Links 2/20/12 « naked capitalism

Monday, February 20, 2012

Links 2/20/12

Wildthing, I think I love you: Rancher chooses pet buffalo to be best man at renewal of his wedding vows Daily Mail (hat tip reader May S)

Animal rights group says drone shot down TandD (hat tip Lambert)

Attacks paid for by big business are ‘driving science into a dark era’ Guardian (hat tip reader John L)

Citizen science goes ‘extreme’ Nature (hat tip Lambert)

Bangladesh rickshaw driver builds clinic Aljazeera (hat tip reader May S)

China is not yet stimulating MacroBusiness

The working man’s paradise MacroBusiness

Saving private wages: heroic act or con trick? ekathimerini (hat tip Lambert)

A single man takes the initiative to feed the poor ekathimerini (hat tip Lambert)

IMF Draft Sees Greek Debt Reaching 129% of GDP in 2020 Wall Street Journal (hat tip Joe Costello)

Greece must default if it wants democracy Wolfgang Münchau, Financial Times. Sounds a lot like Marshall Auerback.

Investors seek hedge against euro split Financial Times (hat tip Joe Costello). Repeat after me: wrong way risk.

Germany drawing up plans for Greece to leave the euro Telegraph (hat tip reader furzy mouse)

Eurozone seeks central banks’ help in Greek bail-out Financial Times

A capital way to defuse Greek timebomb John Dizard, Financial Times

Tesco asks government to change flagship jobless scheme Guardian (hat tip Lambert)

Syria has made a curious transition from US ally to violator of human rights Guardian (hat tip reader May S)

Obama’s Plan to Save the Military From Cuts—at the Expense of Domestic Programs The Nation (hat tip reader May S)

Uncle Sam, Global Gangster Andrew Bacevich, TomDispatch (hat tip reader May S)

New Law Requires Women To Name Baby, Paint Nursery Before Getting Abortion The Onion (hat tip Lambert)

Manufacturing Illusions Robert Reich (hat tip reader May S)

Bitcoin Exchange’s Crisis Bodes Ill for Payment Innovation American Banker (hat tip Lambert). Um, I thought Bitcoin was also inflexible as to the amount issued, which is a non-trivial issue.

Foreclosure process is ‘utterly broken’ OCRegister (hat tip reader Deontos)

Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting Uncovers Widespread Mortgage Industry Irregularities YouTube (hat tip reader Deontos)

Antidote du jour:

126 Comments:

EmilianoZ says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:04 am

Let’s say the Greeks default. The German and French banks have bought CDS on that debt from Goldman Sachs and the likes. Let’s say the banks dont wanna pay this CDS money because obviously they wanna keep their bonuses. Doesn’t that point to the US government (meaning US taxpayers) picking up the tab?

Maybe that wouldn’t be completely unjustified. After all, being the world reserve currency is an exorbitant and undeserved privilege.

Jim Haygood says:

February 20, 2012 at 6:33 am

Apparently the game plan, now that the ECB has swapped out its Greek bonds for a new series with super-senior status, is for Greece to enact retroactive Collective Action Clauses. Then a plurality of bondholders can approve a debt exchange even if holdouts object.

Since the CACs will define this majority vote as ‘voluntary,’ ISDA [the governing body of CDS] will rule that no credit event occurred, and no CDS payments are triggered. ISDA already made its intention clear last October.

This result may be contrary to common sense. But it appears that CDS on sovereign debt present enormous moral hazard when the gov-bankster axis on the other side of the table has a vested interest in not triggering them. They don’t want another AIG bailout on their hands.

Plain-vanilla put options on PIIGS debt would have been far more effective, but also more expensive.

It boils down to caveat emptor. But even the most diligent purchaser can be fatally disoriented by the seductive veil of money illusion spun by the modern-day John Laws of fiat currency emission. They print the money, they regulate the banks, they run the courts.

As Hank Williams would have told this ghastly conspiracy against the public interest, ‘YOU WIN AGAIN.’
- wunsacon says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 9:39 am
  
  >> They print the money, they regulate the banks, they run the courts.
  
  Nicely put.
  - F. Beard says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 1:19 pm
    
    And they have the responsibility. Also, there is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to consider.
    - skippy says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 11:11 pm
      
      Criticisms of maslow’s hierarchy of motivation.
      
      In their extensive review of research based on Maslow’s theory, Wahba and Brudwell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all.[16] Chilean economist and philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and invariant in nature—part of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, may result from any one of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled.[citation needed]
      
      The order in which the hierarchy is arranged (with self-actualization as the highest order need) has been criticised as being ethnocentric by Geert Hofstede.[17] Hofstede’s criticism of Maslow’s pyramid as ethnocentric may stem from the fact that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised in collectivist societies. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs from an individualistic perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. The needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self actualization being the apex of self improvement. Since the hierarchy was written from the perspective of an individualist, the order of needs in the hierarchy with self actualization at the top is not representative of the needs of those in collectivist cultures. In collectivist societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and individuality.[18]
      
      Some of these criticisms may be really about Maslow’s choice of terminology, especially with the term “self-actualization”. “Self-actualization” might not effectively convey his observations that this higher level of motivation is really about focusing on becoming the best person one can possibly become, in the service of both the self and others: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.”[19] At these higher levels of motivation, what we do generally benefits everyone, but Maslow’s term might not be as good at clarifying that as it could have been.
      
      Maslow’s hierarchy has also been criticized as being individualistic because of the position and value of sex on the pyramid. Maslow’s pyramid puts sex on the bottom rung of physiological needs, along with breathing and food. It views sex from an individualistic and not collectivist perspective: i.e., as an individualistic physiological need that must be satisfied before one moves on to higher pursuits. This view of sex neglects the emotional, familial and evolutionary implications of sex within the community.[20][21]
      
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
      
      Skippy… there is that neoliberal foundation myth supported methodology making its self omnipresent again. The pyramid part is very apropos, one percent thingy.
    - Lambert Strether says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 11:32 pm
      
      Skippy, that is a very interesting critique (at least to me). Thanks.
- Bev says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 10:40 am
  
  DEBT money is the problem not Fiat.
  
  http://www.monetary.org/how-the-economists-facilitated-the-crisis-and-how-hr-6550-solves-it/2011/06
  
  How the Economists Facilitated the Crisis and How HR 6550* Solves it
  
  (now HR 2990)
  
  This talk is not meant as an attack but as a challenge to “young economists.” It’s important that the economic profession be held to account for its’ part in this crisis.
  
  The crisis gives a rare opportunity for reform. There’s no denying that the present “Economics” regime has been a key cause of the pain, suffering, illness and even death inflicted on America’s less affluent; and of the worldwide economic destruction we see. My observations are admittedly from an outsider and there should be a value for you from that perspective, but this was well expressed by Economist Jamie Galbraith in testimony to the Senate Crime subcommittee on May 4th, 2010:
  
  “I write to you from a disgraced profession. Economic theory, as widely taught since the 1980s, failed miserably to understand the forces behind the financial crisis.”
  
  With rare exceptions, those in control of the World’s monetary/economic agenda and the theories supporting it have helped bring the world to its knees. Shouldn’t they (and their theories) be held accountable? The challenge will be for “youngsters” like yourselves, to bring your chosen profession to its senses.
  
  False “monetary” beliefs (some call them theories) have misdirected public policy decisions for decades, with devastating effect! Errors of Concept, methodology and factual errors led to disastrous outcomes for our nation and have the potential to gradually take America down into an unprecedented abyss of lawlessness and deprivation. Consider the present insane calls for austerity. Economists have allowed the idea to prevail that a government has to be run the way a shopkeepers runs his store. These times call for greater care and some heroism among economists; and cowardice is no longer tolerable among those who do understand.
  
  Which particular monetary errors? Most importantly, economists have not understood or appreciated the difference between money and credit. That using credit for money is dangerous, harmful and unnecessary. Can’t they read Knapp’s “State Theory of Money, available in English since the early 1920s, to understand credit is just one type of money system, and not a good one at that? Even Minsky who pointed out that such a fractional reserve system always collapses, regarded that as a problem inherent in “Capitalism, and didn’t consider eradicating it but merely called for government providing jobs when the credit structure was in collapse. A solution that one of AMIs researchers said was like “trimming poison ivy!”
  
  Many economists have falsely concluded that “all money is debt,” and while most money in our particular mis structured system is debt, this attitude ignores the possibility and necessity to define a better system based on government money, not private debt. This failure to understand the concept of government money as opposed to private credit, has had immense and deadly repercussions. The Great Henry Simons summed it up in one magnificent sentence in the 1930s:
  
  “The mistake … lies in fearing money and trusting debt.”
  
  Henry Simons, (Economic Policy for a Free Society, 1930s, P.199)
  
  This fundamental error has allowed the most egregious banking and money system to dominate our society for a century. It has caused immense damage:
  
  For example: The privatization of our monetary system, with control over public policy being in unelected hands, for whoever controls the money system, over time will control the nation.
  
  And look what they have done with that power:
  
  * They’ve given special privilege to create money to some, and disadvantage to others; which has led to an obscene concentration of wealth and a corresponding poverty! This has encouraged lawlessness and corruption among the privileged; pushing them to diseased excess for acquisition, and ignoring those among us in great need.
  
  * They’ve turned economics into a primitive religion, and worshipped the “market” as a god, despite all evidence to the contrary. A primary tool they use is to denigrate and ignore evidence. “Anecdotal” was the description Greenspan used for real evidence that challenges their theories. A fundamental sin of poor methodology.
  
  * They have placed an unnecessary ball and chain on the leg of every producer by having the money supply itself bear an unnecessary interest cost to society.
  
  * They’ve foisted a “fractional reserve” system on us prone to periodic collapse. Credit will collapse during a crisis. Money does not collapse. Credit will collapse during a crisis. Money does not collapse. Money does not collapse.
  
