Glenn Beck, Restoring America and Fascism - Part 2 - The Man

In part one, we covered the overwhelming desire for liberty inherit in the American Tea Party movement. In part two we cover the man himself, Glenn Beck.

First, I must confess that I was an individual who used to regularly listen to the Glenn Beck program if, for no other purpose, the sheer entertainment value. This was a ways back in the era of “Bobo the Puppy” (2003) and Terri Schiavo and I used to listen to his program daily. Beck, to me, seemed a fairly sincere, but perhaps a little over the top in his delivery, his seemingly incredible ability to catch individuals and entities in massive illogical positions.

After some time, I began to grow suspicious of Beck’s seemingly uneven “awakenings” that would he would embrace at various times throughout his program. Beck would ardently defend a given position and when it seemed as though he was losing popular ground, he would 'come to his senses' and repent of his former position, generally in his melodramatic, sobbing, 'God save me, a lonely sinner' sort of way.

At the time, I couldn't necessarily nail down any specific position that seemed inconsistent, at least not one I can remember now, however it suffices to say I was growing more suspicious of his sincerity on any given issue. At that point, perhaps around 2004, I stopped listening altogether.
Fast forward to today and it seems as though he is still following the same script. Let's look at a few of these issues shall we?

• The Banker Bailout - On September 22, 2008 Beck came out in ardent support of the bill stating - “The $700 billion dollars that you’re hearing about now is not only I believe necessary, it is also not nearly enough.” True, Beck claims he came to his senses after the bill passed, but then again, with such vehement outrage against the bill, did he have much of a choice?
• Torture - Beck supports it as a counter-terrorist tactic.
• Ron Paul - In 2007, the underdog political story of the year was the rapid ascendence of Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty. In a stunning display Beck went so far as to imply Ron Paul and his supporters were dangerous potential terrorists. Ron Paul's campaign effectively stalled while faithful Beck supporters investigated Ron Paul. This is especially egregious when one considers the positions that Paul was taking on the economy before the 2008 crisis.
• Debra Medina - Ron Paul was not a lone example, as in 2010 Glenn again torpedoed Debra Medina's gubernatorial aspirations as he latched onto the 9/11 conspiracy angle with Debra, a position that wasn't even in the debate at the time. Once again, the Beck faithful turned on a candidate who was discussing ending property taxes and many other critical liberty issues.
• In 2009, without any basis whatsoever, Glenn Beck falsely stated that the Holocaust museum shooter, James W. von Brunn, was a “hero” to people who question the official story of 9/11– a transparently deliberate attempt to associate the Truth movement with violence.
• Glenn's support of a VAT tax - Yes, this would "simplify" the code, but in practice this equates to more money being taxed out of the system and a slowdown on production as every step of production becomes taxed. This says nothing of a repeal on the Income Tax, repudiation of egregious debt or heaven forbid, cuts in spending on the Federal level.
• The Patriot Act
• Fake crying - This is his thing, his schtick.

At a bare minimum, who can take this man as anything other than an entertainer? Which incidentally, is exactly what he purports to be.

In part 3, we will examine the rally itself; what was it, why the Lincoln Memorial?

Gerald Celente on Mitch Henck 26 Aug 2010

Glenn Beck, Restoring America and Fascism - Part 1 - Liberty

For those of you living under a rock the past few months, Glenn Beck, a fairly prominent Conservative talk-show host, held a substantial rally called Restoring America. The rally was reported by various media outlets as having an attendance ranging from 90,000 to 500,000 people. Regardless of the actual numbers, this is no small feat. Whatever your stance may be, the accomplishment needs to be realised as an incredible act.

However, I think it is far too easy to view Beck as the reason of this massive outing and overlook the probability that it is not Beck himself but rather his message that is commanding this sort of crowd in this age of online streaming. One only needs to observe the absolutely massive growth of the grassroots movements, particularly the Campaign for Liberty movement and the Tea Parties to see the message that is claiming the adherence of these throngs. Liberty.

After all, Liberty is the force that drove the Pilgrims to brave the brutal Northern Atlantic, often at the cost of their lives, to settle in a hostile environment. Liberty pushed the reaches of this country westward as it gave numerous citizens a chance in it's vast lands. Is it really all that surprising that Liberty, that most precious of all rights, has done what was previously unfathomable and moved the American public from it's couches out into the streets?

There are those that would say that it is galvanization that has pushed these people into the open, that they despise the direction that America is headed. It is tempting to think that, however it is not so much tyranny that the people have been responding against. True, this dread word has commanded our attention while poised at our doorsteps as if waiting to devour our every move. No, the dread word has merely revived that which lie dormant in us for this long time and stoked that righteous fire within each and every one of us. The desire for liberty.

It is this clarion call which Beck has been able to draw from to form not only this rally, but many of his avid listeners. But just who is this man and what is he doing? In part two we shall examine many of the oddities surrounding this watershed event.

Is Israel Going After Iran Through the Back Door?

Haaretz reports -

Israel is planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots and weapons manufacturing plants in Syria, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported on Saturday.

The report is based on Western sources who asserted that Israel has increased its military force level along the northern border in the Golan Heights and Mount Dov areas.

