Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Wed 01.27.2010
"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem
Gold Prices Tick Up Despite Dollar's Rise Gold prices were rising Tuesday despite a stronger U.S. dollar as bargain hunters bought gold as an alternative asset. Gold for February delivery was adding $1.90 to $1,097.60 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,103.20 and as low as $1,085.20. The U.S. dollar index was rising 0.43% to $78.53. Risk appetite for commodities was on shaky ground Tuesday after Standard & Poor's announced it may lower its debt rating on Japan unless "measures can be taken to stem fiscal and deflationary pressures." There is also increased fear among investors that China could further restrict lending.
How gold created liquidity in 1907 market crash By Clif Droke In their timely look at the panic of 1907, Robert Bruner and Sean Carr focus attention on what they believe to be the underlying causes of the ’07 stock market crash and recession, drawing parallels between it and the credit crisis of more recent times. Their book, “The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned from the Market’s Perfect Storm,” is now available in soft cover published by John Wiley & Sons (2007). The authors list seven contributing factors to the 1907 crisis:
Complexity
Buoyant economic growth
Inadequate safety buffers
Adverse leadership
Real economic shock
Undue fear and greed and other behavioral aberrations
Failure of collective action
Financial Elite's Behaviour Has Opened Floodgates for Gold by Lorimer Wilson In spite of philosophical differences in many areas of politics and economics, Ron Paul and Simon Johnson agree that the cosiness that exists between the U. S. Congress and the financial elite has not worked, and is not working, in the best interest of the average American. They both suggest that major changes must be made in that relationship to strengthen the American economy. Is it too late, however, to avoid the repercussions of an even weaker greenback, rising inflation and the opening of the floodgates in the price of all investments related to gold and silver?
Gold Advances on Speculation Dollar to Drop, Boosting Appeal Gold advanced on speculation the dollar may slip against major currencies, boosting the metal’s appeal as an alternative asset. Gold for immediate delivery climbed 0.3 percent to $1,101.35 an ounce at 9:36 a.m. in Singapore. Bullion for April delivery added 0.2 percent to $1,101.70 an ounce in New York. The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, shed 0.1 percent to 78.447 after strengthening as much as 0.6 percent yesterday. Gold has gained 22 percent in the past year as the dollar dropped 7.1 percent.
The Case for Commodities in 2010 (And Beyond) By Frank Holmes The biggest emerging economies have ambitious plans that require a greater share of the world's limited commodities. This trend is spurring profound and permanent disruptions in how these resources are allocated now and in the future. For investors, these disruptions present opportunities. Simply put, an investment in natural resources is a vote of confidence in global economic growth. Rapid urbanization and industrialization, better infrastructure and growing consumption in emerging markets are among the key themes in the global growth story. They are also key drivers in the rising demand for oil, steel, copper, cement and other resources.
Chinese dig deep to join the gold rush Tania Branigan in Beijing The assistant pushed the red velvet sacks across the counter discreetly. The customer quickly slipped them into her bag. With a brief, nervous look around, she walked briskly from the shop, already clutching her car keys. Few people feel comfortable lugging around a kilo of pure gold bars. But that doesn't stop Chinese shoppers from thronging to Caibai, the number one place for buying the precious metal. The Beijing store's 5,000 daily customers are at the forefront of a new gold rush.
The Fort Knox Conundrum: Chinese say they received bogus bars of gold traced to U.S. By Pat Shannan Could over 1 million bars of gold, much of which is still held in Fort Knox, Ky., be counterfeit? An October 2009 discovery that suggests this may be true has been suppressed by the mainstream media but has been circulating among the “big money” brokers and financial kingpins. It is just now being revealed to the public. Gold is regularly exchanged between countries to pay debts and to settle the so-called balance of trade. It is often also used as a hedge against a falling currency. Gold is regularly traded and stored in vaults under the strict supervision of a special organization based in London, known as the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). That’s why news of counterfeit gold bars was a surprise to many experts.
China's Credit-Tightening Moves Could Boost the Dollar and Yen China's decision to rein in credit may help to strengthen both the yen and the dollar as investors look to avoid risk. The chairman of China's Banking Regulatory Commission, Liu Mingkang, said last week that he expects new yuan lending in 2010 to be around 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion). That's down from 9.59 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in 2009, but still more the double the 2008 level.
