While the First Lady poses for country-style photo ops in the White House vegetable garden, she totes around what the WH claims is an $875 VBH patent leather clutch while on a casual stroll in Russia [see photo]. However, Italian luxury goods manufacturer VBH vaunted publicly that the First Lady was in possession of their $5,950 alligator manila clutch, according to NY Daily News. The White House denied the VBH claim, stating that the First Lady was carrying the $875 VBH patent leather clutch -- like there's really any difference in a depression.
Even after the WH made the bag denial, a VBH rep insisted the bag was their $5,950 alligator manila clutch. “It’s definitely ours,” she said. But curiously the rep later backed off. "If that's what the White House is saying, then it's a patent bag," said VBH rep Kelly Vitko.
That's called damage control.
Washington elites have never represented the people they are elected to serve -- that vision is merely an obligatory and playful facade. The elite represent the elite. British Royalty and their historical paradigms are alive and well in the White House, whose inhabitants live an imperial lifestyle funded by the taxpayer.
Also See: First Lady requires more than 20 attendants
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Foreclosed on Families Live in Hotels
According to a joint report by four of the largest U.S. homeless advocacy groups, almost 80 percent of homeless service providers report foreclosures have rendered many families homeless in cities across the nation, and because homeless shelters are at full capacity, families are forced to live in hotels, paid for by vouchers from states and non profits. Jason Szep with Reuters reports that in Massachusetts, homeless shelters are at capacity. State law requires temporary accommodation for those without shelter, leading authorities to place 830 families, including 1,125 children, in 39 motels -- an unprecedented number.
"This truly is the highest we have ever seen it," said Nancy Paladino, director of the family team for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless. "The hotel owners will tell you it has increased. The homeless service providers and the school officials will say we know there are more people living in hotels and putting their kids in school because that is the address they are giving us."
In Phoenix, writes Szep, demand for emergency accommodation is swamping available services as the recession and spiraling foreclosures turn even more families out of their homes. One nonprofit bought two former hotels -- a Days Inn and a Super 8 -- in a gritty downtown neighborhood to provide emergency accommodation for homeless and low income families. When the $23 million project is finished in September, it will be able to house 156 families, up from 112 now.
"We've seen a whole new subset of homeless families due to job loss and foreclosures, and our waiting list has doubled in the past year," said Nichole Barnes, chief fund development officer of the UMOM New Day Centers. "Some were previous homeowners. Due to the housing market out here, they'd got into a mortgage with a flexible interest rate. Some were working full time, but lost their jobs, went through their savings trying to save their home, and then found themselves without a home due to foreclosure," she said.
"This truly is the highest we have ever seen it," said Nancy Paladino, director of the family team for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless. "The hotel owners will tell you it has increased. The homeless service providers and the school officials will say we know there are more people living in hotels and putting their kids in school because that is the address they are giving us."
In Phoenix, writes Szep, demand for emergency accommodation is swamping available services as the recession and spiraling foreclosures turn even more families out of their homes. One nonprofit bought two former hotels -- a Days Inn and a Super 8 -- in a gritty downtown neighborhood to provide emergency accommodation for homeless and low income families. When the $23 million project is finished in September, it will be able to house 156 families, up from 112 now.
"We've seen a whole new subset of homeless families due to job loss and foreclosures, and our waiting list has doubled in the past year," said Nichole Barnes, chief fund development officer of the UMOM New Day Centers. "Some were previous homeowners. Due to the housing market out here, they'd got into a mortgage with a flexible interest rate. Some were working full time, but lost their jobs, went through their savings trying to save their home, and then found themselves without a home due to foreclosure," she said.
Sample Coin of New ‘World Currency’
Bloomberg reports Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pulled from his pocket a sample coin at the G8 meeting that he claims will replace the dollar as the world currency -- a “united future world currency,” he called it. “Here it is,” Medvedev told reporters...in L’Aquila, Italy, after a summit of the Group of Eight nations. “You can see it and touch it.”
The coin, which bears the words “unity in diversity,” was minted in Belgium and presented to the heads of G-8 delegations, Medvedev said.
The question of a supranational currency “concerns everyone now, even the mints,” Medvedev said. The test coin “means they’re getting ready. I think it’s a good sign that we understand how interdependent we are.”
Medvedev has repeatedly called for creating a mix of regional reserve currencies as part of the drive to address the global financial crisis, says Bloomberg, while questioning the U.S. dollar’s future as a global reserve currency. Russia’s proposals for the G-20 meeting in London in April included the creation of a supranational currency.
