Blipits

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Jason
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Re: Blipits

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Col. Flagg wrote:
Jason wrote:....some financial stuff....post more later....

There is something seriously wrong in America. We all sense it, but few in the mainstream media are willing to touch it or can effectively articulate it within the public’s sound-bite oriented attention span. It isn’t just about the remnants of the financial crisis; it isn’t the protracted jobs recession and slow recovery; it isn’t the trillions of dollars in deficit spending; it isn’t the degree of rampant financial malfeasants. It is something deeper which reaches into the soul of who we are as a people and society. It will soon be the central theme to your investment strategy and financial security. On the surface it might appear we have lost our optimism about the future and our confidence that America is still the ‘beacon on the hill’ that countries around the world admire and look to for leadership. Though our children mouth the platitudes taught by older generations, they ring hollow in the hallways with video surveillance, motion sensors and metal detectors when recited by them. The high minded ideals seem misplaced in unemployment lines where they stand with freshly minted advanced degrees in hand, huge education debts and little hope other than the faint possibility of a non-paying internship position. It isn’t that the American people have changed. Our government has changed.
Yep... it is no longer a representative institution for the people by the people... it has morphed into organized crime, corruption, fraud, thievery and deceit on the grandest of scales where big money rules and the average American means nothing.
Signs of the times.....things are heating up quick from vast numbers of angles....all over the globe. Gonna be some serious explosions here in the next couple of months of both earth and man!

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Jason
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Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

BP rig worker reported oil leak weeks before Deepwater Horizon disaster
http://deadlinelive.info/2010/06/21/bp- ... -disaster/

Lots of sharks, lots of oil seen off Bon Secour
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/lots_of ... f_oil.html

Feds Blocking the Cleanup Effort
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=30836

Obama hits golf course with Biden on another hot, humid weekend
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... id-weekend

BP chief executive Tony Hayward has come under fire for spending the day watching his yacht take part in a race instead of co-ordinating the company's response to the Gulf oil spill.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/831815-tony ... -arrogance

BP document: Worst-case scenario -- 4.2 million gallons daily in Gulf
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/20/gulf.o ... tml?hpt=T1

Internal BP document claims Gulf oil gusher jetting up to 100,000 barrels per day
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0621/intern ... rrels-day/

Lindsey Williams Talks with Alex Jones About Deadly Gases Leaking from BP Spill
http://www.infowars.com/lindsey-william ... -bp-spill/

Green Comet Of Doom Gives Grave Warning As Gulf Apocalypse Grows
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1381.htm

Toxic Oil Spill Rains Could Destroy North America Gulf of Mexico
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/06/tox ... could.html

BP Plans to Increase Oil Recovery Rate From Leaking Gulf of Mexico Well
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... alted.html

17 big questions about the handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
http://www.naturalnews.com/029030_Gulf_ ... spill.html

Japan, Russia and U.S. warships to dock in S.F.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z0rVWV6XuN

Tornado rips businesses, arena in Billings, Mont
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9GFD2PO0

Yuan Strengthens Most Since 2005 After China Signals End to Peg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... ports.html

Napolitano: US must balance liberties, security
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD9GDV11O0

Brown Brothers Warns On Deterioration In State And Local Government Deficits, Cautions Of Comparable European Collapse
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/brown- ... mparable-e

Meanwhile ECB Monetization Continues: €51 Billion In Sovereign Bonds Purchased To Date, €4 Billion In Past Week
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/meanwh ... -billion-p

Sen Kyl: President Admitted He Purposely Doesn’t Secure Mexican Border;Wants it Open for Leverage
http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=9367

Peter Sutherland
http://www.trilateral.org/membship/bios/ps.htm

South Korean whistleblower Kim Yong-chul breaks silence on Samsung
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pac ... on-Samsung

Explosion at California water fuel research company kills inventor
http://pesn.com/2010/06/18/9501662_wate ... _inventor/

More flotillas for Gaza, Lebanese army joins Hizballah war alert
http://www.debka.com/article/8863/

Abnormal Radiation Detected Near Korea Border
http://www.military.com/news/article/ab ... order.html

Globe News Flashes From China - Flooding kills 155, as 1 million flee
http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/ ... china.html

Mexico’s Police Strategies Must Shift to a Terrorism Model
http://www.mexidata.info/id2708.html

Political Considerations Surround Decision to Deploy National Guard to Southwest Border
http://www.migrationinformation.org/USf ... cfm?id=786

Trafficking in Persons Report - 2010
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/142979.pdf

The U.S. War Addiction: Funding Enemies to Maintain Trillion Dollar Racket
http://www.alternet.org/story/147217/th ... ar_racket/

U.S. military criticized for purchase of Russian copters for Afghan air corps
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 30_pf.html

US/Israel to attack Iran? All "reasons" for war are obvious lies; beware false flag attack
http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-Coun ... lag-attack

Report: US and Israeli warships cross Suez Canal toward Red Sea
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/06/ ... Unknown%29

Report: Armada of U.S. and Israeli Warships Head for Iran
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=30835

US-led armada secretly drilled bombing Iranian targets, missile defense with Israel
http://www.debka.com/article/8866/

Europe could face hundreds of missiles in Iran attack, U.S. Defence Secretary warns
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... n-U-S.html

California on 'verge of system failure’
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... le1609891/

Cuckholded: public pension funds part two
http://dailycensored.com/2010/06/20/cuc ... ensored%29

Apartment owner on rental market: "Worst ever", Charge-offs triple
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Treasury Auction Schedule for the Week of June 21, 2010
http://treasuryauctionwatch.blogspot.co ... of_20.html

"Hellish heatwave" in Pakistan sets hottest temperature in Asia's history, 53.5°C (128.3°F); in India, hundreds die, death toll expected to rise as record temperatures soar up to 122°F
http://climateprogress.org/2010/06/01/r ... -wave-may/

World's biggest drugs 'super cartel' smashed by US authorities in Colombia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ombia.html

California school launches cell tower study - The Vista Del Monte tower is 20 feet from classroom buildings and next to the playground and lunch tables......She has recorded nine current and former staff members who have been diagnosed with cancer.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/14/20 ... -cell.html

IMINT: Air Force Operator With AOR 1 Camo and SCAR (maybe) - guessing game
http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/imint ... maybe.html

Watch the train dude - close call
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/8911239/59 ... n_dude.wmv

U.S. govt. poisoned its own citizens during Prohibition
http://www.naturalnews.com/029029_Prohi ... oning.html

2010 JUNE 12 – 18
http://www.realityzone.com/currentperiod.html

UPDATE:

Missouri (Reuters) - A Supreme Court ruling in a case pitting environmentalists against biotech seed giant Monsanto Co may speed up a resumption of sales of genetically altered alfalfa, but any commercialization still depends on action by U.S. regulators.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... mesticNews

Chester placed under a state of emergency
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2010 ... 445493.txt

NJ Naval base locked down due to ‘several simultaneous incidents’
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0621/milita ... incidents/

Rep. Giffords: Never Mind About U.S. Deaths, Do Our Military Bases Have Windmills?
http://biggovernment.com/bmiller/2010/0 ... ernment%29

Supreme Court ruling makes ‘it a crime to work for peace and human rights’: CCR
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0621/suprem ... pport-law/

BP, the White House, and Congress Are All Dirty
http://biggovernment.com/lkudlow/2010/0 ... ernment%29

CIA opens up about disastrous 1952 mission inside China
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0619/cia-19 ... ion-china/

Bank of England Given Full Power Over Economy
http://wideshut.co.uk/bank-of-england-g ... r-economy/

UPDATE 2: Highly recommend the bold titles as good reads on economic analysis.

Large Areas of Arizona Now Part of Mexican Narco State
http://www.infowars.com/large-areas-of- ... rco-state/

Pentagon revives Rumsfeld-era domestic spying unit
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0619/pentag ... ying-unit/

Systemic Crisis of the World Economy: Global Geopolitical Dislocation - Four Single Points of Failure: Strategic, Financial, Economic and Social Convulsions
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19814

California Bankrupt?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... a-bankrupt

(Reuters) - New Jersey politicians are due to battle on Monday over whether to slap a tax on millionaires or cut services for low-income senior citizens and the disabled.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65J1NQ20100620

CNN drops Associated Press
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0621/cnn-drops-press/

Al-Qaida warns of new attacks deadlier than before - CIA puts out another video
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100620/ap_ ... _spokesman

Where is the Oil Spill? Largest environmental disaster in U.S., and possibly world history
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19813

Election eve in Utah
http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/20 ... e-in-utah/

Global Macro Update: Houston, We Have A Problem!
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/global ... to+zero%29

Escalating Solar Activity Will Destroy Global Power Grid & Modern Civilization
http://www.survivalistnews.com/2010/06/ ... ilization/

Could Super Solar Flares Take Us Back To 5000 BC?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dk-matai/ ... iew=screen

Gen. Mattis gets passed over for Commandant (language warning)
http://jcrue.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/g ... ommandant/

America and Christianity Reply: Survivalism, Socialism and Catholicism.
http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2010/06/amer ... GENTINA%29

Showdown In The Red Sea: US Sends 11 Warships to Confront Iran
http://stevenjohnhibbs.wordpress.com/20 ... ront-iran/

17 states had double digit unemployment in May (and that's the gubernet's numbers)
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t03.htm

New Fight/New Gear
http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=4131

Spain Goes For Broke In Sweeping Toxic Crap Under The Rug For Second Time In As Many Years
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/spain- ... many-years

UPDATE 3: Collection of articles on Persian Gulf action....apologize for duplication of previous posts....but I desired to group them all together here for better analysis

President Mobilizes Four Aircraft Carrier Groups to Persian Gulf
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/p ... f_05212010

The March to War: Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... a&aid=3361

Report: US battleships cross Suez Canal
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 87,00.html

US, Israeli warships move to PG: Report
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=13 ... =351020205

Report: U.S., Israeli warships cross Suez Canal toward Red Sea
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... a-1.297068

Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 140282.ece

US War Ships Heading Though Suez Canal
http://indyposted.com/28383/us-war-ship ... uez-canal/

One another note:

Rockefeller shutting down Internet - Bills 773 & 778
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCkCWxv3kUE

Obama internet 'kill switch' proposed
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/tec ... -yln6.html

Under new National Emergency powers, the US President has the authority to 'turn
off' the Internet if he decides to.
'Turning off' the Internet though, is virtually impossible. It was designed by t he military to be distributed, without a central control point. Like chicken wire with many paths connecting one end to another, as opposed to being centralized like a hub connected to a wheel with spokes. Where the wire/spokes represent t he transmission paths, and where those connect to other wires / hub,spokes or wheel, represent the source or destination of the transmission. With the Internet, if one transmission path becomes unavailable, an alternate path can be taken.

So, 'turning off' the Internet more likely to refer to the temporary removal of key Domain Name Servers (DNS's).

A Domain Name Server matches a website name to the IP address of that website. Without DNSs, Internet transmissions can only be done using IP addresses. E.g., If the Telstra DNSs become unavailable, Telstra customers would only be able to make website requests if they have the IP address of the website, Or if they had access to an alternative DNS.

If they new they IP address:
- http://www.google.com would NOT work, but http://74.125.19.99 would.
- N.b., Some websites are not configured to run off their IP addresses.

If they new an alternative DNS IP address (e.g.,the DNSs for iiNet, Optus or a free DNS):
- They could update their Internet Connection settings to use the alternative DNS.
- Once updated, and if the DNS is active, it would be possible to browse the web is normal.

What to do with this info? I have two suggestions.

1. Visit http://www.dnsserverlist.org/ and find some alternative DNS IP addresses. They are in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxx. Save the page or record these on your computer.
- Learn how to change the DNS setting on your computer. I've linked a YT video on this.
- If your ISPs DNS becomes unavailable (as they sometime do and like mine did to night), it's possible to update the settings and connect to the www via a different DNS.

2. Check if the websites you use alot are accessible via IP address. If so, record the IP address
- Visit http://dns-tools.domaintools.com/ and enter the website homepage (not an internal page)
- try entering the returned IP address in the browser address bar. http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/
- if the website accepts requests via IP address, the homepage will open

Of course all this won't help if the power is out, or someone cuts through a backbone cable, but if your DNS becomes unavailable you can continue to browse :)

How do you know if you have a DNS issue?
If your computer says that you are successfully connected to the Internet, but you can't browse to webpages, try connecting the IP address of the website (you did record it earlier, right?). If you can connect, it is a DNS problem. Try a few alternative DNSs until you find one that works well.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33380704/Tues ... -June-2010

http://www.youtube.com/user/unclewooly

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Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

WEATHER/EARTH:

BP ‘burning sea turtles alive’
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0620/bp-bur ... les-alive/

Experts: BP Lowballing Size of Leaking Oil Reservoir
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/

Gulf Well Could Contain a Billion Barrels of Oil
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 6514.shtml

Frustrated locals not waiting for OK to stop oil
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/21/oil.sp ... tml?hpt=C1

Oil spill containment efforts could be putting strain on damaged well
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... forts.html

Air tests from the Louisiana coast reveal human health threats from the oil disaster
http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/05/ ... aster.html

North America faces years of toxic oil rain from BP oil spill chemical dispersants
http://www.examiner.com/x-33986-Politic ... ispersants

‘Last hope’ of relief well not guaranteed to work
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/96740619.html

Gulf Oil Leaks Could Gush for Years
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... -cap-leak/

The Well from Hell
http://www.petroleumworld.com/sf10062001.htm

BP's First Nightmare Is Now Named Alex: Tropical Storm Heading For Gulf Of Mexico Ground Zero
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bps-fi ... round-zero
Tropical Storm May Pose Threat to BP Spill Cleanup

The first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season may enter the Gulf of Mexico as soon as next week, possibly disrupting BP Plc’s efforts to clean up the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... -gulf.html
A modest region of intense thunderstorms (Invest 93L) is over the central Caribbean, a few hundred miles south of Hispaniola. This disturbance has the best chance to become Tropical Storm Alex of any system we've seen so far this year. We don't have any buoys near 93L, but pressures at the ground stations surrounding the storm are not falling. A pass of the ASCAT satellite over the Central Caribbean at 9:45 pm EDT last night revealed a modest wind shift associated with 93L, but nothing at all close to a surface circulation. Top surface winds seen by ASCAT were 15 - 20 mph. Water vapor satellite loops show that 93L is embedded in a large region of moist air. The atmosphere over the Caribbean has moistened over the past day, which should aid development of 93L. Wind shear is a low 5 - 10 knots. The high wind shear associated with the strong winds of the subtropical jet stream are over the northern Caribbean, too far north to interfere with development, but close enough to provide good upper-level outflow for the storm. Visible satellite loops show high level cirrus clouds streaming away from 93L to the northeast, evidence of the upper-level outflow channel that is developing to the storm's north. Sea Surface Temperatures are plenty warm, a record 29 - 30°C. The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) currently favors upward motion over the Caribbean, which will act to increase the chances of tropical storm formation this week. The Madden-Julian oscillation is a pattern of enhanced rainfall that travels along the Equator from west to east. The pattern has a wet phase with large-scale rising air and enhanced thunderstorm activity, followed by a dry phase with large-scale sinking air and suppressed thunderstorm activity. Each cycle lasts approximately 30 - 60 days. When the Madden-Julian oscillation is in its wet phase over a hurricane-prone region, the chances for tropical storm activity are greatly increased. The main negative for 93L continues to be lack of spin. The University of Wisconsin 850 mb relative vorticity analysis is showing that spin at 850 mb (roughly 5,000 feet in altitude) has increased over the past day, but 93L needs to acquire additional spin before it can grow more organized. I speculate that it is this lack of spin that contributed to the loss of much of 93L's heavy thunderstorm activity last night. The storm is now going through a cycle where it is building another respectable mass of heavy thunderstorms, and the increased inflow of low-level air that will feed these thunderstorms will likely enhance 93L's spin today. The Hurricane Hunters are on call to investigate 93L on Wednesday afternoon.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... &src=nhrss
BP / Gulf Oil Spill - MODIS Images, June 18 and 19

MODIS Terra and Aqua images on June 18 and June 19 have some cloud-cover problems but still show oil slick and sheen spanning areas of 11,278 square miles and 18,473 square miles respectively, with oil apaprently coming ashore from Gulf Shores, Alabama to points as far east as Seacrest and Rosemary Beach, Florida. Oil is also apparent in Pensacola Bay on the 18th:

Strong thunderstorms form large, dense masses of bright white cloud in this image -- one area of cloud obscures the location of the leaking Macondo well, source of the ongoing BP / Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oil slicks and sheen viewed through breaks in the cloud cover at least 11,278 square miles (29,210 km2). Oil appears to be making landfall along the beaches of Perdido Key, Alabama, and east along the coast to Destin, Florida. Oil slicks also seem to occur within Pensacola Bay itself. Compare with the MODIS/Aqua image taken the next day, on June 19:

Not as many thunderstorms and cloudy patches on this image, revealing the continuing upwelling of fresh oil around the location of BP's leaking well. Slicks and sheen span 18,473 square miles (47,847 km2) on this image. Thin patches appear to be making landfall from Gulf Shores, Alabama to Perdido Key in Florida, and from Grayton Beach State Park to the Seacrest / Rosemary Beach area along the Florida coast.

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

Navy To Take Over Gulf Spill From Coast Guard?
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/21/navy- ... ast-guard/

Max Keiser on Oil Spill: Rewarding Eco-Terror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_7Ej5pmLgw

Egypt confirms oil leak from rig off Red Sea coast
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... gD9GFPMTO0

Tropical Depression Blas
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... &src=nhrss

UPDATE 3-Hurricane Celia forms in Pacific off Mexico
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37814870/ns/us_news/

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Floods after days of driving rain have killed at least 39 people in northeastern Brazil, and left 1,000 unaccounted for and another 100,000 people homeless, authorities said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100622/wl ... 0622114329

KVERT reported that although clouds prevented views of Bezymianny during 4-11 June, thermal anomalies were seen in satellite imagery during 4-5 and 8 June. The Aviation Color Code level remained at Yellow.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php

ODVAS-SERNAGEOMIN reported on 8 June that the Alert Level for Melimoyu was raised to Green Level 2 due to increased seismicity during May, specifically starting with nine long-period earthquakes on 27 May. The next day six long-period earthquakes preceded two separate seismic swarms. The first swarm was located 2-12 km beneath the summit. Earthquakes in the second swarm were located 7-14 km S of the summit at depths no greater than 15 km. All earthquakes were M 2.5 or less.
http://www.sernageomin.cl/

INSIVUMEH reported that during 9-10 June Pacaya's MacKenney cone emitted white-and-blue fumarolic plumes that rose 300 m high, and generated sounds audible up to 5 km away that resembled airplane engines. Occasional ash plumes drifted 2 km NW. Lava flows continued to be active on the SE flank and moved at a speed of about 1 m per hour. Explosions continued from a lateral crater.
http://www.insivumeh.gob.gt/

Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Washington VAAC reported that on 9 June a well-defined ash plume from San Cristóbal drifted about 115 km WNW.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/messages.html

SVERT reported that a thermal anomaly from Tiatia was detected by satellite on 10 June. Tiatia does not have a seismic network; satellite image observations are the primary tool for monitoring many of the Kurile Islands volcanoes.
http://www.imgg.ru/rus/labs_vulcan_hazard.php

Although storm clouds occasionally prevented observations of Tungurahua's summit area during 9-12 June, steam-and-ash plumes were seen and rose to altitudes of 5.5-8 km (18,000-29,500 ft) a.s.l. Daily reports of ashfall came from multiple areas within about 8 km NW, W, and SW, but ash was noted as far away as 22 km NW and 25 km W on 9 June. Blocks, including some that were incandescent, occasionally ejected by explosions rolled at most 1 km down the flanks. Explosions caused noises resembling "cannon shots" and vibrating windows almost daily. During 13-14 June steam plumes from the crater and the NW flank rose 500-1,000 m above the crater and drifted W. An explosion on 15 June generated an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 7 km (23,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted W.
http://www.igepn.edu.ec/

RVO reported that during 9-16 June white and gray plumes from Ulawun rose 800-900 m high. Fine ashfall was reported almost daily and affected the NW, W, and SW flanks. During 9-12 June occasional rumbling noises were reported. Fluctuating incandescence from the crater was seen at night on 9 and 10 June from observers in areas to the SW and for a brief period of time on 13 June from areas N. - Rabaul Volcano Observatory

Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that ash plumes from Bagana rose to an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. during 13-14 June and drifted 75-205 km SW and W.

Based on analyses of satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that during 9 and 11-15 June ash plumes from Batu Tara rose to an altitude of 2.4 km (8,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted 35-65 km W and NW.

The Darwin VAAC reported that during 9-10 June an ash plume from Dukono was seen in satellite imagery drifting 130 km W.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/AU/messages.html

The Nordic Volcanological Center (NVC) at the Institute of Earth Sciences reported that on 9 June rumbling noises were heard at Gígjökull just before a steam cloud rose from the summit crater. The crater area was not visible the next day, but a few small shallow earthquakes beneath the summit crater continued to be detected. On 11 June white steam was mainly confined to the crater, but occasionally a steam plume rose higher than the rim. Heavy rainfall during the previous few days led to flooding along the Svadbaelisa River. The water contained a large amount of mud and flowed over levees into fields. NVC also noted that a lake about 300 m in diameter had formed in the large summit crater. Steam rose as high as 1 km from the rims, especially from the N side. Two small vents above the water level on the W side emitted brown-colored clouds.
http://www.earthice.hi.is/

INSIVUMEH reported that during 10-11 June multiple explosions from Fuego produced ash plumes that rose to altitudes of 4.1-4.3 km (13,500-14,100 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW. Rumbling and "degassing" sounds were associated with the explosions. Occasionally incandescent material was ejected as high as 75 m above the crater and avalanches descended the flanks. Fine ashfall was reported in Sangre de Cristo, 10 km WSW. During a period of increased activity on 11 June, shock waves were detected as far away as 5 km.
http://www.insivumeh.gob.gt/

Based on information from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory, the Wellington VAAC reported that on 7 June an ash plume from Gaua rose to an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/NZ/messages.html

KVERT reported that during 4-11 June seismic activity from Karymsky was above background levels, and suggested that possible ash plumes rose to an altitude of 2.5 km (8,200 ft) a.s.l. on 6 June. Satellite imagery revealed a thermal anomaly over the volcano during 4-5 and 8 June. Based on information from KVERT and Yelizovo Airport (UHPP), and analyses of satellite imagery, the Tokyo VAAC reported that on 11 June an eruption produced an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 6.1 km (20,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE and SE. The Aviation Color Code level remained at Orange.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php

During 9-15 June HVO reported that activity at Kilauea continued from the summit and the east rift zone. At the summit, the level of a lava-pool surface remained mostly stable in the deep pit inset within the floor of Halema'uma'u crater; glow from the vent was visible. A plume from the vent mainly drifted SW, dropping small amounts of tephra downwind. Vigorous bubbling of the lava surface was seen during 14-15 June.

At the east rift zone, lava flows that broke out of the TEB lava-tube system at 580 m elevation built up rootless shields. Minor surface lava flows from the shields were often active on the pali and the coastal plain, and advanced along the W side of the TEB flow field towards the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. The Pu'u 'O'o web camera recorded a growing and sometimes circulating lava pond on the crater floor that was an estimated 300 x 125 m in dimension. The pond was fed predominantly from a source near the N rim of the Pu'u 'O'o, with some contributions from a source near the S shore.
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/

KVERT reported that during 4-11 June seismic activity from Kliuchevskoi was above background levels and Strombolian activity was seen. Gas-and-steam plumes, occasionally containing a small amount of ash, were also noted. On 5 June ash plumes rose to an altitude of 7.3 km (24,000 ft) a.s.l. Satellite imagery revealed a large daily thermal anomaly from the volcano, and ash plumes that drifted 60-190 km NE on 5 and 8 June. The Aviation Color Code level remained at Orange.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php

CENAPRED reported that during 9-11 June steam-and-gas emissions from Popocatépetl occasionally contained small amounts of ash. On 10 June an ash-and-steam plume rose 800 m above the crater. The next day an ash-and-gas plume rose 1 km above the crater. Later that day, another ash-and-gas plume rose 600 m.
http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/es/

Based on information from JMA, the Tokyo VAAC reported explosions from Sakura-jima during 12-14 June. Details of possible resulting plumes were not reported. On 15 June an ash plume at an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. was reported by a pilot.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/JP/messages.html

KVERT reported that during 4-11 June seismic activity from Shiveluch was above background levels and hot avalanches were seen at night. The seismic data suggested that possible ash plumes rose to an altitude of 4.1 km (13,400 ft) a.s.l. during 3-4 and 6 June. Ash plumes were seen during 4-6 and 9 June rising to an altitude of 4.5 km (14,800 ft) a.s.l. Satellite imagery showed a large daily thermal anomaly over the lava dome, and ash plumes that drifted 100 km SE on 4 June. The Aviation Color Code level remained at Orange.
http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/kvert/index_eng.php

MVO reported that rockfalls and pyroclastic flows from the Soufrière Hills lava dome occurred during 4-11 June. The largest pyroclastic flow originated in the collapse scar and traveled 1 km N. The Hazard Level remained at 3.
http://www.mvo.ms/

Effects of Volcanic Ash on Jets, Helicopters, and Small Aircraft
http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/ef ... ft-a252303

Schultz Fire North of Flagstaff, AZ
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... &src=nhrss

Schultz Fire in Flagstaff Prompts More Evacuations
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/lo ... -6-21-2010

Firefighters battle blazes across Israel as temperatures soar
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/fi ... bled=false

Earthquakes have slowed down abit
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... es_big.php

Earthquake 'Prophet of Doom'
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/201 ... f.doom.cnn

At Least 175 Killed in Torrential Downpours in Southern China
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/21- ... ownpours-0

FINANCE/ECONOMY:

The Meaning of “Austerity”
http://www.infowars.com/the-meaning-of-austerity/

Robin Hood In Australia
http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2 ... ralia.html

LONDON (AP) -- Britain announced the toughest cuts to public spending in decades and new tax rises on Tuesday in an emergency budget aimed at sharply reducing the country's record debts.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/UK-makes- ... et=&ccode=

....bet a nickel to a dollar the US will follow the UK lead with a 6 to 12 month lag time....

UK VAT Raised to 20%
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/20 ... to-20.html

Tax Increases Won’t Create Jobs
http://biggovernment.com/polson/2010/06 ... ernment%29

Germany and France examine 'two-tier' euro
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -euro.html

Housing Double Dip Accelerates As Existing Home Sales Plunge -2.2% In May Versus 6.0% Consensus, Down From 8% In April
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/housin ... us-down-8-

Existing Home Sales: Inventory increases Year-over-Year
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
European Bank Interest In ECB's Weekly "Monetization" Auction Plunges

As reported yesterday, the ECB today completed a weekly liquidity withdrawing operation consisting of Fixed Term Deposits, to "remove" the excess cash obtained from €51 billion worth of sovereign bond purchases. This was the sixth consecutive such auction, and the sixth consecutive decline in the bid to cover.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/europe ... on-plunges

Making California solvent
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/com ... 6155.story
Florida Rolling the Dice with Pensions?

Chasing bigger investment returns, the agency that manages Florida's $113.8 billion public pension fund wants to make far riskier investment bets.

The state wants to reduce the pension fund's holdings in publicly traded stocks and bonds and triple its allocation to hedge funds and other private investments that are less liquid and harder to value.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/florid ... e-pensions

In Budget Crisis, States Take Aim at Pension Costs
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/busin ... nsion.html

As Chinese Wages Rise, Machines Replace Migrant Workers
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... rease.html

The US remained the world’s biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af2219cc-7c86 ... abdc0.html

Lord Rothschild fund joins World Gold Council to put £12.5m into BullionVault
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... Vault.html

Saudi Arabia: Gold Reserves Over Twice Previous Estimate
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/06/ ... Unknown%29

Gold Reclaims Its Currency Status as the Global System Unravels
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/evans ... ard29.html

Money Supply Update
http://www.safehaven.com/article/17243/ ... rticles%29

....no one wants to admit that its really shrinking....
The IRA: Bruce, how do you explain the financial crisis to normal people?

Bartlett: We had a housing bubble for various reasons. When the bubble burst, the tendency to spend by consumers fell significantly. We know from empirical analysis that for each $100 increase in people's wealth, they spend $5-10 annually of that increase. This varies in terms of the type of wealth. They tend to spend more of housing wealth because consumers view this as more permanent. We had about a $10 trillion increase in housing wealth during the 2000s. This added somewhere between $500 billion to $1 trillion annually in spending. When the bubble burst, people cut back their spending by that same amount. That by itself was enough to bring on a recession, but it had another effect that is very important. As the spending fell, the rate of velocity of money in the economy also fell from a historical level of 1.9 to 1.7. This has the same, identical effect as a shrinkage of the money supply.

The IRA: It is called deflation.

Bartlett: Yes. We had a fall in velocity that resulted from a fall in consumer spending that resulted from a decline in home prices. Thus the question becomes how do you turn that around? Keynesian theory is the only response that makes sense under these circumstances. Monetary theory does not work in these circumstances because you are pushing on a string. You can't force people to spend it and that is the problem. There are unused reserve balances in banks sitting there gathering dust so we have to find some way of getting people to spend again because velocity of money in the financial system goes back up and monetary policy becomes effective again and we can go back in the other direction. When you are in a trough and people are reluctant to spend, there is only one institution that can respond and that is government.

The IRA: So why didn't the Obama stimulus work? The White House claims success, but all we see in the markets is deflation. Our friend David Kotok of Cumberland Advisers put out a piece last week saying that the BP spill and the related moratorium put in place by the Obama Administration will cost 1 million jobs in the oil sector.

Bartlett: The theory of what Obama did was quite correct, the trouble was in the implementation. Not enough of the stimulus stimulated spending and a lot of it was just transfers that had zero economic effect. The second problem is that the state and local governments had massive fiscal contraction that offset 100% of the federal stimulus.

The IRA: We see state and local governments around the country cutting back on current spending and also pension and benefits commitments. In New York, for example, we see mostly Democratic office holders leading an effort to repudiate pension commitments to public sector workers. This has to have a negative impact on consumer spending, as you pointed out, because it is reducing the perception of future wealth. And this is precisely the same reaction that you saw in America 100 years ago in times of economic crisis, namely cutting consumption and spending. Intellectually, we may have the Keynesian overlay for policy, but the human response to a reduction in income and wealth is to behave more conservatively.

Bartlett: The state and local governments did not have any choice. So we have no real support from monetary policy and, because of the reduction in spending by state and local governments, we have no net stimulus. All we can do is slowly work our way out.

The IRA: Very slowly. So long as the banking industry is charging off $2 in bad loans for every $1 in new loans made, credit available to fund future investment or current consumption is going to keep shrinking. That is the other part of the analysis that policy makers do not seem to understand. Thanks Bruce.

The IRA: So Josh, we want to sit you down for a longer discussion after the regulatory reform circus ends in Washington. How do you see the outlook for the economy?

Rosner: There are three issues or "headwinds" as I like to describe them, factors that were once positives for the economy or tailwinds, but are now a drag on the economy. I have discussed these in speeches and with clients for several years, but only wrote about them in a limited way.

The IRA: Do tell.

Rosner: The first issue is the two-income household. Beginning in the inflation of the 1970's, as wages under-paced asset price increases, we moved from one to two income families. This boosted current growth and real estate prices for decades, but we have reached the limit of this "fix" to support employment and real estate prices. Now the tailwind of two income families has become a headwind that is a drag on the economy. Household income data series don't properly account per per capita income per household. The shift has made household finances more fragile. It used to be if the family wage earner lost his/her job the other could replace some of that income, with spending rebalanced to two-incomes there is less household margin of safety in case of job loss.

The IRA: Elizabeth Warren has described this phenomenon in her book, The Two Income Trap. We could always take the kids out of school and put them to work. Then we can have a four income household. Hell, why not just close all the schools and sell the kids into indentured servitude in some friendly Middle Eastern nation? We can securitize the remittances from the children and use the proceeds to boost home values. Could be a whole new market for Wall Street.

Rosner: Not likely, but your comment illustrates the problem. We turned homes from savings vehicles to speculative vehicles - supporting equity extraction with the mortgage interest deduction exacerbated this. Unless we roll back child labor laws there is nothing left here in terms of expanding income to support future economic growth or to even stabilize house prices at current levels.

The IRA: Agreed. What else?

Rosner: The second issue is the democratization of credit. Beginning in late 1970's the move from charge cards to consumer revolving debt issuance changed the consumption patterns of an entire nation. The monthly debt service cost, not the value of the good or service, became the criteria used for making a purchase. Beside just super-charging consumption it commoditized luxury goods. Remember when the family on your block that owned a Caddy or Mercedes really was financially more wealthy? By the 1980s, the consumption function had shifted upward because of the expanding availability of credit. That trend is now reversed as banks, individuals and households are de-leveraging. The tailwind that drove consumption in the 1980-2007 period is now a big headwind.

The IRA: Yup. As our friend Jerry Flum, CEO of Credit Risk Monitor (CRMZ) likes to remind us, consumer debt is about pulling future purchases into the present. You can see this working against housing and consumer spending right now. That's why we have a down 9% estimate for residential home prices in the forward-looking survey that Bob Shiller started in May.

Rosner: The third headwind is demographic. Coming out of the recessions of the late 70's and 80's we were supported by the fact that the largest generation in US history was coming to peak earnings potential. These boomers are now moving to become the largest tax on the social safety net. The largest generation in U.S. history will retire with less equity in what has historically been the largest retirement and intergenerational wealth transfer asset for most families - their homes. In many cases, these people will have no net personal savings when they reach the end of their working lives and will essentially become wards of the state. This increased burden on the US Treasury, in a decade, is the largest unconsidered impact of the current crisis. I think we should create immediate incentives to saving in the home by replacing the mortgage interest deduction which incents equity stripping, with a principal tax credit based on annual paydown of mortgage principal.

The IRA: Incentivize savings instead of spending? Isn't that un-American? Thanks Josh.
http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAMain.asp
Banker's Corner: Business Loan Totals Continue to Slide - Data for commercial and industrial loans is out, and total business loans continue to slide.

As a business banker, these are the types of loans I make. I rarely get loan requests these days from a growing business needing more money to support that growth. In fact, most of my new clients have good businesses who had their former lines of credit cut in size by their former bank because their business shrank. Or, their former bank was overly conservative.

While the banking sector is still in trouble, and more conservative underwriting is the norm compared to a couple years ago, a good loan can still be made by healthy banks. I'm still making new loans when it makes sense based on good financials and a demonstrated repayment ability. It's not a funding ability for quality loans that's causing a decline in total business loans.

No, there's fewer businesses that actually need more money supported by a growing quality business model. There's lots of companies who need credit to stay alive with declining financials, and that's not a viable loan because there's no way to demonstrate an ability to repay the loan. I see a lot of this too, and unfortunately, they do not qualify for credit.

In many cases, what's really needed is a capital injection from business owners, because financials have declined in many cases where debt or leverage is too high, and it's equity or capital that's needed, not debt.

Getting back to the economy though, the continual decline in business loans is a sign of economic weakness. As a banker, I don't see growth with exception to the occasional business getting business because they are in an industry benefiting from stimulus money.

In the above chart, it wouldn't surprise me at all for total business loans to decline back to the 2003 low in the coming months. That's a very bearish expectation on the economy.
http://roseysoutlook.blogspot.com/2010/ ... otals.html

Pressure rising on healthcare long before overhaul takes effect
http://www.latimes.com/news/health/la-n ... 8584.story

WARS & RUMORS OF WARS/POLITICS/GOVERNMENT/STRATEGIC INFO:

DHS TRIPwire Overview
http://info.publicintelligence.net/TRIPwireOverview.pdf

Australian Government To Force Internet Users To Install State-Approved Software
http://www.infowars.com/australian-gove ... -software/

Apple now collecting, sharing precise location of iPhone users
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0622/apple- ... pad-users/

Gen. McChrystal called to Washington to explain anti-administration comments
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00813.html

In Rolling Stone feature, McChrystal mocks Biden while aides slam Obama
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0621/rollin ... lam-obama/

U.S. indirectly paying Afghan warlords as part of security contract
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04628.html

US May Fund Taliban Via Protection Racket
http://www.military.com/news/article/us ... acket.html

POLICE STATE: A.R.W.E.N. 37 Crowd Control Weapon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySS3o2BY ... r_embedded

Army Preps ‘Unblinking Eye’ Airship for Afghanistan
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/06 ... er+Room%29

Is Tim Bridgewater Crazy?
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/06/2 ... ter-crazy/

Ten dead among 54 shot aross city over weekend
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2415 ... 10.article

....How's that gun ban working out for ya Chicago???

China angers US with plan to build nuclear reactors in Pakistan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... istan.html

US opposes Pakistan-Iran pipeline deal
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?ID=179002

Report: Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran to discuss 'possible Israeli attack'
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 69,00.html

'Mariam' gets green light to set sail - All-female Lebanese aid ship to head to Cyprus first, says minister.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=179047

HEALTH/FOOD:

Sheep For Slaughter: Is the Elite really trying to KILL us?
http://www.infowars.com/sheep-for-slaug ... o-kill-us/

Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Arsen ... t_999.html

Millions face starvation in west Africa, warn aid agencies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... est-africa

Roundup resistant weeds pose environmental threat
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... gD9GFT01G0

Controversial Pesticide Worries Scientists
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =127910253

Fungus attacks grain crops in Eastern Idaho
http://www.kidk.com/news/local/96767399.html

Court Lifts Ban On Genetically Modified Seeds
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 3844.story

Monsanto Wins as Supreme Court Backs Alfalfa Seed Planting
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... d-ban.html

Boing! Feds say Magic Power coffee contains Viagra drug
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0622/boing- ... agra-drug/

Sunscreen scam: We spend millions on protection, so why is skin cancer still on the rise?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beaut ... -rise.html

....always check out Skin Deep for cosmetics safety data....
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

As scientists warn that regular mobile use CAN cause cancer just how safe is your mobile phone? This week, research concluded that just half an hour spent on your mobile every day could raise your risk of developing brain cancer by as much as 40 per cent.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... gle+Reader

GENERAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES:

Woman who has sex with boy honored as 'Person of Month'
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=168525

Richard Dawkins among academics calling for compulsory evolution teaching at primary school
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... chool.html

Feds bash reliability of birth documents - Inspector general: Even certificates in doubt because of fraud potential
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=168249

More Sharron Angle: "Harry Reid Has Raided the Social Security Trust Fund"
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37619

Obama's DOL Secretary Hilda L. Solis: You Have the Right to Be Paid Fairly Whether Documented or Not
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3owMAs2t ... r_embedded

Facing Federal Lawsuit, Arizona Governor Stands Her Ground on Immigration Law
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06 ... gle+Reader
Nogales police officers receive threat from Mexican cartel

NOGALES, Ariz. — A Mexican drug cartel has threatened Nogales police officers, saying they will be targeted for retribution if they conduct off-duty busts.

Nogales Police Chief Jeffrey Kirkham told the Nogales International late last week that the threats stemmed from an incident approximately two weeks ago, when off-duty officers surprised marijuana smugglers while riding horseback in an unincorporated border area east of town. The officers seized part of the drug load, and the smugglers were able to flee back into Mexico with the other part.

“As a result of that,” Kirkham said, “our officers have received threats from the cartel that they are to look the other way if they are off duty, or they will be targeted by a sniper or by other means.”
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/20 ... can-cartel

Thales Introduce Tactical, Multi Purpose Robots, UGVs
http://www.defense-update.com/products/ ... +Update%29

Energy Firms Paid To Shut Down Wind Farms During Wind
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/06/ ... Unknown%29

UPDATE:

$40 Billion 2 Year Auction Comes At 0.738% High Yield, 3.45 Bid To Cover
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/40-bil ... -bid-cover

American Airlines inspecting 767s after crack seen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100622/ap_ ... nspections
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Illinois Department of Health is investigating a salmonella outbreak that has resulted in almost 100 confirmed cases of illness in people who ate at Subway sandwich restaurants in the state.

Investigators confirmed 97 cases of Salmonella Hvittingfoss infection from 28 Illinois counties as of Monday, spokeswoman Kelly Jakubek told Reuters.

The uncommon strain of Salmonella, which sent 26 people to hospitals, but caused no deaths, has been linked to 47 Subway restaurants in central Illinois, she said.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Subway-re ... et=&ccode=

As I Made Very Clear In March, US Housing Has a Way to Fall
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/i-made ... s-way-fall

Obama Administration Knew About Deepwater Horizon 35,000 Feet Well Bore
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... -Bore.html

Popular Delusions
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... e%2022.pdf

America's New Budgetless Reality Is "Betrayal Of American Taxpayers", Says Republican House Leader John Boehner
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/americ ... leader-joh

Norway Foreign Minister Blasts G-20, Calls It "Greatest Setback For International Community Since World War II"
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/norway ... ity-world-

Germany-US Rift Gets Deeper, As Merkel Openly Mocks Obama's Keynesian Guidelines
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/german ... guidelines

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 100 MPH...160 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. CELIA IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1440.shtml

White House spokesman: ‘All options are on the table’ including firing McChrystal
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0622/white- ... cchyrstal/

Bee decline could be down to chemical cocktail interfering with brains
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... ajor-study

Surprise: Health Insurance Premiums Spike Higher
http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/0 ... ernment%29

Cigarette Tax Increased to Keep State Running
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/nyreg ... tml?src=me

....sucks to be a smoker with $10/pack prices....
Uh Huh - So It IS A Liability-Limiting Thing

If you're wondering why BP "agreed" to the $20 billion escrow fund, wonder no more....

In the end, one aim of the fund—and a prime reason BP agreed to it—will be to minimize lawsuits against the company. To do that, Mr. Feinberg will offer big lump-sum payments to workers and businesses as an enticement to stay out of court.

"At some point, I will have to make an offer—'You take this amount in full satisfaction of your claim, but only if you waive your right to future litigation,'" Mr. Feinberg said. "And if I package it right, people will see that it makes no sense to fight it out in court."

Ding ding ding ding.

Now there's the reason for it folks.

There was never a reason for BP to agree to this fund unless they got something in return. Now we know what it was - a means to cap off liability claims against the company, which could otherwise bankrupt them.
http://market-ticker.org/archives/2436- ... Thing.html

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

FINANCE/ECONOMY:
Unemployment dropped in 37 states and the District of Columbia, while six states had increases, and seven states remained flat.

Texas (+43,600), California (+28,300), New York (+21,000), Florida (+20,300), and Virginia (+20,300) saw the largest gains in employment. The most jobs were lost in New Mexico (1,700), South Dakota (-800), Idaho (-200), Montana (-100), and Nebraska (-100).

Nevada recorded the nation's highest unemployment rate, 14.0 percent, a record-high for the Silver State. This was the first time since April 2006 that a state other than Michigan registered the highest unemployment rate. North Dakota continued to report the lowest rate at 3.6 percent.
http://www.examiner.com/x-33202-Newark- ... -37-states

Teacher pension funds face massive cuts and vampire banksters
http://dailycensored.com/2010/06/22/tea ... ensored%29

Insurers Raise Individual Health Premiums an Average 20%, Kaiser Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... -says.html

(Reuters) - Chinese state-owned banks are aggressively buying dollars for the yuan on Tuesday, traders said, but it was not clear if the buying was due to Chinese central bank intervention to keep the yuan stable.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65L0IO20100622

MBA: Mortgage Purchase Applications Decrease in Weekly Survey
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

AIA: Architecture Billings Index declines in May
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Maywood, California Fires all Employees, Becomes a 100% Contracted City
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

Getting a Grip on Reality - Reflation Dead in the Water
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

FDIC Holds off Raising Bank Insurance Premiums, Expects Bank Failures to Peak in 2010
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

POLITICS/WAR:

There Will Be War
http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/21/iran-n ... hlili.html

Israeli defense ministry announces spy satellite launch
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0622/israel ... te-launch/

Military suicides remain high, especially among reservists
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/22/20 ... z0rfy24bYw

Blackwater deal puts officials on hot seat
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk ... s=spy-talk

G20 Brings The Green Zone To Toronto
http://disquietreservations.blogspot.co ... ronto.html

HEALTH:

New doctors linked to unnecessary deaths, especially in July
http://www.naturalnews.com/029046_doctors_deaths.html

GENERAL:

“WE ARE WINNING THE WAR ON DRUGS” WAS A LIE
http://dailycensored.com/2010/06/22/we- ... ensored%29

An open letter to President Obama from Jon Voight
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... on-voight/

Freedom Of Speech Is Dead!
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... ch-is-dead

Senators warn Obama: 'No amnesty by presidential fiat' - White House rumored to be planning stay of deportation for millions of illegals
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=169837

Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/22/me ... -parkland/

AZ Cops Threatened by Drug Cartel Snipers at Border
http://www.breitbart.tv/az-cops-threate ... at-border/

EARTH:

Severe drought threatens Thailand's rice harvest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10366821.stm

Shakers Are Piling Up
http://standeyo.com/NEWS/10_Earth_Chang ... -2010.html

Judge who nixed Gulf drilling ban has oil, gas investments
http://www.brandonsun.com/world/breakin ... html?thx=y

Louisiana Police Pull Over Activist at Behest of BP
http://motherjones.com/rights-stuff/201 ... p-activist#

BP 'informed of leak' by worker weeks before oil spill
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... spill.html

Oil spill containment efforts could be putting strain on damaged well
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... forts.html

Say Goodbye to the Gulf Seafood Industry
http://blog.friendseat.com/effects-bp-o ... -industry/

Could Gulf Oil Leak Lead to Methane-Bubble Tsunami? BP Responds
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/21 ... -responds/

Gulf spill plays havoc with real estate
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... le1612385/

Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his holding in the company one month before a well on the Deepwater Horizon rig burst, causing an environmental disaster.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... spill.html

Goldman Sachs beat oil spill debacle with BP shares sell-off
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard- ... debacle.do

Former Shell exec predicts blackouts, gas lines
http://energyandenvironmentblog.dallasn ... s-bla.html

....Closing thoughts for this morning. Russia will survive the worldwide economic collapse better than the US thus catapulting them to an enhanced ability to respond and survive. Why? 51% of Russia's total agricultural output is provided by a decentralized structure of small (1/6 acre) farms (gardens) called dachas that are maintained by urban Russians....

Soil: The Foundation of Civilization
http://proliberty.com/observer//20090606.htm

THE SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FOOD GARDENING IN THE VLADIMIR REGION OF RUSSIA
http://edt.missouri.edu/Spring2008/Diss ... search.pdf

UPDATE:

New-home sales plunge 33 pct with tax credits gone
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_new_home_sales

New home join the existing home sales double dip brigade, and plunge by an unprecedented 32.7%, nearly double the expected -18.7, compared to a previous reading of 14.7%. The government succeeded in making a mockery of this data series with all its ridiculous stimuli, and now we are officially in a housing double dip absent another massive stimulus bill. The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2010 was $200,900, lowest since December 2003, and a 9.6% drop YoY.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/new-ho ... double-dip

NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MAY 2010
http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf

The previous record low for the month of May was 34 thousand in 2009; the record high was 120 thousand in May 2005. Months of supply increased to 8.5 in May from 5.8 April. The all time record was 12.4 months of supply in January 2009. Since the sales rate declined sharply, the months of supply increased - this is still very high (less than 6 months supply is normal).
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Update On 93L/Provisional Tropical Storm Alex: "Less Than 20% Chance Of Becoming A Hurricane"
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/update ... -hurricane

Mexicans Plotted to Blow Up Dam Kill 10000s Americans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6E94oHw ... r_embedded

Toxic Rain Falls in Louisiana
http://www.infowars.com/toxic-rain-falls-in-louisiana/

Indian Children Blinded, Crippled By Fluoride In Water
http://www.infowars.com/indian-children ... -in-water/

Political Mischaracterization of Fluoridation Opposition Dismays Scientists
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 17849.html

As BP Works Through Backlog, Cleanup Worker Illness Stats Triple Since Prior Report
http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item ... port#15380

Breaking: General Stanley McChrystal tenders his resignation
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyh ... signation/

Iran, BP and the CIA
http://www.counterpunch.org/wittner06222010.html

RNC staffer fired in sex scandal paid $100,000 to ‘keep quiet’
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0623/rnc-st ... eep-quiet/

Financial Crisis Conducive to Instability of Asia's Currency Markets: South Korea Imposes Currency Controls
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19857

Obama Administration Keeping Blackwater Armed and Dangerous in Afghanistan
http://www.thenation.com/blog/36444/oba ... fghanistan

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange emerges from hiding, next big leak to be of the ‘calibre’ of publishing information about the way the top secret Echelon system had been used
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/06/ ... Unknown%29

"Dying Detroit":: The Impacts of Globalization. Social Decay and Destruction of an Entire Urban Area
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19856

Big Oil Insider: Oil is as plentiful as water
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623726

Amid crises, Obama declares war -- on Arizona
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polit ... 39529.html
Recovery? WHERE?

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Purchases of new homes in the U.S. fell in May to a record low as a tax credit expired, showing the market remains dependent on government support.

The entire economy is dependent on government support.

But the government has no money. It is in fact borrowing nearly as much as it takes in via taxes.

If you made $20,000 a year, and borrowed another $20,000, for how long would your credit card company allow that to continue?

Why does the American Public continue to lap up this crap from CNBS and other media, along with the White House and The Fed?

Can you not figure out what would happen to you if you tried to run your personal family budget the way the government does?

"Quantitative Easing", "Easy Money", "Zero down mortgages" and all the rest - it is all a scam designed to impoverish you by stripping you of every asset you have now and as much of your future earnings as they can get you to sign away.

Housing, education, consumer credit, all of it. A scam. Every bit of it. Top to bottom.
http://market-ticker.org/archives/2442- ... WHERE.html
Bold and Underline mine
RPT-Commodity assets under management fall in May - Barclays

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Global commodity assets under management fell to $291 billion in May from $294 billion in April, although inflows reached the second highest on record at $8.6 billion, according to Barclays Capital.

The bank said the fall in total assets under management or AUM was entirely due to price falls, with inflows increasing due to the resurgence of investor interest in gold exchange traded products (ETPs).

"Indeed, without the contribution of precious metals flows at over $5 bln, total flows to all investor products in May would have totalled $3 bln, the second-lowest flow level for this year," said Barclays.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE65M0S620100623

......Is that the DEFLATION bell I hear ringing???