Volatility and Politics Are Feeding Fears of a Market Correction Javier C. Hernandez Brace yourself for another wild ride on Wall Street. Worries about the strength of the global recovery and proposals from Washington to clamp down on banks have sent fresh jitters through financial markets, prompting chatter among traders that stocks could be poised for that rare but alarming phenomenon: a correction. Such a development would mean a 10 percent or greater sell-off in everything from high-powered Nasdaq technology shares to bread-and-butter Dow industrials.
Jim Rogers on Bloomberg: Bernanke is Part of the Problem, Not the Solution!
Bernanke: Too big to fail Just a year after he unleashed a flood of dollars in a bid to prevent a second Great Depression, Ben Bernanke's job is on the line. More than a dozen senators have said they will oppose the Fed chairman's reappointment after his first term ends on Jan. 31. The rest of the vote counting is still in question. "Bernanke is caught in a crossfire, because bashing Wall Street is awfully popular politically right now," said Desmond Lachman, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "That's the way the winds are blowing this month."
Bernanke's Job Is Done. Now the Fed Needs a Jobs Creator It's time to send Fed Chair Ben Bernanke back to Princeton University. Bernanke is an expert in Depression-era economics, and his decision to flood financial markets with cash probably saved the U.S. from the fate the nation suffered in the 1930s. But Bernanke lacks the know-how the U.S. needs now -- how to use Fed policy to create job growth. That's why I'd replace him with an economist who understands something about how to generate employment.
Gerald Celente anybody calling this a hearing is deaf
Questions Geithner Cannot Escape Please consider The Question Geithner Can’t Escape: Why Pay Off AIG’s Partners? Not only is Bernanke coming under attack, questions keep popping up about treasury secretary Tim Geithner. The latest political clamor over AIG, poised to combust next Wednesday at a House hearing on backdoor payments to banks that made risky deals with the company, centers on the Federal Reserve’s effort to conceal details of those payments. But senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have so far evaded a key question: Why were AIG’s trading partners fully paid with taxpayer money instead of being told to take a loss?
At NYFed, Geithner was told of benefit to banks in AIG bailout By Hugh Son NEW YORK -- Timothy F. Geithner, who has denied that the financial condition of American International Group Inc.'s bank counterparties was a consideration in structuring the insurer's bailout, was told by a senior colleague that the rescue was a way to remove "uncertainty" for the firms. Buying mortgage-linked assets from banks was better "from a financial-stability perspective" than other plans to shield AIG from losses on contracts guaranteeing the bonds, Margaret McConnell, then a Federal Reserve Bank of New York vice president, wrote in an e-mail to Geithner on Oct. 22, 2008. Geithner, now Treasury secretary, led the New York Fed at the time of AIG's rescue and McConnell's e-mail.
Goldman Sachs Drove Most Costly Bargain for AIG, BlackRock Document Shows Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was the most aggressive bank counterparty to American International Group Inc. before its bailout, demanding more collateral while assigning lower values to real estate assets backed by the insurer, documents obtained by lawmakers show.
AIG and NY Fed under fire for hiding bailout facts AIG and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have become targets of an investigation into whether the overseer had instructed the troubled insurer not to disclose certain key information to the public. Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout, is set to tell the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that he has initiated an investigation into whether the New York Fed instructed AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) not to disclose more than a dozen controversial counterparty transactions to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tom Woods on Freedom Watch w/ Judge Napolitano 1/22/10
The Never-Ending Goldman-AIG Saga Suspicions of malfeasance without much evidence. Even among those who usually find themselves in agreement, much screaming and fighting has centered on Goldman and the AIG bailout. The controversy will be the subject of yet another potentially inflamed congressional hearing today. At issue is whether the New York Fed (proprietor, Tim Geithner) engaged in shameful and scurrilous activity in OK'ing terms that fully covered Goldman Sachs and other counterparties on certain AIG commitments to cover losses on mortgage-related derivatives.
'It All Came Together': Emails Reveal Fed Staffers During AIG Crisis By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN And SERENA NG At 10.47 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2008, the culmination of a frenetic week in which government officials hatched a deal to prevent American International Group Inc. from a major ratings downgrade and possible bankruptcy, a senior Federal Reserve official sent a congratulatory email. "it all came together....amazing to watch it happen over the course of the day," wrote Sarah Dahlgren, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's point person on AIG, in an email titled "busy day" to several of the Fed's outside advisers. "can't believe what's happened in just under eight weeks...and there's a long road ahead..." she added. "please share with your team.....this is a milestone on the journey."
