Climate Realism: Not to Be Denied Any Longer

(TheAmericanCulture) – Last week’s meeting of 700+ scientists, policymakers, and concerned citizens in Chicago to discuss the science and economics of global warming at the Fourth International Conference on Climate Change was a huge success as measured by the intent of its sponsors: to establish once and for all that the climate realist position is increasingly the accepted conclusion among thinking people in the three categories noted above. That position is this: manmade global warming is not a crisis.

Yes, all parties at the conference pretty much agreed that there was a good deal of warming in the 1980s and 1990s, and that the trend stopped and reversed in the current decade. Global temperatures have been falling in recent years, even though the weather stations and other data chosen to represent the official temperature records are in fact skewed to show higher and more-rising temperatures than are actually occurring. Read entire article

See Also:

(NotEvilJustWrong) – UCLA fires professors for reporting real scientific data

James Enstrom, an epidemiologist at the UCLA School of Public Health, was recently fired, because his research “is not aligned with the academic mission of the Department [of Environmental Health Sciences].” Read More Here

(Co2Insanity) – Leading US Physicist Labels Satellitegate Scandal a ‘Catastrophe’

Respected American physicist, Dr Charles R. Anderson has waded into the escalating Satellitegate controversy publishing a damning analysis on his blog. Read More Here

‘Let’s Get Rid of This Goddamn Sim’: How NORAD Radar Screens Displayed False Tracks All Through the 9/11 Attacks

(911Blogger) – Military personnel responsible for defending U.S. airspace had false tracks displayed on their radar screens throughout the entire duration of the 9/11 attacks, as part of the simulation for a training exercise being conducted that day. Technicians at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) were still receiving the simulated radar information around the time the third attack, on the Pentagon, took place. Those at NORAD’s operations center in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, were still receiving it several minutes after United Airlines Flight 93 apparently crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

No one has investigated why false tracks continued being injected onto NORAD radar screens long after the U.S. military was alerted to the real-world crisis taking place that morning. And yet we surely need to know more about these simulated “inputs” and what effect they had on the military’s ability to respond to the 9/11 attacks.

Stephen Hawking urges humans to leave Earth to avoid disaster

(CanadianPress) – Stephen Hawking is suggesting the survival of the human race will likely depend on changing neighbourhoods and moving to another planet.

The famed physicist says in the centuries ahead, it will be hard for Earthlings to avoid a disaster of biblical proportion on their home turf, and he recommends they avoid putting all their eggs in one basket – or planet.

Hawking writes on the website BigThink.com that he sees great dangers ahead for the human race, noting such close calls as the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

He warns about a ballooning population using up the Earth’s finite resources and the growing ability of humans to alter their environment for good, or ill. Read entire article

Matt Simmons “Apparently” Drowned At His Home Sunday Night – Katherine Smith

Headline today (August 8, 2010) [Notice the word “apparently” in the title]

Matt Simmons “apparently” drowned at his home Sunday night

NORTH HAVEN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – The Knox County Sheriff’s Department says Matthew Simmons, the founder of the Ocean Energy Institute, drowned at his house on North Haven late Sunday night.

Simmons was a leading investment banker for the energy industry and had recently retired to work full time on the new Ocean Energy Institute.

He was a leading proponent of offshore wind power and had started raising money to develop and build offshore turbines.

The news release fails to mention Simmons was the leading proponent of sending a small nuclear bomb down the BP leaking well:

May 29 – Simmons, a “prominent energy expert” and investment banker known for predicting the oil price spike of 2008, tells Bloomberg News on Friday, sending a small nuclear bomb down the leaking well is “probably the only thing we can do” to stop the leak.

I have been working with Dr. Tom Termotto, the National Coordinator of the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference to ensure that the BP oil spill didn’t become “A radioactive oil spill.”

Below is an expose on Matt Simmons, which was ready for publication when the BP well was finally capped without resorting to a nuclear device.

The material was useful to Dr. Tom Termotto when he was interviewed on Rense Radio July 19 just four days before the BP well was finally capped.

Jeff Rense’ first question was, if Dr. Termotto would consider Matt Simmon’s nuclear option to cap the well? Tom immediately interjected and made it clear that we should never, never ever consider a nuclear option to cap the well, and went on to relentlessly discredit Matt Simmons throughout the interview.

Here is the expose provided to Dr. Termotto:

Net Neutrality

(CNN) – Net neutrality is foremost free speech issue of our time

If we learned that the government was planning to limit our First Amendment rights, we’d be outraged. After all, our right to be heard is fundamental to our democracy.

Well, our free speech rights are under assault — not from the government but from corporations seeking to control the flow of information in America. Read More Here

(ActivistPost) – FCC Abandons Efforts for Net Neutrality Compromise: Allows Google and Verizon to Write the Regulations – Read More Here

(PoorRichardsBlog) – Google, Verizon Web Deal Could Upend Net Neutrality – Read More Here

(ActivistPost) – Video: The Trust Crisis with Regulating Net Neutrality

Since it was reported that Google and Verizon are close to a deal on so-called “net neutrality,” the policy debate has heated up in Washington. Of course the debate has very little to do with the actual mechanics of how net neutrality will work, rather who will get the control to regulate it.

However, now that the FCC has abandoned negotiations on a “net neutrality” compromise, it is looking like the Congress will ultimately establish the rules — handed down to them by their corporate masters. It seems the Elite’s fight over who controls the dial has been decided.  One thing is for sure, whoever controls the speed dial on the Internet will control the entire Web and subsequently all flow of information.

Video: Gerald Celente on Dr. Bill Deagle Nutrimedical Report

Why Not Another World War? – Peter Schiff

(C4L) – There is overwhelming agreement among economists that the Second World War was responsible for decisively ending the Great Depression. When asked why the wars in Iran and Afghanistan are failing to make the same impact today, they often claim that the current conflicts are simply too small to be economically significant.

There is, of course, much irony here. No one argues that World War II, with its genocide, tens of millions of combatant casualties, and wholesale destruction of cities and regions, was good for humanity. But the improved American economy of the late 1940s seems to illustrate the benefits of large-scale government stimulus. This conundrum may be causing some to wonder how we could capture the good without the bad.

If one believes that government spending can create economic growth, then the answer should be simple: let’s have a huge pretend war that rivals the Second World War in size. However, this time, let’s not kill anyone.

Will Thousands Of Police Layoffs Unleash Chaos And Anarchy Across America?

(EconomicCollapse) – Thousands of police officers have been laid off all across America since the current economic crisis began.  Thousands more are getting ready to be laid off.  So could we be on the verge of a new era of chaos and anarchy in America as crime runs wild and there are just far too few police to respond to it all?  That is the message that one blood-smeared billboard in Stockton, California is trying to get across.  Paid for by the Stockton, California police union, the message of the billboard is chillingly clear: “Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops.”  As state, city and local governments across the United States continue to be devastated by the ongoing economic crisis, budget cuts are becoming much deeper and police forces have suddenly become a very popular target.

Video: Paul Watson – America Stands On The Precipice Of Total Collapse! – Alex Jones Tv

There can be little doubt that America, along with the west as a whole, is being set up for a total collapse in which life as we know it will be fundamentally altered and rebuilt around a collectivist model managed and controlled by the same criminals who engineered the crisis in the first place.