Here comes to dumbest news of the day - the New York State Comptroller, having forgotten that risk follows return courtesy of Bernanke and Obama's Global Put, has announced that the New York State Pension Fund will sue BP for the loss in BP shares. This is almost certain to lead to a massive surge in the troubled company's shares. According to recent 13F reports, the New York State Common Fund held 11 million shares of BP, at a end of Q1 value of $192 million. It is fair to say this value has been cut in half by now. If the NY fund is willing to sue a firm after it has lost about $100 million on a soured investment, things at the pension fund must be beyond bad.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ny-sta ... rop-shares

Deepwater Horizon: The Worst-Case Scenario
http://www.countercurrents.org/heinberg220610.htm

FTR #711 Interview (#1) with Russ Baker, Author of “Family of Secrets”
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ ... cord%27%29
Iran on war alert over "US and Israeli concentrations" in Azerbaijan

In a rare move, Iran has declared a state of war on its northwestern border, debkafile's military and Iranian sources report. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps men and equipment units are being massed in the Caspian Sea region against what Tehran claims are US and Israeli forces concentrated on army and air bases in Azerbaijan ready to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
The announcement came on Tuesday, June 22 from Brig.-Gen Mehdi Moini of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), commander of the forces tasked with "repelling" this American-Israeli offensive. He said: "The mobilization is due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border," adding, "Reinforcements are being dispatched to West Azerbaijan Province because some western countries are fueling ethnic conflicts to destabilize the situation in the region."

In the past, Iranian officials have spoken of US and Israel attacks in general terms. debkafile's Iranian sources note that this is the first time that a specific location was mentioned and large reinforcements dispatched to give the threat substance.
http://www.debka.com/article/8868/

Gilani: Pakistan 'Not Bound' by US Sanctions on Iran
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libra ... -voa03.htm

Iran warns Russia over failure to deliver S-300 missile systems
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100622/159535120.html

Remains of 72 people found at World Trade Center site
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -site.html

How the ultimate BP Gulf disaster could kill millions
http://www.helium.com/items/1864136-how ... l-millions
SSGN Force Reaches Historic Milestone

BANGOR, Wash. (NNS) -- The Submarine Force announced it has achieved another first with all four guided-missile submarines (SSGN) deployed for the first time simultaneously June 10.

Although the West Coast SSGNs, USS Ohio (SSGN 726) and USS Michigan (SSGN 727), and East Coast SSGNs, USS Florida (SSGN 728) and USS Georgia (SSGN 729), have previously been underway at the same time, this milestone marks the first time all four SSGNs have been forward deployed away from their homeports.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=53975

From Hope To Barely Holding On
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north858.html

Obama seeks new drill ban as oil still spews
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN141 ... ws&sp=true

Haiti Remains In Rubble, Rebuilding Process Stalled
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/37898/

Iran must respond: Brazil
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 44663.html

General Stanley McChrystal's White House showdown - live
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard ... house-live

The Biggest Drug Addict in the World
http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=7282.5839.0.0

Why China’s Currency Announcement is Hokum
http://robertreich.org/post/722610682/w ... t-is-hokum
CONCLUSION

The IMF does not have the capacity to bail-out Britain. In an extreme case, it might provide standby arrangements of US $30-40 billion a year for three years. Such amounts are small in relation to British fiscal deficits of US $240 billion per annum. Of course, it will be argued that, even in the case of an IMF bail-out, there will be no need for the IMF to totally fund UK borrowing. It is argued that once the IMF commits money and insists on a proper deficit and debt reduction programme, private international investors will fund the bulk of the necessary UK borrowing. That may, or may not, happen. It is a matter of confidence.

Without prospect of significant financing from the IMF, the politicians cannot avoid immediate and severe reductions in public spending. There is no risk of a British default on existing debt but, if these reductions do not happen, access to further funding may evaporate forcing an overnight reduction in spending so that it is covered by revenue.

Anthony Scholefield
http://www.britsattheirbest.com/003612.php

Here Comes the “Bathtub” Economy - In the last three years, the private sector has flipped from spending 4% of GDP to saving 7%, a massive deflationary swing. The net effect of this sobering scenario is to keep unemployment stuck around 10% and interest rates at bargain basement levels until 2012.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/here-c ... 9D-economy
Commie Watch, Updated

A few words from comrade Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party USA, as spoken at the CPUSA's 29th National Convention June 3, 2010.

"What a difference between now and five years ago when we convened in Chicago! At that time, a Puerto Rican woman raised in the South Bronx didn't sit on the Supreme Court. Then the president didn't call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Millions had no health care... Global warming wasn't on the White House agenda... And, an African American wasn't president. Now an African American is president, and much else has changed as we convene our 29th convention...

"[T]he long night of rule by the most reactionary groups on the political spectrum has ended...we contributed to the historic victory in 2008...

"In hindsight, I overstated the nature of the election victory... A decisive defeat of the right - signified by larger Democratic majorities... will profoundly alter the political landscape...

"Others (teabaggers and all) are captured by lies, half-truths, and hate-filled rhetoric steeped in a subtext of racism...

"Arizona's draconian and unconstitutional immigration law...Florida's governor [Charlie Crist] vetoed a rightwing-inspired overhaul of public education... The campaign for jobs and against Wall St. initiated by the AFL-CIO... The near-victories by Rick Nagin and Rudy Lozano in recent election campaigns are a sign of the times...

"You could easily say there was one mood before the health care bill passed and another mood afterwards. In fact, viewing the struggle through a dialectical lens, the bill's passage was not only a victory on its own terms, but it also changed the larger political dynamics of Washington and the country in a positive way...

"Yes we can!...

"For more than a year, the main issue that captured our energy and the energy of millions of others was health care reform. With the signing of a health care bill, our attention is shifting to job creation... It is urgent to win immediate legislative battles - unemployment compensation, the Harkin education jobs bill, the Miller Local Jobs for America bill, the Murray bill to help veterans find jobs, etc....

"The other key arena is the Congressional elections this fall... It's pretty clear that if the Democrats lose their majorities in Congress both the president and the broader people's coalition will be weakened...

Only an incredible grassroots effort... will turn back rightwing extremism and increase the Democratic majority in both chambers in Congress. Any less than that is playing with fire... We will join with the broader movement, including new formations like Organizing for America and MoveOn...

"I would argue that a relationship to the Democratic Party at this stage of struggle is a strategic necessity and later on probably a tactical requirement... In 2008, there was no other way to defeat the right without such a relationship. The same could be said about the health care struggle...

"[T]he Republican Party, which has turned into an instrument of unabashed racism - not to mention militarist, obstructionist, anti-working class, anti-immigrant, anti-women, homophobic, anti-democratic, anti-scientific, and so forth...

"Let's be blunt: there is no progressive alternative [to President Obama]. If the president loses in 2012, we will lose too, and the country will once again be in the hands of rightwing extremism. There is no option to the left of President Obama...

"In my view, President Obama is a reformer... whose agenda creates space for the broader people's movement to deepen and extend the reform process in a non-revolutionary period...

"When our movement is on the level of the popular upsurge of the 1930s and 1960s, we will be in a better position to say if his views are elastic enough to accommodate more deep-going change, as Roosevelt and Johnson did..."
..........
Just to recap, the Communist Party USA is in favor of

* President Obama, his win in 2008 (which the CPUSA takes some credit for) and his reelection in 2012.
* A Democrat majority in both houses of Congress.
* Charlie Crist, the AFL-CIO, Rick Nagin, Rudy Lozano, Organizing for America and MoveOn.
* ObamaCare, unemployment compensation, the Harkin education jobs bill, the Miller Local Jobs for America bill, the Murray bill.
* FDR and LBJ.

On the other hand, the CPUSA is against

* The Republican Party.
* The Tea Party movement.
* Arizona's immigration law.
* And, of course, free markets and limited government.

I know; it is so gauche to say "communist." But it is just kind of tough to report on the Communist Party USA without using that word. Please forgive my social awkwardness.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/201 ... dated.html

It's Raining OIL ( and Probably Corexit 9500 Dispersant ) on Louisiana Residents
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nRQNKuYUfg

IT'S ALL IN THE NAME CHANGE
http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2010/06/ ... hange.html

Insurance: "WSI ups 2010 hurricane forecast to 20 named storms" (am I bid 21?) and Sea Surface Temerature Anomaly Map
http://climateerinvest.blogspot.com/201 ... icane.html

Obama Administration OKs $1.5bn Hardest-Hit Mortgage Relief Fund Plans
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/06/23/o ... fund-plans

May New home sales lowest since at least 1963
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/06/ma ... Picture%29

.....Aren't interest rates still at near record lows????

Say hello to my little friend DEFLATION!!!

Side note: Isn't Utah interesting???

Naked woman steals cars, leads officers on chase
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=11276905

UPDATE 2:

Something Broke: Containment Cap Removed From BP Oil Leak After Problems Encountered; Massive Increase In Spill Rate
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/someth ... sive-incre

Live Feeds
http://mxl.fi/bpfeeds/
BP's containment cap over well removed

(CNN) -- BP's containment cap over a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well was removed Wednesday after a robotic vehicle apparently bumped into a cap vent and closed it, raising the possibility of hydrates forming, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's response manager.

Allen also said that two oil recovery workers in the Gulf of Mexico have died. One died in a swimming accident; the other was an operator of a boat, he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/23/gulf.o ... tml?hpt=T2
Bold and Underline mine

.....Swimming accident???
BP yanks containment cap after problem, oil flows unimpeded into the Gulf

AP WIRE BREAKING: "The Coast Guard says BP has been forced to remove a cap that was containing some of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

"Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says an underwater robot bumped into the venting system. That sent gas rising through vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming in the cap.

"Allen says the cap has been removed and crews are checking to see if crystals have formed before putting it back on. In the meantime, a different system is still burning oil on the surface. Before the problem with the containment cap, it had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in the previous 24 hours. Another 438,000 gallons was burned.

The current worst-case estimate of what's spewing into the Gulf is about 2.5 million gallons a day.

BP has pulled the containment cap off the drill site in the Gulf, and now oil is flowing at a faster rate than before.

Developing.............
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0623/bp-yan ... eded-gulf/

....gearing up for that hurricane next week!!!

Here's view from the sky...
http://www.n2yo.com/hurricane/

Oil gushing at spill site after vent damaged - Cap removed after sub hits vent; 2 cleanup workers die in separate events
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37841204/ns ... n_the_gulf

Florida Gulf Oil Spill: Plans to Evacuate Tampa Bay Area Are In Place
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/23 ... -in-place/

Operation “Swift Fox” – Gulf Coast Evacuation to go live soon
http://labvirus.wordpress.com/2010/06/1 ... live-soon/
VENICE, La., June 23 (UPI) -- A tropical wave in the Caribbean could move into the Gulf of Mexico carrying potentially more bad news for oil cleanup efforts, forecasters say.

"We're going to have to evacuate the gulf states," Matt Simmons, founder of investment oil firm Simmons and Co., direly predicted in a Washington Post article published Wednesday. "Can you imagine evacuating 20 million people? ... This story is 80 times worse than I thought."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/06/ ... 277308800/

OPERATION DEADLY TIDE: POSSIBLE GULF EVACUATION
http://surfacereflections.wordpress.com ... vacuation/

Update – Hawk – Must listen!
http://theintelhub.com/2010/05/27/updat ... st-listen/

EXTREME ALERT — Gulf Coast Evacuation Contingency Plans Soon to Go Operational
http://gazbom.blogspot.com/2010/06/extr ... ation.html

....well should see pretty quick whether these guys are smoking crack or if they are for real....of course at the end of the day its all just games....

Forget ‘Guitar Hero’: FEMA wants you to play ‘Disaster Hero’ in upcoming emergency response game
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/23/forge ... onse-game/

Health Risks from Oil Spill: "Some of the Most Toxic Chemicals that We Know" , "Every Place Can be Ground Zero", CDC Advises "Everyone" to Avoid Oil
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/06/ ... me-of.html
Reports: IAF Landed at Saudi Base, US Troops near Iran Border

The Israeli Air Force recently unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabia base, a semi-official Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday, while a large American force has massed in Azerbaijan, which is on the northwest border of Iran.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138231

Israel Vows To Tighten Gaza Blockade – U.S. Media Reports Blockade Eased
http://www.infowars.com/israel-vows-to- ... ade-eased/

$38 Billion 5 Year Comes At 1.995% High Yield, 2.58 Bid To Cover
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/38-bil ... -bid-cover

Obama Has Relieved Gen. McChrystal Of His Command - At least according to NBC News, quoting US Sources. According to AP, he will be replaced by Petraeus. The teleprompter's appearance in 5 minutes should confirm or deny.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/obama- ... is-command
Another volcanic eruption in Iceland?

In late May, the president of Iceland, Ólafur Grímsson, warned other European governments "that a significant eruption at the [Katla] volcano is close." He added "we have prepared; it is high time for European governments and airline authorities all over Europe and the world to start planning for the eventual Katla eruption."

If Katla explodes again anytime soon with a similar magnitude, MSB warns, it will have a “significant impact on today’s world. Regardless of the scale, air travel will be severely impacted, particularly in Europe, which will ripple down through the economies of the world.”

MSB also stated that historically, Katla erupts following the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.

“Katla’s volcanic eruptions have ranged in duration from 13 days to as long as 120 days, while the last three Katla eruptions have been between 20 and 28 days,” it said.

A potential eruption at Katla could dwarf the financial damage caused by the April eruption, but would be impossible to calculate.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/30306/2 ... rlines.htm
Portuguese Bank Borrowings From ECB More Than Double In May, Hit All Time Record of €35.8 Billion - Earlier, we pointed out the abysmal results of the most recent 5 Year Portuguese auction, which came in at a whopping 4.657%, nearly 1% higher than the last such auction from just a month ago, which then closed at 3.7%. Alas, the deteriorating funding environment in Portugal is not a fluke - according to the Bank of Portugal, bank borrowings from the ECB surged in the past month, and doubled from €17.7 billion to €35.8 billion in May. As Steven Major from HSBC said, quoted by the FT: "These yields are approaching that magic number of 5 per cent that is likely to be charged by the European stability fund. If the yields keep going up at this rate, then they will be paying much more than 5 per cent next month, which is arguably unsustainable." And confirming the non rose-colored glasses reality was another banker who said: "These yields are not sustainable. Portugal will have to access the emergency stability fund if they continue to rise at this rate." Elsewhere, Greece continue to be bankrupt.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/portug ... 58-billion

Absence of sunspots make scientists wonder if they're seeing a calm before a storm of energy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 4.html?g=0

....interesting timing on this little tidbit.....after my Russian piece above...

Is America Destined to Starve? by USARMYGUYRETIRED
http://usarmyguyretired.com/wordpress/?p=308

Something Is Brewing Around Iran
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/current-e ... valBlog%29

.....If you are a gold lover....this one's for you!

In Gold We Trust
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... 20GOLD.PDF

.....now that's out of the way let's talk clear and present DEFLATION danger....here's my closer for the day!
What's Ben Gonna Do?

Every day the deflation story gets stronger. Almost all of the numbers in the US are pointing in that direction. A slowdown in the EU is a sure thing. Japan is going nowhere. China is a question mark, but even if they do continue growing it will not result in enough Eco. Juice to offset the global deflationary forces.

I was anticipating a slowdown in the 4th Q. It is now looking more likely that we will fall of a cliff starting July 1st. Extended benefits will be ending. Most states start a new fiscal year and they are all dead dead dead on revenue. Any benefit we got from the census will be in reverse gear. By August 1st approximately 1mm temporary workers will again be out of a job. Housing is falling off a cliff.

The market sees this. The ten-year is at an incredible 3.1%. The last few days of trading in gold has a smell of deflation as well.

Bernanke must be beside himself. He bet the farm to save the economy in 2009. He has done things that no other Fed head as ever contemplated. As betting goes, he is “all in” on this one. He bet the economy, our future solvency and his reputation. In my opinion there is no way he is going to throw in the towel and accept that deflation is inevitable.

Ben spelled out what he would do in the “unlikely” event that deflation became a real threat in his famous 2002 “Helicopter” speech. The full speech is here. This speech has been hashed many times before. Given the news of late it is worth relooking at what Ben had to say. Some excerpts:

Under a fiat money system, a government should always be able to generate increased nominal spending and inflation, even when the short-term nominal interest rate is at zero.


Well Ben, we have had ZIRP for two years now. It has made a difference. But zero interest rates have just bought time, not a recovery.

The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.


Ben has been running that printing press. QE created $1.75t. It has not had a lasting benefit.

The Fed could stimulate spending by lowering rates further out along the Treasury term structure. There are at least two ways of bringing down longer-term rates:
(I) Fed could commit to holding the overnight rate at zero for some specified period.
(II) A more direct method, which I personally prefer, would be for the Fed to begin announcing explicit ceilings for yields on longer-maturity Treasury debt. The Fed could enforce these interest-rate ceilings by committing to make unlimited purchases of securities.


Ben has done (I). As of yet we have not seen (II). For me it is scary that this is his “favorite” approach. That makes this one a sure thing if evidence mounts that we are rolling over. But this does not accomplish much in today’s markets. The 2-year is at 75bp. What is Bernanke going to do? Push that to zero also? He might.

The Fed could also attempt to cap yields of Treasury securities at still longer maturities, say three to six years.


Why stop at 6 years Ben? To make a dent he would have to have the 10-year at 1%. Is that what he has in mind? I think it is a real possibility.

An option would be for the Fed to use its existing authority to operate in the markets for agency debt.


We have done that already in a biblical manner. $1.25 trillion. Three months after the program ended the housing market is falling off a cliff. I would not be surprised if Ben re-established this program. Buying another $1 trillion would not accomplish anything but make the primary dealers rich. But a desperate Ben would do this again in a NY minute.

The Fed might next consider attempting to influence directly the yields on privately issued securities.


Oh boy, this is the beginning of the end. Ben would buy corporate debt. GE would be high on the list; the rest of corporate America would follow. Ben could buy BP bonds. That would solve our problems, wouldn’t it?

The Fed might make 90-day or 180-day zero-interest loans to banks.


Lights out when this happens. Ben will stop at nothing. This option is not far from reality. That said, if this happens the public backlash is going to be vicious.

The Fed has the authority to buy foreign government debt. Potentially, this class of assets offers huge scope for Fed operations, as the quantity of foreign assets eligible for purchase by the Fed is several times the stock of U.S. government debt.


The “nuclear option” is to buy up the sovereign debts of other countries. This would extend QE globally. In a way we just did this with the opening of $100b in swaps lines to the European central banks. This gives them the wherewithal to buy their debt. The ultimate is when the Fed starts doing it for their own account. I doubt this option is realistic. It would require the approval of the other CB’s. That said, should you see this headline buy lots of canned food and rice. If this step is implemented bread lines will follow.

It's worth noting that there have been times when exchange rate policy has been an effective weapon against deflation.


In this case the Fed would attempt to devalue the dollar in order achieve its goals. This of course would just destabilize everything else in the world and would insure a downward spiral in economic activity.

Most of the things Ben spoke of back in 2002 have already been tried (or are now in place) and have not worked. The remaining options do not appear to have much chance of working either. But that does not mean that we will not see these steps.

Ben has already destroyed savers. This is the consequence of his steps. It was not his goal, but he understood fully that savings would have to be penalized. He is in so deep at this point that I believe he will consider anything to protect his reputation in history. The one thing that he did not bring up in the 2002 speech was negative interest rates. While this option sounds ridiculous it can’t be excluded as a possibility. The SF Fed had a paper on this recently.

John Hilsenrath at the WSJ also put the idea of negative interest rates on the table in a recent piece. I think the article was from Ben’s lips, into John’s ear and then onto the front page of the Journal. If Ben has something to say on this matter he should address us all. He should not use a beard to influence public/market thinking.

How could something as crazy as negative interest rates work? Consider this from none other that Harvard economist Greg Mankiw. He had this to say on the subject back in March of 2009:

I can now state the proposed solution: Reduce the return to holding money below zero. Imagine that the Fed were to announce that it would pick a digit from 0 to 9 out of a hat. All currency with a serial number ending in that digit would no longer be legal tender. Suddenly, the expected return to holding currency would become negative 10 percent.


This bit of lunacy comes from one of our best and brightest economists. Should this (or any other negative % plan) be implemented it would mean that a depression is just a few months away. The last desperate acts would insure that we would fall into a very big hole. We will hear more on these “emergency” measures in the coming months. Should any of them come to pass, be guided accordingly. These steps will only agonize what must come.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/whats-ben-gonna-do

.....I've covered this in the Deflation/Inflation thread awhile back. We are hitting the fork in the road where they will not be able to mask the deflation. They must either truly inflate or show the cards. The article above does a nice job of succinctly laying out the economic cliffhangers ahead.

The problem with the article above is the general perception that Bernanke is playing a straight up game. That's preposterous without even diving into the conspiratorial view of history. He's lied to us how many times now??? He's right up there with Obama in that regard.

Inflation could happen....black helicopters could appear and drop bag fulls of DEBT FREE money in people's backyards. The guv could kick in $100k tax rebates. Congress could grab the bull by the horns and start printing loads of debt free money. Until either of those things happen (or something similar)....I'm not buying the inflation/hyperinflation scenario.

I fully expect the gloves to come off shortly (appearing to acquiesce to the public's demands for fiscal responsibility and accountability) with big cuts in spending. Similar to what's currently happening in the UK.

One good measuring stick is if Congress truly does put the stops to the unemployment extensions. The resulting riots will give them another opportunity (crisis management) to give in to state's demands to step in with military order and control. This opportunity would be further enhanced if taken in step with another war action effort (Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, etc....which are all on the table right now with Iran being the hottest)......and taken in lock step with environmental crackdown on the Gulf coast (evacuation efforts, martial law, etc.) which is hot and getting hotter by the day.

JMO fwiw.....

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

EARTH:

Cap back after robot nudge stalls oil collection
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_ ... _oil_spill
BP / Gulf Oil Spill - ASAR Image June 22, 2010 - The Power of Radar

Here's a great example of why radar is the go-to tool for mapping and monitoring oil pollution (and why I think the US needs to launch a civilian radar imaging satellite). The MODIS/Aqua satellite image taken yesterday afternoon is mostly obscured by heavy clouds over the area of the ongoing BP spill. But an Envisat/ASAR radar image taken the same day clearly shows oil slicks and sheen spread across an area of 26,053 square miles.
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

BP’s Oil Hits Florida Panhandle
http://www.infowars.com/bps-oil-hits-florida-panhandle/

.....If the oil hits the desalinization plant and nuclear power plant.....the upper Florida peninsula will be without power and fresh water for ???? long....

Oil soaks miles of Pensacola Beach
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/23/pe ... tml?hpt=T2

Federal Gov't Halts Sand Berm Dredging
http://www.wdsu.com/news/23997498/detail.html

B.P. Worker Warns Of Catastrophe In Alaska!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dLSv-KG ... r_embedded

NYT: BP Moving Ahead With Offshore Alaska Rig Despite Moratorium
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.c ... ckraker%29

Methane in Gulf "As much as 1 million times the normal level": U.S. scientist
http://www.roguegovernment.com/index.php?news_id=21784

Gulf oil spill: Boat captain, despondent over spill, commits suicide
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greensp ... icide.html

lights and sound in the sky before canada earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzNoNw-n ... r_embedded
The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report: 16 June-22 June 2010

New Activity/Unrest: | Etna, Sicily (Italy) | Gorely, Southern Kamchatka (Russia) | Ioto [Iwo-jima], Volcano Islands (Japan) | Nevado del Huila, Colombia | Pacaya, Guatemala | Tiatia, Kunashir Island | Tungurahua, Ecuador | Ulawun, New Britain

Ongoing Activity: | Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia) | Dukono, Halmahera | Gaua, Banks Islands (SW Pacific) | Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka (Russia) | Kilauea, Hawaii (USA) | Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka (Russia) | Sakura-jima, Kyushu | Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia) | Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/ ... 00616#etna

1 dead, 3 missing in Guatemala volcano eruption - The government says it is evacuating 1,600 people from near the volcano and it has shut down the city's international airport. President Alvaro Colom has decreed a "state of calamity."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9FVT1U80

Magnitude 6.1 - NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10xxam.php

...CELIA STRENGTHENS TO A MAJOR HURRICANE AGAIN ...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1434.shtml

14,000-acre Arizona wildfire continues to burn
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/23/arizon ... tml?hpt=T2

Warnings dropped after suspected tornado touches down in Midland
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... in-midland

I give 93L a 50% chance of eventually becoming Tropical Storm Alex, but the odds of it eventually becoming a hurricane have lessened to 10%. None of the computer models is calling for 93L to become a hurricane. - Extreme heat wave sets all-time high temperature records in Africa and Middle East...We've now had six countries in Asia and Africa that have beaten their all-time hottest temperature record during the past two months.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1516

.....contrasted with

Hurricane Darby
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... &src=nhrss

FINANCE/ECONOMY:

Mortgage rates sink to lowest level on record
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_mortgage_rates

New home sales plummet to record low
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/23/real_es ... ome_sales/

Sales of U.S. New Houses Plunge to Lowest Level on Record
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... ecord.html

Single-family home sales tumbled to a 300,000 unit annual rate, the lowest level since the series started in 1963, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-home- ... 2.html?x=0

Housing Double Dip Accelerates As Existing Home Sales Plunge -2.2% In May Versus 6.0% Consensus, Down From 8% In April
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/housin ... us-down-8-

Housing sales decrease in May, dashing hopes of quick recovery
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... s_business
The jury is in on the post-tax credit housing market: transactions have evaporated.
....this is what is known as the Debt Saturation Point.....we have the lowest mortgage rates in history (cheap debt) yet no one is borrowing....Why? debt levels have reached the point where we are unable to service the debt we have let alone take on new debt.....and in reality cash out does not match cash in (insolvency).

In Q4 of 2009 it took 5 dollars of debt to generate 20 cents of GDP. We have now hit the Debt Saturation Point (Q1 2010) so each additional dollar of debt actually reduces GDP. Putting it in a personal analogy it goes like this - at your personal income level lets say you can service $100k of debt.....once you go past $100k of debt you are unable to service the debt you have at your current income level. Each additional dollar of debt you borrow beyond that point only buries you further and hastens the need for bankruptcy (insolvency & liquidation). The debt saturation point is not static as the cost of debt fluctuates as well as the income aspect. Lower interest rates (the cost of debt) and you raise the debt saturation point. Lower income levels and you lower the debt saturation point. Delay the payment of debt (balloon payments, option ARMs, bond rollovers, etc.) and you delay the debt saturation point....or date of insolvency.

The other major hurdle is the function of money in our system. Since new money is created by debt and the money for interest costs is never created our society is dependent....in fact, absolutely reliant on greater and greater amounts of debt (money) being introduced into the system.....and with compounded interest costs - we need compounded increases in debt. When the rate of new money creation (new debt) slows down then we enter a deflationary spiral. If the velocity of money (rate at which money changes hands) slows down then we effectively enter a deflationary spiral. When the debt saturation point is reached then we enter a hyper-deflationary part of the spiral.

Inflation or better yet hyperinflation come about when supply/production has fallen well below the level of demand....OR....as the hyperinflationistas continue to rant about.....the general perception of the value of the money falls - people see it as just paper instead of money.

Now for some road signs:

Should money suddenly become more plentiful (must be government originated since the people have quit borrowing) which would be seen in terms of massive tax rebates, explosion in government jobs, explosion in government pay, or best yet, money actually being dropped from helicopters.......then gear up for inflation/hyper-inflation. In terms of perception, should people stop accepting your currency (or debt) in return for products & services then you can expect inflation/hyper-inflation. For example if Walmart starts hiring thousands of assayers......replacing the checkout counter credit card machines with assayer booths.....then gold could get interesting with the speculation/pucker factor going exponential. Of course that sorta defeats the NWO move into getting everyone chipped and moving them to a system of credits. Who knows though....its in the spectrum of possibility.

On the other hand, if job losses continue, taxes increase, interest rates increase, debt accumulation slows down...levels off...or worse yet, decreases.....then gear up for deflation or hyper-deflation. This will first be most apparent in large assets purchases and then trickle down to the nickel and dime stuff. One of the ways it is apparent is in the production vs. demand.

For example if an auto manufacturer is building 3000 cars a month but demand falls to 1000 cars a month (customers have no cash or no more tolerance for the debt)......

either prices come down across the supply chain spectrum (deflation) in order to raise demand causing a downward cycle for everyone in the supply chain,

production falls to 1000 cars a month meaning lots of employees let go who then bring home no pay check adding another phase to the downward cycle,

the company goes bankrupt and quits making cars (insolvency) with all the employees ending up on the street causing another downward cycle,

or the government steps in purchasing the extra 2000 cars a month and storing them in a large warehouse to rust and rot.....of which the cost is then put upon the taxpayers through increased taxes (causing another downward spiral) or the printing of money (flooding the economy with new money through the government outlets for that money and decreasing the value of all of the money in circulation - thereby robbing value from the people who still have money).

The government aspect really opens up a Pandora's box - is the government injection enough to maintain the status quo? enough to cause inflation/hyper-inflation through either a flood of new money or loss of faith in the currency itself? in a different industry thus causing massive shifts in allocation of resources in the economy (really rocking the boat - say from food production to MIC)? simply a delay of the inevitable thereby increasing the depth of the fall?

I don't by any means claim to have all the answers for that box!!! I just keep watching jobs, taxes, product costs, etc....

Coldwell Banker's "Buyer Credit" - In essence, it's a cost-shift of the split of closing costs that would normally be absorbed by the buyer in the transaction, financed by the seller. That is, yet another way of trying to get people who are cash-poor and thus are instantly screwed if there is anything unexpected they need money for after buying the house into homes they almost-certainly cannot actually afford to own - irrespective of their ability to be "shoehorned" into the deal.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/arch ... redit.html

Baltic Dry Index: We haven’t looked at this in quite some time: The BDI, which shows increasing signs of stress.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/06/ba ... Picture%29

Fannie, Freddie Could Cost $389 Billion
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/fan ... ode=A20F-1

Terrifying New Financial Reform Twist Could Put Banks On The Hook For Winding Down Fannie And Freddie
http://www.businessinsider.com/terrifyi ... die-2010-6

US commercial real estate prices down 16.4 per cent versus April 2009, and 41 per cent below the peak in October 2007.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/06 ... tals-weak/
Bank of America Boosts Staff Handling Troubled Loans, as Foreclosures Jump - There's so much chatter from politicians, bureaucrats and economists about this nascent recovery and real estate values ticking higher. If this economy is going to blossom then why the following: Bank of America Boosts Staff Handling Troubled Loans. Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, handles almost 14 million home loans, or about one of every five U.S. mortgages, more than any other U.S. servicer, Desoer said. Payments on 1.4 million loans are more than 60 days late, she said.
http://roseysoutlook.blogspot.com/2010/ ... dling.html

Mortgage Bonds Rise to `Insane' Highs as Refinancing Drops: Credit Markets
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... rkets.html

BUDGET 2010 LIVE: Bloody George wields the axe - Public spending and welfare slashed... and VAT rises to 20%
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/budget/ ... z0rcZ8rgja

Reporting from Sacramento-- After enduring more than a year of unpaid monthly furlough days, state workers could see their pay cut to minimum wage until Sacramento strikes a budget accord this summer, according to a memo from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration sent Wednesday.
http://mobile.latimes.com/inf/infomo;js ... nopaging=1

Harrisburg, Pa., other cities overwhelmed by economic downturn and debt
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03544.html

State budget cuts: across the board, and at cross-purposes
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/s ... adlines%29

State-by-state data: Despite the overall drop in new claims, no states reported a decrease of more than 1,000 for the week ended June 12. Nine states said initial claims rose by more than 1,000. Claims in California rose the most, by 17,572, due to layoffs in the service industry. Claims in Pennsylvania jumped 5,266, which the state attributed to layoffs in the transportation and service sectors. Florida and Texas also saw jobless claims rise last week, ticking up 4,958 and 2,971 respectively.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/24/news/ec ... al_claims/

Since the recession officially began in December 2007, more than 6 million people have lost their jobs through 60,205 mass layoffs.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/ ... cs+Blog%29

Currently there are some 5.29 million people receiving federal “extended” unemployment benefits. Taken together with the latest 4.30 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are 9.60 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.
http://paper-money.blogspot.com/2010/06 ... ed_24.html

Why Unemployment Stays High
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37648

Natural gas consumption continues to drop
http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_ ... sidcon.pdf

Cisco commits $1B in meeting with Russian leader
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100623/ap_ ... 9jb21taXRz

Central Banking in Crisis: Some Twenty Countries on the Verge of Insolvency
http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=9414

....just means they go into receivership....

Deutsche Bank: U.S. Financial Conditions Just Collapsed Back To Crisis Levels
http://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche ... els-2010-6

Obama admin loses bid to keep oil drilling ban
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1416392020100624

War Economy Conducive to Staggering Public Debt: Teachers or Wars, We Can't Fund Both
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19870

One in six Europeans reported that their household has had no money to pay ordinary bills, buy food or other daily consumer items, on at least one occasion in the past year and 20 percent had difficulties in keeping up with household bills and credit commitments. Due to worsened economic situation, about 30 percent of over 25,000 randomly selected people found it harder to cope with the costs of healthcare and one in six was not very or not at all confident of keeping their jobs.
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623722

Albert Edwards Goes All Out: Sees New Recession By End Of Year, Market Collapsing "Like Pack Of Cards"
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/albert ... to+zero%29
“(USA Today) Despite efforts by the IRS to combat scams, thousands of individuals — including nearly 1,300 prison inmates — have defrauded the government of millions of dollars in home buyer credits, Treasury’s inspector general reported Wednesday.

In more wasted money to failed policies, $1.5 billion (a pittance to the trillions stolen by the Wall Street crooks) is now being given to the kings of foreclosure states with California receiving the lion’s share:

“(AP) According to the proposals from state housing finance agencies, the largest recipient of the funding is California, which will get nearly $700 million to assist about 46,000 borrowers.
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/5-ho ... e+SoCal%29

The End of The Great Bailouts is Approaching
http://theinternationalforecaster.com/I ... ter.com%29

Investors Fly Into Municipal Bonds Like Moths to a Flame
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

The Bank of Wal-Mart
http://www.bullionbullscanada.com/index ... Itemid=132

In Detroit, demolition crews are planning to tear down 10,000 residential buildings over the next four years that the city has deemed dangerous. But as old structures are coming down, the city is redefining itself in other ways. An estimated 20 to 30 percent of the city’s lots are vacant, and there is a growing urban agriculture movement that community groups are using to reclaim the city.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/24/d ... t_looks_to

Broke Illinois Department of Corrections releasing, losing violent parolees
http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis ... t-parolees

Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/ ... s-and.html

Second Straight Hungarian Bond Auction Failure As Citi's Willem Buiter Calls For €2 Trillion European Rescue Facility, Ridicules Stress Tests
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/second ... on-rescue-

WAR/RUMORS OF WARS:

Homeland Security to deploy more drones on Mexico border
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0623/deploy ... co-border/

Invasion! Mexican Drug Cartels Are Openly Conducting Military Operations Inside The United States
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... ted-states

Mexico Asks Court To Ban Ariz. Law
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/ ... n-ariz-law
WASHINGTON — Criminal investigators are examining allegations that Afghan security firms have been extorting as much as $4 million a week from contractors paid with U.S. tax dollars and then funneling the spoils to warlords and the Taliban.

If the allegations are true, the U.S. would be unintentionally financing the enemy and undermining international efforts to stabilize the country.

The payments reportedly end up in insurgent hands through a $2.1 billion Pentagon contract to transport food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan. To ensure safe passage through dangerous areas, the trucking companies make payments to local security firms with ties to the Taliban or warlords who control the roads. If the payments aren’t made, the convoys will be attacked, according to a U.S. military document detailing the allegations being examined by investigators.

The document says the companies hired under the Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract may be paying between $2 million and $4 million a week to insurgent groups.
http://trivalleycentral.com/articles/20 ... 292309.txt

...I've been ranting about this for some time now.....how else can they afford to fight us if we don't pay them good????

IDF Chief: We can't let Gaza become an Iranian port
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... bled=false

New hit song for Palestinian children: When we die as martyrs - 'Birds of Paradise' produces song in which children welcome death to regain Palestine.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/internation ... s-1.297731

Some politicians under foreign sway: CSIS
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/0 ... ml?ref=rss

Swedish dock blocks Israeli cargo
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623732

Sea travel stops as Greek austerity protests continue
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623730

ME war tensions mount over Gaza-bound "enemy ships." Hizballah pledges reprisal
http://www.debka.com/article/8869/

Iran's Bushehr NPP to go into operation in September
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libra ... osti01.htm

Moscow Still Hasn't Delivered Air Defense Missiles to Iran
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libra ... -voa02.htm

Deadliest Month for International Troops in Afghanistan
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/as ... 60264.html

HEALTH:

TILT: The illness afflicting workers exposed to BP's oil disaster?
http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/06/ ... aster.html

Health Data Gaps, BP Suspicions Worry U.S. Panelists
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... lists.html

Deadly bat disease is spreading west - A disease killing more than 1 million with a mortality rate close to 100 percent continues to sweep across the country. First detected in New York in 2006, it is now found in 14 states in the East and South, leaving starvation and death in its wake, and is working its way westward.
http://www.physorg.com/news196445774.html

Many in Fort Collins rush to get meningitis vaccines in wake of deaths
http://vactruth.com/2010/06/24/many-in- ... of-deaths/

GENERAL:

Supreme Court weakens key anti-corruption law
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0624/part-e ... eme-court/

Bloomberg, Murdoch team up on immigration battle - Chief executives of several major corporations, including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Disney and News Corp., are joining Mayor Michael Bloomberg to form a coalition advocating for immigration reform — including a path to legal status for all undocumented immigrants now in the United States.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0624/bloomb ... on-battle/

HOLY KYL In 2004 Obama Advocated "Trading" Border Security for Amnesty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMD7rjlH ... r_embedded

Obama Administration Announces Massive Piracy Crackdown
http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Administ ... e18815.htm

Graphic Sex Ed Class Under Fire
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/22/gr ... latestnews

Condom distribution policy starting in elementary school at Provincetown, Mass.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... gle+Reader

Labor Dept. to Extend Gay Benefits to Private Sector
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20 ... index.html

The Fate of the Internet, Decided in a Back Room
http://www.countercurrents.org/karr230610.htm

The Myth of Political Consent
http://www.lewrockwell.com/ostrowski/ostrowski98.1.html

Guest Post: They Keep Stealing - Why Keep Paying?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest- ... eep-paying

OFEQ 9 - the New Israeli Spy Satellite
http://www.defense-update.com/newscast/ ... +Update%29

Northrop Grumman/ATK VENOM Targeting Pod Armed with 7-Round GATR-L Tactical Precision-Guided (Laser-Guided) 2.75″/70mm Hydra Rocket Pod for Military Special Operations (SPECOPS)
http://www.defensereview.com/northrop-g ... s-specops/

Israeli govt. scientists patent the holy grail of sniper scopes - The accurate detection and compensation for the effect of cross winds is the holy grail of sniper scope development. A patent awarded two days ago to the Israeli Government's Soreq Nuclear Research Center describes a system that can do just that.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

Progressive development of Y-man’s home-made slugs [ Part 6 ] - Y-Man, our resident Nigerian shotgunner, continues his series of guest articles about his quest to build the perfect shotgun. Being one of the lucky few in Africa to legally own a gun, he has to fabricate many parts and ammunition himself because supplies of gun parts are so limited.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

Moms with Guns - AmberWatch Alert PSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi13LczG ... r_embedded

UPDATE:

Gassed in the Gulf (Parts I & ll): New Gulf War Syndrome
http://silverbearcafe.com/private/06.10/gassed.html

NOAA Confirms Oil Plumes Are From BP’s Well
http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item ... well#15401

Environmental Devastation In The Gulf Of Mexico: Dolphins Covered In Oil, Sea Turtles Burned Alive And Massive Underwater Dead Zones
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... dead-zones

....check out the videos at the link above of what "used to be" the whitest beaches in America!

Surge replacing pullout? Lawmakers rush to confirm Petraeus anyway
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0624/surge- ... -petraeus/

Cash-strapped North Korea has demanded the United States pay almost $US65 trillion ($75 trillion) in compensation for six decades of hostility.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 936414.htm

Greek bond spreads (over German bonds) have risen recently, near the highs seen before the European policy package was announced in early May. Note: The Atlanta Fed data is one day old. Nemo has links to the current data on the sidebar of his site. The spreads have widened further today: Greece is up sharply to 781 bps today.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

UPDATE 2-Venezuela to nationalize U.S. firm's oil rigs
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2326459720100624

BREAKING: ‘Green’ Energy Company Threatens Economics Professor … with Package of Dismantled Bomb Parts
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/breaking-g ... omb-parts/

Bank of America boosts staff handling troubled loans by 2,000
http://www.bankreorealestate.com/real-e ... -2000.html

By my model the US and Europe are already back in deflation.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

Calvin Coolidge quotes:

Civilization and profit go hand in hand.

Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.

Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.

Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.

Now compared to...
FAQ: Unemployment-Benefits Extension

The Senate looked likely to abandon efforts to extend unemployment benefits after Republicans appeared set to filibuster a bill that also includes aid to states and tax changes. Below are some questions about how this will affect the unemployed and the economy.

What kind of extension is in the legislation?
Earlier this year, Congress approved up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits backed by the federal government — an addition of 73 weeks to the traditional 26 offered by the states. The duration of benefits varies from state-to-state, and this bill wouldn’t extend the maximum beyond 99 weeks. It would allow the those unemployed beyond 26 weeks to continue accessing the current program through the remainder of 2010. The previous extension expired on June 2.

What happens to people currently receiving unemployment?
There are three main levels to unemployment insurance right now: state benefits, federal emergency unemployment compensation and joint state-federal extended benefits. The basic states benefits are usually 26 weeks and are unaffected by the legislation. When that time is up, the EUC program offered benefits in four tiers. Tier 1 (20 weeks) and tier 2 (14 weeks) were available in all states. Tier 3 (13 weeks) and tier 4 (6 weeks) were only available in states with higher unemployment rates, with 48 states and Washington DC qualifying for tier 3 and 32 states allowed to take part in tier 4. When EUC expires, some states offer extended benefits beyond that point. With the expiration of the first congressional extension on June 2, no new tiered EUC benefits were offered. If someone currently receives benefits in one of the tiers, the person will continue to be paid for the duration of the term. So, if you’re in week 15 of tier 1, you will get benefits until you reach reach 20 weeks, but at that point you can’t move on to tier 2. Anyone who has reached the end of a tier’s term since June 2 has been either moved to joint state-federal extended benefits or cut off from receiving benefits. States individually chose whether to offer extended benefits and the duration can be either 13 or 20 weeks. When the legislation was in effect 39 states and Washington DC offered these benefits, now just 15 states offer extended benefits beyond 26 weeks (Find the list of states offering extended benefits here).

How many people will this affect?
Last month, the Labor Department reported that 6.8 million people, or 45% of the unemployed, have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. According to a separate estimate provided by the Labor Department last month, some 900,000 people have already had their benefits expire since June 2, and that number grows larger every week. By the week ending July 10, more than two million people will lose benefits. According to data released today 5.3 million people were receiving some kind of extended benefit. Only those who live in the 15 states with extended benefits, which include hard-hit Michigan and Rhode Island but not other struggling regions such as Nevada, California or Florida, will be eligible for more assistance.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/ ... extension/

Will We Have Inflation, Deflation, or Hyperinflation?
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/06/24/w ... italist%29

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Preparing for flotillas like on eve of war
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 78,00.html

UAE shuts business for trade with Iran
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=179336

Unemployment benefits extension nixed for nearly 1 million
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/24/news/ec ... htm?hpt=T2

Halfway Back to Lehman: New Report Shows Financial Conditions Tightening Sharply
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/ ... g-sharply/

California Senate resolution would urge boycott of Arizona
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/24/198 ... z0rpyJLmwA

Giant hole on Trans-Canada under repair
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/s ... -1006.html

Sinkhole swallows school playground in China
http://itn.co.uk/dca0cb7ffb243f95c052f85d16ab7b4d.html

Scientists find a big drop in the strength of solar magnetic fields
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04042.html

Absence of sunspots make scientists wonder if they're seeing a calm before a storm of energy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04114.html

Whooping cough epidemic in California - Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California, and is on pace to break a 50-year record for infections for the year.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... d=rss.news

FALSE FLAG ALERT! 17 “AFGHANI PAPERCLIP MEMBERS” Go AWOL from Texas Military Base
http://deadlinelive.info/2010/06/24/fal ... tary-base/

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

As they prepare to unload the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) bureaucracy on the unsuspecting, it seems the whole bad loan bagunca (mess) has created a certain “mistrust” between banks, as interbank rates there spike to 4.25%. The nation’s chief auditor is warning of a debt crisis among China’s local gumnuts.
Low Pressure Area Over Honduras Now Has 70% Chance Of Becoming Cyclone, Second Area Over Leeward Islands Monitored

The National Hurricane Center has identified a low pressure area developing over Honduras, which is now expected to become a tropical depression shortly as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula, and has a 70% chance of becoming a full-blown tropical cyclone as it heads into the Gulf of Mexico. And just to keep things real, there is a second storm farther out east, which currently has a 10% chance of becoming a cyclone.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/low-pr ... r-leeward-

Darby and Celia both major hurricanes now
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/s ... -hurri.asp

Update on tropical threat to Gulf oil spill
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/s ... .asp%C2%A0

ECRI Leading Economic Index Plunges At -6.9% Rate, Back To December 2007 Levels When Recession Officially Started
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ecri-l ... ficially-s

Focusing On Crumbling State And Local Budgets
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/focusi ... al-budgets

Where's All the Gold? Start with the Federal Reserve
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/inves ... /19524762/

UPDATE:

Solar Activity
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Featur ... =nhrss-ann

Has the Sun been more active in recent decades, and could it be responsible for some global warming?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/ ... =nhrss-ann

The media volcano is about to erupt
http://www.hindustantimes.com/The-media ... 63188.aspx

G8/G20 Summits Security Map and “Fortress Toronto”
http://publicintelligence.net/g8g20-sum ... s-toronto/

G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article ... est-people

WeAreChange and InfoWars Reporters Banned from Canada
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouqh0kvA ... r_embedded

The First Great Depression: Blow By Blow, From The BIS, And How It Mirrors Our Ongoing Second Great Depression
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/first- ... w-blow-bis

Why 12 is a Scary Number
http://oilprice.com/Finance/Economy/Why ... umber.html

Consumer Spending is Flat, Unemployment is Rising: The Case for a Second Round of Economic Stimulus
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19897

Most Borrowers Would Benefit from Mortgage Refinance, But Can't Qualify: Credit Suisse
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/06/25/m ... ingWire%29

More taxes on the way for NY State
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/new_york/M ... r-NY-State

ATA Truck Tonnage Index declines in May
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

The Q1 real GDP rate was revised down again (third estimate) to 2.7% from the 2nd estimate of 3.0%. Consumer spending was weaker in Q1 than originally estimated. PCE growth (personal consumption expenditures) was revised down to 3.0% in Q1 from the previous estimate of 3.5%.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

ECRI Weekly Leading Indicators at Negative 6.9; How Likely is a Double Dip?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
Lumber Prices Indicate Next Wave Down Underway

As I’ve been saying all along, nothing is solved until the DEBT SATURATION is resolved. Depressions move in 3 waves, A down, B up, C down. The psychology of each wave is different – wave A equals “oh no!” Wave B equals “we’re saved.” And wave C equals real change is forced to occur – no fooling around this time. You can clearly see how the psychology is different now than it was during the plunge in 2008. Instead of “stimulus” the buzz word is “austerity.”

No where else are the A,B,C waves more clear than in the price of lumber. First let’s look at a monthly chart of lumber going back to about 2001.
http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... -down.html
Construction Anemia

It appears that construction supplies from plywood to carpeting to paving and roofing and glass supplies are all experiencing truly anemic production trends.

Even plywood and other wood products that have seen a bit of a spike up in recent months are sitting at levels not seen since the mid-1980s.

With the end of the government’s epic housing stimulus efforts it will be interesting to see how these measures trend but looking at the latest data it’s probably best to lower expectations.
http://paper-money.blogspot.com/2010/06 ... nemia.html

(Reuters) - Global merger and acquisition activity in 2010 is off to its worst start in six years, and with economic uncertainty and a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the second half could be just as disappointing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O0JL20100625

Italian Workers Strike Against Austerity Cuts
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/eu ... 52339.html

Spanish Economic Crisis Threatens to Sink Euro Currency
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/eu ... 00634.html

Alabama State Troopers Moonlighting as BP Security Guards
http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spi ... uards.html

Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers
http://www.infowars.com/obama-can-shut- ... cy-powers/

Report: Israel, US preparing for war with Iran
http://www.infowars.com/report-israel-u ... with-iran/

Iran cancels aid ship to Gaza
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 45721.html

Analysts Say Iran-Russia Relations Worsening
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/eu ... 72974.html

European governments' budget-slashing efforts are expected to cut deep into the Continent's defense spending, widening the gulf between U.S. and European military capabilities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... australian

Controlled media blackout underway as Gulf oil spill crisis ensues
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/25/contr ... is-ensues/

Oil Industry Insider and CFR Member Predicts Gulf Evacuation
http://www.infowars.com/oil-industry-in ... vacuation/

(Reuters) - Billions of dollars and the future of one the world's lushest ecosystems could all ride on one elusive number: the precise amount of oil gushing from the broken BP well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O3C720100625

Gulf Oil Gusher: Danger of Tsunamis From Methane?
http://www.mi2g.com/cgi/mi2g/frameset.p ... 210610.php

A Gulf gale might halt BP oil collection efforts for two weeks
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/25/9 ... p-oil.html

Possible Evacuation Of All Gulf States
http://www.survivalistnews.com/

Colombia still world`s top cocaine producer
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623737

.....CIA hard at work. Building 7 new bases down in Columbia.....Cocaine from Columbia and Heroin from Afghanistan!

Congresswoman Raises Red Flag on Hezbollah-Cartel Nexus on U.S. Border
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06 ... us-border/

....oh sure now Iran is coming through Mexico....now I've heard it all! Expect war very soon!!!