Friday, July 10, 2009
The FED Threatens Congress
The FED threatens that if Congress dare review FED actions, the whole country will fall apart -- sound familiar? Ron Paul has the support of more than half of the House of Representatives for a bill that would audit the Fed’s monetary policy decisions. Paul wants to prevent the Fed being "secret and clandestine and serving special interests”.
Remember, the FED is the core of all U.S. financial problems. As Ron Paul stated to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, "From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the burst of the dotcom bubble...every economic downturn suffered by the country over the last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial 'boom' followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts".
The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful and secretive institutions in Washington, long considered beyond the reach of lawmakers. But now, as details emerge of how the Fed secretly doled out more than a trillion dollars during the financial crisis, a rare bipartisan movement in Congress demands that the Fed be held accountable.
There is a monumental power struggle taking place. The "O Team" wants to increase FED power to unprecedented levels despite the FED's obvious mob-like dictates to its field soldiers like Bank of America and the ordered takeover of Merrill Lynch.
Get a load of Donald Kohn's (vice-chairman of the US Federal Reserve) ludicrous and impudent justification for maintaining FED secrecy:
Ask yourself why that is? What have they got to hide? Who do these people think they are?
Paul has the FED up against the wall for now but I doubt his efforts will stick. The FED will most likely browbeat Congress into submission with fear tactics as Hank and friends did in the past. Better yet, many in Congress already know what the FED is up to and are complicit. The whole system is corrupt to the core; people are so accustom to the corruption, no one even bats an eye anymore. In fact the dismal weight of fascism and mass lethargy is growing so pervasive, I feel as if I'm living within Orwell's novel 1984.
Ilargi summed the situation up beautifully: "The idea that government agencies, who arguably have the best access to data, use that access to distort those same data, seems so intertwined with how society functions these days that not only are there hardly any protests, there's not even much surprise. And that, let me say it once again, depicts an all-out political crisis".
Remember, the FED is the core of all U.S. financial problems. As Ron Paul stated to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, "From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the burst of the dotcom bubble...every economic downturn suffered by the country over the last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial 'boom' followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts".
The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful and secretive institutions in Washington, long considered beyond the reach of lawmakers. But now, as details emerge of how the Fed secretly doled out more than a trillion dollars during the financial crisis, a rare bipartisan movement in Congress demands that the Fed be held accountable.
There is a monumental power struggle taking place. The "O Team" wants to increase FED power to unprecedented levels despite the FED's obvious mob-like dictates to its field soldiers like Bank of America and the ordered takeover of Merrill Lynch.
Get a load of Donald Kohn's (vice-chairman of the US Federal Reserve) ludicrous and impudent justification for maintaining FED secrecy:
"Although Federal Reserve officials regularly explain the rationale for their policy decisions in public venues, the process of vetting ideas and proposals, many of which are never incorporated into policy decisions, could suffer from the threat of public disclosure," Mr Kohn told a House Financial Services subcommittee.
"If policymakers believed that (Government Accountability Office) audits would result in published analyses of their policy discussions, they might be less willing to engage in the unfettered and wide-ranging internal debates that are essential to identifying the best possible policy options.”
Ask yourself why that is? What have they got to hide? Who do these people think they are?
Paul has the FED up against the wall for now but I doubt his efforts will stick. The FED will most likely browbeat Congress into submission with fear tactics as Hank and friends did in the past. Better yet, many in Congress already know what the FED is up to and are complicit. The whole system is corrupt to the core; people are so accustom to the corruption, no one even bats an eye anymore. In fact the dismal weight of fascism and mass lethargy is growing so pervasive, I feel as if I'm living within Orwell's novel 1984.
Ilargi summed the situation up beautifully: "The idea that government agencies, who arguably have the best access to data, use that access to distort those same data, seems so intertwined with how society functions these days that not only are there hardly any protests, there's not even much surprise. And that, let me say it once again, depicts an all-out political crisis".
Still wonder if the market's rigged?
After a former Goldman Sachs employee was arrested by the FBI on federal charges for stealing software codes from Goldman's automated stock and commodities trading business, a story in Bloomberg indicated Goldman was concerned that there was a danger somebody who knew how to use their stolen program could use it to "manipulate markets in unfair ways". So how was Goldman using it?
Now read John Crudele's take:
Now read John Crudele's take:
According to the New York Stock Exchange figures for the week of April 13 that I quoted, Goldman executed twice as many big trades -- called "program" trades by the industry -- as any other firm. And, the bulk of the 1.234 billion shares bought by Goldman that week were paid for with the firm's own money.