Economy

(LATimes) – U.S. home foreclosures reach record high in second quarter

Bank repossessions increased 38% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier for a record total of 269,952, according to data to be released Thursday by RealtyTrac. Read More Here

(CounterPunch) – How Bank of America Got Away With a Huge Swindle – Read More Here

(TechTicker) – The U.S. Middle Class Is Being Wiped Out: Here’s the Stats to Prove It

The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. Read More Here

(TheComingDepression) – World At Risk Of Folding In On Itself

The global economy is at risk of folding in on itself unless policy makers face up to the threat of inflation and exchange rate inflexibility, according to Arun Motianey, director of fixed income strategy at Roubini Global Economics. Read More Here

(TheComingDepression) – The Housing Depression – Read More Here

(EconomicCollapse) – The U.S. Economy Is A Dead Horse And The American People Are Starting To Get Really Pissed Off And Frustrated – Read More Here

(AP) – Dollar slides after Greek debt auction bolsters confidence in Europe, while US data weak

The dollar has drifted lower after Greece successfully sold debt to investors while U.S. economic data remained weak. Read More Here

(MoneyNews) – Obama Panel Warns Governors: Debt Will Destroy US Like a Cancer – Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – The Fed is Steering the Economy into Deflation – Mike Whitney – Read More Here

(12160Org) – Fear Index rises to 16-year high

The Fear Index has risen to a 16-year high. As of June 30th, the Fear Index is 2.35%, based on M3 data made available by shadowstats.com. Here is the formula and calculation for June 30th: Read More Here

Video: Alex Jones Tv: The Private Planetary Banking Cartel Designed This Depression!

Alex starts off the show with a strong message and a reminder of who is causing all of these global depressions and what they stand to gain if they succeed.

Video: America will Collapse – featuring Jim Rogers Marc Faber and Gerald Celente

Video: Mike Rivero – BP Gulf Oil Crisis – America’s Chernobyl

(July 6) – Alex talks with regular guest Mike Rivero, editor and publisher of the popular web news portal, What Really Happened. Rivero is also a GCN radio talk show host.

Economy

(LondonTelegraph) – Federal Reserve cautions on US economic growth – Read More Here

(PeoplesWorld) – Texas poor say “No more!” – Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Consumer Spending is Flat, Unemployment is Rising: The Case for a Second Round of Economic Stimulus – Mike Whitney – Read More Here

REPOST – (CNBC) – Soros Says Germany Could Cause Euro Collapse

German’s budget savings policy risks destroying the European project and a collapse of the euro cannot be ruled out, billionaire investor George Soros said in a newspaper interview released on Wednesday. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Deutsche Bank: U.S. Financial Conditions Just Collapsed Back To Crisis Levels

Financial conditions appear to have worsened substantially in recent quarters based on our update of the broad index of US financial variables presented earlier this year at the US Monetary Policy Forum. In the wake of recent developments in Europe, increased stress in financial markets has pushed that index halfway back to its immediate post- Lehman crisis lows. Read More Here

(BeforeItsNews) – Russia buys 16 percent of global gold production

According to the Russian Central Bank, Russian gold reserves just hiked 1.1 million ounces in May. Given global mining production is just 6.8 million ounces a month, this represents 16.1% of monthly global mining production.

This is the largest one month purchase of gold by the Russian Central Bank, which has been buying gold at a rate of 250,000 ounces a month for the past three years, and comes just as Putin is pushing for a single world currency and last week revealed the currency’s first proof coin. Read More Here

(WSJ) – Small Banks and Big Risks – Read More Here

(AlterNet) – The Bank Lobby Gets Desperate on Derivatives – Read More Here

(WSJ) – States Face New Pinch as Stimulus Ebbs

Tax Receipts Aren’t Rebounding Quickly Enough to Offset Declining Federal Aid; Push for Additional Medicaid Help Stalls Read More Here

(WSJ) – Video: Opinion Journal – Here Come the Tax Increases – Video Link Here

(CBS5) – Oakland To Send Out Layoff Notices To 200 Officers

Despite concerns about the city’s violent crime, the Oakland City Council on Tuesday voted to send out layoff notices to 200 police officers.

There seemed to be little choice. The city is facing years of multi million dollar deficits, and the public safety budget is a rich target representing about half the general fund. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – China Officially Disses the Dollar (and Treasury Debt)

The Peoples Bank of China has announced that it will no longer fix its currency in terms of the dollar. Instead it will manage the yuan against a basket of currencies. Read More Here

Climategate

(Telegraph) – Japanese told to go to bed an hour early to cut carbon emissions

Japanese households are being urged to go to bed one hour earlier than normal in order to help tackle climate change. Read More Here

(June 24) – Video: Lord Christopher Monckton: The Global Warming Take Over Grid – Alex Jones Tv

Alex also talks with British consultant, policy adviser, writer, columnist, and hereditary peer, Lord Christopher Monckton.

Economy

(GoldScents) – GOLD BUBBLE? WHAT BUBBLE? – Read More Here

(IsraelFinancialExpert) – Special Report- The Secret Engine Behind China’s Housing Bubble- The Ponzi Shark Loan Finance

It is clear that artificially low interest rates and massive money printing by the government is fueling this bubble. But few know about the engine behind the monuments bubble- A giant shark loan ponzi scheme. Read More Here

(NYTimes) – That ’30s Feeling – Paul Krugman

Suddenly, creating jobs is out, inflicting pain is in. Condemning deficits and refusing to help a still-struggling economy has become the new fashion everywhere, including the United States, where 52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite the highest rate of long-term joblessness since the 1930s. Read More Here

(STLToday) – Fannie and Freddie tab is $146B and rising – Read More Here

(USAToday) – Bank failure is 83rd in ’10; pace more than double last year’s – Read More Here

(Boston) – May foreclosures in state double – Read More Here

(StarAdvertiser) – 4,171 on Oahu have no homes – Read More Here

(NEB) – Slide in shipping shows global recovery running out of steam – Read More Here

(VoiceOfSanDiego) – Foreclosures Still Piling Up – Read More Here

(ZanesvilleTimes) – Act would be disastrous in light of our country’s economic situation – Read More Here

REPOST – (RussiaToday) – Video: The Economic Crisis – “Major Currencies Can Simply Collapse”

Michel Chossudovsky says that the financial crisis is not over as President Barack Obama has hinted. Read More Here

REPOST – (WSWS) – Nearly One Million US Workers Cut Off Unemployment Benefits

With 12 Democrats joining a unanimous Republican bloc, the US Senate voted Wednesday to defeat a proposed extension of unemployment benefits for workers who have been jobless for nearly two years. The bill would have extended unemployment benefits for those out of work more than six months, until November 30. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – What do BP and the Banks Have In Common? The Era of Corporate Anarchy

On the occasion of the BP oil spill disaster, President Obama’s delivered an Oval Office speech last night—a masterpiece of milquetoast faux-outrage. The speech was all about “clean energy” and “ending our dependence on fossil fuels”. Faced with the BP oil spill—likely the most severe environmental disaster ever—this was President Obama’s response: Polite outrage, and vague plans to “get tough”, “set aside just compensation” and “do something”.