  In our present system most of what we use for money – more accurately purchasing media – comes into existence as an interest bearing debt, when banks make loans. In that sense, most money in our fractional reserve system – is debt. But economists can’t seem to grasp that those rules can and must be changed. Afraid to confront their paymasters, who are benefitting from the injustice, they can’t conceive of practical ways we can use real government issued money for money instead of substituting private debt for it. They ignore previous attempts such as the Chicago Plan of the 1930s; and smear prior periods when such real money was used successfully.
  
  Errors of methodology regarding money include refusal to examine the facts and a tendency to ignore history where the monetary facts are found. This leads to the silliest errors of fact regarding monetary history including:
  
  * Being unaware of the colonial periods’ excellent experience with government money.
  
  * The Continental Currency – they are generally unaware they were destroyed by Brit counterfeiting.
  
  * The Greenbacks – which is mistakenly characterized as worthless paper money, ignoring that they ultimately exchanged one for one with gold.
  
  * The French Assignats – where they have again ignored Brit counterfeiting and enshrined the propaganda book written by a banking heir as unbiased fact (White’s Fiat Money in France)!
  
  * The German Hyperinflation is not recognized as occurring under a privately owned and privately controlled Reichsbank!
  
  * Regarding the FED as part of the government!
  
  * The Free banking Schools misidentify the Free banking period because New York’s “Free Banking Law” gave better results. But despite its title it imposed much stronger requirements and regulations and was the opposite of free banking!
  
  Jamie Galbraith ended his testimony to the Senate’s Crime Subcommittee with this warning: “But you have to act. The true alternative is a failure extending over time from the economic to the political system. Just as too few predicted the financial crisis, it may be that too few are today speaking frankly about where a failure to deal with the aftermath may lead.
  
  In this situation, let me suggest, the country faces an existential threat. Either the legal system must do its work, or the market system cannot be restored. There must be a thorough, transparent, effective, radical cleaning of the financial sector and also of those public officials who failed the public trust. The financiers must be made to feel, in their bones, the power of the law. And the public, which lives by the law, must see very clearly and unambiguously that this is the case. Thank you.”
  
  James K. Galbraith to the Subcommittee on Crime, Senate Judiciary Committee, May 4, 2010.
  
  Prof. Galbraith rightfully identifies confronting and punishing the criminal element as a matter of national survival! The AMI agrees and then goes to a more fundamental level. Regulation alone will not work in a money system which unfairly concentrates wealth to obscene levels because that concentration of money and power, can and will eventually overcome the regulators.
  
  This in fact is what is happening, going back to the Carter, and Reagan administrations where airlines, trucking, and savings and loans were de-regulated leading to the Savings and Loan Crisis. Accelerating under Clinton where Gramm-Leach-Bliley repealed part of Glass Steagall and the Gramm Commodity Futures act of 2000 exempted OTC Derivatives from regulation. The Great Brooksly Born was forced out of the CFTC Chairmanship and replaced by Gramm’s wife! Where NAFTA was approved, attacking American jobs and where the law allowing media concentration was passed which has kept any reasonable discussion of the monetary and economic travesties off the airwaves until the banker’s malfeasance broke onto the front pages! A media that has promoted a divisive, even treasonous politics of hatred.
  
  This slow moving “Coup d’état” reached the US Supreme Court, which installed a president who twice could not be elected; and their recent obscene decision allowing corporations to dominate our electoral process.
  
  Our malformed money and banking system is at the bottom of these travesties and therefore must face fundamental reform. But that requires your help. How can this be done?
  
  Enter The Congress’ Best Economist- Congressman Dennis Kucinich
  
  On December 17, 2010, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the National Emergency Employment Defense Act (“NEED,” HR 6550*) which contains all the monetary reform provisions of The American Monetary Act- see the brochure at http://www.monetary.org. It is much more than regulation; it fundamentally reforms our private CREDIT/DEBT system now wrecking our nation and harming all humanity, and replaces it with a government MONEY system.
  
  The Act achieves reform with 3 basic provisions. All three are necessary; doing one or two of them wouldn’t work and could cause more damage.
  
  In brief:
  
  First the Federal Reserve gets incorporated into the U.S. Treasury where all new money is created by our government – what people think happens now.
  
  Second, It ends the fractional reserve system. Banks no longer have the accounting privilege of creating our money supply. All their previously issued credit is converted into U.S. Money through an elegant and gentle accounting change. The banks are held accountable for this conversion and from that point operate the way people think they do now – as intermediaries between depositors and borrowers.
  
  Third, new money is introduced by the government spending it into circulation for infrastructure, starting with the $2.2 trillion the engineers tell us is needed to properly maintain our infrastructure over the next 5 years. Infrastructure will include the necessary human infrastructure of health care and education.
  
  Banks are encouraged to continue lending as profit making companies, but are no longer allowed to create our money supply through their loan making activity.
  
  Thus, The NEED Act nationalizes the money system, not the banking system. Banking is absolutely not a proper function of government, but providing the nation’s money supply is a key function of government. No one else can do it properly. Talk of nationalizing the banking business really acts like a poison pill to block real reform. Same for talk of the states going into the banking business keeping the fractional reserve system in place, and allowing the banks to continue creating what we use for money! That would reform nothing and actually endorses the fractional reserve system! It is a farcical diversion, misleading some good people away from real monetary reform at the only time reform is possible – during a crisis. All serious Monetary reformers understand that banks can not be allowed to create our money supply.
  
  Despite prejudice against government, most people are surprised to learn that history shows government has a far superior record in controlling the money system than private controllers have. And yes that includes the continental currency, the Greenbacks and even the German Hyperinflation; which by the way took place under a completely privatized German central bank, with all governmental influence removed! These facts, though not taught in your econ classes, are discussed at length in my book The Lost Science of Money available here.
  
  Why listen to me? My University of Chicago training regarding independent thinking and reading fundamental sources; about 400 of which got into the bibliography. I’ve approached it honestly. I’ve been Director of the American Monetary Institute since 1996, after being its co-founder.
  
  Perhaps you will consider Prof. Kaoru Yamaguchi’s Systems Dynamics study of the American Monetary Act? He examined it with the most advanced computer systemology and found that:
  
  It pays off the national debt
  
  It provides the funds for infrastructure (solving the unemployment problem)
  
  It does this without causing inflation. You can read his results at http://www.monetary.org
  - ohmyheck says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 11:12 am
    
    A pet peeve of mine is that when someone writes something noteworthy here at NC, the writer might think that it went by unnoticed. So, I just wanted to let you know, Bev, that yours did not, and for this layperson, was very educational. Thank you.
    - Bev says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 11:50 am
      
      Pardon my omission..it should have been longer yet to include the author’s name in addition to the provided link.
      
      The above was written by Stephen A. Zarlenga who along with Dennis Kucinich and others are educating everyone, including me, about the best solutions to our current problems.
      
      We have solved this same problem six times in our nation’s history already by producing debt free public money through the brave efforts of presidents like Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy among others. We must support and protect our brave politicians who do this again for the benefit of all people.
      
      http://www.monetary.org/
      
      The Lost Science of Money
      
      by Stephen A. Zarlenga
      
      ISBN 1-930748-03-5
      
      http://old.monetary.org/lostscienceofmoney.html
      
      review:
      
      From Prof. Michael Hudson
      
      “The history of money is critical to understanding the greatest problem the third millennium will face. Stephen Zarlenga’s Lost Science of Money provides the needed background for seeing the basic structural issues at work. One of the most valuable things that Zarlenga has done in the book, that is not understood by the Europeans and by most economists is to show how the Greenbacks functioned.”
      
      - Prof. Michael Hudson, University of Missouri, Kansas City; Director, Institute for the Study of Long Term Economic Trends; Author of Super Imperialism, and Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East.
      Public Radio economics commentator.
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:30 pm
      
      I also appreciate your comments Bev. Provocative they are!
      
      I think we can eventually work up a good solution or at least a much better one than what we got.
      
      Our problem is not lack of resources but lack of wisdom.
  - Susan the other says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 11:45 am
    
    Very good write-up. Thank you again.
  - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 12:08 pm
    
    Bev, thanks for the post.
    
    I had a question yesterday for you. I don’t know if you had a chance to read it.
    
    Here is it again.
    
    There Is One Way That New Money Is Created or “Born”.
    One Way.
    
    A Loan.
    
    That means:
    
    1. When a loan is made, only the principal is created.
    2. If only the principal is created, then no money is created to pay the interest on the loan.
    3. Therefore there is always more debt than money to pay it.
    
    —–
    
    Bev, do you think (3) is always true
    
    It seems (3) is not true…at least not always.
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:26 pm
      
      I am very intersting in this question.
      
      Maybe I should ask this of everyone.
      
      Let’s say, the bank creates $100 by lending to you.
      
      So, you have $100 in your pocket and you owe the bank $100.
      
      A while later, with interest, you owe the bank, say, $110. You still have $100 in your pocket.
      
      It would seem we need to create another $10 to pay off that interest, if I read the post correctly.
      
      Let say, you pay that $10 interest, out of the $100 you have in your pocket from the loan, to the bank.
      
      Now, you have $90 in your pocket and you still owe the bank $100. The bank also has the $10 you use to pay off the interest.
      
      Next, what if you paint and you sell a painting of yours to the bank for $10? The bank takes possession of your painting and give you $10.
      
      With that $10, at this moment, you have $100 in your pocket and you owe the bank $100. The bank also has your painting.
      
      Now, you take that $100 and pay off your loan entirely.
      