Of course, Goldman would have to be mighty confident that stock prices were going up to risk so much of its own capital. Or, perhaps, it knew stocks would be rising. This was the time, remember, when banks were trying to recapitalize by selling shares to the public. Goldman, you'll also recall, had turned itself into a bank holding company so it could take $10 billion in government money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Goldman also sold billions worth of new stock to the public while all this was happening. How much harder would it have been for banks to sell stock to nervous investors if the market was swooning rather than booming? Goldman's sudden and inexplicable optimism about stocks was incredibly opportune for the banking industry in general, for Goldman in particular and -- here's where the conspiracy starts to unfold -- for the government.
It's tough, however, to do what needs to be done to rescue the market when pesky journalists and annoying bloggers are looking over your shoulder. So a couple weeks ago the NYSE suddenly announced that brokerage firms would no longer have to report their program trades. The new rule takes effect next week. Convenient!
Cash for clunkers: an irresponsible govt scam
If you own a drivable car made within the last 25 years, and still get 18 miles per gallon or even a few miles less, keep it. This bogus "Cash-For-Clunkers" rebate system is nothing but a money grab for the dying auto industry. Under this program consumers are permitted to trade in a car that gets 18 miles per gallon for a large truck that gets even fewer miles per gallon, or new small trucks and SUVs that get the same gas mileage. Does that promote Washington's alleged fuel efficiency aim? Of course not. The government isn't telling you that if your auto is worth more than the voucher you'd be better off taking the regular trade-in value. The vouchers themselves are not an addition to trade-in values; the autos under the cash-for-clunkers program will be scrapped, negating their trade-in value all together.
We find it to be a stretch to believe that anyone driving around in a car that’s worth less than $4,500 can suddenly–in the middle of Great Recession–afford a new car, says Business Insider’s Jay Yarrow. There’s a reason they’re driving around in a clunker, he says, and no $4,500 discount is really going to do much to change that.
Additionally, the scrap value of your vehicle is determined by the dealer; in many cases you won't receive anywhere near $3500 or $4500 for your vehicle. The program is a scam designed to get you in the door.
We're in a depression. The last thing consumers need do is generate more debt. Purchasing a new vehicle imposes an immediate monthly payment obligation in overhead for living expenses plus additional insurance costs for full coverage. If the government was really interested in helping cash-strapped Americans, they would allow the vouchers to be applied to used cars that qualify for fuel efficiency -- even Dianne Feinstein coined this scam "handouts for Hummers."
We find it to be a stretch to believe that anyone driving around in a car that’s worth less than $4,500 can suddenly–in the middle of Great Recession–afford a new car, says Business Insider’s Jay Yarrow. There’s a reason they’re driving around in a clunker, he says, and no $4,500 discount is really going to do much to change that.
Additionally, the scrap value of your vehicle is determined by the dealer; in many cases you won't receive anywhere near $3500 or $4500 for your vehicle. The program is a scam designed to get you in the door.
We're in a depression. The last thing consumers need do is generate more debt. Purchasing a new vehicle imposes an immediate monthly payment obligation in overhead for living expenses plus additional insurance costs for full coverage. If the government was really interested in helping cash-strapped Americans, they would allow the vouchers to be applied to used cars that qualify for fuel efficiency -- even Dianne Feinstein coined this scam "handouts for Hummers."
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Let them eat cake: First Lady requires more than twenty attendants
In a previous post I mentioned back in March officials shut down half of New York City so Obama and his wife could sip martinis, dine in a swank restaurant, and see a Broadway show. Obama and the First Lady took two helicopters and a small Air Force jet to get to Manhattan where they dined at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village. Transportation for The First Couple’s night out totaled at least $24,000.
Canada Free Press reported Tuesday that the First Lady requires more than twenty attendants. "The benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public":
1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (CHIEF OF STAFF)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
6. $90,000 - Medina, David S. (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (DIRECTOR AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCE AND TRIP DIRECTOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
14. Lewis, Dana M. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR SCHEDULING AND TRAVELING AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
18. Tubman, Samantha (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,SOCIAL OFFICE)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
21. Bookey, Natalie (STAFF ASSISTANT)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
Canada Free Press reported Tuesday that the First Lady requires more than twenty attendants. "The benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public":
1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (CHIEF OF STAFF)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
6. $90,000 - Medina, David S. (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (DIRECTOR AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCE AND TRIP DIRECTOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
14. Lewis, Dana M. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR SCHEDULING AND TRAVELING AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
18. Tubman, Samantha (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,SOCIAL OFFICE)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
21. Bookey, Natalie (STAFF ASSISTANT)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
Barter Exchange Services Skyrocket
As congress, the Obama people, and the financial elite continue their green shoot charade, aided by mainstream media whores who serve as nothing but stenographers for those in power, a subculture is forming across America in preparation for what most people know is already upon us: a protracted depression. In a world where cash is king, business owners have turned to barter exchange services to preserve cash. The U.S. currently boasts some 500 barter exchanges, up from about 40 in 1980, according to CNN's Justin Martin, and that's the official count; many businesses barter informally to avoid the IRS.