President Obama missed what the BP oil spill disaster is really about. Though unquestionably an environmental disaster, the BP oil spill is much much more. Read More Here

Layoffs

Amylin Pharmaceuticals – 60
Horizon Air – 120
AT&T Wisconsin – 125
Nexteer Michigan – Layoffs Likely

Huntsville Constellation Contractors – Hundreds of Layoffs Next Week
3 Catholic Schools in NJ – 38
Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department – Layoffs / Furloughs
Northrop Grumman Corp Amherst Systems Division – 74
Wayne County Detroit – 700 Temporary layoffs this summer

Missouri  – 250
Update: Wayne-Westland school – 32
Jones Day Law Firm – 32
Merck ( France ) – About 800
Prudential Retirement – 60 : 30 in Hartford and 30 in Scranton PA
Morris Township NJ – up to 20
Richland County Ohio – 7
AOL – More Layoffs Possible?
American Municipal Power Inc – Job Cuts to start soon at Marietta Plant
Adams 12 Five Star Schools Colorado – 188
Fresno Unified School District – Job Cuts or Furloughs
City of Marengo IL – Considering 3 Layoffs
Dot Hill Systems – 10% of Global Workforce
Abbott Laboratories – 101
EastLink ( International ) – 33
McClelland & Stewart – Several Layoffs this week
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network PA – 48
City West Palm – 6
Detroit’s EMS – Warns of 36+ Layoffs Possible
US Cellular Tulsa Center – 160

Source: The Coming Depression

Economy

(SteveWatson) – Gold Prices Heading For Record Highs

Gold futures surged toward record highs Thursday as the stock market and the U.S. economy continued to flounder, leaving investors seeking a safe haven in hard assets. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – CHART OF THE DAY: Food Prices Are About To Explode – Read More Here

(Leap2020) – Global systemic crisis / Second half of 2010: The global system’s four single points of failure

Each day the news confirm the extent to which the global systemic crisis has now entered into the phase of global geopolitical dislocation, even if the media only timidly begin to interpret the historic upheavals which unfold before our own eyes. For LEAP/E2020, the second half of 2010 will thus correspond to a new step in the global geopolitical dislocation, characterized by an acceleration in the process of strategic, financial, economic and social convulsions centered on four single points of failure Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Home builders won’t lift the economy this time

Homebuilders are sending a message: They won’t be able to contribute much to the economic recovery now that government home-buying incentives have vanished. Read More Here

(InterForecaster) – Federal Reserve Purchases U.S. Sovereign Debt – Bob Chapman

We believe an inflationary depression began in February of 2009, and little has changed. Since then factory output has increased, as have inventories and other outward signs, such as retail sales. We believe that one-year spurt is ending, unless a new stimulus program is put in place. Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – 100 Italian Economists Say Austerity Will Destroy Europe

The Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard points to a letter signed by 100 Italian economists (technically Keynesianites, but in the great Ponzi, the two have become synonymous) in which they note that “the austerity strategy imposed by Brussels/Frankfurt risks tipping Europe into a self-feeding downward spiral. Read More Here

(TheStreet) – Gold Prices Reach for $1,254

Gold prices were gunning to break their record high Thursday as an uncertain stock market fueled demand for gold as a safe haven asset. Read More Here

(CNNMoney) – Out-of-work job applicants told unemployed need not apply

The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn’t even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that. Read More Here

(Reuters) – More Than 90 Banks Miss TARP Payments – Read More Here

(June 16) – Video: Alex Newman Reveals Fed Manipulations & ‘Bernanke’s Trillions’ on Alex Jones Tv

New American journalist Alex Newman talks with Alex about his latest article, Fed Manipulations in the Crosshairs. “It turns out that under the guise of “stabilizing” the economy, the Federal Reserve banking cartel had set in motion a series of actions that would eventually transfer trillions to the bankers at taxpayers’ expense, all while decimating the investments of countless average Americans,” writes Newman. Alex also covers the news and takes your calls.

War, Politics and the Economic Crisis: Why We Barely Know What’s Going On – Danny Schechter

(GlobalResearch) – Defending America covertly has become an ongoing theme for one more TV series. Salute the flag and praise NBC (GE) for its latest effort to persuade the population to accept the kind of secret operations that now drive the war in Afghanistan. Their latest show is called “Covert Affairs” and airs on the patriotically named USA Network.

This fiction is based on faction, glamorizing the work of our unaccountable CIA at home and at war with Piper Perabo who has been promoted from dancing barmaid in Coyote Ugly into a CIA trainee “who is suddenly thrust into the inner sanctum of the agency after being promoted to field operative.”

The dumbed down formula is tried and true , showcasing what TV pros call “the three S’s:” Sex, Spies, and Sensationalism.

Economy

(Alternet) – Poverty: It’s Not Just for Black Urbanites Anymore! – And of course it never was. – Read More Here

(NYDailyNews) -Japanese PM Naoto Kan warns of Greece-level ‘collapse’ under debt pile – Read More Here

(Money&Markets) – Debt Facade Cracking in U.K. as Sovereign Contagion Spreads – Read More Here

REPOST – (MarketOracle) – Debt Can Never Be Repaid, By Bankster Design

You really have to hand it to the banksters. As was painstakingly detailed in the book Creature from Jekyll Island, the banking elite devised a brilliant plan in November of 1910 on Jekyll Island in which to take over control of the United States, steal the wealth from the taxpayers and the resources from the country. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – Analyst to Money Managers: Take Your Cell Phones with You on Vacation; Greece Could Default in August

Greece will eventually default on its debt because the country is highly indebted, Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said on CNBC this morning. Read More Here

(MailOnline) – Doomed Labour’s £1.3 TRILLION last spending spree revealed: As the economy nosedived, your millions were wasted on grandiose schemes – Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – One Bank Ruled Them All; Trichet’s Powergrab – Mike Whitney – Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – The Stunning Crash And Burn Of Las Vegas

There are quite a few U.S. cities that are complete and utter economic disaster zones in 2010 (Detroit for example), but there is something about the demise of Las Vegas that is absolutely stunning. Read More Here

(MineWeb) – U.S. asset managers worried Obama could confiscate gold

Speaking at the FT Silver conference in London yesterday, lead-off speaker John Levin, HSBC Bank’s Managing Director, Global Metals and Trading (HSBC is one of the world’s top precious metals traders and its vaults in the U.S. and Europe hold huge holdings of gold and silver bullion) recounted conversations with some of the U.S.’s top asset managers controlling massive amounts of capital asking if HSBC had the capacity in its vaults to store major gold purchases. On being told that the bank’s U.S. vaults had sufficient space available he was told that they did not want their gold stored in the U.S.A. but preferably in Europe because they feared that at some stage the U.S. Administration might follow the path set by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and confiscate all U.S. gold holdings as part of the country’s strategy in dealing with the nation’s economic problems. Read More Here

(NYDaily) – Gov. Paterson: Shutdown over budget would cause ‘unimaginable chaos,’ crime in New York

Gov. Paterson went into full doomsday mode Thursday, warning of chaos and anarchy in the streets if the government shuts down.
“It would create unimaginable chaos around the state and the greater metropolitan area,” Paterson said on WCBS Radio 880 this morning. Read More Here

(AP) – Retail sales drop 1.2 percent in May

Retail sales plunged 1.2 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the largest decline in eight months. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Social Security Payouts Are Already Crippling The Government This Year

There is enough published information from the Social Security Trust Fund to make some observations for the first six months of 2010. The data on FICA/SECA tax receipts and benefit payments: (all amounts in $billions) Read More Here

(PakAlert) – Warning Signs Of Full Spectrum Collapse Are Everywhere

The sovereign debt crisis in Greece and many other European nations has, at least for the moment, opened a gap in the wash of financial disinformation that has prevailed in the mainstream media for the past year. The average American is now more aware of the terrible costs of living in an artificially driven and widely manipulated “global economy”, and has also been exposed (at least for the moment) to the very real frailties in our own markets, which have been hidden or downplayed by the government as well as disingenuous establishment economists. Events in the EU, however, are only a glimpse of the greater and more imminent threats we face in the near future. In this article we will look at some of the latest and most disturbing moves by governments and financial institutions, as well as tell-tale signs in our own local cities, which signal that a full-spectrum collapse of world markets and possibly our own currency is not only in progress, but nearing completion.

Deepwater Horizon – Hayward cashes out – nothing unusual – business as usual

See Also: (PaulWatson&AlexJones) – Evidence Points To BP Oil Spill False Flag – Read More Here

Also: (IntelHub) – Another 9/11? Strange Events In the Gulf – Read More Here

(AbelDanger) – The chief executive of BP sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill caused its value to collapse.

