Rick Santelli Bashes Central Bankers’ ‘Sand-Castle Economies’ (Video)

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– Santelli Bashes Central Bankers’ “Sand-Castle Economies” (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

It has been four years since Rick Santelli’s epic “are you listening Mr. President?” speech and the bad behavior has merely been more and more rewarded. Assisted by the enablers of the world – Central Bankers – and their liquidity pump of awesomeness, Santelli exclaims that all we are doing is “promoting bad behavior,” as the elites “build sand castle economies.” His frustration is contagious as he outlines just what has not happened in the last four years – from no-budget to blow-out deficits, and from grand deals to grand bargains to no deals, and Europe’s imploding economies – he sums it up perfectly – “we’re gonna need a lot of luck.”

GlaxoSmithKline Creates Monstrous Six-In-One Vaccine Jab Specifically For Children In Developing Countries

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– GlaxoSmithKline creates monstrous six-in-one vaccine jab specifically for children in developing countries (Natural News, Feb 19, 2013):

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which recently pleaded guilty to the largest drug industry scandal in recorded history (http://www.naturalnews.com), has partnered with an India-based pharmaceutical company to develop a six-in-one, single-dose vaccine jab that will deliver vaccine material for polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B specifically to the world’s poorest people living in developing countries.

According to reports, GSK will add the contents of its injectable polio shot to a pentavalent vaccine already being manufactured by Biological E Ltd. that contains the other five vaccines. Together, as part of a 50-50 joint venture, the two companies will manufacture the hexavalent vaccine, which will rival similar combination vaccines for polio currently being developed and administered by rival drug companies in India such as Serum Institute of India Ltd. and Sanofi Pasteur.

Read moreGlaxoSmithKline Creates Monstrous Six-In-One Vaccine Jab Specifically For Children In Developing Countries

U.S. Farmers May Stop Planting GMOs After Horrific Crop Yields

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– U.S. farmers may stop planting GMOs after horrific crop yields (Natural News, Feb 19, 2013):

Some farmers across the United States may stop planting genetically modified crops after poor yields are increasing costs beyond what they can absorb.

According to Farmers Weekly, those farmers are considering returning to conventional seed after increased pest resistance and crop failures have meant smaller GM crop yields over non-GM counterparts.

Read moreU.S. Farmers May Stop Planting GMOs After Horrific Crop Yields

Is Nigeria (And Its Light Sweet Crude) About To Be Drawn Into The Mali ‘Liberation’ Campaign?

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– Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, About To Be Drawn Into The Mali “Liberation” Campaign? (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Precisely a month ago, when we last looked at the ongoing French campaign in Mali, whose diplomatic justification before the people of the “democratic” world was the eradication of “insurgents”, and various other “Al Qaeda rebels”, we asked readers, rhetorically, to look at a map of Mali and tell us what they see.

We even provided an answer:

“Nothing. Mali is one of the most irrelevant countries in West Africa from a resource standpoint, and what happens inside of it is certainly irrelevant from a greater geopolitical standpoint. What is more important is what this map doesn’t show, specifically the name of the country located a few hundred miles to the south: Nigeria.

Now Nigeria is important: very important. Or rather, Nigerian light sweet, one of the highest quality crudes in the world, is. And thanks to the “bungled” French peacemaking attempt, the US now has a critical foothold in what is the most strategically placed stretch of desert in Western Africa, a place where US “military trainers” will now be deployed at will. Be on the lookout for curious escalations in violence around the capital Abuja, and key port city Lagos, in the coming months once the current Mali fracas is long forgotten.”

It appears that Nigeria will be drawn into the fray far sooner than even we expected following today’s news that Islamist militants from neighboring Nigeria abducted a French family of seven, including four children, in northern Cameroon on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said. Next up: Al Qaeda is mysteriously discovered to be aiding and abetting “evil” insurgent Malians out of Nigeria, and the French campaign, with the generous and stealthy support of the US, shifts slowly but surely southward to its ultimate destination: liberating all that Nigerian light sweet oil.