Predator drones begin flights over U.S.-Mexico border
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623742

Drone to Scan Texas-Mexico Border for Illegal Activity
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/24 ... illegal-a/

Obama Administration Planning to Circumvent Congress on Amnesty
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/201 ... nning.html

Source: Administration Weighs Bypassing Congress to Let Illegal Immigrants Stay
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06 ... mmigrants/

Agenda 21 Alert: The Birds & The Bees
http://www.morphcity.com/home/76-the-birds-and-the-bees

The W.H.O. Has Another Plan To Make Us Healthier Through Forced Medicating
http://healthwyze.org/index.php/compone ... ating.html

Kucinich Announces Right to Know Legislation in Wake of Alfalfa Supreme Court Ruling
http://kucinich.house.gov/News/Document ... tID=191609

But according to a report by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, 80 percent of the drugs approved for sale in 2008 had trials in foreign countries, and 78 percent of all subjects who participated in clinical trials were enrolled at foreign sites.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/healt ... tml?ref=us

Kellogg Recalls 28 Million Boxes of Cereal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 48118.html

WACO: Soon to be a major motion picture
http://www.federalobserver.com/2010/06/ ... n-picture/

Navy Laser Destroys Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in a Maritime Environment
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=53705

SOCOM Cancels Mk-16 SCAR
http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/socom ... -scar.html

SIG 751 SAPR get polymer magazines
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

.45-60 Musing: Throat Length, Pressure Curves, and Powder Selection
http://www.barking-moonbat.com/index.ph ... selection/

Russian 60 round Quad Stack 5.45×39mm Magazine
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

Fire and Forget — The Lube, that is…
http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/fire- ... at-is.html

Details of Cold War Intel Pact Released
http://www.military.com/news/article/de ... eased.html

UPDATE 2:

Crisis In Romania: Constitutional Court Votes Pension Cuts Unconstitutional, IMF Loan In Jeopardy, Presidential Palace Stormed, CDS Blows Out
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/crisis ... eopardy-pr

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Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season of 2010 is here. Tropical Storm Alex formed last might from an African tropical wave that plowed through the Caribbean this week. Alex's formation location is a typical one for June tropical storms, and the formation date of June 25 is also a fairly typical date for the first storm of the season to form (we average about one June named storm every two years in the Atlantic.) Heavy rainfall will ramp up through the day in Honduras, Belize, and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, as Alex continues to intensify, and flooding from these heavy rains will be the main concern from Alex today and Sunday. Satellite loops show that Alex's heavy thunderstorm are growing in intensity and areal coverage at a respectable pace. There is an upper-level high pressure system a few hundred miles west of Alex, and the clockwise flow air around this high is bringing upper-level winds out of the northwest of about 10 knots over the storm, contributing to the 10 knots of wind shear observed in this morning's wind shear analysis from the University of Wisconsin's CIMSS group. Sea Surface Temperatures are very warm, 29 - 30°C, and dry air is not a problem for Alex. We currently don't have a Hurricane Hunter aircraft in the storm, so we will have to wait until 2pm this afternoon to get an updated estimate of Alex's surface winds. The latest satellite estimates of Alex's winds at 8am EDT put the storm's strongest winds at 40 mph.

Extreme heat wave in Africa and Asia continues to set all-time high temperature records
A withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal covered continues to smash all-time high temperatures Asia and Africa. As I reported earlier this week, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, Niger, Pakistan, and Myanmar have all set new records for their hottest temperatures of all time over the past six weeks. The remarkable heat continued over Africa and Asia late this week. The Asian portion of Russia recorded its highest temperate in history yesterday, when the mercury hit 42.3°C (108.1°F) at Belogorsk, near the Amur River border with China. The previous record was 41.7°C (107.1°F) at nearby Aksha on July 21, 2004. (The record for European Russia is 43.8°C--110.8°F--set on August 6, 1940, at Alexandrov Gaj near the border with Kazakhstan.) Also, on Thursday, Sudan recorded its hottest temperature in its history when the mercury rose to 49.6°C (121.3°F) at Dongola. The previous record was 49.5°C (121.1°F) set in July 1987 in Aba Hamed.

We've now had seven countries in Asia and Africa, plus the Asian portion of Russia, that have beaten their all-time hottest temperature record during the past two months. This includes Asia's hottest temperature of all-time, the astonishing 53.5°C (128.3°F) mark set on May 26 in Pakistan. All of these records are unofficial, and will need to be certified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). According to Chris Burt, author of Extreme Weather, setting six national heat records in one month is eight in one summer is unprecedented. The only year which can compare is 2003, when five countries (the UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) all broke their all-time heat records during that year's notorious summer heat wave. Fortunately, the residents of the countries affected by this summer's heat wave in Asia and Africa are more adapted to extreme high temperatures, and we are not seeing the kind of death tolls experienced during the 2003 European heat wave (30,000 killed.) This week's heat wave in Africa and the Middle East is partially a consequence of the fact that Earth has now seen three straight months with its warmest temperatures on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. It will be interesting to see if the demise of El Niño in May will keep June from becoming the globe's fourth straight warmest month on record.

Wind and ocean current forecast for the BP oil disaster
East to southeast winds of 5 - 15 knots will blow in the northern Gulf of Mexico today through Wednesday, according to the latest marine forecast from NOAA. The resulting weak ocean currents should push the oil to the west and northwest onto portions of the Louisiana and Alabama coasts, according to the latest trajectory forecasts from NOAA and the State of Louisiana. I would expect Mississippi to have its most serious threat of oil yet early next week as these winds continue. The long range outlook shows a continuation of east to southeast winds along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1519

...LARGE TROPICAL STORM ALEX HEADING TOWARD BELIZE AND THE YUCATAN PENINSULA...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1445.shtml

Gulf of Mexico Storm Watch
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6658?utm ... il+Drum%29

Former Oil Worker Says Cleanup Just For Show
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/arti ... 0_8-46-pm/

BP oil spill Corexit dispersants suspected in widespread crop damage
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybe ... y_id=65552

....I remember reading through this one already and probably have already posted it....sorry for the duplication if so....but it is a good read...

IRS says it wants its share of BP payments received by oil spill victims
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=30968

Israel Seizes Oxygen Machines Donated to Palestinian Hospitals
http://publicintelligence.net/israel-se ... hospitals/

Kids may need 2 H1N1 doses again this year
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010 ... ar/?hpt=T2

Genetically Altered Salmon Get Closer to the Table
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/busin ... ef=general

The Cold War
http://www.visualstatistics.net/044%20D ... rnobyl.htm

How many Americans are targeted for assassination?
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn ... index.html

David Ray Griffin: Afghanistan War not close to legal; 9/11 “justifications” all lies. 1 of 2
http://dailycensored.com/2010/06/25/dav ... ensored%29
Pilot involved in Gulf cleanup gets fighter escort -

The pilot of a twin-engine Beechcraft being used to apply dispersant on the Gulf oil spill got a jolt Friday afternoon as he approached the Mississippi coast and a couple of F-15 fighter jets swooped alongside him.

The fighter pilots, from the 159th Fighter Wing of the Louisiana Air National Guard, were sent to check out the dot that showed up on radar screens with no identification, federal officials said Friday.

The military planes, based in New Orleans, were directed to intercept the unidentified plane by the Colorado Springs-based North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The escorted plane soon landed at Stennis International Airport, about 20 miles from the coast near U.S. Interstate 10 in Mississippi, without incident and the Federal Aviation Administration checked out why the pilot hadn’t communicated with air traffic controllers.

Turns out the plane’s transponder, a gizmo that electronically delivers the plane’s identification, altitude and other information to ground controllers, was broken, said Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman.

“We launch about 200 times a year, for a variety of reasons,” he said.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/fighter ... coast.html

Idaho GOP could back idea of new state militia
http://militarytimes.com/news/2010/06/a ... ia_062510/

Greece starts putting island land up for sale to save economy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... ve-economy

....the asset sale begins in earnest!!! The beginning....at pennies on the dollar as everyone (countries, states, cities) start selling at once....and the bankers (and those supporting them) purchase everything up.....either through foreclosure or forced sale!

States of Crisis for 46 Governments Facing Greek-Style Deficits
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... icits.html

Friday Bank Closing Report
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/06/25/f ... italist%29

Unofficial Problem Bank List increases to 797 Institutions
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Will We Have Inflation, Deflation, or Hyperinflation? Part 2
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/will-w ... to+zero%29

Californian Couple Try To Sell Their Baby For $25 Outside A Walmart Store
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/06/ ... Unknown%29

.....at least they didn't kill the baby like an Ogden woman did with one of her 2 month old twins this past week....

UPDATE:
No skimmers in sight as oil floods into Mississippi waters

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor got off the flight angry. "It’s criminal what’s going on out there," Taylor said minutes later. "This doesn’t have to happen.”

“There’s oil in the Sound and there was no skimming,” Carron said. “No coordinated effort.”

Taylor said it was a good thing he didn’t have a mic in the helicopter, because he might have said some things he didn’t want his children to hear.

“They’re paying all these boats to run around like headless chickens,” Taylor said, as reporters gathered to hear his assessment of the Sound.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/26/9 ... loods.html
New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Alex -- the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season this year -- formed in the Caribbean on Saturday as BP continued to battle a massive oil spill in the Gulf.

Alex had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was about 250 miles away from Chetumal, Mexico. It was moving toward Belize and over the Yucatan Peninsula.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/25/gulf.o ... rue&hpt=T2

Adm. Thad Allen explains what might happen to oil cleanup efforts if a storm hits the Gulf region.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/201 ... n?hpt=Sbin

....decisions made within 120 hours of gale force winds....

...ALEX MOVING INLAND OVER BELIZE...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 0239.shtml

G20 protests turn violent
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/26/g20-p ... n-violent/

Toronto in lockdown as G20 protesters clash with police
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0626/g20-pr ... sh-police/

G8-G20 Police Protest Photos
http://cryptome.org/info/g8-police/g8-police.htm

Chossudovsky on G8: Austerity = Collapse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhd1LKsd ... r_embedded

"New Austerity" Threatening Global Recovery?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/new-au ... to+zero%29

Biden Embarrased By Custard Stand Owner: "Lower Our Taxes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBzytYU ... r_embedded

Governor Paterson will issue a proclamation for special session to be convened on Sunday, June 27 for the Legislature to take up these and other critical matters."
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailyp ... -sess.html

North Carolina and nearly 30 other states had counted on a combined $24 billion in Medicaid money to balance their budgets, but more federal lawmakers have become nervous about approving more U.S. government spending. Budget negotiators discussed ways to close that hole if the state's $525 million in Medicaid money doesn't come through.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/7860984/

Bloomberg reports States of Crisis for 46 Governments Facing Greek-Style Deficits
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

As 1.3 Million Americans Are About To Lose Their Jobless Benefits This Week, The Unemployment Rate Will Surge To 10.5%
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/13-mil ... will-surge

Freddie Mac reported yesterday that the rate of serious delinquencies - at least 90 days behind - for conventional loans in its single-family guarantee business was steady at 4.06% in May, the same rate as April, and up sharply from 2.73% in May 2009.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Psychological warfare, PSYOPS, its role during war and its current use in America
http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/2010/ ... n-america/

White House Preparing National Online ID Plan
http://www.informationweek.com/news/gov ... 0id%20plan

U.S. government panel now pushing "vaccinations for all!" No exceptions…
http://www.naturalnews.com/029081_vacci ... ealth.html

Polio VACCINE Causes Polio So We Have To Vaccinate More Kids! Say WHAT?
http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=5729

'Israel bullying Lebanon over gas field'
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=13 ... =351020203

The Secret X-37B Space Plane: Now Tracked in Real Time
http://cryptogon.com/?p=16182

Fox Business’ solution to financial crisis: Tax the poor more
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0626/fox-bu ... poor-more/

Iran's Falling Oil Output Means Less Revenue, Clout
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... australian

North Korea plans meeting to elect new leaders
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... A+World%29

Sirhan Sirhan: In His Own Words
http://mostlywater.org/sirhan_sirhan_his_own_words

UPDATE 2:

World leaders pledging to reduce global deficits - At economic summit, world leaders line up behind pledge to cut budget deficits in half by 2013
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/World-lea ... et=&ccode=

.....If this is true....and they do take drastic steps to reduce deficits.....expect hyper-deflation to hit shortly!!! Then all those things that were purchased with debt will become less and less valuable.....while the debt will have to be paid back in increasingly expensive dollars!!! The burden of debt will be unbearable. Then in order to keep law and order....expect to see full scale adoption of iron fisted control measures.

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

‘The World Has Never Seen a Shrinking Welfare State’
http://blog.american.com/?p=16020

Welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million from casino ATMs
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... atms-.html

Huge tent city takes root - Homeless camps cover 50 acres, from Waipio Point, around Middle Loch to Pearl City
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/2010 ... _root.html

Unemployed dumping car leases
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stro ... -bill.html

Regulators took over Arrowhead Credit Union on Saturday, citing its "declining financial condition." The action was part of a nationwide move to increase vigilance that has included the hiring of 107 new examiners and more frequent reviews of credit unions' financial health. "We're being more aggressive in our examination process," said John J. McKechnie III, a spokesman for the National Credit Union Administration, which oversees the institutions. "We want members to be sure that their sure credit union operations are safe and sound."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-a ... 4235.story

Krugman: "The Third Depression"
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Krugman: The Third Depression
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/ ... epression/

The Secrets of Liquidity
http://theinternationalforecaster.com/I ... ter.com%29

Will We Have Inflation, Deflation, or Hyperinflation? Part 3
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/06/27/w ... italist%29

....the following excerpts below form the nutshell of my opinion on our current scenario....
The Monetary Game Still Means Deflation

If you read Keen, you will realize that Bernanke is hastening deflation, while at the same time filling the banks with money to speculate on the stock market and other stuff. One of the problems in Japan has been the banks are stuck in the stock market and can't liquidate to get back into the game of lending. Also, the US bubble was so large that the excess demand created by credit was 30% of GDP and roughly 22% of aggregate demand. Bernanke is ignorant of the fact that the Fed did in the early 30's what he accuses them of not doing and it did no good, because fiat money has very little to do with money in general in the US and instead the credit inside the banking system is the game.

All this adds up to why this is such an impossible situation and why we are going to see a crash. Ones attention has to move from the idea of money to the idea of liabilities in general. I read an interesting writing by a guy named Lysander Spooner, who lived up in your area back in the 1800's. Of all the things I have read about money, this is one of the more eye opening ideas I have read. I had written over and over again that "This Note is Legal Tender, for all Debts, Public and Private" was the essense of the US currency and what gave it value. Whereas I had argued deflation online for the past 9 years with a bunch of gold bugs, I would bring this phrase up in my writings. It was my understanding that what would cause deflation was the shortage of money, created out of debt itself, to satisfy contracts. As borrowing ran its course, we would be left with contractural liabilities that couldn't be paid once the supply of credit slowed.

Here is the key paragraph of what I believe to be one of the great intellectual pieces ever written on American money: "But it will be said that Congress are authorized “to coin money, and regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coins.” This is true-but its obvious meaning is, that Congress shall fix the value of each kind or piece of coin, relatively with the other kinds or pieces, - that they shall, for instance, decide what weight and fineness in a silver coin, shall con­stitute it equal in value to a gold coin of a certain weight and fineness. It means that they shall have power to declare that a dollar of silver shall be equal in value to a dollar of gold, and that they shall decide what weight and fineness of each of these metals shall constitute the dollar, or unit of reference. Congress, then, have power to fix the val­ue of the different coins, relatively with each other - or to make them, respectively, standards of each other’s value. But they have no power to make them “standards of the value” of anything else, than each other - or to fix their value relatively with anything, but each other. Nobody will pretend that Congress have power to fix the value of coin relatively with wheat, oats or hay-that they have power to say that a dollar shall be equal in value to a bushel, a peck, or even a pint, of wheat or oats. And it is only in the single case of a “tender in payment of debts,” that the legal value of the coins, relatively with each other, can be set up. In all other cases individuals are at perfect liberty to give more or less for any one of the coins than they would for any others of the same legal value."

Spooner later became an early anarchist, as he recognized the corruption of organized government and how it set up favorites in the economy and despite the constitution, passed laws to the contrary. The nature of the piece was "The Constitution of the United States, (Art. 1, Sec. 10,) declares that “No State shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.”" In it, he also said that gold and silver were commodities and that their value fluctuated and were no more stable than the other commodities out there. Thus, with India and China and their roughly 2.5 billion or so people between them having a desire to wear gold rings and other jewelry, there is a high demand to melt down gold and make jewelry. India has historically been a hoarder of silver. They also have their own debt bubble, as does China. Demand around the world is being financed by credit that has a limit. We are certain to see the end of this run soon, to be followed by a collapse in demand for all commodities and a liquidation of positions in these metals due to weak markets. In the meantime, tender for payments of debt, debts to banks and debts owed by banks (both sides of the ledger are liabilies, but the liabilities of the banks are of stated amount, while the value of their assets are not stable) become harder to satisfy.
......and now for the conclusion which I also agree 100% with....
I think these 4 links put together the idea of what we are looking at, as the entire idea behind the establishment solution to this problem, one that has already failed in Japan, is going to fail. This is going to be a conflict that literally rips the world apart, as maybe China can't collect from the US, as people opposed to the welfare state begin to realize their own pensions, 401K's, bonds and other assets can't be saved. I have thought this situation over and over and the only thing I can see that would work is a declared bankruptcy for everyone that would result in a lower price structure, a legal liquidation of debt and at least some portion of all assets being saved to allow for some kind of retirement. Otherwise I think it could all go up in thin air, the last being the currency, should the various governments survive. We have the making of civil and international strife that few can comprehend and little willingness to make adjustments to shorten the disaster that is certain to come.

http://mannfm11.blogspot.com/2010/06/jo ... ve-to.html

Now if you approach it from the conspiratorial perspective (which by now you know I am a firm believer in), you believe its intentional. They know how the game ends (financial) because they were smart enough to create the game. I don't profess to know the details concerning the end plot but I reckon its a move into a global currency/credits with iron fisted control. I also expect a much smaller population since going back to Cain and Abel we see the desire of one man to murder another for the sake of the possessions. The money creation mechanism that we currently use is designed to funnel assets from people to the credit source through the compound interest feature of money created by debt. The end game is default as there isn't enough money to go around and all the assets end up in the hands of the banker who created the money out of nothing.

You can bet that after spending nearly a century getting up to this point....they aren't going to print money to the wind and give up the opportunity to collect all the assets. You can most assuredly bet that all the printing will go to armies that ensure we swallow their currency mandates. Massive deflation is coming. Get out of debt if at all possible. Put aside some cash for rainy days because rainy days are coming!!!

G-20 Agrees to Cut Debt - Rich Nations Back Halving Deficits by 2013, Signaling Intent to Ease Stimulus
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... australian

Credit, Currency and Banking
http://lysanderspooner.org/node/20

Are We "It" Yet?
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/wp-c ... rFinal.pdf

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, fresh from a win on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulations, on Saturday urged Congress to take up his proposal for a $90 billion, 10-year tax on banks as the next step in reform.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65P0VP20100626

....speed up the roll up strategy currently in place (squeeze the little banks until they pop allowing the big four to eat them for pennies on the dollar)....

Second Gold Price Intervention In An Hour
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/second ... ntion-hour

Japanese told to go to bed an hour early to cut carbon emissions
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/enviro ... sions.html

....1st its a suggestion....next it becomes law. At first the government suggested everyone wear seatbelts, next they made it mandatory for installation in cars, then the law charged a small reminder fee if you were caught in another violation, then they could pull you over for it, then the fines jumped by several hundred percent...

More Than 600 Arrested During G20 Protests
http://publicintelligence.net/more-than ... -protests/
BP / Gulf Oil Spill - Satellite Images Show Oil Impact From Gulfport to Destin
MODIS satellite images on June 25 and June 26 show oil slicks and sheen affecting beaches from Gulfport, Mississippi to Destin, Florida.

Oil slick and sheen cover 24,453 square miles on the June 25 image. Slicks appear to impacting beaches from Gulfport, Mississippi to Pensacola, Florida. Freshly upwelling oil is apparent at the site of the leaking Macondo well, and is moving west in the immediate vicinity of the well:
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

"We mean nothing to BP or the government"
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/877.html

Florida Gov. Urges Vacationers to Swim in Toxic Sludge
http://www.infowars.com/florida-gov-urg ... ic-sludge/

Hidden Dangers In The Gulf - Fact or Fiction
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010062810 ... ction.html

200 mile DEAD Zone Gulf Evacuations Predicted
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623750

They Are Killing The Gulf
http://afteramerica.wordpress.com/2010/ ... -the-gulf/

The Coming Gulf Coast Firestorm: How the BP oil catastrophe could destroy a major U.S. city
http://www.naturalnews.com/029082_Gulf_ ... spill.html

....brings whole new perspective to biblical and BOM accounts of cities being burned by fire....
Tropical Storm Alex is slowly growing more organized as it steams away from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Satellite loops show that Alex's heavy thunderstorms have increased in areal extent over the past few hours, and low level spirals bands are beginning to form to the south and north. The clockwise flow around an upper-level high pressure system a few hundred miles west of Alex is bringing about 15 knots of wind shear to the storm, which is slowing intensification, and limiting heavy thunderstorm activity on the storm's northwest side. Sea Surface Temperatures are very warm, 29°C, and there is some dry air to the northwest of Alex that may be inhibiting development. The latest Hurricane Hunter center fixes, at 6:32 am CDT and 7:16 am CDT, both had central pressures of 989 mb, with top surface winds in the 50 - 55 mph range.

Track forecast for Alex: which model should you trust?

Our most reliable computer models have come into much better agreement this morning. A consensus forecast arrived at by averaging together most or all of the tracks of our top models--the GFS, ECMWF, GFDL, NOGAPS, HWRF, UKMET, and Canadian--is pretty much what NHC always uses as the basis of their forecast. This consensus forecast has narrowed in on the region near the Texas/Mexico border as being the most likely landfall location, with the usual cone of uncertainty surrounding it. The northernmost landfall location is Port O'Connor, as predicted by the Canadian model. The southernmost landfall location is near Tampico, Mexico, as predicted by the ECMWF model. Alex's landfall time varies from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning. Which model should you trust? Last year, the best performing models at the 3 day forecast period were the GFS, Canadian, ECMWF, and GFDL. Three out of four of those models are predicting a landfall between Brownsville and Corpus Christi, with only the ECMWF model predicting a landfall well south of the Texas border. With steering currents relatively weak, the uncertainty in landfall location is high. The average error in an NHC 72-hour track forecast last year was 230 miles, which is about the distance from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. Consider also that the NHC cone of uncertainty is the region where 2/3 of the time (using the last 5 years of statistics) the center of a storm will go. That means that 1/3 of the time a storm will not be in the cone of uncertainty. Given the slow motion of Alex and the recent uncertainty of the computer models, people living just beyond the edge of the cone of uncertainty should not be confident yet that Alex will miss them.

NHC is giving Alex an 81% chance of being a hurricane on Wednesday morning, and a 17% chance it will be a major hurricane at that time. Water vapor satellite images, though, show plenty of dry air over Texas and the adjoining waters, and this dry air may turn out to be a significant detriment to Alex. Another factor limiting Alex's intensification may be that the atmosphere is more stable than usual right now--temperatures at 200 mb are a rather warm -50°C, and are expected to warm an additional 1 - 2 degrees by Wednesday. Another factor limiting Alex's intensification may be its slow forward speed. Alex is moving at just 6 mph, and it would not take much of a slackening of the steering currents to stall out the storm. A slow-moving storm tends to pull up cold water from the depths, limiting intensification. In fact, the ECMWF model predicts that Alex could stall out right at landfall on Thursday. In short, Alex has the potential to intensify into a major hurricane, but there are plenty of roadblocks that make this only a 20% probability in my estimation.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1523

Does America Deserve What Is Happening In The Gulf Of Mexico?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... -of-mexico

Russian volcano spews ash 6,600 m into the sky
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/06/28/10840238.html

Bloodthirsty Los Zetas are striving for control of Mexico
http://www.mexidata.info/id2716.html

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has released the first-ever airborne radar images of the deformation in Earth's surface caused by a major earthquake -- the magnitude 7.2 temblor that rocked Mexico's state of Baja California and parts of the American Southwest on April 4. The data reveal that in the area studied, the quake moved the Calexico, Calif., region in a downward and southerly direction up to 80 centimeters (31 inches). The maps can be seen at: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/featur ... 00623.html .
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-208

Bill Clinton: Iran Poses 'Suitcase Nuke' Threat
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/bill ... ode=A2A9-1

Italian PM: Israel ‘will probably react preemptively’ on Iran
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0627/italia ... vely-iran/

Iran postpones nuclear talks as 'punishment' over UN sanctions
http://www.haaretz.com/news/internation ... bled=false

Clinton In Azerbaijan: Testing Waters For Attack On Iran
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19942

Report: US warships stationed off Iranian coast
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0627/report ... ian-coast/

Turkey bans entry of IDF aircraft
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 74,00.html

Thunder Road Report - DEFCON=2
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... port20.pdf

USS Carrier Harry Truman Now Officially Just Off Iran, As Israel Allegedly Plotting An Imminent Tehran Raid
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/uss-ca ... nt-tehran-

MANAMA: Israel is massing warplanes in the Caucasus for an attack on Iran, it was revealed yesterday. Preparations are underway to launch the military attack from Azerbaijan and Georgia, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, quoting military sources.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDeta ... yid=281041
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkfra ... kid=114296

Israel and US allegedly preparing military strike on Iran
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-06-28/iran- ... tions.html

Survival Retreat Population Density
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-l ... valBlog%29

Alaska State Homeland Security Strategy 2010
http://info.publicintelligence.net/AlashaSHSS2010.pdf

Supermarkets across Britain are routinely selling food from animals reared on genetically modified crops without having to declare it on labelling, it can be disclosed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... crops.html

Merck is found to be paying experts to recommend Gardasil
http://vactruth.com/2010/06/28/merck-pa ... -gardasil/

Research continues to show link between health risks, Avandia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... components

Obama won't charge Blackwater with violation of Sudan sanctions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100 ... hy/3548656

150,000 illegal immigrants in Europe to be repatriated to Serbia
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623756

North Korea `open` to talks over warship
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623757

N. Korea: U.S. bringing 'heavy weapons' to border
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... A+World%29

North Korea warns U.S. over "heavy weapons" at DMZ
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... ws&sp=true

Invasion on a biblical scale: Grasshoppers overwhelming California town
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.as ... 3&catid=28

Ten Percent of Adult Homosexuals in Brazil Have HIV: Study
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062402.html

Russian Frogman Assault Rifle
http://kitup.military.com/2010/06/russi ... rifle.html

American Tactical Imports are bringing in a new .22 chambered AR-15. The Varmint Killer VK-22 is made by Chiappa Firearms and features an AR-15 lower receiver and a dedicated .22 LR A3-style upper. The lower can be used with any AR-15 upper.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

UPDATE:
Tropical Storm Alex continues to slowly grow more organized as it steams away from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Satellite loops show that Alex's heavy thunderstorms continue to increase in areal extent, and low level spirals bands are slowly building to the south and north. The clockwise flow around an upper-level high pressure system a few hundred miles west of Alex is bringing about 15 knots of wind shear to the storm, which is slowing intensification. Heavy thunderstorm activity is limited on the storm's northwest side, thanks to the shear and some dry continental air flowing off the coast of North America. Sea Surface Temperatures are very warm, 29°C. The latest Hurricane Hunter center fix, at 12:07 pm CDT, showed a central pressures of 990 mb, a 1 mb rise in six hours. Top winds were holding steady near 60 mph. Alex has stalled out the last few hours, as it began to "feel" the trough of low pressure to its north breaking down the high pressure ridge that has been pushing the storm to the west-northwest. This stall has allowed the storm to churn up cold water from the depths, which is probably interfering with development. Satellite loops show that Alex has a very large circulation covering about 2/3 of the Gulf of Mexico. We can expect that should Alex become a Category 2 or stronger hurricane, its storm surge will affect a much wider stretch of coast than Hurricane Dolly of 2008 did.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1524

...ALEX MOVING SLOWLY NORTH-NORTHWEST WITH NO CHANGE IN STRENGTH...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1736.shtml

BP / Gulf Oil Spill - Tropical Storm Alex Makes a Drive-By
This GOES weather satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico shows Tropical Storm Alex at 6:45am Central time. Alex has just entered the southern Gulf after moving west across the Yucatan Peninsula:
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

Bill Clinton: Blow Up The Well
http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2010 ... index.html
Oil spill: Is Gulf safe for swimming?

The Escambia County Health Department lifted a health advisory on Pensacola Beach on Friday on the advice of a beach official and against the advice of a federal environmental official.

And hours after the Pensacola Beach advisory was lifted, the health department asked for state approval to issue an oil-impact advisory that leaves the decision to swim in the Gulf of Mexico up to the discretion of individual beachgoers.

The signs would be posted on 41 of the 43 miles of Escambia County beaches — from the Florida-Alabama line to just west of Portofino Beach — impacted by oil.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to put decontamination stations along the beach, possibly as early as this weekend.

Similar to the health advisory, the impact advisory would warn beachgoers to avoid touching oily product on the beach and in the water, and it would advise them leaving the beach and seeking medical help if they experience respiratory problems.

So far, 400 people have sought medical care for upper or lower respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and eye irritation after trips to Escambia County beaches, Lanza said.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100626/NEW ... -swimming-

Relief Wells Getting Close, But Could Take a Few Tries
http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item ... ries#15431

Cybersecurity Measures Will Mandate Government “ID Tokens” To Use The Internet
http://www.infowars.com/cybersecurity-m ... -internet/

Mexican Governor Candidate for Tamaulipas Killed - June 28 (Bloomberg) -- The leading candidate for governor in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas was gunned down today, less than a week before elections in which violence related to drug trafficking was a central issue.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 2E5G79.DTL

June 28 2010: A quiet crisis whispers of impending poverty
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2 ... rs-of.html
The most recent round of turmoil in financial markets caused many fiscal authorities around the world to reconsider whether they can spend their way to prosperity. Some are concluding that fiscal consolidation may be the better path to economic expansion. That spending cuts are key to establishing a credible path of fiscal sustainability. That channeling government funds from higher-yielding private-sector activities to lower-yielding public-sector activities undermines economic potential. That fine-tuning aggregate demand requires a precision that is difficult for governments to execute effectively. And, that market forces are often more certain than promised fiscal spending multipliers.

Fiscal policymakers must wrestle with difficult questions of timing, external conditions, economic potential, and policy credibility. Ultimately, in my view, fiscal consolidation happens either when policymakers choose the path, or it gets chosen for them. The former is preferred. The events in Europe remind us that the latter is likely if policymakers do not act in a timely way.

The Fed's balance sheet of $2.3 trillion--of which $1.6 trillion represents long-term Treasury securities, agency mortgage-backed securities, and agency debt acquired since late 2008--should be considered, sized, and comprised independently of the policy rate. In my view, the macroeconomic effects of these extraordinary holdings are less significant, their effects on financial market conditions less clear, and the markets' understanding of our objectives less understood than our dominant tool.

Still, if federal fiscal policy is approaching its political or economic limits, some believe that the Federal Reserve should do more, including expansion of its balance sheet.

In my view, any judgment to expand the balance sheet further should be subject to strict scrutiny. I would want to be convinced that the incremental macroeconomic benefits outweighed any costs owing to erosion of market functioning, perceptions of monetizing indebtedness, crowding-out of private buyers, or loss of central bank credibility. The Fed's institutional credibility is its most valuable asset, far more consequential to macroeconomic performance than its holdings of long-term Treasury securities or agency securities. That credibility could be meaningfully undermined if we were to take actions that were unlikely to yield clear and significant benefits.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevent ... 00628a.htm
Bold and Underline mine
The global economic recovery is not looking good. The G-8 meeting this weekend saw divisions that could lead [as the I.M.F. put it] to losses of trillions of dollars and millions of jobs. Now it is reported that Mr. Bernanke and his close allies at the board in Washington are worried by signs that the U.S. recovery is running out of steam. The E.C.R.I. leading indicator published by the Economic Cycle Research Institute has collapsed to a 45-week low of -5.7 in the most precipitous slide for half a century. Such a reading typically portends contraction within three months or so. Add to this the evidence that money velocity is slowing [M3 has contracted at an annual rate of 7.6% over the last three months] and we may well face a huge bout of money printing again? If that is the case, confidence in currencies [not just the $] will lurch lower again.Mr Levine of HSBC, in a recent gold conference pointed out that some top U.S. Asset Managers were fearful of the possibility of government confiscation of gold. Has the G-8 taken steps towards the day when governments would their citizen's gold in their vaults again?
http://www.safehaven.com/article/17315/ ... nfiscation

....Reading the previous post from the Fed......looks like the gold bugs could be up a creek without a paddle!
Finally, we know from banking and current mortgage data that 15 percent of California mortgage holders are at least 30+ days late or are in the process of foreclosure. This is the most troubling data of all. Nearly 800,000 properties show up here. What this tells us is that we have a few years of working through this mess before finding any sign of stability. Keep in mind a large amount of troubled mortgages have yet to be dealt with in the state. The above should give you a sense of what we have today in California.

Let us continue the math. Last month statewide, California had 40,965 home sales. At the same time, 24,669 new notice of defaults were filed. So let us do the math here:

40,965 – 24,669 = 16,296 homes cleared out of the massive inventory

Now depending on your perspective, if we only look at MLS data we have roughly 3 months of inventory in the state. Looking at distress data we have over 6 months of inventory. If we look at the broadest measure we have 19 months of inventory. However, we are only looking at the current sales rate and keep in mind this is high because of tax breaks and also the current part of the selling season. We also have to take into account that last month nearly 25,000 more properties are being put into the pipeline for future distress (not counting regular homeowners who want to sell). Subtracting this out, we really cleared out about 16,000 properties for the month.

Assuming no new foreclosures (not likely) at the very earliest it will be mid to late 2012 before we have any semblance of a bottom in California. Keep in mind that California is also battling a troubled state budget. This will require new revenues (higher taxes) or more cuts (higher unemployment). Both options are bad for housing going forward.
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/cali ... e+SoCal%29
Just listened to Jim Puplava over the weekend and there was no mention of such austerity related concerns amongst his listeners providing feedback, which I will take as a representation of the general investing public's lack of awareness on the subject. The message I got from his listeners is increasing inflation possibly to the point of hyperinflation is guaranteed because it's assumed politicians will not allow collapse. Apparently these people don't read the news much, or perhaps they prefer not to think of their ill-timed investment decisions losing money. Something tells me it's the later.

No matter, markets will do what they do best, which is make profits for the least number of participants possible, and based on the current set-up, this appears to still be the case as most individual investors are long stocks and risky bonds again. This is of course a necessary precondition for stock market declines within the scope of the discussion above, where although investors have been desensitized to all the bad news out there they discover once again that fundamentals actually do matter, and that trusting politicians, business leaders, and the financial industry can be hazardous to your financial health.

What's more, nothing makes this point better than Bernanke's assurances the US is not heading down the same road to austerity as Europe, which sparked the rally in stocks late last week, when this is exactly what is happening. In fact, what we are witnessing forced austerity (on the Fed and Obama Administration) in the US. And something that will come as an even bigger surprise to the present bureaucracy I'm sure is the shift from stimulus to austerity by the G-20, which should make for interesting discussion at next week's summit in Toronto, especially if stocks don't respond to the usual 'jam job' normally witnessed just prior to these meetings in an attempt to spur public confidence in their abilities.

The fact of the matter is the public is losing confidence in these characters fast, as can be seen in increasing protests, which might spill over to the stock market soon as well. Up until now many stock market participants have naively remained in their portfolios thinking everything will be 'just fine', and that the bureaucracy is a surrogate for their mommy and daddy, a sentiment reinforced by an overzealous but less than ingenuous Obama. It's safe to say the bloom has come off this thinking and presidency now however, where all it would take to demonstrate the wheels have officially 'come off', is marginal withdrawals from already cash strapped mutual funds to trigger some sort of market crash, either a more controlled decline or something like we witnessed on May 6th.
http://www.safehaven.com/article/17314/ ... -ill-timed

......MSM going to work.....
What's so bad about deflation?

I think the world has things backwards a little bit. This insistence to battle deflation like our lives depend on it is quite confusing to me. Sure, I understand the wage and standard of living argument, but after many years of currency destruction and "inflated" earnings, I don't see anything wrong with a little deflation. In fact, I think it's healthy.
http://www.minyanville.com/businessmark ... 0/id/28959

Bill Gates now pushing genetically modified seeds in Africa
http://www.naturalnews.com/029071_Bill_ ... seeds.html

Pony up, Cattlemen!
http://farmwars.info/?p=3166&utm_source ... rm+Wars%29
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2010 – The United States and South Korea have agreed to delay until December 2015 the transfer of wartime operational control of troops on the Korean peninsula to South Korea, the two nations’ presidents announced following a June 26 meeting in Toronto.

Specific details of how the wartime operational control will shift will be formulated next month during meetings in the South Korean capital of Seoul, Pentagon officials said.

Transfer of control had been scheduled for April 2012. The change reaffirms the importance of the U.S. military alliance with South Korea, President Barack Obama said.
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=59809

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Extreme Scenes Around the World
http://www.bing.com/featured/content/se ... ORM=RQHOME

IceCube telescope: Extreme science meets extreme electronics
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtm ... =225701176
Tropical Storm Alex continues to slowly grow more organized as it heads towards the Texas/Mexico border. Satellite loops continue to show a slow increase in Alex's heavy thunderstorms and low level spirals bands. An impressive large thunderstorm with very cold tops has erupted near Alex's center in the past hour, and this may be a "hot tower" that presages the formation of an eye. The latest Hurricane Hunter center fix at 6:29am CDT found a central pressure of 982 mb, which is a typical Category 1 hurricane pressure. However, as of 9am CDT, the Hurricane Hunters has still not found hurricane-force winds at the surface in Alex. The clockwise flow around an upper-level high pressure system a few hundred miles west of Alex is bringing about 10 - 15 knots of wind shear to the storm, which is slowing intensification. Heavy thunderstorm activity is still limited on the storm's northwest side, thanks to the shear and some dry continental air flowing off the coast of North America. Sea Surface Temperatures are very warm, 29°C.

Impacts
Hurricane local statements with projections for how Alex will affect the coast are now being issued by the National Weather Service in Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Since Alex is a large storm, it will have a storm surge that will affect most of the South Texas coast. NHC is giving a 30% - 40% chance of a storm surge of at least 4 feet affecting the Brownsville area, and 10% - 20% chance the surge will exceed 5 feet. In theory, a Category 2 hurricane moving WNW at 5 mph can bring a storm surge of up to 8 - 9 feet to the Southern Texas coast (Figure 1.) Of course, flooding damage from the expected 10 - 20 inches of rain from Alex will also be a major concern, as will wind damage. The combined wind, surge, and flooding damage from 2008's Hurricane Dolly, which hit near Brownsville, were about $1.05 billion. Dolly was a Category 2 hurricane offshore that weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds when it made landfall. I expect Alex will be similar in its impacts to Dolly, though Alex's storm surge damage is likely to be greater.

Track forecast for Alex
The latest 0 UTC and 6 UTC (1am CDT) runs of our most reliable computer models did a pretty poor job, in general, of capturing the north-northwest motion of Alex early this morning, and are thus probably too far south in their landfall predictions. The official NHC forecast is thus taking Alex farther north than the models are. The most northerly landfall location, near Port Mansfield, is now being predicted by the HWRF model. The most southerly landfall prediction comes from the ECMWF model, which predicts landfall more than 100 miles south of Brownsville.

To get the probability of receiving tropical storm force winds or hurricane force winds for your location, I recommend the NHC wind probability forecasts. The 4am CDT (9 UTC) wind probability product predicted that Brownsville, Texas had the highest odds of getting a direct hit from Alex:

Brownsville, TX: 84% chance of tropical storm conditions (winds 39+ mph), 23% chance of hurricane force winds (74+ mph). This is the cumulative probability through Saturday morning. The wind probability forecasts also include separate probabilities for each 12-hour period between now and three days from now, and each 24 hours for the period 4 - 5 days from now.

Corpus Christi, TX: 44% tropical storm, 4% hurricane.

La Pesco, MX: 42% tropical storm, 3% hurricane.

Freeport, TX: 22% tropical storm, 0% hurricane.

Tampico, MX: 20% tropical storm, 0% hurricane.

Galveston, TX: 16% tropical storm, 0% hurricane.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1526

...ALEX NOW MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST WITH WINDS JUST BELOW HURRICANE STRENGTH...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1431.shtml

Panic brews on Gulf coast under suspicions of oil spill media blackout of threats to public safety
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/28/panic ... ic-safety/

Is It Safe To Go Swimming In The Gulf Of Mexico?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... -of-mexico

DESTIN — A BP cleanup worker was found dead in his Village Inn room Sunday afternoon. The 48-year-old man’s identity has not been released.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/ca ... estin.html

'Significant' oil hits Mississippi shores: officials
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2B ... 24148.html

Mississippi officials slam Coast Guard as BP oil hits shores
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/27/9 ... coast.html

162 cases of illness linked to oil spill reported in Louisiana
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/28/lo ... tml?hpt=T2

June 26 2010: This Issue - Special In-Depth Report. "Truth And Consequences" - A Review Of The Gulf Oil Eruption, And What The Future Holds That You Are Not Being Told.
http://www.buycontacthasbegun.com/suppo ... uences.pdf

Scientists Predict Larger ‘Dead Zones’ in Gulf
http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item ... gulf#15434

The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued a decision which is going to further push Christian groups on college campuses into the background. In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a state law school can refuse to recognize a Christian student group that "discriminates" against gay students and other non-Christians.
http://thetruthwins.com/archives/the-tr ... t-decision

On War: Joe Rosenthal & Iwo Jima
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/20 ... -iwo-jima/

Restore the Republic – Proof of Things to Come?
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/29/restore-america-4/

New Big Screen Documentary Exposes Pat Tillman Cover-Up
http://www.infowars.com/new-big-screen- ... -cover-up/

G20 Protesters Being Abducted, Bundled Into Unmarked Vans In Toronto
http://www.infowars.com/g20-protesters- ... s-channel/

Civilian Inmate Labor Program
http://www.reducehousepayment.com/Freed ... Manual.pdf

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday that a CIA warning that Iran has enough uranium to build two atomic bombs was "worrying," and criticized Tehran's secrecy over its nuclear program.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

Obama Doctrine: Congress Just Declared Preemptive War on Iran
http://www.infowars.com/obama-doctrine- ... r-on-iran/

Third US carrier, 4,000 Marines augment US armada opposite Iran
http://www.debka.com/article/8879/

Iran: the time to deal with the periphery has passed
http://sitrep.globalsecurity.org/articl ... th-the.htm

Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, has warned that Washington's plan to begin handing over responsibility to national forces in Afghanistan in July next year "provides a mechanism for failure". In an interview with the Financial Times in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to remove General Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, Mr Kissinger said the public "must be prepared for a long struggle" in what is already the US's longest war.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6927f306-831b ... abdc0.html

The CIA recently signed a new $100-million contract with Blackwater to guard its facilities in Afghanistan. Panetta also told ABC's Jake Tapper that he estimates there are somewhere in the vicinity of 50 to 100 Al Qaeda operatives inside Afghanistan. "There’s no question that the main location of Al Qaeda is in the tribal areas of Pakistan,” he said. Faiz Shakir at ThinkProgress notes that, with approximately 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan, that works out to 1,000 troops per Al Qaeda agent.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0627/panett ... lackwater/

KABUL—More than $3 billion in cash has been openly flown out of Kabul International Airport in the past three years, a sum so large that U.S. investigators believe top Afghan officials and their associates are sending billions of diverted U.S. aid and logistics dollars and drug money to financial safe havens abroad. The cash—packed into suitcases, piled onto pallets and loaded into airplanes—is declared and legal to move. But U.S. and Afghan officials say they are targeting the flows in major anticorruption and drug trafficking investigations because of their size relative to Afghanistan's small economy and the murkiness of their origins. Officials believe some of the cash, if not most, is siphoned from Western aid projects and U.S., European and NATO contracts to provide security, supplies and reconstruction work for coalition forces in Afghanistan. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization spent about $14 billion here last year alone. Profits reaped from the opium trade are also a part of the money flow, as is cash earned by the Taliban from drugs and extortion, officials say.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19954

(Reuters) - China denied on Tuesday media reports that an artillery drill in the East China Sea was in response to a planned military exercise between South Korea and the United States.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65S1YU20100629

NKorea says it must bolster nuclear capability
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap_ ... ip_sinks_5

New arrest in Russian 'deep cover' case
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/28/ ... tml?hpt=T1

American military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan now exceed 500,000
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623776

Consumer Confidence Collapses Massively In June
http://www.businessinsider.com/consumer ... une-2010-6

Banks told to hoard up to £130bn in case of crisis: G20 hammers out deal to avoid future bail-outs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... risis.html

Cash machines that only dispense £5 notes to be rolled out across Britain
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html
Taxes coming for $1 trillion in commercial real estate. 1.2 million partnerships own over $1 trillion in CRE. Too big to fail dumping CRE debt.

The middle and working class are largely opening their eyes to the massive wealth transfer that is taking place.

The CRE market is merely one way governments from top to bottom are going after more sources of money. After all, they’ve already picked the pockets clean of the middle class to bolster and support the banking industry. Now that the too big to fail are protected at all costs, why not put the act of toughness on and go after smaller banks with too much CRE debt? Once they fall over the too big to fail banks can have some CRE locations for a massive discount. After all, who else is in the market to purchase CRE in today’s market? Think this isn’t the case?

The fact that the government is exploring taxing CRE is interesting because it shows the tone of where we are heading. There is this odd balance of banking power. As long as you are part of the giant banks and Wall Street power brokers, you can fail on a continuous basis and you will be protected. Fall out of that realm, and you are in a “free market” with no support. Not a hybrid system that is conducive to a healthy economy. And we can see that the amount of defaults with CRE loans are booming:
http://www.mybudget360.com/taxes-for-co ... re-market/
Bold and Underline mine

34 states saw tax collections decline in the first quarter of 2010. State budget deficits projected well into 2010 – Plunging tax revenues reflect a weaker economy dragged down by pervasive unemployment and underemployment. $112 billion in state budget gaps for fiscal 2011.
http://www.mybudget360.com/state-budget ... ing-again/

Markets sense the plague is coming (back) - Commentary: Order for new age of austerity takes on the G-20, attacks growth
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stocks ... _news_stmp

The Next Crisis: Public Pension Funds
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/magaz ... ss&emc=rss

With the state budget nearly three months late, Governor David Paterson says he will veto all 6,900 amendments included in the budget passed Monday by state lawmakers.
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/ ... et-add-ons
The $28.364 billion state budget approved last night represents more than a $1.4 billion cut in the $29.8 billion state budget approved in Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine’s final year. That figure is sharply down from the $33.6 billion in state revenue appropriated and spent by Corzine and the Democratic Legislature three years ago in FY2008, before the Great Recession ravaged state tax collections. In fact, the $28.364 billion is the lowest state budget since Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevey’s FY2004 budget came in at $25 billion seven years ago. The cut is even more substantial in total state spending, which includes federal aid, the Transportation Trust Fund and various dedicated funds and fees. While Corzine’s final budget spent a record $48.5 billion, Christie’s first budget cuts total spending by $2.5 billion to $46.0 billion, the lowest level in four years.
Pushing Problems Into Next Year

In the end, the compromise $28.364 billion state budget that Christie and Democratic legislative leaders agreed to a week ago is $97.1 million higher than the budget Christie proposed in March, despite a further decline in state revenues projected by the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services in May. ( Click here for a series of charts detailing the major differences between Christie’s original budget proposal and S-3000, the compromise budget bill that Christie and the Legislature agreed upon.)

The new budget anticipates a $101.2 million decline in revenues, but essentially pushes the cost of the $97 million in new spending and the problem of how to deal with the revenue drop into next year by lowering Christie’s projected $500.8 million surplus to $300.2 million. That figure amounts to just over a 1 percent surplus, well below the 2 percent or more that the bond rating agencies prefer. The small surplus means that if state revenues come in even marginally lower at any point next year, the Christie administration will have to make further mid-year cuts in spending because there is no real surplus to cushion the blow.
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/10/0629/0310/
May's claims were down from a record 768,709 in April and were the lowest since February, when EDD processed 651,629 claims. However, state officials estimate that 124,000 laid-off workers had exhausted their maximum 99 weeks of benefits as of June 7 which could account for much of May's decline. The number of claims processed likely will drop even more dramatically this month after Congress failed to approve a bill that would have allowed the unemployed to collect extended benefits through November. EDD estimates more than 200,000 Californians got cut off from so-called Fed-Ed benefits or completed their latest tier of unemployment and no longer are eligible to collect so their claims won't be processed.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cali ... month.html
Although Hill is optimistic a budget will be adopted sooner this year than last, he contends a $19 billion shortfall makes it a little difficult. “If his budget is enacted, 400,000 people will lose their jobs and the state unemployment rate will increase by 2 percent,” Hill said. To bridge the deficit, federal funds account for $3.4 billion in solutions in the governor’s May revise. The bulk of the governor’s proposed budget fix, however, calls for spending reductions up to $12.4 billion. Schwarzenegger’s budget proposes $82.9 billion in spending, down $3.1 billion from last year. The state’s total budget is $118.7 billion, down $6 billion from last year.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_p ... 20deadline
“The logic for runaway inflation doesn't lead us to a good explanation of current conditions,” Gundlach said. Examining the examples of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe and in the Weimar Republic, he said none of the factors that characterized those situations are features of today’s economy: excessive printing of money, high interest rates, rising equity and commodity prices, and, most notably, relentlessly escalating consumer prices.

Instead, he said, the opposite scenario – deflation – is likely to rule.

The fact that one-third of the GDP over those eight years went toward entitlement commitments “is why people believe there needs to be inflation,” Gundlach said, yet it has not happened.

“The problem for the near term is that the load of all of this debt is deflationary,” Gundlach said. “We need to work through these deflationary outcomes.” He said there is a chance that the US will monetize its debt, but he doesn’t think that that's the correct approach to be taking today.

“I do not believe the inflationary temptation can be succumbed to absent some sort of a crisis,” he said.

Gundlach said that the social mood sends important signals about the fate of the economy. A lot of people have equated excessive borrowing and bailouts with the possibility of inflation, he said. Well-meaning citizens and political groups are talking about balancing the budget. That sounds brave, he said, and fiscal prudence would have been great back in 1992, but the economy today is living on stimulus. “Take the stimulus away, and you’re going to have a double-dip recession or a significant contraction or slowdown of economic growth,” he said.

If interest rates in the US go to 10% on US Treasury bonds, all tax revenues would need to go to debt service, Gundlach said. As bad as the debt problem is today, very low interest rates are to some extent allieviating the burden.

