Infinite

AND NOW … French Finance Minister: ‘France Is A Truly Solvent Country, France Is A Truly Credible Country’

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Before:

– France’s Labour Minister Says France Is ‘Totally Bankrupt’


These aren’t the droids you’re looking for

– Frankrupt Damage Control “France Is A Truly Solvent Country, France Is A Truly Credible Country” (ZeroHedge, Jan 30, 2013):

In a move farcically reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau, the French Finance Minister made an impromptu appearance on the BBC to confirm what we all should have known all along: that “France is a truly solvent country, France is a truly credible country.” As the Washington Post notes, the oh-so-honest faux-pas that enfant terrible Monsieur Michel Sapin made yesterday – explaining how his nation is “totally bankrupt” – had French politicos scrambling today to recover their je ne sais pas. It would appear the crisis management approach taken is the repetitive Jedi mind-trick and of course we should believe Moscovici – even as France faces near-record unemployment, ratings downgrades, fiscal atrophication thanks to a plunge in competitiveness, and backlash among the elites at its increasingly socialist policies. “This is not the France you are looking for,” and sure enough, now we believe them.

….

Misery Index: Spain Is World’s Most ‘Miserable’ Nation, Worse Than Greece, Venezuela And South Africa

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– Spain Is World’s Most “Miserable” Nation, Worse Than Greece, Venezuela And South Africa (ZeroHedge, Jan 29, 2013):

A quick ranking of the world’s most “miserable” countries, based on the conventional measure of the Misery Index which is simply the Unemployment Rate plus Inflation, shows just why most people in Spain are, well, less than happy (and Spain is damn lucky there is no subset of the Misery index for just those aged 25 and under as we would certainly need a bigger chart). As the chart below shows, the Spanish “misery” is now the greatest in the world, at some 30%, and is worse than South Africa, Greece, Venezuela, Argentina and Egypt.

But fear not Spain: Croatia which is set to join the EU in July is forecast to have a debt/GDP ratio of 63.6% by 2017 from 29.3% in 2008 as growth stagnates. The country has one of the lowest labor participation rates in Europe at about 50 percent, the ILO says. In other words, at just 26%, it a virtual guarantee that Spain pole position is about to be eclipsed as Europe does the one thing it is truly good at: spread misery for the “common good.”

Canadian Special Forces On Ground In Mali … And More

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In other news:

– Mali conflict: Canada increases humanitarian aid to Mali by $13 million (Toronto Star, Jan 29, 2013)

– Soldiers trained by Canadian special forces hunted, tortured in Mali after failed coup (National Post, Jan 27, 2013):

Paratroopers trained by special forces based in Canada were behind a failed counter-coup in Mali last year to bring back a democratically elected government, but many have since been hunted down and killed by the country’s military.

Soldiers of the soldiers from the parachute regiment, 33eme RPC, were captured and later disappeared. They are believed to have been tortured and murdered by those behind Mali’s coup. Others fled to neighbouring countries.

– What Canada is doing in Mali (CBC News, Jan 28, 2013)

– Canadian special forces on ground in Mali, sources say (CBC News, Jan 28, 2013):

Harper tells MPs Parliament will be consulted on ‘any further steps’

Canadian special forces are on the ground inside the troubled West African country of Mali to protect Canadian assets there, CBC News has learned.

The special forces are not there to train Malian troops — and they are not involved in any combat role, as the government has repeatedly stressed and Prime Minister Stephen Harper repeated again Monday in the House of Commons.

The Department of National Defence would not confirm or deny the special forces are in Mali due to issues of security of personnel.

But a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs told CBC News, “Steps have been taken to ensure our mission and Canadian personnel are protected.”

Read moreCanadian Special Forces On Ground In Mali … And More

U.S. To Bury Almost All Existing Nuclear Waste!!!

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– U.S. To Bury Almost All Existing Nuclear Waste; Recycling Deferred At Least 20 Years (Forbes, Jan 28, 2013):

There’s little hope that the 70,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel dispersed across the United States will ever be recycled, according to a recent study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory—so nearly all existing waste will go into the earth.

In a study completed late last year, Oak Ridge officials determined that the U.S. is at least 20 years away from large-scale reprocessing of used nuclear fuel, if it decides to pursue such technologies. By then, they estimate, nuclear plants will have generated another 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel.

Read moreU.S. To Bury Almost All Existing Nuclear Waste!!!

