Connecting the dots through maze of misdirection

What a tangled web we weave. 

So we have this headline Obama to Propose New Rules on Banks’ Size, Trading and this video Obama Calls for Limiting Size, Risk-Taking of Banks

Barney Frank, Banks Need Time to Divest Under Obama Plan

Big Banks Have Already Figured Out the Loophole In Obama’s New Rules

Scott Garrett, NJ Republican, Market needs certainty and that banks have been consolidating for the last eighteen months.

Mark Sunshine of Sunshine Capital warning 1-2,000 Small, Midsize Banks May `Disappear'  

Mark Calabria from Cato Institute, this is all political grandstanding...misdirection

Goldman Will Benefit From Obama’s Proposal, Rochdale Securities analyst Dick Bove says

Charles Biderman of Trim Tabs market rally logically can only be due to Fed buying

Democrats propose $1.9T increase in debt limit 

White House Embracing Pointless Deficit Commission

FT columnist Gideon Rachman Bankruptcy could be good for America
"with entitlement spending set to surge, there is no credible plan to bring the budget deficit under control over the medium term...Oddly, it might be best if the crisis came sooner rather than later. For a surprising number of countries, running out of money has been the prelude to national renewal."

Porter Stansberry The bankruptcy of the United States is now certain
"Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that's not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That's an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP...Currency speculators figured out how to accurately predict when a country would default. Two well-known economists - Alan Greenspan and Pablo Guidotti - published the secret formula in a 1999 academic paper. That's why the formula is called the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. The rule states: To avoid a default, countries should maintain hard currency reserves equal to at least 100% of their short-term foreign debt maturities. The world's largest money management firm, PIMCO, explains the rule this way: "The minimum benchmark of reserves equal to at least 100% of short-term external debt is known as the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. Greenspan-Guidotti is perhaps the single concept of reserve adequacy that has the most adherents and empirical support.  The principle behind the rule is simple. If you can't pay off all of your foreign debts in the next 12 months, you're a terrible credit risk. Speculators are going to target your bonds and your currency, making it impossible to refinance your debts. A default is assured.  So how does America rank on the Greenspan-Guidotti scale? It's a guaranteed default."

On top of all this you have PIIGS, Japan and the Euro falling apart

Garth Turner has another great blogpost up today where he writes:

"Not a day goes by I’m not reminded of the weight of conventional wisdom stacked against me. Bank economists, the real estate cabal, various pump-&-dump media interests, the Bank of Canada, the federal government. Luckily this is normal in my life thus far, so such criticism leaves me unruffled. But how so many people can believe the price of an asset will rise endlessly is hard to understand. How Canadians, by the millions, can be so sure they’re immune from what happened to the south, for the same reasons, in the country which most mirrors ours, mystifies."

That's exactly how I feel.

Identifying Sure Signs Of The Final Economic Plunge 

20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying And Is Simply Not Going To Recover

Expected but still a shock

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain

Supreme Court Rolls Back Campaign Finance Restrictions

This decision was expected and likely delayed until MA senate race over.  Still a shock. Makes you wonder what on earth is going on in the US.  If allowed to stand people may as well just give up.

I'll say one thing though, this decision is also a recognition of the defacto truth.  Corporations own Washington and have for decades.  This decision can be seen as formally admitting the truth.



And then there's this
Top Defense Contractors Spent $27 Million Lobbying At Time Of Afghan Surge Announcement

Horrifying.  Quite literally horrifying.

It's as if the news out of the US couldn't get any worse and yet, almost every day it does get worse.

I don't even bother tracking articles like Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Rise  as they occur with such frequency.

Smoke and Mirrors

Proposal Set to Curb Bank Giants
Obama to Propose New Rules on Banks’ Size, Proprietary Trading

I think this is smoke and mirrors.  If Obama or anyone else had seriously wanted to do something about financial risk taking they would have done it a year ago.  In my opinion this is another false flag non-event.  It will never materialize, will be watered down, drag on for years, or be too late.  The real question, yet again, is why?  Why now and what does it mean?  I suspect it is political cover so can say tried to do something or started to take action to reduce financial risk.


Here is another false-flag story, this one more blatant than the first

Insane Deficit Commission Idea Gathers Momentum Nov
Deficit Commission Proposal Designed As A Horrorshow Of Legislative Dysfunction Dec
Deficit Commission: Gregg, Conrad Explain How It Will Pointlessly Spend Money Jan
White House Embraces Pointless Deficit Commission Idea Jan

Question is what is the point?  Clearly more smoke and mirrors but why? Another example of how the people really have no idea what is going on and the politicians don't want us to know.  Watch this hand while you have no idea what the other hand is doing.  This commission implies that the government intends to do nothing.

Japan and PIIGS

No Way Out For Japan

I Don't See How Japan Has A Way Out

Kyle Bass Betting Big On A Collapse Of The Japanese Bond Market

PIMCO: Japan's Economy Is In A Permanent And Deadly Liquidity Trap, And May Never Raise Rates Again


Angela Merkel Just Dropkicked The Euro

Merkel's Germany to Let Euro Die?

Will Greece Default on its Debt, and Take the Eurozone Down with It?

European Central Banks prepares legal ground for euro rupture as Greek crisis escalates

Is This The Credit-Default Swap Market Warning Of A Global Crisis Again?

How the European dominoes could collpase -- first Greece, then Ireland,

 Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

Whistler Blackcomb could be sold at auction Feb19

Lenders plan to auction Intrawest assets

Whistler lenders move to foreclose

Creditors push for control of Olympic venue 

Ski resort seized by lenders, but Games will go on 

Olympic alpine venue not in jeopardy: Intrawest

Whistler a step closer to the auction block

Intrawest foreclosure a threat to Olympics 

Intrawest to be auctioned off 

Whistler foreclosure notice says sale could take place during Winter games

VANOC denies Intrawest financial woes will impact Olympic skiing events

Best explanation I have seen on how Wall Street is destroying the economy

The interview with Janet Tavakoli is very enlightening

A, B, or C

ModernMystic has a great video up discussing what he sees as 3 possible options on how governments are handling the collapsing world economy. A) let it go and chips fall where they may B) slow fall over the next decade C) Massive spending aka New New deal.   There may be other options.



