Wednesday 30 November 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011: (St. Albert the Great)
Jesus said: “My people, when I went to the houses of sinners, I could hear some of the Jewish leaders grumbling how I associated Myself with sinners. They did not realize that Matthew converted to be one of My disciples, and he wrote one of the Gospels. Zaccheus also converted from his ways of stealing money, and he changed his life. I told these complainers that sick people need a doctor, but the self-righteous do not. My whole purpose for coming to the earth as a man was for the salvation of sinners. All of you are sinners, if you want to admit it or not. I wait patiently for you to come to Me and seek My forgiveness for your sins. You have inherited a weakness to sin from Adam, but I have died for each of you. Now, you can come to Me in Confession to cleanse your sins, and renew My grace in your souls. Pray for sinners to repent because many are blinded by their sins, and they have difficulty finding their way to Me. I need My missionaries in the vineyard to evangelize the lost souls before they could be lost to the evil one forever.”

Jesus said: “My people, when there are dictators killing their people or their neighbors, some people in your government start beating the war drums to try and remove such dangerous dictators. It takes a well funded military machine which is financed by your people in order to dislodge some of the tyrants causing trouble in your world. You have removed dictators in the former Yugoslavia, in Iraq, and in Libya. Even the one world people have used the Moslem Brotherhood to take over several Arab countries as Egypt and Algeria. You are seeing how the one world people are orchestrating their new world order takeover. You have seen the European Union formed as a trading block, and even eventually you will see a North American Union between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. The plan of the Antichrist is to bring all of these unions into one massive world government that he will rule over. I will protect My faithful in My refuges, so have faith and trust in My protection.”

http://www.johnleary.com/index.php/2011/11/28/tuesday-november-15-2011/

UK extremely worried about stolen nukes

 


Did we the British public know that our current Prime Minister was instrumental in the loss of three illegal nuclear weapons?

Is the UK frantically trying to find out where they were sold on the “Black Market”?

We know something that you don’t…… but can’t talk about it Under the Nuclear Explosions Act otherwise we will all end up in gaol for life.

Chris McGreal of the Guardian newspaper published an article 24th of May 2010 revealing how Israel offered to sell nukes to South Africa during the apartheid era. What he failed to reveal was that Israel struck up a deal with South Africa to move its technicians down to the high-security weapons research and development facilities at Pelindaba.

It was at this location that the Israeli technicians managed to covertly give themselves nuclear weapons but also under the table gave South Africa its own nuclear capability but guess what?…….the US and UK knew all about the programme but the UN did not!!!…….what was even more amazing was the fact that the UN sent a team to South Africa where they were convinced that South Africa had curtailed its nuclear weapons programme when in actual fact it had not!!

It is fairly obvious why Israel is totally consumed in trying to find these stolen weapon and needless to say the US and British Governments are equally as concerned and yet are not in a position to admit to their loss as in doing so would incriminate past and current very senior politicians including our current Prime Minister David Cameron.

It always appear to be the case that your past always comes back to haunt you. So let’s just recall the history behind these weapons that were designed and commissioned all during the UN embargo years and who was allegedly involved.

I must also make it quite clear that many of the world leaders and senior members of government have been involved in these under the table deals which has resulted in many of them accumulating much wealth either for the party election funds or for their own personal gain. When one further considers that these faceless individuals not only govern out country but are also directly responsible for the death of millions of people both military staff and civilians it is extremely hard to understand.

How can any government have such a flawed intelligence network and allow such things to take place without some sort of audit to see what is going on behind the scenes. We have seen both the US, UK, EU and Israel transfer almost everything from chemical and biological weapons to nuclear part to countries which they have since called the “Axis of Evil.”………..that statement is not totally true because the “Axis of Evil” is right here in the heart of London!!

It was in the late 1970 when the South African nuclear programme started to go into full swing with the compliments of the Israeli scientists resulting in the first test and only test firing of a nuclear weapon. The test took place on a moored vessel anchored off Prince Edward Island on the 22nd of September 1979 when a typical double flash was observed from a passing US satellite.

One has to understand that this was all under the radar of the United Nations with the full knowledge of selected members of the US and British Governments. The US immediately went on the defensive by creating their “False Flag” report known as the “Vela Incident” in which they explained the following:

The conclusions of the Presidential panel (the Ad Hoc Panel) were reassuring, as they suggested that the most likely explanation of the Vela detection was a meteoroid hitting the satellite – in part because of the discrepancy in bhangmeter readings Others who examined the data, including the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the national laboratories, and defense contractors reached a very different conclusion – that the data supported the conclusion that on 22 September 1979, Vela 6911 had detected a nuclear detonation.

What I find ironic here is the fact that several agencies confirmed it was a nuclear explosion but the US Government conveniently put it to bed. I can assure you that through my own scientific contacts in the US this did actually happen and an internal memo at the Los Alamos nuclear research facility confirmed that it had been a nuclear explosion. One has to understand the high stakes involved in such programmes, especially when vast sums of money are being banded around senior political figures. This is truly corruption at its best!

The joint venture (Israel – South Africa) created 10 Battlefield Bombs and after the first test that left nine. The bombs were designed to be highly mobile and reasonably compact and could be carried by the British Canberra bomber or the Buccaneer.

It became apparent in later years that the supremacy of white power in South Africa was about to finish and so they had to open up discussion with the Americans and British as they feared these weapons getting into the hands of the blacks. It was during this time that a decision was made to ship all nine bombs to Chicago for de commissioning. However, our dear “Iron Lady” Maggie Thatcher decided that it would be a good idea to maybe acquire a few of the weapons for possible use against Iraq in the event Saddam did not toe the line.

Thatcher then ordered her Page Boy, David Cameron, to go down to South Africa along with what was believed to be the only technical man available (non other than the now( Sir) Kenneth Warren). Others also believed to be implicated was David Wilshire and many other senior members of government. In actual fact as we follow this charade up to the current time we could possible include other very senior person such as Lord McAlpine, Peter Lilley, Alan Clarke and Ken Clarke and others I have previously named in other articles. The late Dr. David Kelly was also involved.

We have to remember that this was almost a private sector deal with many political figures implicated some of whom became share holders in the illegal nuke purchase. We are talking here about an extremely high risk deal, with little security for the weapons themselves as everything had to be done in a low key covert way.

As we already know David Cameron was able to secure a deal for his lady mentor, Maggie Thatcher, and returned with a deal for three nuclear weapons. They were shipped to Oman whereby they were put in private sector storage and eventually stolen by John Bredenkamp, the arms dealer who sold them to Britain and then stole them back to sell on the Black market and the rest is now history.

We have to understand that British Tax Payers money was then placed in the Conservative Party Electoral Fund (£17.8m) which to this day has not been accounted for and other money was made available to Tony Blair (£1m) compliments of Bernie Ecclesone. On top of this a slush fund was also developed to silence other third parties that knew of the deal and our dear Mr. Ken Clarke then implemented his gagging orders to those involved!!

I guess you do not believe this story……why don’t you check it out yourself it is written in Hansard 22nd June 1993, and starting at Col. 197 when Lord Doug Hoyle raised the issue in the House as follows:

“Mr Hoyle: If the hon. Gentleman will allow me, I shall tell him what information is now given to us. We understand the expenditure and what Tory central office receives. In 1992, central office received £20.7 million. When we asked about that and about company donations, the Tory party told us to look at company accounts. I repeat: in 1992, the Tories received £20.7 million. When the records were checked by Companies house, only £2.9 198million was shown in company accounts. That means that there is a deficit of £17.8 million. We want to know where that £17.8 million came from.

Mr Tim Smith: The hon. Gentleman has made the suggestion about the accounts of the Conservative party that was made by a member of the Select Committee last week: that no accounts had been published between 1979 and 1983. They were published, and I undertook to send copies to the Select Committee.