The report cited European sources who claimed that recent Israeli unmanned aerial drone flights over Lebanon and Syria signal Israel’s intentions to carry out operations in the area.

The Real Effect
The problem becomes that Iran and Syria have a defense treaty so that if it attacks Syria, it will probably receive a counter-attack from Iran. This will in turn "justify" Israel in going after Iran and perhaps the U.S. getting involved as well. Definitely something to watch closely.

U.S Cameraman Has Proof 911 Was a Lie - You Decide

The Greatest Depression - More Confirmations

Time always settles the dispute over the truth - 

David Rosenberg, market guru, has officially declared that the US economy is in a state of depression, and he sees the economic superpowers woes worsening.

On the heels of that bleak forecast, the statistics for existing home sales for July were released and the numbers were ugly. The weak housing market collapsed. Reflecting the worst slump in American history, existing housing sales had plummeted a stunning 27 percent and there's no sign on the horizon that sales will stabilize any time soon.
The bottom line, argues Rosenberg and others: the US economy has collapsed into another Great Depression.

Citing the period from 1929 to 1932 and the eerie similarities, Rosenberg said, "We may well be reliving history here. If you're keeping score, we have recorded four quarterly advances in real GDP, and the average is only 3 percent." The same happened during the early 1930s stock market rebound of 50 percent after the 1929 crash.

REALITY REPORT #58 - Mosque-ing the Tension at Ground Zero

Authority and Science Issues

Police - 230 cases of flawed CSI work, drug unit corruption, taser deaths

AGW/CC - Hockey stick, CRU issues

Healthcare - Falsified studies

Economic - Housing prices (Supported by financial planners)

Education

War - Iraq troops come home,

Government - Doesn't read the bills they pass (Baucus), FDA (Doesn't identify E Coli outbreak)

Conflicts of interests

Note: This is a resource and will be updated periodically.

Another Hindenberg Omen and the Dow Continues Cracking

Yesterday we looked at what might be the start of the Great Crash -

"So what we should have in short order here is another 140 point haircut or we could skip the haircut all together and get to the violent crash second part."

The Real Effect
Now that we have our 140 point haircut (134 points today to close at 10,040), There is a real strong chance that the Dow will give up enough to get to our projected low of 9686. However, we run smack dab into two problems -

• The psychological barrier of 10,000
• The previous low of 9686.

In order to get to 9686 we need to realize a 350 point drop from Tuesday's level. That is quite a dip. But I think it's important to realize that there’s not a whole lot propping up the current price level.

So we have several scenarios that are possible:

1. The market gives it all up in one massive shot. Say down to 9620 by losing 350 points in one or perhaps two sessions. Given the way the market kept bumping into the 10,098 as though it were a ceiling (red line on the chart above) lends credence to this thought.
2. The market takes it's time and gives it up slowly over the course of the next few weeks.

The latter scenario has been the action plan of choice over the last year, but the trend is towards the former scenario. I'm going to play it safe and go with scenario 2.

More importantly, once that barrier is breached, (say by early-September) I fully expect there to be a massive ramp job from 9620 bringing us way back up to around 10,200. (A 600 point gain and in line with the predictions I made earlier. I would think this could sow some massive confusion as the Dow darts back and forth between 10,000 several times.

There is also the possibility that July through mid august was the ramp job. If this was the case, then expect the market to give up and start plunging immediately.

Even more interesting is the dollar, which is flirting above its 50 DMA at the moment. Could it come back below that level and sell off? Perhaps around mid-September?

UPDATE: I'm guessing that a link to the Hindenburg Omen would be a good thing.

401K Legislation Introduced

Back in September of 2008, before the economic crisis I wrote the following -

The long and short is they are bleeding the real assets out of the United States and passing them into foreign control. Make no mistake, they will bleed this country dry. Savings, checkings, 401K, gold, assets, they want it all and will not stop until they get it.

Then in January we saw them float their trial balloon -

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.

Well, here's the legislation -

Bills have just been introduced in both the House and Senate to create the new Auto IRA accounts which will at first be voluntary but later will become mandatory like Social Security and I expect the early 3% employee after tax contribution levels to eventually rise to 10 to 15% of compensation rising even more than Social Security has increased over the years. Read this August 17th article in Investment News at for more information.

The Real Effect
It isn't very difficult to figure out what this is for, another source of revenue for an already bankrupt government to try to kick the can down the road a little longer. Here is a question for all the doubters out there - If the Federal government is willing and able to take your retirement, your value (dollar), your house (eminent domain/asset forfeiture/Fannie & Freddie); what WON'T they take? And perhaps more succinctly, who won't they claim belongs to them?

After all, you're an American citizen right? And you owe this debt right? So who here thinks the Congress will hesitate to sell their citizens into outright slavery when the time comes?

Man Mistaken for Muslim Harassed at NY Anti-Mosque Rally

Israel and World War III - Part 5, The Script - Religious Flaming

The Real Effect February 2006  -

The global planners are literally banking on this bait-and-switch tactic in order to drive most decent people into believing that 'the other side out to get us' to goad us into 'getting them before they get us'. One only needs to look at the flimsy excuses being offered in the official 9/11 story to see this idea in action. (Like many of the alleged hijackers are still alive.)