Martin writes about Christian Kar, the founder of Silver Cup Coffee, a company with 16 employees that make high-end espresso machines and custom coffee blends. "In recent months," writes Martin, "Kar has bartered for Web site design, a walk-in freezer, a phone system, vehicle maintenance, plumbing, catering for a company holiday party and a parking lot paint job. Kar estimates that 5% of his company's expenses are covered through barter.
"Tina Ames owns the Craftsmen Cafe, a Clarence, N.Y. eatery that specializes in organic comfort fare such as chicken soup and apple pie. Recently she needed to replace her restaurant's roof, a $7,000 job. Ames was loath to part with that much cash and didn't want to take out a loan. Her solution? She cut a deal with a local contractor who handled the roofing job in exchange for a Ford F-150 pickup that Ames no longer needed."
"I grew up on a farm," she says. "If you had eggs and someone else had corn, you traded. It's an old way of doing things, and it makes a lot of sense."
It's an old way of doing things that's about to become new again, new and permanent. The depth and length of Depression 2.0 will be the most severe depression in history. When the unemployment benefits run out for great swaths across America, who will they turn to when bankrupt states slash welfare and food stamp programs? As our global economy comes to a full stop, trade will begin to flourish in local communities out of necessity. An unemployed carpenter will barter for fresh eggs or produce from a local farmer in exchange for a new chicken coop. We will all be forced to depend more on ourselves and our abilities -- it's a good thing.
Martin writes about Christian Kar, the founder of Silver Cup Coffee, a company with 16 employees that make high-end espresso machines and custom coffee blends. "In recent months," writes Martin, "Kar has bartered for Web site design, a walk-in freezer, a phone system, vehicle maintenance, plumbing, catering for a company holiday party and a parking lot paint job. Kar estimates that 5% of his company's expenses are covered through barter.
"Tina Ames owns the Craftsmen Cafe, a Clarence, N.Y. eatery that specializes in organic comfort fare such as chicken soup and apple pie. Recently she needed to replace her restaurant's roof, a $7,000 job. Ames was loath to part with that much cash and didn't want to take out a loan. Her solution? She cut a deal with a local contractor who handled the roofing job in exchange for a Ford F-150 pickup that Ames no longer needed."
"I grew up on a farm," she says. "If you had eggs and someone else had corn, you traded. It's an old way of doing things, and it makes a lot of sense."
It's an old way of doing things that's about to become new again, new and permanent. The depth and length of Depression 2.0 will be the most severe depression in history. When the unemployment benefits run out for great swaths across America, who will they turn to when bankrupt states slash welfare and food stamp programs? As our global economy comes to a full stop, trade will begin to flourish in local communities out of necessity. An unemployed carpenter will barter for fresh eggs or produce from a local farmer in exchange for a new chicken coop. We will all be forced to depend more on ourselves and our abilities -- it's a good thing.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Chilling Truth Behind Govt Unemployment Lies
Since 2000 the government has used the Birth-Death Model to account for the birth and death of businesses which exaggerates the number of jobs being created each month, and alters the unemployment figures in the government's favor. Mish and others have pointed this out endlessly but it's worth repeating. Anthony Mirhaydari reminds us that "John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics specializes in removing these questionable tweaks to the government's statistical data to better align current numbers with the methodology used to gather historical data. After reviewing the data, Williams believes that 'the June jobs loss likely exceeded 700,000.' David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff notes that the fall in the number of hours worked in June (to a record low of 33 per week) is equivalent to a loss of more than 800,000 jobs.
"There are similar issues with the way the unemployment rate is measured. The headline rate only jumped from 9.4% to 9.5% because of a drop in the number of people in the workforce. The more inclusive "U-6" measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers, jumped from 16.4% to 16.5%. But even this doesn't adequately capture the situation on the ground: Back in the Clinton Administration, the definition of discouraged worker was changed to only include those that had given up looking for work because there were no jobs to be had within the last year. By adding these folks back in, William's SGS-Alternate Unemployment Measure rose to a jaw-dropping 20.6%.