Judge Napolitano: Could Geithner Face Criminal Charges over AIG Coverup?
Helicopter Ben Bernanke: Understanding the Chairman By: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis When it comes to precious metals investing, there is no entity as important as the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve, which sets monetary policy and has a direct impact on the purchasing power of the greenback, has virtually complete control over inflation, deflation and the price of your metals. In the coming weeks, Ben Bernanke, the current Fed chairman, will be up for reappointment by the Senate of the United States. Bernanke's reappointment is virtually guaranteed, with enough lawmakers on either side of the aisle willing to give him a second term. Many lawmakers, happy with his swift actions following the financial crisis, have said they will absolutely vote to reappoint him as head.
'Daunting' outlook will mean bulging deficits The U.S. government's fiscal outlook is "daunting," with deficits averaging at least $600 billion a year over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. The debt accrued over the next 10 years will top $6 trillion -- $1.35 trillion of which will hit this year. And that's the optimistic projection: The agency's forecast assumes that lawmakers don't adopt the very expensive policies everyone expects them to adopt.
No Brakes on This Train Things are so bad in Congress these days that it can’t even outsource the tough decisions. The Senate today rejected a proposal to create a bipartisan commission to come up with a plan to address the federal government’s mountain of debt. Under the legislation, the commission would come up with a plan to reduce future deficits—some combination of spending cuts and tax increases—and submit it to Congress for an up-or-down vote after this year’s congressional elections. Only 53 senators voted for the commission—seven short of the 60 needed to create it. Many Democrats feared the commission’s plan would lead to cuts in entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, while many Republicans didn’t want to open the door to tax increases.
Creating the Next Great Depression
White House, Democratic lawmakers cut deal on deficit commission Faced with growing alarm over the nation's soaring debt, the White House and congressional Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday to create an independent budget commission and to put its recommendations for fiscal solvency to a vote in Congress by the end of this year. Under the agreement, President Obama would issue an executive order to create an 18-member panel that would be granted broad authority to propose changes in the tax code and in the massive federal entitlement programs -- including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- that threaten to drive the nation's debt to levels not seen since World War II.
Obama to Call for Three-Year Freeze on Some Spending By Roger Runningen President Barack Obama will call in his State of the Union address for a three-year freeze on spending for many domestic programs as part of his strategy to rein in the federal budget deficit. The proposal, which wouldn’t affect spending on national security, would save an estimated $250 billion over a decade and reduce the deficit by $10 billion to $15 billion in 2011, according to two officials, who briefed reporters on the plan. Last year’s budget shortfall was a record $1.4 trillion, and the Congressional Budget Office today forecast this year’s will be $1.35 trillion, second-highest ever.
Is the president panicking? by Robert Reich His spending freeze invokes memories of Clinton's shift right in '94. It's worse because it could doom the recovery President Obama today offered a set of proposals for helping America’s troubled middle class. All are sensible and worthwhile. But none will bring jobs back. And Americans could be forgiven for wondering how the president plans to enact any of these ideas anyway, when he can no longer muster 60 votes in the Senate. The bigger news is Obama is planning a three-year budget freeze on a big chunk of discretionary spending. Wall Street is delighted. But it means Main Street is in worse trouble than ever. A spending freeze will make it even harder to get jobs back because government is the last spender around. Consumers have pulled back, investors won’t do much until they know consumers are out there, and exports are minuscule.
Senate nixes debt commission The Senate on Tuesday rejected a proposal to create a bipartisan commission charged with reining in the country's debt. The goal was to create a framework to force Congress to make some tough choices -- specifically tax increases and spending cuts. Had it passed, Congress would have been required to take speedy votes on the commission's recommendations. The recommendations would have gone up for a vote by the end of this year.
Debt limit: What's the fuss? Before closing shop for the year, the Senate on Thursday raised the debt ceiling by $290 billion. That's good: The government needed to act so it can keep borrowing the money it needs to pay the bills. And $290 billion sounds like a lot of money. But it's not really. In fact, it's only expected to cover the Treasury's borrowing needs through mid-February.