As debt has been building up, Gundlach said, we have not been able to get ourselves out of recessions with any significant job growth. “Debt growth creates a headwind where we need more and more and more debt,” he said.

Gundlach said there is currently no job growth in the U.S. except that accounted for by government hiring. Job growth in the government sector, he said, is virtually self-defeating from a fiscal standpoint. “Government workers are being paid with taxes on borrowed money,” he said. “If you are going to create government jobs, you are just borrowing more money. Those aren’t real jobs.” The net result is that we are mired in a jobless recovery.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/big-ca ... to+zero%29

Full report
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... -25-10.pdf

The Only Certainty in Life: Taxes are Rising
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/only-c ... to+zero%29
What causes depressions is an unsustainable runup in credit and debt that precedes it, NOT a failure to go deeper in debt.

Anyone who understands 5th grade math should be able to figure that out. Unfortunately, Nobel prize winning economists can't.

"I listen to nonsense from some commentators claiming that if the US is not careful, it will suffer the same fate of Greece. Total rubbish." says Kolivakis.

Three Examples of Total Rubbish

* People who think crack addicts can smoke crack to cure their addiction
* Alcoholics who think they can drink their way out of alcoholism
* Debt junkies (and Keynesian clowns) who think one can spend one's way out of a spending problem

In a sense all of the above ideas will "work".

In the first two cases the result is physical death, nature's way of solving the problem. In the third case, a bond revolt and economic death solves the problem.

Depression is Well Earned

If a depression is coming, and I think we are in one already, then it was well earned. Thanks to Greenspan and Bernanke, we had the biggest debt party and housing boom the world had ever seen, and depression is the unavoidable payback.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
Global banks face $5.8 trillion rollover

Banks around the world must refinance more than $US5 trillion ($5.8 trillion) of debt in the coming three years, a massive rollover that poses threats to financial stability and growth.

The need to replace these funds, which are medium and long term, will place pressure on bank profit spreads and in turn may either prompt deleveraging, where banks sell assets that they can no longer economically finance, or simply lead to a bout of credit rationing, where borrowers must pay more to borrow, thus crimping investment and economic growth.

For banks in the UK, according to the Bank of England Financial Stability Report, the refinancings amount to about $US1.2 trillion by the end of 2012.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/global-b ... -zi3g.html

....actually the rollover needs are much greater as the article above just takes into account some of the private debt. The US government alone has to roll over $2 trillion this year and then finance this year's deficit of another $1.6 trillion. I've posted tons on this in the deflation/inflation thread....here's some snipits...
Perfect storm - obscene record high debt rollover requirements, obscene record high new debt requirements, record high unemployment, collapsing asset values, government stimulus coming to a close, state and local government budget crackdowns, and soon interest rates are going to shoot up slaughtering anyone holding a variable rate loan!

About to witness hyper-deflation or hyper-printing in action!!! By bet is on hyper-deflation....not saying the government won't do it....just not seeing evidence of it!
http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopi ... er#p124070
Using inflation to reduce debt impacts in an environment characterized by short maturities is difficult if not impossible. (Rising interest rates ensnare each roll-over and raise the debt service required of the Treasury)

As of end of month December 2009, amount of marketable debt maturing in:
o 0-30 days: $432.0 billion
o 31-60 days: $382.3 billion
o 61-90 days: $307.0 billion
o Total maturing in under 90 days: $1,121.3 billion

"we note that average maturities of new debt issuances rated by Moody’s – which we use as an indicator of general trends -- fell from 7.2 years to 4.7 years globally over the last five years. This is the shortest average maturity for new debt at any given point during the 30 years of bank funding history covered by our analysis. As a related matter, we estimate that banks that we rate will face maturing debt of about $10 trillion between now and the end of 2015, $7 trillion of which will occur by the end of 2012."

Let's do the math: the US Gov't needs to roll about $6 trillion (and increasing) every year, Commercial Real Estate has a $3 trillion refi cliff around 2014 and the banking system has a $7 trillion roll maturity by 2012. In other words at or about 2012, or at the time Barack Obama is sure to be enjoying record approval ratings (high or low, your choice) courtesy of 30% unemployment, the American economy will be straddled with not just the ongoing burden of issuing about $2 trillion in debt each year to finance what can only be characterized as a budget concocted by the most hard-core, raving lunatics in the Federal Insane Asylum Reserve, but will have to deal with roughly $15 trillion of rolling maturities.
http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopi ... er#p109275

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?
http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Modern Money Mechanics – Money Creation Practices in a Fractional Reserve Banking System (Part 1)
http://libertarianviewpoint.com/blog/?p=2160

In Ireland, a Picture of the High Cost of Austerity
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/busin ... erity.html

Dumbing Down Society Part I: Foods, Beverages and Meds
http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=4051

French FELIN optics on HK416 and FN SCAR
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

Boberg Arms subcompact XR-9S
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

UPDATE:

California Notified Of Gulf Evacuation Plans
http://theintelhub.com/2010/06/29/calif ... ion-plans/

BP Oil Gusher Evacuation?
http://www.infowars.com/infowars-com-po ... vacuation/

Gulf oil disaster update: Tropical Storm Alex closing in on Gulf spill
http://www.examiner.com/x-34929-Manhatt ... Gulf-spill

Czech Military to Help National Guard Establish “Chemical Warfare Unit” in Texas
http://www.infowars.com/czech-military- ... -in-texas/

Four Survival Guns
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/security/ ... valBlog%29

Gold: A Bubble on the Verge of Bursting?
http://oilprice.com/Metals/Gold/Gold-A- ... +Update%29

EXPOSED! - G20 Police Provocateurs Being Let Through Police Lines After Causing Trouble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GyoM3YO ... r_embedded#!

Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... -deal.html

Fannie-Freddie Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $1 Trillion
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37982580

Texas Braces for Strike from Storm
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... rning.html

US police ‘out of control’ in spy case: Putin
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0629/putin- ... y-scandal/

Iraq signs multi-billion gas deal with Shell, Mitsubishi
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0629/iraq-s ... itsubishi/

Israel: Alternatives to surrender
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010062910 ... ender.html

Kangaroos being poisoned by fluoride
http://www.naturalnews.com/029094_kanga ... oride.html
How heavy are the debt shackles for Americans? Let us simply look at the U.S. household debt sector that includes mortgage debt, student loans, auto loans, and credit cards.

Total U.S. households 113,000,000 / $12.77 trillion household debt = $113,000 average debt for each household

Now the above is a stunning figure. The median household income in the U.S. is roughly $52,000 so each household would have to put 100 percent of their gross income for two years to pay off their share of the household sector debt. If we run the numbers for the above $45 trillion the figure is simply daunting:

Total U.S. households 113,000,000 / $45.65 trillion in multiple sectors of debt = $403,000 average debt for each household

Now debt in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Yet when you rely on debt for the primary engine to move the economy that is when problems begin to arise. The two income trap for middle class Americans has been softened by the use of debt:

The single-income family in the early 1970s had more financial stability and wealth than the current middle class family that has a large part of their income going to servicing large amounts of debt. This all came to a boiling point with the housing bubble.

Middle class Americans are now taking on the brunt of this current correction while the banking sector seems protected from any outside influence. Banks can still suspend mark to market accounting while any middle class household that tries this will be foreclosed on or see their credit rating slashed. Imagine if you had the ability to value your assets as you saw fit at hyper inflated levels. Also imagine that you had the ability to borrow what would seem like an unlimited amount of money at zero percent from the Federal Reserve. Life would be better but you are no part of the banking elite so you have to operate in a world that is governed by artificial market forces. The debt you pay to banks operates under free market rules while the debt banks take on from the government operates in an oligarchic fashion.

The middle class is quickly disappearing. It doesn’t seem like any political party is willing to take on the battle for what is right for the nation. Piecemeal type of approaches won’t have any impact on a market that is crying for radical reformation. Instead, this crisis has actually provided a platform for the banking sector to consolidate power and really squeeze every ounce of productivity from the middle class. The chains of debt are being tightened on the hands of the working and middle class. The data we are seeing do not show any reversal of this trend.
http://www.mybudget360.com/middle-class ... get+360%29

Treasury Auction for the Week of June 28, 2010
http://treasuryauctionwatch.blogspot.co ... ne-28.html
Consumer Confidence Dives; Treasury Yields Plunge to April 2009 Levels; An Economic Depression is Here - Congress, the Fed to Blame

Is that a 3-handle I see on the long bond and a 2-handle of the 10-year treasury? Why yes it is.

The week is not over yet but this looks rather ominous. Treasury yields are back where they were in April of 2009 at the start of the so-called "recovery".

I am not quite sure why the 3-month treasury displays as a flatline at .5. The flatline is closer to 0.

Consumer Sentiment Plunges

An Economic Depression is Here

Either the present conditions are about to move back up or the expectations index is about to plunge as well. I expect the latter. Expectations for improvement are way too optimistic, not that a reading of 71 is optimistic at all. It isn't.

Structural problems are immense and the sad fact of the matter is those problems cannot be cured by more deficit spending. Krugman is correct about a depression, just wrong about the cure. Logically the disease and the cure cannot be the same.

By the way, a depression is not coming, we are clearly in one, a deflationary one at that. Once again, those chanting hyperinflation all missed the boat by light-years.

Various safety nets like food stamps, unemployment insurance, and of course people no longer paying their mortgage and living in their houses for free all mask over the depression.

Depression is The Price We Pay For Budgetary Murder and contrary to Krugman's belief, further budgetary murder cannot possibly cure anything.

Understanding The Problem

Before you can fix anything, you have to understand what the problem is and what caused it.

What causes depressions is an unsustainable runup in credit and debt that precedes it, NOT a failure to go deeper in debt.

Anyone who understands 5th grade math should be able to figure that out. Unfortunately, Nobel prize winning economists can't.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

A new fiscal year is set to begin, and at least 22 states are counting on federal Medicaid money that has yet to materialize.
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/s ... adlines%29

Agri-Food Thoughts
http://www.safehaven.com/article/17325/ ... d-thoughts

Country Risk: The World According to Robert Rubin (Updated)
http://us1.irabankratings.com/pub/IRAMain.asp
BP, Transocean Told to Alert U.S. to Actions That Cut Assets After Spill

The U.S. Justice Department told BP Plc, Transocean Ltd. and three other companies associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to provide the government with advance notice of corporate actions that may deplete assets that could cover judgments against them.

The letters, dated June 23 and provided to Bloomberg News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, also went to Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Halliburton Co. and Moex USA Corp., and described “significant” potential liability for each of the companies.

Each of the letters said the U.S. has a “compelling interest” to ensure the companies don’t “deplete those assets that would be available to satisfy a judgment” should they be found liable to the U.S.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-2 ... spill.html

Oil skimming operations halted when tropical Storm Alex whips up winds, churns seas
http://www.app.com/article/20100629/NEW ... hurns-seas
DETROIT (AP) -- When it comes to car shopping, Americans are tapping the brakes.

Forecasters expect U.S. sales of cars and light trucks to slow in June after months of improvement. It's another sign that people are beginning to doubt the economic recovery with unemployment still high.

"The two big issues with consumers right now are employment growth and income growth, and they're not seeing much of either," said George Pipas, Ford Motor Co.'s top sales analyst.

Three firms that track auto sales predict automakers will report a sales decline of anywhere from 9.5 to 12 percent from May to June when they turn in their figures on Thursday. A double-digit decline would be the biggest monthly drop since January.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-auto-s ... et=&ccode=

Lawmakers are now considering ending the TARP program early and using the money to help fund the new financial overhaul bill, CNBC has learned.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/TARP-Mone ... et=&ccode=

....shifting gears and the gloves are coming off.....

The congressman from Fannie Mae is only doing what is in his best interest. Not in that of America, mind you. But his own? Absolutely. Presumably the bill will now have enough votes to pass. Barney also saying TARP funds, so generously provided originally by taxpayers, will be used to fill funding holes instead.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/barney ... ough-votes

There's no easy solution for the puzzling fish kill in St. Johns
http://jacksonville.com/sports/outdoors ... l-st-johns

McDonald's McNuggets made with 'Silly Putty' chemical
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfm ... y_id=66729
Tropical Storm Alex is slowly building an eyewall, which is now more than 50% complete, according to recent satellite imagery and microwave images (Figure 1.) Satellite loops show a slot of dry air is spiraling into the center of the storm, and until this dry slot gets closed off, Alex will not be able to intensify significantly. Alex's heavy thunderstorms and low level spiral bands continue to slowly increase, but upper-level outflow is mediocre to the north and east, and absent elsewhere. The Hurricane Hunters are in the storm and have not found any hurricane-force winds at the surface yet.

Impacts
Alex is already bringing bands of heavy rain to the coasts of Texas and Mexico, as seen on the Brownsville, Texas radar. Hurricane local statements with projections for how Alex will affect the coast are now being issued by the National Weather Service in Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Since Alex is a large storm, it will have a storm surge that will affect most of the South Texas coast. NHC is giving a 40% - 60% chance of a storm surge of at least 3 feet affecting the Brownsville area, and 10% - 30% chance the surge will exceed 5 feet. In theory, a Category 2 hurricane moving WNW at 5 mph can bring a storm surge of up to 8 - 9 feet to the South Texas coast (Figure 2.) However, Alex is now unlikely to get that strong, and the surge should be less. Flooding damage from the expected 6 - 12 inches of rain from Alex will also be a major concern, as will wind damage. The combined wind, surge, and flooding damage from 2008's Hurricane Dolly, which hit near Brownsville, were about $1.05 billion. Dolly was a Category 2 hurricane offshore that weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph winds when it made landfall. I expect Alex will be similar in its impacts to Dolly, though Alex's storm surge damage is likely to be greater. If Alex hits more than 50 miles south of the Texas border, as currently appears likely, the damage will be far less, since this region of the coast is relatively sparsely populated.

Track forecast for Alex
The latest 12 UTC (7am CDT) runs of our most reliable computer models confirm the faster movement of Alex to the coast, and residents in the affected areas now have 12 hours less to prepare for Alex's arrival than it seemed with yesterday's forecasts. Conditions will begin to deteriorate along the coast late tonight, so today is the day to finish preparations if you live near the Texas/Mexico border! The ridge that is steering Alex to the northwest is expected to strengthen today and Wednesday, which should push Alex on a more west-northwest and then westerly track on Wednesday. A few models even have Alex moving west-southwest by the time it makes landfall. The most northerly landfall location, near Brownsville, is predicted by the HWRF model.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1527

UPDATE 2:

Russian Shiveluch volcano in Far East spews ash over 3 miles
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100627/159595348.html

...ALEX BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED AND EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE IN THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...NEW TROPICAL STORM WARNING IN MEXICO...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 2035.shtml

DCMA Economic Crisis and Defense Contracting
http://info.publicintelligence.net/DCMA ... wnturn.pdf

Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought, warns expert
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... ought.html

Why is Obama Changing “Freedom of Religion” to “Freedom of Worship”?
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010062910 ... rship.html

Gulf of Mexico Presents Unprecedented Toxicity Problems
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=19962

Warning To Those Cleaning Up The Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico: Almost Every Cleanup Crew Member From The 1989 Exxon Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... s-now-dead
Gulf Dead Zone Grows as No-Fishing Area Expands

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had decided to expand the fishing closure from its current northern boundary as a precautionary measure to make sure consumers don't eat seafood contaminated by the gulf oil spill. All told, a little more than 80,000 square miles, or 33 percent of Gulf of Mexico's federal waters, are now considered a closed area.

Because this remains an evolving situation, NOAA said that it will retest the area and reopen fisheries when they are deemed safe.

Meanwhile, commercial fishermen in the Gulf, who harvested more than one billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008, face another threat to their livelihood: a growing "dead zone" with little or no oxygen in the water.

Growing Dead Zone

Scientists tracking this phenomenon for the last few years say the affected area measures between 6,500 and 7,800 square miles - a stretch approximately the size of New Jersey. The dead zone has averaged 6,000 mile the previous five years.

The five largest Gulf dead zones on record have occurred since 2001. The biggest occurred in 2002 and measured 8,484 square miles.

"The growth of these dead zones is an ecological time bomb. Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control them, we are putting major fisheries at risk," said University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia.

He added that the presence of toxic oil this year has created a "one-two punch that could seriously diminish valuable Gulf commercial and recreational fisheries."
"While there is speculation out there as to how the oil spill might impact the dead zone, we are simply not sure at this point," he said in an email interview with CBSNews.com. "As bacteria decompose the oil, it will use up oxygen and that may make things worse. Also, oil in the water may impede the transfer of oxygen from upper layers to the lower layers and that could make it worse." Ironically, the presence of oily water may prove a short-term boon in terms of slowing the growth of algae. Scavia said the oil could be toxic to algae, reducing its production, and minimizing the amount of organic matter that gets decomposed in the bottom water.

"That would make things better," he said, adding that the oil may shade the algae and also reduce production, making the dead zone better this year.

"In either case, the combo of oil and the dead zone is not good for the coastal communities," he said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162- ... 01465.html
Bold and Underline mine

Unemployment Extension Failed: Americans Disappointed
http://www.uschron.com/unemployment-ext ... ed/111448/

With federal stimulus funds running out, economic worries grow
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0 ... 0367.story
Nobody would have thought June 29 would be a remarkable date - middle of summer, everyone watching the world cup, HFT computers out for their annual hard disk defrag and front running optimization, press release scanning robots out for their annual oil change, even hurricanes barely willing to form. Yet at the end of the day, June 29 ended up joining a list of such memorable dates as The Bear Stearns Crash, the May Flash Crash, the Lehman Crash, and the March 2009 666 crash: based on the TRIN/ARMS index, the NYSE index hit 5.88. It has been higher on just 4 other times before, specifically the four dates noted above. The indicator tracks up/down stocks divided by up/down volume on the NYSE -the higher the number, the greater the rush into decliners. Today's reading indicated that on the NYSE people could not get enough of selling, and in size. What is more worrisome is that in the last two months, we have seen an amplitude in the TRIN that has never occurred before: it has approached 0 (on low-volume melt up days), all the way to 12+ on 5/6 and nearly 6 today. This simply means that, as we have been claiming for a long time, there is increasingly less liquidity in the market. And we are talking real deep liquidity, not the churn BS that HFT algos do in Citi and now Tesla (thank you Goldman), and then, oops, drop all bids when something odd happens on 8,800 shares and the NYSE has to come in, bail out the market, and in the process derail the order flow of millions of shares of pent up supply and demand. A few more episodes like that and there will no demand and a lot of supply.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/trin-i ... to+zero%29
No one has a crystal ball, but it appears the U.S. economy will slow in the 2nd half of 2010.

For the unemployed and marginally employed, and for many other Americans suffering with too much debt or stagnant real incomes, there is little difference between slower growth and a double-dip recession. What matters to them is jobs and income growth.

In both cases (slowdown or double-dip), the unemployment rate will probably increase and wages will be under pressure. It is just a matter of degrees.

The arguments for a slowdown and double-dip recession are basically the same: less stimulus spending, state and local government cutbacks, more household saving impacting consumption, another downturn in housing, and a slowdown and financial issues in Europe and a slowdown in China. It is only a question of magnitude of the impact.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Will We Have Inflation, Deflation, or Hyperinflation? Part 4 (Final)
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/06/29/w ... italist%29

U.S. Real Estate Shadow Inventory May Stall Recovery
http://www.bankreorealestate.com/reo-ne ... overy.html
Two-year US Treasury note yields dropped to an all-time low amid talk of European spending cuts and fears of a US double-dip recession. Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services, and Bernard McSherry, senior vice president at Cuttone & Co., offered CNBC their market and economic insights.

"Cutting back stimulus, all these austerity measures, goes against the grain of traditional economic theory," said McSherry.

He cited a "similar mistake in 1937" in America, as well as "Japan in the '90s."

"We've been worried about inflation, but I'm more worried by deflation."

Cashin agreed.

He pointed to "bad data" on a global scale, especially coming from China, Japan and "Spanish banks." And that international agglomeration of gloom affected US bonds — which are, in turn, sending their own sobering message, he believes.

"The 10-year is below 3 percent. I think that's kinda screaming, 'Look out for deflation,'" Cashin declared.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37996819
Bold and Underline mine

.....and for an opposite perspective....
With the 10-year Treasury now yielding less than 3%, the largest, most liquid debt market in the world, the U.S. government bond market is wrong.

Of course, “wrong” is a loaded term. So let’s just say that buyers of U.S. government paper are accepting a yield that in time will turn out to be inadequate for the relative risk they are taking.

Oh, I know the arguments. There’s no risk. U.S. government Triple-A paper is the “safety trade”. It’s the place investors run when they’re scared the world is falling apart. And lately, the world’s been falling apart everyday.

But no risk in U.S. Treasurys? Please….

The U.S. is carrying $14 trillion in national debt and an unsustainable entitlement system. If over the next year or so, inflation picks up and the yield on the 10-yr Treasury spikes to 5%, an investor buying today could lose roughly 15 % of his money.

A “safe” trade? I don’t think so.

But the bond market today is laughing at inflation. It’s throwing three-year money at the U.S. government for less than 1% per annum. Inflation? It’s a near impossibility.

The super-duper double-dip Third Depression a la Krugman? That’s the sure thing.

And how can it not be? The ECRI leading indicators have rolled over. The Conference Board just lowered its estimate on Chinese economic growth. U.S. consumer confidence stinks. And Friday, we’ll learn again - what everybody already knows – the U.S. economy isn’t creating much in the way of private sector jobs.

But “sure things” have a funny habit of going awry. The last sure thing the bond market believed in was that U.S. housing prices would never fall. And that turned out to be the furthest thing from sure.

Now, I am not going to argue that everything is hunky-dory with the U.S or global economy. But are things bad enough that the 10-year Treasury should be at prices last seen in March 2009 when the S&P500 traded under 700?

That just doesn’t seem right. We’re hearing from multinationals like FedEx and Oracle that business is good. We’re seeing a pickup in global airline traffic. We’re seeing Wall Street hiring again.

Now step back and consider this: the biggest deflationary danger to the global economic system isn’t austerity, it’s protectionism. And what did we get out of the recent G20 meeting?

Good things. China is letting the yuan appreciate. Europe is getting its fiscal house in order. And the U.S. has finally made the trade pact with South Korea a priority. The G20’s ongoing commitment to free trade is the best cure for what ails global economic growth.

Is the bond market paying attention?

Probably not. In the ever-panicky rat-race of investors to get to where they think the rest of the market is going, investors have piled out of equities and into government paper.

After all, why stick your neck out and buy a large-cap drug stock that pays a 5% dividend? That company can go bankrupt! Better to scoop up the 10-year and its “safe” 3% yield.

Everybody is doing it. It has to be a sure thing.
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/06/29/m ... -is-wrong/

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

How Dangerous Is U.S. Government Debt? The Risk of a Sudden Spike in U.S. Interest Rates
http://www.cfr.org/publication/22408/ho ... _debt.html
No wonder the tone of the Gumnut has changed. A new study by Experian shows that if gente ain’t squatting one in five are “strategically defaulting”. This is a huge problem for the banks and for Gumnut enablers.
Fixing Housing Crisis: Time To Scrap the 30-Year Mortgage?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fixing-Ho ... et=&ccode=


Nearly 1 in 3 first-quarter home sales a foreclosure: report
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-1- ... et=&ccode=

Fed begs you to ignore non-economists that predicted revised Q1 GDP in Nov 2009
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-be ... p-nov-2009

The $5 trillion rollover
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2 ... -rollover/

....its actually more like $15 trillion rollover....

The U.S. Lunatic Asylum (i.e., Economy) Is Facing Approximately $15 Trillion In Roll Risk By 2012
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-lun ... -risk-2012

First Hurricane of the Atlantic Season Closes Rigs, Schools
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-3 ... -hour.html
Hurricane Alex continues to intensify as it slowly bears down on the coast of northeastern Mexico. Brownsville long-range radar shows the spiral bands of Alex, which has dumped heavy rains of up to four inches in northeastern Mexico and near Brownsville, according to satellite estimates of rainfall. The Brownsville airport received 0.78" of rain in the hour ending at 8am CDT, and 0.61" in the hour ending at 9am CDT. Floods from Alex have already killed ten people--six in Nicaragua, and two each in El Salvador and Guatemala.

The 7:12am CDT eye penetration of the Hurricane Hunters found a central pressure of 959 mb, a modest 2 mb drop from the reading four hours previous to that. They noted a very tiny eye, ten miles in diameter, with a gap in the northwest side. Tiny eyes like this tend to be unstable, and in the 9:05am CDT eye penetration, the Hurricane Hunters found that the inner eyewall had collapsed, and the pressure had risen 2 mb, to 961 mb. A new, much larger eye will form today as the day progresses. During these "eyewall replacement cycles", a hurricane will typically weaken a few millibars , and the strongest winds will spread out over a larger area as the hurricane conserves angular momentum. Thus, the hurricane still has about the same amount of destructive power, it is just spread out over a larger area. This tends to increase the hurricane's storm surge, but lessens the wind damage, since the extreme winds of the inner eyewall are no longer present. Satellite loops show a large, well-organized storm with increasing amounts of low-level spiral bands forming, and improving upper-level outflow. Data from last night's flight of the NOAA jet showed an unusually moist atmosphere surrounds Alex, so dry air is no longer a problem for it. It's a good thing Alex has less than a day before making landfall, or else is would be a large and very powerful major hurricane.

Wind and ocean current forecast for the BP oil disaster
Alex is generating very rough conditions over the Deepwater Horizon blowout location, with 6 - 8 foot waves and 3 - 4 foot swells. Strong southeast to south winds of 15 - 25 knots will blow over the oil slick region today through Thursday, according to the latest marine forecast from NOAA. The resulting currents will push oil to many protected bays and estuaries that haven't seen oil yet. In addition, the 1 - 2 foot storm surge Alex is generating along the Louisiana coast will act to push oil deep into some low-lying marshlands. While this oil will be diluted some by the wave action, the impact of the oil and accompanying toxic dispersants on the marshlands is of concern. The latest trajectory forecasts from NOAA and the State of Louisiana show oil will also move westward along the central Louisiana coast towards the Texas border. Winds will decrease to 10 - 15 knots Friday through Monday but remain out of the southeast, keeping the pressure on the regions of coast in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi that are seeing oil hit their shores this week.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1529
BP / Gulf Oil Spill - RADARSAT Images, Trouble With Alex
Two radar satellite images (black and white) taken by the RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 satellites on June 27, 2010, show oil slicks and sheen extending across 19,112 square miles (49,500 km2) in the Gulf. The radar images were acquired at 6:48 am (long image on right) and 6:52 pm (image on left) local time:

The color backdrop is a MODIS/Terra satellite image taken early afternoon on June 27. Thick clouds from Tropical Storm Alex, passing off to the south, are visible at lower left.

Alex is now causing problems - cleanup operations were suspended today because of the rough weather. Even the radar satellite images are getting messed up by gusty thunderstorms spawned by Alex and sweeping through the area. We may not get any good satellite imagery of the oil spill again until Alex has exited the Gulf later this week.

See all of our satellite images, maps and photos for the ongoing spill in our image gallery.
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/06/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

FEMA Plans to Evacuate Tampa Bay Area In Place?
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/23 ... -in-place/

George Washington University Emergency Medicine Physicians Responding to “Oil Spill Syndrome” in Gulf Coast
http://www.newswise.com/articles/george ... physicians

Medical Treatments for Airborne Poisons
http://intotheashes.imva.info/?p=341

Scientists Waited 3 Weeks Before BP Handed Over Samples
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/sci ... r-samples/

Magnitude 6.3 - SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10ydan.php

Magnitude 6.2 - OAXACA, MEXICO
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10yday.php

The Tea Leaves for China Look Ominous
http://oilprice.com/Finance/Economy/The ... +Update%29

(Reuters) - A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65S40620100629

Dollar should be replaced as international standard, U.N. report says
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/ ... tml?hpt=T2

ECB Shuts off Liquidity, Spanish Banks Scream Murder; Spain and Greece Will Both Default
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

BIS plays with fire, demands double-barrelled monetary and fiscal tightening
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... ening.html

Recession Warning
http://hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc100628.htm

Got a pre-existing condition? Now you can pay through the nose
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0630/covera ... or-health/

PROOF! Private insurance targeted for annihilation
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=172929

Top Republican: Raise Social Security's retirement age to 70
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... -age-to-70

ENS 2010: Neurological Diseases On The Rise - 50 Million People In Europe Affected, Costs Of Nearly 400 Billion Euro Annually To Health Systems
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/192517.php

FTR #712 Interview (#2) with Russ Baker, Author of “Family of Secrets”
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ ... cord%27%29

CIA breaks with 2007 assessment in new estimate on Iran nukes
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribun ... _06_28.asp

Mullen: Iran will continue to strive for nukes
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... bled=false

UPDATE:



25 Signs That Almost Everyone Is Expecting An Economic Collapse In 2010
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch ... se-in-2010

The boom and gloom Louisiana economy
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/30/news/ec ... /index.htm

Antibiotics in Animals Need Limits, F.D.A. Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/healt ... 29fda.html

VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/va.hos ... index.html

FEC Attempts to Shut Down Campaign for Liberty
http://www.infowars.com/fec-attempts-to ... r-liberty/

Earthquakes 2010 Up 133 Percent
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/natural-d ... valBlog%29

With $1 Trillion In Loans, The ECB Is The Biggest Guarantor Of European Banks
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/1-tril ... pean-banks

Berkshire May Be Required To Post Up To $8 Billion In Collateral
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/berksh ... collateral

....this is gonna cause a mad scramble for capital.....
Fifteen of the 49 largest cities in the U.S. saw year-over-year declines in their unemployment rates in May, according to new Labor Department data, even as the unadjusted national rate — at 9.3% — was 0.2 percentage points above its year-ago level.

But four of those metro areas — Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, Charlotte and Portland — still had rates in excess of the national average. In all, 22 of the 49 cities with populations over one million posted unemployment rates in excess of 9.3%. The highest rate in the nation among large cities was 14.1% for Las Vegas, which has been particularly hard hit following the housing bust. On the other end of the spectrum Washington had the lowest rate at 6%.

Across the country, jobless rates were higher in May than a year earlier in 222 of the 372 metropolitan areas, lower in 141 areas, and unchanged in 9. The Labor Department doesn’t seasonally adjust its data on city-level unemployment, making month-to-month comparisons difficult.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/06/ ... on-on-top/

Restaurant Index "Softened" in May
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

19 Signs The Economy Is Worse Now Than Ever In Your Lifetime
http://www.businessinsider.com/pew-the- ... rica-20106

UPDATE 2:

According to a new report from RealtyTrac, the marketer of foreclosed properties, 31% of all sales were foreclosures. And homebuyers purchasing those properties paid a whopping 27% less, on average, compared to sales of non-distressed homes.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Buyers-of ... et=&ccode=

....if you are a regular joe trying to sell a home to move for a job.....how do you keep up with that???
Relentless Equity Fund Outflows: ICI Reports Another $1.2 Billion Redeemed, 8th Straight Week Of Outflows

Crunchtime for mutual funds has arrived. On one hand they are getting slammed with the S&P now almost -8% YTD causing a collapse in the funds' own equity values. On the other hand, investors have now withdrawn $30 billion in cash, forcing a feedback loop where selling begets selling, and even more redemptions. Ah, the beauty of a Keynesian system falling apart. And let's not forget that fund cash levels are at all near record lows to begin with. If the market slide can not be contained, and if consumers who already have zero faith in the market retrench even more, it could be the beginning of the end for the fund industry. More relevantly, ICI has just reported $1,248 million in outflows from domestic equity mutual funds: this is the eighth sequential week of outflows since the Flash Crash, and a period during which $32 billion has been redeemed.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/relent ... ht-week-ou

...ALEX HEADING TOWARD NORTHEAST MEXICO WITH 90 MPH WINDS...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1750.shtml

Riots Break out in Iraq Over Energy Shortages
http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Middle ... +Update%29
Only in a world that’s truly out of whack is Japanese debt a haven.

Ten-year bonds issued by the industrialized nation with the biggest debt yield just 1.07 percent, a seven-year low. Never mind that rapidly aging Japan is home to some of the ugliest demographic trends anywhere. Money is zooming into yen- denominated assets to avoid global turbulence.

It’s not 100 percent irrational. Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledges to trim debt that’s almost twice the size of Japan’s $4.9 trillion economy. Deepening deflation also means a rally in stocks is about as likely as the Bank of Japan raising interest rates this year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-3 ... pesek.html
Forecast: Category 5 Riot Expected to Hit Oakland Soon

When a hurricane strikes the East Coast or the South, residents are warned for days ahead of time to prepare for the upcoming disaster. But out here on the West Coast, unfortunately, our disasters usually come in the form of earthquakes, which arrive suddenly and with no warning.

So it is with a rare and uneasy feeling that Californians are currently awaiting one of the few West Coast disasters which has been reliably predicted ahead of time. Except this catastrophe is not going to come courtesy of Mother Nature, but instead as what our president might call a “man-made disaster” — in this case, a riot.

Nearly everyone in the Bay Area agrees that a major Oakland riot is brewing if the verdict in the trial of policeman Johannes Mehserle, accused of murdering BART passenger Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day, 2009, comes back anything other than “GUILTY!” The problem for Oakland’s sense of security is that Mehserle is almost certainly not guilty of murder, and the jury is likely to give him a comparatively light sentence or even let him go completely.

The case has received wall-to-wall coverage in California for the last 18 months, but here’s a quick primer for those of you elsewhere in the country who may be unfamiliar with it:

In the early hours of January 1, 2009, a large group of young men got into a brawl on BART, the Bay Area’s subway system. Police were summoned and stopped the train at Oakland’s Fruitvale station, where a chaotic mass-arrest scene spilled onto the platform. As hundreds of passengers watched — many of whom were filming the proceedings with their cell-phone video cameras — several harassed BART police officers tried to subdue and then arrest dozens of brawlers. In the midst of the melee, one of the cops (Johannes Mehserle) pulled out a pistol and shot one of the men being arrested (Oscar Grant), killing him.

Sounds bad, right? Not so fast. As revealed in some of the videos taken of the incident, Mehserle was absolutely flabbergasted to see a gun when he looked down at his hand, because he had been instead reaching for his taser, which is also gun-shaped and kept in a belt-level holster. As several witnesses, including a weeping Mehserle himself, testified at the trial, the shooting was entirely accidental, and Mehserle was instead trying to tase Grant, whom he felt was out of control and resisting arrest. You can see the moment yourself in the last few seconds of the most famous video, when Mehserle looks at the gun in horror and then puts his hands to his forehead in dismay. The gestures only take a few seconds, but the entire case rests on this.
http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/2010/06/ ... land-soon/


World's largest oil skimmer heads to Gulf spill

The ship looks like a typical tanker, but it takes in contaminated water through 12 vents on either side of the bow. The oil is then supposed to be separated from the water and transferred to another vessel. The water is channeled back into the sea.

But the ship has never been tested, and many questions remain about how it will operate. For instance, the seawater retains trace amounts of oil, even after getting filtered, so the Environmental Protection Agency will have to sign off on allowing the treated water back into the Gulf.

"This is a no-brainer," Overton said. "You're bringing in really dirty, oily water and you're putting back much cleaner water."

The vessel, owned by the Taiwanese shipping firm TMT Group, was completed as a tanker earlier this year in South Korea. But after the Gulf spill, the company's CEO and founder, Nobu Su, ordered it changed into a giant skimmer. The vessel was sent to Portugal for the refit and embarked for the Gulf as soon as it was finished.

The ship was expected to arrive Wednesday in Louisiana coastal waters, where TMT officials planned to meet with the Coast Guard to plan a tryout of the ship.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_ ... FjaGVzaA--

SI / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 23 June-29 June 2010
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/ ... 623#gorely

....Arizona back on the unemployment borrowing bandwagon....
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/repo ... ssched.htm

.....Big dip in unemployment at the end of April lasting through May and most of June.....and just starting to pick back up....

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

The financial news is really starting to come in hard and fast for the negative....quite ironic after the latest 180 degree turn from qualitative easing to austerity by the G8/G20 meetings......all the hyperinflationistas (gold bugs, Peter Schiff and co...) believe this just means QE II and the beginning of inflation/hyper-inflation. I on the other hand believe we are going to pick up some serious speed going down the deflationary spiral - i.e. possibility of hyper-deflation. Time will tell the story about who's right and who's not......the biggest game play of the century with lots of bets on both sides of the apple cart. Odds are no matter which way it goes....the rush from one side of the apple cart to the other is liable to topple it in the process. One this is absolutely for sure....its gonna be an interesting ride!!!

Crackdown! Is The Massive Wave Of Strategic Defaults About To Come To A Screeching Halt?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... ching-halt

One million protest against Italy's austerity cuts
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 65966.html

Greek anger over austerity measures spills on to Athens streets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010 ... emu-greece
HARRISBURG -- Last evening, the General Assembly adopted a state budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, the first time since Gov. Ed Rendell took office that the budget was approved by the June 30 deadline.

The $28.05 billion budget was adopted without broad-based tax increases, as lawmakers rejected new taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars, as well as the implementation of combined reporting, which would have amounted to a tax increase for many Pennsylvania businesses. The governor's proposal to lower the state sales tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent while expanding the base to include business services had been taken off the table prior to the recent weeks' budget negotiations. The final budget also maintains the sales tax vendor collection allowance, which reimburses businesses a portion of the costs associated with essentially serving as tax collector for the state.
http://www.northcentralpa.com/article/g ... ate-budget

Gov. Quinn today approved a partial budget that slashes state spending by $1.4 billion. Quinn, in signing portions of the budget for the 2011 fiscal year that begins today, cut spending on schools by $241 million.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2454 ... 10.article
Democrats have delayed a vote on the final piece of the New York state budget — possibly until next week. The bill in question generates nearly $1 billion of revenue to help erase the state’s $9.2 billion gap. Piece by piece, legislators have enacted nearly all of the state budget over the course of recent weeks. The revenue bill is the only outstanding piece left. It would cap a $135.7 billion budget, three months after it was due.
http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stor ... ily34.html
After the Senate failed to come to an agreement for weeks on an unemployment benefits extension, many Americans are facing additional financial struggles to stay afloat.

A reader from California with credit card bills wrote, “I no longer receive my [unemployment] benefits and rent is due tomorrow. What am I going to do?”

A reader from Texas wrote to U.S. Chronicle, stating, “I have absolutely NO income since my unemployment benefits have been exhausted, without an extension I am hopeless.”
http://www.uschron.com/stalled-vote-on- ... ns/111529/

Bond traders get the deflation jitters
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... cmpid=rss1

First-time jobless claims rise
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2010/0 ... 277995399/
There is a chorus of Keynesians who are calling on the Gumnut to continue driving off a cliff, comparing the situation to 1937 should any austerity develop. This comparison is fraco (weak). What they fail to recognize is that the US in 1937 hardly had any entitlement programs to speak of.
With federal stimulus funds running out, economic worries grow - Much of the $787-billion stimulus has been spent, creating jobs and extending jobless benefits. But with lawmakers reluctant to approve more funding, concerns are rising about staving off another recession.

In addition to infrastructure improvement, about $18 billion of California's share of stimulus funds has been spent on social programs such as Medicaid, unemployment insurance and food stamps. Billions more flowed to schools and job centers. But with those funds now gone, officials are preparing for another round of belt-tightening.

"It was unbelievable feast one year and famine the very next," said Blake Konczal, director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Investment Board, which used stimulus funds to help more than 2,000 unemployed people attend job retraining. The office's budget doubled thanks to $16.4 million in stimulus funds but will contract again in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0 ... ?track=rss

General Motors June sales drop 13 percent from May
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/General-M ... et=&ccode=

Construction Spending declined in May
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
The economy enters the second half of 2010 on shaky ground. The stock market had a poor performing quarter reflecting the days of 2008. The large amount of troubled loans out in the market is rising to the surface in a non-uniform way. While banks try to re-work loans with government gadgetry and at the full expense of taxpayers, most of the public that operates in the real economy where the economy never really recovered understands that things are far from any recovery.

Why should we be concerned with the above? New homes usually sell for a higher price but also create demand for jobs in construction. With the market falling due to lack of demand (aka people dealing with a poor economy) there is little need for new home construction. Much of the demand was pulled forward with every imaginable gimmick that the government could muster. The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve have conjured up magical ways to get people to buy but there is only so much that can be done in the longer term. The drop in new home sales shows us that the second half is going to be a major challenge especially for housing. Keep in mind that spring and summer are the high selling seasons. We have roughly two months for spectacular results before entering the weaker fall and winter.

Government has been the big sector out there hiring. Much of the growth in the last few months has come from temporary hiring by the Census. As this retreats the private sector will need to pick up the slack but it doesn’t look like it can do it. Some economist point to 1990 and 2000 with similar trends but 2010 is nothing close to those decades. During those times, we weren’t dealing with an epic global housing bubble. We also didn’t have a stock market reacting like the market during the Great Depression. Right now the government is the housing market, employment market, and best friend to Wall Street.

The ADP report this week showed tepid hiring in the private sector. This Friday we are expecting a job loss figure but the real data will be on how many jobs are added (or lost) from the private sector. The trend of artificial stimulus is simply unsustainable.

There is something disturbing about the massive wealth transfer that is occurring in our country. If the funds were actually going to putting people back to work it would be more palatable for the public but when all of it is going to backstop this real life Wall Street monopoly game, people start realizing something is seriously off.

If someone is going to argue about deficit spending they should at least argue that there can be no deficit spending without actually reforming the financial system first. Otherwise, you simply spend more with the bulk going to financial firms and the tiny bit of crumbs that fall off the plate go to the economy. It is taxpayer money that is keeping the system afloat yet they are being helped the least.

There is much to be cautious about in the second half. As I finished listening to the financial Podcasts from a few days ago, it is obvious that the so-called experts have no idea where we are heading. They merely react to the day to day movements in the market and don’t take a larger macro approach. The above data combined with massive amounts of shadow inventory and weak hiring tells us the economy needs to brace itself during the second half. Can’t call it a double dip if most Americans are still in the trench.
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/seco ... e+SoCal%29
July 1 (Reuters) - Contracts for pending sales of previously owned homes plunged a record 30 percent in May, far more than expected, after a popular tax credit expired at the end of the prior month, a survey from the National Association of Realtors showed on Thursday.

The Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in May, fell to a record low 77.6 from 110.9 in April. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a smaller decline of 12.5 percent in May.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0120563520100701

.....despite 50 year bottom in interest rates......its called "Debt Saturation"!!!!
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mortgage rates have sunk to the lowest level in more than five decades, but consumers aren't rushing to refinance their loans or buy homes.

Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans sank to 4.58 percent this week.

That's down from the previous record of 4.69 percent set last week and the lowest since the mortgage company began keeping records in 1971. The last time they were cheaper was the 1950s, when most long-term home loans lasted just 20 or 25 years.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortgage- ... et=&ccode=

Dodd-Frank: forex swap clearing exemption at Treasury secretary’s discretion
http://www.risk.net/risk-magazine/news/ ... discretion

EUR Surging As Banks Scramble To Cover Liquidity Needs With 30 Day Euro Repos Hitting One Year Highs
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/eur-su ... to+zero%29

SULTANS OF SWAP: BP Potentially More Devastating than Lehman!
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/ ... rticle.pdf
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Executives of Goldman Sachs were grilled by members of an inquiry panel Thursday on the firm's full recovery of billions in debt in 2008 from crippled AIG, for which U.S. taxpayers footed the bill. After a blowup of its credit default swaps, insurance conglomerate American International Group Inc. received bailout aid that eventually reached $182 billion, the biggest of the federal rescues. About $40 billion of it went to meet AIG's obligations to its Wall Street trading partners on the swaps. A major beneficiary was Goldman, which received $12.9 billion.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Goldman-e ... et=&ccode=

Was AIG, In Addition To Being The Riskiest Company In The World, Also A Precious Metals Manipulator?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/was-ai ... anipulator

Fed Made Taxpayers Unwitting Junk-Bond Buyers
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... owing.html

CEBM Warns China Exports And Imports To Decelerate In Q3 And Onward
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/cebm-w ... and-onward

The CDS Wolfpack Is Now Coming After France... China
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/cds-wo ... ance-china

Calpers and Risk: Together Forever?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/calper ... er-forever

The Conundrum of Commercial Real Estate Stocks: In a CRE “Near Depression”, Why Are REIT Shares Still So High and Which Ones to Short?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/conund ... still-so-h

Moody's Downgrades Miami $35 Million ULT Notes To A1 From Aa3 And $235MM LT Notes To A3 From A2, Outlook Negative
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/moodys ... ok-negativ

Biggest Monthly Pending Home Sales Drop On Record As ISM Manufacturing Index Misses Big
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bigges ... misses-big

Double Dip Picking Up: Jobless Claims Spike To 472,000, On Expectations Of 455,000
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/double ... ons-455000

Another Deteriorating Spanish Auction, Another Moody's Downgrade, More German Dissent, More Failed Banks
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/anothe ... -more-fail
Hurricane Alex, the strongest June hurricane in 44 years, is Tropical Storm Alex, thanks to passage over the rugged terrain of Mexico. Alex made landfall at 9pm CDT last night, 110 miles south of Brownsville, Texas, as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. Alex was the strongest June hurricane since Hurricane Alma of 1966, which had 125 mph winds as it skirted the west coast of Florida. Brownsville long-range radar shows that Alex's heavy rains continue to pound the Texas/Mexico border region, and satellite estimates of rainfall (Figure 1) show that some of Alex's spiral bands dumped rains in excess of five inches today, in addition to the 5+ inches that fell yesterday. The Brownsville airport received 6.46" of rain as of 8am CDT today from Alex. Alex is being blamed for at least thirteen deaths in Central America and Mexico due to flooding, though none of these deaths occurred in the region where the storm made landfall. Alex spawned two tornadoes that hit South Texas, and there were at least four other reports of tornado funnel clouds that did not touch ground. Alex may continue to spawn isolated tornadoes today over South Texas and northern Mexico.

Alex's bizarre behavior
Alex had several rather remarkable features I've never seen in a hurricane. Firstly, it underwent an eyewall replacement cycle as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds. Usually, we don't see the inner eyewall collapse and an eyewall replacement cycle occur until a hurricane reaches Category 3 strength. I've seen it happen on occasion to a Category 2 storm, but never a Category 1. Secondly, after Alex's inner 9-mile diameter eyewall collapsed at 10am EDT yesterday morning, an outer spiral band began to become the new eyewall. Winds in this outer spiral band/new eywall increased as the day progressed, as typically happens in an eyewall replacement cycle. However, part way through that process, Alex suddenly reversed course, and was able to build a small inner eyewall with a 12-mile diameter that was completed by landfall. I've never seen a hurricane change its mind in the middle of an eyewall replacement cycle and build an inner eyewall so fast. Finally, Alex had an unusually weak winds, considering how low the pressure was. The pressure was more typical of a hurricane one Saffir-Simpson category stronger than what the surface winds suggested.

Wind and ocean current forecast for the BP oil disaster
Alex is continuing to generate very rough conditions over the Deepwater Horizon blowout location, with 5 - 9 foot waves and 3 - 4 foot swells. The wind and seas will gradually subside today, according to the latest marine forecast from NOAA. The resulting currents induced by Alex's strong winds will push oil to many protected bays and estuaries that haven't seen oil yet. The latest trajectory forecasts from NOAA and the State of Louisiana show oil will also move westward along the central Louisiana coast towards the Texas border. Winds will decrease to 5 - 15 knots Friday through Tuesday but remain mostly out of the southeast, keeping the pressure on the regions of coast in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi that are seeing oil hit their shores this week.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1531

...ALEX PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER MEXICO AND SOUTH TEXAS AS IT CONTINUES TO WEAKEN...
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1431.shtml

Goldman Sachs: The Pirates of Poison in the Gulf
http://www.infowars.com/goldman-sachs-t ... -the-gulf/

Goldman Sachs Said Time to Buy Monsanto (MON) is "Now"
http://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Co ... 73776.html

UN Predicts Global Rise of Food Prices
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article20639.html

A plan is afoot to bring genetically modified crops – mostly resisted for a decade – into Europe's fields.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... crops.html

National debt soars to highest level since WWII
http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... nce-wwii/1

The High Budgetary Cost of Incarceration
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publicati ... 010-06.pdf

Lives destroyed by happy pills: As our use of antidepressants DOUBLES in a decade, experts say thousands are being given dangerous drugs they don't need
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -need.html

Obama to Sign New US Iran Sanctions Bill Thursday
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/mi ... 38334.html

Intel Officials Estimate Al Qaeda Numbers Fewer Than 500 Operatives
http://defensetech.org/2010/07/01/intel ... peratives/

Louisiana Governor Seals Oil-Spill Records
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/ ... ss&emc=rss

Time to shut down the US Federal Reserve?
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/am ... l-reserve/
A quiz about wind power:

1. Who runs America's biggest wind farm? (A) Cannon Power Group, (B) General Electric, (C) BP or (D) Terra-Gen Power.

2. Where is it located? (A) Oregon, (B) Colorado, (C) California or (D) Indiana.

The answers are BP and Indiana.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... 294.column

Experts say BP may be nearing success - Well could be killed in 14 days, they think, but company sticks to August date
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bus ... 86967.html

Web Bot: 1.2 billion dead in BP oil spill, Nov. 2010 nuclear war. Accurate? Will ETs intervene?
http://www.examiner.com/x-2912-Seattle- ... -intervene

Banned Trailers Return for Latest Gulf Disaster
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/us/01 ... ml?_r=2&hp

What Would Life Be Like Under Martial Law?
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/w ... w_07012010

Toxic Beaches: Blisters on Mouth, Sore Throats, Lung Problems; Danger to City Water Supplies; Gov Approves Decontamination Centers
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/b ... s_06302010

Apocalypse in the Gulf: Could a Sinkhole Swallow the Deepwater Horizon Well -- And BP?
http://industry.bnet.com/energy/1000503 ... ll-and-bp/

Could The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Cause A Massive Earthquake Along The New Madrid Fault Line?
http://thisistheendoftheworldasweknowit ... fault-line

Eleven earthquakes rattle Region 8 in 5 days
http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12728277

Report FROM New Madrid Fault area: The surface rupture of the roads and highways is out of control. IN DEPTH REPORT
http://fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/env ... 1277830900

Local fishermen watch as clueless out-of-staters take on cleanup duties
http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/28/local ... z0sAMy6Jtn

BP controls access to medical care for Gulf Oil clean-up workers.
http://bpoilspillcomp.wordpress.com/201 ... p-workers/



Kagan Rewrote ACOG Partial Birth Abortion “Scientific” Opinion
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/second ... -abortion/

Elena Kagan Demanded Sex-Change Operations and Bathroom Access as 'Equal Rights' for Cross-Dressing Harvard Students
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5994714255.html

Now Clarence Thomas' wife goes public against Obama
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=172717

Researchers recently discovered that the risk of fever related seizures in toddlers nearly doubles when given a specific four-in-one vaccine.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6631929n
ATLANTA - ABOUT a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the US public has expired - meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about US$260 million (S$363 million) is being written off as trash.

