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The American Empire in a Changing World



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Sunday, September 30, 2012

''Google's self-guided car could drive the next wave of unemployment''

From The Guardian

''Governor Brown signed the bill at Google's HQ in Mountain View. This was good PR on his part, but it also made sense because Google has led the charge into autonomous (aka driverless) vehicles. For several years, Toyota Prius hybrids that have been specially adapted by the company's engineers have been driving the roads of California. To date, they have logged 300,000 miles with only one accident – caused by a human-controlled car that ran into one of them. And they have now logged 50,000 miles without a human having to take the wheel.''

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''US military deaths in Afghanistan hit 2,000''

this war should have ended 10 yrs ago...........................From Ahram Online

''U.S. military deaths in the Afghan war have reached 2,000, a cold reminder of the human cost of an 11-year-old conflict that now garners little public interest at home as the United States prepares to withdraw most of its combat forces by the end of 2014.''

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''European Union closer to trade war with U.S.''

From Post Bulletin

''The European Union inched closer to a trans-Atlantic trade war Thursday, saying it would seek to impose up to $12 billion a year in sanctions against the United States in retaliation for U.S. government subsidies to Boeing.
 

The European Commission, the EU executive, said it was seeking the sanctions to compensate for the impact of illegal subsidies to Boeing that it said gave Boeing an unfair advantage over its European archrival, Airbus.The move, which follows a similar trade threat against Europe made by Washington this year, is the latest salvo in a seven-year battle over aircraft subsidies.''

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UK: ''The Great DNA fishing trip''

From Big Brother Watch

''Across the country, police forces are now busy tracking down people to hand over a DNA sample, not based on any current suspicion of committing an offence but purely because of historical offences that took place decades ago.

The civil liberties implications of this kind of operation are clear. People, currently not under suspicion for any crime and who have served their punishment for past offences, are now hunted down simply in the hope that the force will get lucky and clear up a case.''

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''Chavez gets Russian oil investment—and a puppy''

From MercuryNews.com

''Russia agreed to deepen its investments in Venezuela to tap new oilfields, while President Hugo Chavez thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for a personal gift—a puppy.
Venezuelan and Russian officials signed eight agreements to boost cooperation in energy projects Thursday. Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russia's state-controlled Rosneft oil company, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying he also gave Chavez a 3-month-old black terrier puppy as a present from Putin.''

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''Keiser Report: Defraudsters (E347)''

From RT.com...............''In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the audacious finance oligarchies and high speed stock manipulators OOPSING again by front running clients (oops!) and manipulating market prices (oops!). And, once again, the US regulators have just 'aw shucks' fined them a small portion of their ill-gotten gains. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Will Carless of VoiceOfSanDiego.com about the billion dollar cost of repaying back a $105 million dollar loan to Poway School District in San Diego.''

''Rat reality show: Russian scientists to broadcast GMO experiment''

From RT.com

''After a French study suggested that rats fed on Monsanto GMO corn suffered tumors, Russian researches plan their own, this time public, experiment. The unique reality show with rats is expected to prove or deny GMO’s health-threatening influence.
­

The Russian scientists, who oppose genetically modified organisms (GMO) in food, expect that their year-long experiment will show whether the controversial cultivation process has effects as dangerous as French revelations claimed on September 19.''

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''Russia's Arms Exports: Prospects in Iraq''

From Voice of Russia

''Speaking about Iraq, we should say that Russia’s participation in the re-equipment of its army coincides with Moscow’s strategic interests. Today when the relations between Iraq and Iran are becoming more and more friendly with every passing day, the Persian Gulf monarchies, including Saudi Arabia first of all, are again turning into the main enemy for Iraq’s armed forces. The military threat in the face of Iran may weaken Riyadh’s activity and also that of its allies in transforming the Middle East according to its model.''

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Pat Buchanan: '' The Clinton-Rice Credibility Gap''

From Pat Buchanan

"Two weeks after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration has conceded it was an act of terrorism.

The attack on the U.S. Consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now admits, was part of a broader effort by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, working “with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.''

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Max Keiser & Rob Kirby: ''Derivatives complex & international financial grid''

From PressTV....................''In this edition of the show Max interviews Rob Kirby from KirbyAnalytics.com. He talks about the role of derivatives in creating and sustaining the ongoing financial crisis. Rob Kirby received his post secondary education at York University [Economics] in Toronto. Upon completion he worked on an institutional trading desk for most of the 1980s and right up until 1996. Mr. Kirby began writing in 1997 and was involved in a number of entrepreneurial pursuits. In 2002, he went to work for Investor's Group, the largest Mutual Fund Company in Canada until September '04 when he resigned to write about the markets.''

''Why An Islamic Revolution In Saudi Arabia Is A Surefire Way To Send Oil To $300 A Barrel''

From 'There are no Sunglassses'
By Martin Katusa

''To see $300/bbl oil, or to watch the news as Saudi troops attack Tehran, or to see a stranglehold on US oil imports, watch what a failed succession battle in the House of Saud that ends up destroying the whole family and ushering in an Islamist age in Saudi Arabia would do to the price of oil.

It could happen sooner than you think.

The king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Aziz bin Saud, is almost 90 years old. In Saudi Arabia’s royal system, the throne passes not from father to son but from brother to brother. The problem with the system is that none of King Abdullah’s brothers are exactly young and full of vigor.''

............... ''It would also mean the end of the era of friendly US-Saudi relations… and the demise of the petrodollar. That is a story in itself – one of great significance to anyone who owns US dollars. I have discussed previously how a US-Saudi deal to only use dollars to trade oil created a deep pool of support for the US currency - and what will happen if the petrodollar dies. The short version is that as the global oil trade moves away from US dollars into yuan, yen, rubles, and pesos, the world would have yet another reason to devalue the dollar.''