$4.8 trillion - Interest on U.S. debt Here's a new way to think about the U.S. government's epic borrowing: More than half of the $9 trillion in debt that Uncle Sam is expected to build up over the next decade will be interest. More than half. In fact, $4.8 trillion. If that's hard to grasp, here's another way to look at why that's a problem. In 2015 alone, the estimated interest due - $533 billion - is equal to a third of the federal income taxes expected to be paid that year, said Charles Konigsberg, chief budget counsel of the Concord Coalition, a deficit watchdog group.
Deficit: What caused it, why it matters The government is spending more than it's bringing in. A lot more. The result is a deficit. Here's why that gap must be brought under control. When George Bush took office at the beginning of 2001, the federal government was running a substantial budget surplus and projected rising surpluses "as far as the eye could see." Now, the United States is facing massive current deficits -- as a share of the economy, the largest since World War II -- and an increasingly dire and unsustainable outlook over the next 10 years and beyond.
The Founding of the Federal Reserve
With a Recovery Like This, Who Needs Enemies? By Bill Bonner What a recovery! If the economy keeps recovering like this we’ll soon all be busted… House sales are falling…unemployment is rising…and people are getting poorer! The Dow rallied a piddly 23 points yesterday. Oil is selling for less than $75 this morning. Stocks are in trouble. As we said yesterday, this could be the beginning of the end for this bear market. We’ve seen the first leg down. We’ve seen the rally. We’re ready for the next big plunge. Yesterday, the latest numbers on existing house sales for December came out. They were disappointing – nearly 17% lower than the year before.
Japan's debt at risk. Is U.S. next? Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's raised the prospect of a downgrade in Japan's sovereign debt rating Tuesday. That's reigniting fears that the U.S. could be next. The agency said it is concerned about large deficits and a sluggish growth outlook in Japan -- which currently ranks as the world's No. 2 economy. S&P lowered its outlook on Japan's debt to negative from stable. The reduced outlook signals the risk of an actual downgrade in its debt in the future. S&P's rating on Japan's debt is AA, one step below its best possible rating.
Congressional Budget Office Sees 2010 Budget Deficit of $1.35 Trillion Washington (AP) - The latest congressional budget estimates out Tuesday predict a $1.35 trillion deficit for this year as the economy continues to slowly recover from the recession. The Congressional Budget Office report predicts a sluggish economic recovery and continued high deficits that present twin political problems for President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies.
On the Edge with Max Keiser - 22 January 2010 (1/3)
Fed Weighs Interest on Reserves as New Policy Rate Federal Reserve policy makers are considering adopting a new benchmark interest rate to replace the one they’ve used for the last two decades. The central bank has been unable to control the federal funds rate since the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., when it began flooding financial markets with $1 trillion to prevent the economy from collapsing. Officials, who began a two-day meeting at 2 p.m. today in Washington, have said they may replace or supplement the fed funds rate with interest paid on excess bank reserves.
The Federal Reserve Is Inflating Another Bubble By Thomas Brewton Stock market exuberance is symptomatic of a rapidly expanding money supply’s corrosive effect. In the last two trading days of the week ending January 23rd, the Dow Industrial Index plummeted 430.170 points, the worst decline in a year. Major factors, according to Street gossip, were continuing weakness in corporate sales and growing fears that Helicopter Ben Bernanke might not be re-appointed Fed chairman.
Obama's deficit-reduction plan - State of the Union President Obama's State of the Union address will raise the curtain on how he plans to tackle the unsustainable growth in U.S. debt over the next decade. At the same time, he'll be engaged in a tough balancing act: Laying out how he'll close the gap while making proposals to boost hiring and help the middle class. Obama is set, for instance, to offer a number of sweeteners such as nearly doubling the child care tax credit. How can he square the circle? For one thing, the expectation is that most deficit-related measures he proposes wouldn't be implemented before the economy regains a stronger footing.
On the Edge with Max Keiser - 22 January 2010 (2/3)
Obama Puts Social Security on the Chopping Block Hope for lasting liberal change was washed away on Tuesday-not just with the loss of the Democrats' super-majority in the Senate, but with a closed-door deal that would lead to cuts in bedrock liberal programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. While Massachusetts voters were casting their ballots to install Republican Scott Brown in Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, President Obama was hammering out an agreement with Democratic leaders to support a commission on the deficit with the power to propose reductions to entitlement programs. This proposal represents a capitulation to conservatives in both parties, and leaves liberals surrendering not only on health care, but on the core achievements of the New Deal and the Great Society.