Mr Hoyle: I gave way to the hon. Gentleman because I expected him to tell me where the difference of £17.8 million came from. I shall give way again to him. I am told that he is a treasurer of the Conservative party. I give way to him now so that he can stand up and tell us where the £17.8 million came from. Does the hon. Gentleman care to do that? I am waiting. I do not think that we shall get the information from the horse’s mouth. We certainly did not get it from the Secretary of State.”

I could write article after article on the many levels of corruption that occurred in both the US and the UK (not forgetting Israel) and the terrible consequences of this greed resulting in the death of many of our own troops and innocent civilians….all for their own pocket. Solid evidence proves that over the period of 1982-90 Iraq was supplied by the US and UK with WMD, including biological cultures and chemical precursors of nerve gases etc.

Source

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheEuropeanUnionTimes/~3/vGufDpDybtc/

US scientists recreate Stradivarius Violin

 


Owning a Stradivarius is the dream of every violinist, but buying one will set you back to the tune of millions. In a feat that will strike a chord with any musician, US scientists have used computer technology to recreate the legendary instrument.

A team of radiologists and violin makers used computed tomography (CT) to create over 1,000 images of a 1704 original Stradivarius violin. The 3D images they received were read by a special machine, which carved a new identical instrument. The violin makers then assembled and varnished the replica by hand.

The result follows the original in every detail, including the tiniest cracks, wood thickness and shape – all factors which affect an instrument’s sound.

It’s hoped the news will be music to the ears of violinists around the world. Besides helping uncover the secret of the Stradivarius’ sublime sound, it will give musicians a chance to purchase their own replica – if not for a song, then at least at affordable prices. The makers say their work could have a profound impact on modern string music.

Hailed as the world’s greatest violin maker, Italian Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737) produced around 1,000 instruments. Some 650 have survived and are extremely highly valued: a sale this June saw one go for a record $15 million.

Source

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheEuropeanUnionTimes/~3/kG2fMokJJwY/

Monday, November 14, 2011

 

Monday, November 14, 2011:
Jesus said: “My people, you are reading about the abominations being performed against Me in the time of the Maccabees. You saw the idols of the king placed in the sanctuaries of the altars, the discarding of the scrolls of the Scriptures, and the immoral worldly behavior of the people. Even those, who tried to follow My ways, were tortured and killed. If this behavior sounds familiar, it is because America is going down this same path of paganism. Your idols are sports in the stadiums, fame in riches, and possessions of all kinds. Many of your people do not come to Sunday Mass and rarely read the Bible. You abort your children, many live together without marriage, and there are many accepted homosexual acts between two men and two women. In history such decadent civilizations destroyed themselves from within, and America is experiencing all of the symptoms of the fall of the Roman Empire. I have punished such behavior with sudden destruction by weather disasters and earthquakes. America is facing a growing deterioration because of your decadent behavior. If your people do not repent and change their ways, you will face the same fate as many failed civilizations in history. Even if you must face criticism and persecution, remain faithful to Me, and you will receive your reward in heaven.”

Jesus said: “My people, the blind man pursued Me in a loud voice because he had faith that I could heal his blindness. I asked him what he wanted since I wanted to hear his request from his own lips. I then healed him, and My Light came into his eyes so he was healed not only physically, but spiritually as well. He then followed Me giving glory to God. There are many people who are alive, but they are walking blind in their spiritual lives. My grace is always available to those who request healing. By prayer for this gift of My grace, people can be healed of their spiritual blindness. Without the eyes of faith, it is difficult to find the narrow road to heaven. You are blessed to have faith and see your mission clearly. You also need to ask Me for My grace to carry out your mission as well. Rejoice when you can evangelize souls so they can see clearly to follow Me in life. Curing any spiritual blindness is even a greater gift than being healed from physical blindness.”

http://www.johnleary.com/index.php/2011/11/28/monday-november-14-2011/

Links for 2011-11-28 [del.icio.us]

 

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TrendsForecastsAndPropheciesBlog/~3/83BipeqtoBo/peterschiff

UK Embassy Ransacked. What’s Next For Iran

 

By now you have heard that the British Embassy in Tehran was over-run by crowds. This is a major, major breach of international diplomatic protocol. Simply put, foreign embassies should be protected by the government of the country’s government. If the Iranian government is seen to have any hand in these protests–or, more likely, if they did not do their part to stop rioters from entering the compound–it could have big ramifications for Iran internationally.

Right now, Iran is walking a very tight rope. Since the latest IAEA report demonstrated an Iran’s ongoing commitment to a nuclear program, western countries have imposed a number of bi-later (and in the case of the EU, multi-lateral) sanctions on Iran, including its banking sector. So far, attempts to impose global sanctions have fallen short because China and Russia seem somewhat unwilling to go as far as the West in punishing Iran.

The kind of blatant disregard of one of the pillars of international consular relations that was on display in Tehran today may yet nudge China and Russia closer to abstaining from a future sanctions vote. What to watch now is for statements from China and Russia. So far, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s twitter feed and website is mum on the matter. I haven’t seen anything from the Chinese either. Stay tuned.

http://www.undispatch.com/uk-embassy-ransacked-whats-next-for-iran

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Sunday, November 13, 2011

 

Sunday, November 13, 2011:
Jesus said: “My people, today’s Gospel reading was a test of using the talents that I have given to everyone. Some people use their talents to provide for their families and the good works of charity. Other people either are lazy in not using their talents, or they are selfish, and they do everything for themselves only. Just as the productive servants gained their just reward, so My faithful, who use their talents for My mission, will also receive their reward in heaven. The one, who buried his talent, had that taken away, and he was cast outside to wail and gnash his teeth. So those people, who reject Me and are lazy in not following My laws, will receive punishment as a consequence for their actions. The vision in the confessional is all about facing Me at the judgment when everyone will have to make an accounting for all the actions of their lives. It is better to settle your accounts with Me in Confession than to suffer a harsh punishment at your death and judgment. Continue to be prepared for your death by keeping a pure soul with frequent Confession.”

(Rose Grassi Mass intention) Jesus said: “My people, Rose was a very proper lady, and she was very charitable in her good works. Raoul and Rose were very generous in funding Mt. Carmel House as a Catholic hospice. This was a model for other homes as well. The first reading truly described her wonderful ways of helping people. All of My faithful Carmelites will receive their reward for all their prayers and good works. Give thanks and praise to Me for this gift of Rose’s life.”

http://www.johnleary.com/index.php/2011/11/28/sunday-november-13-2011/

Financial Professionals Sounding The Alarm, Economic Disaster Is Coming

 

financial-professionals-sounding-the-alarm

You don’t have to search very far beyond the main stream to find lots of meaty articles about the dire economic straits we’re in – a world sinking in enormous debt of fiat currencies. A corrupt banking system swimming in 600 trillion of unregulated derivatives, an unimaginable staggering sum.

The reality is that we are getting much closer to a trigger event of an economic disaster, a domino effect of toppling systems, while at the same time we hope for miraculous resolutions.

This thing will begin in Europe.

British ministers privately warned that the break-up of the euro, once almost unthinkable, is now increasingly plausible.

Diplomats are preparing to help Britons abroad through a banking collapse and even riots arising from the debt crisis.

Diplomats have also been told to prepare to help tens of thousands of British citizens in eurozone countries with the consequences of a financial collapse that would leave them unable to access bank accounts or even withdraw cash.

Source: The Telegraph

With fiscal time bombs ticking in both Europe and the United States, the pertinent question for now seems to be which will explode first.

the U.S. is crystal clear in its intention to ignore its debt problems. With the failure of the Super Committee this week it actually became official. American politicians will not, under any circumstances willingly confront our underlying debt crisis.

Source: Financial Sense, Peter Schiff – Who’s Fuse is Shorter?

Is the world on the verge of another massive global financial collapse? Yes. The western world is drowning in an ocean of debt unlike anything the world has ever seen before, and our financial markets are gigantic casinos that are dependent on huge mountains of risk and leverage remaining very stable. In the end, this house of cards that has been built on a foundation of sand is going to come crashing down in a horrifying manner.