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''Ex-TSA agent reveals epidemic of thefts from passengers as he admits he took almost $1MILLION in possessions''

From ABC via Daily Mail

''It was a scandal that rocked the nation - a New York Transport Security Agency security officer found guilty of stealing close to $1million worth of belongings from passenger luggage.

But according to the convicted officer, the problem was even more widespread than ever feared and is still going on today.

In a candid tell-all interview Pythias Brown told ABC News thefts from aircraft baggage were 'commonplace', allowed to prevail by a 'culture' of indifference.''

video/text

''Berlusconi: euro is a 'swindle' and Germany wants ''hegemony''

From EU Observer

''Italy's derided and populist ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi is trying to make a comeback ahead of general elections due in spring 2013.

Speaking at a book presentation event in Rome on Thursday (27 September), he called the euro a "big swindle" and said that it would be no "tragedy" if Germany - which has displayed "hegemony, not solidarity" in the crisis - left the common currency.''

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''How The Fed Crushed China's Ability To Join The Ease-Fest''

great article and great comments in the comments section................From ZeroHedge

''The latest round of easing by the U.S. will increase inflationary pressures for emerging-market economies, Mr. Chen said. "This contributes to a monetary-policy dilemma for Chinese authorities", he added. While markets have looked for signs of more forceful action by China's leaders to rekindle growth, some officials attribute the government's caution to fears of reigniting inflation.

This confirms previous comments by the PBoC that "A domestic policy may be optimal for the U.S. alone. However at the same time it is not necessarily optimal for the world," he said at the time. "There is a conflict between the U.S. dollar's domestic role and its international settlement role."

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Pepe Escobar: ''Why Qatar wants to invade Syria''

From Asia Times Online

''Make no mistake; the Emir of Qatar is on a roll.

What an entrance at the UN General Assembly in New York; Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani called for an Arab coalition of the willing-style invasion of Syria, no less. [1]

In the words of the Emir, "It is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties, and to do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria." He stressed Arab countries had a "military duty" to invade.''

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''Syrian crisis: polarization of opinion''

From Voice of Russia

''Participants of the 67th General Assembly in New York have remained at odds over the situation in Syria. On Thursday, Qatar urged interference in the political standoff between Syrian authorities and rebels, something that was supported by France and Tunisia. Moscow, Tehran and Cairo, for their part, continue to call for a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the discussion in absentia, warning against taking decisions on Syria that bypass the UN.''

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''50 Countries Label Genetically Engineered Foods – When Will Americans have the Right to Know and Choose?''

From Mercola.com
By Dr Mercola

''The greatest opportunity to give people the right to know if their food is genetically engineered will occur with the California ballot initiative – officially known as Proposition 37 – which is coming up for vote on November 6. Proposition 37 will require labeling of genetically engineered foods, and end the routine industry practice of labeling and marketing such foods as "natural." 

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''What If the Fed Has It All Wrong?''

From Financial Sense
By John Mauldin

''Denis Ouellet wrote today's Outside the Box and graciously gave me permission to use it. I asked him a little about who he is. Turns out he lives in Montreal (but winters in Florida), is almost 60, and has retired after nearly 35 years in the investment business as an analyst and head of research for a brokerage company, an equity manager for various investment organizations (pension, mutual, and hedge funds], head of global equity investments at a major pension fund, and chairman of the equity investment committee of a major pension and mutual fund investment organization.  Like me, he travels around the world and has lots of kids (just 5 in his case). His blog is New$ to Use.''

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''Surreal: Clinton Pledges $45 Million in Aid to Al Qaeda in Syria''

From Land Destroyer

''September 28, 2012 -  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the US would be providing an additional $45 million in "non-lethal aid" to the "opposition" in Syria, reported the Associated Press. The Western press chose their words carefully, ensuring that the term "civilian opposition" was repeatedly used to describe the armed terrorist forces attempting to violently overthrow the Syrian government.''

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Paul Craig Roberts: ''America, The Next Banana Republic''

From Infowars..........''Alex also welcomes American economist and Infowars contributing writer Paul Craig Roberts to discuss the impact of Eurpoean austerity measures on world markets amidst ongoing riots.
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/ ''

''Bankrupt Cities, Municipalities List and Map''

From Governing.com


''Many local governments across the U.S. face steep budget deficits as they struggle to pay off debts accumulated over years. As a last resort, some have filed for bankruptcy.

Governing is tracking the issue, and will update this page as more municipalities seek bankruptcy protection.

The majority of Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings have been submitted by utility authorities, special districts and other taxing entities. In Omaha, Neb., nine Sanitary and Improvement Districts have filed for bankruptcy since 2010.''

see the map 

''Why Putin called off Pak visit''

From Indian Punchline
By ML Bhadrakumar

''The Kremlin’s decision can be seen in many lights. The quadrilateral forum has lost its fizz. Russian-Tajik ties are meandering; Afghan-Pakistani ties are tense; Tajik-Pakistani ties are indifferent. So, where is the scope for Moscow to galvanize regional cooperation? And Putin is a purposive statesman who won’t like to measure life in coffee spoons. 
Then, there is continuing strategic ambiguity about the US’ regional strategy in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Things may become clearer only after the election in November in the US. Alongside, US-Pak relations, Afghan peace talks, etc. are also in a state of animated suspense. Most important, the jury is still out whether Pakistan is willing to turn conclusively away from its past policy of power projection into Afghanistan. ''

Chris Hedges: "How Do You Take Your Poison?''