Just observe the heated argument surrounding the "Ground Zero Mosque" to observe this concept being toyed with already. I believe that this has moved past the propaganda phase and has moved into the implementation phase where they will drive the world into a religious war in an attempt to harmonize the religions into peace. It's the Hegelian Dialectic in action - Problem, reaction, solution.

Look for increasing talks of "universal threats" "all mankind""human crimes" "crimes against the planet" as more and more nationalistic/religious fervor is whipped up into an irrational protectionist frenzy. Specifically an "us or them" mentality that seeks to drive one country against country and religion against religion setting up the "We can't be trusted to run our countries OR religions because it only results in bloodshed."

This will be fueled by the economic crisis/Depression but it is merely bait to get the players to the table. But just who are the players?

Are We Looking at the Start of the Great Crash?

On Wednesday, August 11th  - 

Watch for the Dow to crash through support levels at 10,636 then 10,366 before it meets some resistance at 10,098 with a slight bounce around mid-September. Then all hell breaks loose as it violently crashes through any support that is offered realizing 300-1000 point drops as it rejoins the downward trend in October before finally meeting firm resistance at 9686. When that resistance finally gives way, say around November, look for increased panic as assets are sold off left and right to meet the dread margin calls as foolish investors get scalped.

This post was written late on the 9th (market top), then published early on the 11th. Shall we look at the results?

• Dow to crash through support levels at 10,636 (Achieved on the 11th, closed at 10,378)
• then 10,366 (Dropped to 10,319, hovered around this number until Aug 19th, then crashed through the support. -200 points)

The Real Effect
So what we should have in short order here is another 140 point haircut or we could skip the haircut all together and get to the violent crash second part. With the AUD having some issues today, we just might see the latter scenario today.

Are We Heading For a Depression - Keiser Report №69: Markets! Finance! Scandal!

Why "Experts" Are All Wet - The Real Effect Vs. Krugman

Paul Krugman - January 2009

“We’re not in a depression. But we are in a situation where the normal tools don’t work and we’re back to [a] 1930s-type environment”… “My great fear is not that we’re going to fall into a Great Depression in the next year,” he said. “My fear is that we’re going to have a lingering, major slump for two, three years.”

Paul Krugman - June 2010

“We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.”

The Real Effect - September 22, 2005

I believe that we will see the economy start to stutter like a dying giant, staggering into a recession, if not a depression.

The Real Effect - June 15, 2009

This is not a recession, it is a depression. And a massive one at that. We are not at the bottom, we are on gaining momentum for the next plunge down. If you thought the last drop was bad, this one is going to strike fear into the hearts of men everywhere.

The Real Effect
I know, I know...I like to rub your face in it. Isn't that how we learn? Now if you had to stake your life on it, who's track record would you trust? Because your life is on the line and you will need to make not only intelligent decisions, you will need to be ahead of the curve in order to keep afloat.

Still don't believe me? Perhaps I'll check back in six months when you're selling your car to pay your electric bill and we can talk then? These next two years are not only going to be bad, their going to destroy vast amounts of capital, land, buildings and people as we draw nearer to the dreaded phoenix event.

Former Pakistani ISI Chief Hamid Gul: "God Help America!!"

Well, well, well. Seems to me that the former head of Pakistani intelligence and I see eye-to-eye as I first started covering in 2006 and more extensively at the beginning of this year.

Depleted Uranium vs Time Magazine Propaganda

Gold Issues - The Inverse Pyramid Continues It's Collapse

Gold develops some major issues -

Several tons of gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection, resulting in millions of dirhams in losses and high levels of stress to the victims.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Mohamad Shakarchi,, Managing Director of Emirates Gold, said: "A lot of people in the UAE who tried to import gold at lower prices or through dubious overseas companies have been cheated.

We have inspected many consignments from African countries, especially Ghana, and found that there is not an ounce of gold in them.

The Real Effect
Regarding the pyramid above, I'm not as concerned about the accuracy of the order of the collapse as much as I am demonstrating the way it collapsing; specifically the tangible value that it is chasing. (On this chart, gold)  This illustrates the subjective nature of value as supposed objective notes (Federal Reserve) are increasingly being backed in physical gold and other commodities.

All of the Keynesian belly-aching in the world won't change the fact that the piper is going to want to get paid sooner or later in something that has value. And fancy bookkeeping will only aggravate the total number of asset-less individuals chasing a given commodity. As a wise individual once expressed - "Who's the big dumb monkey now?"

I've Got Your Recovery - 15 Economic Statistics

Rather than duplicate this work, I figured I'd just post and be done with it -

The following are 15 key economic statistics that just keep getting worse and which reveal the horrific economic plight in which we now find ourselves….

1 – The number of Americans who are receiving food stamps rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. The number of Americans receiving food stamps has set a new all-time record for 18 months in a row. But there is every indication that things are going to get even worse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that the number of Americans on food stamps will increase to 43 million in 2011.

2 – The U.S. economy lost 131,000 more jobs during the month of July. But the truth is that the U.S. economy has been bleeding jobs for a long time. According to one analysis, the United States has lost 10.5 million jobs since 2007. Meanwhile, immigrants (both legal and illegal) continue to pour into this nation in unprecedented numbers.

