Judge OKs Rooftop MISSILES During London Olympics

by

– Judge OKs rooftop missiles during London Olympics (Yahoo! Sports/AP, July 12, 2012):

LONDON — It has been a tough few months at the pockmarked concrete high-rise known as Fred Wigg Tower. First there was the fire, which left dozens temporarily homeless. Then came the rash of burglaries of fire-damaged apartments. And now the British army will be putting a battery of high-velocity missiles on the roof.

The defense ministry says the missiles, capable of shooting down a hijacked aircraft, are a key piece in the elaborate jigsaw of security for the London Olympics, which start July 27. But many residents of the east London public housing project were dismayed to find themselves suddenly on the counterterrorism front line.

“It’s kind of scary now, to be honest,” said Iqbal Hossain, who lives in the building with his wife and three children aged 2 to 14. “If it’s about safety for the Olympics, what about safety for us? If there is a terrorist attack, the first thing they are going to attack is the missiles.”

Read moreJudge OKs Rooftop MISSILES During London Olympics

Britain: Military Contribution To The Olympic Games To Reach 20,000 Personnel – More Than A Tenth Of The Entire Armed Forces

by

Thousands more Armed Forces personnel will be forced to carry out “menial” security work for the Olympic Games, leaving defence chiefs furious.


The Army has been told soldiers are needed to join police carrying out menial security tasks like bag searches at the Olympic Games Photo: AP Photo/Matt Dunham

– MoD fury as soldiers forced to carry out menial security tasks for Olympic Games (Telegraph, July 11, 2012):

The British Army has been ordered to provide more troops for the Games to make up for a shortfall in staff provided by private security contractors.

The Daily Telegraph understands that defence chiefs have angrily complained to Olympic organisers, accusing them of mismanaging their security contract and leaving the Armed Forces to bear the burden.

The Ministry of Defence last year said that 13,500 military personnel would be assigned to Olympic duties, with 7,500 of them in security roles at Olympic venues.

It is understood that another 3,500 troops have now been told to prepare for duties at Games sites. More troops have now been given ‘notice to move’ orders, an Army source revealed.

Defence sources said that the total military contribution to the Games is now likely to reach 20,000 personnel – more than a tenth of the entire Armed Forces.

Many of the troops assigned to the Games are Afghan veterans. They will be ordered to carry out rudimentary security work including bag searches at venue entrances.

Read moreBritain: Military Contribution To The Olympic Games To Reach 20,000 Personnel – More Than A Tenth Of The Entire Armed Forces

Cops Over Classrooms: Chicago Uses Teachers’ Salaries To Pay For School Police

by

– Cops over classrooms: Chicago uses teachers’ salaries to pay for school police (RT, July 10, 2012):

The union that represents public school teachers in Chicago, Illinois says that the city lied about around $70 million in finances to fund the police department with money already put aside for educators.

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has uncovered an agreement signed by city officials through a Freedom of Information Act request that they say shows that millions of dollars meant to go towards contractually obligated raises for public school workers were instead funneled to the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to compensate law enforcement for patrolling the halls of those very schools.

According to a post published on the website for the CTU, the documents obtained in the recent FOIA request reveal that the city took $70 million set aside for teacher salaries and unemployment benefits and sent it to the Police Department to use for paying the cops that were dispatched across Chicago’s school system last year.

Read moreCops Over Classrooms: Chicago Uses Teachers’ Salaries To Pay For School Police

The Corn Is Dying All Over America

by

See also:

– 25 Signs The Collapse Of America Is Speeding Up As Society Rots From The Inside Out

Flasback:

– Former governor Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory: Worldwide Water Conspiracy (Video)

– The Corn Is Dying All Over America (The Economic Collapse, July 9, 2012):

All over America the corn is dying.  If drought conditions persist in the middle part of the country, wheat and soybeans will be next.  Weeks of intense heat combined with extraordinarily dry conditions have brought many U.S. corn farmers to the brink of total disaster.  If there is not significant rainfall soon, many farmers will be financially ruined.  This period of time is particularly important for corn because this is when pollination is supposed to happen.  But the unprecedented heat and the extremely dry conditions are playing havoc with that process.  With each passing day things get even worse.  We have seen the price of a bushel of corn soar 41 percent since June 14th.  That is an astounding rise.  You may not eat much corn directly, but it is important to realize that corn or corn syrup is just about in everything these days.  Just look at your food labels.  In the United States today, approximately 75 percent of all processed foods contain corn.  So a huge rise in the price of corn is going to be felt all over the supermarket.  Corn is also widely used to feed livestock, and if this crisis continues we are going to see a significant rise in meat and dairy prices as well.  Food prices in America have already been rising at a steady pace, and so this is definitely not welcome news.