In my view C) is not viable because it assumes existing fiat currency sustainable, which it is not.

So is it A) Fast or B) Slow.

There a quite a few bloggers and analysts, including Roubini and Faber,  predicting a slow fall and the benefits to this are obvious.  The problem with the slow fall argument is simple.  If Obama et al were intending a slow fall, why accelerate the bankruptcy of the United States?  Why in 2008 acknowledge that "Too Big to Fail" was a systemic risk and then in 2009 make TBTF banks even bigger?  Joesph Stiglitz and many others have gone on record saying the risk now is greater than the risk in 2007 and 2008.  In other words why has the US government accelerated and made risk even greater if the intent is have a slow collapse?

The recently passed financial reform bill in the House has provision of $4 trillion to bail out wall street and limits debate to ten hours.  So the government has provided for the possibility of another bailout of wall street if necessary.  How serious is this?  On the one hand you have legislation preparing for another wall street bailout.  On the other hand you have Obama,  congress and the media bank bonus bashing pointing out record wall street profits while main street is ignored and continues to economically deteriorate.  As always the medium is the message. 

What is the message?  Wall street made record profits in 2009 because taxpayers bailed them out in 2008.  Without taxpayer bailout these firms would not even exist today.  They owe their existence and 2009 profit because of taxpayer bailout.  Taxpayers bailed them out, they made record profits, taxpayers saddled with debt, rising unemployment, depreciating wealth, access to credit and so on.  In other words wall street reigns while main street suffers. 

I think there is a very real possibility this is all a setup. 

When the next financial crisis comes, there will be no bailout.  These firms will be allowed to fail and congress has laid the grounds for denying another bailout.  They are and have made the public so angry at the last bailout this will give congress the cover they need for not authorizing another one.  No bailout, firms will go bankrupt, financial system will collapse, chips fall where they may.

So next question is when?  Impossible to predict but can speculate...haha

In 2010 real unemployment will continue to increase, the economy will continue to deteriorate.  (Fake employment will include 1.3 million census workers)  Lets suppose the situation is allowed to continue.  That will mean in 2011 wall street will again make record profits and bonuses.  In 2012 wall street makes record profits, 2013 and so on.  How logical is this?  It's possible but is it logical?

Currently the most telling indicator of timing for the next crisis is Obama's recent executive orders, declaration of national emergency and so on.  If. and big IF, Joesph Stiglitz and others are right, the situation is worse now than in 2007, the risk greater than before and getting greater, that essentially means another crisis is inevitable.  So another crisis is inevitable.  Obama knows this and is preparing for it by taking extraordinary measures.  The state of national emergency because of the "Swine Flu" has not been lifted.  How long will this national emergency go on for?  One year? Two years? Three years?  If the next crisis is three years away why create this "Council of Governors" now?  Along with the litany of other things Obama has done such as enlist the post office for a national emergency.  Why all this preparation for an l emergency if next crisis is years away?

I am changing my mind that the next big leg down is a long way off.  When the earthquake hit Haiti I thought to myself, right, the next phase will be delayed because of this.  That still may be true, it might be put off, but I don't think it is ten years away or will be a slow fall. 

My rational fundamentally has always been the sooner they get this old system over with the sooner they can restart with a new system.  That to me is logical and rational.  The idea will be a slow decay makes little to no logical sense.  Why elect Obama to preside over a slow decay?  Why has hollywood and the entertainment media incessantly bombarded its audience with "end of the world as we know it" theme if going to be a slow decay?  What will 2010 theme be?  2011? 2012?

Sunday Links

Is Fed Buying Behind the Stock Rally?

Joe Saluzzi Refuses To Drink The Economic Kool-Aid



U.S. newspaper group to file bankruptcy

California is hurtling into the budgetary abyss -- and it's not alone

U.S. government, on its way to bankruptcy

December US Foreclosures Jump From Previous Month

Soaring rate of bankruptcies expected to continue in 2010

Retail sales fall unexpectedly, jobless claims up


Tiptoe, through the bubble - CANADA


The Recession Is Over, the Depression Just Beginning
2010 Outlook: When Hope Turns to Fear

Disturbing...
President Obama Signs Executive Order Establishing Council of Governors

Obama's Executive Orders And The Constitutional Militia

Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr. on the Failure of the Public Sector, the Coming Military Crackdown and What Can Be Done to Stop It

Just finished watching "Obama's America"

Feel a bit better, I think.  The last ten minutes of this BBC production gave me some hope.

There are two sides to Obama, the man before he was elected President, and the man after.

Listening to his words, he sounds like the old Obama, a populist with a strong main street message.

So what has happened in the year since Obama has been elected?  

The only way you can tell what is going to happen is by looking at his and congress actions.

On the one hand he has made the elite richer, more powerful, and given them access to unlimited funds to become bigger, take more risks and enrich themselves beyond imagination.

On the other hand he has done nothing for main street and made the people poorer, homeless, jobless, taken their hope away.  The much talked about consumer protection agency has been scrapped.  Talk of a meager handout to social security recipients has been scrapped.   Bringing down prescription drug costs has been scrapped, lending to small business has been curtailed, HAMP is being scrapped, the list goes on and on.

In other words, Obama has done everything to enrich and secure wall street at the cost of main street. 

Why? 

As I wrote earlier, everything he and congress has done is to make wall street more powerful, and own everything.  He is not trying to fix the system, he is making worse.

Why?

To what ends?

I think Obama and congress intend to implode the financial system from within.  Crash the entire financial system of the world permently.  End of the world as we know it.  This will make main street and wall street hate him beyond belief.

Why?

To rebuild it based on a new model, a sustainable model that will benefit everyone, something like Transfinancial Economics.  You have to crash the existing system in order to implement a new one. 

