14 Of The Biggest Mass Layoffs In 2011

Need more evidence that the US economy is not in recovery mode, but slipping further into a recession, one that will likely lead to another great depression? Just look at the miserable job growth numbers, then factor in massive layoffs.

The looming standstill in the U.S. economy has intimidated private sectors into cutting operating costs by handing out pink slips -- thousands of them.

In July, the number of job cuts increased by 60.3% -- approximately 66,414 jobs -- compared to the previous month, according to a report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Many of the massive workforce downsizing came from sectors who endured fairly well in the past.

Gannett Co: 700
Sears: 700
Goldman Sachs: 1,000
Boston Scientific: 1,400
Delta: 2,000
Credit Suisse: 2,000
Research in Motion: 2,000
Barclays: 3,000
Pfizer: 5,530
Lockheed Martin: 6,500
Cisco: 6,500
Borders: 10,700
Merck & Co: 13,000
HSBC: 25,000

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Social Activist Hazare Encouraging People to Fight Corruption

 

NEW DELHI: This is not the end, but a new beginning — this was the general mood on Sunday after Anna Hazare ended his fast. People at the Ramlila Maidan claimed that the movement has only inspired them to continue the revolution in their day-to-day lives.The movement, driven largely by undying public support and enthusiasm, has resulted in heightened awareness of corruption and how it has bled the country white. "I had planned to pay Rs 4,000 as bribe to clear an exam, as I felt I wasn't sufficiently prepared. But after participating in the movement, I have promised myself never to do it. I will not be corrupt," said Deepak Rathi, an engineer from Faridabad.Rahul Raghav, businessman, said: "The first step is not to pay bribe anymore. I own an HR consultancy firm, and most of the time, we have to pay bribes to hire consultants. But this will happen no more, even if I suffer losses. If everyone stops paying bribe, no one will face problems."A group of civil services aspirants present at the grounds claimed that the movement had inspired them to envision future where electoral reforms, decentralization of power and direct involvement of people in nation building was possible. "I am impressed to see that a change at such a mass level could be brought about through the united effort of the common people. Perhaps it has helped to make many people less cynical about life. The movement has certainly given the youth an adrenaline rush," said Dhruva Sharma of the group.Megha Nand Lakhera, who had come with her husband and three-year-old daughter to celebrate the "people's win", said: "Now we will not ignore everyday corruption that we tolerated earlier: be it at ration shops or in public transport. These small things will make a difference, and we have brought our daughter along, hoping that we will be able to educate her for a better tomorrow."

Times of India

A Series of Major Earthquakes in a Single Day

I think that the Earth is trying to tell us something...

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck the Philippine Islands Region at a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles), the quake hit at 16:15:51 UTC Tuesday 30th August 2011.
The epicenter was 115 km ( 71 miles) West of Basco, Batan Islands, Philippines
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/49-magnitude-earthquake-philippine.html

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has struck Vanuatu at a depth of 204.2 km (126.9 miles), the quake hit at 18:57:39 UTC Monday 29th August 2011.

The epicenter was 127 km ( 79 miles) Southeast of Santo (Luganville), Vanuatu
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/56-magnitude-earthquake-vanuatu-29th.html

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has struck Poland at a depth of just 2 km (1.2 miles), the quake hit at 09:37:56 UTC Tuesday 30 th August 2011.
The epicenter was 6 km (3.7 miles) East of Polkowice, Poland
No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/40-magnitude-earthquake-poland-30th.html

This is starting to get a little silly now. Another quake?

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has struck North of Macquarie Island at a depth of 9.8 km (6.1 miles), the quake hit at 11:36:51 UTC Tuesday 30th August 2011.
The epicenter was 354 km ( 220 miles) WNW of Auckland Island, New Zealand
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/50-magnitude-earthquake-north-of.html

And another...

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has struck the Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan at a depth of 109.9 km (68.3 miles), the quake hit at 13:21:49 UTC Tuesday 30th August 2011.
The epicenter was 16 km ( 9 miles) ESE of Jalalabad, Afghanistan
No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/50-magnitude-earthquake-hindu-kush.html

And another...

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has struck Eastern New Guinea Region, Papua New Guinea at a depth of 43 km (26.7 miles), the quake hit at 15:00:47 UTC Tuesday 30th August 2011.
The epicenter was 76 km ( 47 miles) North of Lae, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/53-magnitude-earthquake-eastern-new.html

I think that the Earth is trying to tell us something. 

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck Eastern Honshu, Japan at a depth of 146.4 km (91 miles), the quake hit at 13:44:34 UTC Tuesday 30th August 2011.
The epicenter was 65 km ( 40 miles) SSE of Akita, Honshu, Japan
No reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/08/49-magnitude-earthquake-eastern-honshu.html

Maybe Obama and Gore can save the planet through fiat?

What to Do in the Event of an Out of Control Money System

As fiat currency dies a slow death, and takes the efforts of the majority of the working class to the grave with it, we can take a step back and look at the reason for fiat currency's existence. Control.

Who is this man, Ben Bernanke, and what kind of shoulders does he have? Is he a great deep thinker…a renown philosopher in whom the world's people could have confidence? Is he a captain of industry…a man who has proven that he can lead men and run a profitable business? Is he an investment wizard, like Warren Buffett, with billions of dollars as testament to his understanding of the world of money? Is he even a powerful politician or an acclaimed statesmen, who can at least pretend to solve the world's problems by threats and force?
"It's either control or money," says our friend John Henry. John made a fortune out of a simple insight. If corporations would give up control of their legal problems, they could save themselves a lot of money. John takes on their legal challenges and handles them as commercial matters; he doesn't particularly care whether they win or lose the case, as long as the net cost is lower. He shares the savings.