      No money was created (by the bank) for you to pay interest on the loan. You created that money yourself, by making and selling a painting and you were able to pay the interest and pay off the loan.
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:37 pm
      
      No money was created (by the bank) for you to pay interest on the loan. You created that money yourself, by making and selling a painting [to the bank!] and you were able to pay the interest and pay off the loan. MLTPB
      
      No, you did not create any money. That $10 was bank profit that they were “kind” enough to recirculate in exchange for your labor.
      
      So you want us to all work for the banks? For money they create from nothing?!
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 3:37 pm
      
      That’s a separate question.
      
      I don’t want to work for the bank.
      
      The question is, it is necesarry that money be created for the interest portion of the loan?
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 3:49 pm
      
      The question is, it is necesarry that money be created for the interest portion of the loan? MyLessThanPrimeBeef
      
      Yes, it is, unless ALL interest is recycled. The alternative is ever increasing debt or default of at least some loans.
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:05 pm
      
      The guy in the above example was able to pay his interest without any additional money being created.
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:16 pm
      
      I repeat “unless ALL interest is recycled.”
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:24 pm
      
      The interest was paid, without any additional money being created.
      
      Can we say then, that (3) is not always true?
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:39 pm
      
      Can we say then, that (3) is not always true? MyLessThanPrimeBeef
      
      Only in very, very special circumstances could it not true. A single creditor who did not recycle ALL his interest would upset the balance.
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 5:00 pm
      
      That was what I was looking for.
      
      Banks can’t buy enough paintings.
      
      But at least we know it’s possible to pay interest without it being created
      
      All this is, of course, separate from questions like we dont want central banks, etc.
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 5:05 pm
      
      But at least we know it’s possible to pay interest without it being created MyLessThanPrimeBeef
      
      A single money hoarder would also upset the balance.
      
      Practically speaking, most interest MUST be created.
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 7:09 pm
      
      I think the Fed returns all profits from that usury every year to the Treasury, deducting, of course, what they have spent on paintings, etc.
      
      If only the Treasury would refund that money via restitution checks…
      
      Instead, lot of it goes to paying interests to the Fed who then refunds part of it back to the Treasury who then pays the Fed who then…
    - F. Beard says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 7:16 pm
      
      I think the Fed returns all profits from that usury every year to the Treasury, MyLessThanPrimeBeef
      
      That’s only for US Treasury debt held by the Fed.
    - Bev says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 9:32 pm
      
      The unpayable interest is paid with bankruptcies, fraud and money laundering.
      
      http://moneyaswealth.blogspot.com/2009/04/bankruptcies-no-end-in-sight.html
      
      Bankruptcies – No End In Sight.
      
      Don’t you wonder what happens to the money that was borrowed and then spent into the economy, when a person goes bankrupt?
      
      The money is now “out” in the economy, right? It did not get paid back to the bank, right?
      
      That is the money, that the rest of the “customers” of this scam the banking system is running on the world, use to pay their interest. As you know, there is no mechanism in the system, to create money to pay interest, the way it is set up now.
      
      We should change that so that we have a system that works without requiring bankruptcies, fraud and money laundering – just to function.
    - MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 9:32 pm
      
      You can’t say
      they are not making an effort at profit-sharing.
      
      Only if the Treasury would just issue those restitution checks…
  - Timmer says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 12:57 pm
    
    Bev:
    
    Length multiplied by content richness factor equals great stuff equals great thanks.
    
    Yesterday you said, er.. quoted:
    
    “Title III of the AMA converts through an accounting procedure, the existing credit the banks have circulated through loans (about $6 to 7 trillion, roughly the existing “money” supply) into US money, no longer bank credit.”
    
    I think the following is true:
    
    All money in circulation was created out of nothing as debt when a loan is made by a bank. It goes back to nothing when a loan is repaid. A revolving from nothing to nothing cycle that when in existence as a loan is the sum total of money used for transactions. All money is debt money.
    
    All debt money is equal to about $7 trillion which is also about equal to m1 money supply.
    
    Would it be accurate to say that all “debt money” is the same as all “credit money” since they are two sides of the balance sheet?
    
    Is there more debt in the USA than there is debt money created through the leverage fractional reserve bank loans as the sole source of total debt?
    - Bev says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 1:56 pm
      
      I will have to look it up again, but if memory serves accurately, since unpaid (unpayable) interest payments pile up over time, that each dollar has much more interest to it than principal. So much interest that to pay off just (perhaps) 12% of our debt, runs us completely out of our debt money to pay the rest.
      
      No money to pay the debt…
      
      You can never get out of debt if your money is debt.
      
      …….
      
      http://www.monetary.org/ 
      
      Demonstrations Ongoing Across the Nation!
      
      A major opportunity in the monetary reform movement is developing at places such as Wall Street in New York and the Federal Reserve Banks across the country. Now is the time to bring awareness of the solution to the monetary injustice that grips our nation. Help to further this progress by distributing as many copies as you can of the following four documents at your local demonstrations!
      
      Monetary Reform Now (half page flyer)
      The Need for Monetary Reform
      Fact Sheet for NEED Act
      Updated 32-page Brochure
      
      ……
      
      Byron Dale simply, powerfully describes the source of our money injustice:
      
      http://moneyaswealth.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-are-we-short-of-money-why.html
      
      Why Are We Short Of Money? Why?
      
      The World Economy Trembles
      Because Every Nation Is Short Of Money.
      
      Yet.
      
      Money Is The Easiest Thing In The World To Create.
      
      It Is Done On a Computer.
      Type It In. Press enter.
      
      That Is, In Fact, How They Do It Now.
      
      But, They Only Do It As A Loan.
      
      Why?
      
      Because You Let Them.
      
      That’s Stupid.
      Don’t Be Stupid.
      
      You Can’t Borrow Yourself Out Of Debt.
      
      Ever.
      
      In The United States, You Do Not Have To Settle For
      Banker Created Debt.
      There Is The Solution To This Economic Crisis.
      
      snip
      
      Think about it:
      If the banks are the only ones who create money,
      and you have to give it back to them (loan payments) – two things happen.
      
      1st. You have to give it back!! You never get to keep it in exchange for goods/services. In the aggregate (combined picture) you do the work, but can’t keep the money.
      
      Right!
      
      Theft!
      
      2nd. If the banks are the only ones allowed to create money, and then only as a loan, in the aggregate, you have to borrow to pay interest!
      
      IMPOSSIBLE to get out of debt.
      
      snip
      
      ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8
      U.S. Constitution
      The Congress shall have Power …
      To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof…
      
      So Do It!!
      
      DEBT FREE
      
      ….
      
      Dennis Kucinich’s proposal changes our money so that it is not DEBT…freeing people by providing jobs that fix our infrastructure.
      
      I would like some additional clarification about how HR 2990 might affect money internationally. Jim Sinclair states that during a crisis America’s International Balance Sheet is always settled in gold. So, gold is rising in price (for over a decade) to try to catch up to America’s international debt.
      
      It seems to me that Kucinich and Sinclair could both be correct. However, any further info regarding this would be appreciated.
      
      http://www.jsmineset.com/2011/05/26/the-mathematics-of-gold/
      
      The Mathematics Of Gold
      May 26, 2011
      by Jim Sinclair
      
      Dear CIGAs,
      Little by little, I am passing on ALL that I have learned from Jesse through Bert and Bert’s knowledge to those that read here, every day, in thanks for your support of me and mine.  –JEBS (James Edwin Bertram Sinclair)
      
      Assumption:
      
      Because gold is held by many central banks, once as a reserve currency but now as an inventory currency, it functions as a swing asset to balance the International Balance sheet of the US.
      
      Central banks are sellers of dollars but still hold, by default, large dollar inventories.
      
      China has hedged its dollar position 50% through commitments to long term dollar commercial agreements, pay in, mineral, and energy deals internationally. That is an act of pure genius.
      
      We can assume other central banks still hold 90% of their reported dollar positions, on average unhedged by commercial obligation positions.
      
      In crisis times, the US dollar price of gold ALWAYS seeks to balance the International Balance Sheet of the USA.
      
      Therefore:
      
      Take 90% of international US dollar debt less China and then add 50% of the US debt owned by China. Then divide that number by the ounces supposed to be owned by the US Treasury. The result is where gold wants to go.
      
      ……..
      
      There were a few submissions within a fairly tight range, among them:
      
      http://www.jsmineset.com/2011/06/07/jims-mailbox-714/
      
      Dear Jim,
      
      The following is an analysis of your Mathematics of Gold. The analysis was conducted by our summer intern and we thought it may be of interest to your readers.
      
      Kind Regards
       Isaac Matzner
      
      Case: The Mathematics of Gold
      
      International US dollar debt: $4.4792 trillion (approximately 32% of total US debt of $14.32 trillion)
      
      Portion of international US dollar debt held by China: $1.1449 trillion
      
      90% of total US international debt less portion held by China = 0.90 * ($4.4792 trillion – $1.1449 trillion) = $3.00087 trillion (A)
      
      50% of international US dollar debt held by China = 0.50 * $1.1449 trillion = $0.57245 trillion (B)
      
      Total foreign currency reserves held by People’s Bank of China (Central Bank): $3.045 trillion
      
      Therefore, A + B = $3.57332 trillion (C)
      
      Total US holdings of gold = 8,133.5 tonnes = 8,133.5 * 35,273.9619 = 286.900770 million ounces (D)
      
      Therefore, C/D = $12,454.8986 per ounce ~ $12,455 per ounce
      
      Balance of Payments is an account of financial flows between a country and the rest of the world. It consists of the Current account and the Capital account. Current account consists of the trading account (exports minus imports of good and services), income account (factor payments from abroad minus factor payments to abroad) and the transfer payments account (foreign aid received minus foreign aid disbursed). Capital account, which is in surplus on account of increasing foreign investments in US treasury securities and in deficit for increased US investments in foreign securities and reserves. A surplus in the current account should always be balanced by a deficit in the capital account and vice-versa. That is, the balance of payments must always balance.
      
      more
      
      ………
      
      The new not yet distributed United States $100 dollar bill has many gold symbols and revolutionary language. However, if it will be used as DEBT money, it will not be change. For a picture see:
      
      http://moneyaswealth.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-100-federal-reserve-note-same-old.html
      
      hint: If it says “Note” on it, it is a debt instrument.
      Each one of these in circulation represents more debt than there is money to pay it off.
      