I hope I'm right.

Thoughts about Obama...again

Been thinking about Obama again and this argument that he is either 1) Corporate-Banker Elite puppet 2) Out to save the world 3) A fool.

Very difficult to put all the pieces together and come up with a complete picture as the level of disinformation and misdirection is intense.

I think one can make the argument both ways, he is clearly not a fool so can discount that completely.  The argument he is corporate-elite puppet is very strong and well grounded in history by Micheal Ruppert in "Crossing the Rubicon."

The argument he is out to save the world has merit, but lacks evidence and rationality other than Obama's history and background.

Everything Obama has done since taking office has been to bail out, backstop banks, the financial system and further enrich the elite.  He has done nothing that benefits the people, a proposal to send out a meager additional $250 in 2010 to social security recipients was dropped in December.  One can irrationally make the argument that this is deliberate.

There are several things that are clear, Obama has accelerated the bankruptcy of America and the rest of the G20 have followed suit.  This course of action has enriched the elite and bankers at the cost of the people.  There is a possibility this is being done deliberately to destroy the entire financial system of the world and suck as much wealth out of the people into the hands of the few.  Obama has done nothing to restore the consumer or manufacturing economy.  The US has a 70% consumer economy, no jobs=no economy.

In other words,  if the aim is to suck all the wealth out of the world into the hands of the few at an exponential rate it is working. The question is why.

The super elite already have unimaginable wealth and power.  Do they need more to turn the entire world into a feudal society with billions of unhappy people?  People are already debt slaves.  What is the upside in creating more miserable people?  Happy people = content people.  Unhappy ones rebel.  That is why social security was created.  Without a welfare state people rebel and riot.  Jim Cramer about a year ago called it the greatest wealth destruction the world had ever seen.  What is the upside?  A completely enslaved feudal society?  Why?  More power, more concentrated wealth, ownership of everything?  What is the point?  To create a world mirrored on George Orwell's "1984" ? A world as the one depicted in "Equilibrium"?
What is the point?  Perhaps this could be accomplished in China, but I doubt it.  It certainly couldn't be accomplished in the US, the people would rebel, riot and string all politicians up by the nearest telephone pole.  It that is the goal, it wouldn't last long.  There would quite literally be a civil war in the US.  Is that the intention?  Recreate conditions in the US to allow for the formation of another Magna Carte?  Is that the end goal?  I don't know.  It's a very real possibility however.

The great unknown here is what is the plan?  What does the blueprint look like?  Where is this all going.  I keep going back and forth between global enslavement and the implementation of a new economic system like Transfinancial Economics.  It's been an emotional roller coaster for me over the last year or so.  Put as many people into misery in order to implement TF or put as many people into misery and keep them there.  Which is it and when is it coming?  I still don't know.

The argument that Obama et al want to impose a new sustainable equitable economy has merit.  I cannot believe that he has the support of so many people, including practically everyone in the MSM, for the implementation of world wide serfdom and misery ruled by a one world government.  That just seems inconceivable.  Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, Chris Mathews, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, CNBC, CBC, Fox, Bloomberg etc. all know what is going on and where this is going.  It is inconceivable the intent is to further enslave people, make their lives miserable and rule them with the iron fist of a police state.  Thats insanity.

I have the discussion with my wife frequently and her response is simple.  There is nothing you can about it, deal with whatever comes when it happens, you can't figure out what the plan is or when it is coming because they don't want you to know.  This is the same response I got from someone on the Ron Paul forums.  Doesn't stop me from trying to figure out and use clues to conjecture the blueprint and timeline. It's irresistible.

The US, the UK, Canada etc are all broke.  The system of debt-money fiat currency is broken, collapsing and on its last legs.  It is unmistakably in a death spiral.  US employment stands at 58% retracing 25 years of gains.  Credit is contracting at an increasing rate.   Obama met with bankers and had a news conference to announce he had encouraged them to increase lending to small business but they are not.  Everything points to a shrinking economy, increasing joblessness,  misery for the many at the hands of the few.

As one blogger writes:
"In my mind, it is just a question of timing now. When will the dominoes start to topple? It is still possible, in principle, that crisis might be averted. It is possible that the policymakers will pull back from fiscal irresponsibility. It is possible, but looks increasingly unlikely. They have promised to 'save' their economies. The big questions now are the questions of when it will start, and what will provide the push."

What is the endgame?  A totalitarian feudal state or Transfinancial Economics?

Unfortunately at this stage I can't tell.  It is one or the other.

More Headlines - Friday Jan15 2010

Marc Faber: The Next Thing You Need To Worry About Is The PIIGS

Marc Faber: "We Are Doomed" Charts 

Manhattan Apartment Rents Decline 9.4% 

RealtyTrac: 2009 was Record Year for Foreclosure Filings 

S&P Downgrades California 

Number Of U.S. Business Start-Ups Drop 24%, Leading Global Decline

Small Business Trends Suggest No Recovery On Horizon  

Those who believe we can 'make it all ok' are delusional beyond words

Consumer Credit in U.S. Drops Record $17.5 Billion in November 

2009 GDP: Britain: Worst decline in 88 Years, Germany: Worst Since WWII 

Rail Traffic in 2009: Lowest since at least 1988 

Elizabeth Warren: Behind the TARP Bailout

Dollar Crisis Looms if US Doesn't Curb Debt: Experts 

More Homeowners Struggling As Option ARMs Reset Higher 

Walkaways, Pay Option ARMS Hit Banks Bad  

Homeowners paying mortgage with plastic 

Food Shortages Coming, Buy Commodities: Jim Rogers 

Greece's Deficit Cuts Unrealistic: Analyst 

Joe Saluzzi Refuses To Drink The Economic Kool-Aid

The Coming Sovereign Debt Crisis 

Five of B.C.’s leading financial thinkers reflect 
on the Year from Hell – and what we can expect in 2010 
(hopefully, something better…) 

Bankers Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank  


Big Banks Accused of Short Sale Fraud

banks "do not have an obligation to promote the public good."