"But a lot of companies don't really care about saving money. They don't want to give up control. Or, more precisely, their legal team doesn't want to give up control. So, they end up spending more money."

Control or money. That is the choice. An economy functions best with no one in control. Central planning doesn't work. A little bit of it is a drag. A lot is fatal.

But people don't like it when things are "out of control." And that's the problem with capitalism. It is always out of control. At least, it should be.

Yesterday we got word that housing went down in the last quarter — making 17 straight quarters of losses. Homeowners are down about $7 trillion…and still sinking. New building permits are down to a 15-year low. Sales have not been this low in a generation.

As for unemployment, the numbers are shifty. Most of the improvement in the unemployment rate comes from the feds' taking people who can't find jobs off the list of those looking for work. But layoffs are increasing…and it is now obvious that most of these jobs will NEVER come back.

As the control is lost, a real existence will fill it's void.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dailyreckoning/~3/dzjeNum_nF4/

Hydraulic Fracturing Potentially Causing East Coast Quakes

 

Experts are looking for a reason behind Tuesday afternoon’s unlikely 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook people up and down the East Coast, and some are saying that a recent rise in fracking could be the culprit.

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the man-made splintering of underground rocks to expedite the exploiting of natural resources. It’s become a widespread phenomenon since its introduction in 2004, and though the practice can help increase supplies of oil and gas without reaching out internationally for imports, the result it can have on the geological make-up of the Earth can be ravaging. Now some experts say the rise in fracking could be to blame for yesterday’s quake.

The odds of a quake exceeding a magnitude of 5.5 occurring in central Virginia are so slim that Dominion Power determined only around six quakes of that size would occur in the area over the next 10,000 years. Dominion was looking at building a third nuclear reactor at their power plant in North Anna, VA, where facilities had to be taken offline yesterday as a result of the quake. Despite predicting that the site would be scarcely affected ever by a tremor, the quake’s epicenter was only mere miles from the nuclear facility.

Multi-stage fracking, which can drill several miles deep in the Earth, has only become prevalent in recent years. Once introduced, however, Arkansas, West Virginia and Texas all saw an unexpected increase in quakes across the region.  The correlation has caused concern in other parts of the country, including West Virginia, where residents are asking lawmakers to reconsider the legality of fracking, which can not only cause earthquakes but is overall detrimental to the local ecosystem. One incident in central Virginia occurred in 2008 when fracking caused an explosion of a natural gas pipeline that created a fireball that stretched up to half a mile long and tall and injured five people.

Mineral, VA, the site of Tuesday’s quake’s epicenter, is only 90 miles from the West Virginia border, where activists are rallying to change the lax state legislation which has caused companies to conduct fracking operations more and more and recent years. 

More from RT

Communism Evolving into Democratic Socialism

There was a time when Americans stood up against socialism, when being a socialist or communist in America was a crime.The post-war 1950's lead to a witch hunt and many wrongful accusations of communist ties to Americans, but it made clear a position that America was a free land, and would not play host to efforts to Soviet conspirators. Those Cold War concerns regarding state secrets are a fading memory and no longer a threat, but the communism that failed in Russia and lead to it's collapse is rearing it's ugly head in the form of socialism in Liberal and Democratic circles.

Maybe this is how Russia planned to win the Cold War all along, via infectious mentalities. But socialism has only ever been practical on paper. Where has socialism succeeded for all citizens and not been a method for elite to pillage?

All around us, there are imminent and ominous threats to the future of American Liberty. None, however, is more grave than the demolition of free enterprise by those who would replace it with the authoritarian rule of Democratic Socialism envisioned by Barack Hussein Obama and his leftist comrades.

Rancorous political debate is currently focused on competing solutions for our failing domestic economy and the collapse of our esteemed standing among the nations of the world.

Conservatives, particularly those resolute constitutional constructionists who identify with the much-maligned Tea Party Movement, rightly understand, as did Ronald Reagan, that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." That is why we are advocating for the restoration of constitutional limits on the central government.

There was a time when Americans would have taken up arms against commies coming to take advantage of our hard working ethics. The double-edged sword that is our constitutional freedom has also given those with the will to destroy our freedom a way to take over our government, forcing their will through legislation upon the People. But looking back at Russia and many other societies, the People will only be pushed so far before they push back.

Kick it Till it Breaks

Conversely, the growing ranks of leftists in Congress, some 80 of whom are openly members of the Socialist Party of America's Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), subscribe to the notion that government is both the engine and the drive train of our nation's economy.

But if Essential Liberty and Rule of Law as enshrined in our Constitution are to survive, then free enterprise must be their economic engine. At present, however, that engine is attempting to pull an ever more bloated government trailer -- a trailer so overloaded as to bring the economy to a dead stop.

Obama's government programs will amass a $1.3 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2011 alone, some $400 billion more than the paltry $917 billion in savings to which Congress agreed over the next decade under the recent budget deal and corresponding debt-ceiling increase.

This oppressive bloat -- and our elected leaders' utterly inadequate response to it -- will serve as fodder for much of the political debate ahead of the 2012 election. Indeed, the future of Liberty depends on the successful defeat of enough congressional leftists to provide strong conservative majorities in both the House and Senate. Moreover, Liberty hangs in the balance of the upcoming presidential election. While conservatives recaptured the House of Representatives in 2010, the first effective step to restrain Obama's agenda, only a conservative president can begin to undo the damage done to our nation by the Obama regime.