'It's a lot, by historical standards,' said Jerry Weir, who oversees vaccine research and review for the US Food and Drug Administration.

The outdated vaccine, some of which expired on Wednesday, will be incinerated. The amount, more than twice the usual leftovers, likely sets a record. And that's not even all of it. About 30 million more doses will expire later and may go unused, according to one government estimate. If all that vaccine expires, more than 43 per cent of the supply for the US public will have gone to waste.

Federal officials defended the huge purchase as a necessary risk in the face of a never-before-seen virus.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 48367.html
OTTAWA, June 29, 2010, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Wednesday’s release of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" promises to be a blockbuster success, if last week’s premiere in Los Angeles, where hundreds of fans camped out for days in advance to get a glimpse, is any indication. The film’s massive popularity comes as no surprise to Canadian novelist and author Michael O’Brien, who analyzes the Twilight series in his latest book. O'Brien argues convincingly that the vampire novel series dangerously twists evil into good and may even be demonically influenced.

Commenting today on the film’s release, O’Brien told LifeSiteNews, “Unprecedented cultural phenomena such as the Twilight series, Harry Potter and Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials series represent a sliding scale of familiarity with evil. It is time for the people of the West to awaken to the fact that we are in the midst of a cultural revolution that is reshaping our understanding of reality itself in powerful ways. It succeeds in this by rewarding us with copious sensual pleasures stimulating the imagination in all the wrong directions.”

In his book, O'Brien points out that the Twilight books have garnered immense popularity, having sold more than 85 million copies and having been translated into 38 languages. The films are now dwarfing these successes. "This, despite the fact they are poorly written teen romances, pulp fiction with a twist of supernatural horror combined with racing hormones and high school boy-girl relationships," writes O’Brien.

Explaining the root of "how such a thinly plotted bloody mess has managed to obtain such an enormous worldwide following," O'Brien suggests that it is driven by romantic fantasy charged with powerful stimulation of the senses.

Quoting E. Michael Jones on the subject, O'Brien notes that Vampirism is the anti-thesis of Christianity, "Both Christ and Dracula deal with blood and eternal life … Whereas Christ shed his blood so that his followers could have eternal life, Dracula shed his followers' blood so that he could have eternal life."

But beyond the evidence in the books, O'Brien points to Meyer's own accounts of the inspiration for her novels to warn of its questionable revelation.

Meyer said she received the main characters in a dream, and that they were "quite literally, voices in my head" as she wrote the novels.

O'Brien also cites author Steve Wohlberg, who drew out the eerie similarities between Rowling's inspiration for Potter and Meyer's for Twilight, both of which began with an unusual dream. "The character of Harry Potter just popped into my head, fully formed," Rowling reflected in 2001. "Looking back, it was all quite spooky!" She also stated to inquiring media that the Potter books "almost wrote themselves."

Writes Wohlberg: "When those mesmerizing tales first burst into the brains of these two women, neither was an established writer. Both were novices. They weren't rich either. Now they are millionaires many times over. Their experiences are similar, with common threads. Both of their novels are permeated with occultism. Based on this, it's appropriate to wonder, is there a supernatural source behind these revelations? If so, what is it?"

O'Brien quotes Meyer for a clue to the answer. "After her unexpected rise to stardom, she later confessed: 'I actually did have a dream after Twilight was finished of Edward coming to visit me - only I had gotten it wrong and he did drink blood like every other vampire and you couldn't live on animals the way I'd written it. We had this conversation and he was terrifying.'"

Twilight's embedded spiritual narrative, O'Brien concludes, is this: "You shall be as gods. You will overcome death on your own terms. You will be master over death. Good and evil are not necessarily what Western civilization has, until now, called good and evil. You will define the meaning of symbols and morals and human identity. And all of this is subsumed in the ultimate message: The image and likeness of God in you can be the image and likeness of a god whose characteristics are satanic, as long as you are a 'basically good person.'"

"In this way, coasting on a tsunami of intoxicating visuals and emotions, the image of supernatural evil is transformed into an image of supernatural good."
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062912.html
Meyer, a wife and mother of three from Phoenix, who is a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and graduate of Brigham Young University, says she has become accustomed to people asking her, “What’s a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?”

But as she told one Mormon-themed Web site, “Unconsciously, I put a lot of my basic beliefs into the story.”
http://www.sj-r.com/beliefs/x466663776/ ... books-film

Latest-Variant Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P Tactical AR (AR-15) Rifle/Carbine/SBRs for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Displayed at SOFIC 2010: Ambidextrous Controls!
http://www.defensereview.com/latest-smi ... ofic-2010/

UPDATE:

Gold Below $1,200 As Asset Liquidations Spread Like Wildfire
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/gold-b ... d-wildfire
As I noted on May 5th, France is in more trouble than most realize. And as I (and many others) have pointed out, China isn't necessarily the unstoppable powerhouse that people assume. But yesterday, Tyler Durden reported on a startling development:

This week's DTCC data [shows that] with a total of 456 million in net notional derisking, France was the top entity in which protection was sought in the past week.
***
But what is probably most notable, is the sudden and dramatic appearance of China in the top 3rd position. Welcome China! And after tonight's surprise PMI miss [see this for details] and the resulting market drubbing, we are confident within a week or two, China will promptly become a mainstay of the top 3, and will quickly rise to the top position, where it rightfully belongs. We are also confident those perennial Eastern European underdogs, Romania and Bulgaria will shyly make an entrance in the top 10 next week.
***
Not shown on the table, but certainly in need of noting, was our very own state of California, which with 377 million in net derisking, was the 3rd most shorted entity of all. Is the last bastion of "all is well" propaganda about to fall?
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/

How Long Does it take for the Average Chinese Worker to Buy a Home?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
Another taxpayer bailout for real estate? Commercial real estate transactions collapse 90 percent from 2007 to 2009. The next taxpayer bailout in the $3.5 trillion CRE market. From $522 billion in sales to $52 billion. CRE market over 4 times the size of the entire credit card market.

The massive commercial real estate market is already plaguing the weak balance sheets of banks. It is the case that each Friday, we are likely to see one U.S. bank fail because due to high levels of commercial real estate (CRE) debt on their books. This market is likely to cause the failure of hundreds of banks and put the economy down into another real estate funk. The amount of commercial real estate transactions shows no sign of recovery in this market. And why would there be any recovery? This is an area for hotels, strip malls, condos, and other projects that usually reflect a healthy and growing economy. We do not have that and the problems embedded in CRE are going to stifle any growth for years to come.

The reason prices collapsed so fast was that it was a speculative boom. Lending became much too easy with the Federal Reserve flooding the system with easy capital trying to find a home. In more sober times, CRE deals were scrutinized with a due diligence and it was inspected to produce cash flow from day one with sizeable down payments and strong financial reports. But this is not the case and many of these giant deals ended up going the way of the little to nothing down world of residential real estate.

The market in CRE is enormous. This market is over $3.5 trillion and is likely to damage the regional banks much more deeply than larger banks that have a taxpayer safety net:

Source: Real Estate Channel

“At the peak in 2007 $522 billion in sales transactions took place. In 2009 it collapsed to $52 billion, a drop of 90 percent.”

This is why the CRE market is the next shoe to drop and with so much debt outstanding it is going to put an incredible amount of pressure on already weak balance sheets. What is even worse is that the U.S. taxpayer is going to be likely on the hook for all these speculative bad bets. If you haven’t noticed the bailouts don’t do much for the real economy except shoring up the investment banks on Wall Street.

The amount of lending in this market has dried up and so have profits in this arena. Now the piper needs to be paid but with what money? How can you service your commercial real estate debt if you don’t have any money coming in? This is where delinquencies are spiking. It is also the case that the peak years for CRE debt maturities won’t hit until 2011 and 2012:

Unless CRE prices miraculously recover the problems are only going to get deeper in this market. Commercial real estate unlike residential real estate has quicker turnover rates on their loans. That is, many of the loans need to be rolled over every 5 to 7 years. Normally on a cash flowing property this is no problem but with trillions of dollars underwater, this is a major issue coming down the road. The FDIC with a negative deposit insurance fund is taking over banks on a weekly basis and is having a firsthand look at the tremendous amount of bad debt on bank balance sheets.

Banks clearly understand what sits on their balance sheet and if anything, nonperforming loan volume has shot up:

Throw in CRE debt, troubled residential mortgages, defaults with credit cards, auto repos, and all other debt instruments and you can understand why the chart above is spiking. But think of it this way; the credit card market is approximately $850 billion in debt outstanding while CRE debt is up to $3.5 trillion. What do you think is going to cause bigger pain down the line?
http://www.mybudget360.com/commerical-r ... get+360%29

Worse than anemic? Japan's population is decreasing at the rate of 0.2% annually, thus its projected "anemic" 2.6% growth rate translates into a projected per capita growth rate of 3.1%. Most forecasts put U.S. GDP growth in the 2%-3% range, but since the U.S. population is increasing at a rate of 0.9% annually, the U.S. per capita GDP growth rate is a mere 1.1%-2.1%.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_cur ... ource=feed
Governors ramp up lobbying for federal Medicaid dollars

As Congress continues to squabble over whether to provide additional Medicaid dollars to cash-strapped states, a dozen governors used the July 1 state budget deadline to make their case for the money. Their argument: Without $25 billion in additional aid, states’ fiscal health and the nation’s fragile economic recovery could be in jeopardy.

Six governors came to Washington yesterday to personally press their congressional delegations for the aid; three more attended a press event by video conference, and an additional three sent support. “The federal government cannot have it both ways,” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said by video link. “It can’t require states to preserve certain safety net programs and then cut the funding for those programs when it is needed most.”

The lobbying effort was less notable for what the governors said than how they said it. Worried that the aid may never come, or come too late to be much help in fiscal 2011, the governors cut to the chase. Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, called it “a plea to the federal government.” Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, said plainly, “We need help.”

Last year, states began asking the federal government for a six-month extension in the Medicaid assistance, which was first included in last year’s economic stimulus bill. Both chambers of Congress have passed different variations of the request, and President Obama has called the aid necessary to avoid “massive layoffs at the local and state levels.”

Yet the dollars keep getting attached to Congressional bills that die for one reason or another — the latest was an extension of unemployment benefits that failed to pass the Senate last week.

The matter is particularly pressing for 28 states that already have approved budgets for the fiscal year that begins today assuming the aid will come. Virginia already has had to make budget cuts to make up for the fact that the expected Medicaid dollars haven’t shown up yet. That scenario will likely spread to many more states if Congress does not pass the aid extension. The governors discussed how much money is at stake in their states. (See graphic above.)
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/s ... adlines%29

Based on an estimate from Autodata Corp, light vehicle sales were at a 11.08 million SAAR in June. That is up 14% from June 2009 (when sales were very low), and down 4.6% from the May sales rate.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... -saar.html

Recession cut into employment for half of working adults, study says
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... pmheadline

House Approves Dodd-Frank Act
http://www.bankbryancave.com/house-appr ... frank-act/

Former Israeli Spy, Son of Hamas Founder To Be Granted US Asylum
http://publicintelligence.net/former-is ... us-asylum/

Leader of Deathsquads Wins Colombian Election
http://www.voltairenet.org/article166103.html

BP RFID “People Tracking” Brief
http://info.publicintelligence.net/RFIDinBP.pdf

IMF G20 Report: Fair and Substantial Financial Sector Contribution
http://info.publicintelligence.net/IMF2010G20.pdf

G20/G8 Diplomacy: Security Lockdown Payoff
http://publicintelligence.net/g20g8-dip ... wn-payoff/

Dubai admits nuclear material being shipped through its ports
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ports.html

There aren’t enough abortions/The UN wants more
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/24894

UK firm Octel bribed Iraqis to keep buying toxic fuel additive
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010 ... -iraq-lead

CREEKKEEPER appears on Olberman
http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com/2010/07/ ... erman.html

Warning of Looming Crisis, Louisiana Calls on BP to Fund Mental Health Programs
http://www.propublica.org/article/loomi ... h-programs

US lawmaker: Oil spill costs may run trillions of dollars
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0701/lawmak ... s-dollars/

Dead clams stink up Folly beach
http://nomorecensorship.com/uncategoriz ... lly-beach/
One catastrophe risk management firm said there is more than a 40 percent chance that by the end of August, at least a tropical storm will pass over the spot where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by British Petroleum once drilled into the Gulf of Mexico floor.

In a recent report, Risk Management Solutions (RMS) analysts also concluded there is a 15 percent chance that by the end of July, a tropical storm or hurricane will pass within 100 miles of the Macondo oil well BP was using before an explosion in April sunk the rig and killed 11 workers. The well continues to spew oil into Gulf.

There is a 13 percent chance that a hurricane will pass over the oil slick now floating in the Gulf of Mexico, and a 7 percent chance of it being an intense hurricane, defined as Category 3 or above, RMS said.

The disaster at the Macondo field will become a “de facto probable maximum loss,” meaning the oil spill will have a “long-lasting impact on offshore energy insurance availability, rates and coverages,” RMS said.
http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2 ... Storm.aspx

BP Capping Wages for Recovery Workers at $200/Day
http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2 ... at-200day/
BP Demands Equipment & Workers Evacuation Before Public Allowed On Roadways

If you live in the gulf coast region take note that BP is demanding their equipment and workers be evacuated before the general public is allowed to seek safety. In a hurricane evacuation hundreds of thousands of gulf coast residents could drown while interstates are tied up moving BP’s heavy equipment.

You and your family will be held at gunpoint unable to evacuate until BP can safely extract its expensive equipment inland.

Alex is forcing emergency managers to re-think strategies because the next gulf storm could make a regional evacuation much more complicated.

Before the general public hits the road, BP would have to get tons of equipment and thousands of workers out of harms way.
http://www.survivalistnews.com/2010/07/ ... -roadways/

La. Police Doing BP's Dirty Work
http://motherjones.com/rights-stuff/201 ... p-activist


Merger or Sovereignty? Arizona Must Confront Obama

On May 25 I attended a conference on border management, at a cost of $1,200. It was worth it. By being there, I was able to hear first-hand, a U.S Army General tell us that the best way to secure our southern border was to erase it.

Brig. General Felderman's speech was a stunning proposal to integrate our military with that of Mexico to fight the drug cartels and terrorism, implying that those were the only problems we face.

I have now been able to secure a copy of the slides Gen. Felderman used in his presentation. I urge everyone to listen to his speech while moving through his slides. (I should note that the first five minutes includes some background stuff, including how many generals wouldn't give this speech.)

Felderman leaves no doubt that the Obama administration is working to merge the U.S. with Mexico. It leaves no doubt that securing the border with a fence is out of the question.

It is time that the State of Arizona confront the Obama administration over this issue. The best way to do this is to get a general consensus on the definition of border security. Arizona should then move to establish a means of measuring border security -- setting a standard that must be met before an discussion of broader immigration reform can begin.
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010070110 ... obama.html



The Guns Of August Echo In The Middle East With Iran Surrounded
http://stevenjohnhibbs.wordpress.com/20 ... urrounded/

UPDATE 2:

Russia to sell $1 bln worth of arms to Yemen - expert
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100701/159652122.html

Why The Greater Depression Still Lies Ahead
http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/30/greate ... onomy.html

...MSM now starting the push for the rollback on debt....and thus deflation....

A little more than 1.3 million people have already lost benefits since the last extension ran out at the end of May, according to the Labor Department. By the end of the week, the number will jump to 1.7 million. By the end of July, it would top 3 million.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100701/ap_ ... t_benefits

....of course there are differing opinions....judge for yourself....



US PR Firm Paid To Demonize Israel
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010070110 ... srael.html

Weapons cache found near the Texas/Mexico border
http://nomorecensorship.com/immigration ... co-border/

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Magnitude 6.3 - VANUATU
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10yfaq.php
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday ordered about 200,000 state workers to be paid the federal minimum wage this month because the state Legislature has not passed a budget, but the state controller is refusing to comply.

Department of Personnel Administration Director Debbie Endsley sent the order in a letter to the state controller, who refused a similar order two years ago. The matter is tied up in the appellate courts, leading the controller to say he will abide by whatever final ruling emerges, which could be years down the road. He said he can't follow the order now due to technical and legal issues.

In a statement, Chiang said it was not possible with the state's current technology to pay some employees their full salaries and others minimum wage. He also said his office and the governor's have been working on a system upgrade, but it will not be ready until October 2012.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100702/ap_ ... nimum_wage
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) – Suspected drug hitmen in Mexico killed a top prosecutor, murdered 21 people in a shootout and dumped a severed head outside the house of a mayoral candidate days before elections, authorities said.

The violence unfolded in two states just south of the U.S. border and was the latest sign that Mexico's drug war is growing more intense.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100702/wl_ ... xico_drugs

21 dead in Mexican gang gun battle near US border
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... gD9GMLQI80
Mexico’s drug cartels are flexing their muscles in the run-up to the 12 gubernatorial elections that will take place on July 4.

In the past, Los Zetas, the Beltrán Leyva Organization, La Familia Michoacana, and the Sinaloa, Gulf, Tijuana and Juárez crime syndicates concentrated their attention, wealth and hit men on mayoral contests, particularly in municipalities where they imported, grew, stored, manufactured, and trafficked drugs.

On June 26, 2009, for example, authorities arrested a dozen mayors in western Michoacán state for alleged ties to the messianic La Familia Michoacana, whose brainwashed, Bible-pounding zealots obscenely torture and viciously decapitate victims, claiming that they are carrying out “the Lord’s work.”

Ultimately, the municipal leaders won their release, largely because La Familia intimidated witnesses whose testimony was pivotal to convicting the accused.

Despite success against the Arellano Félix Organization in Baja California, the drug trade is spreading nationwide like an ink spot on a snow-white tablecloth. As a result, capos are bringing in their “goods” through more ports, roadways and airfields, increasing their number of stash houses and expanding their trade routes.

The marijuana, cocaine and heroin sold in the United States typically originates in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia before being shipped by land, air or sea through Central America and its coastal waters to its Mexican destinations.

Methamphetamines, ever more popular with California and other American consumers, frequently come from China, India, or Western Europe en route to the ports of Manzanillo, Colima, and Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, on the Pacific Coast. La Familia Michoacana makes a fortune operating sophisticated mega-laboratories that convert the imported precursor chemicals into meth.

With the growth of the narcotics industry and the configuration of new and longer supply lines, Mafiosi are focusing more on state campaigns. Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz, an anti-PRI, pro-reform candidate complains of threats to her and her volunteers in Hidalgo, a New Jersey-sized state contiguous to Mexico City, and a center of activities by the vicious paramilitary Los Zetas.

The drug lords’ interests coincide with the emergence of governors as pivotal actors on their nation’s political stage. During the 1929-2000 period when the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ran the country in Tammany Hall fashion, presidents treated state executives like bellhops. For instance, President Carlos Salinas ousted half of the 31 state leaders during his 1988-1994 tenure. Ten years ago, the center-right National Action Party (PAN) – first with Vicente Fox (2000-06) and then with incumbent Felipe Calderón – tumbled the PRI from the apex of the political pyramid.

The PRI’s fall from grace enabled governors to become virtual viceroys in their bailiwicks. They dole out cash to keep legislators in line; distribute state advertising to curry favor with the mass media; promote subsidies, low taxes and benefits to propitiate the business community; turn heaven and earth to name successors, who – it is hoped – will keep mum about past transgressions; and they either conspire with or turn a blind-eye to cartel activities.

A protected witness avers that in the last contest in Michoacán, a criminal organization contributed $155,000 (2 million pesos) to favored mayoral candidates who, if elected, received a second stipend of $15,000 (200,000 pesos) per month. The same anonymous source swore than the state’s current governor, Leonel Godoy Rangel, elected in November 2007, raked in $300,000 from each of the leaders of La Familia Michoacana – a charge he vehemently denies.

To mitigate the involvement of drug pooh-bahs in selecting candidates, the PAN’s National Executive Committee chose its gubernatorial contender in Tamaulipas, headquarters to Los Zetas. It did the same with a number of its mayoral and state legislative candidates in Sinaloa, home to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.

Two events in mid-May – the execution of PAN’s mayoral candidate in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas – a bastion of Los Zetas; and the mysterious disappearance of former PAN presidential nominee and millionaire super-lawyer, Diego “Jefe Diego” Fernández de Cevallos – will direct even more attention on the crime syndicates before the balloting.

Although the kingpins are delighted when they help elect a friend or defeat a foe, their goal is to generate an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear. In this way, they discourage citizens from registering to vote and, for those who do sign up, damp down participation on Election Day. In so doing, these mobsters demonstrate the weakness of the political regime’s ability to win a war on drugs even as they promote parallel governance – with narco big shots sharing power with elected officials at state and local levels.
http://www.mexidata.info/id2719.html

Arizona Being Attacked by both the White House and Drug Lords
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010070210 ... lords.html

Special Report: Should BP nuke its leaking well?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6611RF20100702

Not so crazy? Reuters probes idea of nuking BP oil well
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0702/crazy- ... ng-bp-oil/

People advised to avoid Gulf Coast as health concerns emerge
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294098

ECRI Weekly Leading Indicator Ever Closer To The -10% Threshold, Drops To -7.7; Leads To Another Leg Lower In Stocks
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ecri-w ... lower-stoc
Habitat, a Christian group founded 34 years ago in Americus, Ga., around a philosophy of constructing and rehabilitating homes for low-income families, was recently ranked as one of the nation's top 10 builders for the first time in a closely watched industry list compiled by Builder Magazine.

Habitat was ranked eighth, based on the number of homes sold and closed, placing it above Ryland Group Inc. and behind Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. Habitat's closings, which include new homes and rehabs, were down 3% to 5,294 in 2009. Ryland's tumbled 30%, while Hovnanian's sank 50%.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 36792.html

...you know its bad when a charity ranks as the #8 home builder in the nation....

Factory Orders Drop 1.4%, Big Miss To Consensus, Snap Eight Month Winning Streak
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/factor ... ing-streak

Bank Of China Shares Halted On $9Bn Rights Offering Announcement, As Bank Urgently Needs To Replenish Capital
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bank-c ... enish-capi

Reversion To 10 Year Average Labor Force Participation Rate Implies 11.8% Unemployment Rate
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/revers ... yment-rate

Largest Tax Hikes in History to Swamp Americans in January 2011
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010070210 ... -2011.html

Middle class families face a triple whammy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ ... hammy.html
Some are touting Ford’s improved financial position. They actually paid down some debt and threw some crumbs to Preferred shareholders.

Some are looking to the IPO of Tesla as an indication that the capital markets are open and doing what they are supposed to do. Raising equity for new companies.

Some are pointing to marginal gains in employment. The manufacturing sector is generating jobs. Especially in the areas of alternative energy.

This is all bunk. The money for all this is coming from Uncle Sam. This is the US Treasury doing the lending. Not private sector banks that we functionally own. This from the Federal Financing Bank:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ford-t ... ws-or-bunk

The United Nations Declares War On The U.S. Dollar And Publicly Calls For The Establishment Of A New World Currency
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... d-currency

Iran Provides Syria With An Advanced Radar System As War Preparations Ramp Up
http://themostimportantnews.com/archive ... ns-ramp-up

Iran threatens oil routes as Obama signs tough new energy sanctions
http://www.debka.com/article/8889/

Madhouse Medical Tyranny: When Health Becomes Sickness
http://www.infowars.com/madhouse-medica ... -sickness/

Attack of the vapours – how jet trails block out the sunshine
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... shine.html

....contrails vs. chemtrails...

Scientists Admit Chemtrails Are Creating Artificial Clouds
http://www.infowars.com/scientists-admi ... -clouds-2/

Obama: Being American is 'not a matter of blood or birth'
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/o ... &FEEDNAME=

Yet another terrorist tie to Obama White House
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=173641

More Disturbing U.S. Military Riot Control Pictures
http://publicintelligence.net/more-dist ... -pictures/

UPDATE:

Baltic Dry Approaching Sea Level, Just Above 1 Year Lows
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... -year-lows
The Unemployment Rate went down – great news, right? Not when it retreats by way of Labor Force Participation loss:

“The civilian labor force participation rate fell by 0.3 percentage point in June to 64.7 percent. The employment-population ratio, at 58.5 percent, edged down over the month.”

We actually have 301,000 less people working this month than last month (139,420 May vs 139,119 June), but since the labor force decreased by 652,000, less were actually counted as unemployed, and that helped the headline number:

May calculation: [14,973 Unemployed] / [154,393 Labor Force] = 9.7%

June calculation: [14,623 Unemployed] / [153,741 Labor Force] = 9.5%

That’s not improvement. It’s a faulty data point to consider: the UE Rate is not capturing what’s going on. We should not be looking at it.

Consider that the Labor Force has flat lined over the last 3+ years. This is due to discouraged workers, not because the population stopped growing:

Had the Labor Force Participation rate not dropped so severely over the last 3 years, we’d have a Labor Force around 157,500. This would equate to a UE around 11.6%. So we have nearly 2% of UE shaved off by Labor Force Participation alone.

U-6 to 16.5% from 16.6% seasonally adjusted.

U-6 to 16.1% from 16.7% NOT seasonally adjusted.

Private Payrolls were up 83,000 though, so that’s improvement, right? We’ll see – without the birth/death “guess” of how many new small business were started this month, we’d have been at -64,000. Birth/death is added every month, and then adjusted in Jan and July, with hindsight, for ‘wrong’ guesses. Birth/death has added 728,000 jobs since February. Next month comes the adjustment – the last adjustment was in January, when they took away 427,000 of the previously added jobs. We’ll find out next month if the BLS found they were too optimistic in 1H2010.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nfp-view-street
Will Austerity Be The Catalyst For War?

As always SocGen's Dylan Grice comes out with some tremendous insights in his latest weekly piece "Double dips, siren calls and inflationary bias of policy." While the gist of the piece is presenting a comprehensive overview of the traditional and cognitive biases toward inflationary policies and away from hard, unpopular, deflationary/austere measures, Dylan provides a chilling anecdote involving the 1980s conflict between the UK and Argentina, in which it was precisely war that pulled an extremely unpopular government, that of Maggie Thatcher, out of the gutter of public opinion, and soaring in popularity. Thatcher, who came to power oddly enough on a "mandate to smash inflation, smash the unions and downsize government", saw her popularity immediately slide to 25% (see chart) as people realized the very real pain associated with austerity and a regime fighting run away government. A tangent in Grice's argument is that on very rare occasions, the people of a country do end up making the decision to take on hardship, instead of kicking the can down the road (are you listening Summers?). Yet they promptly grow to regret their decision. So what was it that saved the government, and allowed the Conservatives a second term in which to complete the painful austerity project? The declaration of war by Argentina's General Galtieri over the Falkland Islands. The result was soaring popularity for the Iron Lady, and the rest is history. Looking forward, now that all of Europe is gripped in austerity, and make no mistake - this very same austerity is coming to the US on very short notice (sorry Krugman), and popularity ratings for all political parties are crashing, has the political G-8/20 elite been focused a little too much on the Falkland war? Is war precisely the diversion that Europe and soon America hope to use in order to deflect anger from policies such as Schwarzenegger's imposition of minimum wage salaries yesterday (yes, this is pure austerity)? And is there a Gallup or some other polling "unpopularity" threshold that the G-20 is waiting for before letting all those aircraft carriers parked next to the Persian Guld loose? Read the below excerpt from Dylan and make up your own minds.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/will-a ... talyst-war

Clinton Begins Five-Nation Central Europe-Caucasus Trip in Kyiv
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/eu ... 42144.html

....on the eve of war???
Big changes are in store for the banking system should Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be revamped or eliminated-both of which are being discussed by housing experts and government officials to deal with the distressed real estate market.

As the system works now with the two entities, Fannie (NYSE:FNM - News) and Freddie (NYSE:FRE - News), banks write the mortgages, but they rarely hold them. The mortgages are sold off into pools, known as mortgage-backed securities (MBS).

Fannie and Freddie guarantee the mortgage payments, so that the MBS buyer, be it the Chinese government or an American pension plan, has the security of the US government behind them. Their only risk is in the interest rate.

"It helps them make deep and liquid, and it expands, dramatically, the pool of capital that'll come in and will play and support our housing market," said Peter Fisher, BlackRock's managing director and co-head of fixed income.

This system worked great for years. In fact, so great that Fannie and Freddie shareholders got rich because the companies borrowed money in the markets with an implied government guarantee.

But without the guarantees, experts say, there would be no securitization, no capital from the rest of the world for long-term fixed rate mortgages and banks would have to hold on to them.

Other experts, including Edward DeMarco, director of the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA), contend that ending the subsidies that Fannie and Freddie provide could cause a catastrophe if it's done too quickly or their functions are not replaced.

Mortgage rates would go up 200 to 300 basis points, and home prices would drop precipitously-between 10 percent and 30 percent-according to some experts. The basis point is used to calculate changes in interest rates, equity indexes and the yield of a fixed-income security.

To avert problems and allow private firms to re-enter the $10 trillion mortgage market, DeMarco called for a transition phase in which a new infrastructure for the home financing system is put in place.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Who-Would ... et=&ccode=
Fannie Updates Appraisal Policies

Fannie will now require interior photographs of specific rooms and areas of the house in the appraisal report.

The GSE provided guidance on when an appraisal is considered deficient and when a lender can make changes to the opinion of market value based on underwriter judgment, automated valuation models or other methodology.

The policy changes take effect for all mortgage loan applications dated on or after Sept. 1, 2010.

Additionally, the GSE provided guidance on appraisers' use of foreclosures, short sales and builder sales as comparable.

Fannie clarified that appraisers must be selected based on knowledge of specific geographical markets, access to appropriate data and sufficient experience. It also clarified that neither the Home Valuation Code of Conduct nor Fannie requires the use of a third-party vendor.

The GSE also clarified other appraisal-related guidance, including the policy that some forms of communication between lenders and appraisers are appropriate under HVCC.

Specifically, Fannie said, a qualified employee of the lender may contact the appraiser to provide additional information or explanation about the basis for a valuation.
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/07/01/f ... l-policies

....looks like they might start ratcheting down on appraisal values....

The Greater Depression may have only just begun
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/current-e ... valBlog%29

The Civilian Expeditionary Force: Obama Says 'Burden' Can’t be All on the Military
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch ... tary-.html
By now, you probably think your opinion of Goldman Sachs and its swarm of Wall Street allies has rock-bottomed at raw loathing. You’re wrong. There’s more. It turns out that the most destructive of all their recent acts has barely been discussed at all. Here’s the rest. This is the story of how some of the richest people in the world – Goldman, Deutsche Bank, the traders at Merrill Lynch, and more – have caused the starvation of some of the poorest people in the world.



To understand the biggest cause, you have to plough through some concepts that will make your head ache – but not half as much as they made the poor world’s stomachs ache.

For over a century, farmers in wealthy countries have been able to engage in a process where they protect themselves against risk. Farmer Giles can agree in January to sell his crop to a trader in August at a fixed price. If he has a great summer, he’ll lose some cash, but if there’s a lousy summer or the global price collapses, he’ll do well from the deal. When this process was tightly regulated and only companies with a direct interest in the field could get involved, it worked.

Then, through the 1990s, Goldman Sachs and others lobbied hard and the regulations were abolished. Suddenly, these contracts were turned into “derivatives” that could be bought and sold among traders who had nothing to do with agriculture. A market in “food speculation” was born.

So Farmer Giles still agrees to sell his crop in advance to a trader for £10,000. But now, that contract can be sold on to speculators, who treat the contract itself as an object of potential wealth. Goldman Sachs can buy it and sell it on for £20,000 to Deutsche Bank, who sell it on for £30,000 to Merrill Lynch – and on and on until it seems to bear almost no relationship to Farmer Giles’s crop at all.

If this seems mystifying, it is. John Lanchester, in his superb guide to the world of finance, Whoops! Why Everybody Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, explains: “Finance, like other forms of human behaviour, underwent a change in the 20th century, a shift equivalent to the emergence of modernism in the arts – a break with common sense, a turn towards self-referentiality and abstraction and notions that couldn’t be explained in workaday English.” Poetry found its break with realism when T S Eliot wrote “The Wasteland”. Finance found its Wasteland moment in the 1970s, when it began to be dominated by complex financial instruments that even the people selling them didn’t fully understand.

So what has this got to do with the bread on Abiba’s plate? Until deregulation, the price for food was set by the forces of supply and demand for food itself. (This was already deeply imperfect: it left a billion people hungry.) But after deregulation, it was no longer just a market in food. It became, at the same time, a market in food contracts based on theoretical future crops – and the speculators drove the price through the roof.

Here’s how it happened. In 2006, financial speculators like Goldmans pulled out of the collapsing US real estate market. They reckoned food prices would stay steady or rise while the rest of the economy tanked, so they switched their funds there. Suddenly, the world’s frightened investors stampeded on to this ground.

So while the supply and demand of food stayed pretty much the same, the supply and demand for derivatives based on food massively rose – which meant the all-rolled-into-one price shot up, and the starvation began. The bubble only burst in March 2008 when the situation got so bad in the US that the speculators had to slash their spending to cover their losses back home.

When I asked Merrill Lynch’s spokesman to comment on the charge of causing mass hunger, he said: “Huh. I didn’t know about that.” He later emailed to say: “I am going to decline comment.” Deutsche Bank also refused to comment. Goldman Sachs were more detailed, saying they sold their index in early 2007 and pointing out that “serious analyses … have concluded index funds did not cause a bubble in commodity futures prices”, offering as evidence a statement by the OECD.

How do we know this is wrong? As Professor Ghosh points out, some vital crops are not traded on the futures markets, including millet, cassava, and potatoes. Their price rose a little during this period – but only a fraction as much as the ones affected by speculation. Her research shows that speculation was “the main cause” of the rise.

So it has come to this. The world’s wealthiest speculators set up a casino where the chips were the stomachs of hundreds of millions of innocent people. They gambled on increasing starvation, and won. Their Wasteland moment created a real wasteland. What does it say about our political and economic system that we can so casually inflict so much pain?
http://cryptogon.com/?p=16274
USDA Reports Food Shortages: Wall Street 'Caught Off Guard' by Severity

Several recent headlines indicate that food prices will continue their swift climb upward. These troubling new reports show that agriculture production and stored grains are critically low and experts are now predicting food shortages.

Look at a few of today's mainstream headlines: Drought threatens global rice supply in the India Times; VA farmers say heat taking toll on crops, Associated Press; Severe food shortage follows lack of rainfall in Syria; and, finally, Corn prices bolt as USDA downsizes crop estimates, which states that, "Commodity professionals were caught off guard Wednesday by a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showing 1 million fewer acres of corn planted this year than earlier projected, and almost 300 million fewer bushels of corn in storage." And these articles don't begin to address crops being damaged by the toxic rain from the Gulf oil disaster.

We are back to recession economics and rapidly heading toward a deeper, longer “Third Depression.” With all recent economic indicators setting new record lows and deficits at record highs, this ship is only going one way folks, down, down to Chinatown. This WTC-Building 7-style-controlled-demolition of the U.S. economy has long been engineered by the borderless banksters and will likely continue to collapse at the rate of free-fall gravity. With all of the manufactured confusion it may be difficult to know where best to invest your limited assets, but it seems to be clear that Food is on the march.

Depressions are caused when capital is removed from the economy and that large sucking sound you hear is your money being vacuumed out of your pockets into the banksters' coffers. The shakedown went like this: they bet big, got fat, then lost thousands of times more than everything real on earth combined, then representatives of the serfs gave them all of the serfs’ money they need (including bonuses) to re-stimulate the economy.

Well, our money is NOT flowing back into the economy as promised, and it will not be flowing back into the economy anytime soon. With nothing but crumbs left for the peasants, deflation is happening to durable goods and paper assets (of which real estate has become), while the cost of human necessity is rapidly inflating.

We’ve seen this Beta test before when oil prices reached their peak of $147 in 2008 sending the price of food to the stratosphere. Food staples like rice nearly tripled in six months and at times increased 50% in just two weeks primarily because of record oil prices and a weak dollar in 2008. During this run up on prices, big box stores like Sam's Club and Costco were rationing the number of bags of rice customers could buy. You can bet that Food Crisis Beta 2.010 will be far more severe.

This third factor of actual Food Scarcity, coupled with high oil prices and a feeble dollar, will multiply the severity of increasing food prices. Whether this scarcity is being engineered to further cull the population or is a genuine imbalance in supply and demand is not important. The fact is that this reality that is playing out in the matrix and this triple-threat to food costs creates an opportunity for the serfs to soften the recessionary blow, and perhaps offer some economic freedom.

You don’t have to be an “End Times survivalist” to believe storing food is a pragmatic practice. Everyone with expendable cash can and should design a good food storage and rotation system and buy bulk food as an investment. Many rationalists are touting guns, ammo, and gold as good small-scale investments given the despicable agenda unfolding in our matrix. Certainly those are critical investments in an economy dwindled to the rationing of necessity, but not everyone is into guns or can afford bundles of gold. And gold, at the end of the day, can only be traded for necessity.

These recent food alerts seem to indicate that food may be the best short-term investment for the “Average Joe.” It's simple, if the retail price of rice doubles as it did in 2008, then you (the investor) make 100% return in something that's immediately tangible. It’s time to pay the tax penalty to cash out your mediocre "I-bought-in-to-the-American-Dream" 401K and invest in Food!
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/07/foo ... treet.html

The percentage of stocks in the S&P 500 now trading above their 50-day moving averages is down to 4%. At the March 2009 lows, the reading only got down to 5%, so that gives investors a good idea of just how extreme this decline has gotten.
http://www.bespokeinvest.com/thinkbig/2 ... -to-4.html

Foreclosed homes sell at 27% discount in U.S. as REO supply increases
http://www.bankreorealestate.com/reo-ne ... eases.html

Personal Bankruptcy Filings up 14% in first 6 months of 2010
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
U.S. Consumer Bankruptcies Rise 14% in First Half

“Years of rising consumer debt and low savings rates” are pushing totals near the record set in 2005, when proposed changes in bankruptcy law triggered a surge in filings, ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano said in a statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... ports.html

Consumer Bankruptcy Filings at Highest Level Since 2005
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/07/ ... cs+Blog%29

Foreign holdings of US Treasuries rise as supply for agency securities runs dry
http://www.centralbanking.com/central-b ... s-runs-dry

Loss of jobless checks costs Idaho families, local economies - Idaho could see $7 million a week less going to grocers, gas stations and other retailers if Congress doesn't act on a bill to extend unemployment benefits.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/07/0 ... ilies.html
Six Months to Go Until The Largest Tax Hikes in History

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:

Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave: Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The “Medicine Cabinet Tax” Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The “Special Needs Kids Tax” This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise—the AMT won’t be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress’ failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families—rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or “depreciate”) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be “depreciated.”

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the “research and experimentation tax credit,” but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual “required minimum distribution.” This ability will no longer be there.
http://www.atr.org/files/files/070110pr ... 1taxes.pdf

Pick your poison to remedy the economy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... components

In a slight change of course, two federal agencies have issued official guidance regarding the use of respirators by cleanup workers in the Gulf.
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/fed ... spirators/
TWO LOBBYING FIREPOWERS JOIN FORCES: Patton Boggs, the biggest lobbying firm on K Street, acquired Breaux-Lott Leadership Group on Thursday. Breaux-Lott Leadership Group is a lobbying firm started by ex-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) in 2008.

This is one of the biggest acquisitions on K street and brings together two lobbying powerhouses. Breaux-Lott reported more than $10.8 million in lobbying revenue in 2009, while the bigger Patton Boggs reported more than $40 million in lobbying revenue for 2009.

"The combined expertise of Patton Boggs and Breaux-Lott Leadership Group makes the firm a 'mandatory first stop' for discerning corporate CEOs and general counsels facing complex problems that can be solved in the halls of Congress, the executive branch or the courtroom," Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., chairman of Patton Boggs, told The Hill.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/07 ... s-the.html

Britain faces drink, drugs and obesity health crisis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/ ... gs-obesity


.....armor testing is a tough job....lots of negative news.....so this goes to show you that some guys do have it worse....


UPDATE 2:
The US Economy is Stuck in Misery

A new survey by the Pew Research Center provides disturbing data that no amount of lies from politicians can refute. Without a lot more consumer spending, remember, the US economy will not regain lasting health. The scope of the economic shock is shown by the 60 percent of Americans that have cut down on borrowing and spending. And nearly 50 percent are in worse financial shape because of the economic downturn. Forty percent of adults have tapped savings and retirement accounts to make ends meet. Nearly 25 percent have had to borrow money from someone. Ten percent have moved back with their parents to survive the economic tsunami, and that rises to 24 percent for workers between 18 and 29 years old.

More and more Americans now recognize that retirement will have to wait. For those 62 and older and still working, 35 percent have postponed retirement. That jumps to 60 percent as a likely action for working adults between ages 50 and 61. Replace the golden years with the disappointment years, especially when inevitable reduced Social Security and Medicare benefits hit hard.

For those still lucky enough to have jobs, the Commerce Department reports that the personal savings rate in May -- the part of wage income that goes unspent -- rose to 4 percent, the highest amount in nearly a year, as anxious consumers faced continued economic woes, such as fears about losing jobs or homes, affording food and health care, and a tumbling stock market.

And always remember that the official jobless rate of just under 10 percent is pure bunk; it really is close to 20 percent nationally, and a lot worse in many places and for African-Americans and Hispanics. The average time for being without a job is now six months, with many more people jobless for a whole lot more, often several years. All this means suppressed consumer spending and continued high home foreclosure rates. No big surprise that consumer confidence crashed almost 10 points between May and June. Welcome to high anxiety.

Also keep in mind that even as the general consumer spending shows little life, the Upper Class keeps on living it up. Gallup reported “Upper-income Americans' self-reported spending rose 33% to an average of $145 per day in May -- up from $109 per day in April 2010 and May 2009, and the highest monthly average since November 2008.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20001

The Real Unemployment Rate: 21.5%
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/t ... 5_07022010

Fewest Teen Jobs added in June since 1951
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Dispersants flow into Gulf in 'science experiment'
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/02/gulf.o ... tml?hpt=T1

The south Florida coast and Florida Keys face a 61%-80% likelihood of a threat from the BP spill, according to the latest models from the NOAA. The data also shows an increased risk for the Eastern seaboard.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories201 ... gterm.html


User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

I'm going to be out of the loop for awhile - holidays, weddings, Q2 reporting, etc...

For latest and greatest at one source check out my blog feeds down the right hand side for latest news.
http://yophat.blogspot.com/

In the gulf we have couple storms worth keeping an eye on....
Currently, NHC is monitoring two different areas for possible tropical cyclone development. Invest 95L is about 125 miles west-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi and it doesn't have much thunderstorm activity associated with it. Dry air from the north and strong wind shear have weakened it considerably from yesterday, and NHC believes it has a 10% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone before the feature makes landfall.

Invest 96L is in the western Caribbean sea and bears watching closely. Earlier in the morning, the convection was all on the east side of the circulation center, but thunderstorms have developed on the southwest side. According to the CIMMS wind shear analysis, 96L is on the outskirts of a low wind shear region just east of the Yucatan peninsula. It's also over warm SST's (>29 deg C), so it could intensify. NHC gives it a 20% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours. Computer models have 96L going through the Yucatan Channel then turning left and making landfall somewhere near the Rio Grande.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1534

Magnitude 6.4 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10yhbp.php
BP / Gulf Spill - NOAA Forecasts Long-Term Threat To Coasts

NOAA has just released the results of modeling to analyze the long term threat posed by the ongoing oil spill to coastlines throughout the Gulf, Florida Keys, and East coast shorelines:

Their model shows the probability that oil will approach within 20 miles of the shoreline. It assumes the net daily spill rate is 1.4 million gallons (33,000 barrels) per day for 90 days beginning April 22, when the Deepwater Horizon rig sank and the fire was extinguished. We're at Day 76 right now, so this assumes a relief well plugs the leak within the next 2 weeks. They are steadily closing in on the target depth of about 13,000' below the seafloor, so we're hopeful BP will succeed ahead of their stated mid-August goal.

The model is based on historical wind and ocean current information, and accounts for the natural breakdown of oil at sea. It doesn't account for the movement and ultimate fate of oil beneath the water's surface, because we just don't know enough about that yet. Read all about the model and the assumptions and data used to run it. You can also see other maps, graphics, animations and movies showing the model results for individual scenarios.
http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/07/bp-gul ... kyTruth%29

check out the blog for run down on the latest news....

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

the BDIY plunged 4% overnight to 2,127, posting the longest consecutive decline in 6 years at 28 days. Despite the optimism from the conflicted money printers, those whose livelihood actually depends on a ceaseless influx of goods into China and broader commodity trading in general, are not nearly quite so happy, having seen a drop in their margins by almost 50% in just over a month.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... alian-opti

U.S. Office Vacancy Rate at 17 year high
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
APC Halted As 200 Shares Trade At $100,000

APC price graudally rises from $39.11 to $100,000 per share in one trade. Congratulations to the value buyer who paid $20 million for shares worth under $8,000. This broken market is just getting ridiculous.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/apc-ha ... ade-100000
99 Stocks Account For Half Of Day's Trading Volume As Liquidity Concentrates In Ever Fewer Stocks

The attached liquidity analysis by Abel-Noser indicates that the US stock market has now become a concentrated pool in which just the top 99 stocks account for 50.09% of total domestic trading volume. In June, the top 20 stocks accounted for 28.94% of all domestic volume, an increase of 2.2% over May's 26.7% and a record. The HFT algos are increasingly trading less and less stocks in their attempt to corner just the most liquid stocks. Indicatively, the top 978 names represented 90.01% of total domestic volume, while the remaining 17,597 accounted for just 10% of all dollars traded. Of this, the bottom 12,112 stocks represented less than 0.05% of daily domestic volume. The top 5, or better known as the HFT's dream team, were: SPY (10.5% of total domestic volume in June), AAPL (2.84%), IWM (1.92%), QQQQ (1.71%) and BP (1.39%). Oddly enough such previous HFT darlings as C and BAC barely made the top 10.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/99-sto ... wer-stocks
People quickly forget about the nearly 1,000 point “flash crash” brought on by glitches in the Wall Street casino machinery. Still no sensible explanation has been given but today the stock market now stands below the flash crash moment. The middle class is witnessing the largest wealth transfer in history take place and it is all happening because of the Wall Street infrastructure and the government’s lack of respect for the working class of the United States. Even last month as we lost 125,000 workers the unemployment rate actually went down because over 500,000 Americans simply dropped out of the workforce. In other words people simply threw their hands up in exhaustion and gave up. The government is literally not counting tens of thousands of Americans. What does this tell you about how much they value the middle class?

47 percent of American households make less than $50,000 a year. 66 percent make less than $75,000. This should give you a sense of the household income in the U.S. Only 4.3 percent of U.S. households make more than $200,000. Income for working and middle class Americans has remained stagnant for one agonizing decade. What has occurred over this time is the artifacts of a middle class lifestyle like a decent home and a college education have been juiced with massive amounts of banking debt. As banks have tried to put their hands on every aspect of American life, prices have zoomed up in every industry they have jumped into. Look at housing and higher education for dramatic examples. 50 years ago most middle class Americans could afford a college education and a starter home without sacrificing every single penny to servicing debt.

Debt has engulfed our nation.

Much of what we consider to be middle class living has been kept on life support by banking debt. Yet no system can go on forever with too much debt and too little production. Banks have become a dangerously large part of our economy. That is why so much focus is given to Wall Street and the banking sector. It is a largely idle industry that merely attempts to suck off the wealth creation of actual real work. The housing bubble was the pinnacle of banking neurosis. The idea that you can simply repackage toxic mortgages into “sophisticated” debt products and sell them off as diamonds to unsuspecting fools is appalling. Yet in most cases, all this was legal because our Senators write the laws that should be protecting us. Instead, they have allowed Wall Street to control every aspect of finance and now here we are with 40 million Americans on food assistance and a close to 17 percent unemployment and underemployment rate. Yet things are getting better for the middle class?

The current system is not capitalism but a form of state sponsored cronyism for banks. Most of us can understand that if you have a good product then by all means make a profit. This is the essence of any small business and their survival. But the banking system operates under perverse rules. They created inordinate amounts of debt products that serve no purpose and assured destruction of those taking on the product. Think of option ARMs that actually grew the balance of the mortgage! Horrible products that have destroyed large portions of the real economy and have pushed many off the middle class path. How many foreclosures could have been avoided over the past decade with more prudent banking? Yet this isn’t what the system wants. Banks wouldn’t mind if all you did was work and had to open your beat up leather wallet and pull out 99.99 percent of your net pay to service your debt. In fact, this is probably their ultimate wish.
http://www.mybudget360.com/american-mid ... get+360%29

....didn't happen by accident....that is for sure!!!
On mortgage rates, most big name economists warned in December and March that mortgage rates would go much higher. As we wrote: “We, on the other hand, have long been out on a limb. Every year, we keep predicting lower rates…” When rates declined to 4.67% in late June, it proved our point! Our model appears to be about the only one working well. Though we have not seen rates under 4.5% yet, we should see them!

March surprised us. When the Fed saw the Financial Reform bill in late March, it reminded Congress that it can shut the mortgage market (5.2% rates 1st week of April). The Senate got the “message.” In early May, they caved on the Fed audit. Mortgage rates started dropping right after the vote!

The Fed also pumped $200B through the banks to cut “risk” spreads. Why did Treasury yields skyrocket and credit spreads collapse as banks withdrew $200B from the Fed? What was that $195B special funding really about? Does Wall Street and the NY Fed know how to manipulate credit markets?

In January, we wrote: “The cash flow model says that 1932 arrives in 2010.” In April, we wrote: “Our model suggests that we have probably entered 1932 now.” Our July assessment: 1932 arrived this spring.

What year comes after 1932 and lines up with 2011? Our model suggests 1933 will not be the bottom this time. The debt flow process created in the 1990s is becoming more virulent. Much like the oil gusher in the Gulf, only stopping the debt gusher will give the economy a chance to start recovering.