How to deal with the coming economic crisis 


The Economy Has Six Months to Live (too short imo)

Net Worth, 2008

Europe slapping rich with massive traffic fines

World Economic Forum warns of further economic crises ahead

Sovereign Debt Crisis Coming As Recovery Stalls 

'Significant chance' of second financial crisis, warns World Economic Forum 

A global fiasco is brewing in Japan

There is no immient collapse. Still years away.

"The world of finance doesn’t actually make any sense to anybody anymore. In the US, monetary sophistication has so outpaced that of every other country/culture that the US Central Bankers pretty much manipulate however they please, on a global scale, and the rest of the world has pretty much been trained to stop being pro-active and only react to what is happening to them, and try to keep from losing their shirts.So anything can happen, it seems.

My own 2 cents is that right now the doomsayers are all behind the curve — no matter how logical their view may be. On the highest levels I suspect most Western countries are falling into lock-step with the “recovery” theme. Eastern powers, not so much…. I’d suspect 2010 will be more of a “recovery” year than a “sky is falling” year that so many predict. I don’t say it’s going to last…I just no longer believe our impending collapse is going to happen quickly enough to actually turn the tables on the Powers that Be, as so many of us hoped…"

I agree with this analysis.  The game will continue until it breaks on its own weight which could quite literally be years and years away.  Sad but true I think.  As much as I want to believe Obama is who he and the republicans said he was, the problem is actions speak louder than words, and so far all actions are in favor of corporations, the financial elite and quite literally baubles and platitudes to the people.  It is quite horrifying actually.  The most depressing MSM news show is Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC.  The latest bauble to the masses is the bank recovery tax, what a joke.  It is so laughable and pathetic I don't know how Obama could have even announced it with a straight face.  I don't know how he can say things like I don't work for the banks.  It is quite literally staggering and beggars belief. 

What is most confusing to me about Obama is his background and how he came to be President.  He associated with Bill Ayers, Palestinians, Reverend Wright and many other radical thinkers.  Radical as opposed to redneck american thinking.   The facts of his background are indisputable, he cannot have gone through those twenty some years without it having some effect on his thinking about the world.  During the 2008 campaign Obama articulated all the problems that exist in America and the world as if he understood that something had to be done.  From his actions while President, from all appearances he has been completely co-opted by the corporate financial elite.  Clinging to the feeble hope this is some kind of ruse is delusional.

The other very confusing thing about Obama is that I know without a doubt he was selected to be President and the McCain campaign went out of their way to help get Obama elected.  There is so much evidence of this it is overwhelming.  Almost a year ago I put together an entire litany of evidence in sequence to prove this.  I even sent it to some media outlets who ignored it.  Some day I will dig it out.    The point is its indisputable.  Alex Jones argues that Obama was chosen to be President by the financial elite in order to co-opt the left and give them some hope Obama was going to free them from financial slavery.   From all Obama's actions since taking office so far Alex Jones is exactly right.  The other day Alex said the tyranny was going to continue for at least another 10 years.  This is very depressing.  One analyst on Bloomberg the other day said it would continue for another twelve years.  I really hope they are both wrong.  What a miserable thought.  What it does mean is you can never trust another politician ever again.  If you can't trust and believe Obama, you can't trust anyone ever again.

The argument for Obama being putting in place to lead the world to a new financial system based on something like Transfinancial economics is sound.  The US has trillions in unfunded liabilities and an aging population just like Canada, Japan and other countries.  It cannot afford social security, medicare or medicaid and has to do something.  Garth Turner recently wrote that he did not think a crisis will occur until 2015 at the earliest.  In other words it looks like nothing will be done until it breaks.  Almost as if the earthquake, relief effort and reconstruction in Haiti is a "dry run"

The Ukraine is currently having a presidential election and watched this news report about it on Russia today.  The people had such hope during the Orange revolution of 2004 only to have it shattered as their politicans became corrupt, made themselves rich and did nothing.



It also makes me question the Zeitgeist movement since if we are looking at another 10-12 years of this then they are little premature.  I don't know what to think

This chart gives some idea of where we are in the financial cycle, and basically says years away from a crisis.  I read somewhere that one analyst thinks Japan may default in 3-4 years but can't find that link at the moment.

Some great posts today

Great post and summary of the problem by Denninger, yet again

"Simply put the problem is too much spending.  The Keynesian prescription only works when there is additional debt service capacity in the private sector - when that is exhausted then the engine that is necessary to turn pump-priming into expansion (that is, private credit expansion) is absent and you are simply throwing the stimulus money down a black hole.

This recession began with the exhaustion of private debt-service capacity.  It is for this reason that all the claimed Keynesian "solutions" have not and cannot work - there is simply no more margin between debt service capacity and outstanding debt levels in the private economy.  This is proved month after month as bank credit continues to contract and consumer debt loads come down month after month."

Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can't Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis "The decline in government revenue is unprecedented for any period on record going back to 1952”

Is America's financial collapse inevitable? "Somehow, we just missed ... that home prices don't go up forever."

Unofficial Problem Bank List increases to 576

Small Business Trends Suggest No Recovery On Horizon

Swiss Cheese Recovery, More Holes Than Cheese

Retail sales drop 0.3 percent in December as sales for all of 2009 plunge by record amount

Barney Frank -  "Fannie and Freddie have collapsed...they are now in effect a public utility"

mother, mother

Why on earth can't you see reality.  Denial and brainwashing I know, It's not your fault.  I should take some courses on how to deprogram brainwashing.  Facts and evidence are useless against brainwashed zombies.  Like arguing with climate change deniers.  Is the climate changing?  Is it man-made?  Does it matter?  Can we do something?  Can we stop cutting down the rain forest, stop breeding cows, stop polluting the environment?

When the next phase comes, when the world moves en mass from denial to confusion, I don't want to say to my parents "I told you so."  I still want them to see it before it comes so they can recognize it as it unfolds.

