Senate Passes Obama’s TPP Fast-Track Trade Proposal

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change-we-can-believe-in

– Senate Passes Obama’s TPP Fast-Track Trade Proposal  (ZeroHedge, May 14, 2015):

Two days ago there was some rejoicing and much surprise when the “Warren-faction” of Senate liberals turned against Obama, and failed to vote for a fast-track approval of the TPP. That surprise lasted for about 48 hours when moments ago, in a 65-33 vote, the Senate finally advanced a measure allowing Obama to expedite approval of trade agreements, a bill with bipartisan support in that chamber which however according to Bloomberg may run into strong opposition from House Democrats.

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The vote followed separate votes sought by Democrats to pass proposals curbing currency manipulation and boosting imports from sub-Saharan Africa. The Senate plans to consider amendments to the fast-track trade proposal next week.

Read moreSenate Passes Obama’s TPP Fast-Track Trade Proposal

London Housing Bubble Watch: $630/Month For A Bed “In” A Shared Kitchen!

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 –    London Housing Bubble Watch: $630/Month For A Bed “In” A Shared Kitchen! (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):

You know it’s a bubble when… A listing has appeared online advertising a single bed in a house in London where the mattress is located in the kitchen.

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China Goes “UnCONventional” In Effort To Tackle Trillions In Debt, Rescue Economy

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 –    China Goes “Unconventional” In Effort To Tackle Trillions In Debt, Rescue Economy (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):

China has officially entered the realm of “unconventional” monetary policy, joining the Fed, the ECB, the BoJ, and a whole host of other global central banks in an attempt to bring the supposedly all-mighty printing press and the unlimited balance sheet that goes with it to bear on subpar economic growth. We suspect the results will be characteristically underwhelming (at least in terms of lowering real interest rates, although in terms of boosting risk assets, the results may be outstanding) meaning it’s likely only a matter of time before LTRO becomes QE in China just as it did in Europe.

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It’s Official: The BoJ Has Broken The Japanese Stock Market

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 –  It’s Official: The BoJ Has Broken The Japanese Stock Market (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):

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Monetizing the entirety of gross government bond issuance and amassing an equity portfolio worth just shy of $100 billion on the way to cornering the entire ETF market may come across as insanely irresponsible even in a world that is now defined by insanely irresponsible central banks, but Haruhiko Kuroda does not care because when it comes to QE and the financing of governments via central bank-assisted ponzi schemes, no one does it like the BoJ.

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45% Of US Voters Are Worried The Government Will Use Military Training Exercises For Power Grab

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 –  45% Of US Voters Are Worried The Government Will Use Military Training Exercises For Power Grab (ZeroHedge, May 13, 2015):

Mainstream media reporting on the controversy over the Jade Helm 15 military exercises, set to take place over eight weeks across several U.S. states, was primarily about characterizing and demonizing Texans concerned about the exercises as backwater, paranoid rednecks with wild fantasies about an imminent government takeover. While exercises like these will always cause the imagination of some to run amok, the key point here is this: concerns that U.S. military exercises will be used to exert more power over states is not a fringe view.

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‘We the People’ Need to Circle the Wagons: The Government Is on the Warpath

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 –  ‘We the People’ Need to Circle the Wagons: The Government Is on the Warpath (Rutherford Institute, May 12, 2015):

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Have you ever wondered why the Constitution begins with those three words “we the people”? It was intended to be a powerful reminder that everything flows from the citizenry. We the people are the center of the government and the source of its power. That “we” is crucial because it reminds us that there is power and safety in numbers, provided we stand united. We can accomplish nothing alone. Unfortunately, we have been ousted from that protected circle, by the courts, the politicians, and the corporations – replacing us with yes-men, shills who dance to the tune of an elite ruling class. To put it a little more bluntly, stop thinking like mindless government robots and start acting like a powerhouse of citizens vested with the power to say “enough is enough.”

