21 October 2011

video 1, above The Alyona Show ( Sep 30th) Can we Stop a Second Great Depression?

video 2 (October 1st): Keiser Report: 'WW3 will make us all rich' pt 1, Interview with Roseanne Barr in pt 2. (E191)


Apparently titles must grab your attention or they are useless. Are things that dire? Are the super-duper-mega rich that evil? I guess we'll find out in due time, or a bit sooner. I don't see how Soros' centralized treasury can work, especially if all you are doing generating more debt and not writing any of it off. It will only forestall a default and make it worse when it finally comes. As Stacy Herbert says at around 3:00-5:00 in the Max Keiser video, increased centralization is dangerous. She's not specifically talking about Soros but rather the EU's Barroso, but the principle still applies. Barroso seems more concerned with consolidating the power of the EU organization(and presumably Germany) rather than help the Greeks or the overall economic situation. Barroso talks aboput ensuring the "integrity of the Euro area...and it's financial stability" as if the fortunes of ordinary people in Europe are in fact aligned with the "integrity of the Euro area."

I'd say that's pretty questionable. Why should the weaker EU countries surrender more of their sovereignty to an EU central bank? So far the EU has been disastrous for them, much as the 2008 bank bailout has been a net negative for most Americans. When people discuss the bailout in the establishment media, they almost always do it in terms of our choice having been the bailout or nothing, which is obviously a false equation. (Although I recall that in 2009 Jim Rogers argued that even doing nothing may have been preferable. I gather he has since modified his view somewhat.) -JV


John Emerson, Trollblog:
Obama has blown his Presidency
JE:" I look at the future with dread. I have no useful advice to give and am just thinking day to day...It wasn't liberals that didn't vote in 2010. It was the new Democrats that Obama suckered with empty slogans and then betrayed."

Cops Who Stay Undercover and Murdered Whistle-Blowers

Abby Zimet,Common Dreams: In Praise of Hippies

Tea Party to Businesses: "Stop Hiring!"| www.truth-out.org

"Emergency Committee For Israel Board Member Advocates Genocide Of Palestinians" | Political Correction (via John Emerson, who feels that Rachel Decter Abrams is a pretty influential person.)

Debt, Deficits, and Modern Monetary Theory — An Interview with Bill Mitchell | Harvard International

ColorLines Magazine, There’s An App for That: Figure Out How Many ‘Slaves’ Work for You

18 August 1988: Silver and Gold

via "iconic"; BBC discussion of the above.

update below



Overheard elsewhere:

Tony Loudermilk: In 1971 I believe that Russia USSR had an enormous amount of silver overhanging the market. Perhaps after the indictments came down and Hunt was locked down from trading they were persuaded by Smiley's People to dump some of it onto the market???

2 hours ago ·
Lord McCracken:
Might very well be. The unstated secret of the precious metals market is that AT ANY TIME they want, the world's major economies can crash them simply by dropping a couple of percents (even 1% with gold) of their own holdings onto them. (In the case of gold, the private market (the place where they get to price of gold from) only has 1% of the world's gold. The rest is held by governments. If those government were to decide to drop even 1% of their holdings into that market, it would DOUBLE the amount of gold there, and the market would IMMEDIATELY crash.)



Are any of these things true? How would I know? Still, it makes sense to be a bit skeptical of people flogging the collapse meme, especially when they also collect ad revenue for their web site from people selling silver and gold, or they themselves are touting a newsletter, or what have you.

All I know is, if Gorn had me cornered I'd fight back. Not because I think I'm as cool as Captain Kirk, I'm not, but because I don't think I could outrun Gorn after years of eating so much yummy processed food. Besides, America is where I keep all my stuff, and I don't trust that smooth talking Picard.

update: A kindly anonymous commenter shares this Wiki link regarding the world's gold reserves, wherein it states that governments hold approximately 18% of the world's gold.