The weather conditions in the middle part of the country during the last couple of months have been highly unusual.  The following is from a recent article in the Los Angeles Times….

Read moreThe Corn Is Dying All Over America

Scenes Of Despair In Europe And The US

by

– Scenes Of Despair (The Economic Collapse, July 10, 2012):

Sometimes it can be easy to forget that behind all of the horrible economic numbers that we hear about are millions of real people that have had their lives absolutely devastated by this economy.  Elderly couples are being brutally evicted from their homes, young families are living in their cars, terminally ill people are dying because they cannot afford medication that they need and millions of parents can’t sleep at night as they wrestle with anxiety over not being able to provide for their children.  Often those that lose their jobs or their homes discover that people start looking at them very differently and that there is very little compassion out there these days.  As you will read about below, one major U.S. bank is even kicking an elderly woman with stage 4 breast cancer out of her home because she cannot make her full mortgage payment each month.  When the next major global financial catastrophe happens, we are going to see a whole lot more economic despair.  Will society respond to that crisis by becoming warmer and more compassionate, or will the world around us become even more cold and even more cruel?  As bad as things are right now, it truly is frightening to think about what the world is going to look like after the next major economic downturn.

Many of the stories that you are about to read are truly heartbreaking.  Unfortunately, they represent thousands upon thousands of other stories that never make it into the news….

Read moreScenes Of Despair In Europe And The US

As M2 Money Supply Rolls Over, The Stock Market Will Follow

by

– As M2 Money Supply Rolls Over, the Stock Market Will Follow (ZeroHedge, July 11, 2012):

M2 money supply rose sharply, driving the stock market higher. Now it has peaked and rolled over. That does not bode well for the Bull market.

Our Chartist Friend from Pittsburgh kindly shared a chart of M2 money supply and the S&P 500 stock market index (SPX). The correlation between expansion of the money supply and the stock market is worth studying.

The primary point is that “real growth,” i.e. rising wages and profits powered by increases in productivity, does not require massive growth of M2.

Here is Chartist Friend from Pittsburgh’s explanatory commentary:

“He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.” President James A. Garfield

Except during periods of exceptional earnings growth like we had during the pre-internet computer boom when companies like Microsoft, Oracle and Intel were improving business productivity by leaps and bounds, the trend of the stock market (and economic growth in general) tends to closely follow changes in Fed controlled money supply growth.

Read moreAs M2 Money Supply Rolls Over, The Stock Market Will Follow

Swiss Bank Crackdown Accelerates As Credit Suisse, UBS Clients Raided In Germany, France

by

– Swiss Bank Crackdown Accelerates As Credit Suisse, UBS Clients Raided In Germany, France (ZeroHedge, July 11, 2012):

While virtually every European risk indicator is now being gamed to underreport the true nature of the capital flow panic on the continent, one remains steadfast: Swiss nominal yields, which as we pointed out a month ago, have become the only true indicator of liquidity stress. And as noted this morning, Swiss 2 Year bond just hit a record nominal -0.37% (which coupled with record low yields in German yields explains everything about where money is sprinting to in Europe, and just how much “confidence” in the system is left). And while the SNB continues to suffer massive losses on its EURCHF peg, the reality is that it continues to offer a free put to all those who wish to move away from EUR exposure and into the relative safety of the CHF (the risk of cantonal disintegration is still relatively low). Which is why the only recourse authorities have in dealing with the now record flight to Swiss safety is brute force. Sure enough, as Reuters reports, clients of the two largest Swiss banks: Credit Suisse and UBS was raided in two independent, but likely linked, operations in Germany and France, respectively, in a show of force that moves beyond mere tax-evasion and has a goal of scaring anyone who still thinks of keeping their money in the relative safety of Geneva and Zurich bank vaults.

