Politics

South Africa: Police Kills More Than 30 Striking Miners

by

– Mine “bloodbath” shocks post-apartheid South Africa (Reuters, Aug 17, 2012):

The killing by police of more than 30 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa’s psyche on Friday, with people and the media questioning its post-apartheid soul.

Newspaper headlines screamed “Bloodbath”, “Killing Field” and “Mine Slaughter”, with graphic photographs of heavily armed white and black police officers walking casually past the bloodied corpses of black men lying crumpled in the dust.

Read moreSouth Africa: Police Kills More Than 30 Striking Miners

The Truth About How The Fed Has Destroyed The Housing Market

by

– The Truth About How The Fed Has Destroyed The Housing Market (ZeroHedge, Aug 16, 2012):

When observing the trends in the housing market, one has two choices: i) listen to the bulls who keep repeating that “housing has bottomed”, a false mantra which has been repeated every single year for the past four, or ii) look at the facts. We touched briefly on the facts earlier today when we presented the latest housing starts data:construction of single family residences remains 46 percent below the long-term trend; the more volatile multifamily houses is 15 percent below trend and demand for new homes 47 percent below. This is indicative of reluctance by households to make long-term investments due to fear of another downturn in housing prices. Bloomberg summarizes this succinctly: “This historically weak demand for new homes is inhibiting the recovery of demand for construction workers as well, about 2.3 million of whom remain without work.” But the best visual representation of the housing “non-bottom” comes courtesy of the following chart of homes in negative or near-negative equity, which via Bloomberg Brief, is soared in Q4, and is now back to Q1 2010 level at over 13.5 million. What this means is that the foreclosure backlog and the shadow inventory of houses on the market could be as large as 13.5 million in the future, which translates into one simple word: supply.

Here is Bloomberg’s Joseph Brusuelas on this topic:

Approximately 13.5 million households hold negative or near-negative equity positions on their mortgages. Many of them will likely lose  those homes to foreclosures, which are again on the rise. At best, an increase in foreclosures will constrain a recovery in prices; at worst, a flood of inventory to market will put further downward pressure on prices.

In other words it is Bloomberg, not us, coming up with the perfectly logical idea that a number as large as the total number of underwater mortgages may and will end up on the market as foreclosures, which in turn will clog up the market clearance piping for years, if not decades to come.

Read moreThe Truth About How The Fed Has Destroyed The Housing Market

Central Banks And Wall Street Insiders Are Rapidly Preparing For The Greatest Financial Collapse In World History

by

This is the ‘Greatest Depression’.

– Startling Evidence That Central Banks And Wall Street Insiders Are Rapidly Preparing For Something BIG (Economic Collapse, Aug 16, 2012):

If you want to figure out what is going to happen next in the financial markets, carefully watch what the insiders are doing.  Those that are “connected” have access to far better sources of information than the rest of us have, and if they hear that something big is coming up they will often make very significant moves with their money in anticipation of what is about to happen.  Right now, Wall Street insiders and central banks all around the globe are making some very unusual moves.  In fact, they appear to be rapidly preparing for something really big.  So exactly what are they up to?  In a previous article entitled “Are The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse?“, I speculated that they may be preparing for a financial meltdown of some sort.  As I noted in that article, more than 600 banking executives have resigned from their positions over the past 12 months, and I have been personally told that a substantial number of Wall Street bankers have been shopping for “prepper properties” this summer.  But now even more evidence has emerged that quiet preparations are being made for an imminent financial collapse.  That doesn’t guarantee that something will happen or won’t happen.  Like any good detective, we are gathering clues and trying to figure out what the evidence is telling us.

Why Is George Soros Selling So Much Stock And Buying So Much Gold?

I am certainly not a fan of George Soros.  He has funneled millions upon millions of dollars into organizations that are trying to take America in the exact wrong direction.

Read moreCentral Banks And Wall Street Insiders Are Rapidly Preparing For The Greatest Financial Collapse In World History

What To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated

by

– What To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated (ZeroHedge, Aug 16, 2012):

Hint: cut the strings

If you don’t know who the sucker at the card table is, it’s you.