Every month the facts on the economy gets worse and worse.  Records keep getting broken time and time again.  December 09 saw a record credit contraction, yet again.  Almost a million people were dropped off the rolls making December the worst job loss rate since records were started, more people work for government than in manufacturing for the first time in history.  Personal and business bankruptcies are up almost 40% over 2008, record 2.8 million foreclosures with another 3-3.5 million expected in 2010 along with 500 bank closures.  Almost 40 million on food stamps, only 58% of labor force employed retracing gains from the last 25 years, real US unemployment at almost 22%, The list goes on and on.

Listened to a great interview with Catherine Austin Fitts today on Alex Jones and she made some very interesting points.  She thinks the solution is local and state governments need to take control back from the federal government. In particular their economies and currencies. Alex kept interjecting with looting bankers etc which is all true, but I have to be believe that Obama and crew know what they are doing. 

I think there are only three possibilities with Obama.  1) He is a corporate banker tool 2) He is a fool 3) He is who the republicans and democrats say he is.  Obama is clearly not a fool and the odds that he is a corporate banker tool are very slim just because of who he has associated with i.e. Bill Ayers.

Watched Glenn Beck interview with Sarah Palin which was also fascinating.  I want to lay a bet 2012 will see Palin-Beck ticket.  The interview was interesting because Beck touched on all the themes and implied that you can trust Palin to save America.  While at the same time both Beck and Palin said after 200 years America is due for a paradigm shift and that new paradigm is coming.  The implication was that Palin can be trusted to lead America to that new paradigm without saying what it was.  Palin can be trusted to listen and act on behalf of the people, not corporations and banks.  What a load of rubbish. If you can't trust Obama, you certainly can't trust Palin.

Glenn Beck has been fascinating since Jan 4th 2010.  I stopped watching him last fall as couldn't take the hyperbole anymore, but since this year started he has been amazing.  Amazing for his honesty and accuracy.  He still leaves stuff out and panders to his audience, but he is doing a fantastic job of laying it all out in very simple terms.



"Feels like 1935"



"I'm going to start eating my own feet"

My mother...what can I say

I sent my mother an email linking to two articles from the same source, the Vancouver Sun, published one day apart.  One headline reads Vancouver home prices expected to jump 7.2 per cent in 2010 and sites as its source realty firm Royal LePage.  The other article, published a day later, has as its headline Canada's real estate market too hot, say analysts and cites various analysts/commentators.

You have to understand I did this deliberately.  My parents are extremely suspicious of anything I say so I have to be extremely careful to not appear biased.  To me this seemed straight forward.  Same source, different perspectives. 

I asked my mother, which story was credible?  To me seemed obvious and foolishly I thought obvious to her as well.  Her reply?  "I read the two pieces from the Sun and didn’t really see a big conflict."

At the end of the second piece, the article ends by quoting Will Strange, professor of real estate and urban economics at the Rotman School of Management who states "don't buy it because you think the price is going to go up." Foolishly I thought this contradicted Royal LePage prediction "Metro Vancouver's home prices will inflate another 7.2 per cent this year."

The really sad part in my mother's reply is this "but if you can afford it, property is still a good bet. Don’t buy to sell in the short term because prices are likely to drop but buy to live in because property will continue to be a strong investment."

I suppose I am just naive and continue to be when it comes to my parents.  To paraphrase Jared Diamond Societies fail because they're unprepared, and will be in denial till it's too late.

I just don't understand how my parents can't see the writing on the wall.  The evidence is everywhere and growing.  Every week and every month it gets worse, not better.  I realize a big part of the problem is government and main street media deliberate campaign of disinformation.  My parents believe anything the media tells them.

Nonsense like this in the Vancouver Sun "Canada's not headed for anything similar to the U.S. subprime mess because lending standards here are higher." 

Standards are higher?  Rubbish.  Whispers has a great post up yesterday that rips this to shreds as Canada is in a worse sub-prime bubble than the US ever was.  This is been carefully documented by Jonathan Tonge who has done extensive analysis of CMHC reports over the last year and by albertabubbleblog.blogspot.com and Garth Turner.  Canadians debt to income ratio surpases the US at 142% to 135%.  Savings are lower, pensions are lower, the list goes on and on.

The bigger picture comes from what is happening in the US, Europe and the rest of the world.  As I've said before, Canada is being kept insulated and protected by an artificial bubble created by Mark Carney who has confirmed that the Harper government will keep it in place for as long as they can.  This is great for Canada and Canadians.  I am all in favor of keeping us sheltered for as long as possible and applaud Carney for doing it.  Why make Canadians suffer if they don't have to and can do something about it?   We are being protected just like China is sheltering its citizens.

What is objectionable is the media manipulation of the masses.  However this is the norm around the world so should not expect any different in Canada.  It only proves that people are gullible and easily manipulated because they are unable and unwilling to investigate and think for themselves. Eventually people will realize they have been lied to and deceived on a scale unprecedented in history.  Greater than the Nazi Germany propaganda machine. (History will prove this)

Societies fail because they're unprepared, and will be in denial till it's too late.

I wrote a lot about "Swine Flu" being a metaphor for depression/collapse etc,  it might also be a metaphor for WAKE UP Government and the mass media cannot be trusted.  FoxNews, MetroUK, SunUK, AlJazeera and others have all come out saying Swine Flu was a "false pandemic" and investigations are under way in Europe by the Parliamentary Health Committee while HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned as recently as Dec 18th of a "third wave".

Only time will tell what "Swine Flu" is really a metaphor for.

But I digress...my point is I cannot understand why my parents have this blind faith and optimism that things will go on as before.

I could understand if Canada was on another planet, wholly self sufficient and the internet did not exist, but we do not.  We all live on the same planet, exist in a global financial economy with the United States as its linchpin and have access to the internet, which allows us to source accurate information and not have to accept corporate government media as truth.

I will never forget the November elections of 2008 and what was broadcast on the MSM starting on Oct 31st 6:00PM EST.  I will never forget that CNN on Nov 4th, election day, broadcast live around the world that they were interviewing reporters who were appearing as holograms in the CNN studio.  They have never repeated such claims since.