"There are similar issues with the way the unemployment rate is measured. The headline rate only jumped from 9.4% to 9.5% because of a drop in the number of people in the workforce. The more inclusive "U-6" measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers, jumped from 16.4% to 16.5%. But even this doesn't adequately capture the situation on the ground: Back in the Clinton Administration, the definition of discouraged worker was changed to only include those that had given up looking for work because there were no jobs to be had within the last year. By adding these folks back in, William's SGS-Alternate Unemployment Measure rose to a jaw-dropping 20.6%.
"This brings us to another issue: expiring unemployment benefits. Continuing unemployment claims fell 53,000 to 6.7 million last week, but Deutsche Bank's chief U.S. economist Joseph LaVorgna wonders how much of this decline is due people exhausting their standard 26-week benefit. He says: "We are concerned about what will happen when a significant share of out-of-work individuals' benefits completely expire, because this could lead consumer spending to re-weaken, hence jeopardizing a fragile recovery. Unless the economy starts getting traction here in the third quarter, we could face a situation where people find that they have no job and no unemployment benefits. For these people, 2009 will feel an awful lot like 1932. As a result, spending cuts will be deep and dramatic."
Cyber Attack May Be Excuse To Freeze or Confiscate Bank Accounts, IRA, 401k
We are going to wake up one morning and Matt Lauer will inform us that are bank accounts are empty, all stock is worthless, and there is nothing in your 401K or IRA. That's the chilling futuristic scenario painted by Roy F. Grieder at fourwinds10.com. "None of our 'leaders' in D.C. will want to take the blame for this, says Grieder, "and will need an excuse for this. Most people will understand and even forgive how this happened when Matt goes on to say:
"...What I have told you is the direct result of a computer virus that has infected the worldwide financial complex that completely melted the balance sheets so that no one knows who owes what to whom anymore....Details on the new government monetary system will come out shortly."
Grieder's vision makes today's AP report that much more alarming:
The cyber attack is described as an "unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4", just one day before Reuters columnist Matthew Goldstein broke the story regarding a Goldman Sachs former employee arrested by the FBI on federal charges for stealing software codes to Goldman's automated stock and commodities trading business. Aleynikov apparently encrypted and uploaded the software to a website in Germany. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti said: “The bank [GS] has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways."
Facciponti told a federal judge that Aleynikov’s alleged theft poses a risk to U.S. markets because Aleynikov transferred the code to a computer server in Germany, and others may have had access to it, and Goldman Sachs may be harmed if the software is disseminated. “The copy in Germany is still out there," said Facciponti, "and we at this time do not know who else has access to it. Once it is out there, anybody will be able to use this, and their market share will be adversely affected.”
More from AP:
The South Korean sites included the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, the National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and top Internet portal Naver. They went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, said Ahn Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman at the Korea Information Security Agency.
Two government officials acknowledged that the Treasury and Secret Service sites were brought down, and said the agencies were working with their Internet service provider to resolve the problem.
Ben Rushlo, director of Internet technologies at Keynote Systems, called it a "massive outage" and said problems with the Transportation Department site began Saturday and continued until Monday, while the FTC site was down Sunday and Monday.
Keynote Systems is a mobile and Web site monitoring company based in San Mateo, Calif. The company publishes data detailing outages on Web sites, including 40 government sites it watches.
According to Rushlo, the Transportation Web site was "100 percent down" for two days, so that no Internet users could get through to it. The FTC site, meanwhile, started to come back online late Sunday, but even on Tuesday Internet users still were unable to get to the site 70 percent of the time.
"This is very strange. You don't see this," he said. "Having something 100 percent down for a 24-hour-plus period is a pretty significant event."
He added that, "The fact that it lasted for so long and that it was so significant in its ability to bring the site down says something about the site's ability to fend off (an attack) or about the severity of the attack."
"...What I have told you is the direct result of a computer virus that has infected the worldwide financial complex that completely melted the balance sheets so that no one knows who owes what to whom anymore....Details on the new government monetary system will come out shortly."
Grieder's vision makes today's AP report that much more alarming:
"The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government. Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening. Web sites of major South Korean government agencies, banks and Internet sites also were paralyzed in a suspected cyber attack Tuesday. An initial investigation found that many personal computers were infected with a virus ordering them to visit major official Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. at the same time, Korea Information Security Agency official Shin Hwa-su said."
