'Admiral says Pacific forces may dodge cuts'

from signonsandiego.........

"United States forces in the Pacific may largely dodge the $400 billion budget cuts coming at the Pentagon thanks to $1.2 trillion in annual U.S. trade at stake in the South China Sea alone, and the challenge of China’s growing military might.

Adm. Robert Willard, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters in San Diego on Monday that if one looks at the budget math from a strategy point of view, it’s a no brainer".............READ MORE

James Grant Interviewed on Capital Account 10/24/11

from rt.com..........

Chris Hedges: "There is no way to vote against the interest of Goldman Sachs"

thats why we protest....OCCUPY WALL STREET......from charlie rose 10/24/2011...........

'China's one-child rule turns into a time bomb'

from afp via bangkokpost.......

..............."But three decades on, demographers, sociologists and economists are warning of a looming crisis as China becomes the only developing country in the world to face growing old before it grows rich.

China's crisis is approaching "incomparably faster" than in Europe, where fertility has fallen very gradually over the last century, Paris-based demographer Christophe Guilmoto told AFP.

In the next five years the number of people in China over 60 will jump from 178 million to 221 million -- 13.3 percent to 16 percent of the population -- according to the People's Daily Online

By 2050, a quarter of China's population will be over 65, the Commission for Population and Family Planning said, compared to just nine percent today"............READ MORE

'How to Fund U.S. Infrastructure? Reduce Defense Spending'

from the infrastructurist........

"A few weeks ago, former Pennsylvania Governor and co-founder of Building America’s Future Ed Rendell was speaking on a panel about the future of U.S. infrastructure. After he finished extolling the need for greater investment in large-scale upgrades and new projects, a young Naval cadet stood up and asked, “That’s a great plan, but where will we get the money for it?”

“That’s a great question,” Rendell responded. “And the answer is two words, beginning with ‘A’ and ‘I.’”

“Um, ‘American innovation?’” the cadet offered.

“No, but close. It’s ‘Afghanistan’ and ‘Iraq”............READ MORE

'Close-up from the air: Rena salvage mission'

from new zealand herald.........

Another War: "Western allies assisting war on Somali militants"

from new zealand herald.......

"Kenya has confirmed that Western allies have joined its war on Islamic militants al-Shabaab despite denials from the United States and France that they are involved in fighting in southern Somalia.

Foreign military forces have carried out air strikes and a naval bombardment close to the militant stronghold of Kismayo, said Kenya's Major Emmanuel Chirchir"...........READ MORE

'Bangladesh Set to Repatriate 40,000 Workers Back to Libya'

from tripoli post...........

"Following the installation of the new leadership in Libya, the Bangladeshi government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to send back to Libya the repatriated workers to the foreign companies they were employed with in Libya before the conflict that ousted former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi.

About 36,000 to 40,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers were evacuated from Benghazi, Tripoli and other cities in the wake of the break-out of the conflict between the pro- and anti-Al Qathafi forces'...........READ MORE

'South Korean economy heading for stagflation?'

from koreaherald.........

"The Bank of Korea froze its key interest rate at 3.25 percent a year for a fourth consecutive month in October in a move that analysts said placed worries over growing external uncertainties ahead of inflation concerns.

A report by the central bank said at the time the downside risks to the economy were increasing due to worsening external factors such as the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis and slowdowns in major countries"............READ MORE

'China's Rail Expansion Faces Funding Squeeze'

from ntdtv...........

Dhaka - 'The fastest growing megacity in the world'

from global post..........

'Unstoppable: Why this crisis will keep unfolding'

from goldmadesimplenews............

"When the tectonic plates underneath society shift, confusion reigns, together with wishful thinking.

It appears that financial markets have again managed to get themselves into a state of unrealistic expectation. The European summit this coming Sunday (or the follow-up summit on Wednesday) is now supposed to bring a “comprehensive plan” to solve the European debt crisis. Of course, nothing of the sort will happen, and for a simple reason: it is impossible. Those who cherish such fanciful hopes are naïve and will be disappointed".............READ MORE

'States Facing Massive $4 trillion in Debt'

from newsroomamerica........