~ old gambler’s saying

What do the following have in common?

LIBOR, Bernie Madoff, MF Global, Peregrine Financial, zero-percent interest rates, the Social Security and Medicare entitlement funds, many state and municipal pension funds, mark-to-model asset values, quote stuffing and high frequency trading (HFT), and debt-based money?

The answer is that every single thing in that list is an example of market rigging, fraud, or both.

Read moreWhat To Do When Every Market Is Manipulated

22 Stats That Show How The Emerging One World Economy Is Absolutely Killing American Workers

by

– 22 Stats That Show How The Emerging One World Economy Is Absolutely Killing American Workers (Economic Collapse, Aug 15, 2012):

For decades our politicians have promised us that the “free trade” agenda would bring us greater prosperity than ever before.  They insisted that merging our economy into the emerging one world economy would cause millions upon millions of new jobs to be added to the U.S. economy.  Unfortunately, it was all a giant lie.  Trading with other countries is not a bad thing as long as the level of trade is fairly equal on both sides.  When trade becomes very unequal, the consequences can be absolutely catastrophic.  Since 1975, the United States has bought more than 8 trillion dollars more stuff from the rest of the world than they have bought from us.  We are the only economy on earth that could have had 8 trillion dollars drained out of it and still be standing.  Instead of leaving the country, those 8 trillion dollars could have gone to U.S. businesses and U.S. workers.  If we could go back and have a “do over”, how much more prosperous would we be today if we had kept that 8 trillion dollars inside the country?

But instead of pursuing a balanced trade philosophy, our politicians were so enamored with the emerging one world economy that they threw all caution to the wind.

So we have lost tens of thousands of businesses, millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of our national wealth.

Read more22 Stats That Show How The Emerging One World Economy Is Absolutely Killing American Workers

Saudi Arabia Tells Citizens To Leave Lebanon Immediately

by

– Saudi Arabia tells citizens to leave Lebanon immediately – SPA (Reuters, Aug 15, 2012):

Saudi Arabia has ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately”, the state news agency reported in an SMS alert on Wednesday.

“The Saudi Arabian embassy in Lebanon calls all Saudi citizens to leave Lebanon immediately,” the alert said, without elaborating.

Nigel Farage Blasts Communist Europe And Leaders ‘Living In Noddy-Land’ (Video)

by

– Farage Blasts Communist Europe And Leaders “Living In Noddy-Land” (ZeroHedge, Aug 15, 2012):

Nigel Farage, looking tanned and refreshed, is back and as he tells FOX Business in this brief clip “nothing has changed” from his views of Europe as the Titanic and its unelected officials dragging it down to the depths of the ocean. Citing Mario Monti specifically with his concerns over allowing politicians to ‘decide’ anything he notes the leader’s demeanor is “We must not let democracy interfere with our great Grand Project.” With European GDP negative, and group-hugs all around as Europeans are herded towards a European social state, Farage analogizes that “we are living in Noddyland” where economic reality and day-to-day life are as distant as they could be as he warns that they are becoming part of something that is increasingly resembling Communism. He dismisses the growing belief that “the state and government creates jobs” noting that “it doesn’t, it destroys them!” With two wrongs (Spain ad Italy) not making a right; Farage is clear that breaking up the EU is necessary now and it is critical to recognize that “you don’t get something for nothing” as Europe is increasingly de-industrialized.


YouTube

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Is Washington Deaf As Well As Criminal?

by

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

paul-craig-roberts
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

– Is Washington Deaf As Well as Criminal? (Paul Craig Roberts, Aug 16, 2012):

The morons who rule the american sheeple are not only dumb and blind, they are deaf as well. The ears of the american “superpower” only work when the Israeli prime minister, the crazed Netanyahu, speaks. Then Washington hears everything and rushes to comply.

Israel is a tiny insignificant state, created by the careless British and the stupid americans. It has no power except what its american protector provides. Yet, despite Israel’s insignificance, it rules Washington.

When a resolution introduced by the Israel Lobby is delivered to Congress, it passes unanimously. If Israel wants war, Israel gets its wish. When Israel commits war crimes against Palestinians and Lebanon and is damned by the hundred plus UN resolutions passed against Israel’s criminal actions, the US bails Israel out of trouble with its veto.