Economy

(YahooTechTicker) – REMEMBER: In 1930, They Didn’t Know It Was “The Great Depression” Yet

In the past year, we’ve written a lot about the similarity between the rally of early 1930 and the one we had through April of this year.

The early 1930 rally came after the market had fallen nearly 50% in the fall of 1929. The spring 1930 rally took the market up nearly 50% again, to a level that was only about 20% below the previous peak.

That rally, of course, was also the biggest sucker’s rally in history. After the market peaked in April 1930, it crashed again, eventually ending up down 89% from the 1929 high and more than 80% from the 1930 high. The market did not reach the 1930 high again for another quarter of a century. Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – Long-Term Unemployed Now 46 Percent Of Unemployed, Highest Percentage On Record

The proportion of people jobless for six months or more has accelerated in the past year and now makes up 46 percent of the unemployed. That’s the highest percentage on records dating to 1948. By late summer or early fall, they are expected to make up half of all jobless Americans. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Europe Chooses Depression – Mike Whitney

Forget about a smooth recovery. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20, met this weekend in Busan, South Korea and decided to abandon “tried and true” expansionary fiscal policies for their own strange brew of belt-tightening policies and austerity measures. Read More Here

(EuroPacificCapital) – Key Indicators of a New Depression

With the mainstream media focusing on the country’s leveling unemployment rate, improving retail sales, and nascent housing recovery, one might think that the US government has successfully navigated the economy through recession and growth has returned. But I will argue that a look under the proverbial hood reveals a very different picture. I believe the data shows that the US economy is badly damaged, and a modern-day depression has begun. In fact, just as World War I was originally called The Great War (and was retroactively renamed after World War II), Peter Schiff has said that one day the world will refer to the 1929-41 era as Great Depression I, and the current period as Great Depression II. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – U.S.’s $13 Trillion Debt Poised to Overtake GDP: Chart of Day – Read More Here

(AP) – Financial crisis panel subpoenas Goldman

A panel probing the causes of the financial meltdown has issued a subpoena for documents from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., accusing the firm of stonewalling an investigation. Read More Here

(PaulWatson) – Investment Banker: It’s Going To Get Nasty – Buy Land, Barbed Wire And Guns

A top investment banker has warned that the economic fallout of the sovereign debt crisis could get so nasty over the next five years that people would be wise to abandon the markets and instead buy land, barbed wire and guns.

With gold smashing through its all time record high this morning on the back of fears over a double dip recession, analysts are turning increasingly bearish on the markets. Anthony Fry, senior managing director at Evercore Partners, told CNBC that the bond markets could turn nasty over the next few months and said that the current problems created by the European debt crisis could be with us for at least five years.

Economy

(Rense) – Illinois – A State In Crisis – Stephen Lendman

This writer’s earlier articles addressed greater social misery in America than since the Great Depression, because of unemployment, homelessness, hunger, bankruptcies, despair, and rising poverty levels.

According to the National Academy of Science, 47.4 million Americans were impoverished in 2008, 15% of the population, but the true number is much higher since the government’s income threshold is $22,000 for a family of four, way short of what’s needed throughout urban America where even half again as much is too little. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Banks Seized by Regulators in Nebraska, Mississippi, Illinois

Three banks with total deposits of almost $2.3 billion were seized by regulators amid losses stemming from soured real-estate loans, raising to 81 the number of U.S. lenders that have collapsed this year. Read More Here

(EuroPacificCapital) – Key Indicators of a New Depression

With the mainstream media focusing on the country’s leveling unemployment rate, improving retail sales, and nascent housing recovery, one might think that the US government has successfully navigated the economy through recession and growth has returned. But I will argue that a look under the proverbial hood reveals a very different picture. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Solution to Unemployment? Wal-Mart to Create 500,000 New Jobs

Mike Duke, chief executive, told the retailer’s annual meeting that the company will add the 500,000 positions as it seeks to continue to grow globally and maintain its leading position in the US. Read More Here

(EconomicNoise) – Worse than a Depression – Read More Here

(SicSemper) – Video: Obama’s Teleprompter of Propaganda: “Our Economy is Getting Stronger by the Day.”

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics report is published for the month of May showing unemployment at 9.7% due to 322,000 workers leaving out of employment positions, President Obama read from his teleprompter more Orwellian Double-speak, stating “our recovery is still in its early stages, and there’s going to be ups and downs in the months ahead…… this report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day.” View More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Europe is Headed For a Mini-depression – Mike Whitney – Read More Here

(WashingtonTimes) – FTC floats Drudge tax

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking ways to “reinvent” journalism, and that’s a cause for concern. According to a May 24 draft proposal, the agency thinks government should be at the center of a media overhaul. The bureaucracy sees it as a problem that the Internet has introduced a wealth of information options to consumers, forcing media companies to adapt and experiment to meet changing market needs. FTC’s policy staff fears this new reality. Read More Here

(TPG) – Countdown to Crashdown

Heed This Warning, and You Could Gain 868%. Ignore It, and You Stand to LOSE HALF of Your Wealth. The Choice Is Yours… Read More Here

(PRWeb) – Investors Shun Market Volatility as Fear and Uncertainty Reign, Opting Instead For Precious Metals IRAs as Gold Nears All Time Highs – Read More Here

(FinancialPost) – World currency unit intended to rival U.S. dollar for supremacy

A new currency is intended to challenge the U.S. dollar as the world’s foremost reserve currency. The WOCU, short for world currency unit, was actually launched by London-based WDX Organization in September 2009, but only seems to be gaining recognition now. Read More Here – See Also: Flex Group

Video: Watch the WOCU evolve – Video Link Here

(WOCU) – About the WOCU

The WDX Organisation has developed a currency-basket instrument called the Wocu; available for commercial use from 1st January 2010, the same day WDX launched its commercial reference data products. Read More Here

(YahooFinance) – Video: $6 to $8 Gas? Prices Will “Skyrocket” If U.S. Stops Drilling, Says Former Shell Exec – View Video Here

(WDX) – WDX Institute: Forum for WOCU Related Research Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – MARKETS RIPPED APART: Here’s What You Need To Know

Following two straight up days, it looked like the panic might be out of this market. Nope, not even close. Fresh Euro panics combined with signs of economic weakness in the US to savage markets.

The scoreboard: Read More Here

(RealClearPolitics) – Census Worker Claims Job Numbers Are Being Inflated

“What they do is hire you, they train you like a few weeks — 35, 40 hours of training and give you six hours of productive work and lay you off.” a former Census named “Maria” tells FOX News. “Maria” further explains they rehire you so it counts as a new job.

(RussiaToday) – Video: Euro the focus of secret Bilderberg meeting: Charlie Skelton

“I hear from some people, Daniel Estulin has got sources inside, and he says the euro is on the top of the agenda. If the euro fails and the eurozone collapses, it’s been a lot of wasted talk. There’s talk, I have been speaking to some Spaniards here and they saying there’s whispers of returning to the peseta and that is not in the Bilderberg’s best interest,” said Skelton.

Video: Keiser Report № 46 – Social Fury builds up!

(RussiaToday) – May 27 – This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the scandals of guillotines and conspiracy theories, Fed rackets and capital flows. In the second half of the show, Max interviews Dr. Joern Berninger about the European “debt crisis”, when France was “technically bankrupt” on May 7, and about the China bubble debate.

Economy

(Money&Markets) – China’s Currency Manipulation: About to Cause a Global Explosion? – Read More Here

(Guardian) – UK’s first ‘conservation credit’ scheme launched – Read More Here

(Fox) – Video: Freedom Watch – Who Owns the Gold in Ft. Knox?