From Reuters:

German tax authorities have raided Credit Suisse clients and French officials searched the homes of UBS employees, deepening the crackdown on foreigners hiding money in Swiss offshore accounts to dodge taxes.

Switzerland’s strict banking secrecy rules, which have helped build a $2 trillion offshore financial sector, have infuriated cash-strapped governments as they try to crack down on tax evasion by wealthy citizens.

Roughly 5,000 German clients of Credit Suisse are being probed on suspicion of tax evasion and some had their homes searched, a bank source said on Wednesday, as European tax officials broaden their investigation to include clients as well as banks.

Read moreSwiss Bank Crackdown Accelerates As Credit Suisse, UBS Clients Raided In Germany, France

Food Price Spike Dead Ahead: US Cuts Corn Crop Forecast By 12% As 56% Of America Is Under Drought Conditions (Video)

by

– Food Price Spike Dead Ahead: US Cuts Corn Crop Forecast By 12% As 56% Of America Is Under Drought Conditions (ZeroHedge, July 11, 2012):

Who knew the next black swan would be deep fried? The biggest piece of imminent food inflation news over the past months, coupled with what is shaping up to be another record hot summer (for the best tracking of real-time electricity consumption primarily for cooling news we recommend the following PJM RT tracker of power load), has been the collapse in the corn harvest due to the worst drought since 1988 as 56% of America is in drought conditions. Today, the US just added some burning oil to the popcorn by cutting the corn-crop forecast by 12% to 13 billion bushels on expectations of a 13.5 billion harvest. Then again, who needs corn, when you can have cake?

Bloomberg explains:

Discovery Of Magnetic Sensors In Fish And Rats May Explain Why Some People Can ‘Feel’ Wi-Fi, Smart Meters, Power Lines And Electropollution

by

– Discovery of magnetic sensors in fish and rats may explain why some people can ‘feel’ wi-fi, smart meters, power lines and electropollution (Natural News, July 11, 2012):

It is well known that many people are sensitive to electromagnetic pollution. Wi-fi gives them headaches. Being near high-voltage power lines can bring on migraines. Using a cell phone unleashes similar symptoms. Until recently, there was no medically-understood mechanism by which electromagnetic waves could be sensed by humans. But now, thanks to some fascinating science summarized here, that mystery may be closer to being solved.

Scientists from the University of Munich, led by geophysicist Michael Winklhofer, say they’ve located and identified “internal compass needles” in the noses of rainbow trout. These are called magnetosensory cells, and they turn out to be far more sensitive to magnetic fields than anyone previously thought.

As TGdaily.com reports: (http://www.tgdaily.com/general-sciences-features/64572-source-of-anim…)

The cells sense the field by means of micrometer-sized inclusions composed of magnetic crystals, probably made of magnetite. These inclusions are coupled to the cell membrane, changing the electrical potential across the membrane when the crystals realign in response to a change in the ambient magnetic field.

“This explains why low-frequency magnetic fields generated by powerlines disrupt navigation relative to the geomagnetic field and may induce other physiological effects,” said Winklhofer.

Electro-smog is getting worse by the day

Read moreDiscovery Of Magnetic Sensors In Fish And Rats May Explain Why Some People Can ‘Feel’ Wi-Fi, Smart Meters, Power Lines And Electropollution

Professor in Japan Blasts Government, Tepco: ‘These Are Lies, They’re Absolutely Lies’ (Video)

by

– Professor in Japan Blasts Gov’t, Tepco: “These are lies, they’re absolutely lies” (VIDEO) (ENENews, July 11, 2012):

Discussion with Prof Robert Jacobs on social mobilization in Japan after Fukushima
Published by jagaruttrakhand
Published on Jul 9, 2012

Professor Robert Jacobs, Associate Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University

At 10:45 in

Jacobs: We have a situation where [Tepco] and also the gov’t of Japan knew they had three full meltdowns the first week… They lied for months to people, they lied for two months… The reason they lied was to keep the word meltdown out of the headlines…

They say this when they know the full core melted…

These are lies, they’re absolutely lies…

They tried to to keep the word meltdown off of the headlines… when Tepco admits there were 3 full meltdowns at Fukushima… it’s not a front page story anywhere around the world… That’s success from their point of view…

Gordon Brown Sold Britain’s Gold At Artificially Low Prices To Bail Out A Large American Bank

by

– Gordon Brown Sold Britain’s Gold at Artificially Low Prices to Bail Out a Large American Bank (Washingtons Blog, July 10, 2012):

Governments Don’t Manipulate the Price of Gold … Do They?