The power that tiny Israel exercises over the “worlds’s only superpower” is unique in history. Tens of millions of “christians” bow down to this power, reinforcing it, moved by the exhortations of their “christian” ministers.

Netanyahu lusts for war against Iran. He strikes out against all who oppose his war lust. Recently, he called Israel’s top generals “pussies” for warning against a war with Iran. He regards former Israeli prime ministers and former heads of the Israeli intelligence service as traitors for opposing his determination to attack Iran. He has denounced america’s servile president Obama and america’s top military leader for being “soft on Iran.” The latest poll in Israel shows that a solid majority of the Israelis are opposed to an Israeli attack on Iran. But Netanyahu is uninterested in the opinion of Israeli citizens. He has Washington watching his back, so he is war mad. It is a mystery why Israelis put Netanyahu in public office instead of in an insane asylum.

Netanyahu is not alone. He has the american neoconservatives in his corner. The american neoconservatives are as crazed as Netanyahu. They believe in nuclear war and are itching to nuke some Muslim country and then get on to nuking Russia and China. It is amazing that no more that two or three dozen people have the fate of the entire world in their hands.

The Democratic Party is helpless before them.

The Republican Party is their vehicle.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: Is Washington Deaf As Well As Criminal?

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: The Election Of The Next Puppet President: High Stake Outcomes Based On Non-issues.

by

From the article:

“The selection of the next president of the US will depend on one thing alone–which of the two candidates financed by the ruling private oligarchy has the most effective propaganda.”

“Whether you vote Republican or Democrat, the oligarchs will win.”

Related articles:

– Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: The Dispossessed Majority – ‘The US Is Ruled By A Private Oligarchy. The Government Is Merely Their Front.’

“If americans had any sense, they would stay home and not vote.”

– Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: ‘War Criminals Run The State Department And The Entire US Government’

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

paul-craig-roberts
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

– The Next Election: High Stake Outcomes Based on Non-issues. (Paul Craig Roberts, Aug 11, 2012):

Solicitation

Dear Readers: To remind. This site is something that I do for you, not for myself. Every article I post on this site further isolates me from long-time colleagues and friends. When the site started up in January, many donations came in.

Donations continue to come in, but the flow is reduced. Sites are an expense. They have to be designed and created and then protected from attacks. A server has to be employed to host the site. Another company has to be hired to provide posting access to the site. Another to send out notices to readers of new postings. Volunteers can help with posting new columns and helping with responses to emails. So far there have been 3,100 email responses. This means much free work contributed by volunteers who probably should be paid. I myself am not paid by the site for the columns. My columns themselves are a gift. The expenses are associated with providing my gift to you.

We keep the site clean. No advertisements. And we only remind you of your financial responsibility to the site just a few times each year.

We have many more readers than we have donors. PayPal, of course, takes a cut. The alternative is to send a direct deposit to IPE’s bank account. However, we have not found a way to identify these contributors in order to send them an acknowledgement and a thank you.

As the site gains readers, expenses rise, although not proportionally. If donors are sufficiently forthcoming, it might become possible to pay the volunteers. If you consider what a subscription to a magazine, newspaper, or cable TV costs and you compare the content from those sources to the content offered on this site, and you do not conclude that this site is a bargain, then there is no purpose for the site.

Paul Craig Roberts
________________________________________________________________________

The Next Election: High Stake Outcomes Based on Non-issues

Paul Craig Roberts

The election of the next puppet president of the “world’s only superpower” is about two and one-half months off, and what are the campaign issues? There aren’t any worthy of the name.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: The Election Of The Next Puppet President: High Stake Outcomes Based On Non-issues.