From Reuters:

Read moreIs Nigeria (And Its Light Sweet Crude) About To Be Drawn Into The Mali ‘Liberation’ Campaign?

Fed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday

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Flashback:

– Watch Bernanke Lie To Congress: Monetizing The Debt (The Daily Bail):

“The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.”

– Fed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Earmuffs time for those people (all utterly clueless three or so of them) that the Fed does not monetize the US debt.From last Thursday, the the US Treasury so generously issued $16 billion in 30 year bond (Cusip: QZ4)…

Read moreFed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday

EU Approves 500-Strong Military Mission In Mali

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– EU approves 500-strong military mission in Mali (PressTV, Feb 18, 2013):

The European Union (EU) has formally given the go-ahead to the launch of a 500-strong military mission in Mali to support France in its war on the West African country.

During a Monday session, European Union foreign ministers formally approved the final phase in setting up the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) to purportedly train the Malian army.

Read moreEU Approves 500-Strong Military Mission In Mali

US Senator: US To Play Active Military Role In Mali

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– US to play active military role in Mali: US Senator (PressTV, Feb 18, 2013):

An American Senator says the United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where a French-led war is raging, after the West African country holds elections.

“There is the hope that there will be additional support from the United States in these and other areas, but… American law prohibits direct assistance to the Malian military following the coup,” Senator Christopher Coons, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, told journalists in the Malian capital, Bamako, on Monday.

Read moreUS Senator: US To Play Active Military Role In Mali

Body Of Russian Lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov Found In Barrel Filled With Cement

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– Mikhail Pakhomov Dead: Body Of Russian Lawmaker Found In Barrel Filled With Cement (Huffington Post, Feb 18, 2013):

Police made a gruesome discovery in a private garage in the Noginsky district of the Moscow region on Sunday night. A body found hidden in a metal barrel filled with cement reportedly belongs to Russian lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov.

“Pakhomov’s body was discovered in a barrel of cement near the village of Obukhovo in the Moscow Region district of Noginsk,” a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee told state news agency RIA Novosti.

“Investigators have gathered enough evidence to establish the violent nature of Pakhomov’s death,” the Committee also said, according to SkyNews.

Read moreBody Of Russian Lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov Found In Barrel Filled With Cement

Department Of Homeland Security Now Armed For ’24-Year Iraq War’

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– Feds buying enough bullets for ’24-year war’ (WND, Feb 17, 2013)

Federal, non-military agencies, noted radio host Mark Levin last week, have purchased enough ammunition recently to not only shoot every American five times, but also engage in a prolonged, domestic war.

The numbers are based on recent reports that put the total federal ammunition buy in the last 10 months at approaching two billion rounds.

“To provide some perspective,” Levin noted, “experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, the [Department of Homeland Security] is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war. A 24-year Iraq war!”

What do federal agencies need with all that ammunition?

Read moreDepartment Of Homeland Security Now Armed For ’24-Year Iraq War’

New Technology Produces Solar Cells From Wood Pulp

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– [Hope] Technology to produce solar cell from wood pulp is developed, “Manufacturing cost is 1/100,000? (Fukushima Diary, Feb 19, 2013):

Associate professor Nogi from Osaka university developed the technology to produce solar cell from wood pulp with his developing team.

The manufacturing cost is 1/100,000 of the one with glass substrates, 1/500 ~ 5,000 of the one with plastic.