Most people out there are working hard and are busy preparing for the holidays and they are hopeful that the economy will turn around soon. But that is not going to happen. We are heading for another major global financial collapse, and when it happens the U.S. economy is going to get even worse.

The epicenter for the coming global financial collapse is almost certainly going to be in Europe. As you will see below, financial professionals all over the world are sounding the alarm about Europe. It is a disaster that everyone can see coming but that nobody seems to be able to prevent.

Source: The Economic Collapse – 17 Quotes About The Coming Global Financial Collapse That Will Make Your Hair Stand Up

Alf Field: I have come out of retirement for this one off, once only, speech to warn that the good ship “Life As We Know It” is sinking. You have the choice of getting into a life boat now or going down with the ship.

The following are the brutal truths that the modern generation will have to face as the U.S. and the rest of the world deals with the ongoing global financial crisis:

  1. The slate needs to be wiped clean and a new sound monetary system introduced.
  2. That will require the elimination of all debt, deficits, unfunded social entitlements, the US Dollar as Reserve currency, and the big one, the $600 trillion of derivatives.
  3. To eliminate these problems by default and deflation will cause a banking collapse and untold economic pain, leading to riots and political change.
  4. Politicians are appointed for relatively short terms and opt for the easy solutions.
  5. While politicians continue to have the ability to create new money at will, they will do so in order to prevent a melt down on their watch.
  6. Consequently the odds point to governments wiping the slate clean by generating enough new money to eventually destroy their currencies.
  7. The new international monetary system is likely to involve precious metals. It will have to be money that people trust and that governments cannot create at will.

Every experiment with government issued fiat money has ended with the destruction of that money. There is no reason to believe that it will be different this time. The world’s 40 year experiment with floating ‘I owe you nothing’ fiat currencies is coming to an end.”

Source: Financial Sense – Alf Field is Back

Eighteen months into a sovereign debt crisis — and after many futile efforts to resolve it — the endgame appears to be fast approaching for Europe.

While its leaders may well hold to the current path of offering piecemeal solutions, nervous investors are fleeing European countries and banks.

American financial institutions are also at risk [to European crisis]. According to the Institute of International Finance, they have $767 billion worth of exposure through bonds, credit derivatives and other guarantees to private and public sector borrowers in the euro zone’s weakest economies.

Source: The New York Times – Time Runs Short for Europe to Resolve Debt Crisis.

What can you, Joe Citizen, do about it? Get your money out of banks that may implode. Consider a credit union, or at least check the strength of your bank (there are a number of online resources for this). Keep an amount of cash at home. Be ready to survive a ‘bank holiday’, a period of time when the banks are closed and you cannot withdraw money. Be prepared for events of social unrest should a collapse occur.

Be Prepared. If you enjoyed this, or topics of current events risk awareness and survival preparedness, click here to check out our current homepage articles…

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ModernSurvivalBlog/~3/KF6Wg8Yj7b8/

Pope sued for not wearing seat belt

 


A man from Dortmund has filed a complaint against Pope Benedikt XVI for not wearing a seat belt in his “Popemobile” during his last trip to Germany.

Johannes Christian Sundermann, a lawyer from Unna in North Rhine Westphalia, filed a legal complaint against the German-born pope formerly known as Joseph Ratzinger for not wearing his seat belt on several occasions “for more than one hour at a time,” according to a report in the Westfälischen Rundschau newspaper.

The pope allegedly broke the law during his visit to Freiburg at the end of September as part of his tour of Germany.

Sundermann represents a Dortmund man. As evidence the two are offering YouTube videos and are also calling the Archbishop of Freiburg, the chairman of Germany’s Bishops Conference and Winfried Kretschmann, the Green Party politician who heads the state government in Baden-Württemberg.

The lawyer, a member of the socialist Left party, took on the case after several other attorneys rejected it. Both Sundermann and his client are no longer members of the Catholic Church.

In a worst-case scenario the pope would have to pay a fine of between €30 and €2,500. However, if the pope enjoys diplomatic immunity, even a miracle won’t help this case.

Source

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheEuropeanUnionTimes/~3/dXiD7D0bZ6k/

Links for 2011-11-27 [del.icio.us]

 

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TrendsForecastsAndPropheciesBlog/~3/oSoDOMv8-HU/peterschiff

Racist Tram Woman

 

Another trending viral has popped up this morning, showing the outburst on public transport (one reason I never travel on it) of a racist woman when confronted with a tram full of people she was obviously not happy sharing the same space with. Cries are going up for her to be named and shamed, arrested, her child taken into care.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Be careful what you wish for. I find her views laughable, ignorant, misguided. But they are her views and she is perfectly entitled to hold them. There is no law to protect you from being offended and I am certainly not going to lobby for the introduction of "thoughtcrime" legislation where she must sit in silence. What IS interesting is that she is not alone. Just this morning, a report comes out telling us white, lower class English are marginalised and feel victimised by what they perceive as a bias towards foreigners and minorities soaking up their precious "entitlements" to benefits, housing etc. Coincidence?
Treat the disease, not the symptom.

 

http://bastardoldholborn.blogspot.com/2011/11/racist-tram-woman.html

The Dark Days of Christmas

 

It's approaching the Dead Time of Year. That time when all those companies we self-employed folk rely on for work shut down for Christmas. There is no holiday pay for the self-employed.
Therefore I have to get as much money-earning stuff done as possible before the whole of Capitalism closes down for a month. January starts with meetings and discussions, actual work might start again around February or March and income will begin sometime after that. It's a lean time of year at the end of an already-lean year.
The new business, writing, might not follow the same pattern. I don't know for sure because it's my first year of taking it seriously. One thing that has occurred to me is that lots of people will get Kindles and Nooks and the equivalent Kobo gadget for Christmas so it's a good time to get their attention before the novelty wears off.
The dystopia isn't likely to be ready by Christmas. It's a departure from my usual themes and novels take time even when I'm fully conversant with the subject. I am concentrating on some short stories for the Christmas period but whether they'll be in print in time, I don't know. That's going to be a close call. The electronic versions are easy, they can be online in a matter of hours although distribution to the whole range of retailers will take a while longer. One big advantage of those eBooks is that Christmas post times are irrelevant. You can even buy them on Christmas morning and get them in minutes.
Well, you can if they are available. Mine will be available if I knuckle down and write them and with this knackered wrist, typing time is limited. Typo-fixing time is also increased. I don't yet have enough Christmas tales for a full collection although I could intersperse it with commentary by my evil twin if necessary (that's the even-more-evil twin as opposed to the slightly-less-evil twin. Note that the most uncompromisingly evil of my online personas is the only one that doesn't smoke. It's not an accident).
I was visiting Neal Asher's place and noticed he had a good idea. An idea so good I felt duty bound to steal it. So I have.
I'm not with the big league publishers yet. The one that took Jessica's Trap concentrates on eBooks because with little to no physical inventory, overheads are minimal. They do make print copies available through Barnes and Noble and through Amazon but they aren't cheap. Discounts are minimal, but then discounts are good for readers but bad for authors.
The publisher has fixed costs - editors, cover artists, marketing etc - which they pay for. If you're asked to pay for these things then you're not dealing with a proper publisher. In fact, if you pay for these things, you might as well self-publish and keep all subsequent profits yourself.
Then there is printing. Someone once asked me how many copies of Jessica's Trap were in the first print run. The answer was 'none, but as many as you want'. In the old days, a printer had to pay someone to sit with a big box of metal letters and assemble the whole novel in reverse. Later it was automated but those metal letters still had to be paid for. Self-publishing was only for the rich because no printer is going to set that up unless they are printing several hundred copies. Buying one copy was as expensive as paying someone to write it all out by hand. Now, someone calls up a print file and presses 'print' and you can have one copy at a reasonable cost.
Next, the bookseller's cut. You can't buy and sell anything without profit. It just doesn't work.
Those fixed costs can't be reduced. The only part of the price that can be reduced is the author's cut. That's the part the discount comes out of.
Anyway, back to the point. The author's cut looks really generous but whenever there's a discount, that's where it goes. There is another side to this. It means I can buy copies of Jessica's Trap at a good discount because all of my apparent cut is taken off.
Self-published is different. I still have to pay Lulu for postage so if I do order copies I wait until I need a batch. Postage isn't so bad if you buy ten or more at once.
The upshot of all this is that I have books for sale. No, don't turn away now. It's too late. Auntie Wainwright has locked the door and sneaked up behind you.
I don't get hardbacks delivered from the publisher, mine go straight to paperback. I can make hardback versions of the self-published ones but the cost is insane. So we can ignore those.
If you have a hankering to see the illegible scrawl of a drunken leg-iron (I could have been a doctor, you know. Oh wait, I am one) mangling the message of your choice in the front of a paperback book, or if you know someone who would be duly impressed by a 'signed by the author' book this Christmas even if they don't read it, then listen up.
I have a few copies of Jessica's Trap in paperback and some of Dark Thoughts and Demons. I have only two of Fears of the Old and the New and no spare copies of the ghosthunting books. I can order in if there is interest but let me know soon because they take a week to get here and the Christmas random postal deliveries are upon us.
I can't guarantee overseas delivery in time for Christmas unless you want airmail. The last two packets I sent surface mail to the USA were quoted delivery times of over a month. Pigeons would be faster.
The prices look, shall we say, inverted. Amazon charge around £10 for Jessica's Trap but that includes postage. Lulu prices look cheaper but their postage costs for single books are nasty. Anyway, here's what Santa wants to ram in your stockings:
Without postage charges:
Jessica's Trap £8.50
Fears of the Old and the New £6.00
Dark Thoughts and Demons £5.50
And from my slightly less evil twin, for those of a paranormal bent:
Ghosthunting for the Sensible Investigator, second edition £5.50
There is a first edition but Lulu's print costs make small books overpriced so if you want to see that one it's best picked up as an eBook. At 32 pages it's not so hard to read on screen.
Postage depends on how many you want and where you want them sent. I'll look it up if you tell me what you want and if it's diabolical I won't blame you if you then decline.
What are these books about? Well, you can get a blurb on them at my embryonic writing site which I decided to test out on my day-job site and buggered both up in the process. They are being fixed. This test site is peppered with ads (none earn me any money so ignore them) and I'm told that sometimes they can set off antivirus software. I use NoScript in Firefox so I don't see the ads.
Here are the links for H K Hillman books and for Romulus Crowe. The free stuff remains free, naturally. Those sites will eventually be separated once I've finished meddling and handed them to a friend who can do them properly.
Oh, and if you're buying Kindles or similar gadgets for anyone this Christmas, do let me know and I'll send you some free advertising ;) I know, they don't actually need a bookmark, but it's free.
And now, back to our usual programming.