Fascist FDA Threatens Families Of Its Own Scientists – FDA Drug Reviewer: ‘One Manager Threatened My Children … I Was Afraid That I Could Be Killed For Talking To Congress And Criminal Investigators’

by

Dr. Gary Null: WAR ON HEALTH – The FDA’s Cult of Tyranny (Documentary):

– FDA drug reviewer: ‘one manager threatened my children‘ (Natural News Aug 15, 2012):

In a stunning interview with Truthout’s Martha Rosenberg, former FDA drug reviewer, Ronald Cavanaugh, exposes the FDA as a relentless criminal mafia protecting its client, Big Pharma, with a host of mob strategies.

http://truth-out.org

Cavanaugh: “…widespread racketeering, including witness tampering and witness retaliation.”

“I was threatened with prison.”

“One [FDA] manager threatened my children … I was afraid that I could be killed for talking to Congress and criminal investigators.”

Cavanaugh reviewed new drug applications made to the FDA by pharmaceutical companies. He was one of the holdouts at the Agency who insisted that the drugs had to be safe and effective before being released to the public.

Read moreFascist FDA Threatens Families Of Its Own Scientists – FDA Drug Reviewer: ‘One Manager Threatened My Children … I Was Afraid That I Could Be Killed For Talking To Congress And Criminal Investigators’

Roy Antigua Had A NASA Uniform. U.S. Customs. The Navy. The CIA. Secret Service. Homeland Security. Dozens Of Military Medals. A Flight Helmet And Flight Instructor Badge. A Boy Scout Troop Leader Uniform.

by

– New Port Richey man had vast collection of fake IDs and uniforms, authorities say (Tampa Bay Times, Aug 7, 2012):

NEW PORT RICHEY — A stranger in a Coast Guard uniform introduced himself to New Port Richey police Chief James Steffens. It was a Memorial Day event at a cemetery. The man said he was Lt. Cmdr. Roy Antigua, and he sat next to the chief in a special section for officials.

“Everybody around there thought that he was the real deal,” Steffens said.

But it turns out Antigua is a man of many identities and disguises, none of which appear to be real, authorities said.

“We need to know, from start to finish,” Steffens said at a news conference Monday, “who is Roy Antigua?”

So far, authorities have found out he is from Cuba and has family in Miami. He is single. And he owns a worrisome hoard of law enforcement, military and medical uniforms, badges, identification cards and supplies, discovered when Antigua’s home was searched after he was arrested on an unrelated charge.

Antigua, 52, had a NASA uniform. U.S. Customs. The Navy. The CIA. Secret Service. Homeland Security. Dozens of military medals. A flight helmet and flight instructor badge. A Boy Scout troop leader uniform.

Officers found a suitcase full of medical scrubs and a black leather doctor’s bag with instruments. Antigua had badges saying he was a physician’s assistant. There was a photo of Antigua in scrubs holding a newborn. Steffens said his team is investigating to find out where that was taken and what role Antigua played.

Read moreRoy Antigua Had A NASA Uniform. U.S. Customs. The Navy. The CIA. Secret Service. Homeland Security. Dozens Of Military Medals. A Flight Helmet And Flight Instructor Badge. A Boy Scout Troop Leader Uniform.

Jamie Dimon Admits That JPMorgan’s Assets Are Overvalued By $150 Billion

by

– ‘JPM’s $150 Billion FDIC Reality Adjustment’ – Jamie Dimon Just Admitted To The World That JPM’s Assets Are Overvalued By $150 Billion

JPM’s $150 Billion FDIC Reality Adjustment

Reuters published an exclusive story this morning:

Buried in the final paragraph:

In a presentation in March, JPMorgan Chase said it had a recovery plan in place and said it was ordered by regulators. The presentation was organized by Harvard Law School and was closed to the media at the time, but is now available online.

Here’s the BEST part of the JPM document.