"U.S. states are facing trillions of dollars worth of debt that includes a wide range of unfunded liabilities including pensions, according to a new analysis.

California owes the most while Vermont owes the least, found the report by the nonprofit State Budget Solutions. According to analysts, states are on the hook for about $4.2 trillion, mostly for pensions and employee healthcare, unemployment insurance loans, outstanding bonds and projected fiscal 2011 budget gaps, CNBC.com reported.

The group, which generally advocates for limited taxes and spending, said in its report that deficit calculations states make "do not offer a full picture of the states' liabilities and can rely on budget gimmicks and accounting games to hide the extent of the deficit"................READ MORE

Dick Smith on Australia's population and unsustainable perpetual growth

this applies to USA as well..........A MUST WATCH..........from world news australia...........

Bruce Krasting 'On the (not so) Mega ReFi'

from brucekrasting.blogspot..........

"Finally some details on a plan that has been whispered about for six weeks now. Actually, the information available begs some questions. Some thoughts on what was released from the FHFA yesterday:

- I’ve said from the start that the fatal flaw in the Refi program is that it only includes those who happen to have their mortgage held by Fannie and Freddie. About 40% of the mortgages that would otherwise qualify for a new deal are getting nothing. 

This is the telephone number to determine if you are eligible: 800-7FANNIE. Four out of ten who call will be told to buzz off. The reason is that they got a mortgage from a Community Bank"...........READ MORE

'House of Saud risks oblivion'

from asia times online......

"Saudi Arabia's geriatric dynastic politics may not be so important were it not for the phenomenon of the Arab Spring which has released potent political and social dynamics that are reshaping the region's political architecture beyond recognition. 

The extraordinarily violent death of Libya's long-time ruler, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, at the hands of a baying and delirious armed mob, highlights - in extremis - the ferocity behind the quest for change and renewal across the region"..............READ MORE 

'China seeks military bases in Pakistan'

from asia times online.......

"While Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at its southwestern seaport of Gwadar in Balochistan province, Beijing is more interested in setting up military bases either in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan or in the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) that border Xinjiang province. 

The Chinese desire is meant to contain growing terrorist activities of Chinese rebels belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) that is also described as the Turkistani Islamic Party (TIP)"............ READ MORE

PBS: 'Would Obama's Refinancing Plan Boost Ailing Housing Market?'

consult an attorney first.........be mindful of clouded title............from pbs newshour..........

'CIA’s Covert Iraq Mission'

from thedailybeast.......

"As the U.S. military departs Iraq, the CIA is looking at how it can absorb and continue secret counterterrorism and intelligence programs run inside that country for years by the Joint Special Operations Command and other military organizations, officials tell The Daily Beast"...........READ MORE

'Government Could Hide Existence of Records under FOIA Rule Proposal'

from propublica.........

"A proposed rule to the Freedom of Information Act would allow federal agencies to tell people requesting certain law-enforcement or national security documents that records don’t exist – even when they do.

Under current FOIA practice, the government may withhold information and issue what’s known as a Glomar denial that says it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records"..............READ MORE

'How Might Saudi Arabia Retaliate Against Iran For Alleged Plot?'

from rferl........


"Iran's alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States -- on U.S. soil -- brought swift vows of revenge from Riyadh.

In the days after the alleged plot was revealed by U.S. authorities, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal accused Tehran of "murder and mayhem" and said his country would deliver a "measured response" to the plot.

"We hold them [Iran] accountable for any action they take against us," he said during a trip to Vienna. "And this is not the first time Iran has been suspected of similar acts."


So what might Saudi Arabia do -- especially given the continued rippling effects of the Arab Spring across the Middle East?