      ….
      
      http://moneyaswealth.blogspot.com/2010/07/gold.html
      
      Gold?
      
      So, You Think You Have A Chance In This Market?
      
      When a “mystery bank” can move 380 tonnes of gold in one transaction, why would you be so foolish as to think that this is a ‘free market” or that you could base a currency on gold?
      
      Besides, if you allow the banks to lend the gold, as they did here, you’ll be in worse shape than you are now.
      
      …
      
      Your country can be wealthy in minerals and resources, but it will not help if your currency is DEBT.
      
      http://moneyaswealth.blogspot.com/2009/01/hyperinflation-zimbabwe-myth-and.html
      
      Hyperinflation and Zimbabwe – Myth, Misinformation and the “Expert”
      
      Austrians say the problem is too much paper. Keynesians say the government should spend more. Neither camp has a solid grasp on the effects of interest and both groups are in denial, when it comes to fully understanding debt.
      
      In fact, in macroeconomic terms, you can hardly find a model that illustrates this: the money needed to pay interest is never created inside the system and that principal is extinguished from circulation when a payment of principal is made.
      
      snip
      
      NEWS FLASH: Hyperinflation is not caused by paper money. It is not caused by too much money. It is caused by unpayable interest rates.
      
      snip
      
      This did not happen to Zimbabwe because they did not have enough gold.
      This did not happen to Zimbabwe because they did not have enough natural resources.
      This did not happen to Zimbabwe because the government spent too little.
      This did not happen to Zimbabwe because they had too much paper money.
      This happened because they had too much debt and the unpayable interest is destroying them.
      
      Say, aren’t the people dependent on bank loans for a medium of exchange and don’t the banks set the interest rates on their loaned money?
      
      When the banks hike the interest rates to manipulate the money supply to the point that only 15% of the people can work, the medium of exchange is destroyed and the banks end up with the gold, is that financial terrorism?
    - citizendave says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:35 pm
      
      Here is an illustration of the difference between “government money”, mentioned in Bev’s quotes, and “Federal Reserve Notes”. US notes were issued by the Treasury until 1971. I have a $5 US note in my (small) collection.
      
      From Stephen Zarlenga, quoted by Bev: “…First the Federal Reserve gets incorporated into the U.S. Treasury where all new money is created by our government – what people think happens now…” In other words, FRNs would be taken out of circulation, to be replaced by debt-free US notes issued by Dept of Treas.
      
      And: “…
      
      http://pulse.zecco.com/2010/10/us-currency-red-note-green-note-%E2%80%93-what%E2%80%99s-the-difference/
    - citizendave says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:46 pm
      
      oops, sorry, wasn’t quite finished, browser decided it was time to publish. Continued from above:
      
      And: “…Third, new money is introduced by the government spending it into circulation for infrastructure, starting with the $2.2 trillion the engineers tell us is needed to properly maintain our infrastructure over the next 5 years…” also from Stephen Zarlenga. In other words, instead of borrowing via the Fed, or using revenue collected via taxation, the Treasury would conjure debt-free dollars out of thin air and spend them into the economy. The Fed’s role in adding to the money supply would end.
    - Bev says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:05 pm
      
      Is it just me, or have a number of “reply” buttons at the end of several different comments “disappeared.”
    - citizendave says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:13 pm
      
      Bev, the reply button only appears to a certain nested depth – four or five. After that, the back-and-forth is engineered via the first Reply button you encounter upon scrolling up. Cheers. Dave
    - Timmer says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 4:47 pm
      
      Citizen Dave:
      
      Re: Reply.
      
      Thanks, that confused me to as a newby here and previoulsy posting outside the nest. If it works as you explained and I tried this should appear after your reply explanation.
    - Bev says:
      
      February 21, 2012 at 11:10 am
      
      Monetary.org on fiat vs gold:
      
      http://www.monetary.org/intro-to-monetary-reform/faqs
      
      7) Doesn’t your AMA proposal merely continue with a fiat money system?
      
      Shouldn’t we be using gold and silver instead? Wouldn’t that provide a more stable money?
      
      Our system is absolutely a fiat money system. But that’s a good thing, not a bad one. In reaction to the many problems caused by our privatized fiat money system over the decades, many Americans have blamed fiat money for our troubles, and they support using valuable commodities for money.
      
      But Folks! The problem is not fiat money, because all advanced money is a fiat of the Law! The problem is privately issued fiat money. Then that is like a private tax on all of us imposed by those with the privilege to privately issue fiat money. Private fiat money must now stop forever!
      
      Aristotle gave us the science of money in the 4th century B.C. which he summarized as: “Money exists not by nature but by law!” So Aristotle accurately defines money as a legal fiat.
      
      As for gold, most systems pretending to be gold systems have been frauds which never had the gold to back up their promises. And remember if you are still in a stage of trading things (such as gold) for other things, you are still operating in some form of barter system, not a real money system, and therefore not having the potential advantages as are available through the American Monetary Act!
      
      And finally as regards gold and silver: Please do not confuse a good investment with a good money system. From time to time gold and silver are good investments. However you want very different results from an investment than you want from a money. Obviously you want an investment to go up and keep going up. But you want money to remain fairly stable. Rising money would mean that you’d end up paying your debts in much more valuable money. For example the mortgage on your house would keep rising if the value of money kept rising.
      
      Also, contrary to prevailing prejudice, gold and silver have both been very volatile and not stable at all. Just check out the long term gold chart.
  - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:09 pm
    
    Bev, how about holding the Neogangsta Economics *Professors* GUILTY of co-conspiracy to facilitate and promulgate the Closed System Scam of Neoconlib MonopolyFinanceCapitalism for *insiders* in Academia, Finance, Lobbying, and Government–the Scam designed by War and Banking Privateers to LOOT the U.S.A. as AGENTS of a Foreign Power: the .01% Global Reich and their .99% trickle-down executioners of embezzlement/grand larceny by accounting control fraud and other frauds.
    
    These Academic Economics Professors are thus guilty of *moral turpitude*–which may be the sole cause for FIRING tenured professors in Academia.
    
    Throw the co-conspirators out! Fire them all, without pensions. CLAW BACK!
    - Bev says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm
      
      http://markcrispinmiller.com/2011/12/occupy-the-economics-department-everywhere/
      
      Occupy the Economics Department (everywhere)!
      
      Published on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 by On the Commons
      
      Occupy Economics Departments
      
      Conventional economists have a lot to answer for but will they listen?
      
      by David Morris
      
      On November 2nd nearly 70 students walked out of an introductory economics class at Harvard in solidarity with the Occupy movement. The mainstream media largely ignored the protest. That’s regrettable since the economics profession has provided the intellectual framework and justification for the inequality and centralization of corporate power the Occupiers are challenging.
      
      “You can’t get into so disastrous a situation as we are in now without extraordinarily bad thinking and the economics departments were the source of that bad thinking,” observes Steven Keen, Professor of Economics at the University of Western Sydney and author of Debunking Economics.
      
      The Harvard students were protesting EC 10. The course is taught by Professor N. Gregory Mankiw, author of the world’s best selling economics textbook, Principles of Economics, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush and regular New York Times columnist. A prerequisite for social studies and economics majors, the class may be taken by nearly half of all Harvard students before they graduate.
      
      Read more.
      
      http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/14-0
      
      “Today we are walking out of your class, Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with the bias inherent in this introductory economics class,” the protestors explained in a letter to Mankiw. The course “espouses a specific—and limited—view of economics that we believe perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society today.”
    - Bev says:
      
      February 21, 2012 at 11:05 am
      
      http://www.monetary.org/
      
      News: Chicago Teachers Union Supports HR 2990
      
      Important progress has been achieved in the ongoing pursuit of monetary reform. With the endorsement by the 29,000 strong Chicago Teachers Union, the NEED Act is gaining substantial momentum in the efforts to clean up our country’s unstable economy.
  - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:52 pm
    
    “we can use real government issued money for money” — Bev, shout it from the rooftops! Rap it and sell it on YouTube.
    
    The private gangsta reserve system must be kept separate from We the People’s Money. SEPARATION OF POWERS is the *sine qua non* of CIRCULATORY HEALTH of We the People’s Money: the life blood of We the People’s *Real Economy*.
    
    Let the .01% Global Reich and their .99% trickle-down Agency play together in their own sandbox with their own “DEBT MONEY”–FAR AWAY FROM US and our REAL MONEY, of which We the People’s Treasurer can instigate the legal printing immediately. This is our RIGHT according to the Constitution of We the People of the U.S.A.
    
    FRACK the Foreign Power! RISE up against the Absolute Dictatorship of the .01$-1% Global Reich–the Global Criminal Cartel–running our nation-state. WE must CEASE to FEED the “DEBT MONEY” BEAST!
    
    OCCUPY Charlotte 2012: It is our RIGHT, our DUTY to overthrow TYRANTS and to RE-CREATE our own government, or to RESTORE it to its roots as Government of/by/for the People of the United States of America.
    
    BILL BLACK/YVES SMITH: WE THE PEOPLE: ONE NATION
    
    PATRIOTS UNITE! We have nothing to lose but our impotence, our shame.
  - craazyman says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 5:24 pm
    
    It Makes No Difference
    
    reminds me of the The Band’s Last Waltz song on youtube, by Rick Danko.
    