Read moreJamie Dimon Admits That JPMorgan’s Assets Are Overvalued By $150 Billion

Financial Decline In Europe Continues As Industrial Production Falls -0.6% And The economy Shrinks -0.2% … Italy’s Industrial Production Is Down -8.2% From A Year Ago And Down -1.4% In The Last Month

by

– The Financial Decline In Europe Continues (ZeroHedge, Aug 14, 2012):

Via Mark E. Grant, author of Out of the Box,

As Industrial Production falls -0.6% in Europe and as the economy shrinks -0.2% there is once again a good reason to pause to consider the ramifications for this going forward. As part of the data release this morning Germany and France did somewhat better than expectations but it was fairly marginal while the rest of the EU-17 continues to be mired in difficulties. Overnight LCH increased the margin requirements for both Spain and Italy as the banks of Spain keep increasing their borrowings at the ECB which is now at an all-time record. More troubling perhaps is the recent release of data from Italy which showed that their sovereign debt had ballooned to $2.437 trillion and the trajectory is more than troublesome. In 2010 and 2011 Italy’s debt was expanding by $7.90 billion per month but in 2012 Italian debt has increased by $11.73 billion per month for a projected $141 billion by the end of this year. In fact the Italian economy is shrinking by about   -2.5% while their debt is growing by 5.8% which is the baseline for an unsustainable situation if these trends continue.

To make matters worse Italy’s Industrial Production is down -8.2% from a year ago and down   -1.4% in the last month. I think Italy must be reassessed in light of the recent data and I would project further downgrades for the country and an increase in their bond yields as people recognize the severity of their problems. To me it looks increasingly likely that both Spain and Italy will soon line up at the feeding trough which is going to strain Europe, in my opinion, past the limits of what France and Germany can bear and then all of the superlatives and all of the great hype are going to come face-to-face with a very tough reality I am afraid.

Read moreFinancial Decline In Europe Continues As Industrial Production Falls -0.6% And The economy Shrinks -0.2% … Italy’s Industrial Production Is Down -8.2% From A Year Ago And Down -1.4% In The Last Month

Russia Blasts The U.S. Over Unilateral Sanctions On Iran

by

See also:

– Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: ‘War Criminals Run The State Department And The Entire US Government’

– Congressman Ron Paul’s Speech On Iran Sanctions: ‘This Is An Act On War’ (Video, August 1, 2012)

– David Icke – Obama & The Agenda To Destroy America … And Bring On World Government, World Central Bank, World Army, World Currency & The Orwellian State (Video):

– Russia blasts US over unilateral sanctions on Iran (PressTV, Aug 13, 2012):

Russia has lashed out at the United States over illegal unilateral sanctions imposed against Iran, calling the measures “overt blackmail” and a “crude contradiction of international law.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that the sanctions would harm Moscow-Washington relations.

“Those in Washington should take into account that our bilateral relations will suffer seriously if Russian operators… come under the effects of the American restrictions,” the ministry said.

“We are talking about restrictive measures not only against Iran but also affecting foreign companies and individuals working with it, including in the hydrocarbon extraction and transport, petrochemicals, finance and insurance industries,” the statement read.

“We consider efforts to… impose internal American legislation on the entire world completely unacceptable,” it said.

Read moreRussia Blasts The U.S. Over Unilateral Sanctions On Iran

Preparing For A ‘Horrible Event’; The U.S. And Turkey Plan For Syria’s Collapse

by

See also:

– The No.1 Trend Forecaster Gerald Celente On Who Really Creates All These Wars And Why (Video)

– Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: ‘War Criminals Run The State Department And The Entire US Government’

– David Icke – Obama & The Agenda To Destroy America … And Bring On World Government, World Central Bank, World Army, World Currency & The Orwellian State (Video)

– Preparing For A ‘Horrible Event’; The U.S. And Turkey Plan For Syria’s Collapse (NPR, Aug 11, 2012):

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu got straight to the point in their joint news conference Saturday. They announced the creation of a new working group that will monitor what’s happening next door in Syria and prepare for crises.

One of those crises could include the possibility that the Syrian government decides to deploy chemical weapons against rebels or other perceived enemies.

Clinton says the new U.S.-Turkish working group needs to be ready for anything, including “the horrible event” of possible chemical weapons use, according to The Associated Press. The new working group will coordinate responses to any chemical attack should it occur.

Read morePreparing For A ‘Horrible Event’; The U.S. And Turkey Plan For Syria’s Collapse

Mitt Romney Would Have Paid Almost Nothing In Taxes Under Paul Ryan’s 2010 Budget

by

– Mitt Romney Would Have Paid Almost Nothing In Taxes Under Paul Ryan’s 2010 Budget (Huffington Post, Aug 13, 2012):

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s assertion that programs like Medicare and Social Security are staring at bankruptcy did not stop the Wisconsin congressman from once proposing a federal budget that would have eliminated virtually all taxes on people like his new running-mate, Mitt Romney. (Hat tip: the Los Angeles Times.)

