$253.5 BILLION: Obama Borrowed Nearly 6 Times As Much In February As Sequester Cuts All Year

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In other news:

– Janet Napolitano Dazed And Confused About What Sequester Really Means (ZeroHedge, March 5, 2013):

In the face of Janet Napolitano’s terrifying claims that major airports were already seeing lines “150 to 200 percent as long as we would normally expect” as a result of the budget-crushing sequestration cuts that went into force on Friday, The Telegraph reports that, in fact, LAX “haven’t had any slowdowns.” But how can that be? The government said it would all be horrible – and to think of the children… it appears Ms. Napolitano was speaking that dialect of English we call ‘politician’ as airports have ‘received no reports of unusual security delays.’ Unpossible. The DHS would not return calls questioning her exclamations that she “did not mean to scare, just inform,” about LAX, O’Hare, and Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson. This scare-mongery follows Maxine Waters’ 170 million unemployed claim and Arne Duncan’s teachers already being laid off claims. Trust, indeed.

– $253.5B—Obama Borrowed Nearly 6x as Much in February as Sequester Cuts All Year (CNS News, March 4, 2013):

During the month of February–as President Barack Obama was warning Americans they would see dramatic effects in their lives if “sequestration” of some planned federal spending kicked in–the federal government’s debt climbed by $253.5 billion.That one-month increase in the debt was nearly six times as much as the $44 billion in spending cuts the Congressional Budget Office estimates will take place in all of fiscal 2013 as a result of sequestration.

At the close of business on Jan. 31, 2013, the federal debt was $16,433,791,850,294.04, according to the U.S. Treasury. At the close of business on Feb. 28, 2013, the federal debt was $16,687,289,180,215.37. Thus, the federal debt increased $253,497,329,921.33 during the month.

In its Budget and Economic Outlook for Fiscal Years 2013-2023, published in February, the CBO explained that only $44 billion in planned federal spending will be cut during this fiscal year as a result of sequestration.

Read more$253.5 BILLION: Obama Borrowed Nearly 6 Times As Much In February As Sequester Cuts All Year

New York’s Homelessness Worst Since The Great Depression

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– New York’s Homelessness Worst Since The Great Depression (ZeroHedge, March 5, 2013):

State and local governments nationwide have struggled to accommodate a homeless population that has changed in recent years – now including large numbers of families with young children. As the WSJ reports, more than 21,000 children – an unprecedented 1% of the city’s youth – slept each night in a city shelter in January, an increase of 22% in the past year; as homeless families now spend more than a year in a shelter, on average, for the first time since 1987. New York City has seen one of the steepest increases in homeless families in the past decade, advocates said, growing 73% since 2002, and “is facing a homeless crisis worse than any time since the Great Depression.”

Homeless advocates said the Obama administration has focused on more visible problems, such as those sleeping on the streets, taking resources away from families. The steep rise has reignited questions about whether New York’s economic turnaround of the past two decades has helped the city’s poorest residents as they note (despite today’s Dow record highs), “the economy is nowhere near where it was.”

The blame apparently lies at the cessation of ‘entitlements’ as the DHS adds, since the end – in Spring 2011 – of a state-funded program that subsidized rent for people leaving shelters; homeless families have gone up 35%; but they also added that the city was working to find employment for the homeless, “a long-term solution.” Boston and Washington DC are also seeing homeless numbers surge.

Via WSJ,

Read moreNew York’s Homelessness Worst Since The Great Depression

Robot Warriors: Lethal Machines Coming Of Age

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– Robot warriors: Lethal machines coming of age (BBC News, March 4, 2013):

The era of drone wars is already upon us. The era of robot wars could be fast approaching.

Already there are unmanned aircraft demonstrators like the arrow-head shaped X-47B that can pretty-well fly a mission by itself with no involvement of a ground-based “pilot”.

There are missile systems like the Patriot that can identify and engage targets automatically.

And from here it is not such a jump to a fully-fledged armed robot warrior, a development with huge implications for the way we conduct and even conceive of war-fighting.