The Telegraph’s Thomas Pascoe reported Thursday:

One decision stands out as downright bizarre, however: the sale of the majority of Britain’s gold reserves for prices between $256 and $296 an ounce ….

When Brown decided to dispose of almost 400 tonnes of gold between 1999 and 2002, he did two distinctly odd things.

Read moreGordon Brown Sold Britain’s Gold At Artificially Low Prices To Bail Out A Large American Bank

Bunga Is Back: Berlusconi To Run In 2013

by

– Bunga Is Back: Berlusconi To Run In 2013 (ZeroHedge, July 11, 2012):

Back in November 2011, when Silvio was forced out of his PM position with a combination of plunging Italian bonds and strong globalist pressure in an attempt to restore confidence in the Italian economy and administration, and was replaced with a Goldman-affiliated technocrat, we said that it is only a matter of time before Monti fails in his task of turning the Italian economy around, and revisionist power vacuum forces put Silvio right back in his throne. Sure enough, Corriere writes that the man whoe made the term Bunga Bunga legendary may run for premier next year. Specifically, the ex-prime minister may seek top job in a “ticket” together with his party’s current leader Angelino Alfano, quoting him as saying that this is “A choice that I didn’t want to make.” Berlusconi’s PDL party could garner 30% of vote in next election if the ex-premier seeks top job, Corriere says, without elaborating. Of course, what guaranteed that he would run was his statement last year that he would not run in the next election, making this outcome a foregone conclusion. And the funny thing is that he just may win.

From Corriere:

He has spent the last few weeks to study the surveys, to analyze the scenarios for the vote in 2013, listening to the PDL leaders, entrepreneurs and international representatives. But ultimately the decision is made: be standing for re-election as premier.

The role of noble father does not heat his constituents who ask a more direct engagement, the engagement she had ruled at the time of the investiture of Angelino Alfano as secretary of the PDL. The latest polls, arrived on his desk, some data have shown that, according to Knight, one can not ignore. Three scenarios submitted to respondents: a PDL without Berlusconi would not reach 10% of the votes and the nomination of the premiership Alfano, Berlusconi in the field as party chairman, would lead to a result around 18%. If, however, Berlusconi was still in the running for the presidency of the Council, in a ticket with Alfano and a team of young executives, the polls would arrive, according to surveys, including a 30%. A result that might not be enough to win the leadership of the country but would give the Knight and his party a decisive role in the next term, especially if you come to a coalition government called upon to continue the path of fiscal consolidation and exit from economic crisis.

Read moreBunga Is Back: Berlusconi To Run In 2013

SPAIN: Syntagma Riotcam Resumes Broadcasting From Madrid Where Cops Use Rubber Bullets On Protesters

by

– Syntagma Riotcam Resumes Broadcasting From Madrid Where Cops Use Rubber Bullets On Protesters (ZeroHedge, July, 11, 2012):

First thing this morning when discussing the upcoming festivities in Europe in the aftermath of Spain’s decision to hike sales tax from 18% to 21%, while making sure it is the common people who get hurt in the upcoming bank nationalization in which sub notes and hybrid debt is impaired, largely held by retail investors as the FT showed yesterday, we said that “Spain promised to crush its middle class even more by impairing retail held sub debt and hybrids, while forcing them to pay more taxes, a move which will lead to some spectacular Syntagma Square riotcam moments.” Three hours later and the riotcam is now live.

From CNN:

Spanish police used rubber bullets and batons to disperse protesters in central Madrid, witnesses in the city said Wednesday.

Hundreds of people moved quickly out of the area as the police moved in.