As John Adams once warned, we must be vigilantly on guard against all contagions that would "infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections."

These contagions, these obstacles, are as follows, roughly in order of threat magnitude: an ignorant electorate; candidates who are unable to articulate the difference between Rule of Law and rule of men; institutionalized dependency on the state, including the fact that 40 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax; forced redistribution of wealth; comfort, complacency and indifference; Leftmedia dezinformatsia; opposition by the leftist elite; and, finally, the conferring of legal status upon illegal immigrants in order to fortify Democrat voter constituencies illegitimately.

A majority of Americans are beneficiaries of some combination of thousands of government schemes to redistribute wealth. The resulting institutionalized dependency on the state is insidious, as it results in reliable votes for whichever party (read: the Democrat Party) can take the most from one group and redistribute it to another. It's no wonder that the most recent Index of Dependence on Government (2010) reports the greatest single-year percentage rise in dependence since 1976.

The redistribution of wealth, promise of citizenship and many other programs are how the American socialists are pandering to the lower class. Obama pushing the DREAM Act through is just on e example of a government promoting policy that is in direct opposition to the will of the governed People. Just wrap socialism up in a pretty package and stick a simple logo on it. Eventually, the People learn that the end result is that we all lose, some just lose sooner than others, while the elite ride the wave to the very end.

The forced redistribution of wealth pushed the Cost of Government Day to 12 August this year, which means that the average American tax payer must now work 224 days to fund all taxes, and hidden regulatory taxes, imposed by the central government. That date is 27 days later than in 2008, and it now consumes more than 60 percent of national earned income. There are endless regulatory costs on the horizon, such as Obama's new fuel economy standards which according to a study conducted by the Center for Automotive Research, will increase the average retail price of motor vehicles more than $11,000.

Does anyone still believe that this direction is a sustainable path. Infinite growth is a myth. Our economy is tanking. Our banking industry is seeing giants fall on a regular basis. It's hard not to think pessimistically, but how can this continue?

The question remains: Are we irrevocably locked into the Cycle of Democracy? Recall that this evolves from bondage to spiritual faith; spiritual faith to great courage; courage to Liberty (Rule of Law); Liberty to abundance; abundance to complacency; complacency to apathy; apathy to dependence; and from dependence back into bondage (rule of men).

At the close of the first American Revolution, George Washington wrote, "No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings [of Liberty] than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass."

We have already veered from that road. Is there time to use the ballot box to attain a new dawn for Liberty, or are we destined to dependence and bondage, which will require another renewal of faith and courage?

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It is not that America provides too much freedom that socialism has taken root, but that Americans have not stood up together against this infection, defeating it as we did the English who caused us to seek freedom, resulting in the creation of this free nation. The first American Revolution created something wonderful. What will the second bring? Will we recognize the teachings of our Founders as being the path of survival? Or will we collapse like Russia? I know this music, let's change the beat.

It is not until you have lost everything that you are free to do anything 

Music to Collapse to - Meg Lee Chin

It was written by Meg Lee Chin, first appearing on the Pigface album "A New High In Low," and later turning up, a bit differently, on Meg's solo record, "Piece and Love." The track paints an apocalyptic vision of the future as a twist on Alan Ginsberg's poem "Howl".

A new thread from my head, Music to Collapse to, comes from my affinity for music that goes against the grain of society, promoting social consciousnesses and critical thinking. Much of this music comes from Industrial, Heavy Metal, and Rock categories, but the best of the bunch is an amalgamation of many themes and styles.

Meg Lee Chin is one of my favorites for her writing style, producing her own material, and just following her own path.

Apple Lobbies Obama For Tax Holiday, Wants To Bring Its Riches Home

Amazing. Obama only seems interested in helping the American people when there is something in it for him and big government. He has little concern for reality or for the dissent he is breeding in the American people with his power grabs and bleeding of the national economy. This effort by government to collect as much wealth from private citizens and companies to create a more socialistic society is one of the main reasons we are in such bad shape and are headed the way of the former soviet union; collapse.

Will Obama continue to position himself against the US economic recovery and taxpaying voters? Or will he continue to push toward socialist reforms that will lead us to a national collapse?

Apple's profits stashed overseas is getting restless for a trip the the United States. The tech giant, frequently seen wealthier than the U.S. government and Exxon-Mobile, is lobbying the U.S. government for a five percent 'tax holiday.' In a bizarre picture, Apple is aligned with Republicans and against the Democratic American President.

At it's last quarterly report, Apple announced it had almost $80 billion in cash.
Google, Oracle and Cisco are also part of the "WIN America Campaign" that argues "incentives to invest at home is a common sense solution that will immediately inject up to $1 trillion into our economy and provide businesses with the security and certainty they need to help Americans get back to work," according the the group's website. So far, the proposed bill has picked up support of 15 Republicans and eight Democrats in the House of Representatives.

So far opposed to the effort is President Barack Obama, to whom the companies donated $1.3 million in 2008.

Apple has a growing interest in protecting its foreign profits. During the last quarter, 62 percent of the iPad and iPhone maker's profits came from international sales. For some time, Apple executives have pointed to China as holding a huge potential for sales growth.