Ludvig von Mises Institute Chair Lew Rockwell on auditing the Federal Reserve

(CNBC) – Video: Steve Wynn Takes On Washington

Steve Wynn, a casino resort/real-estate developer who has been credited with spearheading the dramatic resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip, talks about the Fall of America. Video Link Here

(GlobalResearch) – The European and U.S. Economies: Falling Dominoes – Shamus Cooke

Attempting to fix an unfixable problem can create new problems. Why is the global economy unfixable in the current context? For one, the cause of the depression is never mentioned in the mainstream media or politicians. And when a disease is misdiagnosed, a prescribed medication creates new afflictions.

Massive, bad debt is often cited as the cause of the global depression, but whythis debt existed in the first place is never discussed. Quite simply, the debt was needed to buy the products of corporations that wages once consumed. Over time, corporations drove down wages to out-compete each other while driving up profits, creating the global “demand” for credit, which the banks are now demanding be paid back. Read More Here

(BitsOfNews) – Pol/Econ: Deregulation and the Triumph of Wall Street

One year removed from a catastrophic, global, economic meltdown, and 26 months removed from the start of the credit crisis, our political establishment is either unwilling or unable to reform the system and punish the perpetrators of this debacle. The situation is so far beyond the pale that it makes one wonder if another catastrophe is even avoidable. Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – Europe: A Continent Of Lies And Broken Promises; How The EU Elite Got It Wrong On The Euro – Tyler Durden

Openeurope.org.uk has put together a paper of the most blatant half-truths, propaganda, and outright lies, abused by Europe not only over the past month, but also over the past 10 years, for the entire duration of the now rapidly collapsing eurozone experiment. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Dow Ends Worst May Since 1940 On Spain Debt Downgrade, Korea Tensions

U.S. stocks slid, capping the worst May for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1940, while the euro slumped and Treasuries rose as a downgrade of Spain’s debt rating and escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula triggered a flight from riskier assets. Read More Here

(Rasmussen) – 80% Favor Auditing the Federal Reserve

Eighty percent (80%) of Americans now agree with Congress that auditing the Federal Reserve Board is a good idea, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Just nine percent (9%) oppose an audit of the Fed, and 12% more are not sure. Read More Here

(CSPAN) – Video: Moonbat Bachmann complains about $2 billion for raises for Americans – says we can’t afford it

Wait a minute – don’t we pay FAR more every year to a foreign terrorist country that has attacked us?

She doesn’t hesitate repeating the neocon lie about government workers making more than those in the private sector. She does not compare those with the SAME position as she claims – she uses “averages.” Well, government does not hire burger flippers. It is the new attack on the Middle Class – government workers are that, by and large. Video Link Here

(Examiner) – Ellen Brown: US economic reform creates full-employment, renewed infrastructure, zero national debt

Attorney and author of the brilliant Web of Debt, Ellen Brown, is among the leading US advocates of monetary reform and state-owned banks. Among Ellen’s articles is one worth highlighting for how quickly a national economy can turn from ruin to astounding productivity: Nazi Germany’s direct creation of money to pay for public goods and services. Read More Here

(PostGazetta) – Port Authority warned of layoffs, route cuts without more state aid – Read More Here

(RedactedNews) – Insider Trading Is Perfectly Legal – But Only For Members Of The U.S. Congress – Read More Here

REPOST – (CNBC) – Dollar Primed for Collapse by End June: Charts

The dollar’s recent strength has been explained by most market analysts as a result of the euro weakness rather than any fundamental support for the greenback. In fact, a closer look at the dollar’s chart – particularly the dollar index – suggests the currency may be primed for a collapse. Read More Here

(Money&Markets) – Credit Crisis Indicators Going Bonkers Again! Batten Down the Hatches!

Heads up people. Something very big is happening in the global credit markets — something you darn well better pay attention to. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – It’s the Bailout of the Banksters Before Greece Is Taken Down

WSJ has a remarkably to the point story explainning why Greece will end up restructuring, but that there will be a delay until the banksters are protected: Read More Here

(Boston) – Romania to cut wages despite strike threat

Romania will go ahead with sweeping wage, pension and benefits cuts despite unions’ threats to stage a general strike, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Wednesday. Read More Here

(DSNews) – Federal Reserve’s MBS Purchases Could Lead to Record Earnings of $70B – Read More Here

(TheEconomicCollapse) – The Depression Of 2011? 23 Economic Warning Signs From Financial Authorities All Over The Globe

Could the world economy be headed for a depression in 2011?  As inconceivable as that may seem to a lot of people, the truth is that top economists and governmental authorities all over the globe say that the economic warning signs are there and that we need to start paying attention to them.  The two primary ingredients for a depression are debt and fear, and the reality is that we have both of them in abundance in the financial world today.  In response to the global financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008, governments around the world spent unprecedented amounts of money and got into a ton of debt.

Bilderberg: The Open Conspiracy

(PaulWatson) – Now that the agenda for global government and a centralized world economic system is public and out in the open, the importance of the Bilderberg Group’s annual conference rests on grooming political candidates. The lion’s share of Bilderberg’s 2010 agenda has already been announced by its members weeks before – it will revolve around a potential military strike on Iran as well as the future collapse of the euro.

Trilateral Commission members, who routinely also attend Bilderberg’s annual confab, have let slip that a war on Iran is being seriously debated, while the elite continue to exploit the fallout from the economic crisis to push for centralized financial regulation.

Economy

(GoldPrices) – Gold, Silver and Mining Companies Shaping Up

We will kick off with a review of the charts for gold, silver and the gold bugs index, the HUI, in an attempt to see where we are now and just where we might go from here. However, to put the charts into context we need to take into consideration the surrounding political, economic and investment landscape. These are volatile times with the financial markets in turmoil as what were perceived to be sound and secure governments now toil under the strain of their own excesses. The borrow and spend philosophies are coming back like a bad penny, to haunt not just those who caused this mess, but also for the rest of us, who are expected to clear it up. Read More Here

(InternationalForecaster) – Towards Another Stock Market Meltdown? – Bob Chapman

This past week the Dow fell 4%, S&P 4.2%, the Russell 2000 fell 6.4% and the Nasdaq 100 fell 4.4%. Banks fell 5.4%; broker/dealers 4%; cyclicals fell 5.6%; transports 5.5%; consumers 3.4%; utilities 4.3%; high tech fell 3.7%; semis 1.3%; Internets fell 4.2% and biotechs 4.2%. Gold bullion fell $56.00, the HUI gold index fell 11.4% and the USDX, dollar index, fell 0.8% to 85.38. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Video: Marc Faber – “The Banks Are Gone” – (Part 1 Video Below)

Marc Faber spoke with Bloomberg Television about his bearish views on markets yesterday, and they remain as bearish as always.

“The banks are gone,” according to Marc Faber, and are only being kept alive by European Central Bank and government aid programs. Part 2 Here

(HuffingtonPost) – $1 Trillion for Wars Makes No Sense By Any Measure

This May 30 at 10:06 a.m., we will reach another dubious milestone in our almost nine years of war. At that precise moment, we will have spent $1 trillion in operational costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tracked by the National Priorities Project’s cost of war counter. Read More Here

(SteveWatson) – Secret Clause Reveals Europe Bailout Designed To Destroy Global Economy

A secret exit clause written into the trillion dollar European bailout agreement will ensure the creation of more debt in Europe, worsening the global economy, decimating nation states and allowing power to be consolidated into fewer super-elite hands.

As the Financial Times reports today, the major German newspaper Bild says it has obtained a copy of the bailout agreement and has set about “exposing” a series of secret clauses. Read More Here

(GoldScents) – How Do You Answer The Question

Let me start off by pointing out that we did indeed break below the yearly cycle low yesterday. Read More Here

(AP) – Falling home prices stir fears of new bottom

Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 percent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday.