Double Standard: Of Morals and Mortgages You've probably heard that a high-profile realty group that had agreed to pay $5.4 billion for a New York City housing complex just announced it was not going to make good on its loans. You might describe the (former) owners as misguided, stupid, or unfortunate. You probably wouldn't think of calling them immoral. So why is the average homeowner's decision to walk away or keep up with the payments on an underwater mortgage considered a moral issue?
Renters Market by Katie Kuehner-Hebert Commercial and residential rents are dropping across the U.S., creating big problems for small property owners. The weak economy has hammered many of the mom-and-pop stores that rent commercial space from Robert Phillips, whose company owns and manages property in San Diego. In some cases he has helped them through tough times by offering them as much as four free months of rent. “The retail sector especially is really struggling, so everybody’s looking for help,” says Phillips, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Coast Commercial Asset Management.
The Dead Loan Zone by Charles P. Wallace The economy is starting to show signs of recovery, but deep exposure to bad commercial real estate loans coupled with ongoing joblessness will hit small banks for years to come. As 2009 draws to a close, the banking industry is reeling from one of its worst years ever. There were 133 bank failures in the U.S. as of mid-December, up from 25 the year before. The bank-failure problem is straining the resources of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has demanded a bailout of sorts for itself from larger, more stable lenders. Even as the economy returns to slow growth mode, the troubled job market begins to stabilize and the systemic risk within the financial system appears to subside, the banking industry will continue to suffer. The aftershocks of the two-year-old financial crisis will continue to be felt in 2010. While most of the troubles in the residential real estate market have washed through bank balance sheets, problems in the commercial real estate market are still cresting.
On the Edge with Max Keiser . . . and Chris Cook
Home Depot to cut 1,000 staffers as it consolidates jobs, ends some pilot programs By: MAE ANDERSON AP Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, said Tuesday it is laying off 1,000 staffers as it cuts three pilot programs and cuts some support positions. An internal memo sent to staffers by CEO Frank Blake said about 900 of the cuts stem from consolidating some support functions in its human resources, finance and other divisions. The rest come from the company closing a small-format pilot store in Wilson, N.C.; a temporary hurricane recovery outlet in Waveland, Miss.; and a clearance outlet in Austell, Ga. Blake said in the memo there were no plans to close any full-size Home Depot stores.
Senate Democrats Said to Consider $80 Billion Jobs Legislation Lawmakers are set to consider a jobs-stimulus package totaling about $80 billion that would provide tax credits to small and medium-sized businesses that hire workers, a Democratic senator said. The plan, to be presented today to Senate Democrats, would include aid to state governments to prevent layoffs and additional funding for infrastructure projects, said the senator, who asked not be identified. The package also will likely include energy-related provisions such as incentives to weatherize homes, a Senate aide said.
Manchurian Candidates: Supreme Court allows China and others unlimited spending in US elections In Thursday's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court ruled that corporations should be treated the same as "natural persons", i.e. humans. Well, in that case, expect the Supreme Court to next rule that Wal-Mart can run for President. The ruling, which junks federal laws that now bar corporations from stuffing campaign coffers,will not, as progressives fear, cause an avalanche of corporate cash into politics. Sadly, that's already happened: we have been snowed under by tens of millions of dollars given through corporate PACs and "bundling" of individual contributions from corporate pay-rollers. The Court's decision is far, far more dangerous to U.S. democracy. Think: Manchurian candidates
Dr. Bill Deagle - Financial Armageddon 2010
Record number of young Americans jobless CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. economic recession has taken a particularly heavy toll on young Americans, with a record one out five black men aged 20 to 24 neither working nor in school, according to research released on Tuesday. Teenagers have found it significantly harder to get a job since the recession began in late 2007, with black youths and young people from low-income families faring the worst, wrote Andrew Sum of Northeastern University in Boston, a employment researcher commissioned by the Chicago Urban League and the Alternative Schools Network. "Low-income and minority youth, who depended on part-time jobs as a significant stepping stone to future employment, have been forced out of the job market and economically marginalized," Herman Brewer of the Chicago Urban League said in a statement.
Verizon to Cut 13,000 Jobs, Posts Loss By ROGER CHENG Verizon Communications Inc. swung to a fourth-quarter loss as a result of heavy charges, and announced plans to cut 13,000 more jobs as executives cast a downbeat note on the economic recovery. While the New York telecommunications giant's wireless arm remained resilient in the face of lower consumer spending, its legacy wireline segment wasn't so fortunate. Verizon said there haven't been any indications of a pickup in spending on the business side, while the number of new FiOS customers disappointed Wall Street.