Student Uses AR-15 To Stop Home Invasion

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– Student Uses AR-15 to Stop Home Invasion (Breitbart, Jan 24, 2013):

While Democrats attempt to ban “military-style assault weapons” like the AR-15, a Rochester Institute of Technology student used that very gun to thwart home invaders and save his roommate’s life.

Christopher Boise heard noises in the basement of his apartment; when he went to investigate, he found two intruders. One of the men trained a gun on him. Boise screamed, which woke his roommate, Raymond, who grabbed his gun bag and took out his AR-15.

One invader opened Raymond’s door only to see the barrel of the gun.

Read moreStudent Uses AR-15 To Stop Home Invasion

Homeland Security Training TSA Workers To Save Themselves In Shooting

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– Homeland Security training TSA workers to save themselves in shooting (PressTV, Jan 27, 2013):

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint screeners are receiving training to prepare them for the possibility of a mass shooting at one of the agency’s airport checkpoints, and those TSA personnel are being instructed to “save themselves” should a shooting occur.

It is unclear whether the TSA is conducting the reported mass shooting scenario training at airports around the nation or only at the airport where our source, a veteran of the TSA, is assigned. The TSA source claims with obvious concern that his own life, along with the lives of other unarmed TSA personnel, would be in grave danger were an airport checkpoint shooting to unfold.

Read moreHomeland Security Training TSA Workers To Save Themselves In Shooting

Barack Obama: ‘I Go Shooting All The Time’

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See also:

– Department Of Homeland Security To Purchase 7,000 ‘Assault Weapons’

– If ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Bad … Why Does DHS Want To Buy 7,000 Of Them For ‘Personal Defense’?

– ABC, CBS, NBC Admit NO Assault Rifle Used At Sandy Hook Shooting (Video)

– Barack Obama: ‘I go shooting all the time’ (Telegraph, Jan 27, 2013):

Amid conservative anger over Mr Obama’s proposals to ban assault weapons as part of a drastic overhaul of US gun control laws, the president said that he was a keen clay-pigeon shooter.

Asked in a magazine interview whether he had ever fired a gun, Mr Obama said he did so with guests at the president’s rural retreat.

“Up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time,” he said. “And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations.

Read moreBarack Obama: ‘I Go Shooting All The Time’

Silvio Berlusconi Defends Benito Mussolini On Holocaust Remembrance Day

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– Berlusconi defends Mussolini on Holocaust Remembrance Day, sparks outrage (RT, Jan 28, 2013):

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi defended Italian fascist leader, Benito Mussolini as he spoke at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony. Other than passing ‘racial laws’ the Italian dictator “did good” in many ways, he said, provoking outrage.

Berlusconi, currently the leader of the center-right People of Freedom party, didn’t think twice as he defended one of the key figures of fascism on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

He went as far as to advocate Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler, implying the dictator had little choice.

“Certainly the government then, fearing that German power would turn into a general victory, preferred to be allied with Hitler’s Germany rather than oppose it,” Berlusconi said, adding that it’s difficult to judge such actions without putting yourself “in the shoes of who was making decisions back then.”

It is through this alliance that the anti-Jewish laws had to be imposed, Berlusconi added, placing the blame on Germany’s Nazi regime. “Thus, the racial laws are the worst fault of Mussolini, who, in so many other aspects, did good,” Berlusconi said.

Read moreSilvio Berlusconi Defends Benito Mussolini On Holocaust Remembrance Day

Seattle: Gun Collectors Hijack Gun Buyback Program

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– Seattle Gun BuyBack Gets JACKED! Turns Into a Damn Gun Show! LOL (DCXposed, Jan 27, 2013):

Police officers in Seattle, Washington held their first gun buyback program in 20 years this weekend, underneath interstate 5,  and soon found that private gun collectors were working the large crowd as little makeshift gun shows began dotting the parking lot and sidewalks. Some even had “cash for guns” signs prominently displayed.Police stood in awe as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line for the buyback program.

People that had arrived to trade in their weapons for $100 or $200 BuyBack gift cards($100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault weapons) soon realized that gun collectors were there and paying top dollar for collectible firearms. So, as the line for the chump cards got longer and longer people began to jump ship and head over to the dealers.