Proxy War

Saudi Arabia could opt for a more traditional method of retaliation by backing ethnic-minority dissidents and oppressed Sunnis in Iran in an effort to undermine the domestic security of the country and exert pressure on the clerical regime. It could also lend support to militant Sunnis in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria with the hope of weakening Shi'ite-led Iran's influence in the region"..............READ MORE

Interview - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - Part I

'EU bank failures will crash Wall Street — again'

be prepared...............from marketwatch.........

"When? A string of European bank collapses is dead ahead. And like the Arab Spring, they will trigger an economic disaster for American banks.

Yes, coming soon says Martin Weiss in his “7 Major Advance Warnings,” which is “bound to have a life-changing impact on nearly all investors in the U.S. and around the globe.” His new Weiss Ratings warnings are the “most important” in a 40-year career. The stress on Wall Street banks will force them back to Congress for more bailouts.

Warning eight: No new bailouts. That will push the economy into a deep recession"............READ MORE

'More Military Spending in Central America Giving Rise to Old and New Fears'

from insightcrime.......

"Several Central American nations are increasing their defense budgets after decades of demilitarization, citing the need to combat organized crime. But there are some who see inherent dangers in assigning the military a bigger role, and others who see geopolitical forces at work"...............READ MORE

'Lobbyists, special interests swarm super committee'

this is why we protest..........from cbsnews.......

"Lobbyists and advocacy groups are flooding the so-called congressional "super committee" with requests and demands as the group searches for ways to find at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings.


But some special interests are essentially forgoing the website, opting instead to use back-door channels to lawmakers to exert influence. The American Petroleum Institute, for instance, has declined to submit a formal recommendation but is using its personal contacts with super committee members to lobby against closing tax loopholes for oil companies, the Times reports"............READ MORE

'Wall St. Warmongers: US hawks howl at phantom menace'

from rt.com.........

'Mortgage-Backed Securities Plunge As Refinance Plan Emerges'

full article not available...........from wsj.........

"Mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) plummeted in price on Monday after the top housing regulator surprised investors by expanding an existing refinancing program to more borrowers and removing a key hurdle that has kept banks from approving new loans"............READ MORE

'California bullet train: The high price of speed'

from latimes.......

"Since it opened in 1893Bakersfield High School has been the pride of this city and its academic cornerstone, the place where the late Chief Justice Earl Warren graduated and students call themselves the Drillers in homage to the region's oil patch.

It has withstood earthquakes and depressions, but perhaps it will not survive the California bullet train"................READ MORE

'More Jobs Predicted for Machines, Not People'

from nytimes........

"A faltering economy explains much of the job shortage in America, but advancing technology has sharply magnified the effect, more so than is generally understood, according to two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The automation of more and more work once done by humans is the central theme of “Race Against the Machine,” an e-book to be published on Monday.

“Many workers, in short, are losing the race against the machine,” the authors write"...........READ MORE

Bank of America refuses to let customers close accounts

this is from august 2011......before Occupy Wall Street started.........GET YOUR MONEY OUT OF THE BIG BANKS...............

BANK TRANSFER DAY IS NOV 5TH...............READ MORE

William Black: "The Anti-Regulators are the “Job Killers”

from neweconomicperspectives..........

"The new mantra of the Republican Party is the old mantra – regulation is a “job killer.”  It is certainly possible to have regulations kill jobs, and when I was a financial regulator I was a leader in cutting away many dumb requirements.   We have just experienced the epic ability of the anti-regulators to kill well over ten million jobs.  Why then is there not a single word from the new House leadership about investigations to determine how the anti-regulators did their damage?  Why is there no plan to investigate the fields in which inadequate regulation most endangers jobs?  While we’re at it, why not investigate the areas in which inadequate regulation allows firms to maim and kill.  This column addresses only financial regulation.