Read moreNew Technology Produces Solar Cells From Wood Pulp

30 Corporations With Over $163 Billion In Profits Paid Zero Taxes, Had Even A NEGATIVE $10.6 Billion Tax Liability

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Flashback:

Documentary: America: Freedom To Fascism – Director’s Authorized Version

– Abolish The Income Tax: You Won’t Believe Who Is Getting Away With Paying Zero Taxes While The Middle Class Gets Hammered (Economic Collapse, Feb 18, 2013):

The federal income tax is a bad joke and it needs to be abolished.  All over the nation, hard working American families are being absolutely crushed by oppressive levels of taxation, and our politicians are constantly coming up with new ways to extract money from all of us every single year.  Meanwhile, many ultra-wealthy Americans and many of the most profitable corporations in the country pay little to nothing in taxes.  In fact, as you will see below, there are dozens of very prominent corporations that make billions of dollars in profits and yet don’t pay a dime in taxes.  Tax avoidance has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.  Those that have the resources to “play the game” use shell companies, offshore tax havens and the thousands of loopholes in our tax code to minimize their tax burdens as much as possible.  Meanwhile, the rest of us get absolutely hammered.  This is fundamentally unfair.  The federal income tax system is irreversibly broken at this point, and it is time to abolish it.  If you think that the federal income tax system can be “fixed”, then you probably have never studied it.  Our tax code is nearly 4 million words long and it is absolutely riddled with thousands of loopholes that favor big corporations and the ultra-wealthy.  We should come up with a better, fairer way to fund the government.  The United States once prospered greatly without a federal income tax, and it could do so again.

Read more30 Corporations With Over $163 Billion In Profits Paid Zero Taxes, Had Even A NEGATIVE $10.6 Billion Tax Liability

High Levels Of Radioactive Cesium Detected In Fish Off Chiba (200 Km From Fukushima Nuke Plant)

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– High levels of cesium detected in fish off Chiba (NHK, Feb 18, 2013):

Fish caught in waters off Choshi City in Chiba Prefecture have been found to contain radioactive cesium above the government safety limit.

Choshi is nearly 200 kilometers south of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Chiba Prefecture says it found 130 becquerels of cesium per kilogram in Japanese sea bass caught about 10 kilometers off Choshi on Thursday of last week. The acceptable limit is 100 becquerels.

It is the first time that higher-than-permitted levels of radioactive substances have been found in fish landed at ports in the prefecture.

Read moreHigh Levels Of Radioactive Cesium Detected In Fish Off Chiba (200 Km From Fukushima Nuke Plant)

The Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months

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– The Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Since institutional memories are short, it is time to remind readers that it was the threat, and subsequent reality, of China overheating in the spring and summer of 2011 (when record high food prices sent the entire North African region in a state of coordinated revolt and gradually moved far east), when even the Great firewall of China could not block news of frequent break outs of localized violence from hungry and angry mobs, that halted and broke the spine of the great reflation trade then (and yes, 2013 has so far been a carbon copy replica of 2011 as we summarized in “It’s Deja Vu, All Over Again: This Time Is… Completely The Same“).

Furthermore, as only Zero Hedge forecast back in mid-2012, when ever other commentator was shouting over the rooftops that an RRR or interest rate cut out of Beijing was imminent, the PBOC would be the last to stimulate the market with monetary easing as it was well-aware that an entire developed world reflating at the same time would hit none other than China the fastest as the hot money flew straight into Shanghai. Just as it did in 2011. So instead China proceeded to engage in a series of daily reverse repos, or ultra-short term liquidity injections that prevented the advent of wholesale inflation: after all the Fed, the BOJ, the ECB and soon, the BOE, were doing it for them. And the last thing the country with the highest allotment of CPI, or book inflation, to food and energy can afford, is to let foreign central banks dictate its price level. After all, it has more than enough of its own.

Well, the Chinese New Year celebration is now over, the Year of the Snake is here, and those following the Shanghai Composite have lots to hiss about, as two out of two trading days have printed in the red. But a far bigger concern to not only those long the SHCOMP, but the “Great Reflation Trade – ver. 2013″, is that just as two years ago, China appears set to pull out first, as once again inflation rears its ugly head. And where the PBOC goes, everyone else grudgingly has to follow: after all without China there is no marginal growth driver to the world economy.

End result: China’s reverse repos, or liquidity providing operations, have ended after month of daily injections, and the first outright repo, or liquidity draining operation, just took place after eight months of dormancy.