We also stated in January: “America has reached the point where there are only two paths. The first path is Bernanke’s and Obama’s: more debt and higher deficits…The second path requires a hobbling of the Federal Reserve.” As we enter July, 2010, we are at the decision point for taking the “road not taken.” Is this a “Keynesian Endpoint”? No, it is the endpoint for Keynesianism itself. The economy does not work Keynes’ way.

The Fed appears to be using the UK as its current test ground. If we advised the UK, we would say: “Raise interest rates and go for a budget surplus.” We might also say: “Japan is an early Fed experiment in debtonomics. The experiment failed. Do you want to end up like them?”

In January, we also wrote that 2010 average oil prices would be much higher than 2009. We will be correct. We will not be surprised if oil prices exceed $100 (or $150!) per barrel by next spring! If we are only marginally correct about the process in play, it is a very impressive set-up!

Economics is easy! The Fed’s “manipulate-the-economy-with-debt-flow” game is fracturing fast. One former member of the Clinton/Greenspan debtonomics team has an interesting take on how fast. He may be right, but it might also be faster than he thinks! Pay down your debts and raise some cash!!!
http://www.piscataquaresearch.com/track ... ts_161.pdf
Bold and Underline mine

With the US trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... -1932.html
In a deflationary period:

•Debts become progressively more onerous, because wages shrink or disappear entirely.

•Income becomes more valuable, because each payment has more buying power.

If you're concerned about deflation, then, the first thing to do is to pay down your debts. This is a good idea in any event, but it's a particularly good idea in a deflationary period.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/col ... 2_ST_N.htm
Billions of dollars are being secreted out of Kabul to help well-connected Afghans buy luxury villas in Dubai. Amid concerns that the money could be the result of corruption, American politicians have temporarily cut off aid to the Afghan government.

Brigadier General Mohammed Asif Jabarkhel sits with folded arms in his office, just a few steps away from the security checkpoint at Kabul International Airport. "Of course I know what's going on here," the 59-year-old head of the airport's customs police grumbles from beneath his thick moustache as a fan whirs in the background. "But, in this country, who's allowed to speak the truth?"

Jabarkhel is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases. According to some estimates, since 2007, at least $3 billion (€2.4 billion) in cash has left the country in this way. The preferred destination for these funds is Dubai, the tax haven in the Persian Gulf. And, given the fact that Afghanistan's total GDP amounts to the equivalent of $13.5 billion, there is no way that the funds involved in this exodus are merely the proceeds of legal business transactions.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 65,00.html
THE DEADLY CLOSED CIRCLE

The importance of the wide-sweeping judicial corruption case and the LA County Supervisors’ violation of the Brown Act is that is is a model for decay for the rest of the country. The big picture objective seems to be the federal government trying to make states financially reliant upon federal money so that state sovereignty is weakened while federal power is increased and centralized.

Richard Fine connected the dots, with his discovery of massive judicial corruption that protects those with power and money. LA County is a closed system, a loop that circles back on itself. Our government was created as a Republic that values individuals’ rights and representatives are elected by democratic process. However, this system has been circumvented in LA County and is a model for the destruction of the democratic process.

• The LA County Supervisors authorized illegal payments to the LA Superior Court judges (over $50,000 per judge this year) in order to rule on cases in favor of the county which the county’s own statistics bear out (only 3 cases have been won against the county since 2005 when a judge decided the case).

• The LA Superior Court judges in turn support the LA County Supervisors.

• The California State Legislators and Arnold Schwarzenegger protected the LA Superior Court judges, LA Supervisors and all other government officials who facilitated the illegal payments to the judges by granting them retroactive immunity for criminal prosecution in bill SBX211. This retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution includes the State Legislators and Arnold, and therefore, incriminates them!

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for Sheriff Leroy Baca to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002. The voters’ own money was used against them! Remember that term limits curb corruption by preventing long term corrupt relationships.(6)

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for District Attorney Steve Cooley to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002. Cooley also received a $55,000+ raise from the LA Supervisors. It would seem naive to believe Cooley is not beholden to the LA Supervisors.

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for LA County Assessor Rick Auerbach to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002.

In other words, the LA Supervisors authorized the use of tax payer money to extend the term limits for the Sheriff, the DA and the Assessor. The LA Superior Court judges allowed the nullification of the term limits. And the tax payers ponied up the money to underwrite a system that is corrupt and works in opposition to public interest and voters’ wishes. By the way, should there be any contest or disputes regarding the voting process, it would fall within the jurisdiction of the corrupt LA Superior Court.

CONCLUSION

Professor Daniel Gottlieb has estimated that there are over TEN MILLION felony cases of corruption by the LA Superior Court judges and the LA County Supervisors for bribery, misappropriation of funds and obstruction of justice.(7)

Has Richard Fine has been locked up, and key thrown away, for exposing this information?

Judicial Watch’s victory in the case Sturgeon vs. LA County determined that the payments to the judges are illegal.

Would it be more appropriate for the LA Superior Court judges, the LA County Supervisors and the other government officials (including the California State Legislators and Schwarzenegger) who received retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution to be wearing orange jumpsuits?

What will it take to end the closed loop of apparent injustice? The door is open now for anyone who has lost a case against LA County to request a re-trial to be heard in a jurisdiction where no judges have accepted illegal payments, because the LA County Superior Court judges could be considered compromised. Requests for re-trial for people who have lost cases against LA County, when a LA Superior Court judge decided the case, could include any type of case against LA County, including land use cases, Child Protective Services cases, criminal cases, wrongful termination cases and election contest cases- virtually any case against the county that was lost.
http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=9560
TEXAS CITY, TEXAS -- Two weeks before the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the huge, trouble-plagued BP refinery [1] in this coastal town spewed tens of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the skies.
http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-te ... lf-blowout

More bad news for BP as arsenic levels rise in seawater around the Gulf of Mexico
http://www.news.com.au/world/more-bad-n ... z0spHERla5

Prepare For the Worst – Mandatory Evacuations Planned for Louisianna, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida
http://readynutrition.com/resources/pre ... _01072010/

Coming Chaos: No Banks, No Public Facilities, No Food and Rampaging Gangs of Desperate People
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-prepa ... e_07032010

....here's a bit o irony...

How to Profit on the Road to National Serfdom
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/how-to-p ... l-serfdom/

...stopped reading their emails quite some time ago but I got a kick out of the title today....

....its the end of the world as we know it.....and I feel fine!!!
Breaking: Obama shuts down 33% of the country’s oil refining capacity

Whereas Obama is trying to crush Arizona by suing it into the ground to prevent it from defending itself from illegal immigration, and it is preventing any clean up efforts in Louisiana after 71 days, it has just been learned from one of our conatcts in Texas that Obama by way of the EPA has just shut down today 33% of the country’s refining capacity.

While Obama was unsuccessful at putting a moratorium on oil drilling, he was able to accomplish the same thing by putting a stranglehold on oil refining which accomplishes the same thing. With 1/3rd of the country’s oil refining gone what do you think this will do to the economy? This was the inherent threat that Obama had presented for months. Either give him Cap and Trade or we will shut everything down through the EPA.

What do you think this will do to the economy of Texas.

Let's recap what has happened in the last 90 days.

Obama is going after Arizona and trying to cut off all border security aide while suing the state even though the state of Missouri has had the identical Arizona immigration law for the last five years.

He is making no attempt to stop the oil leak in Louisiana. This is now affecting the economies of Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Florida.

He is going after Texas and with this double whammy of shutting down the refineries and the oil spill the state that was doing the best in the country is now being taken down.

So far Obama has completely trashed five states and is in the process of destroying their economies. What chance do you think there is of a recovery

Hope and change! Totalitarianism is here!

“EPA overturns 16-year-old Texas permit program

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer Ramit Plushnick-masti, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 30, 5:35 pm ET

HOUSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday officially overturned a 16-year-old Texas air permitting program it says violates the Clean Air Act, leaving some of the country's largest refineries in a state of limbo.The move comes after years of backdoor bickering, negotiations and public arguments between the EPA and Texas. The argument recently escalated from a battle over environmental issues into a heated political dispute over states' rights.

He has been using it to drive home his contention that President Barack Obama's administration is overreaching, saying in a statement Wednesday that "Texas will continue to fight this federal takeover of a successful state program."The EPA's decision, announced in a statement, will force some 125 refineries and petrochemical plants to invest millions of dollars to get new permits. Many of the plants may also have to invest in updates to comply with federal regulations.”
http://www.examiner.com/x-45621-Phoenix ... g-capacity

Analyst: Obama has U.S. economy in 'death spiral'
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=173169

Illinois Stops Paying Its Bills, but Can’t Stop Digging Hole - Mr. Hynes shakes his head. “This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services,” he says. “That is obscene.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/busin ... AY&ei=5065
On March 3, 1998, Delta Land and Pine Company, a large American cotton seed company, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced they had been awarded a patent on a technique that genetically disables a seed’s ability to germinate when planted a second season. This patent covers not only the cotton and tobacco varieties, but, potentially, all cultivated crops.

Scarcely two months after the patent was awarded, Monsanto, the world’s third largest seed corporation and second largest agrochemical corporation, began the process of acquiring Delta Land and Pine and with it the rights to this new technology.

Sources for this story, which was named the third best censored story of 1999, included: MOJO WIRE, April 27, 1998; Global Pesticide Campaigner and Earth Island Journal, June 1998, Fall 1998; and The Ecologist, September/October 1998.

REPORTED IN 2010

HOW FRANKENFOOD PREVAILED. A Hungrier World Validates Monsanto’s Tech-driven Strategy

The June 28, 2010, issue of Time magazine reported how “Few companies spin financial growth out of crop growth better than Monsanto. By making an early, successful R&D heavy bet on biotechnology, Monsanto transformed itself from an agricultural chemical company in an increasingly commoditized sector into a cutting edge seed and biotech firm.

Because its rivals are still catching up to its prowess in creating biotech traits — the software of seeds — Monsanto has become the standard bearer and lightening rod for the controversial advance of genetically modified (GM) crops, sometime derisively described as Frankenstein foods.
http://dailycensored.com/2010/07/06/cen ... ensored%29
Three of the largest submarines of the US Seventh Fleet surfaced in Asia-Pacific ports last week, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

The appearance of the USS Michigan in Pusan, South Korea, the USS Ohio in Subic Bay, the Philippines, and the USS Florida in the strategic Indian Ocean outpost of Diego Garcia was a show of force not seen since the end of the Cold War, the paper said, adding that the position of those three ports looks like a siege of China.

The report came as the US and South Korea announced early June a joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea amid mounting tension on the Korean Peninsula.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20041

Debt Deflation: A Long Economic Winter Ahead
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20040
Under threat of a federal felony, National Incident Commander Thad Allen HAS BANNED ALL MEDIA ACCESS to boom operation sites and clean up sites. Allen's orders effectively bans all media - print, television, radio and Internet bloggers from talking to to any clean-up worker or to even come close to take pictures or videos of booms, clean-up workers, oil soaked birds, dead dolphins, dead marine life, burned and dead endangered sea turtles.

Allen has issued a blanket order that bans anyone from getting close to any spill clean up site, boom site, areas where there are clean up workers or any other oil disaster related area or persons effectively shutting down the first amendment rights of the media. The zone of exclusion is 65 feet. There was rumor that Coast Guard bosses wanted to impose a 300 feet exclusion zone but later relented to a 65 feet no trespass and exclusion zone.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ybe ... z0sw7Q8lxa

The facts on fluoride listed below are fully referenced for anyone doubting the science behind the clear evidence that fluoride in public water supplies, toothpastes etc is detrimental to human and animal health.
http://www.sovereignindependent.com/?p=5573

Teens taught about sex ... by vampires
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.pr ... eId=174553

Grindr: a new sexual revolution? Grindr is a free phone app which lets gay men instantly pinpoint each other using GPS technology. It has already transformed the sex lives of 700,000 men around the world. But could it work in the straight market? And would it mean the end of monogamy?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/ju ... revolution

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of new crops have been devoured across South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia in the worst mouse plague since 1993.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 944529.htm
Can you believe there were no bank closings this week. The FDIC must be saving them up.

But, I do have something for you: credit union closings.

There have been 10 federally insured credit unions liquidated so far in 2010; 16 federally insured credit unions liquidated in 2009; and 15 federally insured credit unions liquidated in 2008. Credit unions are regulated by the National Credit Union Administration, yet another part of the vast federal bureaucracy. According to their web site: There are about 7,950 active status federally insured credit unions. Almost 90 million members (89,854,941) with $679 billion on deposit (679,416,086,824).
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/07/02/f ... italist%29

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

The most significant weather event in the US on July 6, 2010 didn't show up on any radar. The geostationary satellites didn't see it in their constant watch over the Earth's atmosphere. Instead, the tale of this event was told by the thermometers, because the heatwave in the Northeast was the most significant event for July 6, and it will likely be the most important weather story for July 7.

The heat wave covers Pennsylvania to Maine, but Tuesday's worst was centered over New York City. All six of the stations used by the New York NWS office for climate reports (Central Park, La Guardia, JFK, Islip, Bridgeport, and Newark) set or tied the daily high temperature record. Newark and Central Park both reached 103 degrees F.

How unusual is this heat wave?
Figures 1 and 2 show how warm the highs and lows are compared to 30 year averages. Unless you were at the Great Lakes, the Midwest and Northeast have highs well above normal, with 10-15+ degree F differences over the coastal cities of the Northeast. Using my gridded temperature data, the low for New York City was 6 degrees F above normal, which should happen 30% of the time (1.1 standard deviations away from normal). The high was roughly 20 degrees above normal, which should happen only 0.29% of the time (3.04 standard deviations away from normal). This is an unusually strong heat wave.

Why it's hot
Basically, it's because there is "the Bull of a high pressure ridge [over the NE US]" to quote the Mount Holly NWS office forecast discussion. The large ridge of high pressure is forcing air to slowly descend across the Northeast, preventing clouds from forming. Without no clouds and plenty of daylight, the Sun heats the ground which then heats the air.

When will it cool down?
That's an excellent question. A trough of low pressure off the coast will bring onshore winds to the Tri-State area and MA by Thursday, so they should cool down a bit. The southern part of the heat wave, DC and Philadelphia, will have to wait for a cold front to arrive from the Great Lakes sometime Saturday to get relief.

Population affected
As Figure 3 shows, heat advisories covered most of the urban areas of the northeastern US. By my calculations, over 32 million people were under a heat advisory. Different offices have different guidelines for heat advisories. The NWS office responsible for New York issues a heat advisory if the heat index will be above 95 deg. F for two or more days or if the index will be above 100 deg. F for any length of time.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1537
Radar Logic has a new report out that estimates the coming wave of Gumnut REO properties. The report suggests the GSEs will take a $333 billion hit on these. It should be added that the Federal Reserve and foreign central banks will also be heavily involved by extension and by the sheer size of their investment.
Baltic Dry Index Slides 5% To 14 Month Low, 30th Consecutive Day Of Declines

After slumping 4% yesterday to close at 2,127, the Baltic Dry has plunged yet another 5% today, to close just above 2,000 at 2,018. This is the lowest level for the index in 14 months since May 5 of 2009 when it last traded by 2,000 and a reason for all Chinese trade "resurgence" bulls to reevaluate their thesis. Did China outsmart everyone, with the Yuan "reval" coming at a time when planned foreign trade would be de minimis? In the meantime, this is bad news for Australia and Brazil, and especially the AUD and the BRL, but who cares about facts anymore.

More broadly, industry concerns over the pace of global economic recovery could hit shipping, given that about 90 percent of the world's traded goods by volume are transported by sea.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... y-declines

Illinois Bankrupt?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... s-bankrupt

Water theft and the beginning of the end of independent and family cattle ranching
http://farmwars.info/?p=3253&utm_source ... rm+Wars%29

Food Thieves Prove Tough Times Are Here Already
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/f ... y_07062010

Drug lobby showers money on its hero Harry Reid
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/ar ... :14:46:42Z

CNN) -- Two high-ranking public officials were shot and killed in Mexico late Wednesday, making for four such attacks in the past two weeks. Three of the deadly assaults happened this week.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/ ... or.killed/

Polish Troops Train To Take On American “Terrorists”
http://www.infowars.com/polish-troops-t ... errorists/

Gulf Water Samples Prove Toxic, BP Continues Spraying
http://theintelhub.com/2010/07/06/gulf- ... ve-deadly/

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Mortgage rates drop to new low of 4.57 pct. - Average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages decline to 4.57 percent, lowest level in 5 decades
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortgage- ... et=&ccode=

Richard Suttmeier: Home Prices Could Fall Another 50%
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/ri ... atrick.net

....its called Debt Saturation......

....to learn more check out a few of the links here....
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sour ... oEBU_QYPCG

....but here's the original that started everyone talking about debt saturation....
http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... ntury.html

.....and the follow up....
http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... rtant.html
Bonds are signaling that the recovery is in trouble. The yield on the 10-year Treasury (2.97 percent) has fallen to levels not seen since the peak of the crisis while the yield on the two-year note has dropped to historic lows. This is a sign of extreme pessimism. Investors are scared and moving into liquid assets. Their confidence has begun to wane. Economist John Maynard Keynes examined the issue of confidence in his masterpiece "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money". He says:

"The state of long-term expectation, upon which our decisions are based, does not solely depend, therefore, on the most probable forecast we can make. It also depends on the confidence with which we make this forecast — on how highly we rate the likelihood of our best forecast turning out quite wrong....The state of confidence, as they term it, is a matter to which practical men always pay the closest and most anxious attention."

Volatility, high unemployment, and a collapsing housing market are eroding investor confidence and adding to the gloominess. Economists who make their projections on the data alone, should revisit Keynes. Confidence matters. Businesses and households have started to hoard and the cycle of deleveraging is still in its early stages. Obama's fiscal stimulus will run out just months after the Fed has ended its bond purchasing program. That's bound to shrink the money supply and lead to tighter credit. Soon, wages will contract and the CPI will turn from disinflation to outright deflation.
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney07062010.html
New data presented by M3 Money Supply shows the stock of money in the United States has fallen from 14.2 to 13.9 trillion dollars in the first quarter of 2010.

The plunge represents a 9.6 percent contraction on an annual basis.

"It's frightening," said Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research, according to a report appeared in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.

"The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression. The dominant reason for this is that regulators across the world are pressing banks to raise capital asset ratios and to shrink their risk assets. This is why the US is not recovering properly," he said.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12 ... id=3510213
Vacancies at large malls in the top 80 U.S. markets rose to 9% in the second quarter, up from 8.9% during the first quarter, according to real-estate research company Reis Inc. Mall vacancies have increased steadily for nearly four years as consumers reined in their spending and retailers closed stores and curtailed expansions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... cle_MoreIn
A little-noticed data point at the back of a 216-page report released last week by the BIS shows the international agency has taken 349 metric tons of gold since December—allowing central banks to raise a record $14 billion.

The number surprised the market, which had assumed most central banks had retained their holdings of gold. Instead, the BIS data show that they have been entering these gold swaps—exchanging their gold with the BIS in return for cash, agreeing to repurchase the gold at a later date.
http://www.businessinsider.com/central- ... ace-2010-7

....remember who the ultimate head honcho is.....the BIS....they are the central bank of central banks.....and in a world of money created by debt in which the ownership of all assets will flow (via interest expense and default) to the originator of the money.....ultimately the BIS.....
Sovereign Debt: The Death of Nations vs. the Wealth of Nations

The gap between the truth vs. the lies that pass for truth in the media has never been so wide. But living a lie is very destructive, so it’s important to cross this gap. Today I want to clear up one of the most important lies reinforced by the media–the idea that we have sovereign countries.

No doubt most of you have heard of the sovereign debt crisis that so many countries are facing. We hear endless economists, reporters, and billionaire hedge fund raiders talk about it. But the phrase they use is fictitious. It is a fabrication of the Ivy League, Wall Street, and erudite periodicals like the Financial Times of London. Sovereign debt is an impossibility. It cannot exist.

It seems ridiculous to point this out, but sovereign debt implies sovereignty. Right? Well, if countries are sovereign, then how could they be required to be in debt to private banking institutions? How could they be so easily attacked by the likes of George Soros, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs? Why would they be subjugated to the whims of auctions and traders?

A true sovereign is in debt to nobody and is not traded in the public markets. For example, how would George Soros attack, say, the British royal family? It’s not possible. They are sovereign. Their stock isn’t traded on the NYSE. He can’t orchestrate a naked short sell strategy to destroy their credit and force them to restructure their assets. But he can do that to most of the other 6.7 billion people of the world by designing attack strategies against the companies they work for and the governments they depend on.

The fact is that most countries are not sovereign (the few that are are being attacked by CIA/MI6/Mossad or the military). Instead they are administrative districts or customers of the global banking establishment whose power has grown steadily over time based on the math of the bond market, currently ruled by the US dollar, and the expansionary nature of fractional lending. Their cult of economists from places like Harvard, Chicago, and the London School have steadily eroded national sovereignty by forcing debt-based, floating currencies on countries. So let’s start being honest and stop describing their debt instruments as sovereign.

We long ago lost the free market envisioned by Adam Smith in the “Wealth of Nations.” Such a world would require sovereign currencies, i.e. currencies that are well-regulated rather than floating, and an asset rather than an interest-bearing debt. Only then could there be a “wealth of nations.” But now we have nothing but the “debt of nations.” The exponential math of debt by definition meant that countries would only lose their wealth over time and become increasingly indebted to the global central banking network.

So thanks to debt-based, free-floating currencies, the “wealth of nations” transitioned to the “debt of nations” which is now transitioning to the “death of nations.” The new world economic order with one currency, one banking system, one government, and one integrated corporate empire is on the horizon. Perhaps that’s a good thing, but if it were, why would the establishment concoct oxymorons like “sovereign debt” instead of telling the truth? That’s my only goal here–I think people can be trusted with the truth. Lies harm not only the population hearing them, but also the powerful people telling them.

Those powers have the best salesmen in the world, so why don’t they just sell the population on the truth? Apparently they don’t think you’d like it. Well now you have it. And it’s coming unless countries follow Iceland’s lead and recover their sovereignty. The choice is ours.
http://csper.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/s ... f-nations/

Why Investing In Gold Is An Illuminati Trap
http://www.thepatriotscave.com/2010/07/ ... inati.html
The middle class is witnessing the largest wealth transfer in history take place and it is all happening because of the Wall Street infrastructure and the government’s lack of respect for the working class of the United States.

High interest charges, onerous fees, and other trickery are merely ways of sucking real wealth from those who work to a class that is largely unproductive and has led us into this economic predicament. The government has worked hand in hand with the banks here.

Much of what we consider to be middle class living has been kept on life support by banking debt. Yet no system can go on forever with too much debt and too little production. Banks have become a dangerously large part of our economy. That is why so much focus is given to Wall Street and the banking sector. It is a largely idle industry that merely attempts to suck off the wealth creation of actual real work. The housing bubble was the pinnacle of banking neurosis. The idea that you can simply repackage toxic mortgages into “sophisticated” debt products and sell them off as diamonds to unsuspecting fools is appalling. Yet in most cases, all this was legal because our Senators write the laws that should be protecting us. Instead, they have allowed Wall Street to control every aspect of finance and now here we are with 40 million Americans on food assistance and a close to 17 percent unemployment and underemployment rate.

The current system is not capitalism but a form of state sponsored cronyism for banks. Most of us can understand that if you have a good product then by all means make a profit. This is the essence of any small business and their survival. But the banking system operates under perverse rules. They created inordinate amounts of debt products that serve no purpose and assured destruction of those taking on the product. Think of option ARMs that actually grew the balance of the mortgage! Horrible products that have destroyed large portions of the real economy and have pushed many off the middle class path. How many foreclosures could have been avoided over the past decade with more prudent banking? Yet this isn’t what the system wants. Banks wouldn’t mind if all you did was work and had to open your beat up leather wallet and pull out 99.99 percent of your net pay to service your debt. In fact, this is probably their ultimate wish.
http://www.mybudget360.com/american-mid ... get+360%29

Baltic Dry Drops Another 4%, Below 2000, Longest Decline On Record Enters 31st Day
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... s-31st-day
(NECN: Scot Yount, Concord, Mass.) - A plan in the works to save money in Concord, Massachusetts. Residents can keep their lights on, but they'll have to pay a monthly fee. It's become a hot topic in the town of 17,000.

David Ropeik: "Government can't afford now the basic kinds of things that we thought government basically did."

In historic Concord, Massachusetts-the lights, are going out.

David Ropeik: "It is pretty strange, we got the reverse 911 call that is usually there if a burglar loose in your neighborhood that says we are taking down your infrastructure."

In fact, the town is taking down hundreds of street lights mostly in residential neighborhoods to save money on electricity. David Ropeik says the light is barely bright enough to walk his dogs as it is.

David Ropeik: "Just seems strange that a kind of a thing that we all take for granted like street lights, red lights, green lights, pavements and things is now beyond the town's means."
http://www.necn.com/06/14/10/Mass-town- ... eedID=4215
(KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO) California's budget slug-fest is in full swing, in court. The Democratic state controller and Republican governor are now suing each other over Governor Schwarzenegger's order to slash the pay of state workers to minimum wage. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McClear says he isn't buying controller John Chiang's claim that the computers can't make the change.
http://www.knx1070.com/State-Budget-Cri ... rt/7643636
The $28 billion state budget that Rendell signed Tuesday holds the line on spending, adds no new taxes, makes cuts across most state agencies, and anticipates layoffs of about 1,000 state workers. It also relies on $850 million in additional federal Medicaid funding that has not yet been approved by Congress and faces an uphill battle when members return to work later this month.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_pa ... udget.html
RALEIGH, N.C. : June 30, 2010 - Gov. Bev Perdue today signed the budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which cuts more than $1 billion from state government while making critical investments in job creation, education and setting government straight. Since taking office, Perdue has approved cuts to the state budget by more than 12 percent and the elimination of more than 3,500 positions in state government.
http://www.islandgazette.net/news-serve ... &Itemid=75
Forty-six states face budget shortfalls that add up to $112 billion for the fiscal year ending next June, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research institution. State spending is 12 percent of U.S. GDP.

“States are going to have to cut back spending and raise taxes the same way Greece and Spain are,” says Dean Baker, co- director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “That runs counter to stimulating the economy and will put a big damper on the recovery in the latter half of this year.”
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/07/07/d ... italist%29

“There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”- Henry Kissinger
LPS data for May is out, and once again shows the squatter effect as days delinquent before foreclosure continues to stretch out to absurd levels. This may play well with some voters, and keep consumer spending from completely collapsing, but it is simply not sustainable.
Initial weekly claims have been at about the same level since December 2009. Historically the current level of 454,000, and 4-week average of 466,000, would suggest ongoing weakness in the labor market.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
This is amusing....

In the week ending July 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 454,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 475,000. The 4-week moving average was 466,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 467,250.

Right. Into the holiday weekend fewer people got fired. This is not surprising. Nor should this be:

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 26 was 4,413,000, a decrease of 224,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,637,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,554,000, a decrease of 18,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,572,750.

That's a big drop. But much of that was due to the refusal to reauthorize extensions by the Congress. Do you really believe 224,000 people found jobs last week? Or is it more likely that they stopped getting checks due to the handout-freeze?

Don't you recall all the bleating in the newspapers about people "losing all money" from the handout machine? I wrote a ticker or two about it...... so...... is this really improvement?

Somehow I doubt it.

Incidentally, the EUC (extended benefit) numbers were even more dramatic, dropping from 4.515 million to 4.147, or -368,000. Some of those were dropped due to the refusal to continue to extend benefits. The others rolled off the 99 weeks and, incidentally, this is forecast to continue with many states seeing tens of thousands or more people "falling off" every week at this point.

That they're no longer getting government handouts means, of course, that they're no longer unemployed - if you're a member of the Goebbels Media, which both the Department of Labor and the mainstream press appear to be.

Leaving aside the social policy issues (which are certainly fair game for debate) we'll see how those newly off-the-dole impact the retail sales numbers over the next three months or so.

The market reaction to that ought to be quite amusing, as will, I'm sure, all the "nobody saw it coming!" reactions from the very same Goebbels "reporters."
http://market-ticker.org/archives/2485- ... oars!.html

With office vacancy rates at a 17 year high, and mall vacancy rates at a 19 year high, there is going to be a long wait ...
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
The real estate market has morphed into a beast that is largely sinking the overall economy into the ground. If we combine the commercial real estate market ($3.5 trillion in debt) with residential outstanding mortgages ($10.3 trillion) we arrive at a figure that nears the annual GDP of our country.

ver 10 percent of all U.S. mortgages are at least one payment behind and another 4 percent are already in the process of foreclosure. This figure is incredible given the entire mortgage market is made up of over 51 million active mortgages. In 2007 if you were to tell someone that prices in California would fall by 50 percent (even 10 percent) many would have ignored you. Now, it is standard practice for the market.

As a country we are much too reliant on real estate. Commercial real estate is the next tragic saga in the RE bubble bursting with prices already falling by 42 percent. At one point, CRE values in the U.S. were up to $6.5 trillion (now this was a rough generous estimate at the time). Today, CRE values are down closer to $3 to $3.5 trillion; this is roughly the same amount of CRE loans outstanding. This has pushed defaults through the roof:

The exponential rise is cause for serious concern. There is little energy or political will to bailout the enormous CRE market. This probably won’t stop the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury to game the system yet again and put taxpayers on the hook. They created this massive monster and now want the public to fight it off with pitchforks. The above chart is disturbing and the amount of bank failures we are seeing is directly related to the above trend. Many smaller banks are deep in the trenches with CRE debt and much of this is now going bad. How many strip malls do we really need? Maybe having 20 Taco Bells in a one mile radius probably isn’t such a good idea. Many of the commercial projects were built in the anticipation of sky high residential prices to justify their absurd underwriting expectations. The above results have no excuse and are largely a reflection of massive delusional speculation in all things real estate.

Over 20 million mortgage holders are underwater. It is amazing that a few years ago, Deutsche Bank estimated that at the ultimate trough of the housing market, nearly half of all mortgages would be underwater. This “doomsday” scenario seemed extremely farfetched. Today, another 10 percent nationwide price decline would put us there.
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/fran ... e+SoCal%29

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac common stock was removed today from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/07/08/f ... ingWire%29

Treasury Auctions from July 2009 to June 2010
http://treasuryauctionwatch.blogspot.co ... 09-to.html



$69 Billion In 3,10,30 Year Treasury Issuance On Deck
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/69-bil ... uance-deck
The nation’s debt leapt $166 billion in a single day last week, the third-largest increase in U.S. history, and it comes at a time when Congress is balking over higher spending and debt has become a key policy battleground.

The one-day increase for June 30 totaled $165,931,038,264.30 – bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year 2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care bill will produce over its first 10 years. The figure works out to nearly $1,500 for every U.S. household, or more than 10 times the median daily household income.

Daily debt calculations jump and fall, and big shifts are common. But all three of the biggest one-day debt increases have occurred under the tenure of President Obama, and all of the top six have been in the past two years – an indication of just how quickly the pace of deficit spending has risen under Mr. Obama and President George W. Bush.

“We are, without question, in a period of decline, particularly in the business world,” Zuckerman said. “The real problem we have…are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.”

“The critical point is if your policy says you’re going run a trillion-dollar deficit for the rest of time, you’re riding for a fall…Then it really is goodbye.” A dashing Brit, Ferguson added: “Can I say that, having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it. It’s just not a lot of fun actually—decline.”
http://jcrue.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/h ... -change-2/
The congressman explained:

We need to look at the American people and explain to them that we’re broke. If you have substantial non-Social Security income while you’re retired, why are we paying you at a time when we’re broke? We just need to be honest with people.

Indeed we do, and when it comes to Social Security, the MSM, where most Americans still get their news, have been MIA. You could almost say that Social Security has become the MSM’s third rail. For the most part, nobody wants to touch it.
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/who_wi ... people.php

Eurozone banking sector 'a slow-motion train wreck', says economist
http://www.risk.net/credit/news/1721524 ... -economist
Invest 96L appears to be in the process of developing into a tropical cyclone. The strength and extent of it's thunderstorms is much improved from yesterday (I used CIMMS tropical storm page for my analysis). It's under an upper-level anticyclone which promotes development because it efficiently removes "exhaust" from the thunderstorms. Shear is relatively low (~10 knots), and SST's are adequate for supporting a tropical cyclone (~28 deg. C). In the most recent Tropical Weather Outlook, NHC mentioned that research flights found that upper-level conditions were promising for storm development, so they assess the chances of 96L of becoming a tropical cyclone at 80%. My take is that 96L has an 80% chance of becoming TD #2, and about a 40% chance of being named Bonnie. My reasoning is that 96L has about 24 hours to intensify before interactions with land start interfering with intensification processes. Also, model intensity forecasts are not very supportive of 96L attaining tropical storm force winds. The model track forecast aids have 96L's center of circulation making landfall somewhere between Brownsville and Corpus Christi.

Impacts
The 12Z operational GFS, HWRF, NOGAPS, and 18Z NAM tell a similar story about the surface winds. Near tropical-storm force winds affect the Texas coast from Corpus Christi to Matagorda Bay. A broad area of 30+ mph winds also affects the Deepwater Horizon oil spill recovery efforts. The 12Z Canadian global model downplays the wind strengths, and the 12Z parallel GFS fails to develop any significant surface wind (> 20 mph). That said, I believe that 96L's greatest impact will be in the form of rain.

The Rio Grande from Del Rio to Laredo is either at major flood stage or is forecast to reach major flood stage in the next 24 hours. This is due to Alex and the moisture he brought to the high terrain of northern Mexico. Nearly all of the forecast models I've looked at forecast 2-3 inches of rain over the Rio Grande Valley in the next 5 days. That will only encourage more flooding. The main forecast problem is how much rain will fall along the Gulf Coast. The parallel GFS and HWRF suggest that 4.5 to 6.5 inches of rain will fall in the Galveston/Houston area in the next 5 days. In my opinion, people living in this area should be prepared for flooding.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1538

...POORLY-ORGANIZED TROPICAL DEPRESSION ABOUT TO MAKE LANDFALL...BRINGING RAINS TO SOUTHERN TEXAS AND NORTHEASTERN MEXICO....
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MI ... 1432.shtml

Sports Illustrated sent Gary Smith to the Gulf. He reported, “I awoke and left New Orleans behind, driving south into the bayou. Everywhere I turned, it looked like war. Black Hawk helicopters ripped the sky. National Guard trucks and Humvees and bulldozers rumbled across the land, Coast Guard boats zipped across the water, strike teams prowled the bays for oil. Reporting from the Gulf: “This is the death of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Capt. Brian Clark of the marine division of the St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s office. “How can we clean up something that’s not even fixed? It’s like mopping a bathroom floor while the toilet’s still spewing. I’m thinking, there’s a monster out there … a beast we’ve never fooled with,” Governor Bobby Jindal said. “You can see pictures, but until you come here and see it, touch it, smell it, you don’t really understand. It’s tragic.”

Censored Gulf evacuation news: Aid for Americans fleeing chemical rape
http://www.examiner.com/x-10438-Human-R ... -aid-begun



Whistleblower: Relief payments get slashed if fishermen refuse to work for BP
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0706/whistl ... f-cleanup/
A photographer taking pictures for our articles about a troubled BP refinery [1], was detained Friday while shooting pictures in Texas City, Texas.

The photographer, Lance Rosenfield, said that shortly after arriving in town, he was confronted by a BP security officer, local police and a man who identified himself as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security. He was released after the police reviewed the pictures he had taken on Friday and recorded his date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information.

The police officer then turned that information over to the BP security guard under what he said was standard procedure, according to Rosenfield.
http://www.propublica.org/article/photo ... cal-police

U.S. demands BP give notice of asset sales
http://blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy/ ... _bp_g.html

IMF presses US to cut debt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100708/pl ... economyimf
U.S. Missiles Deployed Near China Send a Message

If China's satellites and spies were working properly, there was a flood of unsettling intelligence flowing into the Beijing headquarters of the Chinese Navy last week. A new class of U.S. super weapon had suddenly surfaced nearby. It was an Ohio-class submarine, which for decades carried only nuclear missiles targeted against the Soviet Union, and then Russia. But this one was different: for nearly three years, the U.S. Navy has been dispatching modified "boomers" to who knows where (they do travel underwater, after all). Four of the 18 ballistic-missile subs no longer carry nuclear-tipped Trident missiles. Instead, they now hold up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, capable of hitting anything within 1,000 miles with non-nuclear warheads.

Their capability makes watching these particular submarines especially interesting. The 14 Trident-carrying subs are useful in the unlikely event of a nuclear Armageddon, and Russia remains their prime target. But the Tomahawk-outfitted quartet carries a weapon that the U.S. military has used repeatedly against targets in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Sudan.

That's why alarm bells would have sounded in Beijing June 28 when the Tomahawk-laden 560-foot USS Ohio popped up in the Philippines' Subic Bay. More alarms likely were sounded when the USS Michigan arrived in Pusan, South Korea, the same day. And the klaxons would have maxed out as the USS Florida surfaced the same day at the joint U.S.-British naval base at Diego Garcia, a flyspeck of an island in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese military awoke to find as many as 462 additional Tomahawks deployed by the U.S. in its neighborhood. "There's been a decision to bolster our forces in the Pacific," says Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "There is no doubt that China will stand up and take notice."

U.S. officials deny any message is being directed at Beijing, saying the Tomahawk triple-play was a coincidence. But they did make sure news of the new deployments appeared in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post - on July 4, no less. The Chinese took notice quietly. "At present, common aspirations of countries in the Asian and Pacific regions are seeking for peace, stability and regional security," Wang Baodong, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Wednesday. "We hope the relevant U.S. military activities will serve for the regional peace, stability and security, and not the contrary."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599200237800

....and ironically the "nuclear option" is now off the table....
China has delivered a qualified vote of confidence in the dollar and US financial markets, ruling out the “nuclear option” of dumping its huge holdings of US government debt accumulated over the last decade.

But the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which administers China’s $2450bn in reserves, the largest in the world, also called on Washington and other governments to pursue “responsible” economic policies.

The statement on Wednesday, one of a series that Safe has issued in recent days in an apparent effort to address criticism about its lack of transparency, also played down the chances of China making major further investments in gold.

Safe’s comments coincided with the news that China had made record purchases of Japanese government bonds in the first four months of the year, helping push the yen to an eight-month high against the dollar.

Analysts said it was too early to tell whether China’s move into JGBs was the start of a trend, but Greg Gibbs, FX strategist at RBS, said unlike in the US, Tokyo would not welcome foreign central banks routinely accumulating yen assets.

With such inflows not required to help stabilise its currency given the country’s current account surplus, yen appreciation could hurt the country’s exporters.

“If this persists it may generate tensions between Japan and China. It would seem a little ridiculous for Japan to allow the yen to be pressed upwards by inflows from China, when Japan is not able to counter with renminbi asset purchases,” said Mr Gibbs.

About two-thirds of Safe’s funds are believed to be in dollar assets, giving China a huge exposure to the US economy but also raising fears that the holdings could be used to pressure Washington.

Given the US government’s huge funding needs, some analysts worry that China’s stated objective of diversifying its reserves could also lead to higher US interest rates if it buys fewer Treasuries.

However, Safe said that the “nuclear” option of selling huge volumes of US assets was “completely unnecessary”. Given its security, liquidity and low transaction costs, the US Treasury market was “a very important market for China”. It added: “Any increase or decrease in our holdings of US Treasuries is a normal investment operation.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5f038fc8-89a3 ... ab49a.html

Ahmadinejad brands US world's dictator ahead of summit
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... Fs8Oaprvkg

....love it when the enemy tells the truth!

'US will attack Iran if it must' - Senators in Jerusalem to discuss Middle East tensions.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=180695

McCain: Israel not considering strike against Iran right now
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... bled=false

Iran says Bushehr nuclear plant to be ready by September
http://www.haaretz.com/news/internation ... r-1.300555

UAE asks US to stop Iran by all means
http://www.jpost.com/International/Arti ... ?id=180693



EU: Most Iran Air jets banned from Europe
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=180627

Iran on war alert over "US and Israeli concentrations" in Azerbaijan
http://www.debka.com/article/8868/

Who’s pushing to strike Iran?
http://warincontext.org/2010/07/07/whos ... rike-iran/


Millions Of U.S. Taxpayer Dollars Going Right Into The Pockets Of Corrupt Government Officials In Afghanistan
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... fghanistan

Russia becoming major oil supplier to U.S. - WSJ
http://en.rian.ru/world/20100707/159717020.html

National Guard Troops Invading Neighborhoods to “Fight Drugs”
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=31172

New York National Guard Units Scan Vehicles For Gun Confiscations
http://www.prisonplanet.com/new-york-na ... tions.html

Report: NSA creating spy system to monitor domestic infrastructure
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0707/nsa-cr ... structure/

When the Police Control the Press
http://www.propublica.org/article/when- ... -the-press

The New Civil Wars Within the West
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/t ... t_07072010

The Welfare-Warfare Crackup
http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-07-07.asp

OBAMA'S I.C.E. CHIEF OPPOSES IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news207.htm
Today, President Obama officially made Donald Berwick his recess appointment to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In 2008 while speaking on the British health care system in the UK, Berwick said wealthy individuals must redistribute their wealth to those less fortunate for health care funding. Also during this speech, he told those in attendance that he opposes free markets.

“Any health care funding plan that is just equitable civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional.”
http://blog.eyeblast.tv/2010/07/flashba ... te-wealth/

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS: The Elephant in the Room that They Don’t Want You to See
http://farmwars.info/?p=3261&utm_source ... rm+Wars%29

UK basks in its driest spell for almost 71 years
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... years.html

Mexico earthquake shakes buildings as far as Mexico City - A Mexico earthquake, magnitude 6.0, centered in the southern state of Oaxaca and shook buildings 300 miles north in Mexico City. One person died in a quake that was shallower and weaker than the Haiti and Chile earthquakes.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas ... exico-City

FTR #713 Interview (#3) with Russ Baker, Author of “Family of Secrets”
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ ... cord%27%29

Swiss solar plane makes history with 26hr flight
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0708/swiss- ... hr-flight/

Diesel Powered Motorcycle, ATV for Military, SpecOps
http://www.defence-update.net/wordpress ... +Update%29

The amazing 6.5×25mm CBJ
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

UPDATE:
Consumer Credit Plunges In May, April Revised Much Lower, As Government Only Marginal Lender For Two Months In A Row

The latest consumer credit number continues the decline we have seen in recent months, plunging from $2424.4 billion in April to $2415.3 billion in May, a $9.1 billion decline, or 4.5% annualized, on consensus of $2.3 billion. Yet the biggest stunner was the April revision which was whacked from +$1 billion to a revised -$14.9 billion! In other words, there has been a $24 billion decline in consumer credit in the past two months.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/consum ... er-two-mon
Bold and Underline mine

....DEFLATION.....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stores deepened discounts more than planned in June to draw recession-scarred shoppers to buy summer tops and other merchandise. But shoppers bought mostly items they needed, resulting in small revenue gains.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Retailers ... et=&ccode=


Benzene and other highly toxic contaminants were very low however the concentration of propylene glycol was between 360 and 440 parts per million. Just 25 parts per million is know to kill most fish and propylene glycol is just one of many ingredients found in Corexit. In short, the Gulf is being poisoned by BP's usage of the dispersants even after the EPA asked them to stop back in May.
....from Youtube video above....

In Trying To Cover It's Own Behind, BP Has Lowballed the Amount of Oil ... Which Has Made Everything Worse
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/07/ ... study.html

UPDATE 2:
Tropical Depression Two formed overnight in the northern Bay of Campeche and is now making landfall along the extreme south coast of Texas. A hurricane hunter was sent into the system and found a low-level circulation. While there are some reports of tropical storm strength winds in the squalls of the system, there is just not enough evidence to upgrade the storm to tropical storm strength before landfall.

The satellite representation of the depression is quite impressive as half of the depression is now over landfall. Brownsville radar currently is showing the effects of the depression with heavy rain and thunderstorms through much of southern Texas.

The biggest lingering effect from the depression will be to prolong the devastating flooding that has been ongoing in southern Texas and northeast Mexico. Not including the rain that will fall due to the depression, over the past 7 days, the area near Houston has received over 10 inches of rain, while some inland areas of Texas has received over 4 inches of rain. The problem gets worse in the Mexican state of Coahuila near the Texas border has received upwards of 20 inches of rain in the past 7 days due to substantial moisture pouring into the area.

This surging watershed has caused massive flooding throughout the region, with the area near Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico being the hardest hit. The flooding has caused the major border crossing between those two cities to be closed as the Rio Grande surged and threatened to top the crossing's bridge. A contingent of Mexican officials, including the mayor of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, touring the flooding damage in an airplane crashed Wednesday, killing all six onboard. Evacuations on both sides of the border has forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes, while over 100,000 people were without water service. The flooding problem is extra dangerous because swollen dams had to release some of their water downstream into areas that towns that have already been swamped. It was even reported that one of these releases by the National Water Commission of Mexico was the largest emergency water release in the country.

Needless to say, the rain from Tropical Depression Two will only further the flooding problems in southern Texas and northeast Mexico. Figure 3 shows the severe map and the greens represent Flood Watches and Warnings. You can see almost the entire states of Texas and Oklahoma are under these watches and warnings in anticipation of several inches of rain from the remnants of Tropical Depression Two.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1539

Thousands evacuated in Texas and Mexico as storm approaches - Reservoirs along the Texas-Mexico border rose to their highest levels in decades after days of drenching rain, forcing officials to close two border bridges and evacuate tens of thousands from homes as a new storm headed toward the region.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... aches.html

Dwindling Resources and Why Population Growth Must Stop
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Gener ... +Update%29

.....increasing amount of rhetoric on curbing population.....gonna be some massive killing here soon....

Coast Guard dispatching ships and personnel to Costa Rica to threaten Nicaragua
http://www.infowars.com/coast-guard-dis ... caragua-2/

UN Security Council Condemns Cheonan Sinking, An Act North Korea Had Stated Would Be Considered An Act Of War
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/un-sec ... to+zero%29

EMU break-up risks global deflation shock that would dwarf Lehman collapse, warns ING
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comm ... s-ING.html

Frightening: Methane Explosion, Steam Volcano May Cause Massive Tsunami
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/f ... i_07082010

Is the US government protecting BP and what’s really happening in the gulf?
http://dailycensored.com/2010/07/08/is- ... ensored%29

The Government Is Intentionally Attacking Your Wealth and Financial Independence!
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/08 ... ependence/

Mind Control? Scientists Have Discovered How To Use Nanoparticles To Remotely Control Behavior!
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... l-behavior
EXTEND & PRETEND: Stage I Comes to an End! The Dog Ate my Report Card

The problem is actually pretty simple. We have more debt than productive growth can support. Debt has been losing its marginal productivity for years now and it no longer increases GDP. Rather, we abruptly reached debt saturation and now growth in debt reduces GDP. We have such levels of mal-investment and excess balance sheet gearing that increased debt now directly subtracts from productive money. Stimulus spending no longer will add sustained job growth.

PEOPLE WILL WANT SECURITY

The general public worries about two things: Having money to spend and having a job with which to earn the money. Everything else evolves or springs from having these first two. Politicians’ foremost job, if they are to get re-elected, is to deliver on this. Americans vote with their pocketbook.

They say that in a depression everyone is a Keynesian. That may be true until it is evident that it doesn’t work. Never have we had such debt levels from which to test this saying. What hasn’t changed is that when people are frightened they reach out to anyone that offers security or a sellable chance of restoring pre-crisis status quo stability - a person or administration that represents a chance to return things to the way they were. What was once unacceptable, even deplorable, is suddenly seen to be an option. The messenger of the solution is seen to be some sort of hero or messiah. This was precisely what led to the ascent of Adolf Hitler and many other now hated villains of history. They offered hope through new policy initiatives when none other did. They are now villains because their solutions turned out to be horribly wrong. Even if they were wrong headed ideas, if they were expedient they were latched onto by a desperate public. Are we fast approaching such a period over the next two years in America or are we already there?

EXAMPLES:

A ‘GULF OF TONKIN’ & FALSE FLAGS

Powerful countries have a tendency to solve inevitable political conflicts and/or inabilities to persuade the electorate through the use of geo-political events. These events act as catalysts that force a direction to be taken and politically unpopular measures to be enacted.

There are many examples of this occurring, but one that is well documented with recorded first hand testimony and achieved a major political initiative is the Vietnam War era “Gulf of Tonkin” incident. President Lyndon Johnson staged and manipulated this ‘false flag’ event to secure the dramatic escalation of troops and funding of the Vietnam War against overwhelming public and political resistance. It gave the administration the cover to execute its predetermined agenda. The public was intentionally hoodwinked.

I fully expect something like this to occur within the next 90 days and prior to the fall midterm elections. Whether it is Iran, Korea, a BP triggered financial collapse, a cyber attack, or some other geo-political event – expect the fallout to move public opinion towards further ‘stimulus spending’.

The government must find an excuse to push another $5T (minimum) into the US economy.

I suspect the Federal Reserve and White House Administration are now convinced that without further massive stimulus, the US economy is headed into a deflationary depression.

We are presently at the cusp as shown in the chart below, which I have labeled as a “Critical Point” or more technically a “Chaotic Transient”. We can go either way. The determination is a function of the public policy initiatives which the administration chooses.

AUSTERITY & WAR

I would like to offer another illustration by SocGen's Dylan Grice in his latest weekly piece "Double dips, siren calls and inflationary bias of policy." It was recently published by Zero Hedge. I have inserted three charts and links to make the message clearer within today’s geo-political tensions.

Margaret Thatcher, who came to power oddly enough on a "mandate to smash inflation, smash the unions and downsize government", saw her popularity immediately slide to 25% as people realized the very real pain associated with austerity and a regime fighting run away government. On very rare occasions, the people of a country do end up making the decision to take on hardship, instead of kicking the can down the road. Yet they promptly grow to regret their decision. So what was it that saved the government, and allowed the Conservatives a second term in which to complete the painful austerity project?

The declaration of war by Argentina's General Galtieri over the Falkland Islands. The result was soaring popularity for the Iron Lady, and the rest is history.