Murray Rothbard: The Railroading of the American People (American Economy Lecture #2)
Foreclosure relief program riddled with flaws Latest effort to save homes having only limited impact, faces challenges By John W. Schoen Millions of Americans who are struggling to save their homes from foreclosure are trapped in a labyrinth of disappointment and misinformation created by the very institutions they've been told are trying to help them. Ten months into the government's third program in two years to stop a record wave of foreclosures, homeowners, housing counselors, consumer advocates and attorneys working with borrowers report that the latest effort is falling far short of its goal. In many cases, lenders are moving to foreclose even after homeowners get approved for loan modification, housing counselors and attorneys say.
GM to build electric motors in Maryland Betting that hybrid and electric vehicles will play a growing role on American highways, General Motors is expected to announce Tuesday a $246 million investment to add production of electric motors at its White Marsh, Md., manufacturing plant. The decision reflects confidence at GM and other automakers that the "electrification" of the U.S. fleet is not far away, with GM officials likening the importance of electric-motor technology to that of engines in gasoline cars.
General Motors says it has agreed to sell Saab to Dutch carmaker Spyker By: TOBY STERLING AP AMSTERDAM - General Motors Co. said Tuesday it has reached an agreement to sell its struggling Saab Automobile arm to the small Dutch luxury carmaker Spyker Cars NV. GM has not specified terms of the deal, but a Wall Street Journal report citing anonymous sources says the sale price is roughly $74 million, and GM will retain preferred shares in Saab worth $326 million. As part of the deal, the Swedish government will guarantee a euro400 million ($566 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to Spyker, the Journal reported.
After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site Web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall. The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the plunge by putting up a pay wall, so in media circles it has been followed with interest. Could its fate be a sign of what others, including The New York Times, might expect? So, three months later, how many people have signed up to pay $5 a week, or $260 a year, to get unfettered access to newsday.com? The answer: 35 people. As in fewer than three dozen. As in a decent-sized elementary-school class.
The Dark Side of Inspiration: Avatar’s Suicide Hotline In 1977, I stood up and cheered along with my fellow moviegoers, as Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star in that summer’s visionary blockbuster Star Wars. Our joyful reaction was involuntary. And I remember how energetic I felt following the movie when we stepped out of the dark theater into the bright sunshine: infused with youthful energy and hope for all the things I would do in my life. Many viewers of this year’s blockbuster Avatar are experiencing the opposite response to the film – that is, entering the darkness as they exit the theater – a response that now has Avatar suicide hotlines and depression forums set up worldwide to support them. People are looking around at their world, our world, and struggling with feelings of depression and hopelessness, including suicidal thoughts. They long for the beauty of Pandora, the film’s utopian world, and – importantly – they feel that attaining that world in this one is impossible.
Oliver Stone: bankers helped Hitler Oscar-winning director adds to storm he kicked up earlier this month over his upcoming TV documentary, The Secret History of the United States Adolf Hitler was aided in his rise to power by western bankers who appreciated his tough line on communist agitators and worker power, Oliver Stone told reporters in Bangkok yesterday. Following on from the comments he made to TV critics in Pasadena earlier this month about his upcoming 10-hour TV documentary on The Secret History of the United States, the film-maker said the German dictator had seduced the nation's military industrial complex with his ambitious promises. In the Thai capital to deliver a lecture to high-school students on the role of film in peace-building, Stone said: "Hitler is a monster. There is no question. I have no empathy for Hitler at all. He was a crazy psychopath.
Murray Rothbard: The Civil War and Its Legacy (American Economy Lecture #1)
With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday by Brad Stone and Stephanie Clifford With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer at an event here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine - a chance to undo mistakes of the past. Almost all media companies have run aground in the Internet Age as they gave away their print and video content on the Web and watched paying customers drift away as a result. People who have seen the tablet say Apple will market it not just as a way to read news, books and other material, but also a way for companies to charge for all that content. By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era.
1983 Apple Event Bill Gates and Steve Jobs
Internet companies voice alarm over Italian law By Daniel Flynn Draft law alarms Internet companies and civil groups Internet companies and civil liberty groups have voiced alarm over a proposed Italian law which would make online service providers responsible for their audiovisual content and copyright infringements by users. The draft, due to be approved next month, would make Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Fastweb and Telecom Italia, and Web sites like Google's YouTube, responsible for monitoring TV content on their pages, industry experts say.