Deregulation, desupervision, and de facto decriminalization (the three “des”) created the criminogenic environment that drove the modern U.S. financial crises.  The three “des” were essential to create the epidemics of accounting control fraud that hyper-inflated the bubble that triggered the Great Recession.  “Job killing” is a combination of two factors – increased job losses and decreased job creation.  I’ll focus solely on private sector jobs – but the recession has also been devastating in terms of the loss of state and local governmental jobs".................READ MORE 

US: ‘Credible threats’ in Syria ambassador pullout'

the war department wants another war................from arabnews.........


“Ambassador Robert Ford was brought back to Washington as a result of credible threats against his personal safety in Syria,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “At this point, we can’t say when he will return to Syria. It will depend on our assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground”................READ MORE

'Leading U.S. columnist: Slash defense aid to Israel'

nakedempire agrees..............from haaretz........

"Veteran Washington Post columnist Walter Pincus has urged the U.S. administration to reevaluate the extent of the defense aid that the United States provides to Israel. Pincus, who has been reporting on intelligence, defense and foreign policy for the Washington Post for 45 years, says the change in U.S. policy that he is calling for is a necessity in light of Israel's decision to slash its defense budget by some NIS 3 billion, in keeping with the recommendations of the Trajtenberg Committee"............READ MORE

"Pentagon report that shows defense firms over the last decade ripped off the military to the tune of $1.1 trillion"

OCCUPY THE "MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX"..............from the hill........

"Liberal lawmakers will soon send the congressional deficit panel the details of a Pentagon report that shows defense firms over the last decade ripped off the military to the tune of $1.1 trillion, Democratic sources told The Hill.

Pro-military lawmakers from both parties have warned the supercommittee to avoid Pentagon spending cuts beyond the $350 billion ordered by the August debt deal".................READ MORE

'U.S. Sen. John McCain: Could it be time to intervene in Syria?'

that didnt take long........from latimes......

"With NATO bombing of Libya set to end, U.S. Sen. John McCain on Sunday raised the possibility of some kind of military attack on Syria, where the government of Bashar Assad has been accused of brutally cracking down on protesters.

“Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what partial military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria,” McCain (R-Ariz.) said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Jordan. “The Assad regime should not consider that it can get away with mass murder. Kadafi made that mistake and it cost him everything”................READ MORE

PetroDollars: "Kuwait considers buying assets in Europe"

Kuwait is one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of land area..........from arabnews.............

"Kuwait, the world's No. 6 crude oil exporter, is one of the richest countries globally with its sovereign wealth fund, Kuwait Investment Authority, managing over $290 billion of assets. It has stakes in Citigroup, Daimler AG and Agricultural Bank of China among others.     

The European crisis "will have an impact but it is not that much for us. We are just waiting for the Europeans, what they are to do with their economy," Al-Shamali said".........READ MORE 

Neo-Con John Bolton Admits All These Wars Are For Oil..............

bankers and tankers..........petro dollar recycling..............

'Afghanistan 'would back Pakistan' if US attacked'

thats a "fine how do ya do"..............from afp........

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that his country would support Pakistan if it was attacked by either the United States or India.

"If America, India or anyone else attacked Pakistan, we will stand by Pakistan," Karzai said in an interview aired by Pakistan private television channel Geo late Saturday.

"Afghanistan is a brother of Pakistan, we will never betray Pakistan," he added"..........READ MORE

'US, Filipino marines hold drill near disputed area'

from ap..........

"More than 200 U.S. and Filipino marines have staged an amphibious assault on a beach as part of a combat drill near a South China Sea shoal disputed by China and the Philippines.

He refused to discuss whether or not the drill was related to concerns over China's growing naval power.

A Marine spokesman says China is not an imaginary target in the annual exercise.

The Philippines has sought U.S. help to strengthen its military amid a territorial spat with China, including over the Scarborough Shoal off Zambales".............READ MORE

'Did NATO exceed its mandate in Libya?

from ibnlive........

'Revisionist History and the Great Depression'

from goldseek...........