Read moreRobot Warriors: Lethal Machines Coming Of Age

‘When You Get This Kind Of Rigging, It Will End Very Badly’

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– Druckenmiller: “When You Get This Kind Of Rigging, It Will End Badly” (ZeroHedge, March 5, 2013):

When even Home Depot’s Ken Langone is questioning the reality of this rally (CEO of one of the best performing stocks since the Dow last traded here), you have to be a little concerned. However, it is Duquesne’s Stanley Druckenmiller’s point that with QE4EVA it is impossible to know when this will end but warns that “all the lobsters are in the pot” now as he notes that “if you print enough money, everything is subsidized – bonds, stocks, real estate.” He dismisses the notion of any sell-off in bonds for the same reason as the Fed is buying $85 bn per month (75-80% all off Treasury issuance). The Fed has cancelled all market signals (whether these are to Congress or market participants) and just as we did in the 1970s, we will find out about all the mal-investments sooner or later. “This is a big, big gamble,” he notes, “manipulating the most important price in all of free markets,” that ends one of only two ways, a mal-investment bust (as we saw in 2007-8) or full debt monetization and “off we go into inflation.”

“The Fed is printing a lot of money. They are forcing people into markets. You shouldn’t be buying securities because you’re forced to buy them by zero rates. you should buy them because you think they’re great value. They’re great value only relative to zero interest rates. they’re not great value on an absolute basis.”

“I don’t know when it’s going to end, but my guess is, it’s going to end very badly; and it’s going to end very badly because, again, when you get the biggest price in the world, interest rates, being manipulated you get a misallocation of resources and this is going to end in one of two ways – with a malinvestment bust which we got in ’07-’08 (we didn’t get inflation). We got a malinvestment bust because of the bubble that was created in housing. Or it could end with just monetizing the debt and off we go in inflation. So that’s a very binary outcome. they’re both bad.”

Read more‘When You Get This Kind Of Rigging, It Will End Very Badly’

Dear Americans: It’s An ‘Extraordinary Circumstance’ And This Drone’s Coming For You (On U.S. Soil)

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And it is about time ‘good’ Americans learn to chant this:

‘SIEG  HEIL, MEIN FÜHRER!‘

– Dear American: It’s An “Extraordinary Circumstance” And This Drone’s Coming For You (ZeroHedge, March 5, 2013):

In response to Rand Paul’s letter asking whether “the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial,” we now have an answer. Attorney General Holder responds, in a word “Yes.” Of course, it is caveated with ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and ‘necessity’ but as Mike Krieger so subtly summarizes: “the military can assassinate U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.” As NBC reports, the letter from Holder surfaced just as the Senate Intelligence Committee was voting 12-3 to approve White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan to be CIA director. The vote came after the White House agreed to share additional classified memos on targeted drone strikes against U.S. citizens overseas. As Rand Paul commented, “this is more than frightening… it is an affront to the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans.”

Full Holder Letter:

Dear Senator Paul,

On February 20, 2013, you write to John Brennan requesting additional information concerning the administration’s views about whether “the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”

As members of this Administration have previously indicated, the US government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and have no intention of doing so. As a policy matter, moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat. We have a long history of using the criminal justice system to incapacitate individuals located in our country who pose a threat to the United States and its interests abroad. Hundreds of individual have been arrested and convicted of terrorism-related offenses in our federal courts.

The question you have posed is entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur and we hope no president will ever have to confront. It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. For example, the president could  conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances of a catastrophic attack like the ones suffered on Dec. 7, 1941 and Sept. 11, 2001.

Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of his authority.