The cyber attack is described as an "unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4", just one day before Reuters columnist Matthew Goldstein broke the story regarding a Goldman Sachs former employee arrested by the FBI on federal charges for stealing software codes to Goldman's automated stock and commodities trading business. Aleynikov apparently encrypted and uploaded the software to a website in Germany. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti said: “The bank [GS] has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways."
Facciponti told a federal judge that Aleynikov’s alleged theft poses a risk to U.S. markets because Aleynikov transferred the code to a computer server in Germany, and others may have had access to it, and Goldman Sachs may be harmed if the software is disseminated. “The copy in Germany is still out there," said Facciponti, "and we at this time do not know who else has access to it. Once it is out there, anybody will be able to use this, and their market share will be adversely affected.”
More from AP:
The South Korean sites included the presidential Blue House, the Defense Ministry, the National Assembly, Shinhan Bank, Korea Exchange Bank and top Internet portal Naver. They went down or had access problems since late Tuesday, said Ahn Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman at the Korea Information Security Agency.
Two government officials acknowledged that the Treasury and Secret Service sites were brought down, and said the agencies were working with their Internet service provider to resolve the problem.
Ben Rushlo, director of Internet technologies at Keynote Systems, called it a "massive outage" and said problems with the Transportation Department site began Saturday and continued until Monday, while the FTC site was down Sunday and Monday.
Keynote Systems is a mobile and Web site monitoring company based in San Mateo, Calif. The company publishes data detailing outages on Web sites, including 40 government sites it watches.
According to Rushlo, the Transportation Web site was "100 percent down" for two days, so that no Internet users could get through to it. The FTC site, meanwhile, started to come back online late Sunday, but even on Tuesday Internet users still were unable to get to the site 70 percent of the time.
"This is very strange. You don't see this," he said. "Having something 100 percent down for a 24-hour-plus period is a pretty significant event."
He added that, "The fact that it lasted for so long and that it was so significant in its ability to bring the site down says something about the site's ability to fend off (an attack) or about the severity of the attack."
U.S. Dollar is 'The World’s Biggest Ponzi Scheme'
The only reason the dollar hasn't totally collapsed is because its biggest holders are pumping it full of embalming fluid. As Bloomberg's William Pesek points out, "the dollar has become the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme...[it] isn’t crashing because those invested in it are propping it up and adding to their holdings. After all, the magnitude of Asia’s foreign-exchange holdings means it can’t dump the dollar without shooting its economies in the foot. Asia should indeed be plotting how to reduce its dollar holdings. Those trillions of dollars would be better used in Asia to pay for better roads, bridges, airports and power grids and improved education and health care."
Huang Xinyuan, vice president of a Chinese company that conducts business across China’s border with Vietnam says he no longer wants payment in U.S. dollars and prefers the yuan. Sales using the dollar dropped to 30 percent of contracts in 2008 from 87 percent in 2007, according to Bloomberg. The yuan, which has gained 21 percent since it was allowed to strengthen against the dollar starting in 2005, offers greater stability, he said.
“In recent years, the dollar has gone in only one direction and that is down,” said Huang, 45, in his second- floor office in Pingxiang, three kilometers from Vietnam. “Settling our orders in yuan removes a major risk.”
Banks in China and Hong Kong began wiring Chinese renminbi directly to one another on Monday to settle payments for imports and exports, according to the New York Times. Despite Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei telling reporters China supports the dollar as the main world reserve currency, China moves closer each day toward establishing the yuan as an international alternative to the dollar.
Meanwhile GATA reports Sprott Investment Management's chief investment strategist, John Embry predicts that once gold clears $1,000 it will never look back.
Huang Xinyuan, vice president of a Chinese company that conducts business across China’s border with Vietnam says he no longer wants payment in U.S. dollars and prefers the yuan. Sales using the dollar dropped to 30 percent of contracts in 2008 from 87 percent in 2007, according to Bloomberg. The yuan, which has gained 21 percent since it was allowed to strengthen against the dollar starting in 2005, offers greater stability, he said.
“In recent years, the dollar has gone in only one direction and that is down,” said Huang, 45, in his second- floor office in Pingxiang, three kilometers from Vietnam. “Settling our orders in yuan removes a major risk.”
Banks in China and Hong Kong began wiring Chinese renminbi directly to one another on Monday to settle payments for imports and exports, according to the New York Times. Despite Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei telling reporters China supports the dollar as the main world reserve currency, China moves closer each day toward establishing the yuan as an international alternative to the dollar.