http://underdogsbiteupwards.blogspot.com/2011/11/dark-days-of-christmas.html

Monday 28 November 2011

This Is A Dangerous Shift In The Middle Eastern Balance Of Power

 

U.S. troops are in the process of completing their withdrawal from Iraq by the end-of-2011 deadline. We are now moving toward a reckoning with the consequences. The reckoning concerns the potential for a massive shift in the balance of power in the region, with Iran moving from a fairly marginal power to potentially a dominant power. As the process unfolds, the United States and Israel are making countermoves. We have discussed all of this extensively. Questions remain whether these countermoves will stabilize the region and whether or how far Iran will go in its response.

Iran has been preparing for the U.S. withdrawal. While it is unreasonable simply to say that Iran will dominate Iraq, it is fair to say Tehran will have tremendous influence in Baghdad to the point of being able to block Iraqi initiatives Iran opposes. This influence will increase as the U.S. withdrawal concludes and it becomes clear there will be no sudden reversal in the withdrawal policy. Iraqi politicians’ calculus must account for the nearness of Iranian power and the increasing distance and irrelevance of American power.
Resisting Iran under these conditions likely would prove ineffective and dangerous. Some, like the Kurds, believe they have guarantees from the Americans and that substantial investment in Kurdish oil by American companies means those commitments will be honored. A look at the map, however, shows how difficult it would be for the United States to do so. The Baghdad regime has arrested Sunni leaders while the Shia, not all of whom are pro-Iranian by any means, know the price of overenthusiastic resistance.
map

Syria and Iran
The situation in Syria complicates all of this. The minority Alawite sect has dominated the Syrian government since 1970, when the current president’s father — who headed the Syrian air force — staged a coup. The Alawites are a heterodox Muslim sect related to a Shiite offshoot and make up about 7 percent of the country’s population, which is mostly Sunni. The new Alawite government was Nasserite in nature, meaning it was secular, socialist and built around the military. When Islam rose as a political force in the Arab world, the Syrians — alienated from the Sadat regime in Egypt — saw Iran as a bulwark. The Iranian Islamist regime gave the Syrian secular regime immunity against Shiite fundamentalists in Lebanon. The Iranians also gave Syria support in its external adventures in Lebanon, and more important, in its suppression of Syria’s Sunni majority.
Syria and Iran were particularly aligned in Lebanon. In the early 1980s, after the Khomeini revolution, the Iranians sought to increase their influence in the Islamic world by supporting radical Shiite forces. Hezbollah was one of these. Syria had invaded Lebanon in 1975 on behalf of the Christians and opposed the Palestine Liberation Organization, to give you a sense of the complexity. Syria regarded Lebanon as historically part of Syria, and sought to assert its influence over it. Via Iran, Hezbollah became an instrument of Syrian power in Lebanon.
Iran and Syria, therefore, entered a long-term if not altogether stable alliance that has lasted to this day. In the current unrest in Syria, the Saudis and Turks in addition to the Americans all have been hostile to the regime of President Bashar al Assad. Iran is the one country that on the whole has remained supportive of the current Syrian government.
There is good reason for this. Prior to the uprising, the precise relationship between Syria and Iran was variable. Syria was able to act autonomously in its dealings with Iran and Iran’s proxies in Lebanon. While an important backer of groups like Hezbollah, the al Assad regime in many ways checked Hezbollah’s power in Lebanon, with the Syrians playing the dominant role there. The Syrian uprising has put the al Assad regime on the defensive, however, making it more interested in a firm, stable relationship with Iran. Damascus finds itself isolated in the Sunni world, with Turkey and the Arab League against it. Iran — and intriguingly, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — have constituted al Assad’s exterior support.
Thus far al Assad has resisted his enemies. Though some mid- to low-ranking Sunnis have defected, his military remains largely intact; this is because the Alawites control key units. Events in Libya drove home to an embattled Syrian leadership — and even to some of its adversaries within the military — the consequences of losing. The military has held together, and an unarmed or poorly armed populace, no matter how large, cannot defeat an intact military force. The key for those who would see al Assad fall is to divide the military.
If al Assad survives — and at the moment, wishful thinking by outsiders aside, he is surviving — Iran will be the big winner. If Iraq falls under substantial Iranian influence, and the al Assad regime — isolated from most countries but supported by Tehran — survives in Syria, then Iran could emerge with a sphere of influence stretching from western Afghanistan to the Mediterranean (the latter via Hezbollah). Achieving this would not require deploying Iranian conventional forces — al Assad’s survival alone would suffice. However, the prospect of a Syrian regime beholden to Iran would open up the possibility of the westward deployment of Iranian forces, and that possibility alone would have significant repercussions.