Let me get back to my point...

Every week and month that goes by the situation get worse and worse.  There is no recovery. 

The issue for me is that my parents can't see it, don't know it or believe Canada will come out ok.  This is fiction.  Fantasy that belies facts, evidence and reasoning.  The only reason they cling to this belief is brainwashing, which I written about previously.

Due to the nature of my work, I have more time on my hands than my parents or even most people do.  Most people get snippets of news from the main street media and over time believe what they are being told and treat it as gospel.  On this blog I have subscribed and linked to a number of sources that I review on a daily basis that are outside the MSM.  I don't take any of them at face value and only accept it if verified by another source.  I made the mistake of accepting one at face value only to later find it was inaccurate so will not repeat that again.

What is clear though is the world economy is getting worse, not better.  The MSM spins everything to the positive and leaves out the negative or even leaves out additional facts altogether.  For example, China's exports rose in December, this is spun as good news by the MSM.  What they leave out is the Germany and other countries exports dropped.  The MSM deliberately leaves out that any increase in China's exports is coming at cost of other countries manufacturing.

The world economy is not growing, it is shrinking and eating itself to survive.

Facts speak for themselves.  The most telling is the United States.  The facts and trend implications are staggering.

Facts don't lie.  Trends don't lie.  From facts and trends you can make forecasts and the forecast is there is no recovery, it is only getting worse with no end in sight.  Forget The Unemployment Rate, The Real Nightmare Is The EMPLOYMENT Rate

There are so many facts I could list it is hard to even begin choosing.

December's US job loss  worst on record, personal bankruptcies up 32%, rail traffic worst since started collecting data, US sales taxes down, real US unemployment at 22%, record US credit drop, world shipping down, UK economy down -4.8% (sharpest decline since 1921)  Germany down -5% (worst since WWII), Spain unemployment 20%, youth unemployment 40%,  the list goes on and on.  And the consequences...latest budget plan from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would force 200,000 children off low-cost medical insurance, end in-home care for 350,000 infirm and elderly citizens and slash income assistance to hundreds of thousands more

It is a "race to the bottom"

So what is the risk to Canada and Canadians?  

Why should Canadians and my parents be concerned or even thinking Societies fail because they're unprepared, and will be in denial till it's too late.

To state the obvious, whatever happens in the US will affect Canada and Canada will follow.

The Harper government is following lock step with US policy. 

The St.Louis federal reserve a few days ago admitted it would not be raising interest rates, this means Canada will not be raising interest rates and so the Canadian real estate bubble will continue to inflate and property values will continue to rise in Canada.

TrimTabs chairman went on CNBC a couple of days ago to say that based on their research, the rise in the stock market can only logically attributed to the federal government.  The federal reserve has admitted it has been buying Mortgage backed securities and the federal government has taken over mortgage insurers fannie mae and freddie mac.  This means that the federal government has effectively taken over the mortgage market and has been buying  stock in public companies.

What does this mean? The government is taking over economies and its debt slaves, people.

The US federal government has to roll over some 2 trillion in debt as well as issue some 1.6 trillion in new debt in 2010.  It has already been determined that the federal reserve bought 80% of US treasuries in 2009 and funded 91% of the US deficit for fiscal year 2009, so what are they going to do for 2010?  Go after pensions.  Well laid out on dailykos the next source of funds will be pension plans.

What else is worrisome?  Devaluation.  North Korea and Venezuela have both devalued their currencies and Argentina is in the midst of a constitutional crisis.  Who cares? Maybe there is no need to be alarmed.  But what this does say is how easily it can be done, at the stroke of a pen.

So what is my point?  The US and world economy is in a downward death spiral with no end in sight other than a horrific crash.  The crash could come in many different forms, a currency crisis, a default, a false flag event, a real event, there are many options but a crash is inevitable and based on the facts indisputable.  There is no way out.

When will the crash occur?  Who knows, but I think it may be over by 2014 when the Health Care bill is to take effect.  For now the game is "extend and pretend." 

Glenn Beck of FoxNews, the master of controlled opposition, spent almost the entire week of Jan4-7 detailing this out to his audience, granted with a lot of hyperbole, but the facts were accurate.

Unfortunately my parents don't watch or listen to either me or Glenn Beck.  They will only believe it when it happens.

Societies fail because they're unprepared, and will be in denial till it's too late.

"There is only one way forward. Your own path" - Garth Turner

For Sale: $1,350,000 Burnaby BC

Walmart closing stores and laying off 1,500

Walmart closing stores and laying off staff?  What does that tell you?

Wal-Mart said Monday it will close 10 money-losing Sam's Club stores and cut 1,500 jobs to reduce costs.

Here is a great summary:

11 Clear Signs That The U.S. Economy Is Headed Into The Toilet

In San Fransciso and Oakland area, court bankruptcy filings are up 40% from 2008.


“There is no means of avoiding a final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.”
- Ludwig von Mises

"The probability of a crisis will build during 2010" - Barclays

"The probability of a crisis will build during 2010. Although it might seem natural to think that the probability of a dire scenario falls over time, as more quarters of growth are recorded, in fact the opposite is true.  The main reason why is that, faced with resistance to a more fundamentals shift, currently, policymakers are trying to recreate the “old” world, which was clearly unsustainable in a number of respects, such as in its reliance on “rich” consumers to spend and “poor” ones to save.  The longer that that continues the higher the probability of a train crash."

US must cut spending to save AAA rating, warns Fitch

Brutal Summary

"Whispersfromtheedge" has posted a brutal reality check

A slow motion train wreck...

I don't know about gold prediction...but rest is coherent

Jindal could be GOP VP Nominee - NewsWeek

This is just too funny not to post.

Jindal Could Be the GOP's Next Veep Nominee

As stated previously, my prediction, Palin will be nominee for president 2012.  

Icing on the cake would be Jindal as VP.