Source

Buying Democratic Voters with Citizenship

"Following a pattern of making law by regulation and executive order, the Obama administration [last week] announced it will impose a version of the Dream (development, relief and education for alien minors) Act on America through administrative fiat. This is blatant political pandering in an election cycle at the expense of American citizens. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress she has authority to halt deportation of illegal aliens not perceived to be a criminal threat as long as they meet certain criteria, such as attending school or having family in the military. The new rules would cover up to 300,000 illegal aliens. In 2010, the government deported 200,000 with no criminal records. Under the new rules, most would now likely be allowed to stay and apply for permits. Opposed by a majority of Americans and twice defeated in Congress, the federal Dream Act essentially grants amnesty to any illegal alien in America if they agree to enlist in the military or attend a U.S. college. It's called a 'path to citizenship,' a path that leads right past the U.S. Border Patrol. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a sponsor of the federal Dream Act, praised the DHS announcement. 'These students are the future doctors, lawyers, teachers and maybe senators who will make America stronger,' he said in a statement. So are the children of America's jobless. ... 'If you look at immigrants from Mexico, they register 3-to-1 Democrat, so the Democratic Party is for easy citizenship and allowing them to vote,' says Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. This is about making the Democratic Party, not America, strong." --

Investor's Business Daily

How the Dollar Hegemony Fuels the US Twin Deficit and Produces an Ineffective Federal Reserve

Global trade and financial structures are intertwined and dependent on each other for sustenance. If (when) the US economy collapses in a big way, those countries that have not learned and cut their ties will fall with us. Maintaining our present full speed ahead mentality, knowing there will be an abrupt crash, is suicidal for our economy. Those that continue to attempt to manipulate the public into thinking everything will be okay are simply looting our nation as long as they are allowed to. The only way to survive as a nation is to kill our fiat currency before it kills us and go back to a gold standard that can not be manipulated and controlled by a power-hungry government. 

Hold on, this is a long one.

All good things come to an end

The recent US debt crisis and ensuing S&P downgrade has brought the whole world to a standstill. The scariest part is nobody knows how to react to a possible US default. The whole world has taken the US's solvency for granted for way too long. The booming global trade has been so heavily collateralized against the US deficit that we really don't know how it's going to function otherwise. World trade is now a game in which the US produces dollars and the rest of the world produces things that dollars can buy. All the central banks need to accumulate dollars to sustain their undervalued currency and comparative advantage in trade. So what happens if the federal government goes bankrupted and the dollars become worthless?

This is really a wake up call to all. The world needs to decouple its well being from the US deficit. We can't delay the inevitable for ever, or else next time it will be more than just a close call.

We need to be prepared for a world without the dollar as the dominant reserve currency and global vehicle currency, and without the US consumption economy as the vital export growth engine. We need Euro to step up and take more responsibilities over from the dollar, we need China to unleash a consumption economy to help solve the grievous global imbalance. Otherwise the world economy will continue functioning by inertia until the dollar and the US consumption economy can't support the weight placed on them no more.

The world has prospered on the debt-fueled credit binge in the US for decades. All good things come to an end.

 

As to how the dollars from QE2 went to foreign banks operating in the US, Stone McCarthy's research notes:Effectively the affiliated foreign branch of a US bank (whether a domestic or foreign institution) would borrow dollars in the Eurodollar market. A Eurodollar is nothing more than a dollar denominated deposit at a bank outside the US. The bank holding the Eurodollar deposit will ultimately have a dollar denominated claim against a bank domiciled in the US. That US bank in turn holds reserve balances at their local Federal Reserve Banks.

Below are the chart of the total cash holdings of Foreign-related banks in the US using weekly H.8 data.

The $630 billion increase in foreign bank cash balances since November 3, which just so happens to be the date when the Fed commenced QE2 operations in the form of adding excess reserves to the liability side of its balance sheet. Here is the change in Fed reserves during QE2 (from the Fed's H.4.1 statement, ending with the week of June 1).

Above, note that Fed reserves increased by $610 billion for the duration of QE2 through the week ending June 1 (and by another $70 billion in the week ending June 8, although since we only have bank cash data through June 1, we use the former number, although we are certain that the bulk of this incremental cash once again went to foreign financial institutions).

This is the curse of the dollar as the world reserve currency. With the powerful Eurodollar market and near-zero domestic interest rates, the federal reserve has become a rather impotent domestic central bank while the recovering US economy is struggling in a liquidity trap and dollar chases yield else where.

The dollar hegemony has become increasingly fiscally and monetarily unsustainable to the US itself. The dollar hegemony will come to an end by either a forceful market correction or a knowingly gradual reconstruction of global reserve currency system. The best candidate in this reconstruction is Euro. RMB has no way joined in the race to be a world reserve currency in a foreseeable future and at best it can act as a regional invoicing currency among trading partners, because China has some insurmountable flaws when it comes to the candidacy of a world reserve currency:a political structure sharing no aspiration with the democratic economies, powerful state control on the economic issues, over-manipulated exchange rate, impotent law system to protect property rights, and fragile diplomatic relationships with many trading partners. Let's pray Europe will survive the current sovereign debt crisis so that Euro will one day be strong enough to share the decisive responsibility as the world reserve currency along with the US dollar.

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China Paper Warns of Impact From Euro Crisis 'Black Death'

The "Black Death" of debt crisis across the Euro zone will hurt China by sapping demand for exports, although Beijing's relatively small holdings of euro assets will limit any damage to foreign exchange reserves, the nation's top official newspaper said on Monday. 

The bleak diagnosis for the euro's prospects appeared in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the top newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, in a commentary by a former central bank official and an economist for the state-owned China Development Bank.

Although the commentary in the People's Daily does not reflect a definitive view from China's top leaders, it suggests that the euro zone's successive crises have stirred anxiety and debate in Beijing about the impact on China. 