While Ryan’s positions have gone through a makeover of late, his 2010 version of the federal budget — which propelled him to become the so-called “intellectual leader” of the Republican Party — provided a straightforward plan for tax cuts.

Under Ryan’s 2010 proposal, taxes on income derived from capital gains, interest, dividends and inheritance would be eliminated. This would mean that Romney — who reported an income of $27 million in 2010, all of it from those sources — would have paid nothing in taxes, according to the Atlantic.

Read moreMitt Romney Would Have Paid Almost Nothing In Taxes Under Paul Ryan’s 2010 Budget

David Icke – Obama & The Agenda To Destroy America … And Bring On World Government, World Central Bank, World Army, World Currency & The Orwellian State (Video)

by


YouTube Added: 31.07.2012

Description:

Unfolding daily…before your eyes.
A Trojan Horse…the enemy within.

On Europe: ‘It’s A Ponzi Scheme To Be Honest With You’ (CNBC Video)

by

– Mark Grant And Rick Santelli On Europe: “It’s A Ponzi Scheme To Be Honest With You” (ZeroHedge, Aug 14, 2012):

As Simon Hobbs noted this morning, Olli Rehn confirmed ahh that err “both the European Union and the ECB are ready to take action” but only conditional upon requests for aid. What is perhaps missed by most observers is what Rick Santelli and Mark Grant discuss in more detail in the short clip below. Greece managed to sell EUR4 billion short-dated bills this morning at remarkably low yields – not exactly the kind of thing that incentivizes political leaders to request aid – but how did they do it? Who bought it? Well, we suspect you know the answer but Mark Grant’s clarifying response to Santelli’s question concluded simply that the ECB-to-Greek-Banks-to-The-Bank-Of Greece-to-ECB circle-jerk is “in a sense, a kind of Ponzi scheme.” Santelli’s response that “it really is a rigged game” and that our reflexive response to the signaling of bond yields is remarkable given the manipulation; Grant agrees adding that “the real money guys are either out of Europe, getting out of Europe, or have cut back as much as they can” since simple math shows you that at some point Europe will have it’s ‘moment’.

Hobbs introduces, discusses Greece at around 3:00 and then Santelli and Grant take over at 3:40…

Japan Bans Radioactive Landlocked Salmon From Tochigi Prefecture

by

– [Fishery products] JP Gov banned landlocked salmon from outside of Fukushima (Fukushima Diary, Aug 13, 2012):

Japanese government is eager to ship marine products, (cf. The young of the sardine from offshore Ibaraki in Pacific ocean will be shipped)

but excessive amount of cesium was measured from landlocked salmon from Watarase river in Tochigi.

It’s not even in Fukushima prefecture.

On 8/10/2012, Japanese government prohibited Tochigi prefecture from selling landlocked salmon from the river for measuring cesium more than 100 Bq/Kg, which is their safety limit.

Read moreJapan Bans Radioactive Landlocked Salmon From Tochigi Prefecture

Deep Fried Black Swan Lands As China Admits It Has A Food Inflation Problem, Releases Corn, Rice From Reserves

by

– Deep Fried Black Swan Lands As China Admits It Has A Food Inflation Problem, Releases Corn, Rice From Reserves (ZeroHedge, Aug 13, 2012):