3 – Americans who are out of work are finding it incredibly difficult to get back into the workforce. In the United States today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to an all-time record of 35.2 weeks.

4 – The U.S. government keeps trying to pump up the economy with debt, and in the process things are getting wildly out of control. According to a U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

5 – The interest on all of this debt is becoming increasingly oppressive. As of July 1st, the U.S. government had spent $355 billion so far in 2010 on interest payments to the holders of the national debt. The total for 2010 should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 billion. According to Erskine Bowles, one of the heads of Barack Obama’s national debt commission, the U.S. government will be spending $2 trillion just on interest on the national debt by 2020. Keep in mind that the entire U.S. government budget is less than $4 trillion for the entire year of 2010.

6 – If the U.S. government was forced to use GAAP accounting principles (like all publicly-traded corporations must), the annual U.S. government budget deficit would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 trillion to $5 trillion.

7 – Social Security will pay out more in benefits in 2010 than it receives in payroll taxes. This was not supposed to happen until at least 2015. In the years ahead, these new “Social Security deficits” are projected to be absolutely catastrophic.

8 – There are simply far too many retirees and not nearly enough workers to support them. Back in 1950 each retiree’s Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers. Today, each retiree’s Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers. By 2025 it is projected that there will be approximately two workers for each retiree.

9 – Wealth continues to become highly concentrated at the top. Since 1973, the average CEO’s salary has increased from 26 times the median income to over 300 times the median income.

10 – According to a poll taken in 2009, 61 percent of Americans ”always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck. That was up significantly from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.

11 – The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that more than 10% of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one mortgage payment during the January to March time period. That was a new all-time record and represented an increase from 9.1 percent a year ago.

12 – A recent survey of last year’s college graduates found that 80 percent moved right back home with their parents after graduation. That was up substantially from 63 percent in 2006.

13 – During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.

14 – The total number of U.S. bank failures passed the 100 mark in July of this year. In 2009, the total number of U.S. bank failures did not pass the century barrier until October.

15 – The U.S. dollar continues to rapidly decline in value. An item that cost $20.00 in 1970 would cost you $112.35 today. An item that cost $20.00 in 1913 would cost you $440.33 today.

Rachel Maddow: Localities Drown In Red Ink

Yellow Alert - Mideast War Situation - WWIII Supplemental Update

Saudi Arabia is getting some pretty nice hardware -

America has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia 84 of the latest model of the F-15 jet and dozens of Black Hawk helicopters. The deal also includes refurbishing many of the kingdom’s older F-15s, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

As is Israel -

Meanwhile, the US is preparing to provide Israel’s air force with the F-35, the latest jet fighter made by Lockheed Martin, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported last week.

To counter the Russian S-300's that Iran has? -

Iran is helping Lebanon brace for the onslaught -

The US State Department has reacted with outrage today after the Iranian government offered to provide military aid to Lebanon to make up for what was lost when the US pulled all such aid yesterday.

Iran is rerouting its trade, a perfectly legal thing to do -

Russian oil giant LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote) has resumed gasoline sales into Iran in partnership with China's state-run firm Zhuhai Zhenrong, even as the United States urges the international community to be tough with Tehran.

And dropping the dollar -

Iran is to stop all trade and oil exports in dollars and euros in retaliation against Western sanctions over its nuclear programme, a top official was quoted as saying Tuesday.

Russia moves its air defenses into Georgia -

Russia has deployed sophisticated air defence missiles in Georgia's pro-Moscow rebel region of Abkhazia, the air force commander said Wednesday, in a move that risks stoking tensions with Tbilisi.

"We have deployed the S-300 system on the territory of Abkhazia," air force commander-in-chief General Alexander Zelin said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The Real Effect
The media has given up on peace, Iraq is starting to lose containment, but at least Columbia and Venezuela have stepped back from the ledge a bit.

With Ramadan ending September 10th, a new moon Sept 8th, is it possible that we will "retaliate" 9 years after 9/11 on Sept 11, 2010? Or will we wait for October 7th? Whatever happens, time is running out for this scenario.

Ray McGovern - ACTION ALERT: Israel to Drag US into War Against Iran.

Federal Mishap

Can anyone doubt that there is some serious pain coming the way of government employees -

When it comes to pay, federal workers receive benefits that averaged about $41,791 in 2009. When you factor in salaries and those benefits, which include pensions, federal civil servants earned about $123,049 in 2009.

By comparison, private workers made $61,051 in total compensation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The Real Effect
So Federal workers make more than double their private counterparts? Federal bubble anyone?
Predictably, they offer up the tired excuse of 'Well, we're more specialized and technical.' (Read as, it takes more BS to get our "statistics" out.)

On a semi-related note, as of 8/10 the Dow has given up 1519 points (13.56%) since April 26th to it's low of 9686 on July 2nd. Since then, through HFT trading shenanigans, (den) market interventions and loose fiscal policy, it has managed to claw back 95.5% of that loss.

Watch for the Dow to crash through support levels at 10,636 then 10,366 before it meets some resistance at 10,098 with a slight bounce around mid-September. Then all hell breaks loose as it violently crashes through any support that is offered realizing 300-1000 point drops as it rejoins the downward trend in October before finally meeting firm resistance at 9686. When that resistance finally gives way, say around November, look for increased panic as assets are sold off left and right to meet the dread margin calls as foolish investors get scalped.