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Raul Castro: Cuba’s president accuses US of “illegally training” dissidents inside its diplomatic compound in Havana

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H/t reader squodgy:

“Doh….like “THAT’S A SURPRISE”.

Surely as a close tie with Venezuela will show him, you just cannot trust America, both commercially and politically.

Just ask the Economic Hit Man.”

 – Raul Castro: Cuba’s president accuses US of “illegally training” dissidents inside its diplomatic compound in Havana (Independent, May 12, 2015)

Greece Effectively Defaults To IMF Using SDR Reserves To “Repay” Fund; 1 Month Countdown Begins

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“Greece tapped emergency reserves in its holding account at the IMF in order to make a 750 million euro payment to the Fund on Monday meaning that, as predicted, the IMF is now paying itself. Athens has one month to replenish the account. Meanwhile, the Fund has indicated it wants no part of another Greek bailout. And just to confirm how terminal the situation for Greece is, MarketNews just reported that Greece now has a paltry €90 million in cash reserves left. The end of the world’s most drawn out tragicomedy is finally nigh.”

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–  Greece Effectively Defaults To IMF Using SDR Reserves To “Repay” Fund; 1 Month Countdown Begins (ZeroHedge, May 12, 2015):

When Monday’s Eurogroup meeting concluded without an agreement between Greece and its creditors, it should have been game over for Athens. With pensioners at their breaking point and with local governments reluctant to comply with a decree mandating a sweep of excess cash reserves, the idea that Greece would somehow be able to scrape together €750 million euros to make a scheduled payment to the IMF today seemed far-fetched at best which is why we asked the following question Monday afternoon:>

Read moreGreece Effectively Defaults To IMF Using SDR Reserves To “Repay” Fund; 1 Month Countdown Begins

Second Largest Coal Miner East Of The Mississippi Files For Bankruptcy: 4000 Patriot Coal Jobs In Peril

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–  Second Largest Coal Miner East Of The Mississippi Files For Bankruptcy: 4000 Patriot Coal Jobs In Peril (ZeroHedge, May 12, 2015):

At last check Patriot Coal had around 4000 employees. Those soon to be former employees will soon require yet another massive seasonal adjustment by the BLS to be “adjusted” out, because moments ago the second largest coal miner east of the Mississippi and the second largest producer of thermal coal in the eastern US filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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How Wal-Mart Makes An Instant 65,724% Profit Selling … California Water

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– Wal-Mart Exposed Bottling Water from Sacramento Municipal Supply in the Middle of a Drought  (Liberty Blitzkrieg, May 11, 2015):

Wal-Mart is facing questions tonight after CBS13 learns the company draws its bottled water from a Sacramento water district during California’s drought.

According to its own labeling, the water in the gallon jugs appears to come from Sacramento’s water supply.

Sacramento sells water to a bottler, DS Services of America, at 99 cents for every 748 gallons—the same rate as other commercial and residential customers. That water is then bottled and sold at Walmart for 88 cents per gallon, meaning that $1 of water from Sacramento turns into $658.24 for Walmart and DS Services.

– From the CBS News in Sacramento article: Wal-Mart Bottled Water Comes From Sacramento Municipal Supply

We all know there’s a severe drought plaguing much of California. I haven’t focused on this topic much, but I did publish a very powerful post on it last fall titled: Video of the Day – Stunning Scenes from California’s Central Valley Drought. I suggest checking it out if you missed it the first time.  

Read moreHow Wal-Mart Makes An Instant 65,724% Profit Selling … California Water

Demographic Devastation: Italy’s Birth Rate Drops To 150 Year Low

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–  Demographic Devastation: Italy’s Birth Rate Drops To 150 Year Low (ZeroHedge, May 12, 2015):

Italian women would “like to have more [children], but the conditions just aren’t good enough,” laments one new mother as CBS News reports, official figures show that in 2014 there were fewer babies born in Italy than at any time since 1861. “Nowadays people don’t want to raise their child in poverty,” but Pope Francis had a different opinion, as The Guardian reported, “a society with a greedy generation, that doesn’t want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society.”

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