    It makes no difference / Night or day / The money always seems to fade away. (sorry Rick, your lines were better)
    
    I don’t believe this is a path to Utopia, as much as we need one. Somebody has to decide who to give money to and that somebody is likely to be a group of unconnected strangers in a sea of 300 million people — just like now. Our current predicament isn’t fiat money, it’s fiat regulation which never was. If the govermint makes money, there’ll be checks and balances that channel it that will have their own unique way of breaking down. The fish rots from the head down, and the culture rots from the policy down. And the policy rots from the character of those in charge, down, and the character rots from something hard to name, on down. Somebody(s) will be in charge, somehow, somewhere, even if the govermint makes money. And they’ll be as primed for corruption as the banksters and their lobbyists were. Just different. This is another Messiah ARchetype, the hope for a Savior System when we have to save ourselves soul by soul. It seems to be what the Lord wants of us. Hard Lord that he is.
    - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 5:49 pm
      
      craazyman, or Freddie Mercury of Queen: “Nothing really matters…” He found out the hard way, no doubt a beautiful child victim of sexual trauma: the set up for a *charmed* life of *glamour* in show business.
      
      The Global Reich revels in sexual predation of children, made slaves for life to the .01% *rentier* Reich.
      
      The Franklin Coverup.
    - citizendave says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 5:50 pm
      
      We will probably always have corruption. But it would be nice if we could have our corruption with debt-free dollars.
- Valissa says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 2:03 pm
  
  That was very informative, thanks JH!
  
  What do you think about this? (bold highlights are mine)
  
  Investors seek hedge against euro split http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2012/02/20/888101/investors-seek-hedge-against-euro-split/
  
  Leading investment banks are considering creating currency products that would protect companies and investors in the event of a partial break-up of the euro. Banks report that some clients have asked them to provide a hedging tool that would protect their exposure in countries that reintroduced their national currency, reports the FT. Creating the instruments would involve risks for the banks, which would have to promise to deliver new or returning European currencies in a market that could be volatile and illiquid. Banks said it would be difficult to put a price on such contracts because there was no way to predict how a revived European currency would be valued. The price that clients would have to pay for the protection could be significant, the banks added.
  - Valissa says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:14 pm
    
    Here’s a slightly more detailed article on same topic…
    
    Investors seek hedge against euro split http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/548e31c0-5985-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html
  - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:56 pm
    
    Valissa, thanks. NB “creating currency products” — the race to the bottom continues. Sheol is the destination: the pattern continues.
    
    “How long, O Lord, how long?”
    - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
      
      February 20, 2012 at 5:44 pm
      
      Actually, doesn’t *creating currency products* go along with *test tube meat*?
- ohmyheck says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 3:37 pm
  
  In short, the game afoot is “If we don’t label it a “credit event”, then there is no “credit event”, thus we do not have to pay out CDS payments.” (and US Taxpayers won’t foot the bill, again)
  Someone here, a week or so ago, posted a video explaining this. The point in the video is that the numbers/facts say it (in this case Greek default) is a credit event, but TPTB all agree to say it is not, then, it is not.
  Hedge Fail.
  - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 5:41 pm
    
    ohmyheck, ever since The Decider in Chief: “We create our own reality.”
    
    This kind of thinking is typical of *Occult Master* wannabes.
be'emet says:

February 20, 2012 at 4:50 pm

does anyone have some numbers? who would have to pay CDS to whom? and how much?
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 5:43 pm
  
  be’emet. It’s a shell game: who can find the bean/stone under the shells? Actually, it’s a combination of Shell Game and Musical Chairs.

gs_runsthiscountry says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:11 am

RE: Manufacturing Illusions, By Robert Reich

Simply stated, this essay nailed it.

rjs says:

February 20, 2012 at 6:22 am

just a footnote to reich: — General Motors earned $7.6 billion last year, the best results in its history and a figure that will generate the biggest profit sharing checks its workers have ever received – about $7,000 each.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/02/general_motors_posts_record_ea.html
BondsOfSteel says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:05 pm

Robert hit on one of the key hidden trends that is changing the world. Right now China is a manufacturing power house because labor is cheaper than machines.

This is rapidly changing… with 3D printing, optical sorters, and advanced CNC machines amazing things can be done with little physical labor. It would also make sense to create these factories near either the source of the raw materals or more likely near the markets for the goods.

So, what would our world look like with lots of cheap goods and a lot less jobs. I would guess a lot more socialist or a lot more unstable…. especially in say China. The US has already seen this change because of globalization. How will the chinese react when their jobs are outsourced to machines?
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm
  
  BofS, *exactement* — *labor*, i.e., *human energy* will no longer be required in *manufacturing*. And so, watch the genocides increase apace:
  
  http://www.youtube.com — “The Georgia Guidestones” — global population goal is 5,000,000, that’s *Global* — for the .01% and their .99% Agency Cabal. How righteous is the occult *NOBILITY*.
  
  “FRUITS OF MERCHANT CAPITAL: Slavery and Bourgeois Property in the Rise and Expansion of Capitalism;
  “THE IRON HEEL” by Jack London;
  “THE ANGLO-AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT: from Rhodes to Cliveden” by Carroll Quigley;
  “NOBILITY and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII: A Theme Illuminating American Social History” by Plinio Correa de Oliveira.
  
  STOP THEM!
  
  “THE HONOR CODE: How Moral Revolutions Happen” by Kwame Anthony Appiah (New York, W.W. & Company, 2010).
  
  BRING the Moral Revolution into reality: OCCUPY Charlotte 2012:
  
  BILL BLACK/YVES SMITH 2012: WE THE PEOPLE NOW OR NEVER
  
  If not now, when?
  - be'emet says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 4:57 pm
    
    paradigm illusion to shatter: that work is required to earn tickets to goods and services. earning a living is over, workers no longer needed. new methods required for distribution of vitals. suggestions anyone?

Jim Sterling says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:19 am

If those were Austerity Sheep, they’d have jumped already.

craazyman says:

February 20, 2012 at 7:17 am

at first they all look the same, but if you study their faces it’s clear that each is as different as we are — face to face.

One of them has already been sheared, and the others have not.

There is a story here, but I’m not sure what it is. Being sheared isn’t so bad if you’re a sheep because you can grow it back and maybe it’s summertime anyway and you’re cooler. I’m not a sheep shearing expert, so don’t know the seasonality, if any.

But if you’re a person and you get financially sheared, your odds of growing it back are very very small. And it’s unlikely your fellow human sheep will do anything to help, other than look pitiably upon your fate and run the other way. The same as sheep, probably. Nothing changes animal to animal except the faces. This is why we need good regulators who understand the way animals think, and not a bunch of sheep who bleat nonsense.
- Valissa says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 12:24 pm
  
  The sheep strike back, part 1 http://www.cartoonresource.com/umbraco/ImageGen.ashx?image=/294327/wws239ts.jpg&class=full
  
  The sheep strike back, part 2 http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/tmc/lowres/tmcn1554l.jpg
  
  Sheepish fashion http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rro/lowres/rron576l.jpg
  - craazyman says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 12:48 pm
    
    If we were sheep, do you think we’d feel sheepish?
    
    I don’t think so, and neither do those cartoonists, apparently. The photo proves it too.
MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:15 pm

The Mount Rushmore of Austerity Sheep.

MIWill says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:36 am

Occupy Rock

Skippy says:

February 20, 2012 at 4:25 am

Full of Win!

Fraud Guy says:

February 20, 2012 at 5:58 am

I think we are about to embark on the revolution of ovine aviation!

Sufferin' Succotash says:

February 20, 2012 at 9:11 am

Extras for a remake of Far From The Madding Crowd?
Valissa says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:34 pm

A revolution in ovine locomotion? http://www.snapshots.net/cartoons/00719-funny-cartoons-rebel-sheep.gif

Sheep dip, part 1 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KaXbXB7PeVg/TjROjwIxF0I/AAAAAAAABQs/x1BQz7ZxFPk/s1600/calendar_sheep03.jpg

Sheep dip, part 2 http://www.oocities.org/hollywood/hills/9609/larsonCartoon.gif

rjs says:

February 20, 2012 at 6:19 am

dont think i’ve seen anyone link to this yet:

Paul Krugman Playboy Interview

http://www.plutocracyfiles.com/2012/02/paul-krugman-playboy-interview.html

Jim Haygood says:

February 20, 2012 at 7:21 am

Performing its customary Lamestream Media duties, New York’s ‘Saddam’s WMDs’ fishwrapper cranks up its agitprop against the target du jour, with the keyboard Valkyrie having morphed from Judith Miller to Elisabeth Bumiller:

WASHINGTON — Should Israel decide to launch a strike on Iran, its pilots would have to fly more than 1,000 miles across unfriendly airspace, refuel in the air en route, fight off Iran’s air defenses, attack multiple underground sites simultaneously — and use at least 100 planes.

One fear is that the United States would be sucked into finishing the job — a task that even with America’s far larger arsenal of aircraft and munitions could still take many weeks, defense analysts said.

[An attack] route over Iraq would be the most direct and likely, defense analysts say, because Iraq effectively has no air defenses and the United States, after its December withdrawal, no longer has the obligation to defend Iraqi skies.

Earlier this month, a Bipartisan Policy Center report by Charles S. Robb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, and Charles F. Wald, a retired Air Force general, recommended that the Obama administration sell Israel 200 enhanced GBU-31 “bunker busters” as well as three advanced refueling planes.

The two said that they were not advocating an Israeli attack, but that the munitions and aircraft were needed to improve Israel’s credibility as it threatens a strike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/world/middleeast/iran-raid-seen-as-complex-task-for-israeli-military.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp

If the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was ‘a day that will live in infamy,’ why would an Israeli blitzkrieg against Iran be any different?

No matter how one spins it, pre-emptive war is an unvarnished act of aggression.

That the U.S. is wink-winking at this criminal plan by expressing only mild (and purely pragmatic) concerns about it indicates that America’s lobby-whipped ‘democracy’ is now entirely defunct.