Now any person with half a brain in their body realizes that when you let the cannibals into the house, eventually they start feasting on themselves. Indeed we have reached that magical place in the markets where actual trading has become divorced from any modicum of common sense and is a desolate wasteland roamed by bandits and murders intent on stripping any form of wealth from any who dare venture out.

Year End Predictions Review - Part 2

401K Collapse
Real Effect -

Banks will start to claim ownership of 401k and pension funds (private and public) and begin "looting" them. (Read as taking your cash and continue to "invest" as they double-double down) and the government moves to “protect” them by seizing them. I would assume they would be placed in a new 'secure conservatorship'.

Evidence -
Let's break this down shall we?

• Banks...(when the government runs the banks and vice versa, can there be much distinction?) will start to claim ownership of 401k
• and pension funds (private - Via higher "Capitol Gains" taxes, estate taxes, dollar debasement, and permission of rules which allow a company to hoodwink the policy holder into thinking his funds are secure by lying about the true status of your funds. Think marked to market shenanigans.
• and public) See Illinois, California and the following bit about raising the age of retirees -

The time has come for the nation to face some facts, and according to Republican U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, that means fixing Social Security by raising the normal retirement age to 70 for future retirees, from the current 67.

Boehner wants to increase the retirement age to 70 for people who have at least 20 years until retirement. He also wants to tie cost-of-living increases to wages rather than the consumer price index and to limit payments so they go to only people who need them, according to published reports. The current Social Security "normal retirement age" for those born in 1960 or later is 67.

Now imagine for a moment that Big Insuro Inc. did this to a given policy holder, much less millions, that had paid his premiums faithfully for 40 years? There would be Congressional hearings, trials, jail terms, public outrage and mutiny.

There is this mistaken idea that there is a "trust fund" somewhere with trillions of dollars in it that the government will one day whip out of it's magical drawer and POOF! Social Security problem is solved. Of course, this couldn't be further from the truth as anyone one with a modicum of sense knows that the "premiums" that are paid today by SocSec enrollees are simply gobbled up by the current spending of the governments.

I think there is little doubt that municipalities are seizing pensions and benefits as they declare bankruptcy and while the magic shell game is being played with the first two bullet points, it has not quite "happened" yet.
Points (1 of 3 - Pending 2)

Annuities Collapse
Real Effect -

Annuities will begin to default and the state insurance funds will become a backer of last resort, which will bankrupt many of them. Many if not most insurance companies will go belly up. This will cause the rates at the surviving institutions to go through the roof.

Evidence - 
While it is arguable that something is happening here, there simply is not enough evidence either way, yet.

Points (0 of 1 - Pending 1)

Municipalities Collapse
Real Effect - Unfortunately, I didn't specify much beyond the title.
Evidence - This has been perhaps THE story of 2010 in the US with countless counties and cities collapsing under the weight of their own pension legacy costs. For example -An Ohio town is telling citizens to arm themselves, Jefferson County, Alabama in debt $5 billion.
Points (1 of 1)

FDIC
Real Effect -

As companies take these blows, the FDIC will frantically try to raise capital to cover the losses but will eventually be unable to cover and the first wave of defaults will take place.

Evidence -
We are still "extending and pretending" as the losses, while real, are being obfuscated by shady government bookkeeping and talks of further quantitative easing.
Points (0 of 1 - Pending 1)

Bond Market Collapse
Real Effect -

Within the next 2 years, the United States will default on their debt for the first time in their history. This will cause not only domestic, but major international geopolitical issues as well.

Evidence -
At one point China had stopped buying bonds but for now is shifting it's focus to shorter and shorter term US Treasury debt as our future becomes uncertain. 10 year bonds are at 2.74%, others appear shaky and the Fed begins to rob Peter to pay Paul as capital formation becomes not only punished, but flogged to death. It is possible that some magical Bond Genie exists somewhere that will grant Bernanke a magic printing press, but for now we wait.
Points (1 of 2 - Pending 1)

Tax Protests
Real Effect -

If the institutions don't have to pay their bills, why should I? This could get very ugly.
Receipts will plummet and to cover governments will begin the implementation of new taxes, most notably a VAT AND a National Sales Tax in one name/form or another.

There will begin a reduction and repeal of some Social Programs - most notably Medicare, Social Security and reductions in food stamps.

Evidence -
Bulls-eye! We had Joe Stack fly a plane into an IRS building, Glenn Beck push the VAT tax and countless "conservatives" support that position. Where the real paydirt is - receipts have plummeted, and countless new "fees" (taxes) have been introduced as well as the expiration of the Capital Gains taxes, discussions over the reductions of Medicare and Social Security and reduction in foodstamps.


Points (3 of 3)

Dollar Collapse
Real Effect -

This will be the pivotal event that if it occurs, will destroy much of the wealth that the people of this nation possesses.

Evidence -

The dollar has fallen to multi-month lows against the world’s major currencies as investors bet that evidence of a faltering US recovery will lead to .