Looking forward, now that all of Europe is gripped in austerity, (and make no mistake - this very same austerity is coming to the US on very short notice with crashing popularity ratings for all political parties), has the political G-8/20 elite focused a little too much on a Falkland war? Is war precisely the diversion that Europe and soon America hope to use in order to deflect anger from policies such as Schwarzenegger’s imposition of minimum wage salaries? Is there a Gallup or some other polling "unpopularity" threshold that the G-20 is waiting for before letting loose all those aircraft carriers recently parked [1] next to the Persian Gulf, the Israeli jets in Saudi Arabia [2] or the recent US troop buildup [3] on the Iran border? [4] (Italics is my addition: see the charts I have added for [X] locations. I have also added [5] for the highly symbolic July 4th weekend visit of Hillary Clinton to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia)
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest- ... to+zero%29

....long way of saying we're at the fork in the road where they will not be able to cover their activities.....for example claim inflation while we are deflating....and it will be fairly transparent due to the scope of the move....which direction we are going...

Harrisburg Chapter 9 Imminent As Controller Tells Debtwire Bankruptcy Best Option
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/harris ... to+zero%29

Option ARM Reset Payments to Explode with Devastating Consequences
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/08 ... sequences/

The U.S. Postal Service has requested yet another price hike, but Daniel Gross says higher postage rates are actually good for the economy, businesses and consumers. Has he gone postal?
http://seekingalpha.com/news/market_cur ... ource=feed

More than 15 million Americans are unemployed, homelessness has increased by 50 percent in some cities, and 38 million people are receiving food stamps, more than at any time in the program’s almost 50-year history.
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/s ... adlines%29

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Magnitude 6.2 - ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10yqad.php

ESSC Scientists make prediction for 2010 North Atlantic Hurricane Season
http://www.essc.psu.edu/essc_web/resear ... e2010.html

Florida State scientists use unique model to predict active hurricane season
http://fsu.edu/news/2010/06/01/hurricane.season/
Summary of 2010 Atlantic hurricane season forecasts
Here are the number of named storms, hurricanes, and intense hurricanes predicted by the various forecasters:

23 named storms: PSU statistical model
20 named storms: UKMET GloSea dynamical model
18.5 named storms, 11 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes: NOAA hybrid statistical/dynamical model technique
18 named storms, 10 hurricanes, 5 intense hurricanes: CSU statistical model (Phil Klotzbach/Bill Gray)
17.7 named storms, 9.5 hurricanes, 4.4 intense hurricanes: Tropical Storm Risk (TSR), hybrid statistical/dynamical model technique
17 named storms, 10 hurricanes: FSU dynamical model
10 named storms, 6 hurricanes, 2 intense hurricanes: climatology
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1541

Indonesia's mud volcano flows on
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 6888.story
Since 17-May-2010 until this post 9-July-2010, there have been approximately 96 earthquakes at the Katla volcano site within the region of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. Of the 96 earthquakes, 27 have been within the Katla caldera. The image shows the earthquake locations with respect to the past volcanic eruption sites of 1755, 1823, and 1918. There was also a suspected region of eruption during 1955 which never broke through the ice glacier. It is located on the eastern edge of the caldera.

As you can see, only a few of the earthquakes occur directly underneath a previous eruption location, while the majority occur around the perimeter, particularly the east-northeast perimeter. Several others are scattered in other locations within the caldera.

It is interesting to note that of the approximate 96 Katla earthquakes since 17-May, the majority have occurred just off of the northwest rim of the caldera as you can see in the image above.

Katla has been fickle during the past number of weeks in that there have been days when hardly an earthquake has appeared, while there have been other days that have been fairly active. There was one stretch of several weeks that was very quiet, while during the past several days there has been quite a lot of activity, much more than average since I’ve been watching this.

Katla historically erupts following the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull (which first erupted April 14). Katla is about 10 times more powerful, and has the potential to cause worldwide disruption.
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/natural-d ... valBlog%29
The average time between Katla eruptions since 80 BC is 52 years. The Icelandic volcano has pretty much followed this average time between eruptions except for a few instances, one of which extended 190 years leading to the eruption of 1150. However there is some controversy regarding an eruption in the year 1000 (which would have followed the ongoing average) in that the tephra / ash of that time was credited to a different volcano.

Two simple statistical observations why Katla could be ready to erupt once again…

* 92 years have ticked by since Katla’s last explosive eruption, nearly twice the average 52 years between historical eruptions. We are overdue in 2010.
* Eyjafjallajokull, Katla’s nearest neighbor volcano has erupted four times, while each eruption has occurred immediately preceding a Katla eruption. As you can see in the time-line above, it seems more than just coincidence that these two volcanoes have erupted together during the past 2,000 years.

Now that Eyjafjallajokull has erupted (14-Apr-2010), the clock is set and ticking for Katla (assuming history repeats itself). The Katla volcano, which hides beneath the Myrdalsjökull icecap, has the potential explosive power of perhaps up to ten times that of Eyjafjallajokull, and is currently awake with regular earthquakes popping underneath it.
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/natural-d ... valBlog%29


You Are Not Authorized to See These Pictures of the Oil Spill, Citizen ... Do Not Look!
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/07/ ... these.html

A Key Piece in the Oil Leak Story: Two Sections of Drill Pipe Lodged in the Blowout Preventer
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20095



More bad news for BP as arsenic levels rise around Gulf of Mexico
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-b ... 5888311592

BP Getting Daily Exemptions to Directive Limiting Surface Dispersant
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/bp- ... dispersant
Despite Tar Balls and Health Complaints, Florida Beaches Stay Open

At Pensacola Beach in Escambia County, signs advising of the oil impact notice urged beachgoers to avoid swimming altogether, according to pictures of the notice taken by a reporter from Mother Jones.

However, she found that these signs were all too easy to miss. She wrote that she "drove down about 15 miles of beach and saw only two such warnings [5]," although she admitted that she might have overlooked a few because they are "about the size of a sheet of computer paper."
http://www.propublica.org/article/despi ... -stay-open



Shootout At El Paso City Hall
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysi ... ?id=539337

Arizona’s SB 1070 threatens to collapse U.S. immigration system
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebo ... ion-system

Dumbing Down Society Pt 2: Mercury in Foods and Vaccines
http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=4116

Iran Cuts Crude Oil Stored in Tankers 40% Since April
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/ind ... &Itemid=94

'US attack on Iran a matter of time'
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=13 ... =351020104

Abbas to Arabs: We'd Support a War Against Israel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138501
Reports coming out of southern Lebanon tells us that UN Troops are under attack by Hezbollah and Lebanese civilians who are not being allowed into villages along the border with Israel. Air and other surveillance has shown that a huge amount of weaponry, including missiles, is being moved closer to Israel's border. Our news agencies here in Israel are telling us that Hezbollah is preparing for war and have escalated their movements as if they plan on being in a war very soon. One thing is very certain; the threat of war is growing by the minute. The IDF is on HIGH alert and soldiers are being advised to stay close to their units.

http://www.thegoldenreport.com/asp/jerr ... a=1363&z=1

Hizballah advances 20,000 troops to Israeli border
http://www.debka.com/article/8905/

'Hizbullah: Israel preparing something'
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=180970

Iranian fighter turned US spy: Tehran will attack Israel - Former Revolutionary Guard member who relayed its secret operations to CIA for 10 years says Iran will commit 'most horrendous suicide bombing in human history' if not stopped.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 48,00.html

Israeli delegations to Egypt, Jordan struck by new sense of urgency.
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News ... ?ID=180912

Warning sounded over British dogfighting drone
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... drone.html

Giant unmanned airships to patrol Afghanistan skies for up to three weeks at a time
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -time.html

US scientists develop ‘fake’ GMO blood for use on battlefield
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/07/ ... Unknown%29


Merkel's Rules for Bankruptcy
http://www.spiegel.de/international/eur ... 59,00.html
Bank Profits Depend on Debt-Writedown `Abomination'

Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, may record a $1 billion second-quarter gain from writing down its debts to their market value, Citigroup Inc. analyst Keith Horowitz estimated in a June 23 report. The boost to earnings, stemming from an accounting rule that allows banks to book profits when the value of their own bonds falls, probably represented a fifth of pretax income, Horowitz wrote.

Investor fears of a Greek default, stalled U.S. economic recovery and tougher industry regulations have rattled markets, snapping banks’ trading streaks and rekindling doubts about their creditworthiness. Prices for Bank of America’s credit derivatives -- used by traders to bet on the likelihood of the firm’s default -- rose by 34 percent during the second quarter, while Morgan Stanley’s doubled and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s surged 86 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-1 ... ecast.html

....ironic little world we live in.....as the world melts down they book paper profits....
Obama's debt commission warns of fiscal 'cancer'

Bowles said that unlike the current economic crisis, which was largely unforeseen before it hit in fall 2008, the coming fiscal calamity is staring the country in the face. "This one is as clear as a bell," he said. "This debt is like a cancer."

The commission leaders said that, at present, federal revenue is fully consumed by three programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. "The rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans -- the whole rest of the discretionary budget is being financed by China and other countries," Simpson said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 56_pf.html

$35 Billion 3 Year Bond Auction Closes At 1.055% High Yield, 3.20 Bid To Cover, Highest PD Takedown Since May 2009
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/35-bil ... to+zero%29

Treasury Auction for the Week of July 12, 2010
http://treasuryauctionwatch.blogspot.co ... ly-12.html
Baltic Dry Index Drops 3.3% To 1,840 For 32nd Sequential Decline, Longest Drop In 9 Years

Don't panic - the fact that capesize operators are on the verge of losing money on charters and facing bankruptcy is irrelevant: China just announced the biggest export balance with the US on record. And that very credible number must surely mean all is good, and trade by Pacific Ocean rail is surging. In the meantime, the BDIY dropped 3.3% to 1840 from 1902, a 32nd sequential decline and a the longest drop in 9 years.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... op-9-years
Banks worldwide owe nearly $5 trillion to bondholders and other creditors that will come due through 2012, according to estimates by the Bank for International Settlements. About $2.6 trillion of the liabilities are in Europe.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Deflation and the Fed
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29

Tighter banking rules will drain £1tn from financial system, study shows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010 ... it-warning

Friday Bank Closings
http://dailycapitalist.com/2010/07/09/f ... italist%29

U.S. mortgage delinquency rate increases to 9.2% in May
http://www.bankreorealestate.com/reo-ne ... n-may.html

Retail Sales in U.S. Probably Fell for Second Month as Economy Moderated
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-1 ... rated.html

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lawmakers come back to work Monday facing a tough decision: Whether it's more important to spend money to keep the economic recovery going or to watch their pennies.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/11/news/ec ... htm?hpt=T2

50 Statistics about the U.S. Economy that Are Almost too Crazy to Believe
http://coto2.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/5 ... o-believe/

.....A little financial reminder....

Six Months to Go Until the Largest Tax Hikes in History...
http://worthreading.ning.com/profiles/b ... share_post


....and for the conclusion....

Shocking Red Flags! 25 Signs That Wickedness And Evil Are Rapidly Growing In America
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... in-america
How Twilight Offers Fans the Magic Missing from Organized Religion

Last November, I sat in a theatre in South Jordan, Utah with 4,000 Twilight Moms who had gathered for the weekend to celebrate the release of New Moon after two days of raucous pre-film festivities. As I sat watching Eclipse, the newest film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster Twilight series (in the six days since it opened, Eclipse has grossed $176.4 million), it wasn’t the wolves, newborn vampire army, fight sequences, love triangle or brief appearance by the Volturi that I found mesmerizing. It was the fans seated around me. They had come to watch the film after holding their own red carpet events at home, sharing Eclipse-theme dinners, exchanging flowers with one another, reciting lines from the book, donning golden vampire contact lenses, holding sleepovers, and wearing t-shirts bearing slogans with variations on favorite quotes: “Edward Cullen, I Promise to Love You Every Moment of Forever.” The women and girls in Ohio were just part of the millions in the fanpire worldwide who have built imaginative social worlds around the film premiere and the series in general.

Writers like Jana Riess have astutely noted the Mormon religious themes embedded in the books. However, an overlooked aspect of the series is the way fans worldwide have created a Twilight-inspired universe that encompasses all aspects of their lives: from using the texts as spiritual guides, to Edward addiction groups to twi-rock music to Cullenism, a religion based on the values of Edward’s family of vegetarian vampires. Gary Laderman notes in his compelling book, Sacred Matters that popular culture functions as “a rich wellspring for inspiring the religious imagination and possibly even an alternate source of sacred authority in the lives of fans.” In the extensive social worlds of fans,Twilight is a text with multiple interpretations, an array of meaningful practices associated with it, and an audience that considers it a rich source of inspiration and collective identity. The “Twilight Oath” is only one example of the ways fans imaginatively reproduce the Twilight series as a guide in their everyday lives.

At a midnight screening, surrounded by hundreds of other Twilight devotees, a fan might temporarily transcend the world they know and enter into one more fully felt than their own. After the premiere of New Moon, a 17-year old girl in Michigan emerged from the theatre and alerted police that a man had bitten her on the neck. Her story later proved to be a hoax, but it bespeaks the desire to traverse the space between ordinary life and the story, even if there isn’t any neck-biting in New Moon or Eclipse. One woman constructed what she calls her Twilight shrines: two eight-foot long glass display cabinets overflowing with a jumble of Twilight tschotkes where she communes regularly. There are vampire wine bottles, feathers, masks, a white chess piece, a frayed bumper sticker that reads “Smitten”, shot glasses, beads, wolf figurines and even Tampons.
http://www.alternet.org/story/147474/ho ... _religion/

...gear for the fall out....

FN SCAR-H PR (Precision Rifle)
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

Saiga SD-10 drum magazine
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... -magazine/

pritchet1
captain of 1,000
Posts: 3600

Re: Blipits

Post by pritchet1 »

Apparently, LDS covens exist in Utah. :shock:

I had heard that Utah LDS women were practicing witchcraft. Now we know.

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

pritchet1 wrote:Apparently, LDS covens exist in Utah. :shock:

I had heard that Utah LDS women were practicing witchcraft. Now we know.
Yeah everyone thought Harry Potter was harmless....and now looking back at the boost to Wicca religion and pagan/occult adoption.....its a whole new perspective! Twilight is the next step down that road....and the idea is to convert.....thus the focus on the younger age groups to help steadily draw them over to the dark side!

Look at the path of the books....they get darker and darker with each new addition to the series.....same with the films.

New U.S. oil drilling pause to end November 30
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-US-dr ... et=&ccode=


“The rich are different: They are more ruthless,” – Sam Khater, CoreLogic’s senior economist. There has been scuttlebutt of late about the “wealthy” defaulting in drove on large mortgages. The NYT had such a piece this weekend. What I find interesting is that in reality this trend has been in play for over two years.

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” – John F. Kennedy

Consumer credit has undergone steady erosion over the last year and a half.
Managed News: Inside The US/NATO Military Industrial Media Empire
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=20018

New Takings, Just Like the Old Takings
http://www.american.com/archive/2010/ju ... ld-takings

The National Academy of Blacklists
http://american.com/archive/2010/july/t ... blacklists

Journalist Shot Dead in the Mexican State of Michoacá
http://www.mexidata.info/id2731.html


Practice Your Mercury Escape Plan

The Dairy Queen ice cream cone looking Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs are a perfect example of this kind of subterfuge. These CFL have become the symbol of the government’s Green Movement, but they should be using the skull and crossbones symbol instead.

These new light bulbs are not a bright idea.

While claiming these new CFL bulbs will reduce carbon emissions, “our” Congress passed legislation stating these new light bulbs must completely replace our everyday incandescent light bulbs by 2014, without telling us of the serious dangers to health and environment, that these mandated bulbs pose.

These new CFLs will make many people sick, by emitting radio frequency radiation that contributes to dirty electricity, that can cause migraines, dizziness, nausea, confusion, fatigue, skin irritations, and eye strain.

Dirty electricity consists of surges of high frequency voltage and electromagnetic radiation that grossly contaminates our otherwise relatively safe 60 Hz-frequencies, and can even cause numerous serious illnesses, including autism, asthma, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other neurological disorders.

And with 25 to 50 of these CFLs through out your home and office, you’d be exposed to dirty electricity for almost your every waking hour.

But far more importantly, CFLs are loaded with deadly mercury, one of the most toxic elements on Earth. In fact, all CFL bulbs contain – at least – four to five milligrams of mercury, about 200 times the amount of mercury in a flu vaccine shot. There is enough mercury in each CFL bulb to contaminate 6,000 gallons of clean water. To break one of these CFL bulbs is to risk ruining the health of one’s entire family, or office staff, with enough released atmospheric mercury to best require the expensive, professional services of a Haz/Mat Removal Team.
http://www.infowars.com/practice-your-m ... cape-plan/
South Stream gas pipeline will transport Russian gas to western Europe, bypassing Ukraine, where Washington in recent years has expended considerable effort to push the country into an anti-Russian pro-NATO position. As a remnant from the Soviet era when the economies of the two countries operated as an integrated entity, most Russian gas pipelines transited Ukraine to the west, leaving Moscow highly vulnerable when a US-backed “Orange Revolution” in January 2005 brought Washington’s candidate, Viktor Yushchenko to power on a pro-NATO anti-Moscow platform. Recent elections there have eased tensions between Moscow and Kiev considerably as the new President,Viktor Yanukovych, has moved Ukraine to a more neutral stance between Moscow and NATO, keeping ties to both. The offshore part of the South Stream gas pipeline, jointly operated by Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI, will run from Russia's mainland under the Black Sea to the Bulgarian coast. Under the new agreement with Bulgaria, pre-existing gas pipelines through Bulgaria will be used for the transit.

Washington has put major pressure on EU countries as well as Turkey to build an alternative to Russia’s South Stream gas line, called Nabucco, that would eliminate Russia. To date Nabucco has little backing in the EU and insufficient sources of gas to fill the pipeline.

Completion of South Stream would weld a major geopolitical bond between the countries of the EU, Central Europe and Russia, something that would represent for Washington a geopolitical nightmare. US policy since World War II has been to dominate western Europe first by fanning the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and after 1990, by extending NATO eastwards to the borders of Russia. An increasingly independent western Europe turning east rather than across the Atlantic, could spell a major defeat for continued US “sole Superpower” domination.

So, unwittingly, the lovely seaside resort town of Lubmin in northeastern Germany de facto has become a major pivot of the geopolitical drama between Washington and Eurasia whether its citizens realize or not.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article20953.html

Riots in California after police officer who shot dead unarmed black man is cleared of murder
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... urder.html

User avatar
SmallFarm
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4643
Location: Holbrook, Az
Contact:

Re: Blipits

Post by SmallFarm »

Apparently, LDS covens exist in Utah.

I had heard that Utah LDS women were practicing witchcraft. Now we know.
Apparently, LDS covens exist in Utah. :shock:

I had heard that Utah LDS women were practicing witchcraft. Now we know.


Coincidentially, I identified myself as a pagan/ agnostic when I lived in Utah. I even attended a PUC meeting once.

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

WASHINGTON – A missing Iranian nuclear scientist, who Tehran claims was abducted by the U.S., has taken refuge at the Pakistani embassy in Washington and is planning to return to his homeland, the State Department announced Tuesday.

"He has been in the United States of his own free will and obviously he is free to go," department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "In fact, he was scheduled to travel to Iran yesterday but was unable to make all of the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through transit countries."

It was the latest development in a murky case that has been shrouded in mystery since the scientist, Shahram Amiri, disappeared while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009.

Crowley said Amiri was at the Pakistani embassy. "He traveled there on his own," he added, but would not elaborate.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_missing_scientist

BAGHDAD – The threat to U.S. troops in Iraq from Iranian-backed militants has increased although it will not disrupt the ongoing withdrawal, a top U.S. commander said on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iraq

US & British Intel Agencies Are Working On A Fake Video To Lead To War With Iran
http://www.federaljack.com/?p=16374

Israeli Military Has Begun Process Of Stopping Libyan Ship From Reaching Gaza
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/israel ... ching-gaza

Active volcano report - 30 June-6 July 2010
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/ ... 0630#ebeko

Tungurahua volcano photos/video
http://bigbenber.over-blog.com/

NOAA Ship Explores Undersea Volcano More Than 10,000-ft. High, Maps Indonesian Ocean Seafloor
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories201 ... lcano.html

Scientists Find Rising Carbon Dioxide and ‘Acidified’ Waters in Puget Sound
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories201 ... sound.html

Pharmacists give themselves cancer from dispensing toxic chemotherapy chemicals
http://www.naturalnews.com/029191_secon ... ancer.html

Our Toxic Gulf: A Wakeup Call
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/25254

Confidential Montana Department of Corrections Gang Guide
http://info.publicintelligence.net/MTgangguide.pdf

Darpa Plots Death From Above, On-Demand
http://www.federaljack.com/?p=16373

BAE Unveils Stealthy Combat Drone Test-Bed
http://defensetech.org/2010/07/13/bae-u ... bat-drone/

U.N. Moves to Regulate the Global Arms Trade while U.S. Military Continues to Train for Mass Confiscation
http://theintelhub.com/2010/07/13/as-u- ... fiscation/

2 Ga. officers out after stun gun video surfaces
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0713/2-ga-o ... -surfaces/

Berlin Pushing For European Bankruptcy Framework With Provision For State Sovereignty Give Up
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/berlin ... ignty-give

Public sector debt 'around £2 trillion'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ ... llion.html

Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/busin ... .html?_r=1

Planned Economy or Planned Destruction
http://www.shtfplan.com/comedy/planned- ... n_07122010

U.S. Stripped of AAA Credit Rating...By China?!
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-str ... ngby-china

American Credit Scores Crash To New Lows
http://247wallst.com/2010/07/12/america ... -new-lows/
Sterling (SBIB) is the 10th largest Texas-based bank with $5.04 Billion in Assets. They operate approximately 58 branches in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas & Fort Worth.

At 0.79% Sterling has an incredibly low Cost of Funding relative to similar sized national peers at 1.33%. Another piece of good news is that the low rate has not affected their Deposits, which have grown from $4.11 Billion to $4.22 Billion Q on Q.

Smaller to mid-size institutions often rely on Deposits more than Non-Deposit borrowings and you at times see a negative relationship between Cost of Funding and Deposits. See Bank of Smithtown as a prime example. SMTB saw their Cost of Funding drop from 2.10% to 1.83% while their Deposits correspondingly shrank from $2.08 Billion to $1.87 Billion. Poor results even while they added a branch during the quarter.

Sterling took a $2.412 million Net Loss on Loan Sales which hurt their Non Interest Income in the First Quarter 2010. This contibuted to their Non Interest Income to Average Earning Assets ratio of 0.63% which is considerably lower than peers at 1.53%. Please note that this marks the second consecutive quarter with a net loss.

A review of their Loans Held For Sale show that they have a Nonperforming Rate of 60.28% on what they are trying to unload:

CRE makes up 53.85% of Sterling's loan book and the Nonperforming Loan percentage has climbed from 4.33% to 5.95%. What makes this number even more concerning is the fact that they also charged off $17.098 billion in the quarter. This means they had a net $44 million enter Nonaccrual status Q on Q. The $44 million is the $17 million CO plus the difference of $99 million and $72 million in sequential quarterly Nonaccrual.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Early Stage CRE Delinquencies went from 1.57% to 1.77%.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sterli ... d-bad-ugly

....all those CRE assets on the verge of changing ownership.....

Harvard Prof. Niall Ferguson Warns of Sudden Collapse of American ‘Empire’
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2010/07/ ... Unknown%29

“The U.S. economy faces hurricane force headwinds and the government is at the center of the storm, making an economic recovery very difficult,” said William Dunkelberg, NFIB’s chief economist.
http://www.nfib.com/nfib-on-the-move/nf ... msid=52004

$410k To Teach Drug Addicts Chinese Meditation
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/ ... meditation
The inventory picture deteriorated, with small-business owners continuing to liquidate inventories in June. A net negative 21% reported gains in inventories, which means that more firms cut stocks than added to them once seasonal adjustments are taken into account, a result that was one point less than in May.

Hiring remained weak. Only 9% of owners reported unfilled job openings, in line with May’s reading. Another 8% said they plan to cut jobs, up from 7% in May, while only 10% said they planned to create new jobs, a decline from 14% in the previous month.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/07/ ... ssimistic/

Baltic Dry Index Posts 33rd Consecutive Decline, Down 2.7% to 1,790
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... wn-27-1790
Devil is in the Definition

Whether or not we are in deflation or trending towards it depends on how it is defined.

For example, monetary purists worried about money supply alone are under the preposterous notion that we are trending towards hyperinflation.

The problem with using money supply alone as a measure of inflation is it looks (and is) damn silly. Home prices have never fallen in hyperinflation and never will. Short-term yields have never been at 0% in hyperinflation and never will. The list does on and on.

Given that we have a fiat-based credit system, it is equally silly to discuss inflation/deflation without paying attention to credit. After all, the Fed can print but it cannot force banks to lend or consumers to spend.

Credit expansion is the key to inflation in a fiat-credit system. Those focused on prices or money supply alone, and those worried that Fed printing and excess reserves will soon spark inflation have missed the boat.

Please see Fictional Reserve Lending And The Myth Of Excess Reserves and also Fiat World Mathematical Model for a rebuttal to the notion that monetary printing will soon have the inflation genie flying out of the bottle.

Practical Definition of Inflation and Deflation

My definition of inflation is much more practical given that it incorporates credit and marked-to-market concerns that affect banks' willingness to extend credit.

I define inflation as a net expansion of money supply and credit, with credit marked-to-market. Deflation is a net contraction of money supply and credit, with credit marked-to-market.

Given that consumer credit is plunging at unprecedented rates, given that credit dwarfs money supply creation, and given that marked-to-market valuations of credit on the balance sheets of banks is again falling, I propose we are back again in deflation.

My model suggests part of 2007 and all of 2008 were deflationary years. Inflation returned in 2009, and the economy is back in deflation now.

Proof is in conditions one would expect to see in deflation.

Humpty Dumpty on Inflation

In Humpty Dumpty on Inflation I proposed a series of conditions one might expect to see in deflation. Let's take a look at the current state of those conditions.

* Falling Treasury Yields - Yes
* Falling Home Prices - Yes, as measured by Case-Shiller
* Rising Corporate Bond Yields - Not substantially - Yet. However sovereign credit spreads are widening
* Rising Dollar - Yes
* Falling Commodity Prices - Yes as measured by the $CRB from the beginning of 2010
* Falling Consumer Prices - Yes (or at least close) as measured by the CPI. My preferred measure would directly include home prices and that would/will tip the CPI negative soon enough. I consider housing (but not the land it sits on) a consumer good.
* Rising Unemployment - It is high and essentially steady. My model suggests no improvement at best, and far more likely new highs above 11%
* Falling Stock Market - Yes as measured since the start of the year
* Falling Credit Marked to Market - Yes, most assuredly
* Spiking Base Money supply as Fed fights Deflation - This depends on your timeframe, but charts sure show a spike - Another spike is likely
* Banks Hoarding Cash - Falling consumer loans - Declining bank credit - Yes, Yes, Yes
* Rising Savings Rate - Yes. The US savings rate rose to an 8-month high in May
* Purchasing power of gold rising - Yes
* Rising numbers of bank failures - Yes


Nearly every condition one would expect to see in deflation is happening, The few that aren't are close at hand and likely. If those are the things one would expect to see in deflation, and the scorecard is close to unanimous, I suggest that those who say this is not deflation have the wrong definition.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
The Rising Threat of Deflation

There is a bigger risk that deflation will intensify sharply because once the price level actually starts to fall, the demand for money will be further enhanced. A deflationary spiral—a self-reinforcing, accelerating drop in the price level—can result. This is because a falling price level means that cash “earns interest” since it enhances the purchasing power of otherwise sterile cash assets that pay zero interest, just as interest on a bond adds to its value in terms of its ability to be used to buy goods and services. That is why deflation drives down nominal (market) interest rates just as inflation drives them up. The “real” return on cash rises as inflation falls, thereby further boosting the excess demand for money and, in turn, exacerbating deflationary pressure. The fact that deflationary real returns on cash are not taxed further exacerbates deflationary pressure by enhancing the demand for cash.

The Fed’s dreaded “zero bound problem,” whereby interest rates even at zero percent are still not low enough to stimulate demand, results from the rising real return on idle cash that subtracts from demand growth as deflation accelerates. Once the Fed has cut interest rates to zero, as it has done on short-term loans, any rise in deflation boosts the real return on cash that, in turn, exacerbates deflation. The Fed is, and has been, forced to print money by purchasing Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities in order to satisfy the deflationary rise in money demand.

Beyond a crisis-induced rise in the precautionary demand for cash, and the related tendency for bank disintermediation, postcrisis deflation pressures can be enhanced by an excess supply of goods and services beyond that caused by the rising demand for cash. This is because the run-up in asset prices that creates a bubble in the first place lowers the cost of capital while the bubble is inflating. Firms find it easier to borrow as prices of risky stocks and bonds rise, so they add to productive capacity. Households, encouraged by cheap credit, buy more cars and houses, thereby increasing the stock of durable sources of a stream of housing and transportation services.

Once the bubble bursts, wealth is destroyed and workers are laid off—both causes of a sharp drop in demand for goods and services, whose supply is increased by the sharp increase in investment during the rise of the financial bubble. Excess capacity adds to the deflationary pressure induced by a sharp rise in the demand for money and the disintermediation that accompanies a financial crisis and its aftermath.
http://www.aei.org/docLib/07-July-Econ-g.pdf

.....wealth is not destroyed.....it just transfers hands....

Getting Started in Farm-Scale Biodiesel Production
http://attra.ncat.org/video/#biodiesel

ATI FX45 Series 1911 pistols
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

California Grizzlies 2010 High Power Clinic Video
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... rm+Blog%29

UPDATE:

The Volume, As Always, Speaks Volumes
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/volume ... to+zero%29

South Korea deploys robot capable of killing intruders along border with North
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... Rtxn0mmJpA



Addicted to the Warfare State
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=31280
Broke US states are probing new lows with each passing day, as money continues to stubbornly refuse to grow on trees (unless you have discount window access of course). The latest funding fiasco comes from Texas, which Reuters reports is planning on selling $2 billion in debt just to refill its empty unemployment trust fund. We are confident that bondholders will be ecstatic to put their money into a extremely rapidly amortizing "asset" that will begin depleting from day one and will likely have no collateral recourse in under a year. But after all, it is other people's money, so we are confident this particular Citi/BofA led bond offering will close and price and sub Treasury rates.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/texas- ... trust-fund
June budget outlays came in at the largest ever for the month. Also 2010 Federal individual income tax collections are running 4.4% lower, or $31 billion below 2009 levels: the economic "recovery" sure isn't causing greater tax receipts. And from the report: "The federal government incurred a deficit of just over $1.0 trillion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2010, CBO estimates, $81 billion less than the roughly $1.1 trillion deficit incurred through June 2009.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/june-f ... 93-billion

$21 Billion 10 Year Closes At 3.119%, 3.09 Bid To Cover, Primary Dealers Take Down 48.6%
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/21-bil ... e-down-486

Huge U.S.-India Arms Deal To Contain China
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20116

ATF seizes 1,000 guns in East Mesa raid
http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S=12793510
The Attack of the Real Black Helicopter Gang: The IMF Is Coming for Your Social Security

Last week, the IMF told the United States that it needs to start getting its budget deficit down. It put cutting Social Security at the top of the steps that the country should take to achieve deficit reduction. This one is more than a bit outrageous for two reasons.

First, the IMF deserves a substantial share of the blame for the economic crisis that gave us big deficits in the first place. The IMF is supposed to oversee the operations of the international financial system. According to standard economic theory, capital is supposed to flow from rich countries like the United States to poor countries to finance their development. In other words, the United States should be having a trade surplus, which would correspond to the money that we are investing in poor countries to finance their development.

However, the IMF messed up its management of financial crises so badly in the last 15 years that poor countries decided that they had to accumulate huge amounts of currency reserves in order to avoid ever being forced to deal with the IMF. This meant that capital was flowing in huge amounts in the wrong direction. One result of this reverse flow was that the United States ran a huge trade deficit instead of a trade surplus.

The trade deficit in the United States was a big part of the story of the housing bubble. The trade deficit cost millions of workers their jobs. This was one of the main reasons that economy was so weak coming out of the 2001 recession. This weakness led the Fed to keep interest rates at 50-year lows, until the growth of the housing bubble eventually began to generate jobs in the fall of 2003.

The IMF both bears much of the blame for the imbalances in the world economy and then for failing to clearly sound the alarms about the dangers of the bubble. While the IMF has no problem warning about retired workers getting too much in Social Security benefits, it apparently could not find its voice when the issue was the junk securities from Goldman Sachs or Citigroup that helped to fuel the housing bubble.

The collapse of this bubble has not only sank the world economy, it also destroyed most of the savings of the near retirees for whom the IMF wants to cut Social Security. The vast majority of middle-income retirees have most of their wealth in their home equity. This home equity largely disappeared when the bubble burst. Maybe the IMF doesn't have access to house price series and data on wealth, because if they did, it's hard to believe that they would advocate further harm to some of the main victims of their policy failure.
http://www.truth-out.org/the-attack-rea ... urity61291

....of course if it was planned....takes on a whole new perspective....
PHOENIX -- Dozens of photo-enforcement cameras on freeways throughout the state are coming down this week. A total of 76 cameras will cease operation on Thursday. The photo-enforcement program, which was meant to catch speeders on Arizona's freeways, has been controversial from the beginning. The cameras first went up nearly two years ago. While the cameras have done a good job at snapping speeders, drivers have been ignoring the tickets.

According to the Department of Public Safety, the cameras led to more than 700,000 tickets in the first year of operation. Many of those people, however, never paid the fines. Some say that's because the tickets were mailed, making them easy to ignore. Any driver who ignored a photo-enforcement ticket was supposed to have been served. One problem was that process servers were inundated and simply couldn't get to everybody. If a person was not served, his or her ticket became invalid after three months.

The speeding tickets should have generated about $90 million in the first year of the program. About one-third of that was actually collected.
http://www.azfamily.com/outbound-feeds/ ... 37994.html







UPDATE 2:

HUD Gives Nonprofits, Governments 10% Discount on REO
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/07/12/h ... unt-on-reo

Money Crunch! How Can An Economy Built On Debt Function If Nobody Can Get Loans?
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archiv ... -get-loans

Dispute Over Nuclear Fuel in S. Korea
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world ... ss&emc=rss

June Deficit Fails To Account For $142 Billion In Excess June Borrowings; U.S. Has Issued $1.5 Trillion Excess Debt Over Budget In Past 4 Years
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/june-d ... to+zero%29

Six More Charged in New Orleans Danziger Bridge Shootings
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/201 ... scuss.html
http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/si ... shootings/

Michelle Obama Declares Panama City Beach Oil Free
http://www.infowars.com/michelle-obama- ... -oil-free/

Food Supply Controlled By Only A Few
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/current-e ... valBlog%29

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

According to the city Health Department, 2008 saw 89,469 abortions performed in New York City -- seven for every 10 live births. Among black women, abortions out number live births by three to two.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/op ... CV5woJqUFJ
Spanish banks borrowed a record 126.3 billion euros ($161 billion) from the European Central Bank in June. This represents a 48 percent increase from the €85.6 billion borrowed in May.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/spanis ... -third-mon
Battered by unemployment and tighter lending standards, the credit scores of millions of Americans are sinking to new lows. About 25.5% of consumers — or 43.4 million people — had credit scores below 600 in April, according to FICO Inc. Historically, only about 15% of consumers — or 25.5 million — have had scores below that level, FICO said.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
The record slaughter of shippers continues as the BDIY posts the largest overnight drop of 4.5% in the most recent 34-consecutive day trounce in dry bulk shipping rates. Short term Capsize and Panamax charters for Pacific delivery have hit $29k and $19k, respectively, both approximately 30% lower than comparable Atlantic delivery rates as the Chinese transit corridor is now massively oversupplied. At this point it is not a question of if but when the bulk of shipping companies, especially levered ones, start going bankrupt and flood the seas with yet more anchored rusting dry bulk hulls.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/baltic ... -overnight
The deflation threat continues as the drop in total retail sales persists, with the latest number coming in at -0.5%, once again worse than expectations of -0.3%, compared to a prior revised number of -1.1%.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/retail ... -plunge-23
The attempt to reflate housing seems to be officially dead. The Mortgage Brokers' Association reported that demand for loans to purchase U.S. homes sunk to a 13-year low last week, and refinancing demand also slid despite near record-low mortgage rates. As Reuters noted, "requests for loans to buy homes dropped 3.1 percent in the week ended July 9, after adjusting for the Independence Day holiday, to the lowest level since December 1996
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/mortga ... 3-year-low
Fiscal Mirage

Improvements in revenue collection are mostly if not entirely due to tax increases and other legislative changes such as California speeding up income tax collection rather than an increase in retail sales as widely touted.

Looking ahead, consumer attitudes towards debt are going to act as a huge drag on growth. State budget cuts are going to act as a drag on retail spending as well. Finally, the effect of $trillions in stimulus money will be over by the 4th quarter.

The key chart in the series is chart 7, on durable goods. Note the huge dip and subsequent rally in durable goods spending. That component will be all but dead in the upcoming quarters.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

Both parties mull raising retirement age
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... ement-age/
As the standoff in the Senate over jobless benefits continues, one report estimates 429,500 Californians will have their unemployment checks cut off by the end of this week.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/unem ... -week.html
Mr Buffett, known as the Sage of Omaha because of his shrewd investments, apparently told friends that When Money Dies illustrated what could happen today if European governments attempt to spend their way out of the downturn. Written in 1975 by Adam Fergusson, a one-time adviser to Tory minister Lord Howe, the book charts how the German economy was ruined by hyperinflation after the Weimar government allowed public spending to run out of control.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... t-tip.html

New York Debtwatch Talk: Modelling Debt Deflation
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2010 ... deflation/

$13 Billion 30 Year Auction Closes Strongly At 4.08%, 2.89 Bid To Cover, As Investors Shun Inflation Threat - Based on this very strong auction, investors seem to put far more faith in a deflation than inflation scenario.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/13-bil ... ion-threat
Tropical Storm Conson hit the Philippines' main island of Luzon yesterday as a strong tropical storm with 70 mph winds. Conson was briefly the season's first typhoon on Monday, when it intensified to an 80 mph Category 1 storm. Conson is being blamed for at least 18 deaths in the Philippines, with 57 other people missing. The storm caused an extended power outage to the entire island of Luzon. Conson is headed towards a second landfall later this week in China, but should not intensify into a typhoon again because of the presence of 20 - 30 knots of wind shear. Conson is only the second named storm in what has been an unusually quiet Northwest Pacific typhoon season. According to Digital Typhoon, an average season has six named storms by mid-July.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1542

NASA's 3-D Animation of Typhoon Conson's Heavy Rainfall and Strong Thunderstorms
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 165053.htm

Magnitude 6.5 - BIO-BIO, CHILE
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10ysas.php
Costa Rica's Nacion newspaper reported last week that the new agreement will see 7,000 US Marines, supported by 200 helicopters and 46 warships, "enter and leave the country at will." The paper also cited a June 2 letter from Costa Rica to the US declaring that US troops will have "the right to carry out the activities it deems necessary in carrying out its mission."

Inside Costa Rica reports that opposition leaders see the US military force as disproportionately large compared to the problem of Central American drug-running.

Luis Fishman, head of the Christian Social Unity Party, said the deal amounts to a "blank check" for US forces in Costa Rica. "We cannot support the illegal; we cannot allow our Constitution to be trampled," he said, as quoted by ICR.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0711/anger- ... -warships/
Iran is close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday in the clearest indication yet of Russian alarm over Tehran's atomic drive.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russi ... l_999.html
An upsurge in the number of North Korean soldiers defecting into China fuelled fears of food shortages and an imminent military clash.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... clash.html
China, the world’s largest rare- earths producer, cut export quotas for the minerals needed to make hybrid cars and televisions by 72 percent for the second half, raising the possibility of a trade dispute with the U.S. Shipments will be capped at 7,976 metric tons, down from 28,417 tons for the same period a year ago, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce yesterday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-0 ... -says.html
The displacement of communities and forced migration in our countries as a consequence of Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) projects is an issue of greatest importance, but one that is seldom addressed. Researchers from these countries have worked yet again on this issue and will present findings at the conference of the Inter-American Development Bank to be held from the 19th to the 23rd of March, 2010, in Cancun, Mexico.
http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/2421

Russia's new generation S-500 missile defense system to enter service
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100713/159794602.html
India is hurting for water. With rapidly growing populations of people and a rising middle class that is mimicking the wasteful water consumption habits well known here in the United States, coupled with poor water management practices, India is set to be one of the first parts of the world hit by a major water crisis. Still, does that mean shipping water from Alaska all the way to India is a smart solution? One Texas-based water supply management company, S2C Global Systems, thinks it is -- at least, it's smart for their bottom line, if not for the environment. They're all lined up to ship billions of gallons of water annually from an Alaskan city to India, and other parts of Asia and the Middle East.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07 ... -india.php
July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s government aims to prevent cattle breeders from slaughtering livestock as a worsening drought cuts into feed supplies by damaging plants and threatens to curb sowing. Some breeders are “pessimistic” about the outlook for their herds, Pavel Ipatov, governor of the Saratov region, said yesterday in a government meeting, according to a transcript on the state website. Tatarstan can provide only half of the 3 million metric tons of feed grain it was slated to deliver this year, regional Governor Rustam Minnikhanov said.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... rsens.html
Seepage from a mining waste pond owned by the Zijinshan Copper Mine has contaminated the Ding River and a reservoir in Fujian, the province's environmental protection bureau said in a statement. The leak was first detected on July 3, prompting the bureau to issue an emergency order to begin monitoring it, the statement said. Xinhua news agency said the mine is owned by the Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group Co, China's largest gold producer. Pollution from the sludge pond has killed or poisoned 1.89 million kilogrammes (4.2 million pounds) of fish on the Ding River and in the Mianhuatan reservoir, the report said. The smell of dead fish was discernible 10 kilometres (six miles) from the reservoir, it added.
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Top_C ... t_999.html
Seven congressmen, led by Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), spent their 4th of July weekend hand delivering seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
http://welcometoafreeworld.blogspot.com ... rctic.html
(Nanowerk News) Franco Cerrina, 62, chair of the College of Engineering's electrical and computer engineering department, was found dead Monday morning in a laboratory on the fifth floor of the Photonics Center. A staff member discovered Cerrina's body lying on the floor of the lab at about 9:30 a.m. A faculty member called the Boston University Police Department, which contacted Boston Police.

As a researcher, Cerrina applied physical sciences and engineering to manufacturing and biological challenges, focusing most recently on nanotechnology and biotechnology. Cerrina pushed the limits of photolithography for nanoscale applications ranging from fabricating devices on computer chips to DNA synthesis for biological research, drug and vaccine development, and genetic engineering. In particular, he applied semiconductor fabrication techniques to biological problems'a pursuit that yielded the maskless array synthesizer commercialized by NimbleGen Systems Inc., his first spin-off company.

Through the Center for NanoTechnology, he was developing new patterning techniques for device fabrication by merging standard lithography and molecular-level, scale-up methods. Also affiliated with the UW-Madison Center for Biotechnology, Cerrina worked closely with the semiconductor industry and federal government on developing fabrication methods that will yield advanced processors and memory chips.

To commercialize products related to his research, Cerrina co-founded five companies:

# NimbleGen Systems, which manufactures DNA microarrays and provides genomic services. Hoffman-La Roche Pharmaceutical purchased it in 2007.
# Genetic Assemblies Inc., founded to market custom double-stranded DNA sequences (genes). The company merged with Codon Devices Inc. in 2006.
# Codon Devices Inc., which focuses on DNA synthesis and synthetic biology.
# Biolitho Inc., which develops innovative engineering solutions to biological and genetic problems.
# Gen9 Inc., which focuses on DNA synthesis and synthetic biology.

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=17129.php

Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data, Files Indicate
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/healt ... ef=general


The plan to start choking off oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico was suddenly halted as government officials and BP said further analysis must be done Wednesday before critical tests could proceed.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0714/gulf-o ... -analyzed/
In addition, local fishermen said that nurseries in the Gulf, responsible for producing 40 percent of America’s seafood, are being destroyed by the oil and the chemical soup created by the mixing of oil dispersant Corexit 9500. Corexit is breaking down the crude oil into small oil bubbles and a watery oil mixture that is seeping under the booms set up to protect sensitive fish nurseries, oyster beds, and other pristine areas. Many Atlantic fish species also spawn in the Gulf and they are also threatened by the oil disaster.

Even barnacles, one of the most resistant sea creatures to extreme situations, are dying in vast numbers, along with sponges and coral.

Near Venice, Louisiana in Plaquemines Parish, is the old Civil War fort of Fort Jackson. A national historical site and park, Fort Jackson has been turned into a major base for joint BP-Coast Guard dumping of Corexit on oil in the Gulf. WMR witnessed five helicopters carrying suspended white bags of Corexit out over Gulf waters. Hastily-erected signs at the entrances to Fort Jackson warn that the site is closed to visitors because of “construction.” Fort Jackson actually serves as a major base of operations for BP and Coast Guard activities. The Obama administration, which has stated its commitment to “open government,” is engaged in what amounts to semi-covert BP-Coast Guard operations in the Gulf.

WMR has also been informed by a reputable source that BP has been engaged in night time spraying of a bleaching agent on Louisiana beaches to make it appear that the beaches are being cleaned up. The planes, which fly at night, disregard flight regulations by flying with their lights out. The operations have been approved by the Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
http://www.prisonplanet.com/the-gulf-oi ... truth.html
As much as one million times the normal level of methane is showing up near the Gulf of Mexico oil gusher, enough potentially to create dead zones in the water. "These are higher levels than we have ever seen at any other location in the ocean itself," according to sources cited by Reuters. The "flow team" of the US Geological Survey estimates that 2,900 cubic feet of natural gas, which primarily contains methane, is being released into the Gulf waters with every barrel of oil.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article21004.html
Boeing has unveiled its unmanned hydrogen-powered spy plane which can fly non-stop for up to four days. The high-altitude plane, called Phantom Eye, will remain aloft at 20,000m (65,000ft), according to the company. The demonstrator will be shipped to Nasa's Dryden Flight Research Center in California later this summer to prepare for its first flight in early 2011. Boeing says the aircraft could eventually carry out "persistent intelligence and surveillance".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10617075
06/22/2010 - (PilotsFor911Truth.org) Recently Pilots For 9/11 Truth have analyzed the speeds reported for the aircraft utilized on 9/11. Numerous aviation experts have voiced their concerns regarding the extremely excessive speeds reported above Maximum Operating for the 757 and 767, particularly, United and American Airlines 757/767 Captains who have actual flight time in all 4 aircraft reportedly used on 9/11. These experts state the speeds are impossible to achieve near sea level in thick air if the aircraft were a standard 757/767 as reported. Combined with the fact the airplane which was reported to strike the south tower of the World Trade Center was also producing high G Loading while turning and pulling out from a dive, the whole issue becomes incomprehensible to fathom a standard 767 can perform such maneuvers at such intense speeds exceeding Maximum Operating limits of the aircraft. Especially for those who research the topic thoroughly and have expertise in aviation.

Co-Founder of Pilots For 9/11 Truth Rob Balsamo recently interviewed a former NASA Flight Director in charge of flight control systems at the NASA Dryden Flight Research facility who is also speaking out after viewing the latest presentation by Pilots For 9/11 Truth - "9/11: World Trade Center Attack".

Retired NASA Senior Executive Dwain Deets published his concerns on the matter at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as follows:


A Responsibility to Explain an Aeronautical Improbability
Dwain Deets
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (Senior Executive Service - retired)
AIAA Associate Fellow

The airplane was UA175, a Boeing 767-200, shortly before crashing into World Trade Center Tower 2. Based on analysis of radar data, the National Transportation and Safety Board reported the groundspeed just before impact as 510 knots. This is well beyond the maximum operating velocity of 360 knots, and maximum dive velocity of 410 knots. The possibilities as I see them are: (1) this wasn’t a standard 767-200; (2) the radar data was compromised in some manner; (3) the NTSB analysis was erroneous; or (4) the 767 flew well beyond its flight envelope, was controllable, and managed to hit a relatively small target. Which organization has the greater responsibility for acknowledging the elephant in the room? The NTSB, NASA, Boeing, or the AIAA? Have engineers authored papers, but the AIAA or NASA won’t publish them? Or, does the ethical responsibility lie not with organizations, but with individual aeronautical engineers? Have engineers just looked the other way?
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/911_Aircra ... Deets.html

FTR #714 Interview (#4) with Russ Baker, Author of “Family of Secrets”
http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ ... cord%27%29
“The bottom line here is that Americans don’t believe in President Obama’s leadership,” says Rob Shapiro, another former Clinton official and a supporter of Mr Obama. “He has to find some way between now and November of demonstrating that he is a leader who can command confidence and, short of a 9/11 event or an Oklahoma City bombing, I can’t think of how he could do that.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/434315b2-8ea6 ... ab49a.html

New Massachusetts law extends censorship to IM, e-mail, Web
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... il-web.ars
Does An Orderly and Safe Way to Fundamentally Change the U.S. Government Exist?

Thomas Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government … to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

If you look at the Constitution of the United States, there is only one paragraph (Article V) that tells how we can change our government. But Article V only discusses how to propose and then ratify amendments. It does not say anything about the procedures to rewrite the entire Constitution. At their website, an organization called Friends of the Article V Convention has verified that there have been over 700 petitions for a constitutional convention from state legislatures, but Congress refuses to grant that right, which is an inherent right of “The People.” [1]

The Friends of the Article V Convention insist that the constitutional convention that is now demanded by the states, based on Article V, can be only for proposing amendments, not about rewriting the US Constitution. They want a constitutional convention to discuss any amendment issues (like requiring a balanced budget, term limits, and so forth) as they are submitted by the states–amendments which later must be ratified by ¾ of the states.
http://www.disinfo.com/2010/07/does-an- ... rmation%29

Kyrgyzstan, America and the Global Drug Trade: Deep Forces, Coups d'Etat, Narcotics and Terror
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... leId=20126
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal appeals court struck down the Federal Communications Commission's indecency policy Tuesday, calling the agency's longstanding rules "unconstitutionally vague."
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/13/news/ec ... htm?hpt=T1

Scientists discover how broccoli fights cancer
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... ancer.html
TEMPLE TERRACE, FL (NBC) -- A big sinkhole at a condominium complex in Florida has swallowed a car and it might not be done yet. The sinkhole opened up Sunday morning near Tampa and claimed a Toyota Camry, pulling it down beneath its shifting sands.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.as ... 8&catid=28
Sinkhole swallows car in St. Louis neighborhood - It was a close call for one woman Monday night when her vehicle was swallowed by a sinkhole ... all while she was inside. It happened just south of 270 and 367 in Bellefontaine Neighbors.
http://www.bnd.com/2010/07/06/1319683_s ... louis.html
The allure of the blockbuster "Twilight" books and movies appears to have spawned a troubling trend: Teen couples are biting one another to show affection, sometimes biting so hard they draw blood. "Biting is challenging because one of the things we know about sexuality and biting and vampires is that it's passion, it's all-encompassing, it's wanting to consume someone else," New York City sexologist Logan Levkoff told "Good Morning America."