Sincerely,

Eric Holder,
Attorney General

The Coming Water Crisis Will Affect The Lives Of Every Person On Planet Earth: 30 Facts

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– 30 Facts About The Coming Water Crisis That Will Change The Lives Of Every Person On The Planet (Economic Collapse, March 4, 2013):

The world is rapidly running out of clean water. Some of the largest lakes and rivers on the globe are being depleted at a very frightening pace, and many of the most important underground aquifers that we depend on to irrigate our crops will soon be gone. At this point, approximately 40 percent of the entire population of the planet has little or no access to clean water, and it is being projected that by 2025 two-thirds of humanity will live in “water-stressed” areas. But most Americans are not too concerned about all of this because they assume that North America has more fresh water than anyone else does. And actually they would be right about that, but the truth is that even North America is rapidly running out of water and it is going to change all of our lives. Today, the most important underground water source in America, the Ogallala Aquifer, is rapidly running dry. The most important lake in the western United States, Lake Mead, is rapidly running dry. The most important river in the western United States, the Colorado River, is rapidly running dry. Putting our heads in the sand and pretending that we are not on the verge of an absolutely horrific water crisis is not going to make it go away. Without water, you cannot grow crops, you cannot raise livestock and you cannot support modern cities. As this global water crisis gets worse, it is going to affect every single man, woman and child on the planet. I encourage you to keep reading and learn more.

The U.S. intelligence community understands what is happening. According to one shocking government report that was released last year, the global need for water will exceed the global supply of water by 40 percent by the year 2030…

Read moreThe Coming Water Crisis Will Affect The Lives Of Every Person On Planet Earth: 30 Facts

Forbes Names World’s Richest Billionaires

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– Forbes names world’s richest billionaires (Sydney Morning Herald, March 5, 2013):

Slim, who controls Latin American telecommunications power America Movil and retail/industrial group Grupo Carso, came in first among the mega-rich for the fourth straight year, with a fortune estimated at $US73 billion, up $US4 billion from a year ago.

Microsoft chairman Gates, a perennial top finisher in the list, placed second with $US67 billion, up $US8 billion from 2012.

Read moreForbes Names World’s Richest Billionaires

How To Discover Your Life Purpose In About 20 Minutes

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– How to Discover Your Life Purpose in About 20 Minutes (WakingTimes, March 2, 2013):

How do you discover your real purpose in life? I’m not talking about your job, your daily responsibilities, or even your long-term goals. I mean the real reason why you’re here at all — the very reason you exist.

Perhaps you’re a rather nihilistic person who doesn’t believe you have a purpose and that life has no meaning. Doesn’t matter. Not believing that you have a purpose won’t prevent you from discovering it, just as a lack of belief in gravity won’t prevent you from tripping. All that a lack of belief will do is make it take longer, so if you’re one of those people, just change the number 20 in the title of this blog entry to 40 (or 60 if you’re really stubborn). Most likely though if you don’t believe you have a purpose, then you probably won’t believe what I’m saying anyway, but even so, what’s the risk of investing an hour just in case?

Read moreHow To Discover Your Life Purpose In About 20 Minutes

5 Best Countries To Move To Before Collapse of the West

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FYI. (And I certainly do NOT agree on those recommended countries being the ‘5 best countries’, but it gives you ideas what you could do besides sitting and waiting for the hammer to fall.)

– 5 Best Countries to Move to Before Collapse of the West (Activist Post, March 5, 2013):

It’s been two-and-a-half years since we posted a similar article to this. In just that short time, the national average gas price has gone up from $2.86/gallon to $3.72/gallon, a 30% increase. This is our updated list of where to bug out to.

That which mathematically cannot continue will not continue. Western countries, led by the United States and Europe, are in deep economic trouble. Massive debt levels are strangling their economies, and once great nations like Greece and Spain have been reduced to third-world status with staggering unemployment levels and almost daily violent riots.

Read more5 Best Countries To Move To Before Collapse of the West

Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez Is Dead

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– Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez dies (CNN

– Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan leader and US foil, dies (CBS News)

– Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dead after battle with cancer (Fox News)

– Hugo Chavez: The 60 Minutes interview (CBS News)

– Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dies from cancer (Reuters)

– Key Dates in Hugo Chavez’s Political Life (ABC News)

– Hugo Chavez dies at 58 (Washington Post)

– Venezuelans pour into streets to mourn Hugo Chavez (Huffington Post)

Student Suspended For Shaping Pop-Tart Into Gun

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– Student suspended for shaping Pop-Tart into gun (KTNV, March 3, 2013):

Baltimore, MD — A student in Baltimore was suspended over breakfast.