Currency traders said expectations of looser US monetary policy raised the prospect of a return of the so-called dollar “carry trade”, in which investors take advantage of low US interest rates to invest in higher-yielding currencies.

Rallied to 89 for the first quarter, but is showing major signs of weakness again as it gave up April and May's position as quickly as it gained them. (Remember the still existent Euro crisis?) Looks like the fireworks for this one will be at the back half of 2010 into 2011.
Points (0 of 1 - Pending 1)

Total Points for Part 2:  ( 6 of 10 with 4 outstanding - 60%)

Total Points for Parts 1 & 2:  ( 10 of 16 with 6 outstanding - 62%)

Revolution! A History Lesson (Video #1000)

Sarah Palin's Homer Moment-D'Oh!

From the Cutting Room Floor - Why Today's Conservatives Are Yesterday's Liberals

Written exactly five years ago today...

Labels are misleading. I prefer to deal with subject matter and specifics rather than attempting to categorize someone for an opinion that a particular group may or may not hold for any length of time.

Bush and the Republican majority have been either responsible for the introduction of or largely expanded much of the following:

Economy
True, Bush has passed tax-cuts, but the Republican party should be focusing on REPEALING taxes, not cutting them. There has been a failure to secure tax relief, let alone destroying the abomination known as the Federal Reserve and the IRS.

Law & Legislation 
Under Bush's watch we've gotten No Child Left Behind, The New Freedom Initiative and the Patriot Act to name a few. Where is the coordinated Conservative outrage over the SCOTUS Eminent Domain ruling, the fact that he appointed Harriet Miers and John Roberts, moderates, dressed to look like conservatives?

Security
We now have an illegal alien border war that rivals the war in Iraq on occasions and even though Congress approved it, Bush stopped the hiring of more border security.
With regards to Clinton and Chinese nuclear weapons, he started the flow, but folks, Bush took the gloves off.

Freedom
McCain- Feigngold, Free Speech Zones, Help America Vote Act, Record less ballots, Real ID Act

Government Limits
The creation of not one, but TWO new executive departments - Homeland Security (Without border security) and the Department of Intelligence. He also signed a prescription drug program for Medicare. We got a partial showing on (No reform) social security, a transportation bill that is so pork laden, that it makes Senator Kennedy looks thin in comparison, a doubling in the size of the BATF, the biggest Federal budgets in history of $2.6 trillion. (compared to $1.8 trillion under Clinton, over 44% INCREASE in the size of government.)

Globalism
He signed CAFTA, has stated that he will sign FTAA, and signed back onto UNESCO.

War
We have waged war with not one, but two countries. We are eyeing up perhaps two more with Syria and Iran.

The Real Effect
Now arguably, conservatives have not created many of these situations, but at best have served as political speed bumps, simply slowing down socialism's progress.

Yes it would seem that the 'conservatives' are out liberalling the liberals. With these kind of friends, who needs enemies?

Inevitably, inconsistencies should be expected as reality and human nature begin to show through idealistic promises that were made in all sincerity. Yet when one virtually abandons almost all goals and maintains merely a pretense for the effort of pacifying the masses, you begin to wonder when things will begin to go the way we want it to.

Instead, all has been thrown into the so-called 'War on Terror' er, 'Global Struggle Against Terror' errr, 'Times Have Changed So We Must Throw All Common Sense Out the Window In a Vain Attempt to Make Ourselves Feel Better' on Terror of course. Yet we inevitably march on.

The thinking goes something like this -

'The terrorists loathe our freedom, therefore, we will take away our freedoms and give them to other countries.'

Brilliant.

This is the sort of thing that can only be achieved through massive focus group testing and by spending at least one million dollars.

Imagine if your local SWAT team worked that way. Having taken a bank full of hostages, some terrorists settle down to await negotiations. Police arrive in utter urgency and after establishing a perimeter, they begin to negotiate the release of the hostages.

"Ten million dollars and a helicopter" come the request over the radio.

"Alright." (We must be resolute in the face of terror.)

Undeterred, the chief sets up checkpoints and begins searching the pizzeria across the street.
After all, they should have nothing to hide.

Two hours later, the chief recounts the details of the search to the local media. He spares no drama as he recounts how they caught a woman with overdue library books, a deadbeat dad and two teens with joints.

Now, back to the hostages, the chief vows that he will never waver in the face of terror and orders his snipers to start shooting hostages in the hope of hitting some of the would be robbers.
However, it appears that in your pursuit, the terrorists got away.

I agree that our responses should be harsh and unrelenting in the face of terrorism, yet we must think of what we are doing and how it will affect our progeny.

Barry Soetoro AKA Barack Obama’s Political Dynasty Crashes And Burns

Alex Jones dishes up the good stuff -

While Barry Soetoro’s family lavish themselves at a luxury Spanish resort amidst deepening economic turmoil, back home Obama’s political dynasty crashes and burns as his approval ratings plunge to a record low of 41 per cent with less than a few months to go before the October midterm elections.

Obama has come under widespread criticism for preaching austerity and financial discipline even as his wife Michelle suns herself at an opulent resort in the Costa del Sol region while parading around in expensive designer clothing.

As the economy worsens and top financial experts openly talk of American entering a second great depression, Obama’s approval ratings continue to head south in a hurry.