That marks six straight months of declines — a sign that the housing market is going in reverse. Read More Here

(BigGovernment) – Faber: Nations Will Print Money, Go Bust, Go to War…We Are Doomed

Today the leading Austrian economic think tank, the Ludwig von Mises Institute held a conference at the University Club in Manhattan in which Marc Faber, famed contrarian investor and publisher of the “Gloom, Boom and Doom Report” gave his perspective on the financial crisis and his outlook for the future. Read More Here

(CNBC) – Libor Spike Is Rekindling Fears Of Another Financial Crisis

A recent spike in the rate banks charge each other for short-term borrowing is reviving investor fears that the market is returning to the abyss of the credit crisis. Read More Here

(OilPrice) – The Hard Truth About Residential Real Estate

Anyone who believes that housing is on the rebound, and that now is the time to buy, should take a very hard look at the numbers I dredged up for my spring lecture and luncheon tour.

There are 140 million personal residences in the US. Today, there are 26 million homes either directly or indirectly for sale. Read More Here

(Cryptogon) – Plummeting Marijuana Prices Create A Panic In California

Understand the purpose of the drug war with just one story. Hint: Law enforcement is used to keep supplies down and prices high.

So what changed?

California is broke and the state government wants a cut of the action. Read More Here

(RevoltofthePlebs) – Fear and Loathing (and Lost Wages)

Last week, Barrack Obama brought his stage show to a manufacturing plant in Youngstown Ohio and took credit for 290,000 new jobs added to US payrolls in April. “The fact is, our economy is growing again,” he boasted “Any fair-minded person would say that if we hadn’t acted … more people across America would be out of work today.” He’s speaking of course of the $787 billion Recovery Act that pumped even more counterfeit cash into the economy and is now redeemable (at interest) by the Federal Reserve from your American tax dollar. Read More Here

(BusinessWeek) – Christie Says N.J. ‘Careening Toward Becoming Greece’

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the state is “careening our way toward becoming Greece” and can’t afford the cost of benefits and pensions for current workers. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Moody’s Reiterates U.S. Spending Risks Credit Rating

The U.S. government’s Aaa bond rating will come under pressure in the future unless additional measures are taken to reduce projected record budget deficits, according to Moody’s Investors Service Inc. Read More Here

(FoxNews) – Despite Soaring National Debt, Congress Goes on Spending Spree

As the national debt clock ticked past the ignominious $13 trillion mark overnight, Congress pressed to pass a host of supplemental spending bills to, among other things, fund the continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, ramp up security on the U.S.-Mexico border and prevent teacher layoffs. Read More Here

(PaulWatson)  – Video: Rothschilds Engineer Fire Sale Of UK Infrastructure To Offshore Corporations

The Rothschild banking family is pushing for the privatization of the UK’s motorway network that would force Brits, who already pay road tax, to enrich the coffers of private corporations intimately tied in with the Rothschilds by means of road tolls and pay-by-mile schemes enforced with spy cameras.

“A plan to privatize the UK’s motorway network, giving toll firms access to large swaths of road, would take place under the guise of paying down the government’s debt, British media reported Tuesday, citing a number of key officials who support the scheme, proposed to all major political parties by NM Rothschild, one of the world’s oldest, most influential and little discussed investment banks, founded by the Rothschild family,” reports Raw Story. –

Video: California Water Crisis – Part I – California Delta

A well-informed patriot discusses the California water crisis in the San Joaquin Valley at the Atascadero Tea Party, which was held on “tax day,” April 15, 2010.

Also featured in the video, are Congressman Devin Nunes, R-CA21 — who has been fighting to restore water to the farms in his district — and Congressman Tom McClintock R-CA4, who has been assisting in that fight in his capacity as a member of the House Water and Power subcommittee.

Obama Exporting Chicago’s Misery to a City Near You

(Townhall) – If you want to get a good glimpse of what America will look like if President Obama continues to push his “change” agenda, take a close look at Chicago. But brace yourself: it is not a pretty picture.

Chicago, as we all know, is Mr. Obama’s home and the place where he served as a community organizer, a state legislator, and a US Senator. Obama championed a variety of jobs creation programs, advanced ideas to reduce crime, and sought earmarks totaling some $800 million dollars to boost the Chicago economy. By all accounts, he was energetic, determined, and successful pushing these programs.

But while many, including Obama, have focused almost exclusively on Mr. Obama’s noble intentions, few have focused on the results. Which of Obama’s efforts in Chicago delivered the promised benefits? None.

Chicago is a city in crisis. Crime rates have surged despite the many, Obama-led, community-building efforts. The number of Americans murdered in Chicago this year is about the same number of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past year. Two State Senators have argued that Chicago’s crime problem is too big for locals to solve and have called for deployment of the National Guard. Read entire article

Growing Homelessness in America – Stephen Lendman

In the world’s richest country, the trend is shocking, disturbing and appalling. In its 2009 report on “Hunger and Homelessness in US Cities,” the US Conference of Mayors stated:

“Hunger and homelessness (are) at record levels in US cities,” citing an overall 26% demand increase over the past year and 19% more homelessness. Yet worsening conditions leave millions on their own and out of luck because Washington has other priorities excluding them.

“At a time of historic economic crisis, the issues of hunger and homelessness in America are more prevalent than ever.” Cities are hard-pressed to handle them, and planned budget cuts and revenue shortfalls will strap them well into the future.

Video: The Government As Identity Thieves – Ron Paul

(C4L) – The spotlight remains on the Greek sovereign debt crisis as the riots continue. The terms of the Greek bailout from the IMF and Eurozone countries remain contentious with citizens on all sides. Europeans hate having their governments throw public money away as much as Americans do. The Greeks are not happy about having their taxes raised while their pensions and salaries are cut. Meanwhile, it is rumored by the Financial Times, AFP and others that Greece may spend more than it saves from austerity measures on arms deals with Germany, France and the US as a potential condition of receiving bailout funds. If true, it is certainly not unprecedented for the global military industrial complex to benefit from deals made by their friends in the central banking community. After all, war is the health of the state. The last thing big government proponents want is for peace to break out in the world.

Economy

(ZeroHedge) – With Local Gold Inventories Depleted, Panicking German Dealers Stage Run On Krugerrands – Tyler Durden

Last week we noted that several prominent Austrian and German gold dealers had run out of inventory and were no longer transacting with a European population that has suddenly discovered gold religion. As a result, dealers are now focusing procurement efforst outside of Europe, with South Africa receiving the brunt of Europe’s panic for physical precious metals. As the FT reports, “At the Rand refinery in South Africa, the phone has not stopped ringing this week.” Just imagine what will happen when the gold bug goes airborne and jumps across the Atlantic… Read More Here

(Rense) – Our Sympathies To The People Of Greece – It’s “déjà-vu all over again”!!! – Adrian Salbuchi

When Argentinians watch the news today and see the terrible things that are happening in Greece, we cannot but say, “Hey!! This is EXACTLY like Argentina in December 2001 and beginning of 2002!”. Then too, Argentina underwent its worst systemic banking, public debt and monetary collapse which led to social turmoil, mad violence, rioting, and social war. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Greece Considering Legal Action Against U.S. Banks for Crisis

Greece is considering taking legal action against U.S. investment banks that might have contributed to the country’s debt crisis, Prime Minister George Papandreou said. Read More Here

(ChartingStocks) – Federal Deficit Chart (1901 to 2010)

Federal Deficit chart from 1901 to present. It aint pretty! See comparisons of current deficit with that of World War 2 below. See Chart Here

(GlobalResearch) – Financial Fraud. How It Works. The Truth behind the Madoff Investment Scandal

The mass media is not telling the entire truth about the Bernie Madoff scandal and that is contributing to the suffering of the victims of the largest investment scandal in history. Massachusetts School of Law Dean Lawrence Velvel ought to know; he’s one of them.
“Let me tell you the things you don’t know,” said Velvel, who has written extensively on the complex subject in books and blogs and hosted several television programs dealing with the Madoff affair. “The media isn’t telling the whole story because they generally focus only on the very wealthy people who were taken in. But the vast majority of the victims are ordinary people, like you and me, and they are the ones who are now left twisting in the wind. It looks to us like the wealthy are being helped now while the average bloke who put in $500,000 or $750,000 and who needed to use the income in order to live is being hurt.” Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – The Vicious Circle of Debt and Depression – It Is a Class War

Never before has so much debt been imposed on so many people by so few financial operatives—operatives who work from Wall Street, the largest casino in history, and a handful of its junior counterparts around the world, especially Europe. Read More Here

Will the Wall Street Banksters Ever Be Held Accountable? – Danny Schechter

We are all still stuck in the “big Muddy.” No, not the wars of old or even the oil disaster. The mud I am referring to is more like quicksand and it sucks anyone who wants to look at what happened in the financial crisis deeper and deeper into it.