"One of the biggest facts left out of the official story of the Depression was that it wasn’t the first. In fact, it takes quite a bit of digging in the history books to find any mention of previous tragic deflagrations of the business cycle. I am not going to outline each of them here in the interests of time, however, I am going to list them: 1819, 1836-37, 1857, 1873, 1893-95, and 1921. I have omitted banking panics such as 1907 since we’re discussing the business cycle. 


The very interesting fact about all of these sharp downturns of the business cycle is that ALL of them coincided with a complete and utter failure of the management of the money supply by the government. However, as can easily be inferred by the dates of these crises and by closer study of the crises themselves, these were all short-lived events. Most lasted two years with a couple of them lasting 4, but that was the most. The Great one was three times that long. Was this just because of monetary errors? Of course not. It was monetary errors compounded by policy missteps and ill-advised interventions on the part of government. In short, it wasn’t a failure of capitalism that caused the Depression, it was the failure to adhere to the free market that caused it – and then compounded it"...............READ MORE

'Gross Federal Debt'

click on the chart for a closer view...........have a good weekend.........

'Andrew Marr's Megacities Sustaining the City'

from bbc.........

'EU's Greek problem-On the Edgee with Max Keiser'

great interview............In this edition of the show Max interviews Ed Harrison from Creditwritedowns.com. 

"The 'great game' in Syria"

from asia times online........

"This summer, a senior Saudi official told John Hannah [1], former United States vice president Dick Cheney's former chief-of-staff, that from the outset of the Syrian upheaval in March, the king has believed that regime change in Syria would be highly beneficial to Saudi interests: "The king knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria," said the official. 

This is today's "great game": the formula for playing it has changed; the US-instigated "color" revolutions in the former Soviet republics have given way to a bloodier, and more multi-layered process today, but the underlying psychology remains unchanged"..............READ MORE

'China-US rivalry: New perspectives'

from mb.com.......

“The South China Sea (SCS)has increasingly become an armed camp as the claimants build up and modernize their navies...  China has so far confiscated 12 islands, Taiwan one, Vietnam 25, the Philippines 8, and Malaysia 5...”  — Robert D. Kaplan

MANILA, Philippines — During the last fortnight, in lectures and roundtable discussions at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC; at three universities (Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Seton Hall); the San Diego World Affairs Council; the Cerritos (Los Angeles) Main Library, and other venues across the US, FVR opined: “Shadow boxing between the US and China has taken a serious turn over the latter’s territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea (or Spratlys).”

Undeclared arms race

FVR’s consistent theme in recent engagements here and abroad is that Beijing and Washington are in an undeclared arms race – which must be moderated and resolved by peaceful, cooperative undertakings"..........READ MORE

'Pakistan can't keep 'snakes' in backyard to attack neighbors': Hillary Clinton

from india newsx..........

'Signs That the Era of Cheap Chinese Imports Is Ending'

from the nytimes.......

"When Chinese trade was helping to push down prices for many things, the reported low figures for inflation gave optimistic central bankers a reason to think that there was no need to slow rapid growth in the United States. The continued monetary stimulus helped push unemployment rates down to the levels of the late 1950s. The underlying assumption was that technological innovations had produced a new economy that could boom without inflation.

The alternative explanation was that a substantial part of the reported low inflation came from imports of Asian, primarily Chinese, products, and that that effect was bound to be temporary. At some point, trade imbalances would become unsustainable and the inflation picture would reverse, as either the dollar lost value or costs began to rise in Asia"...........READ MORE

Pepe Escobar: "How the West won Libya"

from asia times online.........

"To the winners, the spoils. They all did it; the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Pentagon and the TNC. From the minute a United Nations resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya became a green card to regime change, plan A was always to capture and kill him. Targeted assassination; that's Barack Obama administration official policy. There was no plan B. 