The commentary came days before French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing for impromptu talks that will probably focus on the recent turbulence in global financial markets.

"The euro debt crisis has now been going for nearly two years since the end of 2009, and the sovereign debt crisis has spread like the Black Death of the fourteenth century across the euro zone countries," said the commentary, referring to the rodent-borne pandemic that devastated Europe.   

"The spread of the euro debt crisis will not have as large an impact on our country's foreign exchange reserves as the U.S. sovereign debt downgrade, because euro assets make up far less of our country's foreign exchange reserves than the dollar," added the authors, Zhang Zhixiang, a former head of the People's Bank of China international department, and Zhang Chao, an economist for the China Development Bank.

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Venezuela Triggering a Return to the Gold Standard

Hugo Chavez' decision to recall Venezuela's gold reserves and nationalize the industry could reflect his paranoia about being hit with financial sanctions, analysts said. 

Chavez and other officials in his administration claimed on Wednesday that the move to recall about $11 billion in reserves stored in U.S. and European banks was being done to protect the country from economic troubles in the developed world. 

Central Bank of Venezuela President Nelson Merentes said the government wants that gold in its vaults during "the time of these disturbances." 

But George Gero, a financial adviser with RBC Wealth Management, said Chavez is effectively moving the assets out of countries "that he considers could freeze his gold." 

The United States and its allies have their sanctions arsenal trained almost exclusively on the Middle East and North Africa at present -- the latest set of U.S. financial sanctions was announced Thursday and aimed at Syria.

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To me, this shift will trigger other nations to gather their physical assets and keep them close, rather than spread out across the globe. I also think that this will lead to a return to a gold standard when fiat money collapses.

A few days ago we penned "As Chavez Pulls Venezuela's Gold From JP Morgan, Is The Great Scramble For Physical Starting?" in which, logically, we wondered if the unwind of the great gold cartel, whose purported price manipulation has always resided in the domain of paper, or confidence-based, precious metals, may have started from the most unexpected source: Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez who just announced that he will not only nationalize the country's gold industry but reclaim his physical gold (however much of it may exist) from custodians such as JP Morgan and Bank of Nova Scotia. The practical implications of this move are substantial- since then gold has seen record high after record high. Whether one attributes these moves to Chavez, or to yet another global "risk-flaring" episode is unclear. Luckily, Grant Williams, author of the always entertaining "Things That Make you Go Hmmmm", provides some very fascinating observations on this very interesting topic...

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NATO Oil Tankers Destroyed in Pakistan

How do you know when you are not welcome somewhere you are not from?

Oil tankers carrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan and attacked by the Taliban sympathizers.

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Risk of Recession Masking Risk of Depression

 

With more than 2.5 million additional workers joining the unemployed, I'd says we never got out of the last recession, and are headed full-speed toward a depression more devastating than the Great one. 

FLORENCE, Alabama (Reuters) - The risk of a new U.S. recession has risen over the last couple of months, but an outright contraction will most likely be avoided, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday.

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Killing Jobs via ObamaCare, Falling Back on ObamaStamps

Now that the politicians have delivered an anti-debt deal that adds an estimated $8 trillion to the current $14.5 trillion federal debt over the next 10 years, President Obama is getting ready to head off on a pro-jobs bus tour of the Midwest.


With more than 2.5 million additional Americans without jobs since he moved into the White House, President Obama would do better on jobs if he cancelled the bus, saved the gas, and just stayed put in the Oval Office to work on reversing the policies he’s promoted that have only made things worse, starting with ObamaCare.

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As low-wage jobs dry up, unemployed rely on an unsustainable system of reliance.

Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That's an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession led to mass job losses. 

At the same time, the cost doubled to reach $68 billion in 2010—more than a third of the amount the U.S. government received in corporate income tax last year—which means the program has started to attract the attention of some Republican lawmakers looking for ways to cut the nation's budget deficit. 

While there are clearly some cases of abuse by people who claim food stamps but don't really need them, for many Americans like Saucedo there is little current alternative if they are to put food on the table while paying rent and utility bills.

In some parts of the country, shoppers using food stamps have almost become the norm. In May 2011, a third of all people in Alabama were on food stamps—though part of that was because of emergency assistance after communities were destroyed by a series of destructive tornadoes. Washington D.C., Mississippi, New Mexico, Oregon and Tennessee all had about a fifth of their population on food stamps that month. 

"This becomes an implicit subsidy for low-wage jobs and in terms of incentives for higher wage job creation that really is not a good thing," said Arindrajit Dube, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose research shows raising the minimum wage would spur economic activity. 

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The Bank Of America Death Spiral and Coming Collapse

I'm not sure if there is a better indicator that the financial system is on a downward spiral.

There's no question of a double dip for shares of Bank of America.

After financial crisis lows near $3, BAC traded above $15 for over two years. In the past year, however an accumulation of foreclosure-related costs and concerns about capital requirements erased these gains. Today headlines on both front pushed the stock down to $6.42.

Remember, Bank of America traded above $50 just a few years ago.
Although the bank says it has enough capital, analysts say it may need to raise an eye-popping $40-50 billion.