Meanwhile GATA reports Sprott Investment Management's chief investment strategist, John Embry predicts that once gold clears $1,000 it will never look back.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
U.S. Martial Law Exercises July 27
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct National Level Exercises related specifically to "terrorism prevention and protection" on U.S. soil from July 27 thru July 31, 2009. The exercises will cover the Washington D.C. area, and the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The exercises will also involve troops from Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
According to Media Monarchy, "Northrop Grumman [ a corrupt government contractor akin to Halliburton] will conduct and evaluate the 2009 Tier 1 National Level Exercise, which is the largest and most complex national disaster drill conducted by FEMA’s National Exercise Division"
Source Watch claims: "Northrop Grumman is the third largest arms manufacturer in the world. The US company generates $18.7bn in revenue from its defense operations. Products areas include defense electronics, warships, radar and missile systems and space systems. Specific products include the B-2 Stealth Bomber and the Global Hawk Unarmed Aerial Vehicle. The company employs approximately 120,000 people worldwide, serving U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
"The company spent $16,729,865 for lobbying in 2006. Of this total, $1,336,995 went to 17 outside lobbying firms or individual lobbyists including The Livingston Group and Morris Amitay.
"In December 2001, CommonDreams.org wrote about Northrop Grumman's lobbying, "It doesn't hurt that Northrop Grumman has friends in high places, like Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, former Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems chief. Since September 11th, Roche has emphasized the need for more spending on intelligence systems, specifically mentioning Northrop Grumman's AWACS plane. Not content to rest on its laurels, the company is lobbying Congress for a $300 million to upgrade the $1.3 billion B-2 Stealth Bomber, which has successfully completed bombings run in Afghanistan."
According to Washington Technology, "Northrop Grumman Corp. spent $5.6 million to lobby the federal government in the first six months of 2007, the highest amount spent among the largest federal IT contractors, according to the latest disclosure forms filed with the Senate."
Congressman Brad Sherman: Martial Law if We Voted No
October 2, 2008, U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Brad Sherman [D-CA] asks:
"But why are we bailing out the Bank of China? Why are we bailing out the Saudi royal family?...
The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and by sustaining a panic atmosphere...
A few Members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted ``no.''
National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) - FEMA Website
National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009. NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery.
According to Media Monarchy, "Northrop Grumman [ a corrupt government contractor akin to Halliburton] will conduct and evaluate the 2009 Tier 1 National Level Exercise, which is the largest and most complex national disaster drill conducted by FEMA’s National Exercise Division"
Source Watch claims: "Northrop Grumman is the third largest arms manufacturer in the world. The US company generates $18.7bn in revenue from its defense operations. Products areas include defense electronics, warships, radar and missile systems and space systems. Specific products include the B-2 Stealth Bomber and the Global Hawk Unarmed Aerial Vehicle. The company employs approximately 120,000 people worldwide, serving U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
"The company spent $16,729,865 for lobbying in 2006. Of this total, $1,336,995 went to 17 outside lobbying firms or individual lobbyists including The Livingston Group and Morris Amitay.
"In December 2001, CommonDreams.org wrote about Northrop Grumman's lobbying, "It doesn't hurt that Northrop Grumman has friends in high places, like Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, former Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems chief. Since September 11th, Roche has emphasized the need for more spending on intelligence systems, specifically mentioning Northrop Grumman's AWACS plane. Not content to rest on its laurels, the company is lobbying Congress for a $300 million to upgrade the $1.3 billion B-2 Stealth Bomber, which has successfully completed bombings run in Afghanistan."
According to Washington Technology, "Northrop Grumman Corp. spent $5.6 million to lobby the federal government in the first six months of 2007, the highest amount spent among the largest federal IT contractors, according to the latest disclosure forms filed with the Senate."
Congressman Brad Sherman: Martial Law if We Voted No
October 2, 2008, U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Brad Sherman [D-CA] asks:
"But why are we bailing out the Bank of China? Why are we bailing out the Saudi royal family?...
The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and by sustaining a panic atmosphere...
A few Members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted ``no.''
National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) - FEMA Website
National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009. NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery.
NLE 09 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation's overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was established to provide the U.S. government, at all levels, exercise opportunities to prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.
NLE 09 is a White House directed, Congressionally- mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies, staff and key operational elements. In addition, broad regional participation of state, tribal, local, and private sector is anticipated. This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09.
EXERCISE FOCUS
NLE 09 will focus on intelligence and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement communities, and between international, federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.