Lambert Strether says:

February 20, 2012 at 10:13 am

Great catch. So Israel doesn’t have the credibility now?
b. says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:16 pm

This is a pet peeve of mine. Preventive war is illegal. Preemptive war, in certain circumstances, is not. Nuremberg was about the former. The UN Charter addresses the latter.

The Bush Doctrine of “Preemption” was about illegal, preventive attack. By definition, it is an act of aggressive war meant to prevent an event or development, e.g. a possible threat (such as “weapons programs related activities”). It is war against potential and capability.

In contrast, preemptive war is in response to actions short of openly declared hostilities that are learly in preparation of attack: mobilization, forward deployment, encroachment – as well as acts of terrorism and assassination etc. Preemption is about attacking an aggressor right before it can strike.

That is, of course, a malleable concept, and practically should require UN assembly involvement unless events are progressing fast, and the aggressor’s intentions are clearly announced and beyond doubt. Capabilities alone – esp. not capabilities that to not yet exist, and possibly never will – are not a justification for any claim of “preemption”.

Under Bush – and, of course, continued by Barack Default Obama in deed if not word – it became the National Security Policy of the USA to preventively declare war on any nation that would, by accident or design, acquire the means to deter the USA from preventive war. In some cases – Russia, China – the declaration that the US will not tolerate a military peer has a bit of a Wagnerian overreach to it, but in others – Iran, but no longer North Korea – this is exactly what is happening: The USA is taking the lead in an international “community” of willing rogue regimes to ignore the UN Charter, the NPT and a host of other precedents and commitments to dictate to a sovereign nation what capabilities it is permitted to have, or strive for.

The real floater here is the NPT, which has been eviscerated by the failure of the two large – USA, Russia – and mid-sized signatory nuclear powers – China, UK, France – to live up to their solemn commitments of phasing out their own arsenals, to shows some honesty and consistency in their handling of non-signatories – Israel, India, Pakistan – as well as North Korea. The NPT was a fraud from the start, not just with respect to the commitments of nuclear powers, but also with respect to the many issues of dual use and “civilian” nuclear technology.

If the US government is alarmed at the prospect of an Iranian nuke, the proper response is a strengthening and revitalization of the NPT, a renewal of a commitment to nuclear disarmament, and a move away from aggressive, preemptive posturing, starting with a clear “no first use” declaration. But then, this has never been about what is proper, or legal, or just.

The same Expedience First approach that put the US in bed with Pakistan, and has the issue of North Korean nukes fester, becomes a different calculus when one non-signatory nuclear regime with a completely unmonitored arsenal and decades of history of ignoring UN resolutions and breaking international law – Israel – is pitted a regime that will not have nuclear weapons for years to come, is a signatory to the NPT, and at least pretends to address its non-compliance.

At the end of the day, it isn’t even about the nukes. It is about hegemony. Nukes just happen to be a means to limit it, which North Korea has amply demonstrated.
- b. says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 1:18 pm
  
  It should be noted that neither Israel nor the USA have grounds for preemptive attack against Iran. The reverse, however, is increasingly an open question.
  - scraping_by says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 5:25 pm
    
    Ah, yes, but US and Israeli aggression against Iran gives Iran grounds for military action against the US and Israel, which means Iran is a plausible threat, which means that aggression against Iran is defensive aggression which is moral, legal, historically valid, and a jolly fun time.
    
    The logic is inescapable.
    
    Snark off.
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 5:08 pm
  
  b., *pre-emptive war* was imported by PNAC Agents into U.S. from *Israel*.
  
  “THE SECRET WAR AGAINST THE JEWS” (Loftus & Aarons) is a *Zionist* War against Jews in the Diaspora. The Jew-hating Brits cooked up the Zionist-Victorian-Holy Roman Reich PROJECT (“Mein Kampf”) for the so-called “*Jewish* State of Israel” as an Anglo-American WEDGE in the Middle East AND to facilitate the deportation of “the Jews” from Europe–and now from America–into the “State of Israel” to serve the City of London, the District of Columbia, and The Papal State. WHY ELSE would *Christian Zionists* who hate *the Jews* be in favor of the *Zionist Agenda*?
  
  WAKE UP from your stupor, American Jews of the Diaspora! The self-serving Cabal of the Global Christian/Muslim/Zionist NOBILITY: the 01-1% Elite. It’s ALL about MonopolyFinance and Lebensraum for THEIR DNA. As George Carlin averred: “They don’t give a F#%K about you! They don’t care about you at ALL! at all, at all!” WE are NOT in *The Club* (George Carlin). It’s ALL about money for THEM and their *Court Zionist* Agents of PNAC and Kissinger Associates tell continual lies, and care NO more about *the Jews* than did Hitler and his Masters in British Intelligence and American Banking.
  
  It might be supposed that the “*Jewish* State of Israel” was created for the purpose of seeing Arabs and Jews slaughter one another: a *Genocide Twofer* to profit the Global .01%-1%. History records the stark truth:
  
  “TRIALS OF THE DIASPORA: A History of Anti-Semitism in England” by Anthony Julius;
  
  “THE ANGLO-AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT: from Rhodes to Cliveden” by Carroll Quigley;
  
  “A CENTURY OF WAR: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order” by F. William Engdahl;
  
  “THE BALFOUR DECLARATION: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict” by Johathan Schneer;
  
  “THE SEVEN SISTERS: The Great Oil Companies & The World They Shaped” by Anthony Sampson;
  
  “CONJURING HITLER: How Britain and America made the Third Reich” by Guido Giacomo Preparata;
  
  “TRADING WITH THE ENEMY: The Nazi-American Money Plot 1933-1949″ by Charles Higham;
  
  “UNHOLY TRINITY: The Vatican, the Nazis, and the Swiss Banks” New and Revised Edition by Mark Aarons and John Loftus;
  
  “THE SECRET WAR AGAINST THE JEWS: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People” by John Loftus and Mark Aarons;
  
  “THE FORTY YEARS WAR: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama” by Len Colodny and Tom Schachtman with a Foreword by Roger Morris;
  
  “A MOSQUE IN MUNICH: Nazis, the CIA, and the Rise of The Muslim Brotherhood in the West” by Ian Johnson.
  
  The *Christian Zionists* and *MonopolyFinance Zionists*–servants of the Global .01%, esp. of the *Crown* of England–do NOT give a damn about “the Jews,” and least of all about independent-minded American Jews. They are NOT “good for the Jews.” Again, HEARKEN to the wise words of George Carlin:
  “They don’t give a F#%K about you! They don’t care about you at ALL! at all, at all. And now they want your PENSIONS, your Social Security.”
  
  Cry TREASON! File “The Tyrannicide Brief” against Barack Hussein Obama and all other Agents of the Foreign Power: The Global .01% Reich and its .99% Agency in Elected Office in our Government and their Foreign Power Masters dictating American Foreign Policy to benefit the Global 1% Reich/Cabal.
  
  Bring RICO against Agents of the Organized Crime Cartel. Arrest them for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, against We the People of the U.S.A.
  
  If Foreign Power Agents of PNAC, AIPAC, and other *dual-nationals* such as Joe Lieberman EXTORT or BLACKMAIL President Obama and Members of Congress into JOINING the Jew-Hating Profiteering *Zionist* Cabal in an ACT of WAR against Iran, only We the People will suffer the consequences of their CRIME and their TREASON against the Government of We the People.
  
  OCCUPY Charlotte 2012: It is our DUTY to overthrow despotic rule.
  
  BILL BLACK/YVES SMITH 2012: We the People: NOW OR NEVER
  
  PATRIOTS UNITE: We have nothing to lose but our impotence, our shame.
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:22 pm

JH, proof that We the People need to re-locate the *control center* away from the Deep South Confederate NOBILITY. *Security State* LARGESSE is at its zenith in the State of Virginia. And We the People are footing the bill.

MD says:

February 20, 2012 at 7:35 am

Another interesting link here:
A tour operator in Czechia called CorruptTour offering tours to sites and monuments of corruption scandals
http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/society/czech-launches-corrupt-tour-firm-offering-graft-landmark-visits
(with more details in german
http://www.fr-online.de/panorama/tschechien-mit–corrupttour–zu-orten-der-steuerverschwendung,1472782,11633968,view,asFirstTeaser.html
)

A good idea also for other contries?

Valissa says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:09 pm

How fascinating thanks! My husband and I are starting to plan a Prague vacation for spring 2013. This sounds like a great tour to check out!
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 3:29 pm
  
  Valissa, maybe you and your husband can garner *Angel* money when you get back, to do your start-up tour of American Graft Hotspots, and franchise it for each and every State: a model with room for *local flavor*. Maybe even a rail tour with whistle stops and limousines to specific sites, with *drinks on board* to heighten hilarity.

aet says:

February 20, 2012 at 7:51 am

Iceland does it right!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/icelandic-anger-brings-record-debt-relief-in-best-crisis-recovery-story.html

Key points:

1. Loans indexed to foreign currencies deemed illegal;

2. That portion of a mortgage debt which is above 110% of the house’s current value MUST be forgiven by the bank;

3. 200 people charged in criminal cases underway against bankers and politicians who caused the lending bubble, with 90 more people expected to be indicted.

Gee, scale up that last for the USA’s population, and we ought to be seeing thousands of people charged in the US over the banking/insurance/real estate scandals/swindles of the past ten years or so….

Iceland’s economy is recovering better than expected, now….

A key point or two taken from the article cited:

“Iceland’s approach to dealing with the meltdown has put the needs of its population ahead of the markets at every turn. ”

“….the bottom line is that if households are insolvent, then the banks just have to go along with it, regardless of the interests of the banks.”

aet says:

February 20, 2012 at 8:02 am

Population of Iceland:

309,605

Population of USA:

313,025,000.