Consider the map were this sphere of influence to exist. The northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan would abut this sphere, as would Turkey’s southern border. It remains unclear, of course, just how well Iran could manage this sphere, e.g., what type of force it could project into it. Maps alone will not provide an understanding of the problem. But they do point to the problem. And the problem is the potential — not certain — creation of a block under Iranian influence that would cut through a huge swath of strategic territory.
It should be remembered that in addition to Iran’s covert network of militant proxies, Iran’s conventional forces are substantial. While they could not confront U.S. armored divisions and survive, there are no U.S. armored divisions on the ground between Iran and Lebanon. Iran’s ability to bring sufficient force to bear in such a sphere increases the risks to the Saudis in particular. Iran’s goal is to increase the risk such that Saudi Arabia would calculate that accommodation is more prudent than resistance. Changing the map can help achieve this.
It follows that those frightened by this prospect — the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — would seek to stymie it. At present, the place to block it no longer is Iraq, where Iran already has the upper hand. Instead, it is Syria. And the key move in Syria is to do everything possible to bring about al Assad’s overthrow.
In the last week, the Syrian unrest appeared to take on a new dimension. Until recently, the most significant opposition activity appeared to be outside of Syria, with much of the resistance reported in the media coming from externally based opposition groups. The degree of effective opposition was never clear. Certainly, the Sunni majority opposes and hates the al Assad regime. But opposition and emotion do not bring down a regime consisting of men fighting for their lives. And it wasn’t clear that the resistance was as strong as the outside propaganda claimed.
Last week, however, the Free Syrian Army — a group of Sunni defectors operating out of Turkey and Lebanon — claimed defectors carried out organized attacks on government facilities, ranging from an air force intelligence facility (a particularly sensitive point given the history of the regime) to Baath Party buildings in the greater Damascus area. These were not the first attacks claimed by the FSA, but they were heavily propagandized in the past week. Most significant about the attacks is that, while small-scale and likely exaggerated, they revealed that at least some defectors were willing to fight instead of defecting and staying in Turkey or Lebanon.
It is interesting that an apparent increase in activity from armed activists — or the introduction of new forces — occurred at the same time relations between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other were deteriorating. The deterioration began with charges that an Iranian covert operation to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States had been uncovered, followed by allegations by the Bahraini government of Iranian operatives organizing attacks in Bahrain. It proceeded to an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s progress toward a nuclear device, followed by the Nov. 19 explosion at an Iranian missile facility that the Israelis have not-so-quietly hinted was their work. Whether any of these are true, the psychological pressure on Iran is building and appears to be orchestrated.
Of all the players in this game, Israel’s position is the most complex. Israel has had a decent, albeit covert, working relationship with the Syrians going back to their mutual hostility toward Yasser Arafat. For Israel, Syria has been the devil they know. The idea of a Sunni government controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood on their northeastern frontier was frightening; they preferred al Assad. But given the shift in the regional balance of power, the Israeli view is also changing. The Sunni Islamist threat has weakened in the past decade relative to the Iranian Shiite threat. Playing things forward, the threat of a hostile Sunni force in Syria is less worrisome than an emboldened Iranian presence on Israel’s northern frontier. This explains why the architects of Israel’s foreign policy, such as Defense Minister Ehud Barak, have been saying that we are seeing an “acceleration toward the end of the regime.” Regardless of its preferred outcome, Israel cannot influence events inside Syria. Instead, Israel is adjusting to a reality where the threat of Iran reshaping the politics of the region has become paramount.
Iran is, of course, used to psychological campaigns. We continue to believe that while Iran might be close to a nuclear device that could explode underground under carefully controlled conditions, its ability to create a stable, robust nuclear weapon that could function outside a laboratory setting (which is what an underground test is) is a ways off. This includes being able to load a fragile experimental system on a delivery vehicle and expecting it to explode. It might. It might not. It might even be intercepted and create a casus belli for a counterstrike.
The main Iranian threat is not nuclear. It might become so, but even without nuclear weapons, Iran remains a threat. The current escalation originated in the American decision to withdraw from Iraq and was intensified by events in Syria. If Iran abandoned its nuclear program tomorrow, the situation would remain as complex. Iran has the upper hand, and the United States, Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all are looking at how to turn the tables.
At this point, they appear to be following a two-pronged strategy: Increase pressure on Iran to make it recalculate its vulnerability, and bring down the Syrian government to limit the consequences of Iranian influence in Iraq. Whether the Syrian regime can be brought down is problematic. Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi would have survived if NATO hadn’t intervened. NATO could intervene in Syria, but Syria is more complex than Libya. Moreover, a second NATO attack on an Arab state designed to change its government would have unintended consequences, no matter how much the Arabs fear the Iranians at the moment. Wars are unpredictable; they are not the first option.
Therefore the likely solution is covert support for the Sunni opposition funneled through Lebanon and possibly Turkey and Jordan. It will be interesting to see if the Turks participate. Far more interesting will be seeing whether this works. Syrian intelligence has penetrated its Sunni opposition effectively for decades. Mounting a secret campaign against the regime would be difficult, and its success by no means assured. Still, that is the next move.
But it is not the last move. To put Iran back into its box, something must be done about the Iraqi political situation. Given the U.S. withdrawal, Washington has little influence there. All of the relationships the United States built were predicated on American power protecting the relationships. With the Americans gone, the foundation of those relationships dissolves. And even with Syria, the balance of power is shifting.
The United States has three choices. Accept the evolution and try to live with what emerges. Attempt to make a deal with Iran — a very painful and costly one. Or go to war. The first assumes Washington can live with what emerges. The second depends on whether Iran is interested in dealing with the United States. The third depends on having enough power to wage a war and to absorb Iran’s retaliatory strikes, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz. All are dubious, so toppling al Assad is critical. It changes the game and the momentum. But even that is enormously difficult and laden with risks.
We are now in the final act of Iraq, and it is even more painful than imagined. Laying this alongside the European crisis makes the idea of a systemic crisis in the global system very real.

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Merkozy Proposes Quick, New, Drastic "Stability Pact" to Fight the Euro Zone Sovereign Debt Crisis; Maastricht Treaty Trashed by Committee

 

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a "quick new stability pact" that allegedly will bypass the need for treaties. However, there is already disagreement over the role of the ECB.
Please consider Germany, France plan quick new Stability Pact

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are planning more drastic means - including a quick new Stability Pact - to fight the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, Welt am Sonntag reported on Sunday.
The report, which echoed a Reuters report on Friday from Brussels, quoted German government sources as saying that the crisis fighting plan could possibly be announced by Merkel and Sarkozy in the coming week.
The report said that because it would take too long to change existing European Union treaties, euro zone countries should avoid such delays be agreeing to a new Stability Pact among themselves - possibly implemented at the start of 2012.
Desperate Logic
Excuse me! There does not need to be treaty changes because a subset of the treaty signers can agree among themselves to trash it? Exactly what kind of desperate logic is that?
Among the countries in the Stability Pact there would be a treaty spelling out strict deficit rules and control rights for national budgets.
The European Central Bank should also emerge more as a crisis fighter in the euro zone. The ECB is independent and governments cannot tell it what to do. But the expectations on the ECB are clear, Welt am Sonntag wrote.
"Based upon these measures, there should be a majority within the ECB for a stronger intervention in capital markets," Welt am Sonntag said. It quotes a central banker as saying: "If the politicians can agree to a comprehensive step, the ECB will jump in and help."
ECB to Jump in and Help?!
Excuse Me! Since when will Germany agree to that? Since when will the ECB agree to that?
The European Commission, the EU executive arm, put forward proposals on Wednesday to grant it intrusive powers of approval of euro zone budgets before they are submitted to national parliaments, which, if approved, would effectively mean ceding some national sovereignty over budgets.
This could lead to joint debt issuance for the euro zone, where countries would be liable for each others' debts.
Germany strongly opposes the joint issuance idea fearing spendthrift countries would piggyback on its low borrowing costs - meaning no gain for the virtuous and no pain for the sinners.
Maastricht Treaty Trashed by Committee
I see Germany does not agree to that. Does the ECB?
What about other countries that might not like to see the Maastricht Treaty trashed because a handful of countries agree to do just that?
This is an incredibly slippery slope, and hopefully the German Supreme Court puts an end to the idea before it gets too much further along.
As a side note, Merkel has lost her mind.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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House of horrors: Prices Falling in 8 of 16 Measured Countries; Is the US Undervalued?