Read moreSeattle: Gun Collectors Hijack Gun Buyback Program

‘Federal Reserve Money Printing Is The Real Reason Why The Stock Market Is Soaring’

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Flashback:

– Inflation, Hyperinflation and Real Estate (Price Collaps)

– Argentina’s Economic Collapse (Documentary)

Related info:

– German Weimar Republic in the early 1920s and the U.S. – Troubling similarities

– Charts: Germany, during the Weimar Republic & the hyperinflation

FYI.

– Federal Reserve Money Printing Is The Real Reason Why The Stock Market Is Soaring (Economic Collapse, Jan 28, 2013):

You can thank the reckless money printing that the Federal Reserve has been doing for the incredible bull market that we have seen in recent months.  When the Federal Reserve does more “quantitative easing”, it is the financial markets that benefit the most.  The Dow and the S&P 500 have both hit levels not seen since 2007 this month, and many analysts are projecting that 2013 will be a banner year for stocks.  But is a rising stock market really a sign that the overall economy is rapidly improving as many are suggesting?  Of course not.  Just because the Federal Reserve has inflated another false stock market bubble with a bunch of funny money does not mean that the U.S. economy is in great shape.  In fact, the truth is that things just keep getting worse for average Americans.  The percentage of working age Americans with a job has fallen from 60.6% to 58.6% while Barack Obama has been president, 40 percent of all American workers are making $20,000 a year or less, median household income has declined for four years in a row, and poverty in the United States is absolutely exploding.  So quantitative easing has definitely not made things better for the middle class.  But all of the money printing that the Fed has been doing has worked out wonderfully for Wall Street.  Profits are soaring at Goldman Sachs and luxury estates in the Hamptons are selling briskly.  Unfortunately, this is how things work in America these days.  Our “leaders” seem far more concerned with the welfare of Wall Street than they do about the welfare of the American people.

Read more‘Federal Reserve Money Printing Is The Real Reason Why The Stock Market Is Soaring’

France’s Labour Minister Says France Is ‘Totally Bankrupt’

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– Labor Minister Says France Is “Totally Bankrupt” (ZeroHedge, Jan 28, 2013):

Things in France must not be very serious, because the French labor minister accidentally let the truth come out a little earlier today. As the Telegraph reports, France’s labour minister sent the country into a state of shock on Monday after he described the nation as “totally bankrupt.”

Remember: France is one of the supposedly stable countries in Europe.

“Michel Sapin made the gaffe in a radio interview, which left French President Francois Hollande battling to undo the potential reputational damage. “There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state,” Mr Sapin said. “That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective.” It appears that once one wipes out the propaganda and the smooth politico talk, things are bad and getting worse at Europe’s core. “Data from Banque de France showed earlier this month that a flight of capital has already left the country amid concerns that France’s Socialist leader intends to soak the rich and businesses. The actor Gérard Depardieu has renounced his French citizenship and decamped to Russia in protest, while David Cameron said Britain will “roll out the red carpet” to attract wealthy individuals. Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, said the comments by Mr Sapin were “inappropriate”.”

At least France can hike the tax on the millionaires to 75% to generate more money. Oh wait, no it can’t.

But if capital is leaving France, where is it going? The FT has the answer:

Read moreFrance’s Labour Minister Says France Is ‘Totally Bankrupt’

Department Of Homeland Security To Purchase 7,000 ‘Assault Weapons’

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– Department of Homeland Security to Purchase 7,000 “Assault Weapons” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Jan 28, 2013):

The hypocrisy of the government knows no bounds.  I have said repeatedly, and continue to say, that I am against all gun control at the moment because our government is extremely violent and not only do I not expect it to protect the American people in general, I believe it is far more concerned with protecting the status quo from the people.  It has become crystal clear that the political and financial oligarchs are quite intentionally attempting to disarm the populace while arming themselves to the teeth in anticipation of some horrible economic event they know is inevitable.

From the Blaze:

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to acquire 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO “personal defense weapons” (PDW) — also known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians. The solicitation, originally posted on June 7, 2012, comes to light as the Obama administration is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines.

Read moreDepartment Of Homeland Security To Purchase 7,000 ‘Assault Weapons’

Another Reason For The Mali Incursion: Here Come The Drones

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– Here Come The Drones, Or The True Reason For The Mali Incursion (ZeroHedge, Jan 28, 2013):

Given our recent discussion (here and here) of the rising importance of Africa in the world’s power and money echelons, it is not entirely surprising that the NY Times reports that US military command in Africa is actively preparing to establish a drone base in northwest Africa to increase “unarmed surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups” that American and other Western officials say pose a growing menace to the region. It would appear Niger will be the most likely place for the base – from which officials envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones though, of course, they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens. “This is directly related to the Mali mission, but it could also give Africom a more enduring presence for I.S.R.,” one American military official said Sunday, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Perhaps, actually scratch the “perhaps”, what is really happening is the US now has a drone base with which to supervise Chinese expansion in Northweast Africa, anda drone fleet to use defensively and offensively as it sees fit.