7-year-old Josh Welch was eating a Pop-Tart at school. A teacher saw the pastry and said she thought it looked like it was being shaped into a gun.

Read moreStudent Suspended For Shaping Pop-Tart Into Gun

The Last Time The Dow Jones Was Here … What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

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– The Last Time The Dow Was Here… (ZeroHedge, March 5, 2013):

“Mission Accomplished” – With CNBC now lost for countdown-able targets (though 20,000 is so close), we leave it to none other than Jim Cramer to sum up where we stand (oh and the following list of remarkable then-and-now macro, micro, and market variables):  “we all know it’s going to end badly, but in the meantime we can make some money” – ZH translation: “just make sure to sell ahead of everyone else.”

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then 14164.5; Now 14164.5
  • GDP Growth: Then +2.5%; Now +1.6%
  • Americans Unemployed (in Labor Force): Then 6.7 million; Now 13.2 million
  • Labor Force Particpation Rate: Then 65.8%; Now 63.6%
  • Americans On Food Stamps: Then 26.9 million; Now 47.69 million
  • Size of Fed’s Balance Sheet: Then $0.89 trillion; Now $3.01 trillion
  • US Debt as a Percentage of GDP: Then ~38%; Now 74.2%
  • US Deficit (LTM): Then $97 billion; Now $975.6 billion
  • Total US Debt Oustanding: Then $9.008 trillion; Now $16.43 trillion
  • US Household Debt: Then $13.5 trillion; Now 12.87 trillion
  • Consumer Confidence: Then 99.5; Now 69.6
  • S&P Rating: Then AAA; Now AA+
  • VIX: Then 17.5%; Now 14%
  • 10 Year Treasury Yield: Then 4.64%; Now 1.89%
  • EURUSD: Then 1.4145; Now 1.3050
  • Gold: Then $748; Now $1583
  • NYSE Average LTM Volume (per day): Then 1.3 billion shares; Now 545 million shares

Smart Meters – Scientists And Health Professionals Correct The Gross Misinformation

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Related info:

– Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt: Smart Meters & EMR – The Health Crisis Of Our Time (Video)

– Former Royal Navy Microwave Weapons Expert And UK Intelligence Services Agent Dr. Barrie Trower: Dangers And Lethality Of Microwave Technology (Video – 2:19:36)

– Former Royal Navy Microwave Weapons Expert: NWO TECHNOLOGY UPDATE – Deadly Mobile Phones & The Worst Genocide Ever Committed – The Dangers Of Wi-Fi To Women And Children (Video)

– Smart Meters – Correcting the Gross Misinformation (Waking Times, March 2, 2013):

Quebec-based magazine La Maison du 21e siecle asked physician David O. Carpenter, former founding dean of the University at Albany (NY)’s School of Public Health, to comment on a letter published in the Montreal daily Le Devoir last May 24. This letter claimed wireless smart meters pose no risk to public health. Some forty international experts contributed to the following rebuttal.

We, the undersigned are a group of scientists and health professionals who together have coauthored hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on the health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs). We wish to correct some of the gross misinformation found in the letter regarding wireless “smart” meters that was published in the Montreal daily Le Devoir on May 24. Submitted by a group Quebec engineers, physicists and chemists, the letter in question reflects an obvious lack of understanding of the science behind the health impacts of the radiofrequency (RF)/microwave EMFs emitted by these meters.

Read moreSmart Meters – Scientists And Health Professionals Correct The Gross Misinformation

Brown University Creates First Wireless, Implanted Brain-Computer Interface

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– Brown University creates first wireless, implanted brain-computer interface (Extreme Tech, March 4, 2013):

Researchers at Brown University have succeeded in creating the first wireless, implantable, rechargeable, long-term brain-computer interface. The wireless BCIs have been implanted in pigs and monkeys for over 13 months without issue, and human subjects are next.