Pentagon Report Calls for Office of ‘Strategic Deception’ By Noah Shachtman The Defense Department needs to get better at lying and fooling people about its intentions. That’s the conclusion from an influential Pentagon panel, the Defense Science Board (DSB), which recommends that the military and intelligence communities join in a new agency devoted to “strategic surprise/deception.” Tricking battlefield opponents has been a part of war since guys started beating each other with bones and sticks. But these days, such moves are harder to pull off, the DSB notes in a January report (.pdf) first unearthed by InsideDefense.com. “In an era of ubiquitous information access, anonymous leaks and public demands for transparency, deception operations are extraordinarily difficult. Nevertheless, successful strategic deception has in the past provided the United States with significant advantages that translated into operational and tactical success. Successful deception also minimizes U.S. vulnerabilities, while simultaneously setting conditions to surprise adversaries.”
US not ready to cope with biological terror attack, report warns Obama administration lax in preparing measures to protect large numbers of Americans at risk, says commission Barack Obama is planning to announce new proposals to respond to any bioterrorism attack after a government commission today warned that the US was ill-prepared for such an event. The commission on the prevention of weapons of mass destruction proliferation, set up by Congress to monitor the government's readiness for a nuclear or biological attack, said the Obama administration had been lax in preparing measures to protect the large numbers of Americans at risk from the release of deadly viruses or bacteria.
Gen. Petraeus: Afghan War Will Take Longer Than Iraq CENTCOM Commander Hasn't Heard Any Talk of a Timetable In an in-depth interview with the Times of London gearing up for the London Conference on Afghanistan later this week, CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus again cautioned that the war was going to "get harder before it gets easier." Likening the January 2007 surge in Iraq to President Obama's December escalation, the general said he thought that the war in Afghanistan was going to take longer than the war in Iraq.
Mediterranean Union - Barcelona Process to have Barcelona meeting today The Barcelona Process was officially launched in Barcelona, Spain on November 27-28, 1995 by Javier Solana. Fifteen EU nations and twelve North African and Middle East nations (Libya excluded) participated. Javier Solana was given sole credit for the diplomatic accomplishment. The USA was denied participant status at that meeting and was given "observer status only." The goals were to:
Battle religious fundamentalism, world-wide.
Favorable trading terms for the participants leading to a Mediterranean Free Trade Zone by 2010.
Get the USA out of the Mediterranean and/or greatly reduce its presence there.
Behind the scenes, Javier Solana and friends have been intensely busy with various hidden manifestations and d/b/a's (doing business as) of the Barcelona Process entity. It has been variously known as:
European Neighbourhood Policy
Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
MFTZ (Mediterranean Free Trade Zone)
Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Zone
EU-MEFTA (European Union - Mediterranean Free Trade Association)
Solana director of Spanish Security Strategy -- Just in time for Spanish EU/WEU joint presidencies! Well, maybe Acciona, the ESADE Business School, etc. aren't enough. Looks like our very good friend is back -- this time as director of the Spanish Security Strategy. This sounds so very much like his carefully crafted European Security Strategy. More important, this new appointment for Javier Solana comes JUST IN TIME for the Spanish EU - WEU joint presidencies to begin in just a few days. His alter ego, Cristina Gallach has been named the spokesperson for those Spanish presidencies. The next six months should be very interesting, perhaps disturbing, and most revealing. In addition to the link on the headline, here's another place to practice your Spanish by reading about it in that language from very current news.
Roubini Never More Pessimistic on Euro Area, Calls Spain a Risk By Simon Kennedy and Thomas R. Keene New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini said he’s never been more pessimistic about the future of European monetary union, saying Spain poses a looming threat to the euro region holding together. “Down the line, not this year or two years from now, we could have a breakup of the monetary union,” Roubini said in a Bloomberg Radio interview from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s a rising risk.”
Fears of Greek debt crisis ease as investors rush for bonds Concerns over a possible debt crisis in Greece eased yesterday after huge demand for the Greek Government’s first bond issue of this year. Greece had planned to sell €5 billion (£4.4 billion) of new five-year bonds to investors, but, after about €25 billion of demand emerged, it decided to issue €8 billion. The auction had been seen as a key test of investors’ appetite for Greek government debt and was heralded as a triumph by the authorities in Athens. “There was a lot of interest,” Spyros Papanikolaou, head of Greece’s public debt management agency, said. “This proves the trust [that] investors have in Greece’s economy. Greece [has] proved [that] it can raise the funds it needs for 2010 without a problem.”