Let me bomb you to protection 
As for how R2P ("responsibility to protect" civilians), any doubters should cling to the explanation by NATO's secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen; "NATO and our partners have successfully implemented the historic mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya." Anyone who wants to check NATO's protection of civilians just needs to jump on a pick-up truck and go to Sirte - the new Fallujah"......... READ MORE

'China vs USA - Empires at War'

Matt Taibbi: 'Occupy Wall Street: Washington Still Doesn't Get It'

from rolling stone.........

"I'll have more coming out about this in a few days, but there have been two disgusting developments in the realm of plutocratic intervention on behalf of Wall Street that everyone protesting should take note of.

The fact that both of the following things took place in the middle of the full fever of OWS, when everyone is supposedly trying to placate anti-banker sentiment and Obama and the DCCC are supposedly pledging support of the protesters, shows how completely bankrupt this system is and how necessary street-level protests have become. Popular uprising is probably the only move left to stop developments like the following"...............READ MORE

'Is US-Pakistan relationship taking a hit?'

from ibnlive..........

'Nasrallah: Tel Aviv first target if Israel launches war against Lebanon'

from daily star..........

"Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has warned that Tel Aviv will be the first target in any war Israel decides to launch against Lebanon, Friday’s Al-Akhbar reported.

"If Israel decides to launch a war against Lebanon – and I'm speaking from an insider point of view on the resistance's capabilities – this time breaking the bones of the Israeli army will not be enough, we will crush them,” he added".............READ MORE

'Eric Cantor Cancels Philly Appearance Targeted by Occupy Protesters'

cantor is a whore for the hedge funds..........from nbc washington........

"Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor pulled the plug on a Friday speaking appearance at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia. 

The Congressman decided not to speak in front of a crowd that would likely contain protesters aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement. 

Prior to the speech, a Philadelphia political group announced a march called "Occupy Eric Cantor" to coincide with the speech".............READ MORE

'Falklands Friction'

from dateline australia.......10/16/2011

'Sen. Sanders gathers economists for his planned Private Federal Reserve Bank overhaul bill'

from the hill..........

"Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday unveiled a dozen economists he has tapped to help draft a plan to overhaul the Federal Reserve he says is "riddled" with conflicts of interest, among other problems.

Headlining the group are Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner and former top adviser to President Clinton, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and special adviser to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Other economists agreeing to offer their recommendations include Lawrence Mischel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute; Nomi Prins, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns; and Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research".............READ MORE

Bernie Sanders: "Storming the Gates of The Private Federal Reserve Bank"

from valleyadvocate........

"U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has done it again: exposed simple facts that show how the American financial system works, and how it needs to be corrected.

Most recently an audit of the secretive Federal Reserve, requested by Sanders and others but most vocally by Sanders, revealed that during the financial crisis of the last several years, the Fed had strewn around $16 trillion to prop up the stability of American and foreign banks and corporations, some as far away as the Middle East and Asia—and some of the money no doubt parceled out to further American foreign policy as well as shore up the economy"..............READ MORE

Bernie Sanders: 'Fraudulent defense contractors paid $1 trillion'

this is why we protest.............from vtdigger...............


"Hundreds of defense contractors that defrauded the U.S. military received more than $1.1 trillion in Pentagon contracts during the past decade, according to a Department of Defense report prepared for Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders (I-Vt.) called the report “shocking.” He said aggressive steps must be taken to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted.

“The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” said Sanders. “With the country running a nearly $15 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money”............READ MORE

Pakistan: 'Hillary's make or break visit?'

from times now............

'US forces make inroads into Haqqani heartland, kill 115'

from times of india........

"US forces, in a big push into areas close to Pakistan's lawless North Waziristan, have killed 115 insurgents in four days of intense fighting against Haqqani militants to gain control of a critical corridor and resupply route to key bases in northeastern Afghanistan. 

US and Nato forces are using long-range rockets fired from more than 120kms away to break-up large groups of Haqqani network, al-Qaida andTaliban militants, who, according to intelligence reports , are concentrated in Kunar province"..............READ MORE