"But I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions become so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if we do prosecute — if we do bring a criminal charge — it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy." -- Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder on 3/6/13 asserting that the largest banks are above the law.
Dear All,
The "Labor Force Participation Rate," the Department of Labor's assertion as to the percentage of working-age persons in the economy who are either employed or unemployed but seeking a job, was reduced yet again to 63.6% in the February report, the lowest in 30 years. By steadily dropping the number of unemployed workers it claims are seeking a job the government continues to suppress the reported unemployment rate. This is totally aside from the bogus "birth-death' modeling the BLS uses in its calculations as well as the disturbing reported qualitative trends with regard to the type of jobs being added. For truly Kafkaesque amusement, consider that while individuals may collect up to 99-weeks of unemployment benefits - the BLS does not count those that have been out-of work for longer than 52-weeks as being unemployed, in spite of the fact that they are collecting unemployment benefits.
One's Constitutional rights, or lack thereof appears to be partly a function of which part of the United States one chooses to live: Are You Living in a Fourth Amendment Exclusion Zone?
"Major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and even Houston have been declared by the Department of Homeland Security to be within the official 100 mile ‘border’ of the United States, subjecting 197 million citizens to electronic belonging searches without any suspicion:"
Republican wars bad/Democratic wars good...James Corbett examines the curious and disturbing disbandment of the anti-war movement since Barack Obama's election. With lingering and justifiable vitriol over George W. Bush's war crimes, the illicit military escapades of Barack Obama are shrugged off by his supporters: Calling Out The Hypocritical, War-Loving Left
What is remarkable is not the percentage of students that are illiterate, but that they were graduated: Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read
Shocking (not): Former Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe
"A LOT of what we do is make-believe."
Alt-Market: Programs That Should Be Cut - But Won’t Be Cut - From The Federal Budget:
"The TSA is not meant to protect the citizenry in any way. It is a conditioning machine for the masses, and nothing more. It is designed to inhibit our natural rebellion against personal search and seizure tactics, and make us apathetic to deeper intrusions into our privacy. That is all."
The other side of the student debt bubble: NYTimes: More Than One N.Y.U. Star Got Lavish Parting Gift
Few posts have generated more critical email than this one from August of last year, in which the criminal activities of Sanford Weill were compared to those of the sadistic grifter, Agnes Bojaxhiu (alias: "Mother Theresa"). Now there is this: Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image A 'Myth,' New Study Says
Were Bojaxhiu not operating within the sphere of the Vatican her activities would have been recognized as those of an unscrupulous operator of filthy healthcare clinics. Aside from being a financial fraudster Bojaxhiu was an abuser of children, but then there is no more prominent a force of institutionalized child abuse than the Catholic Church
For her sordid career Bojaxhiu was rewarded with the ecclesiastical equivalent of a gold watch -- the hoax of beatification.* With a sordid repertoire featuring a gay subculture that condemns homosexuality, money laundering and underworld ties the Vatican leads in excess of a billion largely well intentioned followers by its example of ritualized hypocrisy and ethical perversion.
"I know there have been holy popes, but the overarching history of the Vatican has been secrecy, lies, antipathy to democracy, crimes and unscrupulous finances."
In that respect it is no different than the entrenched governments of other sovereign states. If there is a proper target for a compassionate drone attack, the coordinates of Vatican City ought to be high on the list. Berlusconi for Pope!
It wasn't that long ago that the global warming crowd was hyping an impending ice age. Take a look at this compilation of stories from the 1970's, which includes a documentary featuring the late Dr. Steven Schneider, a vocal proponent of global freezing, global warming, ice age, heating, melting, no wait...cooling:
Regarding gold and silver...
Even a physical inspection would mean very little. After initially refusing to reveal the location of the country's gold reserves, Mexico's central bank has admitted that over 94% of it is held in custody at the Bank of England. Banco de M'exico however has never received, nor apparently ever requested the serial numbers of its bars: MEXICO’S FEDERAL AUDIT DEMANDS PHYSICAL INSPECTION OF SOVEREIGN GOLD HOLDINGS
"In other words, Banxico invested 4.5 billion dollars and released the money without making any confirmation of the existence of the gold purchased, or of the location of the vaults where the gold bars were supposed to be held. Mere “paper gold”.
In theory of course the Bank of England provides legitimate "allocated" gold storage services for sovereign nations, with segregated bar holdings distinguished with serial numbers. With the vigilance displayed by Mexico's central bank likely being typical of the sovereign oversight brought to bear during the post-Bretton Woods era, and the ubiquity of highly opaque swap agreements, it is very little stretch to suggest that both the BOE and the Fed today operate nothing more than fractional reserve gold storage operations -- polite language for ponzi schemes: GoldMoney: A detailed look at Bank of England gold
If the ups and downs of the gold market have you a bit disoriented, this headline from Shadowstats' John Williams might help: "The Dow Retook Its October 2007 High on March 5th; Gold Was Up by 115% for the Same Period"
The testimony of the U.S. Attorney General, quoted at top, prompted Ted Butler's eureka Moment of Clarity regarding the ongoing illegal manipulation of the silver price, and the refusal of the CFTC and Justice Department to either stop it or prosecute it.
Richard Russell is founder and publisher of Dow Theory Letter, the oldest (1958) continually published financial market newsletter in the U.S. He is 100% correct about the opportunity in front of us, although few will have the temperament to remain steadfast through the price manipulation.
"There is seldom a time when at least one asset class is not on the bargain table...My answer is the precious metals, namely silver and gold are both on the bargain table. My thinking is that ten years from now we'll be knocking our knuckles against our heads and complaining, 'Back in 2013 what was I thinking? Gold was selling at 1,600 dollars an ounce and silver was selling at 30 dollars an ounce. What was I thinking? I should have..."
All the best,
Jeff
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* There is in fact a higher ruse still; Canonization