From TruthDig
By Chris Hedges

''We will all swallow our cup of corporate poison. We can take it from nurse Romney, who will tell us not to whine and play the victim, or we can take it from nurse Obama, who will assure us that this hurts him even more than it hurts us, but one way or another the corporate hemlock will be shoved down our throats. The choice before us is how it will be administered. Corporate power, no matter who is running the ward after January 2013, is poised to carry out U.S. history’s most savage assault against the poor and the working class, not to mention the Earth’s ecosystem. And no one in power, no matter what the bedside manner, has any intention or ability to stop it.''

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''Economic collapse is inevitable, here’s why…''

From Hang The Bankers

''America is quickly approaching a catastrophic economic collapse. Before you dismiss this as hype or paranoia, take a few minutes to review the facts outlined on this page. The numbers don’t lie. At this point, the dollar crash is unavoidable… far from an exaggeration this is a mathematical certainty. As repelling as that sounds, it’s in your own best interest to learn just how bad the situation is.''

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''We've Reached the Point of NO RETURN'': Andy Hoffman

From SGT Report........''Andy Hoffman of Miles Franklin joins us to discuss the end game for the United States and the world's reserve currency, the dollar. What the FED announced on September 12th has launched AmeriKa on a fascist path of destruction from which it may never recover.''

''IS CENTRAL ASIA ON THE VERGE OF A WATER WAR?''

From 'There are no Sunglasses'

''Whether it’s Israel maybe pre-emptively striking Iran, Afghanistan spiralling into sectarian violence, Libya becoming home base for Al-Qaeda, or Syria continuing to be the site of a government-led genocide, there’s no shortage of potential dirty wars and ominous harbingers in the Middle East and Central Asia. While everyone is focusing on the recent turmoil in Benghazi, a new kind of conflict is rising in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan that could eventually lead to the first water war of the 21st century.''

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''Afghan schools and clinics built by British military forced to close''

From The Guardian

''Schools and health centres built by the British in Afghanistan as part of the military's counter-insurgency strategy are being forced to close down because President Karzai's government cannot afford to pay for them, the Guardian has learned.

Britain has spent hundreds of millions of pounds in the province over the last six years building and restoring services decimated by conflict and the years of Taliban rule.''

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''Chris Martenson on peak prosperity and fiat currency flaws''

From GoldMoneyNews..................''Subscribe to our newsletter at http://www.goldmoney.com/goldresearch. GoldMoney's Alasdair Macleod talks to Chris Martenson, who runs the Peak Prosperity (www.peakprosperity.com/) website and is the author of The Crash Course. They discuss the concept of "peak prosperity", the flaws of an exponential money system and the coordinated interventions of central banks.

Martenson explains the reasons for renaming his website "Peak Prosperity" -- as owing to economic and environmental trends, many people are going to be faced with declining living standards in the years ahead. However, this should not necessarily be equated with declining quality of life, as there are lots of things that cannot be measured in terms of dollars -- such as safety, community and purpose.''

''The Neonicotinoid View: Economics & Power Of Pesticide Lobby''

Podcast From Blog Talk Radio

''Regardless of the surmounting scientific evidence by the scientific community combined with the French ban on Thiamethoxam, the EPA, the UK and European regulators have continued to allow the use and expansion of neonicotinoids. Could economics be a factor? How influential is the pesticide lobby with our elected officials?''
 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

''In 2012, more soldiers have died from suicide than combat''

Ike was right, Beware the Military Industrial complex!!...............From The Guardian
By James Jeffrey

''The US army has instigated a service-wide "stand down" today, Thursday 27 September, so that soldiers can focus on suicide prevention training. In 2012, more soldiers have died from suicide than combat. The army isn't ignoring the problem and trying to be proactive. The same can be said for how the US deals with its veterans, which gives me pause for thought.

When I left the British army, in 2010, I became a veteran – though that is barely recognised or relevant in the UK. You become a straightforward civilian, severed from your military past. But when I went to study in the US, I discovered my veteran status was enthusiastically acknowledged and lauded.''

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Keiser Report: ''Boom & Bust Vicious Cycle'' (E346)

From RT.com............''In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss punk rock 'Tall Paul' giving the two finger salute to Ben Bernanke's QE3 and gold adjusting for zero growth, yield, velocity and confidence. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Detlev Schlichter of PaperMoneyCollapse.com about quantitative easing to infinity, Central Banking 'devils' and the future for the gold standard.''

''Matina Stevis on Human and Capital Flight into and out of Europe!''

From RT.com

''Cops Track Your Face through Phones | Big Brother Watch''

From RT.com

''The Currency Experiment Has Failed''

From Financial Sense
By Julian Phillips

''During the 42 years of the currency experiment with no gold or silver standing behind currencies we have seen the gold price multiply from $35 to $1,770. That's over 50 times in 42 years. And there's still much more to come it seems, with the assistance of governments.  

If one was fortunate to get out at anywhere above $800 back in the eighties and back in at $300 in the next twenty years that number goes up to 64 times $35. That's what solid long-term funds should have done, to maximize profits. (It is far better than trading and far less nerve-racking.)

But don't look at that as a profit figure. That's not the point we are making here. Look at it as a statement on the failure of the currency experiment and currencies' ability to measure value. Now translate that into the value of savings over that period –a harsh reality indeed!''

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''9/11 Insider Trading - Mark Gaffney on GRTV''

From 09/08/2012....GRTV..........''As America prepares itself for the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, some of the most vital questions about the financing of those attacks and the monetary anomalies of that day remain unanswered. In a new book on the subject entitled Black 9/11: Money, Motive and Technology, author Mark H. Gaffney tries to shine a light on these important aspects of the day that changed the world forever. Find out more in this week's GRTV Feature Interview.''