Anyone who thinks game is not rigged and outcome predetermined, should have their doubts laid to rest when this occurs.

Stock picks

Analysts' Best Stock Picks For 2010

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO 2010 INVESTMENT PREDICTIONS AND OUTLOOKS

FreeStockCharts

Radar.on.Twitter

http://www.slopeofhope.com/     http://blog.rebeltraders.net/     http://www.prophet.net/

http://shockedinvestor.blogspot.com/    http://topforeignstocks.com/2009/12/02/five-canadian-royalty-trusts-offer-high-yields

Ind. Companies
Cerberus Capital

"Fed Policy Will Remain Unchanged As Change Would Destroy Banks"

"financial institutions would need to be capable of withstanding large shocks to asset prices, as well as other shocks." James Bullard - St.Louis Fed President

Denninger:
"Bullard has inadvertently pulled back the curtain and exposed the reason that we will suffer another crash in the markets, this one worse than the last."

From ZeroHedge:
"Our prediction: Q.E., ZIRP, and all other disastrous and bubble-friendly policies by the Fed will remain in place until such time as Wall Street has transferred enough wealth from the middle class at current conditions, at which point debtloads will be inflated through a period of hyperinflationary annihilation of the middle class, or, because we have no certainty the Fed can even print enough FRNs quickly enough without screwing something up, will collapse under their own weight in a deflationary implosion. Either way, the end is now in sight."

"Societies fail because they're unprepared, and will be in denial till it's too late"

Economists warn: Another great depression is likely 

12 Dr. Dooms Shred 2010 Investing Optimism 

CBI pours cold water on green shoots for economy

America slides deeper into depression as Wall Street revels "December was the worst month for US unemployment since the Great Recession began"

The economic collapse of America - what the future may hold

More Headlines

H1N1 a 'dud' pandemic, Ont. health official says 

Australian researcher: Swine flu created in lab 

Harvard Takes it Back and Says Swine Flu was Oversold

France sells off surplus swine flu vaccine

Swine flu vaccine plentiful in the U.S. Sebelius, who got her shot Wednesday, urged everyone to get vaccinated.  "We have a wonderful window of opportunity to prevent or lessen a third wave,"

Waning H1N1 pandemic may let in new viruses

 

Flight 77 Cockpit Door Never Opened During 9/11 “Hijack" 

9/11: PENTAGON AIRCRAFT HIJACK IMPOSSIBLE FLIGHT DECK DOOR CLOSED FOR ENTIRE FLIGHT 

NZ's cyber spies win new powers  "New cyber-monitoring measures have been quietly introduced giving police and Security Intelligence Service  officers the power to monitor all aspects of someone's online life."

Markets are too dependent on unsustainable government stimulus. Something’s got to give

Stephen Harper is counting on Canadians’ complacency as he rewrites the rules of his country’s politics to weaken legislative scrutiny

17,000 potentially harmful chemicals kept secret under obscure law

Homeowners forced to buy flood insurance after FEMA redraws maps

Forget The Unemployment Rate, The Real Nightmare Is The EMPLOYMENT Rate

Why the government's job figures won't add up

Alternative measures of labor underutilization

U.S. growth prospects deemed bleak in new decade

Americans must prepare themselves for a massive collapse in the dollar as investors around the world dump their US assets, a former Bank of England policymaker has warned.

Eric Schmidt chief executive of Google...why America needs to take its share of the blame for the financial crisis and what 2010 holds for the world economy. 

 

Shiller, Case: Prime Mortgages Are Next Time Bomb

 

Vancouver home prices expected to jump 7.2 per cent in 2010 

"Realty firm Royal LePage has come out of the gate in 2010 with the prediction Metro Vancouver's home prices will inflate another 7.2 per cent this year"

Canada's real estate market too hot, say analysts 

"don't buy it because you think the price is going to go up."

Why we can’t go back to business as usual - Soros

"this crisis involved the entire world, rather than being confined to a single country. And, unlike the Great Depression, this time the financial system was put on artificial life-support, rather than being allowed to collapse."

Some other headlines:

The Economy Continues to Lose Jobs
Jobs Contract 24th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Stays At 10.0%

Canada Jobs Unexpectedly Fall 2,600, Led by Transport

Consumer Credit Drops Record $17.5 Billion; Steepest Declines Since WWII
Consumer Credit in U.S. Drops Record $17.5 Billion in November 
Biggest monthly drop in consumer credit outstanding ever

Jim Chanos, Kyikos Chairman:
"China's real estate sector...looks like Dubai 1,000 - or worse"

Contrarian Investor Sees Economic Crash in China

IRA's, 401K's, 403b, 457 etc will be used to buy Treasuries ???!!!

"A possible scenario ...

1. BHO gets on the TeeVee and tells everyone to put their retirement funds in Treasuries because it's in the interest of the nation (ala Savings Bonds or War Bonds). Suzie Orman is prominent in ads that promote this move.

2. After a respectible period of time, the market crashes.

3. J6P kicks him/herself and says, "Gee, I should have listened to BHO."

4. From that point on, everyone listens to BHO and does exactly what he tells them to do.

(A replay of March of 2009).

See how easy it is to take over a country?"

"The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort."

Obama Administration Wants to Annuitize 401k's and IRA's - Mandatory "R Bonds"


"...this looks to me like a raw admission that Treasury knows it will not be able to sell its debt in the open market - so they will effectively tax you by forcing your "retirement" money to buy them!...This 'proposal' can only mean one thing - Treasury smells smoke.  Maybe you should pay attention to what they're huffing!" 