 

The Economist is frequently a mixed bag. Here is an article on the global housing market that pretty much hits the right spot. Please consider House of horrors, part 2

The bursting of the global housing bubble is only halfway through.
MANY of the world’s financial and economic woes since 2008 began with the bursting of the biggest bubble in history. Never before had house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries. Yet the bust has been much less widespread than the boom. Home prices tumbled by 34% in America from 2006 to their low point earlier this year; in Ireland they plunged by an even more painful 45% from their peak in 2007; and prices have fallen by around 15% in Spain and Denmark. But in most other countries they have dipped by less than 10%, as in Britain and Italy. In some countries, such as Australia, Canada and Sweden, prices wobbled but then surged to new highs. As a result, many property markets are still looking uncomfortably overvalued.
The latest update of The Economist’s global house-price indicators shows that prices are now falling in eight of the 16 countries in the table, compared with five in late 2010.
Home Price Indicators

To assess the risks of a further slump, we track two measures of valuation. The first is the price-to-income ratio, a gauge of affordability. The second is the price-to-rent ratio, which is a bit like the price-to-earnings ratio used to value companies. Just as the value of a share should reflect future profits that a company is expected to earn, house prices should reflect the expected benefits from home ownership: namely the rents earned by property investors (or those saved by owner-occupiers). If both of these measures are well above their long-term average, which we have calculated since 1975 for most countries, this could signal that property is overvalued.
Based on the average of the two measures, home prices are overvalued by about 25% or more in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden (see table). Indeed, in the first four of those countries housing looks more overvalued than it was in America at the peak of its bubble. Despite their collapse, Irish home prices are still slightly above “fair” value—partly because they were incredibly overvalued at their peak, and partly because incomes and rents have fallen sharply. In contrast, homes in America, Japan and Germany are all significantly undervalued. In the late 1990s the average house price in Germany was twice that in France; now it is 20% cheaper.
This raises two questions. First, since American homes now look cheap, are prices set to rebound? Average house prices are 8% undervalued relative to rents, and 22% undervalued relative to income (see chart). Prices may have reached a floor, but this is no guarantee of an imminent bounce. In Britain and Sweden in the mid-1990s, prices undershot fair value by around 35%. Prices in Britain did not really start to rise for almost four years after they bottomed.
....
Jingle mail
American prices fell sharply, even though homes were less overvalued than they were in many other countries, because high-risk mortgages and a surge in unemployment caused distressed sales. In most other countries, lenders avoided the worst excesses of subprime lending, and unemployment rose by less, so there were fewer forced sales dragging prices down. America is also unusual in having non-recourse mortgages that let borrowers walk away with no liability.
An optimist could therefore argue that our gauges overstate the extent to which house prices are overvalued, and that if markets are only a bit too expensive they can adjust gradually without a sharp fall. It is important to remember, however, that lower interest rates and rising populations were used to justify higher prices in America and Ireland before their bubbles burst so spectacularly.
Another concern is that Australia, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden all have even higher household-debt burdens in relation to income than America did at the peak of its bubble. Overvalued prices and large debts leave households vulnerable to a rise in unemployment or higher mortgage rates. A credit crunch or recession could cause house prices to tumble in many more countries.

Implications
That analysis is about as good as mainstream media gets. However, The Economist fails to address the global implications.
What happens if home prices plunge (and they will) in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden?
How will those central banks react?
Except for France which has no direct control, I will tell you how. Central banks will cut interest rates and/or launch various quantitative easing programs.
All other things being equal, that is net US dollar supportive.
Moreover, if prices and transaction volumes collapse in China (and they will), what will that do to the demand for commodities? In turn, what would falling demand for commodities in China do to the economies of Canada and Australia?
The Economist asks "Since American homes now look cheap, are prices set to rebound?"
That is a good question.
The Economist answers (correctly) "Average house prices are 8% undervalued relative to rents, and 22% undervalued relative to income (see chart). Prices may have reached a floor, but this is no guarantee of an imminent bounce."
However, The Economist fails to discuss the possibility that US rents are artificially high due to people seeking rental properties after being foreclosed on.
Moreover, income statistics are very skewed. Most of the gains in income are on the "high end", not people in financial trouble.
Still, as I said, this article is about as balanced as one can expect from mainstream media. It provides much opportunity for further commentary (both positive and negative) from bloggers.
The Economist correctly states "The bursting of the global housing bubble is only halfway through."
However, it's the non-discussed ramifications that are important.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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How To Be Prepared When You’re Dead Broke

 

how-to-be-prepared-if-you-are-broke

If you’re broke but breathing, you’re still eating, because you’re not dead. The best first thing that you can do in the predicament of being ‘dead broke’ while wanting to ‘be prepared’, is to adjust your eating / food-purchase habits so that you can acquire a stash of extra cash and/or food. It’ easier than you may think, but it will require some changes to your current diet and behavior.

Like I said, even though you may be broke, the fact is that since you still have a pulse, you are getting your food from somewhere. Be it from assistance or from your own meager earnings, the fact is that you are making choices about what you eat or what foods you purchase. Chances are that you could significantly increase your food-cash-savings or the quantity of food that you’re bringing home by being smart and practical about what you buy or what you choose to bring home.

You may not like it, but you can learn to like it, that is to eat ‘cheap’ foods. For example, back during 2010 I wrote an article titled ‘Cheap Breakfast for Surviving Hard Times‘ in which I described how you could eat a breakfast serving for just 10 cents! If you were to adopt this breakfast for say, 3 months, and if your ‘typical’ breakfast had been costing you $3.00, you would save $260. You can buy a heck of a lot of food preps or supplies for that money, and that’s just using a breakfast substitute!

A few other food-$-saving ideas:

You could switch to a powdered milk alternative and potentially cut your milk costs in half. Lauren wrote an article on this very subject titled ‘The Benefits Of Powdered Milk’. Or how about this, ‘Rice and Beans, A Survival Combination’, another alternative to save money while eating cheap. You should also purchase some of your consumables in bulk quantities to save money, as written about in this article, ‘Costco Survival Food Items’.

DO NOT BUY NAME BRANDS. Buy store brands for often half the price. Pasta is cheap. Peanut Butter is a great value for the calories. Yes, mac-n-cheese. Can you say, Ramen? Look for Sales and buy those products if it’s truly a deal. Just be smart about what you buy. There’s lots of money to be saved.

OK, you get the idea how to find extra $ while eating cheap, so, use the same philosophy to find additional $ in everything that you do. Become frugal and smart with the little bit of money that you do have (we’re assuming in this article that you’re ‘broke’, but we’re also assuming that you’re not homeless and have enough money to function in society). Fin a ‘dollar store’ near you, or a ‘thrift town’ type of store. Buy clothes at the Good Will center instead of Target.

Apart from methods to save and acquire more money (in order to purchase more supplies to ‘be prepared’), even more important is to become mentally prepared. This involves 3 areas of preparedness. Research, Adaptability, and Skills.

Research
Learn. Look, see, hear and think. Look beyond the main stream to develop a better sense of what you are preparing for. Know what you are preparing for. Having knowledge of the risks that face you, puts you a step ahead of the rest and will steer you in the right direction to mitigate those risks.

Adaptability
Having the mind-set to adapt and change to the surrounding conditions is extremely important to beat the pack to a solution. Doing your research will lead towards your adaptability, so long as you take action rather than becoming ‘frozen’ like a deer-in-the-headlights. Think outside of your normal box. Force yourself to do things that are out of your comfort zone or normal routine. Become comfortable with change.

Skills
You don’t necessarily need to buy ‘things’ in order to learn skills which support the notion of being prepared. If you know what you are preparing for, you will know which skills that will help you in the event of disaster, especially after having done your research. For example, if you are concerned about your long term ability to obtain food, then learn to garden and preserve your own foods. If you are concerned about the possibility of a larger financial collapse than occurred during 2008/2009-to-present, then closely examine your current ‘job’ to discover if you should learn a new skill or skills in the event that you lose your job. With regards to being prepared and survival preparedness, it’s always a very good thing to know many practical skills or hands-on skills so that you can ‘do it yourself’ when it comes to your home environment.