Read moreSPAIN: Syntagma Riotcam Resumes Broadcasting From Madrid Where Cops Use Rubber Bullets On Protesters

Canada: ‘Nova Scotia. Open For Business’ = Family Business Expropriated For Gold Mine

by

– Nova Scotia — open for what kind of business? (June 21, 2012):

In 1993, the Progressive Conservative government of Donald Cameron introduced new commercial licence plates to the province that state, in red letters, “Nova Scotia. Open For Business.” It may be time for the NDP government to revisit that message.

Last week, Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker made a clear choice about the kind of business Nova Scotia really supports. Rather than defend the rights and interests of a Nova Scotian family business, he sided instead with DDV Gold, a subsidiary of Australian company Atlantic Gold, granting the mining company vesting orders and thus ownership of 14 parcels of land in Moose River Gold Mines.

Some of that belongs — or rather belonged — to the Higgins family that had refused to sell any land, pointing out that they run a successful and sustainable business (providing five full-time jobs and 25 seasonal ones) producing Christmas trees on land that has been in the family for generations.

So perhaps the government of Darrell Dexter might consider a more accurate message for the commercial licence plates. Maybe something like “Nova Scotia. Open for Foreign Destructive Extractive Business.” While they’re at it, perhaps they could update our provincial slogan. Instead of “Come to Life,” how about “Come to Help Yourselves to Our Land and Resources”?

Read moreCanada: ‘Nova Scotia. Open For Business’ = Family Business Expropriated For Gold Mine

Third California City (San Bernardino) Files For Bankruptcy

by

– San Bernardino Is Third California City to Opt for Bankruptcy (Bloomberg, July 11, 2012):

San Bernardino’s City Council voted to become the third California city this year to file for bankruptcy, as it struggles with declining tax revenue, growing employee costs and accounting discrepancies in its ledgers.

The council voted 4 to 2, with one abstention, last night to authorize a filing under Chapter 9 of U.S. bankruptcy law. The city of 209,000, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, is so broke it can’t make its Aug. 15 payroll, interim City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller said.

“If the employees are not paid on Aug. 15, on Aug. 16 there will be a mass exodus of city employees,” City Attorney James Penman told the council before the vote. “People are not going to work when they don’t get paid. Most of our employees will not show up to work. That would include police, fire, refuse, everybody. The city will virtually shut down.”

Read moreThird California City (San Bernardino) Files For Bankruptcy

Here’s a Corporate Tax Loophole a Porsche Could Drive Through

by

– Here’s a Corporate Tax Loophole a Porsche Could Drive Through (Daily Finance, July 9, 2012):

For years, much of the tax-paying American public has been appalled by the loopholes that U.S. corporations and rich individuals use to reduce their tax liability to the IRS.

Read moreHere’s a Corporate Tax Loophole a Porsche Could Drive Through

New Obama Regime Executive Order Grants Authority To Seize Private Communications Facilities

by

– Executive Order Grants Authority to Seize Private Communications Facilities (Epic, July 9, 2012):

The White House has released a new Executive Order seeking to ensure the continuity of government communications during a national emergency. The Executive Order grants new powers to the Department of Homeland Security, including the ability to collect certain public communications information. Under the Executive Order the White House has also granted the Department the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications. In 2011, Congress considered similar provisions in cybersecurity legislation, which would have allowed the government to disconnect communications traffic in times of national security. Following public protest, congress abandoned the proposal. For more information, see EPIC: Cybersecurity Privacy Practical Implications.

Federal Reserve Admits It Knew Of Barclays Libor ‘Problems’ In 2007 And 2008

by

From the article:

Via Reuters:

According to the calendar of then New York Fed President, Timothy Geithner, who is now U.S. Treasury Secretary, it even held a “Fixing LIBOR” meeting between 2:30-3:00 pm on April 28, 2008. At least eight senior Fed staffers were invited.

It is unclear precisely what was discussed at this meeting or who attended. Among those invited, along with Geithner, was William Dudley, who was then head of the Markets Group at the New York Fed and who succeeded Geithner as its president in January 2009. Also invited was James McAndrews, a Fed economist who published a report three months later that questioned whether Libor was manipulated.