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Last week we had Citigroup warning that the market bottom is about to fall out, as the Fed is more than likely to disappoint already very lofty expectations (according to various estimates from both Goldman and the second Tier banks, i.e., all of them, the market has priced in roughly $500 billion in QE3 already). Today, Bank of America, which may or may not be with us much longer, has taken this desperate alarmism several notches further, and is warning that due to the gridlock in both the fiscal ("fiscal authorities have bombarded the markets with a quadraphonic message of hopelessness") and monetary ("the Fed is out of bullets anyway") stimulative pathways, the likely outcome of anything from DC will be nothig short of a disaster. To wit: "rather than a repeat of 2010, when the Fed saved the day with QE2, we think we are moving closer to a repeat of 2008, when major policy errors devastated the economy." For once we actually agree with Bank of America: "In our view, the pressure to “do something” is now far more likely to result in more desperate or radical measures, even if it is bad policy." Does this mean that we are looking at a TARP "vote down" market reaction this Friday if indeed the chairman disappoints? We will know for sure in about 100 hours, which just may be the longest 100 hours for bulls since the start of the artificial and solely QE inspired bear market levitation in March of 2009.

Refinancing is the only thing that seems to be continuing on a level path, with everything else going down. That means that people and companies are pushing their debt down the road and paying the minimum or interest required to stay afloat. How long can that continue before a collapse occurs?

Summers just haven’t gone that well for markets in recent years. Many have noted the similarities between 2011 and 2010, or even 2008, but in fact the interest rate pattern in each of the past six years has been depressingly and remarkably similar: rising rates and economic optimism in the first half of the year ultimately giving way to pessimism and lower rates in the second half. It indeed seems like we have been here before. But rather than a repeat of 2010, when the Fed saved the day with QE2, we think we are moving closer to a repeat of 2008, when major policy errors devastated the economy.

The environment has become too overwhelmed by uncertainty, particularly on the policy front. In our view, the pressure to “do something” is now far more likely to result in more desperate or radical measures, even if it is bad policy. The most obvious immediate candidate for this is the concern that has hung over the agency MBS market for the past year: elimination of institutional obstacles to refinancing such as loan level pricing adjustments (LLPA) as a quid pro quo for a cut in the preferred dividend payments. The muted refinancing response to historically low interest rates shown in Chart 15 likely has become unacceptable from a policy perspective, and responses are available.

This, along with the increased possibility of a low for long rate environment, particularly if the Fed implements Operation Twist as expected, requires us to reset the benign prepayment expectations we have had over the past year. The capacity argument we made just last week now appears less likely to stand in the rapidly evolving political and economic environment. Just as banks have been pressured to modify existing borrowers, we can look for pressure to be exerted on banks to expand capacity, lower the primary-secondary spread, and refinance high rate borrowers who have faced challenges moving through the refinancing pipeline. In addition, the simple economic incentives of the refinancing business should help drive capacity expansion.

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The Death of Fiat Currency

Even though silver and gold are both up around 25% for the year, silver has been lagging gold’s recent spike.  Plenty of folks have been asking what’s going on.  In the big picture, what is happening is fiat money is in the process of dying.  Can governments save the fiat system with austerity?  I don’t think so because there is simply too much debt in the world.  What I do know is the rich are turning to physical assets for protection from calamity and inflation.  Silver is used for storing wealth and industrial production.  It is only a matter of time before silver catches up with gold, and most experts say it will go up in price on a percentage basis much more than gold.

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Government and Wall Street Conspiring Against your 401k

A while back, I made a prediction that something bad was going to happen before the end of 2011.  I think the recent stock market plunge qualifies as “something bad.”  Where have all the trillions of dollars gone from the stock market?  I think Wall Street is up to its old tricks and harvested the public’s hard earned 401-k money—again.  The stock market has been an awful place for the “buy and hold” investor to park his money for the past 11 years.  The little guy has been fleeced time and again by the short selling sharks.  Back in June, James Howard Kunstler wrote a piece on his blog (Kunstler.com) that ended with this statement: “Bernanke, Obama, Geithner are powerless against the dark lurking churn, though they can easily make it worse. What a summer we’re in for. Get out of the stock market.” (Click here for the complete original post.)   How can they make it worse?  Print lots of money and bail out their friends.   Telling people to get out of the market was a stellar call.  Mr. Kunstler is today’s guest writer, and according to him, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.  Please enjoy his excellent post.—Greg Hunter–

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An American Collapse in Russia's Shadow

Is an American collapse inevitable? Can we avoid a complete failure of the nation? Should we begin to localize our lives and let go of government reliance? Dmitry Orlov has insight into how to apply the survival of the people of Russia to a post-collapse America?

America is still in deep denial which is still the first stage of the Awakening. This denial will be wiped away when the dollar collapses. For now the economy is still functioning with food and fuel available. Americans still have the illusion of wealth and normalcy. They still are stuck in the false left right paradigm and think some other sock puppet will turn things around.

America is following in the footsteps of the Soviet rise and collapse.

When the dollar collapses, all American illusions will collapse with it. Deep denial will turn into deep anger. The violence I expect in the other 3 areas on the list and all urban areas in the US, will make all other global riots pale in comparison. America is deeply infused with arrogance, denial, narcissism, drugs and violence. There is no other society that I know of that has the degree of intensity and combination of these factors.

This American arrogance will be turned on to other Americans as the dollar collapses. We will no longer be able to maintain the global empire of force without a functioning currency. All of our troops will be forced to come home and we will no longer be able to import 25% of the world’s oil. This sudden shift will turn arrogant Americans on each other as they seek to enforce their inflated sense of self worth on to others. They will think that somehow the world somehow owes them something and they believe that lesser people should make that sacrifice for them. After all, the American way of life is not negotiable… at least that’s what Dick Cheney said.