Chris Clancy: ''The Worst Has Yet to Come'' – Part 1

From The Moral Liberal

''Marin Katusa pulls things together nicely in this superb article:
“By 1975 all of the members of OPEC agreed to sell their oil only in US dollars. Every oil-importing nation in the world started saving their surplus in US dollars so as to be able to buy oil; with such high demand for dollars the currency strengthened. On top of that, many oil-exporting nations like Saudi Arabia spent their US dollar surpluses on Treasury securities, providing a new, deep pool of lenders to support US government spending.”
He continues:
“The “petrodollar” system [as it came to be called] was a brilliant political and economic move. It forced the world’s oil money to flow through the US Federal Reserve, creating ever-growing international demand for both US dollars and US debt, while essentially letting the US pretty much own the world’s oil for free, since oil’s value is denominated in a currency that America controls and prints. The petrodollar system spread beyond oil: the majority of international trade is done in US dollars.”''

''How Bad Is America’s Pension Funding Problem?''

From TIME

''No sooner had the Chicago teachers’ strike been settled than a new crisis emerged last week in the Windy City. The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund was reported to be on the brink of collapse. That fund is not alone. Although the troubles that plague the Social Security system get the most attention, similar dangers now threaten many other kinds of retirement funds. Some plans are being inadequately funded, some have earned unexpectedly low returns, and some suffer from a Baby Boom bulge in the number of retirees. Moreover, the problems facing these funds will in many cases be harder to fix than those for Social Security. And the scale of the total potential shortfall is immense.''

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“Queen Elizabeth II the largest landowner on Earth.”

From Who Owns The World

''Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom and of 31 other states and territories, is the legal owner of about 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non ocean surface.

She is the only person on earth who owns whole countries, and who owns countries that are not her own domestic territory. This land ownership is separate from her role as head of state and is different from other monarchies where no such claim is made – Norway, Belgium, Denmark etc.

The value of her land holding. £17,600,000,000,000 (approx).''

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''THE ROAD TO WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH CHICAGO''

From News With Views
By Dave Hodges

''For individuals who think a false flag upon Chicago sounds crazy, ask yourself why Rahm Emanuel, most likely a Mossad agent, would leave a high level cabinet post in the Obama Administration and step down to the relative lowly position of being a mayor of city? The simple and obvious answer is that this foreign asset was put in place to carry out the task over overseeing a false flag event, so big, so devastating, that the Obama Administration will have their pretext to execute martial law in order to stem the wave of massive protests which will surely accompany the globalist plans to have the United States commence a war in the Middle East.''

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Podcast: ''Why Three Kennedys Were Assassinated''

awesome interview!!...............From Lew Rockwell

listen to the podcast

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Jim Willie: ''Death Knells for the USDollar''

Jim Willie's latest............From Silver Doctors

''The recent decision by the US Federal Reserve to contaminate the financial body until it responds favorably was the last straw in my book. Witness a declaration of permanent QE and hyper monetary inflation of the most virulent strain, unsterilized. The USFed is essentially admitting failure. The signal serves as the loudest death knell for the USDollar among many in a sequence. On a similar parallel note, lighter and more humorous, one might be reminded of the pirate swash buckling style of yelling at the swabbies that the beatings will continue until morale improves. The QE bond monetization of USGovt debt has turned viral and entrenched. It is sold as stimulus, when in fact it acts like a giant wet blanket on the USEconomy.''

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''End to USAID Spying Looms in Latin America''

how much does it cost taxpayers to have CIA stationed all over the world????..............From Strategic Culture

"In Latin America, USAID has long earned a reputation of an organization whose offices are, in fact, intelligence centers scheming to undermine legitimate governments in a number of the continent's countries. The truth that USAID hosts CIA and US Defense Intelligence Agency operatives is not deeply hidden, as those seem to have played a role in every Latin American coup, providing financial, technical, and ideological support to respective oppositions. USAID also typically seeks engagement with the local armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, recruiting within them agents ready to lend a hand to the opposition when the opportunity arises."

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''Manufacturing "Failed States"

From VoltaireNet.org

''The United States has mastered the art of undermining its targets by fomenting domestic terrorism, and then laying the responsibility on them for the crimes sponsored by Washington itself. This method affords it the possibility both to justify military intervention and to carry it out without risk. The well-oiled scheme described here by Edward S. Herman is now being applied in Syria.''

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''Russia halts imports of Monsanto corn over cancer fears''

From RT

''Russian authorities temporary suspended the import and sale of Monsanto’s genetically-modified corn after a French study suggested it may be linked to cancer.
­

The Russia’s consumer-rights regulator Rospotrebnadzor asked scientists at the country’s Institute of Nutrition to review the study. The watchdog has also contacted to European Commission’s Directorate General for Health & Consumers to explain the EU’s position on GM corn.''

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''The CIA, 9/11, Afghanistan, and Central Asia''

From VoltaireNet.org

To mark the release of the French version of Peter Dale Scott’s latest book, "The American War Machine", we are publishing a detailed study undertaken by this Canadian diplomat on the attacks of September 11. He brings to light evidence of premeditation on the part of a faction within the U.S. military-industrial complex.

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Pepe Escobar: ''Hawk, dove, butterfly, bee''

From Asia Times

''What's that unheard-of political specimen spreading its wings over the geopolitical spectrum? It is aggressive as a hawk, compromising as a dove; it dances like a butterfly and stings like a bee. What kind of plumed composite is that? A hawdovebutterbee (HDBB)?

Get used to it. The HDBB happens to be no other than the President of the United States (POTUS), Barack Obama. Yet the question is inevitable. Will it fly?''

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''China's security boss surveys Hindu Kush''

From Asia Times
By MK Bhadrakumar

''With the "transition" in Afghanistan set to shift up a gear through 2013 - as the last residues of the United States' "surge" are pulled back from the war theater and as the 2014 deadline approaches for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to withdraw - Beijing seems destined to play a larger role. In terms of China's national priorities over the development of its eastern regions, especially Xinjiang, and the consolidation of its rapidly expanding economic investments in Afghanistan and Central Asia, Beijing has no choice but to project itself as a stakeholder in the stabilization of Afghanistan.'' 