Soon, you are buried in shifting sea of so-called “exotic financial instruments,” and tranches, derivatives, credit default swaps, naked short-selling, etc and so forth, ad fin item. It’s murkier in there than in the oil-infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Stop, my head hurts. Read More Here

Video: More Banking Propaganda Brought to You by a Division of The Royal Bank of Scotland –

Economy

(InfoClearingHouse) – Finance 101: Blame the Poor (While Taking Their Money) – Read More Here

Video: Daniel Cohn-Bendit (english subtitles) about Greece’s financial woes

Euro deputy Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA) challenges the European Commission and Parliament about their stance on financial support for Greece. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Why The UK Is The Next European Country To Experience A Massive Debt Crisis – Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Video: Jim Rogers – Gold has HUGE potential! – Video Link Here

(DrHousingBubble) – Housing never really improved – 10 charts showing the United States housing market is entering the second wave of problems. 1 out of 4 people with no mortgage payment in the last year are still not in the foreclosure process – Read More Here

(FinancialTimes) – Portugal to unveil ‘crisis tax’ to cut deficit

José Sócrates, Portugal’s prime minister, will announce tough new austerity measures on Thursday, including a “crisis tax” on companies and wages, to accelerate cuts in the country’s gaping budget deficit. Read More Here

(PaulWatson) – CEO Predicts Market Armageddon: Dow To 5,000

Cornerstone Wealth Management CEO David Hefty agrees with a growing number of other financial experts that a real estate collapse in China before the end of the year will send shockwaves through the global economy, leading to a stock market collapse which will send the Dow into free fall below the 5,000 level. Read More Here

(RussiaToday) – Video: Gerald Celente – “we are going to see more and more violence” Greek Crisis

Amid a financial bailout in Europe, it is the banks that are doing the robbing, says trend forecaster Gerald Celente. He believes the ensuing protests are well-deserved and will not stop. Video Link Here

(PeterSantilli) – You Are Being Lied To By The Entire Financial System

Almost every US Corporation will do and say anything to keep us spending money, regardless of what they know about the fragility of our entire financial system. Bankster’s are now using world governments as patsies to commit the largest heist in world history. Stealing a trillion dollars from US citizens proved to be too difficult, as they had to receive congressional approval to bail themselves out. They’re recent scam involves using central banks to bypass democracy & funnel money to offshore entities without oversight. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Video: Raw Footage Of Violent Bailout Protests In Ireland

It’s not just Greece. Via The Daily Bail, here’s what the Irish street looks like, as protesters attempt to storm parliament in protest of bank bailouts. Video Link Here

(InternationalForecaster) – Europe and America Morally and Financially Bankrupt – Bob Chapman

Greece has its immediate financing. Now the question is can they follow the prescription? In all likelihood the answer is no. the bond markets are reflecting that via a lack of confidence. In fact, some bond markets are falling apart and there is no end in sight. We have bond rating firms lowering ratings, as the rating services themselves are under serious fire and we do not believe they will be around long. The big question is why did it take two years and 10 months to react? Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – First Gold, Now Europe Running Out Of Silver – Tyler Durden

Earlier we noted that the Austrian mint was on its way to depleting its gold reserves following “panicked buying” from Europeans, who now openly fear the demise of their currency. Now, courtesy of Slim Beleggen, we understand that the situation in the silver market is just as bad and has also spilled over to Germany: the contagion is no longer one of sovereign debt, but of precious metal physical inventory. Read More Here

(PaulWatson) – Gold Could Explode To $3,000 As Confidence In Currencies Collapses

Financial analyst David Rosenberg says gold could explode to $3,000 an ounce as European investors dump the ailing euro in exchange for the precious metal while JP Morgan states that bullion could face unlimited demand as panic buying ensues on the back of crumbling confidence in fiat currencies. Read More Here

(FoxBusiness) – Video: Peter Schiff – Buy Gold – Video Link Here

(RussiaToday) – Video: Gerald Celente – Banks robbing the people – Video Link Here

(Bloomberg) – Video: Is Portugal the next Greece? – Video Link Here

(WashingtonsBlog) – California Is More Likely to Default than Iceland or Iraq

The Federal Reserve isn’t the only one who owns credit default swaps betting that California will default.

As Ed Harrison points out, credit default traders have now ranked California in the list of top 10 governments most likely to default, with a 20% default probability: Read More Here

(WSJ) – Gulf Oil Spill Is Spoiling Tourism

A survey conducted by the Knowland Group May 3 and 4 of 50 hotel properties along the Gulf Coast found that 35% of respondents say the oil spill has prompted potential guests to cancel their reservations. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – The U.S. Government Is About To Get Hit With ‘The Perfect Storm’ Of Debt – Read More Here

(Examiner) – Economist Tim Madden: The PIIGS Brief: understanding how oligarchs rig, loot our economies. 3 of 4

Tim Madden is an economist with expertise on credit and banking. Tim and I are colleagues in lobbying government for public banking, with concentration in the US for state-owned banks (and here). The good news is that structural solutions to our economic controlled demolition are obvious and simple; and explained beautifully by many of America’s brightest historical minds. The bad news is that we’re still mired in oligarchic looting of our economies. Read More Here

(IceNews) – Yet another day of Iceland banking arrests

Ingolfur Helgason, the former Director of Kaupthing Iceland, and Steingrimur Karason, former CEO of the bank’s risk management department, were both arrested today upon arriving back in Iceland. They went straight to interrogation with the Special Prosecutor and are being held in police cells. Read More Here

Lots Of Layoffs As The Depression Worsens

Ciena Corporation – 140 International Jobs
Jordan School District Utah – 190
Apria Healthcare – 29
City of Garfield NJ – Considering 20 Job Cuts
The city of Lewiston Maine – 22 Positions
Takeda Pharmaceutical Chicago – 500
Diageo Plc, – Job Cuts Coming Soon
Auburn University AL – 12 Custodian Workers
Update: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools – 500 Layoff Notices
Long Beach School District – 243
Oceanside Unified School District – Finalize 61 Layoffs
The Mt. Diablo school CA – 200
Peterborough Regional Health ( International ) – 20 Management
Ranch Market – 200
NY Health and Hospitals Corporation – 500
Viz Media – 60
Los Angeles CA – 1,700 Layoffs Needed to Close Budget Gap
Milford Hospital Connecticut – Layoffs are planned
AM General Mishawaka plant – 50
The City of Xenia Ohio – 9
Chevron Corporation – 925
Barnegat Township Schools NJ – 25 More
General Dynamics/NASSCO – 900 San Diego Layoffs Possible
Madison Heights MI – up to 48 Possible
Rocklin Unified School District CA – 50
The El Segundo schools CA – 20