From the WSJ:

Chinese authorities took a step to ease potential inflationary pressures Tuesday by using a key mechanism for the first time in eight months.

The move by the central bank to withdraw cash from the banking system is a reversal after months of pumping cash in. That cash flood was meant to reduce borrowing costs for businesses as the economy slowed last year—but recent data has shown growth picking up, along with the main determinants of inflation: housing and food prices.

Read moreThe Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months

Fallout Ruining Everything 180 Km Away Fukushima Nuke Plant

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From the article (180 km from Fukushima Daiichi):

“Everything I’ve done up till now, it’s all become no good. I can’t collect wild vegetables and I can’t sell my mushrooms. There are problems with the fish in the rivers and I have to worry about contamination levels in the wild game, too. That’s what makes me the most angry,” he said.

– Fukushima radiation threatens to wreak woodland havoc (Japan Times, Feb 17, 2013):

For Yuji Hoshino, mushrooms were a way of life. The 50-year-old farmer grew up watching his father raise shiitake mushrooms on their land at the foot of the mountains in Sano, southern Tochigi Prefecture.

Later, he became the one to yearly cut about 15,000 logs, each about a meter long and the diameter of a coffee saucer, from oak forests near his home. He would stud these logs with specially inoculated spore pegs and then stack them in forests and greenhouses for the crop to mature. Three to eight years later, hundreds of thousands of fleshy, white-and-brown mushrooms would be ready to pick.

Read moreFallout Ruining Everything 180 Km Away Fukushima Nuke Plant

Retail Apocalypse

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– Retail Apocalypse: Why Are Major Retail Chains All Over America Collapsing? (Economic Collapse, Feb 17, 2013):

If the economy is improving, then why are many of the largest retail chains in America closing hundreds of stores?  When I was growing up, Sears, J.C. Penney, Best Buy and RadioShack were all considered to be unstoppable retail powerhouses.  But now it is being projected that all of them will close hundreds of stores before the end of 2013.  Even Wal-Mart is running into problems.  A recent internal Wal-Mart memo that was leaked to Bloomberg described February sales as a “total disaster”.  So why is this happening?  Why are major retail chains all over America collapsing?  Is the “retail apocalypse” upon us?  Well, the truth is that this is just another sign that the U.S. economy is falling apart right in front of our eyes.  Incomes are declining, taxes are going up, government dependence is at an all-time high, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed has been steadily falling since 2006.  The top 10% of all income earners in the U.S. are still doing very well, but most U.S. consumers are either flat broke or are drowning in debt.  The large disposable incomes that the big retail chains have depended upon in the past simply are not there anymore.  So retail chains all over the United States are now closing up unprofitable stores.  This is especially true in low income areas.

When you step back and take a look at the bigger picture, the rapid decline of some of our largest retail chains really is stunning.

Read moreRetail Apocalypse

Russia: Chelyabinsk Meteor Was Largest Object To Hit Earth In More Than A Century, Say Scientists

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– The Search Is on for Meteorite (Wall Street Journal , Feb 19, 2013):

The meteor that crashed to earth in Russia was about 55 feet in diameter, weighed around 10,000 tons and was made from a stony material, scientists said, making it the largest such object to hit the Earth in more than a century.

Large pieces of it have yet to be found. However, a team from Ural Federal University, which is based in Yekaterinburg, collected 53 fragments, the largest of which was 7 millimeters, according to Viktor Grokhovsky, a scientist at the university.

It is the largest reported meteor since the one that hit Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The U.S. agency’s new estimate of the meteor’s size was a marked increase from its initial one.

Read moreRussia: Chelyabinsk Meteor Was Largest Object To Hit Earth In More Than A Century, Say Scientists

US: No. 1 In Healthcare Spending, Last In Life Expectancy

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– U.S. ranks first in healthcare spending but last in life expectancy (Natural News, Feb 18, 2013):

If you think pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, and various other instruments of modern Western medicine are responsible for improving quality of life and increasing the average lifespan in America, think again. A report recently issued by the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reveals that the U.S. spends up to 250 percent more on healthcare than most other developed nations, and yet has the lowest life expectancy rate among all these same nations.