…

European Commission’s Advice To Staffers Visiting Greece: ‘Invent A Fake Life Story’

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– European Commission’s Advice To Staffers Visiting Greece: “Invent A Fake Life Story” (ZeroHedge, March 4, 2013):

The European Commission is a little embarrassed over a leaked email that warns EC staffers of the threats of traveling in Europe (and most specifically Greece). As The WSJ reports, the note, among other things; encourages staffers to invent a fake life story; warns them not to stand near windows during a protest so as not to provoke “an aggressive reaction” from demonstrators: admonishes officials to avoid bringing sensitive documents to bars or restaurants; and observes that “even the mildest reaction can be misinterpreted by protestors.” The email, published on the To Vima website, has led to an uproar, with some in the Greek press accusing the Commission of scare-mongering and insulting Greek citizens. Seemingly taking a page out of a James Bond novel, the rage against the Troika appears very real as officials warn: people you meet “don’t have to know that you work for the [troika], when asked, talk about your previous profession or the one of your best friend.” Troika, shaken but not stirred.

Via WSJ:

Read moreEuropean Commission’s Advice To Staffers Visiting Greece: ‘Invent A Fake Life Story’

Greece: Defense Minister Gets 8 Years For EUR 100,000 Hidden Assets

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– Greek Defense Minister Gets 8 Years For EUR100,000 Hidden Assets (ZeroHedge, March 4, 2013):

Yet again, the Greeks are coming down hard in a very un-American manner, on the body politik’s misbehavior. Following our comments last week on the life sentence for the Greek Mayor who embezzled EUR 17mm, eKatherimini reports, former Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos has been sentenced to eight years in jail for failing to declare his assets properly over the last few years. While not on the same scale as the mayor’s fraud, The ex-minister failed to declare 47,000 euros of assets in 2006, 33,000 in 2007 and 20,000 in 2008. The property has been seized and Akis is not allowed an appeal but the story doesn’t end there for he also faces a separate trial for embezzlement of taxpayers’ money.
Via ekathermini,

Former Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos was sentenced to eight years in jail and fined 520,000 euros on Monday.

Read moreGreece: Defense Minister Gets 8 Years For EUR 100,000 Hidden Assets

Hundreds March Against GMOs In Hawaii

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– Hundreds march against GMOs in Hawaii (KITV, Mar 3, 2013):

HALEIWA, Hawaii —The march against genetically modified foods in Hawaii drew hundreds and shut down one lane of a highway on Saturday.

Protesters who gathered together came armed with signs, some with messages that said, ‘stop planting seeds of destruction.’ They are fighting for a future of Hawaii without GMO testing and farming.

Protesters took over a lane on Kamehameha highway slowing down traffic through Haleiwa. One of the key points they wanted heard: genetically modified foods need to be labeled.

Read moreHundreds March Against GMOs In Hawaii

British Terror Suspects Quietly Stripped Of Citizenship … Then Killed By Drones

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– British terror suspects quietly stripped of citizenship… then killed by drones (Independent, Feb 28, 2013):

Exclusive: Secret war on enemy within

The Government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds – with two of the men subsequently killed by American drone attacks.

An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for The Independent has established that since 2010, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has revoked the passports of 16 individuals, many of whom are alleged to have had links to militant or terrorist groups.

Critics of the programme warn that it allows ministers to “wash their hands” of British nationals suspected of terrorism who could be subject to torture and illegal detention abroad.

They add that it also allows those stripped of their citizenship to be killed or “rendered” without any onus on the British Government to intervene.