As we exposed in the Obama Deception, the manufactured populist euphoria behind the crowning of Soetoro was always likely to rapidly deflate once it became apparent that Obama was the ultimate puppet, a vacuous servant of the bankers and the elite to whom he owes his entire political dynasty.

USA Arming Iran With Weapons

Israel Still Violating Lebanon's Airspace

It takes two  -

Israel continued to conduct mock air raids in the skies over Lebanon on Friday as the world awaited the findings of a United Nations investigation into the clash that killed four people along the Blue Line.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that while results from a preliminary probe into Tuesday’s shootout between Lebanese and Israeli Army troops had been collected, its investigation was yet to ascertain which side was responsible for the pair’s bloodiest clash since 2006.

“We are still getting the facts from being on the ground. Of course, the issue is very sensitive and all the details need to be carefully investigated,” UNIFIL Deputy Spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Daily Star. “The investigation will be done with all parties … as quickly as possible, but the priority is to be as detailed as possible.”

Outgoing United States Ambassador to Lebanon Michelle Sison, in a farewell statement bidding goodbye to President Michel Sleiman, called on both Israel and Lebanon to exercise restraint.

“As we saw earlier this week, regional tensions can threaten Lebanon’s continuing stability,” Sison said.

“We regret the loss of life on both sides. This terrible and tragic event reminds us once again that we must all work for progress toward the permanent ceasefire that [Resolution] 1701 demands.

“The United States continues to call on all parties to work to diminish these tensions,” the outgoing ambassador added.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli jets flew over several areas of the country, following up the mock air raids it conducted on Wednesday.

“Israeli warplanes have been executing mock intensive air raids in Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Toufah, Marjayoun and Khiam airspace at a medium altitude since Friday morning,” the NNA said. In addition, southern towns of Tyre, Hasbaya and Bint Jbeil also experienced flyovers and dummy attacks.

The latest Israeli violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 – which stipulates that Lebanese sovereign territory not be breached – comes after two Lebanese troops and a journalist, as well as a senior Israeli soldier were killed along the Blue Line close to Adeisseh on Tuesday.

The Real Effect
Remember this from Wednesday the 4th -

Let us not forget the incident in which Israel violated Lebanon's airspace back in January.

And why overlook this tidbit -

The Israeli army confirmed Sunday that a naval vessel opened fire at a Lebanese fishing boat over the weekend, Israeli media reported.

An army statement said no damage or injury was caused, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

On Saturday, the Lebanese army issued a statement saying an Israeli gunboat “fired several bursts toward Lebanese territorial waters” off Lebanon’s southern coast at 4a.m., NOW Lebanon reported.

Iran Propaganda Debunked In Less Than 6 Minutes

Distressing - Oil Tanker Explosion Was Terror Attack

Looks like a false flag of one vein or another -

An explosion on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last week has been determined to have been an act of terror, the United Arab Emirates said today, an ominous development that signals that al Qaeda may be threatening the oil industry’s most heavily traveled shipping lane.

An investigation by the UAE Coast Guard determined that the Japanese vessel M. Star was likely hit by a small boat laden with homemade explosives. The blast injured one crewman and left a dent in the ship’s starboard side.

The massive ship, which was carrying 270,000 tons of oil to Japan, continued its journey and wasn’t even sure it had been attacked.

The Real Effect
Regardless of it's veracity, there are several problems with this position.

1. Who did it? Or more accurately qui bono?
2. I doubt that the leaders will wait to actually figure out who did what. What will be more important to them is that we act now. Because we all know hasty ill-informed decision make for good policy.
3. Given the impulse to act now and the physical proximity to Iran, can there be little doubt that before any actual evidence is revealed that lawmakers will be calling for Iran's (or possibly Yemen) head?

More War Musings

First off, the warmongers want nothing less than war with everyone -

The United States should immediately impose sanctions on Russia and China under a US law that punishes major investments in Iran's energy sector, a senior US lawmaker said Monday.

"It's time to implement our sanctions laws and demonstrate to Russia and China that there are consequences for abetting Tehran and flouting US sanctions," Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said firms run by the Russian and Chinese governments had invested "huge sums" in Iran's energy sector, "effectively bankrolling" Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons program and its backing of Islamist groups.

And how does China feel about this?

China pushed back at U.S. pressure on its business and oil trade with Iran in comments published on Wednesday, while Iran's oil minister was in Beijing seeking to shore up ties with the big customer.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu was responding to comments by Robert Einhorn, special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control at the U.S. State Department, who said on Monday China should observe sanctions against Iran aimed at forcing it to curtail its nuclear ambitions.

Remember this?

I have said and will say again that this is escalation warfare designed to destroy the American will and ultimately the United States itself. With the logical progression being: Afghanistan -> Iraq -> Iran/Syria -> North Korea -> China/Russia(Japan?)

Russia -

The US is building up its weapons arsenal on Russia's border. Confirmed by US military sources, "for the first time since the end of World War II, U.S. Army soldiers are making regular rotations into Poland", to train Polish forces to use US made Patriot missiles. (Stars and Stripes, 23 July 2010)

News on the Turkey front -

On 1 August 2010, Turkey's Supreme Military Council held the second day of its annual meeting to discuss promotions and dismissals of officers in the armed forces.