Entitled U.S. Health in International Perspectives: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, the report compares the latest available data on mortality and health outcomes in the United States with that of 16 other so-called “peer” nations, including Japan, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada. Each of these other countries is considered to be roughly on par with the U.S. in terms of income and government structure, and each represents an important cross-section of the collective welfare of the developed world.

Based on the figures, the U.S. far outspends all other developed nations on healthcare expenditures, ranking in at a whopping $8,233 annually per person, on average. The only nation that even comes close to this figure is Norway, which spends roughly $5,388 annually per person on medical expenditures, or roughly 65 percent of what the U.S. spends. Iceland, whose economy recently made a huge comeback after its citizens forcibly dismantled the nation’s corrupt central bank, only spends about $3,309 annually per person.

Read moreUS: No. 1 In Healthcare Spending, Last In Life Expectancy

UBS: The British Pound Is At Risk Of ‘Large-Scale Devaluation’

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– Forex Flash: The British pound is the next big devaluation story – UBS (Nasdaq, Feb 17, 2013):

Sterling is likely to be the next major currency that depreciates strongly, says Mansoor Mohi-uddin, Head of Foreign Exchange Strategy at UBS Macro Research.

“As central banks tolerate higher levels of inflation, the pound is set to weaken further across the board particularly against our favourite G4 currency, the US dollar” Mr. Mohi-uddin adds.

He concludes: “The GBP seems clearly at risk of following the yen and suffering the next large scale devaluation. As a result, we issued a recommendation that clients buy a six-month sterling put/US dollar call option with a strike of 1.4800.”

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: America Shamed Again: A Colonized People

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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.

– America Shamed Again: A colonized people — Paul Craig Roberts (Feb 17, 2013):

Americans have been shamed many times by their elected representatives who cravenly bow to vested interests and betray the American people. But no previous disgraceful behavior can match the public shame brought to Americans by the behavior of the Senate Republicans in the confirmation hearing of Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: America Shamed Again: A Colonized People

Chimpanzee Memory Study Suggests Apes’ Short-Term Recall Better Than Humans’

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– Chimpanzee Memory Study Suggests Apes’ Short-Term Recall Better Than Humans’ (Huffington Post, Feb 17, 2013):

Boston — Chimpanzees may have more smarts than humans, at least regarding short-term memories, new research suggests.

A Japanese researcher presented a video showing the remarkable abilities of a chimpanzee named Ayumu, here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Thursday (Feb. 14). When the numbers 1 through 9 appeared randomly on a screen and then disappeared, the chimpanzee was able to recall the exact sequence and location of each number. Ayumu has also learnt numbers 1 through 19 and is able to touch each one in ascending order, which hasn’t been shown before, Tetsuro Matsuzawa, a researcher at Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute, told Livescience.

As Matsuzawa showed the video to a room of scientists and journalists, murmurs of amazement were heard. “Don’t worry, nobody can do it,” Matsuzawa said, with an almost mischievous smile. “It’s impossible for you.”

Read moreChimpanzee Memory Study Suggests Apes’ Short-Term Recall Better Than Humans’

Sensational Breakthrough: The First Bionic Hand That Can Feel

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The hand will be attached directly to the patient’s nervous system via electrodes

– A sensational breakthrough: the first bionic hand that can feel IIndependent, Feb 17, 2013):

The first bionic hand that allows an amputee to feel what they are touching will be transplanted later this year in a pioneering operation that could introduce a new generation of artificial limbs with sensory perception.

The patient is an unnamed man in his 20s living in Rome who lost the lower part of his arm following an accident, said Silvestro Micera of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

The wiring of his new bionic hand will be connected to the patient’s nervous system with the hope that the man will be able to control the movements of the hand as well as receiving touch signals from the hand’s skin sensors.

Read moreSensational Breakthrough: The First Bionic Hand That Can Feel