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Paul Craig Roberts: ''USA to continue its wars as long as dollar remains reserve currency''

From Pravda

''Pravda.Ru interviewed Paul Craig Roberts, an American economist, who served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration and became a co-founder of Reaganomics - the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. We asked Mr. Roberts to share his views about the current state of affairs inside and outside the United States. ''

Q: During the 80s, relying on the revived economic power of the United States, Ronald Reagan managed to convince the Soviet government to end the Cold War. All those agreements, as you believe, were destroyed by Reagan's successors. Russia shares a completely different opinion about Reagan. The Russians think of him as the man, who resumed the arms race, designed the space shield and "cut out the cancer of communism" having won (or maybe bribed) Gorbachev over to his side for cooperation. Maybe one shouldn't strike him out of the list of the authors of today's American "idiotism?"

A: Reagan was not a member of the Republican Establishment. He defeated the Establishment's candidate, George H. W. Bush (father of George W. Bush) for the Republican presidential nomination.  By appealing to Democratic as well as Republican voters, Reagan had a great electoral victory. Reagan had two goals: one was to end stagflation, the other was to end the cold war. He was not much interested in anything else. The "arms race" and the "anti-ballistic missile defense--star wars" were never real. They were threats used to bring Gorbachev to negotiate the end of the cold war. Unlike the present Republican Party, Reagan wanted peace, not war.''

The CIA opposed Reagan's effort to end the cold war, as did the powerful military-security complex, about which President Dwight Eisenhower warned the American people in his last address to the American nation. The end of the cold war threatened the profits of the powerful military industries and the power of the CIA.

The CIA said that the Soviet Union would win an arms race, because the Soviet Union could control investment, unlike the US, and could allocate the entire Gross Domestic Product of the Soviet Empire to the military. Reagan's secret committee over-ruled the CIA.''

''Sequestration: How a Spending Stalemate Would Affect the States''

a must read.............From Governing.com

''But for state and local governments in particular, the budget cuts would have acute and tangible ramifications. The reductions, known as the "sequester," would be made across the board to a broad swath of federal spending. The cuts could not only ravage economies, but also force states to backfill funding and scale back countless safety net programs.

Under the sequester, as laid out in the resolution to the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, the cuts would be divided between defense and non-defense discretionary spending. In the next fiscal year, for example, defense-related discretionary spending would be cut $54.6 billion, or 10 percent. Non-defense would be cut $38 billion, or 7.8 percent.''

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''Manipulation of the Gold Price and the Crash of Paper Gold''

another must read...............From Market Oracle
By GoldSilverWorlds

The Crash of Paper Gold

''Here is an assessment of how this is likely to play out:

The demand for allocated gold increases. Traditionally, a large portion of gold investment has been in ETFs and similar methods. As more investors get word of rumours that banks are actually holding only a small fraction of the gold that has been sold, they will decide only to buy if the gold is “allocated”; that is, that specific numbered bars or specific boxes of coins are being held for the buyer. (This trend already exists and is becoming more prevalent.) At this point, there is no panic, as the allocated gold simply replaces the ETFs. The amount of money invested in gold with the banks overall remains about the same.

Fear increases that allocated gold is no safer than ETFs. Rumours surface that the “allocated” gold does not exist. Either it never existed, or it has been sold without advising the owner. (This stage has also begun.)

Investors begin to lose faith in the banks. Holders of allocated gold show up at the bank, demanding to view their gold. They will be shown a portion of the gold that the bank actually holds. Some owners will recognise that what they have been shown is not the gold that had been allocated (incorrect serial numbers). The owners may then demand to withdraw their gold from the bank. (This has begun in a small way in London, Zurich and other European centres, but is, at present, a rarity.) As rumours spread of the above, an increasing number of owners will show up at their banks to view their gold and will demand to withdraw it.

The ability of the banks to deliver gold on demand breaks down. At some point, a given bank will have to deliver more than it has in its vaults, as very little of what has been sold exists. That bank will then fail to provide the gold to the owner on that given day. As more banks reach this point, rumours become rampant.

There is a run on the banks. As word gets around that banks are failing to deliver, owners panic and make demands upon the banks en masse. In a very short space of time, all the bullion banks in the world who rely on a fractional reserve system will fail to deliver, and the paper gold industry will end abruptly.''

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''QE4? Why The Wall Street Banks Will Still Want More''

From ETF Daily News

''QE3 has barely even started and some folks on Wall Street are already clamoring for QE4.  In fact, as you will read below, one equity strategist at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) says that he would not be “surprised” if the Federal Reserve announced another new round of money printing by the end of the year.  But this is what tends to happen when a financial system starts becoming addicted to easy money.  There is always a deep hunger for another “hit” of “currency meth”. ''

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''Twin Demons of War and Central Banking''

From Market Oracle
By Lew Rockwell

''It isn’t terribly often that people discuss the development of total war in tandem with the development of modern central banking, which – although antecedents existed long before – also came into its own in the twentieth century. It’s no surprise that Ron Paul, the man in public life who has done more than anyone to break through the limits of what is permissible to say in polite society about both these things, has also been so insistent that the twin phenomena of war and central banking are linked. "It is no coincidence," Dr. Paul said, "that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking."

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''Global Currency Wars in Full Escalation''

From IBTimes
By Michael Pento

''The worldwide currency debasement war has now entered a new and more deadly phase. Central banks have escalated the combat plan to bring about the world's weakest currency for their individual countries. On the heels of the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank's promises of unlimited counterfeiting forever, the Bank of Japan announced last week that it would expand its purchase of Japanese Government Bonds (and other assets including equities) by 10 trillion Yen. This brings the latest round of BOJ intervention to a total of 80 trillion Yen!''