"And biting is sort of an extension of the hickey. It's that same thing about marking someone else and showing passion."

Michael Kaplor, 16, said he has been biting his girlfriend on and off for about a year.

"For me, biting is the way to show affection toward the other person and to just get a crazy adrenaline rush and not so much to mark territory or to show I belong to something, but just to show the other person I care and there's a deeper sense of affection," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/twilight-movi ... d=11122324

Meet the Mk-20 Sniper Support Rifle
http://kitup.military.com/2010/07/meet- ... rifle.html

UPDATE:
China Has Been Covertly Funding A Housing Bubble Five Times Larger Than That Of The US: 65 Million Vacant Homes Uncovered

Yet this data pales in comparison with disclosure from a recent article in South China Morning Post, in which an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences noted estimates from electricity meter readings that there are about 64.5 million empty apartments and houses in urban areas of the country! This number is five times larger than the roughly 12 million in total US public (3.89 million) and shadow (8 million as estimated by Morgan Stanley) home inventory available currently. Forget Stephen Roach - China is covertly funding and creating a housing bubble that is at least 5 times as big as that of the United States. We leave it up to you to imagine the consequences of that particular bubble's bursting...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china- ... ant-homes-
A third of Spain's city councils are in dire straits and may be forced to suspend payments by the end of the year, replicating the woes in the US, where many states are bearing the brunt of fiscal tightening.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... -bust.html
TOKYO: Credit rating agencies are growing impatient with Japan’s inability to tackle its ballooning public debt, a task just made more difficult by the ruling party’s drubbing in upper house elections at the weekend.

The result means that Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority so will need help from other parties to get bills, such as on tax reform, passed.

Greece’s debt problems have highlighted the fiscal woes of Japan, but is the world’s second-biggest economy really facing a Greece-like debt crisis?

How bad is Japan’s fiscal position?

By certain measures, Japan’s debt load is worse than that of Greece. Japan’s outstanding long-term government debt is set to reach ¥862 trillion ($9.72 trillion) at the end of March 2011, or 181% of the country’s gross domestic product, the Ministry of Finance says. If short-term debt is added, Japan’s liabilities will hit 197% of GDP this year and 204% in 2011, the highest among advanced economies and far worse than Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio of around 130%, OECD figures show. Similarly, IMF warned in May that Japan was growing more vulnerable to sovereign risk, estimating the country’s gross debt-to-GDP ratio at 227% in 2010.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 165029.cms
When the Senate allowed the estate tax to lapse at the end of last year, it encouraged wealthy people near death’s door to stay alive until Jan. 1 so they could spare their heirs a 45% tax hit.

Now the situation has reversed: If Congress doesn’t change the law soon-and many experts think it won’t-the estate tax will come roaring back in 2011.

Not only will the top rate jump to 55%, but the exemption will shrink from $3.5 million per individual in 2009 to just $1 million in 2011, potentially affecting eight times as many taxpayers.

The math is ugly: On a $5 million estate, the tax consequence of dying a minute after midnight on Jan. 1, 2011 rather than two minutes earlier could be more than $2 million; on a $15 million estate, the difference could be about $8 million.

Of course, there is a “death incentive” whenever Congress raises the estate tax. But it hasn’t happened in decades; the top rate has held steady or fallen since 1942, according to tax historian Joseph Thorndike of Tax Analysts, a nonprofit group. In fact, the jump from zero to 55% would be “the largest increase in a major tax that we’ve ever seen,” Mr. Thorndike says.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 71574.html
Banks repossessed an average of 4,000 South Florida properties a month in the first half of 2010, up 83 percent from the first half of 2009, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

"South Florida's real estate market is at a crossroads," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures LLC, in a news release. "The number of bank repossessions in 2010 is higher than at any time in at least two decades. This additional bank-owned inventory will undoubtedly be coming onto the resale market in the near future as discounted REO product.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida ... gle+Reader
U.S. bank repossessions increased 38% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier for a record total of 269,952, according to Irvine research firm RealtyTrac. That was also a jump of 5% from the previous quarter. If that pace continues through the year, the number of homes taken by banks is likely to top 1 million by the end of 2010, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac senior vice president.
http://www.latimes.com/business/realest ... 6857.story
Somehow, university textbooks in Economics curriculum failed to cover the current situation of extraordinarily high bank inventory of foreclosed homes, working opposite to an extraordinarily strong decline in home purchase applications, amidst a banking system heavily dependent upon $100 billion temporary intermediate credit lines, while the big banks park their Loan Loss Reserves at the USFed, and the USFed struggles to avoid repeated powerful Quantitative Easing programs. (That last very long sentence should be read a few times in repetitive fashion.) If truth be known, the USGovt and Wall Street firms fund many university professor chairs, thus perpetuating the false education process that inculcates fallacious theories.

Recall that the entire 2002-2005 USEconomic expansion was built atop the housing & mortgage bubble, a chapter fully endorsed by the erudite prestigious but reckless heretics among the national economic counselors. To be sure, the May end to the home tax credit has made an effect. The housing market will enter its fourth consecutive year of decline.
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldenJackass/1278532800.php

LA Port Traffic: Imports Surge, Exports Decline - LA area ports handle about 40% of the nation's container port traffic.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
Let's review what has emerged on the U.S. economy in just the past few weeks. First we had the lowest reading for U.S. housing starts in history. That horrific announcement came along-side news that U.S. foreclosures had just hit (yet) another “all-time record” in May. Now today we hear that mortgage applications have fallen to their lowest level in 14 years – going all the way back to when the bubble-blowing began in the U.S. housing market back in 1996.

However, the total collapse in the U.S. construction industry will do nothing to heal the U.S. real estate market: the most-oversupplied market in history. Somewhere around 20 million homes stand empty or abandoned. On top of that, retiring U.S. baby-boomers will need to dump $1 to $2 trillion more in real estate – just to top-up their grossly underfunded retirements. A CNN article released today reports that 47% of baby-boomers aged 56 – 62 are destined to “run out of money”. With 75% of the assets of these individuals being real estate, there is no mystery in what these “boomers” will do to raise money.

Meanwhile, the news is even worse in the retail sector: the “backbone” of the U.S. consumer-economy. May retail sales plummeted by 1.1%, and now that horrific number was followed-up by news that June retail sales fell by an additional 0.5%. Since the U.S. propaganda-machine never puts these numbers in context for readers, let me do so. First of all, since these are monthly numbers, we must multiply them by twelve to get the annual rate of decline. Doing that we see that the May number worked out to an annual rate of decline of 13.2%, while June was a less-extreme 6%. Since these are annual rates, they have to be averaged-out: to slightly above 9.5%.
http://www.bullionbullscanada.com/index ... Itemid=132
The Food Standards Agency is to be abolished by Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, it emerged last night, after the watchdog fought a running battle with industry over the introduction of colour-coded "traffic light" warnings for groceries, TV dinners and snacks. The move has sparked accusations that the government has "caved in to big business". As part of the changes Lansley will reassign the FSA's regulatory aspects – including safety and hygiene – to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Its responsibilities for nutrition, diet and public health will be incorporated into the Department of Health. "The functions of the FSA will be subsumed into the Department of Health and Defra," a source told Reuters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010 ... -secretary
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Although a majority of Food and Drug Administration advisory panel members Wednesday did not recommend taking the diabetes drug Avandia off the market, despite evidence showing it raises heart attack risk, two of the drug's most outspoken critics said they expected the agency would withdraw it.

The FDA usually, but not always, follows advisory committee recommendations.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/201 ... -fda_N.htm

Obamacare Begins -- In Idaho
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=31334

Hezbollah has an extensive list of Israeli facilities to target in the event of a new conflict, the Lebanese militant group's number two Naim Qassem said in an interview published on Wednesday.
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-07-14- ... arget-list

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

Surprise, surprise, it seems pension funds are suffering from a lethal combination of being another victim of scant interest rates, and the rough sledding in the stock market. I would also imagine that the dearth of employees paying into the system combined with more retirees taking it out makes the math next to impossible
In the week ended July 7, ICI reports that domestic equity mutual funds saw $4.1 billion in outflows, the largest outflow in the past 2 months, and the third biggest weekly redemption in 2010! This is also the tenth sequential outflow, amounts to $34 billion in total outflows YTD, and represents a losing streak even worse than that of the BDIY....
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ici-re ... rket-surge

Philly Fed Plunges To 5.1, Consensus At 10.0, Previous At 8.0
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/latest ... xpectation
Another Day, Another Baltic Dry Decline: Longest Sequential Drop In 15 Years

After a 0.5% decline overnight, the BDIY is now at exactly 1,700, marking the longest sequential decline since the launch of Windows 95. Little to add here. We anticipate that Tim Geithner will soon suggest stress tests to be conducted on dry bulk shipping vessels to the 5 or so Greek CEOs running the industry, with bailouts to come for those leaked to be in need for financing.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/anothe ... p-15-years

Treasury Auction for the Week of July 12, 2010 (Corrected)
http://treasuryauctionwatch.blogspot.co ... ly-12.html
42 million Americans work in firms that have 99 employees or less. We are often told how vital small business is to the health of our nation’s economy. Usually this rhetoric is given to us by banks and Wall Street yet recent data shows a very different attitude. Words ring hollow when it comes to banks lending capital to small businesses. In fact, in Q1 of 2010 lending to small businesses contracted by $40 billion versus lending in 2008. The challenge we face is that back in 2008 when the banking system was being bailed out, one specific reason given to the public was the necessity of keeping the lending lines open to small businesses. This has not happened.

No one is going to dispute that lending to small firms has contracted because of the economic malaise that we are experiencing. But then where did all those trillions of dollars go that helped to bailout the banking industry? The average American, many who work at small businesses (or did), were under the impression that the taxpayer bailout was designed to provide added liquidity to these business so they could continue to function in the economy. Banks were supposed to distribute the funds intelligently. What has occurred instead is the money aggregated in the hands of the banking sector and they are now using the money to patch up massive holes in their own balance sheet.
http://www.mybudget360.com/small-busine ... get+360%29

Illinois Spent $650,000 on 950 "Putting America Back to Work" Signs
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29
America’s largest banks can engage in flagrantly criminal activity on a massive scale and emerge almost completely unscathed. The latest sickening example comes from Wachovia Bank: Accused of laundering $380 billion in Mexican drug cartel money, the financial behemoth is expected to emerge with nothing more than a slap on the wrist thanks to an official government policy which protects megabanks from criminal charges.

Bloomberg’s Michael Smith has penned a devastating expose detailing Wachovia’s drug-money operations and the government’s twisted response. The bank was moving money behind literally tons of cocaine from violent drug cartels. It wasn’t an accident. Internal whistleblowers at Wachovia warned that the bank was laundering drug money, higher-ups at the bank actively looked the other way in order to score bigger profits, and the U.S. government is about to let everyone involved get off scott free. The bank will not be indicted, because it is official government policy not to prosecute megabanks. From Smith’s story:

No big U.S. bank . . . has ever been indicted for violating the Bank Secrecy Act or any other federal law. Instead, the Justice Department settles criminal charges by using deferred-prosecution agreements, in which a bank pays a fine and promises not to break the law again . . . . Large banks are protected from indictments by a variant of the too-big-to-fail theory. Indicting a big bank could trigger a mad dash by investors to dump shares and cause panic in financial markets.

Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo in late 2008. The bank’s penalty for laundering over $380 billion in drug money is going to be a promise not to ever do it again, and a $160 million fine.
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/201 ... y-with-it/
The equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean continues to cool, and we have now crossed the threshold into La Niña conditions. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the tropical Eastern Pacific in the area 5°N - 5°S, 120°W - 170°W, also called the "Niña 3.4 region", fell to 0.8°C below average by July 12, according to NOAA.. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology put this number at 0.7°C below average (as of July 11.) Since La Niña conditions are defined as occurring when this number reaches 0.5°C below average, we are well into the territory of a weak La Niña event. La Niña conditions must be present for several months before this will be officially classified as a La Niña event, but it is highly likely that a full-fledged La Niña event lasting at least eight months has arrived. We started out the year with a strong El Niño, so it may seem surprising that we have transitioned La Niña so quickly, However, historically, about 35 - 40% of El Niño events are followed by a La Niña within the same year. Given current trends, I expect the current La Niña to cross the threshold needed to be defined as "moderate" strength--temperatures at least 1.0°C below average in the equatorial Eastern Pacific--by September.

The implications

It is well-known that both the number and intensity of hurricanes in the Atlantic tend to increase during La Niña events. However, as I discussed in a post last month, since 1995, neutral years (when neither an El Niño or La Niña are present) have had Atlantic hurricane activity equal to La Niña years. The last time we had a strong El Niño event followed by a La Niña event in the same year, in 1998, we had a Atlantic hurricane season 40% above average in activity, with 14 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and 3 intense hurricanes. The season was relatively late-starting, with only one named storm occurring before August 20. I'm thinking this year's season may be similar, though four or more intense hurricanes are a good bet due to the record warm SSTs.

Both El Niño and La Niña events have major impacts on regional and global weather patterns. For the remainder of July and August, we can expect La Niña to bring cloudier and wetter than average conditions to the Caribbean, but weather patterns over North America should not see much impact (Figure 2.) Globally, La Niña conditions tend to cause a net cooling of surface temperatures. Thus, while the past twelve month period has been the warmest globally since record keeping began in 1880, it is unlikely that the calendar year of 2010 will set the record for warmest year ever.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1543
What in the world is causing all of these sinkholes in 2010? While there have always been sinkholes, 2010 has truly been a banner year for them. The colossal sinkhole in Guatemala made the most headlines, but the truth is that dozens of massive sinkholes have been appearing in China and giant sinkholes have even been opening up and swallowing cars in the United States. So is all this a sign that something significant is happening? Should we be preparing for the end of the world as we know it? Will we see even more sinkholes and sudden geological changes as we approach 2012?

Nobody really knows, but what everyone can agree on is that 2010 has been an amazing year for sinkholes. Just consider the following examples....
http://thisistheendoftheworldasweknowit ... holes-2010
NEW ORLEANS — After fixing a leaking valve in its Gulf of Mexico well, BP prepared Thursday to resume a crucial test that could determine whether the oil that has been gushing for three months could be stopped immediately, or, more likely, be an interim solution until relief wells are completed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/us/16spill.html?_r=1
The Iranian nuclear scientist who claimed to have been abducted by the CIA before departing for his homeland Wednesday was paid more than $5 million by the agency to provide intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, U.S. officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews
Creating a 'disaster'

Brigadier Gen. Norm Steen, commander of the Great Plains Joint Training Center, said 160 role-players, 60 local responders and possibly as many as 200 more members of groups from outside the state were involved in the training, which ends Sunday. The drill had been in the works for eight months.

Platt said one of the scenarios being conducted at Crisis City dealt with a proposed visit from President Barack Obama.

"The president of the United States was going to visit this site," Platt said. "But, we have some ne'er-do-wells that don't like the government, don't like health care, don't like what we are doing with financial regulation and immigration, decided to do something about the president's visit."

Platt said a member of the group of "ne'er-do-wells" took explosives from an army base in Missouri and blew up a train at 7 a.m., injuring people and setting off secondary explosions.

Steen said the president waved off the visit after the explosion.

Platt said another explosion later in the day dealt with the collapse of the Presbyterian Manor nursing home tower in east Salina. Mannequins awaited "rescue" in tunnels and rubble at Crisis City.

Mass casualties at all of the incidents were taken to Salina Regional, and law enforcement officers conducted operations in Salina and at Crisis City.
http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/Crisis-City

Army preparing soldiers for rapid bioterror response
http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/214103 ... r-response
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday that Missouri will be one of 10 states to host National Guard Homeland Response Force units to help coordinate federal response to a terrorist attack. The Defense Department will place one unit in each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency regions. Missouri is located in Region VII, which administers FEMA programs and coordinates federal disaster response in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.
http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/news/res ... deral.html










In a controversial decision that is likely to fan the flames of regional tensions in Latin America, Costa Rica recently granted the US permission to move 7,000 troops and 46 warships (along with their accompanying planes and helicopters) into Costa Rican waters. Officially, the act is considered to be part of the “Drug War,” which appears to be increasingly more war-like in nature due to such actions and mounting violence in Mexico and Colombia. Costa Rica’s neighbors, however, see the massive military presence as a potential base for regional strikes.

Due to the long history of US intervention in Latin America (perhaps most notably in neighboring Nicaragua), the region is clearly justified in its concern over the disproportionate and virtual invasion of troops into an area that could potentially provide such a logistical and geographic striking point. Internally, many Costa Ricans are questioning the military presence and its impact on the nation’s sovereignty.

Regardless of how this act varies from past US actions, it is clear that within the present context, the military surge is more disconcerting. This action comes amidst increasing disappointment with the Obama administration and its failure to create mutual respect between the US and Latin America as many had hoped. In fact, to the contrary, through the shuffling and increase of military presence in the region, not only has the relationship with the US remained strained, but additionally regional tensions have flared. Due to the newly won access to seven bases in Colombia (said to replace the loss of a base in Ecuador), regional relations have been further strained. Tensions remain high between Colombia and many of the countries in the region led my left leaning leaders, who see the US military presence in the region as a direct threat to their democratic rule. In fact, the Colombian-US agreement even drew heavy criticism from President Lula of Brazil, who is widely known to be one of the regions most reasonable actors.

From its Southern border to South America, the US has increased its military presence. Most recently, the Obama administration sent 4,000 troops to the US-Mexico border, further militarizing this already violent area. This regional increase in military presence is also accompanied by an increase in military and police aid. According to a report by the Center for International Policy, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, and the Washington Office on Latin America, during most of the 2000s, military and police aid accounted for less than 40 percent of all aid that the US sent to Latin America. However this year, before aid to Haiti is added to the equation, military and police aid will total approximately 47 percent of all US aid to the region. Perhaps most telling, after 58 years of inactivity, in 2008 the US government reactivated the 4th Fleet, the navy fleet in charge of the waters in the Southern Command.
http://www.narconews.com/Issue66/article4162.html

Misery And Despair Plague Haitians
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman140710.htm
The government calls it "sealed management." China's capital has started gating and locking some of its lower-income neighborhoods overnight, with police or security checking identification papers around the clock, in a throwback to an older style of control.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0714/beijin ... -villages/

China ponders closing 'outdated' re-education labour camps
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... camps.html

Justice Department withheld evidence from 9/11 panel
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=179093





FBI weblinks promote Ayers, Peltier
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=178929

Just What Is America Doing all Over the World?
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=1016




(CNN) -- Al-Shabaab, the Somali militant group allied to al Qaeda which claimed responsibility for Sunday's deadly bombings in Uganda, has promised to "unleash a new tide of terror."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/07 ... A+World%29

...glad to see the CIA is still keeping busy....
The U.S. will carry out a series of naval and air exercises with South Korea in the Sea of Japan, located on the east side of the Korean peninsula, and the Yellow Sea, on the west side of the peninsula, near China. The exercises are meant to send a clear message of “deterrence” to North Korea, said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell yesterday, who wouldn’t give a specific date for the exercises, only that they would take place in the “near future.”

Beijing has already voiced their opposition to any joint U.S.-South Korean exercises near their territorial waters. Morrell’s response (prompted by a reporter’s question about Chinese complaints) was basically: Look, once you’re beyond the 12-mile territorial waters you’re in the high seas and “we or anybody else” can do whatever we want.

The aircraft carrier George Washington carried out exercises in the Yellow Sea in October, Morrell said, and, as part of a strengthening of U.S.-South Korean security relations, he fully expects more such exercises, on a regular basis.
http://defensetech.org/2010/07/15/china ... -whatever/

Debating Lend-Lease for the 21st century - Lend-lease is an interesting idea, but the problem is that the United States no longer has the sort of equipment the author suggests we loan out
http://sitrep.globalsecurity.org/articl ... the-21.htm

Moscow pledges Tehran oil products - against US embargo
http://www.debka.com/article/8910/
The pharmaceutical industry may soon begin using nanotechnology to encode drug tablets and capsules with brand and tracking data that you swallow as part of the pill. To really explain how this works, let me simplify how nanotechnology works so you'll see why this is so bizarre (and potentially dangerous). Instead of using materials and elements as they're found in nature to build and construct things, nanotechnologists are deconstructing the basic building blocks of these materials and elements to make completely new ones. In other words, nanoscientists are reconstructing the molecular building blocks of our world without yet knowing what it will do to humans and to the environment.

The long-term consequences of nanotechnology are still largely unknown because not a single formidable study has ever been conducted on this emerging science that proves it to be safe. In fact, most of the studies that have been conducted on nanotechnology show that it's actually detrimental to health and to the environment (which I'll cover further, below).

But that hasn't stopped Big Pharma from potentially adopting it for use in a new tracking and identification system that could be integrated into the very drug pills and capsules that millions of people swallow every day.

"Nanoparticles" are present in sunscreens, fabric protectors, plastic food liners, and other products. But what's different about the nanoparticles soon to be found in a pill near you is that they are capable of storing data about where the drug was made, when it was made, and where it has traveled.

It's a lot like the barcodes used on parcels to track them along their shipping journeys, except that in the drugs, it's a molecular barcode that people will be swallowing. During digestion of the pill, the nano data bits will be distributed throughout your body and can become lodged in your body's tissues.

NanoGuardian, the company that's introducing this system for pharmaceuticals, says it this way on its website:

"In the NanoEncryption process, NanoCodes are incorporated directly onto tablets, capsules and vial caps. These codes may be associated with an unlimited amount of manufacturer-determined data, including product information (strength and expiration date), manufacturing information (location date, batch and lot number) and distribution information (country, distributor, wholesaler and chain)."

So if you take these drugs, you'll be swallowing nano "hard drives" that can store data -- data that will be distributed throughout your body and can be read by medical technicians who could then track what drugs you took in the past. And what's the rationale for this? According to the company, it's to "defen[d] against pharmaceutical counterfeiting and illegal diversion".

It sounds like a good idea, right? Unfortunately, there's a whole lot more to this technology than meets the eye.

The dangers of nanotechnology
Though you'll rarely hear about it in the mainstream media, little is known about what nanoparticles really do to people's bodies and to the environment in the long term. Studies continue to show that nanoparticles tend to easily build up in the body where they can potentially cause damage. They also behave differently than the materials from which they are derived and constructed, posing unknown hazards.

Researchers from the University of Rochester discovered back in 2006 that nanoparticles are easily absorbed throughout the body via inhalation. According to the report, nanoparticles travel from the nasal cavity directly to brain tissue where they deposit themselves and cause brain inflammation. In other words, nanoparticles very easily cross the blood-brain barrier, which is the mechanism by which the brain normally protects itself from foreign materials.

The same study, which is part of a five-year, $5.5 million investigation into the safety of nanoparticles, also determined that this artificial micro-matter makes its way to the lungs when inhaled.

A study from 2004 found that low levels of fullerenes, a type of carbon nanoparticle used in electronics and other materials, changed the entire physiology of fish that were exposed to it. Exposure to just 0.5 parts per million (ppm) over the course of two days literally caused significant brain damage in these fish.

"Given the rapid onset of brain damage, it is important to further test and assess the risks and benefits of this new technology (nanotechnology) before use becomes even more widespread," emphasized Dr. Eva Oberdorster, author of the study, back in 2004.

Again in 2007, scientists from the University of California, San Diego, discovered that iron nanoparticles are toxic to nerve cells and nerve function. Even though iron is a necessary mineral that benefits the body in its natural form, its nanoparticle is quite dangerous, it turns out.

According to Sungho Jin, senior author of the study which was published in the journal Biomaterials, nanoparticles in general "may not be as safe as we had once thought."

But none of the nation's regulatory bodies seem to be paying any attention to these studies, or to the many others I didn't mention that also highlight the toxicity of nanoparticles. Instead, they've allowed nanoparticles to invade our society without so much as a single piece of credible evidence showing that they're safe.

Based on all the research, we know that nanoparticles cross through the skin, lungs, and blood-brain barrier, where they lodge themselves in body tissues. We also know that their compositional differences cause them to be highly reactive with other chemicals, particularly in the body where they create damaging free radicals.

According to a DiscoveryNews report from 2009, nanoparticles are everywhere in the food supply. Externally, they're used in the packaging, containers, films, and other storage materials to kill bacteria and increase shelf life. Internally, they're used to enhance or alter the flavors and textures of food.

Nanoparticles are even being used in some vitamins, supplements and other "nutraceuticals" to allegedly improve nutrient assimilation and delivery.

The report actually encourages the use of nanotechnology in food, citing all the potential benefits (but remaining silent on all the dangers). One section even hawks nanotechnology as a "green" technology.

But the real truth is that using nanoparticles in food is a grant experiment with an unknown outcome. When it comes to nanotechnology in food, there's a lot of speculation and pseudo-science being peddled as scientific fact, but there's truly no scientific backing to support the safe use of man-made nanoparticles in things we consume.

A few years ago, a friend of mine showed me a clever device that uses a laser to detect antioxidant levels in the body. It basically takes a reading based on the molecular signature of antioxidants in your skin. It uses a blue laser to produce a number revealing your antioxidant level. (Mine was very high, something like 90,000 on this machine.)

Theoretically, a similar detection device could be used to scan patients for nano particles to see whether or not they've taken their meds for the day, for the week, or even for the year. You could be scanned by a laser that you don't even see, and the government or anyone else could "read" your entire history of medication use. This information could be used against you in many ways:

• To deny you employment.
• To deny you health insurance coverage.
• To serve as evidence against you in a court of law.
• To take away your children by labeling you mentally unstable.
• To force you to take vaccines that you've been avoiding.

... and so on. This is a "drug enforcement" technology that makes all your private medication habits easily and instantly available to Big Brother and health industry drug enforcers who want you to "take all your meds."

As such, this technology could further destroy health freedom. The federal government would no doubt attempt to use this technology to control your medication and vaccination intake while enforcing your compliance with random scanning of your hand or other tissues.

Imagine this scenario. Your government-approved doctor says you have a mental disorder because you prefer healthy foods (See my recent article on "orthorexia" if you don't know what I'm talking about), and he prescribes you a brand name drug to treat it. You decide that eating healthy is normal and you refuse to take the drug. The next time you go in for a checkup, your doctor scans you to check your nanoparticle count and discovers that you haven't been taking your meds. Since he ordered you to take them and you didn't, he assesses you a fine and tells you begin taking them or else face potential arrest and prison time.

This scenario is entirely fictitious at the moment, but with the way things are going with Big Brother and Big Pharma, it's a very real possibility in the near future. Technologies like NanoGuardian can be used in precisely this way to enforce compliance with things like drug prescriptions and treatment mandates. Big Brother will have access to your medical records because they'll have been implanted into your body tissues through nanotechnology, sort of like radio-frequency identification (RFID) for pharmaceuticals.

It's a way for the drug industry to turn a human body into a compliant profit machine. And it's being marketed right now. Check out the website yourself: http://www.nanoguardian.net
http://www.naturalnews.com/029210_nanot ... cines.html

Top Medical Officials Urge Children to Cut Down Cell Phone Use
http://welcometoafreeworld.blogspot.com ... en-to.html
How many “free energy” companies have a former Director of the CIA and FBI on their payrolls? By my math, there’s just one: Terawatt Research, LLC.
http://cryptogon.com/?p=16423


It is certain that a broad and practical skill set will be much more valuable in a post SHTF world than many of the existing jobs and career specialties of today. Things like basic construction, plumbing, mechanical, basic electricity, gardening, horticulture, cooking, food preservation, food storage, first aid, hunting and firearms, just to name only a few. Basically, I’m referring to skills, any of which would be useful, valuable, or trade-able in a time of self-sufficient living, or community living where like-minded people are working together to create a working local system. These mostly aren’t skills that will make you rich in the context of today’s system of fiat currency, but they will make you rich in self satisfaction, peace-of-mind, and could save your life in the event of regional catastrophe.

General knowledge and know-how of the underlying fundamentals of day-to-day survival has unfortunately been lost by a great many over the past several generations as modern day technology has mostly eliminated the requirement. If the economies of the world, or your own country, falls into a long and painful cycle of recovery, these do-it-yourself skills will be even more valuable than they are today. If there ever is a catastrophic disaster scenario such as complete financial meltdown, electric power grid failure from an X-class solar flare or EMP weapon, nuclear war or other earth shattering event, then these skills will be absolutely essential to your very survival. If you want to insure yourself against these types of possibilities, then start learning some of these skills today, before it’s too late.
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-l ... valBlog%29

HK45 Endurance Test: Week Fourteen
http://pistol-training.com/archives/3314

Thoughts on the Ruger SR9c
http://gunnuts.net/2010/07/15/thoughts- ... uger-sr9c/

User avatar
Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: Blipits

Post by Jason »

...1st not much in the news...but I have some Russian ties....so here's the heads up...
By Dmitry Solovyov MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - One of the fiercest heatwaves in its history has engulfed Russia, withering crops, causing the worst drought in 130 years and prompting a top public health official to call for Spanish-style siesta breaks.

Central parts of European Russia, the Volga region, southern Urals and Siberia have all been suffering from the scorching heat, which started in late June and often reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the shade.

Similar conditions have only occurred five times -- in 1919, 1920, 1936, 1938 and 1972 -- since Russia started recording temperatures 130 years ago, Valery Lukyanov, deputy head of Russia's main weather forecast centre Roshydromet, told Reuters.

"This is the sixth year in history when late June and early July pose a real threat from the point of view of abnormal temperatures," he said, adding that Moscow could set its own record if temperatures hit 37C.

The capital's previous high of 36.6 was registered in 1936, Lukyanov said. "God forbid us to set such records," he added.

The Russian Grain Union, an industry lobby, said the country was seeing the worst drought in 130 years. It had already shrivelled grains on 9 million hectares, roughly one fifth of the total area sown to this year's harvest.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2551865/posts
Russia's worst droughts in a century have destroyed almost 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of crops in central and European areas, authorities said. A state of emergency has been declared in 18 Russian provinces, where fire has engulfed more than 26,000 hectares (64,000 acres) of forest.

The situation has been described as serious by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who oversees the agriculture sector. But he said authorities have the resources to cope. Various officials have tried to reassure the public that the country has enough grain stockpiled to rule out imports.

Germany's Potato Industry Union, meanwhile, says it expects losses of 30 percent in this year's harvest.

"The situation is worse in many places this year than in the drought years of 2003 and 2006," said Martin Umhau, the head of Germany's Union of Potato Industry.

The Chamber of Agriculture of the Czech Republic estimates the grain harvest could by down by 10 percent compared with 2009.
http://www.salon.com/wires/allwires/201 ... index.html
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- More than 1,000 Russians have drowned recently as they attempted to find relief from a stifling heat wave -- many of them after drinking alcohol, officials said.

Vadim Seryogin, a department head at Russia's Emergencies Ministry, told reporters Wednesday that 49 people, including two children, had drowned in the last day. More than 1,200 total have drowned, 223 of them between July 5 and July 12.

"The majority of those drowned were drunk," Seryogin said. "The children died because adults simply did not look after them."

A state of emergency has been declared in 14 regions, and some areas are facing water shortages as wells dry up.

The heat has exacerbated a smog problem, as well, the RIA-Novosti column said, adding Russia has not experienced such heat in 130 years. Winter and spring crops are withering under the heat, the column said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europ ... Z51UiVmjx8
In Moscow, the temperature rose to 33 degrees Celsius, breaking a record for the day set in 1938 under the rule of dictator and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, according to the state weather center.

Temperatures in 10 central Russian regions will hit 38 degrees in a heat wave lasting at least until July 22, the state weather center forecast.

An emergency drought situation has been declared in 19 of Russia’s 83 regions with crops dying on an estimated 9.6 million hectares of fields.

The Russian drought-struck areas were suffering “colossal destruction,” Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said this week at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev. The coldest place on earth in winter, Oimyakon in the Sakha region, was forecast to swelter at 32 degrees on Friday, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/rus ... ion/386310
June 2010 was the warmest June since record keeping began in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), and was the fourth consecutive warmest month on record. NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies rated June 2010 the third warmest June on record, behind June 1998 and June 2009. Both NOAA and NASA rated the year-to-date period, January - June, as the warmest such period on record. June 2010 global ocean temperatures were the fourth warmest on record, while land temperatures were the warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the 2nd warmest on record in June, according to both the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) and Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) groups. The record warmest temperatures in the lower atmosphere were recorded in 1998.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMa ... rynum=1544



....a little humor...



....for more where that came from...
http://www.stevebridges.com/obamavideos ... 10-lg.html




So What Do We Know?

Given that even independent oil industry experts are guessing at this point because BP is keeping everything close to the vest (and that some allege that the government is not publicly disclosing what it knows), the question is what we do know at this point.

Putting aside Matt Simmons' (Simmons was an energy adviser to President George W. Bush and is a prominent investment banker to the oil industry) claims that there is a conspiracy to cover up a larger leak miles from the cap - for which there's been no independent confirmation to date - here's everything that we know at this point:

* Well pressure is currently a little above 6,700 psi, far short of the 8,000 psi which would prove that the well integrity is more or less intact.

* If the well pressure keeps rising, and stabilizes at 8,000 psi or higher, then the well is fairly stable, and the below-seafloor damage to the well is not significantly impacting well strength. It would not be unexpected for the pressure to start lower and then to rise, so at least another 24 hours is needed to get the final result. BP says "The pressure has been a very steady build as predicted by engineering anlysis we did. " BP also says that the seismic, sonar and visual inspections so far indicate "no negative evidence".

* If well pressures rise and then suddenly drop, then the well integrity test itself has caused a new leak.

* If well pressure stabilizes far below 8,000, then there are major leaks. Oil industry professionals posting at the Oil Drum hypothesize:

What this could indicate is that there is a possibility of crossflow at the bottom of the well. What this means that the oil and gas that are flowing out of the reservoir into the bottom of the well, are, under the pressure in the well, now flowing into a higher reservoir of rock, now that they can't get out of the well. Depending on where that re-injection flow is, this may, or may not, suggest that the casing has lost integrity. This is a topic that has been covered in the comments at The Oil Drum, where fdoleza - "a petroleum engineering consultant retired from a major multi-national oil company" - has noted:

... I believe the flow will be coming out of the bottom sand and going into the upper sand. It would not be a leak, but it would tell them why their pressure data ain't a classical surface buildup. And I sure hope they're modeling temperatures and so on, because this is a very interesting case. They don't have downhole gauges, so they'll have to take the way the oil cools down as it sits to get a better idea of the way things are moving down below.

If there are questions whether there is still flow in the formation or from the original formation into surrounding rock, then it is possible that the relief well (RW) is close enough to the original well (WW) that putting a set of very sensitive microphones down the RW might allow some triangulation to estimate where such a flow might be occurring. It might make it easier that the well hasn’t been finally cased yet. But the test has 2 days to run, and will be evaluated every 6 hours. With time some of these questions may be answered as the test continues. (If there is no flow anywhere, after a while all the readings should become quite stable).

Updates as they develop ...
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/07/ ... grity.html

ECRI Plunges At 9.8% Rate, Double Dip Recession Virtually Assured
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ecri-p ... ly-assured

Chinese Treasury Dump Brings Its Total Holdings To One Year Low, As "UK" Continues Exponential Accumulation Of US Bonds
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/chines ... ial-accumu

Magnitude 3.6 - POTOMAC-SHENANDOAH REGION
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 10yua6.php

....too bad it wasn't a 1000 times stronger.....might have solved the countries problems...

Rockville-based Emergent BioSolutions is set to announce Wednesday that it has received a contract worth up to $107 million to ready its anthrax vaccine for large-scale manufacture.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews
(CINCINNATI, Ohio) - Two weeks ago, CIA Director Leon Panetta told the press the CIA had not been able to positively confirm any specific information on Osama bin Laden since “late 2000.”

Interviews with high ranking military and intelligence officials, some at the highest levels, have confirmed that all evidence lends toward Osama bin Laden’s death in December 2001.

Yet transcripts of translated audio and video tapes, albeit widely disputed, are continually released by a news agency tied to Israeli intelligence services.

The transcripts of the last proven bin Laden interview, translated by the CIA, are compared to similar translations of a 2007 “broadcast” said to be by Osama bin Laden.

Both are excerpted for length but not content. Striking differences between the two “bin Ladens” is obvious.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july ... den-gd.php

Tehran blames US, UK for deadly Iran mosque bombing
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terroris ... ue-bombing
The identity of the pilot of the American-registered DC-9 (N900SA) from St. Petersburg FL caught carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine in Mexico's Yucatan several years ago, long a mystery, finally saw the light of day recently in Mexico.

Carmelo Vasquez Guerra, a Venezuelan, was the DC9’s pilot who was said to have “escaped” from the airport while his airplane was being seized, and four other members of his crew were arrested.

He was later taken into custody by Mexican authorities, and charged with flying an airplane packed with 128 identical suitcases filled with cocaine.

Getting caught with 5.5 tons of cocaine would seem to call for some serious jail time. Reporters in Mexico assumed he’d been sent to prison for, like... forever.

So imagine reporter Francisco Gomez of Mexico City's El Universal surprise when he made a startling discovery: Carmelo Vasquez Guerra—amazingly and inexplicably—had been released from prison less than two years after being arrested.

The shocking news was delivered via an international headline stating that a pilot named Carmelo Vasquez Guerra had been arrested in the West African nation of Guinea Bissau on a twin-engine Gulfstream II carrying... what else? 550 kilos—a half-ton— of cocaine.
http://www.madcowprod.com/07152010.htm
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT - Analyst Report) won a contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command to provide full-scope logistics support to warfighters around the globe. The company will provide a wide range of mission-critical services, from aircraft and vehicle maintenance to IT and electronics support. The contract has a potential value of $5 billion spread over 10 years.
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/36883/L ... B+Contract+


WASHINGTON — In an echo of the debates over the discredited intelligence that helped make the case for the war in Iraq, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday released more than 1,100 pages of previously classified Vietnam-era transcripts that show senators of the time sharply questioning whether they had been deceived by the White House and the Pentagon over the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/world ... .html?_r=1

Former NSA executive Thomas A. Drake may pay high price for media leak
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... alsecurity
Law Remakes U.S. Financial Landscape

WASHINGTON—Congress approved a rewrite of rules touching every corner of finance, from ATM cards to Wall Street traders, in the biggest expansion of government power over banking and markets since the Depression.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... TopStories

...isn't Deflation just awesome for the power hungry? Round I was just a test....this is the real deal - debt saturation on a global scale!

Obama-Dodd-Frank FinReg Monstrosity Delays Derivatives Curbs until 2022!
http://tarpley.net/2010/07/15/obama-dod ... ntil-2022/

The U.S. Is On The Edge Of A Growing Deflationary Sinkhole
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/16 ... -got-gold/
US banking giant JPMorgan Chase on Thursday announced a net profit of 4.8 billion dollars in the second quarter, up nearly 80 percent from the same period last year.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0715/jpmorg ... -leaps-80/
Deflation poses a risk to the U.S. economy as unemployment remains high, White House economic adviser Christina Romer said on Wednesday.
http://www.cnbc.com//id/38248672

.....let me break it down - the middle class has a giant target on its chest. Deflation means there isn't enough money to go around to pay the bills meaning the banks take everything you own. Wealth/asset transfer is the name of the game! Those who think they will print debt free money (the only means to accomplish hyper-inflation) are fooling themselves and playing with fool's gold! Deflation is here to stay for awhile. The only thing that can break it will be the hand of God (massive natural disasters) and/or complete economic collapse (the people rising up against the powers that be).......and when that comes to pass the food/water/energy/protection will be much more valuable than shiny metal for a couple reasons - 1) the historical precedent for gold has occurred in times when people were much more familiar with using gold in transactions (when was the last time you...or even your forefathers...used gold for a daily transaction); 2) fraud - in an increasingly wicked world - is it fool's gold, yellow gold, white gold, 14k, 24k, gold plated lead????? and when was the last time you or your forefathers valued such gold? 3) Is it the gold that matters or what gold can buy? In light of #1 & #2 above.....how useful is gold today as a medium of exchange? WTSHTF.....will it be easier to value 50 lbs of wheat (red, white, or whatever) vs. green gold, blue gold, etc etc etc????
Bank repossessions increased 38% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier for a record total of 269,952, according to data to be released Thursday by RealtyTrac.
http://www.latimes.com/business/realest ... 6857.story

1.65 Million Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings in First Half of 2010
http://www.realtytrac.com/contentmanage ... temid=9555
More than 3 million Americans could lose unemployment benefits by the end of July even as the government spends record amounts to compensate the jobless, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... htm?csp=hf

Higher education fund buys gold over economic worries
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bus ... 08909.html

....you don't think the central bankers (satan) has a plan for this????








....several studies released showing the effects of world bank stimulus on forced migration.....i.e. - its planned!

Classified documents reveal UK's role in abuse of its own citizens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/jul/ ... -disclosed

North Korea facing health and food crisis, says Amnesty International
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ju ... is-amnesty
A Quiet Axis Forms Against Iran in the Middle East

Israel and the Arab states near the Persian Gulf recognize a common threat: the regime in Tehran. A regional diplomat has not even ruled out support by the Arab states for a military strike to end Iran's nuclear ambitions.

When asked whether the UAE would support a possible Israeli air strike against the regime in Tehran, Ambassador Otaiba said: "A military attack on Iran by whomever would be a disaster, but Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a bigger disaster."

The fact that some Western politicians are unfamiliar with this position has to do with their own ignorance, and with the diplomatic skill with which the smaller Gulf states, in particular, have managed to hide their opposition to their powerful neighbor until now.

"The Jews and Arabs have been fighting for one hundred years. The Arabs and the Persians have been going at (it) for a thousand," argues Goldberg on The Atlantic's Web site.

Almost all Arab neighbors have a hostile relationship with the Islamic Republic. Saudi Arabia suspects Iran of stirring up the Shiite minority in its eastern provinces. The Arab emirates accuse Iran of occupying three islands in the Persian Gulf. Egypt has not had regular diplomatic relations with Iran since a street in Tehran was named after the murderer of former Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat.

Jordanian King Abdullah II warns against the establishment of a "Shiite crescent" between Iran and Lebanon. And Kuwait, fearing the Iranians, installed the Patriot air defense missile system in the spring.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 45,00.html

US Chokes off French-Backed Saudi-Jordanian Nuclear Plans – for Now
http://www.debka.com/article/8913/

Moscow pledges Tehran oil products - against US embargo
http://www.debka.com/article/8910/

YEKATERINBURG, Russia - The leaders of Russia and Germany met Thursday for talks and oversaw the signing of nearly a dozen deals between companies from the two countries worth billions of dollars.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20 ... 0542?tc=ar
VLADIVOSTOK — Bones uncovered on the outskirts of the Pacific port of Vladivostok belong to hundreds of victims of Stalinist purges executed by the NKVD secret police, municipal officials and experts said Thursday.

City authorities said last month that at least 495 skeletons — many with head gunshot wounds — were among 3.5 tons of bones that had been unearthed from a mass grave by workmen building a road.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/arti ... 10465.html
The U.S. government is apparently debating how to stage joint exercises with South Korea not only this month but all year round as a response to North Korea's torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/htm ... 00283.html

German unemployed working class line up for ‘vouchers’ as the ruling class decides who is ‘workshy’
http://dailycensored.com/2010/07/15/ger ... ensored%29
Security Plan for Canada-U.S. Border Announced

Canada and the United States have announced their first formal plan to enhance the security of their common 5,525-mile border, the longest in the world.

“Crystallizing a shared vision of border security that facilitates trade is a priority if we are to mitigate threats to our joint security and promote economic competitiveness,” Canada’s Public Safety Minister Vic Toewes said in a July 13 press release.

Mr. Toewes met with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in Washington to discuss new cooperative initiatives to expedite travel and trade.

“Today’s announcements reflect our commitment to cooperative action to protect and safeguard both nations’ vital assets, networks and systems, as well as the shared responsibility to protect all citizens from cross-border crime and terrorism,” Ms. Napolitano said.

The plan, titled Canada-United States Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure, is available at http://www.dhs.gov and http://www.publicsafety.gov.ca
http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/24071/

Israeli company uses nanotechnology to develop paint that makes planes disappear off radar
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/Articl ... 57,00.html
24 multinational companies, have decided to move their regional headquarters to Shanghai, including 6 Fortune 500 companies such as Vale, Walt Disney and Kraft Foods.

This will push the total number of companies with regional headquarters in Shanghai to nearly 300. Nearly 500 have regional research and development centers there.

Shanghai has been China's top destination, for multinationals. Even during the world economic slump, the city's foreign direct investment still increased. Data shows Shanghai's foreign direct investment has already surpassed more than 5 billion US dollars in the first half of this year.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... nalysis%29

....here's one of the best overviews and explanations of how this impacts the economy that I've seen...



UPDATE:
Abnormal brain growth and function are features of autism, an increasingly common developmental disorder that now affects 1 in 60 boys in the US.

Now researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas, have found remarkably similar brain changes to those seen in autism in infant monkeys receiving the vaccine schedule used in the 1990’s that contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal.

The group’s findings were published yesterday in the journal Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis. They used scanning techniques that assessed both brain growth and brain function in the same animals over time. The research team was able to see differences in the way the brains of vaccinated and unvaccinated animals developed. Scans were performed before and after the administration of primary MMR and DTaP/Hib boosters that were given at the human equivalent of 12 months of age.

Throughout the study period, vaccinated animals showed an increase in total brain volume – a feature of the brain in many young children with autism - when compared with unvaccinated animals. However, a specific part of the brain associated with emotional responses that is thought to be important in autism, the amygdala, did not show abnormalities until after the 12-month vaccines had been given. In addition, after the 12-month vaccines only, the functional brain scans showed significant differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. These functional scans looked at the activity of receptors for morphine-like compounds (opioids) that may play a role in the brain of children affected by autism. Vaccine administration was associated with an increase in opioid binding activity in the amygdala compared with a decrease in the unvaccinated group.

The results indicate that multiple vaccine exposures during the previous 3-4 months may have had a significant impact on brain growth and development in ways that are consistent with the published data on autism. For the amygdala, the novel findings of abnormal growth and function appear to be a function of more recent vaccine exposures - the 12-month primary MMR vaccine and the DTaP and Hib boosters.
http://www.noonehastodietomorrow.com//i ... &Itemid=39
In a sign that the housing market has taken another turn for the worse, a new report shows almost a quarter of all home listings in the U.S. had at least one price reduction in June.

The price cutting is widespread too. The report, released Wednesday by residential real estate tracking firm Trulia, shows 21 of the country's 50 largest markets cut prices on at least 30% of their listings, up from 10 markets in May.

Minneapolis led the way, with 40% of its listings registering at least one price reduction. This was followed by Milwaukee, Dallas, Boston, Baltimore, Phoenix and Memphis, which all slashed prices on more than 32% of their listings.

"Sellers are feeling the heat this summer as the economic recovery simmers down and home inventory levels climb," said Pete Flint, co-founder and chief executive of Trulia, in a statement. "We're seeing more sellers reduce their home listing prices to attract potential buyers." Housing inventory rose 5% between April and July.
http://www.time.com/time/business/artic ... 78,00.html
Although the average price cut, according to the Trulia report, was 10%, some markets saw significantly bigger reductions: Detroit slashed prices by 26% on average, Las Vegas dropped prices by 15%, and both Miami and Phoenix saw average cuts of 13%. The total dollar amount slashed from home prices in June was $27.3 billion, the report said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100715/u ... NpbmdtYXI-

....say hello to Deflation....betcha gold didn't rise 10 to 26% in June.....nope it fell a percent or two! And that was with a massive speculation factor!

Unemployment borrowing from the Fed is picking up steam again....
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/repo ... ssched.htm

UPDATE 2:
According to the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois Fiscal Sustainability, Illinois is now looking down the barrel of a two year budget deficit in 2011 of at least 12.8 billion dollars, according to a report issued by the in January of this year. Fitch and Moody’s is scheduled to downgrade the State’s debt rating by one notch, sending its credit default swap [CDS] to a record high.

After selling another $900 million in taxable Build America Bonds the week of July 15th, the Chicago Tribune estimated Illinois could incur extra interest costs of about $9 million a year– $225 million over the life of the bonds–due to the wide credit spread. The State has already issued about $7.8 billion in debt in 2010, and got $4.7 billion in unpaid bills in the fiscal year ended June 30. Credit and more credit, this is the answer capitalism offers to their citizens and with devastating effects.

Of course the entire US is full of ‘states’ or territories that are broke – flat busted and now looking to borrow heavily, cut basic services and needs and basically decimate their economies. All good news for bankers, the ruling class, and especially the libertarians that foam at the mouth about government without understanding the corporate forum they live in.
http://dailycensored.com/2010/07/16/the ... ensored%29

Bank Failures #92 to #96: Florida, Michigan, South Carolina
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/ ... ed+Risk%29
WASHINGTON — The 73-year-old great grandson of Alexander Graham Bell was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for quietly spying for Cuba for nearly a third of a century from inside the State Department. His wife was sentenced to 5 1/2 years.

Retired intelligence analyst Kendall Myers said he meant his country no harm and stole secrets only to help Cuba's people who "have good reason to feel threatened" by U.S. intentions of ousting the communist Castro government.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/ ... 12248.html
The U.S. Army on Thursday reported a record number of suicides in a single month among active duty, Guard and Reserve troops, despite an aggressive program of counseling, training and education aimed at suicide prevention.

Suicides for the first half of the year are up 12 percent over 2009. In June, 32 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide, including 21 on active duty.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38267520/ns/us_news-life/
Quantities of lead in bottled juice, juice boxes, and packaged fruit could exceed federal limits for the lunchbox-toting set, according to the Environmental Law Foundation. The Bay Area-based environmental nonprofit, which enlisted the aid of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified lab in Berkeley, tested nearly 400 samples from 150 branded products marketed to children, including apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail mixes. The alarming results: 125 out of 146 products—or more than 85%—contained enough lead in a single serving to warrant a warning label under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, better known as Prop. 65.
http://www.inhabitots.com/2010/06/11/85 ... s-of-lead/

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