(FoxBusiness) – Video: Ron Paul – Stop the Bailout of Foreign Banks! –

Louisiana lawmakers: BP can’t handle Gulf oil spill cleanup anymore

(ChristianScienceMonitor) – The three week-old environmental crisis took on new urgency last weekend as oil moved west of the Mississippi River and threatened Barataria, Terrebonne, and Atchafalaya bays, as well as the wetlands of Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes – among the state’s most fertile fisheries. Read More Here

See Also:

(Guardian) – White House aims to use Deepwater disaster to win votes for US climate bill

Senators are set to take a last run at producing a climate and energy law tomorrow, betting on the spectre of environmental disaster raised by the BP oil spill to build support for a comprehensive overhaul of America’s energy strategy. Read More Here

(Examiner) – Toxic chemicals used in BP oil spill cleanup, oil to remain flowing through Gulf

In spite of responsive cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico after last month’s oil rig explosion and spill, officials from British Petroleum (BP) announced Wednesday, May 12 that oil flow will resume as soon as leaks are stopped. Read More Here

(AP) – What went wrong at oil rig? A lot, probers find

New disclosures Wednesday revealed a complex cascade of deep-sea equipment failures and procedural problems in the oil rig explosion and massive spill that is still fouling the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and threatening industries and wildlife near the coast and on shore. Read More Here

(WSWS) – US Senate begins oil spill cover-up – Read More Here

(DemocracyNow) – Video: As Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Spreads, BP, Halliburton and Transocean Executives Deflect Blame for Spill at Senate Hearings – Video Link Here

(ComonDreams) – Moving Our Nation Beyond Petroleum – Read More Here

(Boston) – Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico – Read More Here

Economy Part 2

(C-Span) – Video: Ron Paul I Am Very Concerned About What’s Going To Happen!

(Reuters) – U.S. Senate rejects broader Fed audit amendment: May 11

The U.S. Senate rejected an amendment on Tuesday that would have exposed the Federal Reserve to broader scrutiny by Congress, which critics said would extend to monetary policy decisions. Read More Here

(DailyCrux) – Porter Stansberry: The U.S. dollar is about to implode – Read More Here

(DailyMail) – Unions warn of Greek-style riots in Britain against public sector cuts after court victory over capping of redundancies

Militant unions today sent a chilling warning of Greek-style strikes and protests after winning a major legal victory for civil servants made redundant.

The warning raises fears of months of chaos triggered by a furious public sector who refuse to accept painful changes to tackle Britain’s financial crisis. Read More Here

(Reuters) – FOREX-Euro falls as market doubts rescue package

The euro fell on Tuesday as the relief rally unleashed by an emergency aid package to prevent the spread of a euro zone debt crisis dissipated and the focus switched back to structural problems plaguing the bloc. Read More Here

(WashingtonsBlog) – The Second Leg of the Great Depression Was Caused by European Defaults

Many Americans know that the Great Depression was started by the bursting of the giant Wall Street bubble of the 1920’s (fueled by the use of bank deposits on speculative gambling, which is why Glass-Steagall was passed) , which in turn caused a run on American banks. Read More Here

Video: Gerald Celente on The Tommy Schnurmacher Show

Senate Votes 96-0 For One Time Audit Of Federal Reserve

(C4L) – The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein (who has not come out either for, or against, an audit of the Fed) raises the same question many of us at Campaign for Liberty had when looking at the Sanders amendment…

The amended version of Audit the Fed passed the Senate 96 to 0 today. A version that was closer to the original — that is to say, it would’ve created a regular audit rather than a one-time audit — lost, 37 to 62. I’m a bit confused by a world in which 96 senators think we need to know what the Fed did in 2008 and 2009 but only 37 think we’ll need to know what the Fed did in 2012 and 2013.

What the Sanders amendment really called for was a mere one-time disclosure of some emergency lending powers used by the Federal Reserve during the most recent fiscal crisis, not an audit.

Video: Democracy Now! – Tariq Ali and Mark Weisbrot Discuss Greece’s Economic Crisis and Popular Uprising

“The People of Greece Are Fighting for the Whole of Europe”
The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have approved a nearly $1 trillion package to stop Greece’s debt crisis from spilling beyond its borders into the rest of the eurozone. Stocks surged in Europe, Asia and the United States Monday after EU leaders agreed to a $960 billion package to contain Greece’s financial troubles. Meanwhile, the austerity measures demanded by the IMF and the European Union as a condition of their loan are continuing to exact their toll. Greece’s two main unions have continued to hold protests against the reforms. In a statement, one of the unions said, “The crisis should be paid by…all those who looted public finances.” Last week nearly 100,000 people participated in a mass demonstration and a twenty-four-hour general strike against the austerity measures. Video Link Here

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Video: Food Crisis 2010 and US Dollar Impact

(SicSemperTyrannis) – There has been lots of talk about a coming food crisis due to the massive looting of the nations under the cover of an “economic crisis”. Recently, a report published by The Trumpet has shown food prices spinning out of control.

In the article it shows some of the most startling year-over-year price increases in the U.S. markets:

Video: Greg Palast – “Remove the Bloodsuckers”

(TheExcavator) – The solution to the Greek crisis, and the global debt crisis, is simple according to investigative reporter Greg Palast. In his 2001 article called “The Globalizer Who Came In From the Cold,” Palast suggests that we should “remove the bloodsuckers,” who are the global financial wizards that work at the IMF, WTO and the World Bank and practice the art of dark finance. Palast details the step-by-step plan of how these transnational economic parasites bring entire nations to ruin, which he learned after he gained a hold of some precious World Bank documents that laid out the banksters’ game-plan of how to harness the financial will of sovereign nations and use it against them. Palast also talked with Joseph Stiglitz, the former Chief Economist of the World Bank and a Nobel prize winner, for the piece.

Video: Gerald Celente On The Alex Jones Show – Stock Market; War; Terror

Part 1 of 8 – “The merger of state and corporate powers is called fascism” –

Video: Greece riots – 100,000 fight against harsh cuts in Athens financial crisis protests

See Also:

(CNN) – Video: Greece Descends Into CHAOS! – Video Link Here

(BusinessInsider) – Pictures Of The Most Violent Greek Riot Yet – Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Greece: Poverty and Social Implosion in the Wake of the Financial Bailout

“This is not our debt, but we are being made to pay for it,” said one angry Greek worker, explaining why he like thousands of other Greeks are taking to the streets in protest at their country’s bail-out plan. Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Deadly Greek Bank Fire Blamed on Opposition to IMF Austerity

How to discredit growing opposition to “austerity” measures? Kill a few people. It looks like this may be what happened in Greece today. Read More Here

(TimesOnline) – Greeks begin two-day strike as banking system is saved from meltdown

Greek public sector workers today began a 48-hour national strike that is a first test of the Government’s ability to enact new austerity measures agreed with the EU and IMF in return for billions of euros in aid. Read More Here

Cut the Partisan Crap … BOTH the Private Sector AND the Government are to Blame for the Financial Crisis

(WashingtonsBlog) – Partisan GOP hacks say the financial crisis was caused by too much regulation, and government interference in the markets.

But Glass-Steagall was repealed, derivatives were left unregulated, and the regulators were watching porn instead of preventing fraud. Giant banks, hedge funds and other fat cat private players knowingly gamed the market and committed fraud in more ways than can be listed in a single post.

Video: The second world economic crisis – Webster Tarpley

(RussiaToday) – April 28, 2010 – With Greece’s debt mounting by the day and the United States starting to recover from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, will there be a ripple effect from Greece’s troubles? While U.S. cities and towns wrestle with financial problems, investors are finding a new way to profit on their misery: by buying derivatives that essentially bet municipalities will default.