The dollar collapse will end the ability of the average American to deny their active or passive participation in the dominance of the world by spreading debt and death. When people’s entire life’s savings are wiped away, they will wonder what their life has been all about. All of the missed times with their family and connections with others has been stained by the pursuit of material gains. Only when everything is taken from them, will they start to see the real importance of life. Many will not be able to come to terms with this coming reality. Those that are aware and prepared stand a great chance of making it through this paradigm shift and thrive. (Join the Sons of Liberty Academy.)

We are surrounded by violence and have been desensitized anti social behavior. Our movies and video games show the killing of others but rarely the consequences of those actions. Even other anti social behavior has been normalized. I even realized my favorite show of all time Seinfeld was all about normalizing anti social behavior. The series finale was based on a man getting mugged and all 4 main characters not only not helping the man, but actually making fun of the man as he is violently robbed. This lack of empathy is at the root of our problems. So here we now have a society that not only cares only about themselves and their materialistic needs, we also have a society that no longer cares about other’s feelings.

The American riots will be the worst the word has seen because of the amount of will be of arrogance, denial, narcissism, drugs and violence in our society. These factors are systemic and infect every level of society. I do fear that our nation is sick enough to unleash a series of false flag events to spread our violence even further. This violent Anger phase in the 5 Stages of the Awakening will not last long and not happen in every part of America. There will be a few months of violence that will shake the faith in mankind. Those that live by the sword, will die by the sword. After the most violent are either killed, brought to justice or burnt out, we will enter in a societal depression as we try to come to terms with what has happened. This period could last for years as we struggle with the loss of wealth and life.

I am hopeful that this collapse will actually be the beginning of something really great for mankind. A new paradigm not based on debt and death is a very real outcome of this collapse. With the collapse of the dollar, those that were lured into a senseless narcissistic consumer lifestyle will be forced to come to the understanding that instant gratification is not why we are put on this earth. Those that were ill prepared for the collapse will start to ask questions, then they will seek answers, then they will want blood. The Elite that created, perpetuated and profited off of this paradigm will be running for cover as the world wakes up to what they have done. It will be nice to have consumerism, militarism and narcissism flushed away. (Read Resonate IV)

This collapse will not result in a One World Order. The Elite that are trying desperately make this happen will no longer be able to operate in secrecy. Their minions will lack any legitimacy with the people they rule. After all who is going to trust a President who says he did not see this coming when you and I can see it coming from miles away. The result after a very violent Anger phase is going to be massive decentralization of power not more centralization of power. Local communities, cities counties and states will assert more power over the daily activities of our lives. Some will will slip into tyranny to make order out of chaos. Others will attract the best and brightest by embracing freedom and honest money. The end result is a life where we can reach our highest and best self. How we get there is a rough road, but one I feel is easily traveled if you are aware and prepared.

All this has happened before. All this will happen again

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10 Signs That Economic Riots And Civil Unrest Inside The United States Are Now More Likely Than Ever

You should let the video footage of the wild violence that just took place in London burn into your memory because the same things are going to be happening all over the United States as the economy continues to crumble.  We have raised an entire generation of young people with an “entitlement mentality”, but now the economy is producing very few good jobs that will actually enable our young people to work for what they feel they are entitled to.  If you are under 30 in America today, things look really bleak.  The vast majority of the good jobs are held by people that are older, and they aren’t about to give them up if they can help it.  It is easy for the rest of us to tell young Americans to “take whatever they can”, but the reality is that there is intense competition for even the most basic jobs.  For instance, McDonald’s recently held a “National Hiring Day” during which a million Americans applied for jobs.  Only 6.2% of the applicants were hired.  In the old days you could walk down to McDonald’s and get a job whenever you wanted to, but now any job is precious.  The frustration among our young people is palpable.  Most of them feel entitled to “the American Dream” and they feel like the system has failed them.  Unfortunately, many of them are already turning to violence.  But the economic riots and the civil unrest that we have already seen are nothing compared to what is coming.  Americans are angry, and as the economy continues to collapse that anger is going to reach unprecedented heights.

We are entitled to very little in this country. There is a large portion of our population that believes different, but there is no way to sustain that mentality when our economy is collapsing. When it gets worse, expect to have to defend yourself against people striking out at others fueled by ignorance.

In recent days, even many in the mainstream media have been openly wondering if the riots that happened in London could happen here too.  There is a growing acknowledgement that this country is headed down a very dark path.

The sad thing is that these riots accomplish absolutely nothing.  The recent London riots did not create any jobs and they certainly did not solve any economic problems.  Instead, they actually hurt the economy even more because a huge amount of property was destroyed and people are even more afraid to continue with business as usual.

But when people get to the end of their ropes, most of the time they are not thinking rationally.  When frustration erupts, the results can be very, very messy.

All over the United States we are already seeing some very troubling signs of the violence that is coming.  The following are 10 signs that economic riots and civil unrest inside United States are now more likely then ever….

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Is This The Way The World Ends?

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

-T.S. Elliot, from The Hollow Men

San Francisco

New Orleans

Rio de Janeiro

Rome

Kinshasa

Karachi

Bangkok

Peking

Economic Indicators Show Recession As Early As Next Month

Will more stimulus make a difference? 

Over the course of the last few weeks we have seen economic reports released that have raised recessionary alarm bells. In addition, the European drama erupted again as European bond vigilantes attacked Europe’s weakest links (PIIGS) and now the carnage is spreading to core European countries like Italy and France. In kind, global stock markets have sold off to the point where more than half of global stock markets have experienced bear markets. As to be expected, global central bankers are responding and taking action. The big question all are asking now is, will their actions be enough to turn the global economic slowdown around or will more economic and financial market damage need to be done before central bankers act more forcefully?