The NLE 09 scenario will begin in the aftermath of a notional terrorist event outside of the United States, and exercise play will center on preventing subsequent efforts by the terrorists to enter the United States and carry out additional attacks. This scenario enables participating senior officials to focus on issues related to preventing terrorist events domestically and protecting U.S. critical infrastructure.
NLE 09 will allow terrorism prevention efforts to proceed to a logical end (successful or not), with no requirement for response or recovery activities.
NLE 09 will be an operations-based exercise to include: activities taking place at command posts, emergency operation centers, intelligence centers and potential field locations to include federal headquarters facilities in the Washington D.C. area, and in federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector facilities in FEMA Region VI, which includes the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
EXERCISE OBJECTIVES
Through a comprehensive evaluation process, the exercise will assess prevention and protection capabilities both nationally and regionally. Although NLE 09 is still in the planning stages, the exercise is currently designed to validate the following capabilities:
- Intelligence/Information Sharing and Dissemination
- Counter-Terrorism Investigation and Law Enforcement
- Air, Border and Maritime Security
- Public and Private Sector Alert/Notification and Security Advisories
- International Coordination
VALIDATING THE HOMELAND SECURITY SYSTEM
Exercises such as NLE 09 are an important component of national preparedness, helping to build an integrated federal, state, tribal, local and private sector capability to prevent terrorist attacks, and rapidly and effectively respond to, and recover from, any terrorist attack or major disaster that occurs.
The full-scale exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise prevention and information sharing functions that are critical to preventing terrorist attacks. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies.
Monday, July 6, 2009
International Espionage and Goldman Sachs
A Reuters columnist -- Matthew Goldstein -- broke an amazing story last night regarding Goldman Sachs and former employee Sergey Aleynikov, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey. Aleynikov was arrested by the FBI on federal charges of stealing software codes to Goldman's automated stock and commodities trading business. Aleynikov apparently encrypted and uploaded the secret software to a website in Germany. Think of the implications. Check out Zero Hedge for details. Digg Zero Hedge piece here.
Read Affidavit:
Complaint Aleynikov
Read Affidavit:
Complaint Aleynikov
Sunday, July 5, 2009
CEO of Virtual EBank Embezzles 200 billion
A 27-year-old Australian tech worker and CEO of EBank, EVE Online's largest player-run financial institution which has thousands of depositors, embezzled about 200 billion of EVE Online's interstellar kredits, the game's virtual currency. EVE Online -- a massive multiplayer online roleplaying space game -- has more than 300,000 subscribers who pay $15 a month to play. The players earn money killing rivals (among other things) in a distant future where humans have colonized the stars in a game similar to World of Warcraft and Second Life. The CEO of EBank, who used the online name Ricdic, exchanged the embezzled virtual funds for $5,100 on the black market, according to Yahoo Tech's JaShong King.
"It was a very on the spot decision," said Ricdic, who's married and has two children. "I saw that as an avenue that could be taken, and I decided to skim off the top, you could say, to overcome real life (difficulties)."
"Basically this character was one of the people that had been running EBank for a while. He took a bunch of (virtual) money out of the bank, and traded it away for real money," said Ned Coker, of the Icelandic company CCP, which developed the game.
People are doing anything they can think of to survive. In the U.S. the average workweek hit 33.0 hours, a record low since the data were first collected 45 years ago. "At no time in the 1990 or 2001 recessions did we ever come close to seeing such a detonating jobs figure," said David Rosenberg from Glukin Sheff. "We have lost a record nine million full-time jobs this cycle." Ambrose Evans-Pritchard claims Sheriffs in Michigan & Illinois are quietly refusing to toss families on to the streets.
"It was a very on the spot decision," said Ricdic, who's married and has two children. "I saw that as an avenue that could be taken, and I decided to skim off the top, you could say, to overcome real life (difficulties)."
"Basically this character was one of the people that had been running EBank for a while. He took a bunch of (virtual) money out of the bank, and traded it away for real money," said Ned Coker, of the Icelandic company CCP, which developed the game.
People are doing anything they can think of to survive. In the U.S. the average workweek hit 33.0 hours, a record low since the data were first collected 45 years ago. "At no time in the 1990 or 2001 recessions did we ever come close to seeing such a detonating jobs figure," said David Rosenberg from Glukin Sheff. "We have lost a record nine million full-time jobs this cycle." Ambrose Evans-Pritchard claims Sheriffs in Michigan & Illinois are quietly refusing to toss families on to the streets.
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