Obama to meddle with your retirement account? Administration considers forcing investors into Treasury debt

Here comes the screw job

Americans Oppose Proposals to Limit 401(k)s, ICI Says


Market Insiders - CNBC Video

Federal Reserve Bought Approximately 80 Percent Of U.S. Treasury Securities Issued In 2009

"According to CNBC, the Federal Reserve bought approximately 80 percent of the U.S. Treasury securities issued in 2009.  In other words, the Federal Reserve has been gobbling up the massive tsunami of U.S. government debt that has been created over the past year.  This is absolutely unprecedented, and it is yet another clear indication that the U.S. financial system is on the verge of a major economic collapse."

theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Federal Reserve Funds 91% Of 2009 U.S. Deficit

Are Federal Reserve and U.S. Government Rigging Stock Market?  We Have No Evidence They Are, but They Could Be.  We Do Not Know Source of Money That Pushed Market Cap Up $6+ Trillion since Mid-March.  (TrimTabs' Charles Biderman)

Entertainment Media hammering its audience

Had to write something about this because it really is getting ridiculous.   The theme for the fall season has been "end of the world as you know it" for sometime now and refuses to let up.  Biggest blockbuster of the year "Avatar," theme: end of the world as you know it.  Saw Pandorum yesterday - "end of the world as you know it."  Just started watching "Up in the Air" with George Clooney - "end of the world as you know it."  Had to stop watching after about 5 minutes when George started in with "all you really need can fit in a backpack."  In a couple of weeks "Book of Eli" opens starring Denzel Washington, take a wild guess what the theme is?  You guessed it: "end of the world as you know it."  As I've said before I don't believe in coincidences and I totally get what Hollywood and the entertainment media are doing, predictive programming, but this level and saturation is astounding.    

I find it stupefying that some people still haven't gotten the message, such as my parents...

This whole week, Jan4th - 8th Glenn Beck is running a special titled "America's Transformation: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt."  He has been spelling and laying it out for his audience, its all there except for where this is all going.  Transformation into what?  So far he hasn't said but it's obvious.  He has spelled out that America has no future on its current path.  That there is no solution, no magic bullet so rescue America in its current form.  The world has an overcapacity of production and labor. Everything in the entire world could all be made in China. 

There is only one solution I have ever seen that makes any sense.  Some form of Transfinancial Economics.  The only question is how to get there.  What is the path TPTB (the powers that be)  are taking and how will it all unfold.  That is the big mystery.  Someone at silverbearcafe has posted one possible blueprint which makes for interesting reading. 

No one knows of course other than TPTB.  But after this onslaught of media hammering home the same theme over and over again ad nauseam  I seriously doubt they are going to miss getting the message across to everyone everywhere at least once one way or the other.  And if the entertainment media doesn't get it across governments will by their actions on the "Swine Flu Pandemic."

Will people pay attention?  I doubt it.  But thats not the point.  The point is no one can ever say they weren't warned "end of the world as you know it" is coming.

Omnious or ?

Michael Ruppert posted an ominous prediction/warning on his blog today.  Having watched "Collapse" as well as every single youtube vid of Micheal I could find, in particular his breakdown of 9-11 timeline, I don't dismiss anything this man has to say or thinks. 

One has to look at what the US government is doing to try and figure out what is going on.  There is no such thing as coincidences when it comes to government.  Everything is done for a reason and timing carefully planned and deliberate.

Some very odd things have happened in the last couple of weeks. Dec 17th Obama signs executive order putting Interpol above the US constitution.  Dec24th Fannie and Freddie both have cap on losses removed.  Dec 25th bomb attempt leads to more stringent security measures.  Dec 30th Obama signs executive order "ESTABLISHING FEDERAL CAPABILITY FOR THE TIMELY PROVISION OF MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES FOLLOWING A BIOLOGICAL ATTACK"   This all comes after Obama declared a national emergency in late October.

Yesterday zerohedge posted "This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied"

Micheal has titled his post "Something Evil This Way Comes."

Is he right?

The Big Picture

One of the toughest things to do is to analyze and work out what is the Big Picture.  I can't do it, I don't know.  I like to guess and try to work it out, but not being privy to the blueprint its all a big guess.  All one can do is look at the clues which come in the form of actions by the government and its leaders.

Several months ago I wrote a big piece about the Swine Flu and how it was a metaphor.  There are so many suspicious actions by governments on their handling of the Swine Flu pandemic I still stand by what I wrote.  Nothing has changed, in fact it has only gotten worse.  Obama declared a state of national emergency because of the Swine Flu.  Nothing discernible has happened since that emergency declaration, the Olympic Winter games have yet to be canceled for example and as of now, I doubt they will be as will provide a two week distraction for the public.

But as is always the case with Obama, always watch what the other hand is doing.  On Dec 17th Obama signed Executive Order -- Amending Executive Order 12425  The significance of this signing should not be lost on anyone.  Make no mistake, this is next step in laying the groundwork to control the US population.  Obama's Executive Order amending EO 12425 places INTERPOL above the United States Constitution and beyond the legal reach of US law enforcement including the FBI, US Marshalls, the CIA, you name it.  It is a precursor to more damaging moves.  

Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law?

More Friendly Fascism?

OBAMA'S EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL MILITIA

Now we know what is going on with HealthCare

Karl Denninger has a great post up yesterday which lays out how Healthcare is going to evolve over the next few years and morph into a single payer system.  It makes sense, is logical and fits perfectly.  Worth reading to find out what is really going on and what the true intent is.

The True Intent of Health "Reform"

What is so stunning about this is the continued deception that is taking place in the US congress on its own citizens.  Just as with the US presidential election, you have to listen to both sides, the democrats and the republicans to get a picture of what is really going on because neither side will tell the public the whole complete truth.  The truth being that both parties and all involved are fundamentally reshaping America and counting on its citizens not to pay attention.   It is only because of people like Karl anyone able to figure out what is really happening.  

Other interesting tidbits

Karl also has a couple of other posts worth reading not related to Heatlhcare, namely how congress has enacted unlimited loans to Fannie and Freddie to cover upcoming losses over the next three years (confirmed by the NYTimes and MSNBC U.S. lifts $400 billion cap for Fannie, Freddie) and another on how the federal reserve has monetized treasury bond sales.  Here is another post about pension plans: U.S. state and local governments face more than $530 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities and most do not have funds set aside to pay for them.

Real US debt to GDP is around 840%