– Federal Reserve Admits It Knew Of Barclays Libor “Problems” In 2007 And 2008 (ZeroHedge, July 10, 2012):

Last Tuesday we suggested that “Now The Fed Gets Dragged Into LiEborgate“ when we observed that “Barclays also cited subsequent research by the New York Federal Reserve staff members that, according to the lender, concluded that banks’ Libor quotes were systematically below their borrowing rates by 39 basis points after the Lehman bankruptcy. “Barclays own submissions for tenors of 1 month to 1 year Libor were higher than actual Barclays trades on 97% of the occasions when Barclays had actual trades during the financial crisis,” the lender said.” It seems that unlike the BOE, which had no idea of any Barclays problems and was merely calling up Diamond now and then to make sure the bank’s money market risk mechanisms were operational and to chit chat about the weather (as per the BOE at least), the Fed has decided to take the high road and openly admit it was well aware of Barclays’ LIBOR “problems.” And like that the Senatorial circus just got exciting, while that popping noise is bottles of Bollinger going off at every class action lawsuit legal firm.

From Bloomberg:

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York was aware of potential issues involving Barclays Plc and the London interbank offered rate after the financial crisis began in 2007, according to a statement from the district bank.

“In the context of our market monitoring following the onset of the financial crisis in late 2007, involving thousands of calls and e-mails with market participants over a period of many months, we received occasional anecdotal reports from Barclays of problems with Libor,” New York Fed spokeswoman Andrea Priest said in an e-mailed statement.

“In the spring of 2008, following the failure of Bear Stearns and shortly before the first media report on the subject, we made further inquiry of Barclays as to how Libor submissions were being conducted,” the statement said. “We subsequently shared our analysis and suggestions for reform of Libor with the relevant authorities in the U.K.”

Read moreFederal Reserve Admits It Knew Of Barclays Libor ‘Problems’ In 2007 And 2008

Where The ‘Segregated’ PFG Client Cash Is

by

See also:

– PFG Is Now MFG(lobal) Part 2 As $220 Million In Segregated Client Money Has Just Vaporized

– Where The “Segregated” PFG Money Is (ZeroHedge, July 10, 2012):

Or rather isn’t. Just in case there is any confusion this morning as to where the “segregated” client cash may have vaporized to…

From: “Herb Kral” <[email protected]>
To:
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:07:55 -0600
Subject: RE: Follow up

Dear [XXX]

All of our client funds are held at JP Morgan Chase in a segregated account. Jeffries does hold our margin money for positions.

Thanks,

Herb Kral, Director of Automated Trading
311 W. Monroe, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60606
312-775-3581 | 312-775-3095 fax

Will A German Constitutional Court Delay Today Cripple The EUphoria?

by

– Will A German Constitutional Court Delay Today Cripple The EUphoria? (ZeroHedge, July 10, 2012):

While early news are still abuzz with last night’s largely irrelevant FinMin meeting, which came up with nothing new, but merely regurgitated the June 28 summit decisions in a way to send Peripheral bonds modestly higher, however briefly, the real news this morning will be out of Karlruhe, where the German Constitutional Court – which holds the fate of the European bailout mechanism –  has already said there will be no final decision on the constitutionality issue. The question now is whether the Court will issue a temporary injunction, which however, the court itself admits “will be interpreted by the foreign press as ‘euro-rescue is halted.” Instead, what will likely take place is a two step process. As Market News reports, “Judges during the hearing suggested a two-part decision was likely, first on the injunction in about three weeks, and then in early 2013 on the broader constitutional question.” Obviously, the court is not in any rush to come up with a definitive judgment. The problem is that Spain is. As is Italy: unless the ESM is able to promptly roll out its rescue functionality, the entire bailout mechanism will be halted and all the “progress” achieved so far will be for nothing. Sure enough, “a delay could have “serious economic consequences” for the Eurozone as well as Germany, and in turn would risk placing the entire euro project “in question,” Schaeuble warned.” Yet not even the German FinMin will dare to tell German’s constitutional arbiters to hurry up. Which is why keep a close eye on those Red flashing headlines out of Germany: they can make or break both the Euro, the PIIGS bonds, and broadly risk, if there is indeed a major delay, and certainly, if the court does order an injunction.

Read moreWill A German Constitutional Court Delay Today Cripple The EUphoria?