Both from Wikileaks….

200 (low estimate) charged in Iceland; if the US charged a proportionate number of bankers and politicians, more than 200,000 people would need to face charges!!!

But there’s been NONE, ZERO, NADA individuals charged criminally in the USA over these things, right?

Amazing.
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 5:13 pm
  
  aet, see the latest from William K. Black at http://www.therealnews.com. This patriot does not flinch.
  
  BILL BLACK/YVES SMITH 2012
Sufferin' Succotash says:

February 20, 2012 at 9:41 am

But but but, Iceland is more homogeneous than the US!
I don’t know why that’s significant, but I’m pretty sure it is!
- aet says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 11:29 am
  
  That’s it…catapult that propaganda!
  
  Deflect, deflect, deflect, and then change the subject, or – perhaps better still – play the victim.
- LeonovaBalletRusse says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 3:31 pm
  
  SS, no, Americans schooled to be stupid, never to escape the exploited mass.

Jim3981 says:

February 20, 2012 at 8:17 am

“Attacks paid for by big business are ‘driving science into a dark era”

Love it when a UK newspaper comes out with an article trying to influence US politics.

This strange offshore influence intrigues me to say the least. Wonder where it comes from, and what their real agenda is.

Jim3981 says:

February 20, 2012 at 8:41 am

The problem with some of the “science” is: The scientists can be co-opted, and influence society with their sometimes manufactured consensus.

For instance, watch a few youtube videos on the pyramids to understand how the official history books (manufactured concensus) does not match the real world. Majority of scientists around the world would agree the pyramids were not PROVEN to be tombs because no MUMMY has ever been found in a pyramid.

I believe the same holds true for many areas of scientific research.
John L says:

February 20, 2012 at 9:35 am

Jim, you didn’t read the article, did you?

It’s a quote from the head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science talking about the interference of US politics in science.

That you can opine on this so vehemently without having read let alone understood what was written it is a perfect illustration of the problem.
- aet says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 11:40 am
  
  Science = observation
  
  Science is empiricism – and evidence is always required, in each and every case, to establish the truth or accuracy of ANY expression.
  
  EG the statement, “Iran is working on nuclear weapons”. True or false?
  
  Well: it’s up to the one who asserts anything, to prove the truth of what is asserted. And without proof, the statement MUST be treated as if it were false : its truth cannot be – indeed, morally, it must not be – relied upon as a basis or reason for taking any action apt to harm other human beings.
  
  How about the statement, “Iran under its current form of government is a threat to the interests of the USA”. True or false? What would count as proof, as evidence, of the truth of that statement? The imposition of economic sanctions by Iran on the USA, perhaps?
- Jim says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 5:40 pm
  
  And what is the vested interest of the “American Association for the Advancement of Science”. The BOD is comprised of a bunch of academics. I ask you, are these academics more likely or less likely to get funding if they “rock the boat” by speaking out against AGW?
  
  Is there climate change? yes.
  
  Has man caused climate change? 10K years ago, did man cause two mile high glaciers to cover most of North America?
  
  Why are so many scientists pro man-made climate change? Because they want government funding, and Dem pols want to an excuse to tax the working class via a carbon tax or cap and trade.
  - Lidia says:
    
    February 21, 2012 at 3:21 am
    
    No, they posit man-made exacerbation of climate change because, among other things, the hockey-stick graphs all line up: population growth, fossil-fuel burning, atmospheric CO2, and temperature.
    
    Are there natural climate changes? Sure, but only an idiot would think that building a raging fire in the house during the summer wouldn’t affect how quickly his ice cream melted.
  - Lidia says:
    
    February 21, 2012 at 3:28 am
    
    Plus, sociopathically creating a false scientific “dispute” about climate change obfuscates the other competely-unrelated negative effects of burning extreme quantities of ancient fuels:
    
    • acidification of the oceans
    • general pollution of air, food, and water, etc.
    • then there’s the fact that the faster we use them, the faster we will run out of them and will have less time and resources to plan for the more-energy-poor future
    
    The whole discussion has been high-jacked by lethally-insane people funded by short-sighted for-profit industries.
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:34 pm

Jim3981, because they *know* that the U.S. is a *Crown Colony* and not an independent nation-state? Because of “The Tavistock Agenda” – “The Tavistock Institute for Global Manipulation” (YouTube), to which their Agents at RAND, Wharton, Chicago, and MIT subscribe?

rjs says:

February 20, 2012 at 8:52 am

Occupy the SEC: Moving From the Campsite to the Weeds of Regulatory Reform

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/timeblogs/curious_capitalist/~3/8Nv34jRQTDQ/

LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:35 pm

rjs, who reads *TIME*, actually? Who publishes it?

jsmith says:

February 20, 2012 at 9:57 am

Regarding Syria:

Oh, and wasn’t Qaddafi also becoming our “friend” in the years preceding our invasion of Libya and his assasination?

Seriously, if you are a world leader – especially of an Arab nation – and trust a single word coming from the lips of any U.S. official, you’re a fool.

The US is a criminal cartel much like a mob: once you start doing business with it, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going get whacked for something.

aet says:

February 20, 2012 at 11:56 am

“The US is a criminal cartel much like a mob: once you start doing business with it, it’s only a matter of time before you’re going get whacked for something.”

What complete bullshit.

Name three specific examples of the US Government NOT fulfilling promises it had actually made to other nations, or even to their leaders personally.

And please – don’t give three examples of people complaining about the non-fulfillment of “promises” – which they had only somehow convinced themselves that the US Government had made.
- John L says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 12:21 pm
  
  Suggested reading for you: The Shock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein, and Confessions of an Economic Hitman, by John Perkins.
- Walter Wit Man says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 2:05 pm
  
  He just gave you one, Ghaddafi.
  
  And the “promise”, was a promise to be in the club. It was a promise that if you played nice, and gave the West most of what it wanted, you wouldn’t be whacked and could have your own fiefdom. Like in Saudi Arabia! Etc.
  
  The history with Ghaddafi is rich and that one example is enough to explore.
  
  Saddam is another. Susan Lindauer has alleged there were secret negotiations with Iraq, and the U.S. could have had everything it wanted from Saddam, but the U.S. would never take yes for an answer and ended up whacking Saddam regardless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxJTwbHdH6k&feature=related I wouldn’t be surprised if this story turns out to be the most historically accurate. It’s insane the levels the government went to discredit her story. The second PATRIOT Act appears to be written to suppress people like her–to send them to drug-induced prisons they will never be seen or heard from again.
  
  Noriega is another example. Just watched a documentary on that. He was totally helping the CIA launder money and then they whacked him.
  - LeonovaBalletRusse says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 5:16 pm
    
    Coming soon to America: “Cancer Ward” – “The Gulag Archipelago” en anglais.
- SR6719 says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm
  
  And then there’s torture.
  
  In the case of Abu Ghraib there’s a lot of evidence showing Bush’s Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld personally decreed things such as sleep deprivation, waterboarding, using dogs on prisoners, using individual phobias to torture prisoners, etc
  
  If you consider the Geneva Conventions as a promise to other nations, then this violated both the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:37 pm

jsmith, Saddam Hussein learned Bush rules the hard way. He ran out of usefulness, but I guess it was *fun* while it lasted. We all die sooner or later.

Economystic says:

February 20, 2012 at 11:27 am

I thingk this is new news here:
http://rt.com/business/news/bank-rate-plot-inquiry-375/
US, EU major banks probed as part of rate fixing scandal

aet says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:01 pm

Yeah, Canadian Government employees – regulators, in other words – found that some (UBS any way – there’s a rat squealing ) had been fixing LIBOR in ways which benefited their trades, trades already made.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/libor-probe-idUSL4E8DH0X120120217

Go-Go Government Regulation of Banks and business! Sic ‘em! Get those crooks and frauds and liars!
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:41 pm

E, Isn’t this a bone to the dogs? Not likely JPMorgue will be hurt, is it? History shows JPM does *whatever it takes* to protect the bosses, so they remain useful. Organized crime does work: “God’s work” don’t you recall?

“IN GOD’S NAME” by David Yallop; “FUNNY MONEY” by Mark Singer.

Eleanor says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:10 pm

Great sheep photo. I am happier when I focus on the animal photos, rather than the economic and financial news. So, today I am focusing on sheep.

SR6719 says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:15 pm

Battle Lines are Drawn on the Volcker Rule

Occupy the SEC Pitches An Extreme Makeover of Wall Street
by PAM MARTENS

“……Occupy the SEC, a spinoff of Occupy Wall Street. Going forward, it will be tougher for right-wing corporate media to spin the Occupy movement as smelly hippie radicals desperate for a cause; any cause. Last week, Wall Street spin doctors just got chewed up in the spin cycle and hung out to dry with Occupy the SEC’s filing of a mesmerizing 325-page treatise on redesigning Wall Street to meet the Nation’s needs rather than its perpetuation as a wealth extraction scheme by lawyered up 1 percenters……”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/20/occupy-the-sec-pitches-an-extreme-makeover-of-wall-street/

JTFaraday says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:21 pm

Oh my. The sheep are looking down at us today. With concerned looks on their faces…

SR6719 says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:35 pm

Greece’s Wartime Resistance Hero Denounces EU Cuts

“The hero of Greece’s anti-Nazi resistance movement, Manolis Glezos, has appealed to anti-capitalist protesters to “overturn a rotten system”. Leading the fight in a very different sort of war, the leftwing icon said his nation had become a “guinea pig” for austerity measures to which no country was immune.”