In summary, if you don’t have much money, you are concerned about the state of the world that you live in, and you want to ‘be prepared’, you can still accomplish many things to put you well ahead of the rest by being frugal and creative about your existing funds and the way that you spend your time each day. After all, you’ve probably heard before that time is money…

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Bankers Have Seized Europe: Goldman Sachs Has Taken Over

 


On November 25, two days after a failed German government bond auction in which Germany was unable to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble said that Germany might retreat from its demands that the private banks that hold the troubled sovereign debt from Greece, Italy, and Spain must accept part of the cost of their bailout by writing off some of the debt.

The private banks want to avoid any losses either by forcing the Greek, Italian, and Spanish governments to make good on the bonds by imposing extreme austerity on their citizens, or by having the European Central Bank print euros with which to buy the sovereign debt from the private banks. Printing money to make good on debt is contrary to the ECB’s charter and especially frightens Germans, because of the Weimar experience with hyperinflation.

Obviously, the German government got the message from the orchestrated failed bond auction. As I wrote at the time, there is no reason for Germany, with its relatively low debt to GDP ratio compared to the troubled countries, not to be able to sell its bonds.

If Germany’s creditworthiness is in doubt, how can Germany be expected to bail out other countries? Evidence that Germany’s failed bond auction was orchestrated is provided by troubled Italy’s successful bond auction two days later.

Strange, isn’t it. Italy, the largest EU country that requires a bailout of its debt, can still sell its bonds, but Germany, which requires no bailout and which is expected to bear a disproportionate cost of Italy’s, Greece’s and Spain’s bailout, could not sell its bonds.

In my opinion, the failed German bond auction was orchestrated by the US Treasury, by the European Central Bank and EU authorities, and by the private banks that own the troubled sovereign debt.

My opinion is based on the following facts. Goldman Sachs and US banks have guaranteed perhaps one trillion dollars or more of European sovereign debt by selling swaps or insurance against which they have not reserved. The fees the US banks received for guaranteeing the values of European sovereign debt instruments simply went into profits and executive bonuses. This, of course, is what ruined the American insurance giant, AIG, leading to the TARP bailout at US taxpayer expense and Goldman Sachs’ enormous profits.

If any of the European sovereign debt fails, US financial institutions that issued swaps or unfunded guarantees against the debt are on the hook for large sums that they do not have. The reputation of the US financial system probably could not survive its default on the swaps it has issued. Therefore, the failure of European sovereign debt would renew the financial crisis in the US, requiring a new round of bailouts and/or a new round of Federal Reserve “quantitative easing,” that is, the printing of money in order to make good on irresponsible financial instruments, the issue of which enriched a tiny number of executives.

Certainly, President Obama does not want to go into an election year facing this prospect of high profile US financial failure. So, without any doubt, the US Treasury wants Germany out of the way of a European bailout.

The private French, German, and Dutch banks, which appear to hold most of the troubled sovereign debt, don’t want any losses. Either their balance sheets, already ruined by Wall Street’s fraudulent derivatives, cannot stand further losses or they fear the drop in their share prices from lowered earnings due to write-downs of bad sovereign debts. In other words, for these banks big money is involved, which provides an enormous incentive to get the German government out of the way of their profit statements.

The European Central Bank does not like being a lesser entity than the US Federal Reserve and the UK’s Bank of England. The ECB wants the power to be able to undertake “quantitative easing” on its own. The ECB is frustrated by the restrictions put on its powers by the conditions that Germany required in order to give up its own currency and the German central bank’s control over the country’s money supply. The EU authorities want more “unity,” by which is meant less sovereignty of the member countries of the EU. Germany, being the most powerful member of the EU, is in the way of the power that the EU authorities desire to wield.

Thus, the Germans bond auction failure, an orchestrated event to punish Germany and to warn the German government not to obstruct “unity” or loss of individual country sovereignty.

Germany, which has been browbeat since its defeat in World War II, has been made constitutionally incapable of strong leadership. Any sign of German leadership is quickly quelled by dredging up remembrances of the Third Reich. As a consequence, Germany has been pushed into an European Union that intends to destroy the political sovereignty of the member governments, just as Abe Lincoln destroyed the sovereignty of the American states.

Who will rule the New Europe? Obviously, the private European banks and Goldman Sachs.

The new president of the European Central Bank is Mario Draghi. This person was Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International and a member of Goldman Sachs’ Management Committee. Draghi was also Italian Executive Director of the World Bank, Governor of the Bank of Italy, a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank, a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements, and a member of the boards of governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development Bank, and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board.

Obviously, Draghi is going to protect the power of bankers.

Italy’s new prime minister, who was appointed not elected, was a member of Goldman Sachs Board of International Advisers. Mario Monti was appointed to the European Commission, one of the governing organizations of the EU. Monti is European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission, a US organization that advances American hegemony over the world. Monti is a member of the Bilderberg group and a founding member of the Spinelli group, an organization created in September 2010 to facilitate integration within the EU.

Just as an unelected banker was installed as prime minister of Italy, an unelected banker was installed as prime minister of Greece. Obviously, they are intended to produce the bankers’ solution to the sovereign debt crisis.

Greece’s new appointed prime minister, Lucas Papademos, was Governor of the Bank of Greece. From 2002-2010. He was Vice President of the European Central Bank. He, also, is a member of America’s Trilateral Commission.

Jacques Delors, a founder of the European Union, promised the British Trade Union Congress in 1988 that the European Commission would require governments to introduce pro-labor legislation. Instead, we find the banker-controlled European Commission demanding that European labor bail out the private banks by accepting lower pay, fewer social services, and a later retirement.

The European Union, just like everything else, is merely another scheme to concentrate wealth in a few hands at the expense of European citizens, who are destined, like Americans, to be the serfs of the 21st century.

Source

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Is the Sovereign Debt Crisis a Replay of the Versailles Treaty?
Saturday, November 26, 2011 – by Anthony Wile

Anthony Wile

Here at The Daily Bell we track dominant social themes of the Anglosphere power elite (the only elite that matters) and recently we’ve been pointing out that much of what is going on in the (Western) world is a repeat of the early 20th century.

In an article entitled “Parallels Between Early 20th Century and Present Are Scary,” we pointed out that history is indeed seemingly repeating itself. You can see the link here, and some previously created charts below.

We’ve pointed out these parallels in order to make the argument that much of what’s going on now is intended to speed up the process of creating one-world government. We regularly try to explain that there is likely a power elite behind this state of affairs – a small group wielding enormous Money Power via its control of central banking.

It is this “cabal” that seeks formal world government and – then – control of it behind the scenes. In order to implement world government, this impossibly rich cabal or mafia uses dominant social themes (fear-based promotions) to frighten middles classes into giving up power and authority to specially prepared globalist institutions.

But it is not enough to use themes. These themes have to be reinforced by ACTIONS. That is, if one wants to scare people about, say, an oil crisis, one has to implement measures to raise prices by creating an oil shortage. This has been done (even in the recent past) by restricting oil exploration, creating wars in sensitive oil-producing areas, etc.

Here at DB we call the strategies of the power elite in aggregate “directed history” – the idea that the powers-that-be are orchestrating a maximum amount of CONTROLLABLE chaos. Once the chaos has been created, authoritarian solutions can be applied. These solutions are presented as dominant social themes.

The elites use dominant social themes that are not scarcity-based as well. A different kind of theme is one that leads to political unrest and authoritarian solutions that can then be used to advance either one-world government or wars.

Today, we have what is called a “sovereign debt crisis” wracking Europe. Many believe this crisis is merely a coincidental outgrowth of what came before, in the booming, early 2000s.

We’ve gone back and forth on this issue, but increasingly we come down on the side of directed history. Increasingly, we think the elites are planning and creating economic chaos in order to do what they’ve done before – implement authoritarian solutions as result. Out of chaos … order.

Are there historical parallels? Maybe so. The question I want to address today is whether the current “sovereign debt crisis” is actually a replay of the infamous Versailles Treaty. The Treaty was “forced” on the Germans, and conventional history tells us that this was a “mistake.”