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''U.S. Military Aid To Central Asia: Who Benefits?''

From EurasiaNet

''Over the past few years, military aid has taken up an increasingly large portion of total U.S. aid to Central Asia, from around 5 percent throughout the 1990s to more than 30 percent since 2007. But that aid hasn't been closely examined, a situation I attempt to rectify in a new report (pdf), "U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia: Who Benefits?" The report focuses on aid to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Among the findings:

-- U.S. training and equipping aid focuses on special forces, including OMON and Alfas, and on occasions when those forces may have acted in ways contrary to stated U.S. interests, U.S. officials have tended to not take an active role in investigating those incidents and continue to support those units.''

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''Romney Foreign Policy Shows Strong CFR, Neo-con Influence''

endless wars 'as far as the eye can see'...........................From The New American

''Readers unfamiliar with the CFR should know that the organization was founded in 1921, largely in response to the refusal by the U.S. Senate to approve the treaty allowing the United States to join the League of Nations. CFR members were prominent among those establishing the United Nations near the conclusion of World War II and have also been disproportionately represented among cabinet member in both Democrat and Republican administrations since the late 1940s, particularly as heads of the State Department. As for the significance of the CFR in U.S. foreign policy, consider this list of secretaries of state who have been CFR members, with the party affiliation of the administration in which they served in parentheses following each:



Edward Stettinius (D), George Marshall (D), Dean Acheson (D), John Foster Dulles (R), Christian Herter (R), Dean Rusk (D), William Rogers (R), Henry Kissinger (R), Cyrus Vance (D), Edmund Muskie (D), Alexander Haig (R), George Shultz (R), James Baker (R), Lawrence Eagelberger (R), Warren Christopher (D), William Richardson (R), Madeleine Albright (D), Colin Powell (R), and Condoleezza Rice (R). Though Hillary Clinton is not a CFR member, Bill Clinton is.

As a result of this pervasive CFR influence, U.S. foreign policy rarely changes to any significant degree from one presidential administration to another, even when the party in power changes. When Barack Obama became president, he kept on former president Bush’s Secretary of Defense, CFR member Robert M. Gates, until 2011.''

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

''Peter Tchir on the Dangers and Pitfalls of a World Reaching for Holy Grail Yield!''

From RT.com

''Surround Congress clashes: Dramatic footage of night violence in Spain''

From RT.com

''Keiser Report: Bankstatocracy (E345)''

From RT.com..........''In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the bankstatocracy that has led to what the mainstream financial media calls an 'unintended' wealth gap in the consumer sector - between those recovered-from-recession and those still-struggling. To suggest that this gap is intentional, however, is considered now 'suspicious' behavior by the US government. And they also look at the 'wealth managers' for the poor in Australia. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to privacy extremist Frank Braun about sneaker net and privacy, the libertarian case for bitcoin and a flourishing over the counter bitcoin exchange.''

Gold replaces coca for Colombian mafia

From Deutsche Welle

''Illegal mining, with serious environmental consequences, has replaced coca cultivation as the main source of income for the Colombian mafia. Millions have been thrown out of their homes as a result.

The Colombian drug mafia is looking for new business interests. In eight of the country's provinces, illegal mining has replaced coca farming as the main source of income for organized crime. Mines are proving lucrative - the worldwide financial crisis has kept the gold price high for years, which makes it well worth mining.''

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''Trading in RMB grows''

From Financial Times  Video's.............''As China continues to internationalize its currency, more and more foreign companies are paying their Chinese suppliers in rmb and reaping the benefits. Denise Law, FT China Confidential, reports.''

''The Summer of Muslim Discontent: It’s Not “The Amateur Film” Stupid[1]!''

a must read.................From James Petras Website

''In its place, throughout the Muslim world, a new wave of reactionaries, corrupt and servile politicians have taken the reins of power buttressed by the same military, secret police and judicial power who sustained the previous rulers[2]. Death and destruction is rampant, poverty and misery has multiplied, law and order has broken down, retrograde thugs have seized political power, where previously they were a marginal force. Living standards have plunged, cities are devastated and commerce is paralyzed. And presiding over this “Arab Winter” are the Western powers, the US and EU, - with the aid of the despotic Gulf absolutist monarchies, their Turkish ally and a motley army of mercenary Islamic terrorists and their would-be exile spokespeople.''

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''Jim Grant offers his Observations on QE to Infinity and the Great Levitation!''

From RT.com

''Why Exxon Is More Interested In The Caspian Than The Gulf Of Mexico''

From StratRisks

''We all know the story. Analyst goes to a far flung location; said analyst gets told farfetched stories about potential investors coming into the region. ‘Take it as gospel, honest guv. It’s a dead cert’. Normally you forget this stuff 10,000 feet above sea level on your flight back home. By the time you’re a couple of G&T’s down, it’s all a distant memory. That was my first hunch after hearing interesting stories in Azerbaijan for the past few days, but the rumours might have some credible clout given they are coming directly from SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan.

The assertion: Exxon is coming into Azerbaijan, and expect it to be big in Baku.''

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''JAMES TURK - Part 1: This Always ENDS the Same Way: Zimbabwe''

From SGT Report..................''Here's a link to Part 2 of this interview: "JAMES TURK - Part 2: WARNING: Currency Cliff Ahead = $400 Silver, $8,000 Gold" http://youtu.be/KrFcQxkddQI

PART 1 of 2: James Turk, Founder of GoldMoney calls in from Spain to explain how the FED's latest actions spell doom for the Dollar. James reminds us that what is happening in the United States RIGHT NOW thanks to the privately owned Central Bank always ends the same way: In disaster for the currency. We've seen it before: Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Serbia... and we'll soon see it in AmeriKa.''