Read moreAnother Reason For The Mali Incursion: Here Come The Drones

Bloomberg: Is Inflation The Legacy of the Federal Reserve? (Video)

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YouTube Added: 17.01.2013
Description:

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) — In today’s “Single Best Chart,” Bloomberg’s Scarlet Fu displays how inflation has increased in the 100 years since the creation of the Federal Reserve. She speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.”

Why Every US City Is Like A Brazilian Nightclub Inferno With No Exits For The Masses

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– Why every U.S. city is like a Brazilian nightclub inferno with no exits for the masses (Natural News, Jan 29, 2013):

As most of the connected world knows by now, 230 people died recently in a Brazilian nightclub “as fire ravaged the building.” Why didn’t those 230 people get out of the burning building? Because all the exits were blocked except one, of course. And bouncers wouldn’t let people leave because they couldn’t determine whether the patrons had yet paid for their drinks.

So 230 people tragically died, yet again, in yet another fire of a nightclub, just like all the previous fires of previous nightclubs that have killed countless others over the past several decades. Why doesn’t humanity learn?

Here’s another question: Why is all this relevant to you?

Read moreWhy Every US City Is Like A Brazilian Nightclub Inferno With No Exits For The Masses

JPMorgan’s Tom Lee Announces His Dow Jones Industrial Average Price Target: 20,000!!!

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– JPM’s Tom Lee Announces His Dow Jones Industrial Average Price Target: 20,000 (ZeroHedge, Jan 28, 2013):

Back in July 2008, just before all hell broke loose and the S&P was trading in the upper 1,200s, everyone’s favorite permabull, JPM strategist famously reiterated his S&P 500 price target for the end of 2012: 1450. Two months later Lehman filed for bankruptcy, and 4 months later the S&P closed 2008 some 40% lower than said price target. Another two months later and anyone who had listened to Tom Lee lost 50% of their investment.

Today, as the Fed’s balance sheet crosses $3 trillion, and the global central banks have pumped a total of some $15 trillion into the markets, Tom Lee ws back on CNBC with what is his most permabullish prediction ever: he now expects the S&P to generate some 150 in earnings to which he applies a 17x multiple. His conclusion “If you put a 17 multiple on $150, the S&P really sort of peaks around 2,400 or 2,500.” In Dow terms, this means a Dow Jones Industrial Average of, drumroll, 20000. He does, caveat it, however: “that’s obviously 4 years away.” And if Tom Lee was off by 40% in 4 months, we can’t help but wonder what the hit rate on his 4 year prediction will be, and if, by using the same ruler extrapolation mechanism he applies to corporate earnings nand multiples one extrapolates the Fed’s balance sheet at some $7 trillion in 4 years, what a loaf of bread will cost just as the DJIA crosses 20,000. For future humor purposes, it may be useful to bookmark this post.

If ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Bad … Why Does DHS Want To Buy 7,000 Of Them For ‘Personal Defense’?

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Related info:

– Homeland Security Buys 7000 Full-Auto Assault Rifles, Calls Them ‘PERSONAL DEFENSE WEAPONS’

– ABC, CBS, NBC Admit NO Assault Rifle Used At Sandy Hook Shooting (Video)


Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano

– If ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Bad…Why Does DHS Want to Buy 7,000 of Them for ‘Personal Defense’? (The Blaze, Jan 26, 2013):

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to acquire 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO “personal defense weapons” (PDW) — also known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians. The solicitation, originally posted on June 7, 2012, comes to light as the Obama administration is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines.

Citing a General Service Administration (GSA) request for proposal (RFP), Steve McGough of RadioViceOnline.com reports that DHS is asking for the 7,000 “select-fire” firearms because they are “suitable for personal defense use in close quarters.” The term select-fire means the weapon can be both semi-automatic and automatic. Civilians are prohibited from obtaining these kinds of weapons.

Read moreIf ‘Assault Weapons’ Are Bad … Why Does DHS Want To Buy 7,000 Of Them For ‘Personal Defense’?