Greece’s Near Miss, Spending Reform, Volatility Returns, The New Oil Frontier and More! by Addison Wiggin & Ian Mathias We can hear the sigh of relief all the way across the Atlantic. The euro survived its gravest test since inception early this morning. Greece, nation of olive groves and ancient myths, successfully issued about $13 billion in debt at auction. In a foreshadowing event for all nations with heavy debt loads, the Greek treasury will have to pay 6.2% interest on the notes -- half a point higher than when the auction began and nearly three points higher than the German equivalent.
Davos Too Big to Fail as Bankers Recoil in Political Backlash For a sign of how the mood has changed at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, consider the speakers at an invitation-only client lunch hosted by Paul Calello, who runs Credit Suisse Group AG’s investment bank. Last year’s panel on “Financial Market Dynamics” featured senior executives from financial companies JPMorgan Chase & Co., Blackstone Group LP, hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management and NYSE Euronext. This year clients will learn about “Leadership, Responsibility and the Recovery of the Financial System” from U.K. and Swiss regulators and Laura D’Andrea Tyson, an economics professor who has served in the U.S. government.
DAVOS-Head of Davos security dead, police suspect suicide DAVOS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The police commander heading security at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland was found dead on Tuesday, local authorities said, adding that his death appeared to be suicide.
Koreas exchange fire near sea border, markets drop North and South Korea on Wednesday exchanged what appeared to be artillery fire near a disputed sea border with the South off the west coast of the peninsula, Yonhap news agency reported government officials as saying. South Korea's presidential Blue House said both sides were firing into the air and there were no casualties, according to Yonhap. It has called a meeting of top national security officials. The rare exchange of fire rattled markets, with Seoul's main stock exchange extending losses and the won wiping out early gains against the dollar.
Two Koreas trade fire, spooks markets By Jack Kim SEOUL, Jan 27 (Reuters) - North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire near their disputed sea border on Wednesday, the second time in three months the rivals have clashed and briefly sending prices down on jittery Seoul financial markets. Analysts doubted the latest clash would escalate and saw it more as an attempt by Pyongyang to stress the instability on the Korean peninsula and press home its demand for a peace deal that would open the way to international aid for its ruined economy.
North Korea may be readying missile test SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has declared a no-sail zone off its west coast, indicating it may be readying to test-launch missiles in the area, South Korean news broadcaster YTN on Tuesday quoted a military official as saying. The area is near a contested sea border with the South that was the site of a brief naval clash in November between the states, technically still at war, that left a South Korean ship pockmarked with bullet holes and a North Korean vessel limping back to port in flames. About a month before that clash, North Korea rattled regional security by firing short-range missiles off its east coast.
Dubai Helps Iran Evade Sanctions as Smugglers Ignore U.S. Laws On a sweltering mid-October evening, horns blare as pickup trucks at Dubai Creek wharf jockey to deliver cargo bound for Iran. Televisions, cartons of toothpaste, car parts, refrigerators and DVD players stretch for about a mile on the dock along the murky waterway that snakes to the Persian Gulf.
In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits By Chris Anderson The door of a dry-cleaner-size storefront in an industrial park in Wareham, Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston, might not look like a portal to the future of American manufacturing, but it is. This is the headquarters of Local Motors, the first open source car company to reach production. Step inside and the office reveals itself as a mind-blowing example of the power of micro-factories. [note- he used an iMac to design the chip]
Americans' love affair with motorhomes By Kevin Connolly It was the Germans who invented the motor car and steered us all towards the boundless possibilities and endless problems of the age of internal combustion. But it took the genius of America to recognise that with a little extra hammering and spannering the motor car could readily be converted into the motor home. I am told it was a matter of days - weeks at most - before someone had converted the first horseless buggy into the first recreational vehicle (RV). It was a clumsy-looking behemoth whose passengers rode - very slowly - high above the road surface on what was essentially a four-wheeled roof garden, complete with balcony. But practicality was not the point. The point was Americans had brought their restless love of the open road and their romantic affinity for far horizons into the motor age.
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