James' website:
http://www.goldmoney.com

''Obama’s Benghazi moment''

From Indian Punchline
By MK Bhadrakumar

''The Saudi lobby in the US is indeed hitting out at Obama: “Syria burns and calls for help, but the call goes unanswered. The civil war there has become a great Sunni-Shiite schism. Lebanon teeters on the edge. More important, trouble has spilled into Turkey. The Turks have come to resent the American abdication and the heavy burden the Syrian struggle has imposed on them. In contrast, the mullahs in Iran have read the landscape well and are determined to sustain the Assad dictatorship.” Yes, Saudis are indeed turning up the heat.''

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''The Cartel And Hedgies Are Short Paper, But Long Physical Gold''

From MilesFranklin Blog
By David Schectman

''The following bulletin from Jim Sinclair explains where gold is headed and who will benefit.  In typical fashion, Sinclair’s information is superb but his writing style isn’t exactly clear.  In fact, after reading it, my wife asked me what he meant by “7 touches”?  (See following bulletin)  Half a dozen years ago it was fashionable within the gold community to point out that a few bullion banks (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and a few friends) were always “short” gold. Sinclair stated then, that the bankers weren’t stupid and as the bull market advanced, the same bankers that were “short” would be the ones who were “long” and they would make a fortune on their gold holdings.  That’s right, they would be “long,” not “short!” ''

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''GREEK DEBT: under-reported in 2007, over-reported in 2009, and indeterminate in 2012''

From The Slog

''A couple of days ago, Der Spiegel gave the Greeks something of a hammering by sensationally alleging that the country’s deficit isn’t €12.5bn at all, but in fact €20bn. But from Day One, the real size of the country’s problem has been the subject of wildly differing views.''

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Monday, September 24, 2012

''Peak oil & the end of our industrial civilization with Max Keiser''

From PressTV...........''In this edition of the show Max interviews Mike Ruppert from collapsenet.com. He talks about the decline of the American empire at the end of the age of oil. Mike Ruppert is an American author, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer, and investigative journalist and peak oil advocate.''

''Foxconn China plant closes after clash involving 2,000''

From Reuters


''Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles Apple's iPhones and makes components for top global electronics companies, closed a plant in China on Monday after about 2,000 workers were involved in a brawl at a company dormitory.
It was not clear how long the shutdown would last at the plant, which employs about 79,000 people in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, while police and company officials investigate the cause of the disturbance.''



''Spain is headed off a cliff''

From GoldMoneyNews...............''GoldMoney's James Turk interviews Félix Moreno de la Cova, who is a studied economist, trader and GoldMoney contributor. They talk about the dire economic outlook for Spain and the country's fiscal difficulties.

Félix states that Spain is heading off a cliff with a fiscal gap of €150 billion a year. While government revenues declined after the pop of Spain's real estate bubble, government spending actually increased. He argues that must off the newly implemented "cuts" in reality are tax increases which will further slow the economy.''

''Siemens and Iran: A checkered past''

From Haaretz

''Siemens has been key to the Iranian regime not just in pursuing its nuclear ambitions. It has also been key in huge infrastructure deals, and its subsidiary Nokia-Siemens Networks has been accused by Iranian human rights activists of supplying the Islamic Republic with the apparatus to spy on opposition members' phone calls and social networking during the Green Revolution. The company tried to deflect these accusations but by the end of 2011, Nokia-Siemens admitted that international sanctions were making"it almost impossible for Nokia Siemens Networks to do business with Iranian customers."

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''Arctic Turning into Hotbed of Instability''

From Strategic Culture


''The Arctic was peacefully divided between the Soviet Union, Norway, Denmark, the USA and Canada till 1982. No disputes had been raised. It was not an ax to grind. Actually the region was viewed as nothing more than a useless desert covered by ice. Since then the borders are still not clearly defined and tested by international law.

The discovery of hydrocarbons and other natural resources deposits changed it all. The Arctic region has 22% of the world’s undiscovered energy resources – and 84% of those resources are expected to occur offshore (so 18.5% of the undiscovered resources are on or under the Arctic seabed). The Arctic’s natural riches have made it a very lucrative place for exploration – and potentially a «hot» one. Now we have stiff competition supported by new national security strategies stressing the territorial claims as matters of vital importance.''

''US Economy Sustained by Export of Dollars and Wars''

From Strategic Culture

''What the recurrent US liquidity dumps clearly provoke in the outside world are local armed conflicts. The Arab Spring was a completely predictable consequence of the first and second rounds of the US quantitative easing. The recent outbreaks of unrest - regime changes in Egypt and Tunisia, the civil war and intervention in Libya, the mounting pressure on Syria, the slide towards a war against Iran, the UN blessing to carve up Sudan, etc - are attributable not so much to the raging global crisis as to the attempts to overcome it by expropriating the countries which are not responsible for the downturn but own the resources on which the West's liquidity can be spent. These are the countries dragged one after another into latent economic wars in which international sanctions serve as a weapon or into large-scale armed conflicts with extremist and terrorist groups.''

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''Why You Should Prepare for Econcomic Catastrophe''

From Market Oracle
By Gary North


UNFUNDED LIABILITIES
''Why do I believe this? Because I believe in the analysis supplied by Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University. Each year, he analyzes the statistics produced by the Congressional Budget Office on the present value – not future value – of the unfunded liabilities of the U.S. government. The latest figures are up by $11 trillion over the last year. The figure today is $222 trillion.
This means that the government needs $222 trillion to invest in private capital markets that will pay about 5% per year for the next 75 years.
Problem: the world's capital markets are just about $222 trillion. Then there are the unfunded liabilities of all other Western nations. These total at least what the U.S. does, and probably far more, since the welfare state's promises are more comprehensive outside the USA.
Conclusion: they will all default.''