Back in June I made the case that past monetary actions from global central bankers were finally being felt in global economies (“Global monetary tightening taking its toll, risks mount”). The monetary tightening programs of central bankers globally that began in late 2009 and carried over into 2011 were designed to bring down inflation and overheated economies. The risk with every monetary tightening mode is that central bankers go too far and drag their economies into a recession which is often associated with some type of financial crisis. This phenomenon is made clear in the following figure of past U.S. Fed tightening cycles and associated financial crises.

The collective result of global monetary tightening over the past year has been a marked deceleration in global growth, and now it appears their actions have gone too far as leading economic indicators have not only decelerated but have dropped into negative territory. Shown below is the composite leading economic indicator (LEI) for the 34 countries of the OECD. The growth rate for the LEI has now turned negative after being positive for the first time since October 2007. Looking back over the last decade, the only false signal in the OECD LEI that didn’t lead to a recession here in the U.S. was in 2003, though that signal came after a prolonged bear market and sluggish economy. However, the current reading is coming after a strong bull market in equities and thus carries far more significance. I do not expect we are seeing a false signal.

Today we were treated to the August reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report which showed a reading of 54.9, the third worst reading in history and well below the median estimate of 62.0. This has been the case now for the past month in which economists have been way off the mark in terms of their estimates and reality. This often occurs at major tipping points (both bearish and bullish) as economists often extrapolate past results into the future and thus overshoot at economic peaks and undershoot at economic troughs. The string of overshoots in estimates from the ISM Manufacturing Index to GDP to consumer sentiment indicates we are yet at another economic inflection point in which the economy is rolling over. What is troubling about the Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading is that it often leads turns in consumption trends. First consumer’s moods change and then spending patterns follow suit. The sharp drop in consumer sentiment suggests consumers are likely to pullback sharply on spending in the months ahead.

Lakshman – “You always have a slowdown before a recession. When that slowdown occurs there is a window of opportunity for growth to resume. When you have a shock during that window of vulnerability, it’s very risky business.”

Given the likelihood of a continued global slowdown in economic growth to persist into the end of the year, it appears then that whether we avoid a recession hinges on whether global central banks can take enough decisive action to overwhelm any shocks during what Lakshman calls this “window of vulnerability.” So far central bankers have taken initial steps to help calm global markets which appears to be working. Will it be enough? Not likely given leading economic indicators suggests further erosion ahead. Thus, unless central bankers open the monetary spigots even further we will be slipping into a recession into year end. It then appears there will be a tug-of-war between global economic prospects and the world’s central banks. Below is likely to be the formula that we will see at least into year end.

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Ugly side of strikes

The big difference between union supporters and "scabs" is the will to provide for one's family and community. Unions persist today to undermine the workers and provide for union bosses and politicians, and to damage businesses. 

Oh please do Union Assholes.
Come to my house, threaten me or my family. Step on my property, touch my house, hell look at my house…
I'll show you what "Castle Doctrine" that our lame assed politicians, RINOs at the State dropped the ball on, means.

Dear Madd, "We should all pay them a visit at their house and let them know we are always [there]," one striking union militant wrote on Facebook this week. Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union bosses have ordered tens of thousands of Verizon employees to abandon their jobs and report to a union picket line. The early reports of rampant intimidation and militancy are disturbing but sadly unsurprising. Verizon already reports over 70 acts of sabotage and damage to phone and Internet lines — exposing customers to the possibility that they will be unable to call for help or reach family during an emergency. One union militant ordered his young daughter to stand in front a Verizon truck while he verbally berated the independent technicians. Check out the video — with explicit language — by clicking here. And on Facebook, union strikers compiled a so-called "scab" list — that disgusting name union thugs use to demean, harass, and even threaten workers who defy union-boss orders and continue working to provide for their families. That Facebook page has since been deleted, but not until union militants broadcast the names and phone numbers of independent-minded workers for all to see, along with menacing messages like the one above. But with more days, weeks, or even months of striking ahead, I'm afraid we may have only seen the tip of the iceberg. That's why your continued support of the National Right to Work organizations is so crucial. The Committee's sister organization, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, has issued special legal notices to CWA and IBEW union members to inform them of their right to resign from the union and return to work. Foundation attorneys have provided free legal aid to victims of union violence, illegal strike fines, and other forms of strike-related union-boss intimidation. Meanwhile, one of the Committee's top legislative priorities is to force Congress to eliminate one of Big Labor's most appalling special privileges. The fact is, for decades union bosses and their underlings have committed thousands of reported incidents of violence, extortion, vandalism and even murder. And in most of these cases these vicious acts of violence and intimidation have not even been investigated, much less prosecuted and punished. Ever since the Supreme Court's infamous 1973 Enmons decision, union bosses have been granted immunity from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called "pursuit of legitimate union objectives." This outrageous loophole in federal law has effectively tied the hands of federal law enforcement officers and has permitted union bosses and their handpicked "enforcers" to pursue their union goals – in any way they see fit. Passage of the Freedom from Union Violence Act would close the loophole in federal law and finally allow authorities to prosecute union officials for inciting violence. If you haven't already, please sign the petition urging your U.S. Congressman and Senators to cosponsor the Freedom from Union Violence Act. And if you possibly can, please chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today to help fund the Committee's programs. We're seeing once again this week just how dangerous union militancy can be. Ugly union strikes affect Americans from all walks of life. Unfortunately, federal labor law encourages forced unionism — and the union violence loophole encourage union militancy during strikes.

http://freemadd.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/ugly-side-of-strikes

I’ll Show You Mine, Part 2

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