“We have become the guinea pig of policies exacted by governments whose only God is money,” said Glezos, famous for ripping down the swastika from the Acropolis within days of Nazi forces overrunning Greece.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/18/greece-wartime-hero-denounces-cuts

LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:45 pm

SR6719, serious Elders who have defied the Global .01% Reich and lived to tell about it are natural leaders today. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

Valissa says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:48 pm

re: Animal rights group says drone shot down

The era of domestic drone wars is a rising trend. Bummer… This is just the beginning. I expect science fiction stories/novels to be using drones as plot devices more and more. In the meantime, there’s always cartoons!

Drone world http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/drones.png

Personal drones http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ULMF46UGp7w/Tt-FMfps2QI/AAAAAAAAPGk/dQwPc1p3o7o/s400/drone+cartoon.gif

Drone inspired reflection http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/hsc0945l.jpg

Lidia says:

February 21, 2012 at 3:31 am

Drones “coming home” to the US:

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/13/business/la-fi-military-drones-20120214

Susan the other says:

February 20, 2012 at 12:50 pm

I would like Robert Reich to expound on what jobs he is pontificating about. He has eliminated “manufacturing” jobs. And how will all americans participate in the prosperity of hyper-productivity?

John L says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:23 pm

Thanks STO, was wondering the same. With machines increasingly taking over mass production, what are all these people going to do? We have a society still based on the 19th century factory model, but the jobs have gone and are not coming back. We can’t afford the levels of mindless consumption, resource depletion, and environmental degradation involved in any case. We need a radically new economic model, as radical as the industrial and capital revolution was in its day. Not seeing any sign of it yet.
- Valissa says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 1:38 pm
  
  Test-tube meat to be available this fall, scientist says http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/20/test-tube-meat-to-be-available-this-fall-scientist-says/#ixzz1mws0x8XM
  
  The question is, will this create meat manufacturing jobs here in the US or whill they all go to low wage countries?
  
  btw, I highly recommend the show “How It’s Made” for seeing which items have more or less need for humans involved in their production/manufacture.
  - F. Beard says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm
    
    Test-tube meat to be available this fall, … Valissa
    
    Great! Guilt-free meat!

Walter Wit Man says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:24 pm

The government has been busted with its pants down yet again!

The underwear bomber incident was a government hoax, most likely intended to sell invasive body scanning devices.

Here is the blog of two attorneys who witnessed the incident and read a statement to the judge at sentencing: http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/

In their statement, which the judge dismissed as a wild conspiracy theory, they claimed they saw a government asset let the bomber on the plane. They also point out other suspicious facts that lead them to believe the government planned and executed the attempted bombing (as in almost all other “terrorist” incidents).

Now check out this government toady/perp on CSPAN get hammered by callers and check out how CSPAN cuts the callers off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuyYiWv4xkY

Walter Wit Man says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Man, that perp on CSPAN sure looks guilty every time he drinks from his CSPAN mug.

Here’s Kurt Haskell’s victim impact statement: http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2012/02/victim-impact-statement.html

“In closing I will just say that regardless of how the media and government try to shape the public perception of this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. Government agent and placed on our flight without showing a passport or going through security, to stage a false terrorist attack to be used to implement various government policies.

The effect this matter has had on my life has been astounding and due to this case, I will never trust the government in any matter, ever.

In regards to sentencing, nothing I’ve said excuses the fact that Umar tried to kill me. He has waived his valid claim to the entrapment defense. Umar, you are not a great Muslim martyr, you are merely a “Patsy”. I ask the court to impose the mandatory sentence.”
SR6719 says:

February 20, 2012 at 1:50 pm

Good one.

These callers are committing the crime of thinking for themselves. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you’re able to control crime.

“Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death, Thoughtcrime is death…. The essential crime that contains all others in itself.” – Orwell, 1984
- Walter Wit Man says:
  
  February 20, 2012 at 2:25 pm
  
  It’s just nonsensical that multiple random callers to CSPAN are way more informed than the “Senior Washington Correspondent” for “Homeland Security Today.”
  
  And he’s obviously more aware than he lets on.
  
  He goes into detail about the history in the Bush and Obama administrations re the scanning devices. Surely he knows the players in that industry. It’s part of his beat, right? Surely he knows of the importance of the underwear bomber incident in getting scanners that can detect the very device the underwear bomber carried, no? He talks about it but glosses over the importance of the incident and how they were implemented. More like he’s covering up than reporting.
  
  And he’s supposed to report on these issues, and he couldn’t care less about the caller allegations! He doesn’t even seem to be interested or see the implications in the allegations. He’s dismissive. He gulps his coffee like he’s bored.
  
  But it strains the outer limit of plausibility that he knew nothing about eyewitnesses like the Haskells and others. He should have known. It’s his beat! Oh, wait it must be the Senior Intelligence Correspondent’s beat or something. I love that bit of deflection! He’s interested enough to ask the intelligence reporter but that’s about it . . . end of story, gulp . . . [thank God those CSPAN cups are so big . . . . all the better for the guilty to hide behind]
  - SR6719 says:
    
    February 20, 2012 at 2:47 pm
    
    Yeah, with Senior Washington correspondent Mickey McCarter (and his giant coffee cup) on the Homeland Security beat, we can all sleep good at night.
    
    Of course he knows about Haskell and the other eyewitnesses. He’s probably getting paid off by whoever manufactures body scanning devices.
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:49 pm

WWM, don’t forget the owner of the scanning machines: Michael Chertoff.

Why is this guy still *at large*? He is an Israeli first, last, and always. The Agents of the City of London’s State of Israel OWN the U.S. *Security State*.
Lidia says:

February 21, 2012 at 3:35 am

I’m not surprised.

Chertoff was a big shot with the scanner mfr., no?

Rumsfeld Tamiflu

etc.

We’re going to keep seeing the FBI, etc., providing us with regular “terror” attacks.

Pearl says:

February 20, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Ummm…….did anyone notice this in Yves’ LINKS section? (From the Orange County Register.)

http://lansner.ocregister.com/2012/02/19/foreclosure-process-is-utterly-broken/158790/#more-158790

(:-o)

Someone needs to get a gun and shoot me. Seriously.

Pearl says:

February 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm

Sorry. Here’s the money quote from the interview in the OC Register article:

Us: What’s the key lesson? Are the foreclosure laws antiquated?

Lou: Yeah, that’s it. If there is one lesson to take away from this report it is that, with so many homes being foreclosed and with so little oversight, California’s foreclosure process appears utterly broken.

Remember, these laws are more than 100 years old. The non-judicial foreclosure process was created long before things such as the secondary market and mortgage brokers existed. Back then, you rode your horse to meet with the banker, who you knew on a first name basis… sort of like It’s a Wonderful Life.
- Lidia says:
  
  February 21, 2012 at 4:51 am
  
  Pearl, yeah… that cracked me up! “these laws are more than 100 years old!”
LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 3:56 pm

Pearl, *insatiable securitization market* = the CARDINAL ISSUE for RICO.
- Lidia says:
  
  February 21, 2012 at 4:06 am
  
  The “insatiable securitzation market” is really the key here.
  
  It’s not its own criminal thing, but a natural development of imposed but unsustainable exponential interest-based money hypertrophy. Since the debt/money supply must mathematically increase, MBSs and CDOs are the cancerous ways in which that happens.
  
  The hedge-fund manager at n+1 confirmed this: that the exponential need to create “paper” conjured the loans into existence.
  
  I mean, the traditional way to think about financing is “OK, I find an investment opportunity, that on its face, I think, is a good opportunity. … But what happened is, you had the creation of so many vehicles designed to buy that paper, the triple-A, the double-A, all the CDO paper… that the dynamic flipped around. It was almost as if the demand for that paper created the mortgages.
  
  n+1: Created the loans?
  
  HFM: Called forth the loans…
  
  … So what happened is this machine—let’s call it, it’s a big machine that wanted to gobble up, you know, rated paper—needed to be fed. So there were people who could make a lot of money feeding the machine, and they were like, you know, “We need to keep originating mortgages, and feeding them to the machine,” and if you have a robot bid, you tend to get a bubble. Someone is hungry for paper, paper will be created.
  
  http://nplusonemag.com/interview-hedge-fund-manager
  
  The “big machine” is the interest-based money system, which cannot be merely reformed; it must be abolished. You can’t apply “RICO” to the whole system from within the system.
  
  If this debt/money expansion hadn’t happened in housing, it would have happened somewhere else (and in fact it is, with student loans). It’s mathematically impelled to do so.

LeonovaBalletRusse says:

February 20, 2012 at 6:09 pm

ATTN: NC readers: on NPR All Things Considered: crucial info:The Anthem of the Vice President of the U.S.A. is “Hail, Columbia.”

Quick: Think: Colonel House to President Wilson, G.H.W. Bush to Reagan, Dick Cheney to G.W. Bush; VP proxies Kissinger to Nixon, Brzezinski to Carter.

So the V.P. is the *Head* of Columbia, the District of Columbia. The *shining pyramidion* atop The Washington Monument lights the way for the President, a puppet of the Tripartite City-State Occult Cabal, each with its own duty to the *Crown*: City of London: Centre of Global Finance; Columbia: Center of Global Military Might; the Vatican: The Centre of Global Religion.

The above information promulgated on YouTube would seem to be confirmed by today’s news. BIDEN is a *Three-fer*: Senate tie-breaker and Next-in-Line; Roman Catholic for the Vatican; former Senator of Delaware for CorpState Power of Finance.

Lo: The Vice President is The Puppeteer: “A warm bucket of s$it” indeed.

Tim says:

February 20, 2012 at 9:02 pm

“This was SHARK’s first encounter with the Broxton Bridge Plantation, but it will certainly not be the last,” Hindi said in the release. “We are already making plans for a considerably upscaled action in 2013.”

Cue the Predator Drone with Hellfire missles…From Whale Wars to Pigeon Wars. Young girls weeping having watched evil republican politicians shooting their beloved pigeons out of the sky!

LoL I should file for rights to that idea before the Discovery Channel does.

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