''Is everybody getting ready for a war?''

From Voice of Russia


''Against the background of the growing political tensions in the region, on September 19 Israel conducted a brief but full-scale military exercise on the Golan Heights that was designed to test the level of combat readiness of the Israeli Army in the event of a sudden attack. The observers believe that the most probable reason for such an attack from the states neighboring the Golans would be a potential Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.''


''Global Warming Victims in Alaska Lose Novel Suit''

From Court House News

''Native Alaskans whose village is teetering on the edge of survival cannot use a federal public-nuisance law to nail energy giants on global warming, the 9th Circuit ruled Friday.
     
Kivalina is a tiny town on Alaska's northwest coast, located at the tip of a barrier reef some 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Most of the residents are self-governing Inupiat Native Alaskans.''

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''How the West Helps Obstruct Democracy in Bahrain''

From New Left Project

''Since an Islamophobic film sparked protests across the Muslim world two weeks ago, we seem to have found ourselves drawn back towards the old “Clash of Civilisations” narative that framed a lot of mainstream discourse during the Bush-Blair era. The narrative presents a liberal, progressive, democratic West in opposition to a backward, religious and intolerent East. But this time around, thanks to the Arab uprisings, it’s a bit easier to see that narrative for what it is: a caricature and a false dichotomy that is, at the same time, both conceited and racist.''

audio/text

''Neither East nor West for Russia''

From RT

''The West has formed a political-military coalition that does not include Russia; China, a fiercely insular country has a historical wariness of building alliances. This forces Russia into a position of severe self-reliance and pragmatism.

Following his trip to Russia at the start of the Cold War, the American poet Robert Frost summed up his visit with the memorable line: “If you don't know how great this country is, I know someone who does; Russia.”

''ACLU Sues CIA Over Drone Killings''

From Steve Lendman's Blog

''Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been around since the Vietnam era. They were used as reconnaissance platforms. In the 1980s, Harpy air defense suppression system radar killer drones were employed. In the Gulf War, unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) and X-45 air vehicles were used. ''

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Sunday, September 23, 2012

''Morsi sets terms for US-Arab ties''

From Indian Express


''On the eve of his first trip to the US as Egypt’s new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi said the US needed to fundamentally change its approach to the Arab world, showing greater respect for its values and helping build a Palestinian state, if it hoped to overcome decades of pent-up anger.
A former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Morsi sought in a 90-minute interview with The New York Times to introduce himself to the US public and to revise the terms of relations between his country and the US after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.''




California: ''Prison, parole officers face layoffs''

From Monterey Herald


''With the state's prison population shrinking rapidly by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is scaling back operations and issuing pink slips to many prison guards and parole agents next week.

The downsizing comes a year after Gov. Jerry Brown's realignment plan took effect, when the CDCR handed off the supervision of certain low-level inmates and parolees to county sheriff's deputies and probation officers.''

''India PM allows Walmart while New York ''shuts Walmart out''

From Hindustan Times

''Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani said on Sunday Walmart  was being allowed in India even as it was facing protests in the US and New York "shut Walmart out". "On the same Friday (Sep 14) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rolled out the red carpet for Walmart, New York City, America's largest, shutWalmart  out," Advani wrote in his blog Sunday.''

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''Keiser Report: Happy Hacking! (ft. Richard Stallman) (E344)''

From RT.com

''Brazil may fire up tax artillery in ''currency war''

From Chicago Tribune


''Brazil threatened on Friday a further clampdown on speculative foreign capital, firing a warning shot in a "currency war" its finance minister blamed on money-printing by Western central banks.
Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Brazil would not allow its currency, the real, to strengthen as a result of aggressive monetary stimulus by the United States and other developed nations.''

''Lehman Brothers ordered to pay compensation''

From RadioAustralia.net

''A group of Australian councils, charities and churches has won a Federal Court case against defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers in a case which could have global ramifications.''

''Members of the group were advised by Lehman's Australian arm before buying subprime mortgage-related derivatives or collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) branded locally as federation notes.''

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''David Cameron 'to lobby Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande' to back BAE-EADS deal''

From The Telegraph

''David Cameron is reported to back the deal and will argue its merits with President Barack Obama, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande.

Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande discussed the merger when they met on Saturday.

"We didn't make any decisions... it wasn't expected that we would, but Germany and France will stay in close contact on this issue," Mrs Merkel said, following the talks.''

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''Volcker on Lehman, the Fed's increased power and Dodd Frank''

From ReutersTV

''Don Coxe: Barack Obama Win Would Be Good for Gold (BMO Financial/ Coxe Advisors)''

From KITCO News

Saturday, September 22, 2012

''Pew unveils the US-China pantomime''

a must read...........From Indian PunchLine
By MK Bhadrakumar

''The real winner of the Daiaoyu/Senkaku tensions of the past few weeks is of course Washington. It utilized the developing tide of nationalism in Japan to get away with the deployment of the anti-ballistic missile defence system [BMD] on Japanese soil. It’s a first-class scoop. With this, the US’ BMD arc around Russia is further tightening. 
The BMD deployment in Japan is supposedly against North Korea’s missiles, while Russian commentators insist it is against China, but in reality, it is part of the US’ global strategy to establish nuclear superiority, which entails deflating Russia’s assertions of keeping a global strategic balance with the US despite its loss of superpower status. ''

''Centuries of Indian life could be extinguished by the arrival of Walmart''

From The Guardian

India: ''Last week it decided to face down opponents and show its free-market muscles by reviving planned reforms that will allow familiar European and American names – Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour — to build stores in cities of more than a million people, providing the local state government agrees.''

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''PM says money doesn't grow on trees, we need reforms, backs FDI''



money doesnt grow on trees?????????...................please tell that to Ben Bernanke!!..................Video from IBNLIVE