Read moreBritish Terror Suspects Quietly Stripped Of Citizenship … Then Killed By Drones

The Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here

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– 12 Things That Just Happened That Show The Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here (Economic Collapse, March 3, 2013):

Are we running out of time?  For the last several years, we have been living in a false bubble of hope that has been fueled by massive amounts of debt and bailout money.  This illusion of economic stability has convinced most people that the great economic crisis of 2008 was just an “aberration” and that now things are back to normal.  Unfortunately, that is not the case at all.  The truth is that the financial crash of 2008 was just the first wave of our economic troubles.  We have not even come close to recovering from that wave, and the next wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching.  Our economy is like a giant sand castle that has been built on a foundation of debt and toilet paper currency.  As each wave of the crisis hits us, the solutions that our leaders will present to us will involve even more debt and even more money printing.  And each time, those “solutions” will only make our problems even worse.  Right now, events are unfolding in Europe and in the United States that are pushing us toward the next major crisis moment.  I sincerely hope that we have some more time before the next crisis overwhelms us, but as you will see, time is rapidly running out.

The following are 12 things that just happened that show the next wave of the economic collapse is almost here…

Read moreThe Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here

‘Obama Bin Bush’ Regime Can Order Killing Of American Citizens By Secret Drone Strikes

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– Bush’s third term: U.S. government can order killing of American citizens by secret drone strikes (Natural News, March 4, 2013):

The continued political polarization of the American people is leading the nation straight into tyranny. Less than a decade ago, the so-called political “left” was up in arms over Bush administration policies that permitted “waterboarding” of suspected terrorists, for instance, or unwarranted phone tapping of those perceived to be a “threat” to national security. But today, this same group of political opportunists seems gleefully supportive of Obama administration policies that are far more offensive, including the outrageous declaration recently that targeting and assassinating American citizens with secret drone strikes is perfectly acceptable and legal.

In a telling indictment of just how far we have fallen into despotism as a society, Chicago Tribune reporter John Kass explains in a recent article how the false “left-right” political paradigm is basically the catalyst through which the perpetual trashing of the U.S. Constitution has been able to take place. It is only because “their” man is on the throne, in other words, that hardcore Democrats who once opposed wars and unconstitutional foreign policies are now in seemingly lockstep support of the Obama administration’s flagrant and escalating constitutional abuses.

“He can (now) assassinate American citizens abroad without fair trial if they’re suspected terrorists,” explains Kass about the recent unveiling of the true tenets of the formerly-mysterious Obama Doctrine. “His weapon of choice? Drone strikes from the air. Drones are politically antiseptic weapons of death, almost like a video game, except that real blood and tissue is blown against the walls. And it’s all being done in secret.”

Illegal drone strikes: Bush’s third term

Read more‘Obama Bin Bush’ Regime Can Order Killing Of American Citizens By Secret Drone Strikes

Did JPMorgan’s CIO Intentionally And Maliciously Start The Margin Call Avalanche That Crushed Lehman?

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See also:

– Why Is JPMorgan’s Gold Vault, The Largest In The World, Located Next To The New York Fed?

– Did JPM’s CIO Intentionally And Maliciously Start The Margin Call Avalanche That Crushed Lehman? (ZeroHedge, March 3, 2013):

It is conventional wisdom that in the days leading to Lehman’s bankruptcy filing on the night of September 15, 2008, sheer panic and utter confusion ruled ever back- and middle-office, over concerns that a counterparty, any counterparty, but especially Lehman, would end up being “not money good“, and the result was that trigger-happy margin clerks had the potential to make or break a company, by demanding just enough variation margin that would send the notice recipient promptly into bankruptcy. It is also conventional wisdom, that it was precisely several such margin calls mostly out of JPMorgan that precipitated the Chapter 7 filing by Lehman brothers, as the firm was finally unable to mask the fact that it was terminally overlevered, and even more terminally illiquid. It is certainly conventional wisdom, that Lehman was certainly massively overlevered, holding billions of overmarked CMBS on its balance sheet, and was doing everything in its power to hold on to precious liquidity, taking every opportunity to window dress its balance sheet as far better than it truly was (Repo 105 at the end of every quarter promptly comes to mind), over fears of avoiding precisely such a margin call onslaught, where the first margin call would cascade into many, likely lethal, margin calls.

Read moreDid JPMorgan’s CIO Intentionally And Maliciously Start The Margin Call Avalanche That Crushed Lehman?