 young men and women were unjustly sentenced to prison and denied their constitutional rights. Many of them have now been released and cleared of their charges.

Read morePennsylvania Judge Sentenced For 28 Years For Selling Kids To The Private Prison System

New Zealand, China In Talks On Convertibility Of Currencies (Wall Street Journal)

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– New Zealand, China in Talks on Convertibility of Currencies (Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2013):

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—Seeking to help its exporters, New Zealand is negotiating with China to make their currencies directly convertible, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister John Key said.

Wellington’s push is aimed at driving down costs for companies that do business with China, which is close to overtaking Australia as New Zealand’s No. 1 trading partner.

Read moreNew Zealand, China In Talks On Convertibility Of Currencies (Wall Street Journal)

How Undercover Animal Rights Activists Are Winning The Ag-Gag War

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– How Undercover Animal Rights Activists are Winning the Ag-Gag War (Liberty Blitzkrieg, May 26, 2013):

I previously covered these crazy “ag-gag” laws being passed in states with large meat production industries back in March in my piece:  States Move to Criminalize Whistleblowing on Food Fraud and Animal Cruelty.  Such laws represent a really disturbing macro trend in America where, rather than deal with inhumane, criminal and immoral practices, large corporations and government would just rather the public not know.  The Obama Administration exemplified this practice perfectly in its recently exposed war on journalism.

The good news is that if care enough and stand our ground through non-violent resistance, we can win.  We are already seeing examples of this in the battle against “ag-gag.”  

Read moreHow Undercover Animal Rights Activists Are Winning The Ag-Gag War