Was the Treaty of Versailles such an innocent mistake? There are three major issues to consider here: First, German leaders were made to agree to a “War Guilt Clause” in which they admitted Germany had stared the war.

Second, Germany, having started the war, would pay reparations – a figure that ended up at an impossible (for the times) £6,600 million. Third, a League of Nations was to keep world peace. (This failed, leading to World War II and the establishment of the United Nations.)

Let’s look at the parallels between the Treaty and the “sovereign debt crisis” in Europe. Do they exist? Are they identifiable? I think an argument can be made that there are. Here’s a broad chart that seems to show parallels.

Versailles Treaty Sovereign Debt Crisis
• German Leaders Admit Guilt • PIGS Leaders Admit Profligacy
• Impossible Reparations • Impossible Austerity
• League of Nations • IMF/ECB/SDR Expansions
• Rise of Fascist Leaders • Rise of Technocrats

The overall aim of this historical manipulation in my view is to reinforce the progress the elites are making toward a one-world order. Just as in the 20th century, economics are being manipulated to create misery, despair and ultimately further concentrations of elite power. You can see a related article on this issue here: The Technocrat Meme Descends.

The back story to all of this is the incredible aggressiveness with which elite commercial banks lent to Europe’s Southern PIGS. This is perhaps the “smoking gun.” If one accepts this was a deliberate effort to create first a boom and then a terrible, international bust to bring the PIGS further under control of Brussels, then the rest of the manipulation becomes clearer. It is a kind of economic terrorism aimed at creating a European super state.

Are the top elites capable of such malevolent manipulations? This strategy does not seem without precedent. One could argue that the Versailles Treaty (which determinedly doomed millions to poverty and even starvation) was a deliberate attempt to ensure that certain sociopolitical events took place in Germany, and that Germany, in fact, would turn in an authoritarian direction that would eventually, perhaps, lead to another war.

The end game, it seems to me, is formal world government. It seems on its way to happening, though the Internet Reformation is, as we often mention, proving an obstacle to its progress, in our view. In fact, the elites have taken a great risk in implementing their economic destabilization – if that’s what they’ve done. They risk undermining the very Union they wish to consolidate. That’s an article we’ve already written and will return to on another day.

Anyway, within the context of these larger suppositions, the above chart may prove useful. It shows, I think, how the power elite really tends to work. Those involved repeat the same historical patterns in order to achieve the intended result (consolidation of power).

Of course, those who wish to rebut such arguments will simply claim that the parallels are coincidences. When it is pointed out that modern history is replete with such coincidences, the response will be that what looks suspicious is merely a “mistake.”

But there are so many mistakes! Strangely enough, the Yalta Treaty that gave away half of Europe to the Soviet Union was a mistake. The Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to the Vietnam War was also a mistake.

From an economics standpoint, the over-inflating of the New York Fed that led to the Crash of ’29 and the subsequent Depression was a mistake. The great mortgage bubble of the 2000s was a mistake. The sovereign debt crisis itself was also a mistake.

EVERY time a mistake is made, the solution seems to involve increased centralization of power at the top, increased global governance, increased authoritarianism.

Here are two other charts we’ve presented recently. Coincidence or deliberate historical manipulation? You decide.

Progressive Movement Occupy Wall Street
• Trust Busting • Breaking Up Big Banks & Big Corporations
• Wall Street regulation • Re-regulating Wall Street
• Voting through referendum • Direct Democracy
• Graduated Income Tax • Making the Rich Pay their “Fair Share”

Early 20th Century Early 21st Century
• Central Bank Inflation (Roaring ’20s) • Central Bank Inflation (Housing Bubble)
• Depression & Progressive Movement • Depression & Youth Movements Worldwide
• Occupy Washington DC (WW I Veterans) • Occupy Wall Street (Disaffected Youth)
• Reichstag Fire • 9/11
• Second World War • War on Terror Escalating to Bigger War
• FDR-Like Figure to Provide Leadership • Obama, who Models Himself on FDR

http://thedailybell.com/3290/Anthony-Wile-

First, German leaders were made to agree to a “War Guilt Clause” in which they admitted Germany had stared the war.

Second, Germany, having started the war, would pay reparations – a figure that ended up at an impossible (for the times) £6,600 million. Third, a League of Nations was to keep world peace. (This failed, leading to World War II and the establishment of the United Nations.)

BULLIED THE WORD THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED….

1914
1. As Zionists pushed England into war, U. S. had at the critical Constantinople post (Turkey) Henry Morgenthau, Sr., as Ambassador and Louis Einstein as its special minister.

2 Paul M. Warburg said, at a Congressional hearing: “I only decided to become a citizen after I was convinced the U. S. money system would be reformed.” THE HIDDEN EMPIRE, p. 63.

3. Five men who were later to head various governments (Lenin of Russia, Ebert of Germany, Branting of Sweden, MacDonald of England, Stauning of Denmark) met as members of the International Socialist Bureau of the Second International!

5. “One by one the Jews are capturing the principal newspapers of America . . . ” From letter of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice (British Ambassador to U.S.) to Sir Edward Grey (British Foreign Minister), November, 1914.

6. At the start of World War I, Edmond Rothschild told Dr. Chaim Weizmann that “It would spread to the Middle East , where things of great significance to Political Zionism would occur.” FAR AND WIDE, p. 285.

7. Colonel C. Repington recounts a conversation he had (April 5, 1921) with Count Mensdorff, who was Austrian Ambassador in London in 1914, as follows: “Mensdorff thought that Israel had won the War; they had made it, thrived on it, profited by it. It was their supreme revenge on Christianity.” AFTER THE WAR, p. 155, Constable, 1922.

8. Lloyd George, who was counsel for the Zionists in England, was made premier of the English Government and chosen to “perform” during World War I. His secretary was Sir Philip Sassoon Rothschild. AMERICAN MERCURY – KNOW – December, 1958.

The 1914-1918 war was the first war of nations, as distinct from armies; the hands that directed it reached into every home in most European, and many non-European countries, This was a new thing in the world, but it was foretold by the conspirators of Communism and Zionism. The Protocols of 1905 said that resistance to the plan therein unfolded would be met by “universal war”; Max Nordau in 1903 said that the Zionist ambition in Palestine would be achieved through “the coming world war”.

If such words were to be fulfilled, and thus to acquire the status of “uncanny knowledge” revealed in advance of the event, the conspiracy had to gain control of the governments involved so that their acts of State policy, and in consequence their military operations, might be diverted to serve the ends of the conspiracy, not national interests. The American president was already (i.e., from 1912) the captive of secret “advisers”, as has been shown; and if Mr. House’s depictment of him (alike in the anonymous novel and the acknowledged Private Papers) is correct, he fits the picture given in the earlier Protocols, “. . . we replaced the ruler by a caricature of a president, taken from the mob, from the midst of our puppet creatures, our slaves”.

However, Mr. Wilson was not required to take much active part in furthering the great “design” in the early stages of the First World War; he fulfilled his function later. At its start the main objective was to gain control of the British Government. The struggle to do this lasted two years and ended in victory for the intriguers, whose activities were unknown to the public masses. This battle, fought in the “labyrinth” of “international politics”, was the decisive battle of the First World War. That is to say (as no decision is ever final, and can always be modified by a later decision), it produced the greatest and most enduring effects on the further course of the 20th Century; these effects continued to dominate events between the wars and during the Second World War, and in 1956 may be seen to form the most probable cause of any third “universal war”. No clash of arms during the 1914-1918 war produced an effect on the future comparable with that brought about by the capture of the British Government in 1916. This process was hidden from the embroiled masses. From start to finish Britons believed that they had only to do with an impetuous Teutonic warlord, and Americans, that the incorrigible quarrelsomeness of European peoples was the root cause of the upheaval.

TODAY NATO GOES IN BOMBS THE HELL OUT OF A COUNTRY- THEN STEALS THE GOLD ETC….SAME DIFFERENCE- THEN BLAMES THE VICTIM!

http://centurean2.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/30136/