Last week we wrote an article that to many was anathema: namely an explanation why everyone is deluding themselves in their expectation that the PBOC would ease, soft, hard, or just right landing notwithstanding. The reason? The threat that food inflation is about to read its ugly head which is “Why The Fate Of The Global Equity Rally May Rest In The Hands Of Soybeans.” This was merely a continuation of our observations from a month ago that as a result of the Black Swan being “deep fried” in 2012, that the threat of food inflation will keep key BRIC central banks in check for a long time. As of today the threat has become fact, because as China Daily reports “China will release corn and rice from state reserves to help tame inflation and reduce imports as the worst US drought in half a century pushes corn prices to global records, creating fears of a world food crisis…The release may prompt Chinese importers to cancel shipments in the near term and take some pressure off international corn prices, which set a new all-time high on Friday as the US government slashed its estimate of the size of the crop in the world’s top grain exporter.” Sure, as every other short-termist measure the world over, it may help with prices in the short-term, but will merely expose China, and thus everyone, to the threat of a much greater price spike in the future. Because just as the strategic petroleum reserve release did nothing to help gas prices, nor the short selling ban in the US and Europe did anything to help the underlying broken financial system, so this will merely force the local population to scramble and ration whatever food they can get asap, now that the government has admitted there is, indeed, a food inflationary problem.

Sure enough:

Bottom line – rationing is in full force, and given the continually declining state of the US corn crop, more will be needed,” said Christopher Narayanan, head of agricultural commodities research at Societe Generale.

Read moreDeep Fried Black Swan Lands As China Admits It Has A Food Inflation Problem, Releases Corn, Rice From Reserves

Are The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse?

by

– Are The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse? (Economic Collapse, Aug 12, 2012):

Something really strange appears to be happening.  All over the globe, governments and big banks are acting as if they are anticipating an imminent financial collapse.  Unfortunately, we are not privy to the quiet conversations that are taking place in corporate boardrooms and in the halls of power in places such as Washington D.C. and London, so all we can do is try to make sense of all the clues that are all around us.  Of course it is completely possible to misinterpret these clues, but sticking our heads in the sand is not going to do any good either.  Last week, it was revealed that the U.S. government has been secretly directing five of the biggest banks in America “to develop plans for staving off collapse” for the last two years.  By itself, that wouldn’t be that big of a deal.  But when you add that piece to the dozens of other clues of imminent financial collapse, a very troubling picture begins to emerge.  Over the past 12 months, hundreds of banking executives have been resigning, corporate insiders have been selling off enormous amounts of stock, and I have been personally told that a significant number of Wall Street bankers have been shopping for “prepper properties” in rural communities this summer.  Meanwhile, there have been reports that the U.S. government has been stockpiling food and ammunition, and Barack Obama has been signing a whole bunch of executive orders that would potentially be implemented in the event of a major meltdown of society.  So what does all of this mean?  It could mean something or it could mean nothing.  What we do know is that a financial collapse is coming at some point.  Over the past 40 years, the total amount of all debt in the United States has grown from about 2 trillion dollars to nearly 55 trillion dollars.  That is a recipe for financial armageddon, and it is inevitable that this gigantic bubble of debt is going to burst at some point.

Read moreAre The Government And The Big Banks Quietly Preparing For An Imminent Financial Collapse?

Pictures Of New Mexican President With Sinaloa Drug Cartel Lieutenant

by

See also:

– High-Ranking Mexican Drug Cartel Member Makes Explosive Allegation: ‘Fast and Furious’ Is Not What You Think It Is:

It wasn’t about tracking guns, it was about supplying them — all part of an elaborate agreement between the U.S. government and Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel to take down rival cartels.

…

The Sinaloa Cartel was allegedly permitted to traffic massive amounts of drugs across the U.S. border from 2004 to 2009 — during both Fast and Furious and Bush-era gunrunning operations — as long as the intel kept coming.

– Pics of new Mexican President with Sinaloa cartel lieutenant (MadCow Morning News, Aug 10 2012):

He hasn’t even taken office yet, but Mexico’s new President Enrique Peña Nieto has already got some ‘splainin’ to do.

Mexico City newspapers today reported the discovery of pictures of the not-yet-inaugarated new President in which he appears chummy with a man  arrested yesterday in Madrid and charged with importing 337 kilos of cocaine into Spain from South America.

The pictures, on the Facebook page of the arrested man, Celaya Rafael Humberto Valenzuela,came to light after the Interior Ministry in Spain held a press conference detailing his arrest in Spain in the company of a cousin of Sinaloa cartel honcho Chapo Guzman.

Read morePictures Of New Mexican President With Sinaloa Drug Cartel Lieutenant