And, this Turkish Military Council seeks the promotion of coup suspects

The military wants to promote 11 generals who have been charged with plotting to bring down the government.

Finally, another Lebanon update -

On Tuesday morning, Israel requested “coordination” with UNIFIL to carry out another “exposing” operation on the border fence. UNIFIL asked the IDF to postpone the operation, because its commander is abroad. The IDF didn’t care. UNIFIL won’t stop us.

At noon the tree-cutters set out. The Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers shouted at them to stop. In Lebanon they say their soldiers also fired warning shots in the air. If they did, it didn’t stop the IDF.

The tree branches were cut and blood was shed on both sides of the border. Shed in vain. True, Israel maintains that the area across the fence is its territory, and UNIFIL officially confirmed that yesterday.

 Is it a World War yet?

Lebanon Skirmish Update

Mike Rivero weighs in with some important points -

This road represents the border between Israel (to the right) and Lebanon (to the left). This is the border as defined by the United Nations following the last invasion of Lebanon by Israel. Israel has every legal right to so whatever they wish to their side of that border (the land stretching off the right side of the frame). They have no legal right to do anything at all to the land or trees on the Lebanese side of the border without permission. And, Lebanon informed Israel, twice, that Lebanon would not allow Israel to remove or otherwise alter the trees on Lebanon's side of the border. Israel went ahead and did so anyway, uprooting a tree on the Lebanese side of the border, supposedly because it blocked the view of a surveillance camera.

The reports are that the Lebanese military fired warning shots over the heads of the Israelis, and the Israelis retaliated with gun and artillery fire. Five people are dead, three Lebanese military, a reporter and one Israeli officer.

The point is that this is hardly an "Ambush." The Israelis knew they were someplace they were not supposed to be, and that the Lebanese military knew they were there and had refused permission for Israel to remove the tree. It was a provocation, and Netanyahu calling it am ambush is the usual Israeli attempt at blaming the victim in order to avoid responsibility for their own behavior.

Israeli/Lebanese Skirmish Starts

The Lebanon situation breaks down again -

The border tensions brewing for weeks on the Lebanese-Israel border boiled over Tuesday, Aug. 3 into a heavy exchange of cross-border fire. Lt. Col. Dov Harari, 45, from Netanya, batallion commander of the eastern Lebanese sector was killed in a surprise Lebanese cross-border attack. He was killed by what Maj. Gen. Gady Eisencott, OC Northern Command, later called one of two, well-planned, unprovoked "sniper ambushes" set by the Lebanese army - one against a group of Israeli officers standing behind the border fence and the second an RPG attack on an Israeli tank. Israeli captain Ezra Lakiya, from Kfar Arif, was seriously injured. He turned the corner on the road to recovery Thursday after major surgery.

Lebanon reported three soldiers and one civilian killed in Israel's heavy retaliation for the attack.

Israel decided on all-out retaliation because the attack was so completely unprovoked, he said, referring to the tank, artillery and helicopter fire the IDF launched against Lebanese army positions. When the Lebanese commanders asked for a ceasefire to evacuate their wounded, "We acceded to their request but then too they shelled one of our tanks. The tank gun fired on the shooters."

The Real Effect
This is something that we have had renewed discussions here over the last year and continued over the last five years. Let us not forget the incident in which Israel violated Lebanon's airspace back in January.

China Getting Ready for Something?

The escalation continues -

China's air force begins a five-day exercise on Tuesday with fighter jets, spy planes and helicopters, state media said, against a backdrop of increased diplomatic and military tensions with Washington.

Chinese media has announced several military drills over the past few weeks, including of naval forces. Such events are normally shrouded in secrecy and little reported on, but the military has recently said it is trying to be more open.

The increased activity comes as China and the United States have argued over joint U.S.-South Korean drills in the seas off South Korea, and coincides with Beijing's anger at U.S. comments about a sensitive territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

The new drills, featuring more than 12,000 soldiers, will take place across the central province of Henan and eastern coastal province of Shandong, which backs onto the Yellow Sea, the official Xinhua news agency said in a brief report.

Part of the "Vanguard 2010" exercises will take place at night, Xinhua said.

PETE STARK: "The Federal Government can do most anything in this country"

Austerity Comes to America

Zero Hedge covers the cracks appearing in the economic landscape that are giving credence to the "austerity" crowd -

...a new study produced by National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties titled simply enough: "Local Governments Cutting Jobs and Services: Job losses projected to approach 500,000", showed local governments moved to cut the equivalent of 8.6 percent of their workforces from 2009 to 2011.

As a result of local government cutbacks, almost 500,000 people will lose their jobs, and the total will likely rise. The summary of the report attached below, is particularly grim: "Over the next two years, local tax bases will likely suffer from depressed property values, hard-hit household incomes and declining consumer spending. Further, reported state budget shortfalls for 2010 to 2012 exceeding $400 billion will pose a significant threat to funding for local government programs.

And in the dollar going belly up predictions...

The $38 billion in 2 Year Bonds just auctioned off at a 0.665% high yield, the lowest yield for a 2 Year primary issue. The bid to cover came in at 3.33, compared to 3.45 previously, and 3.15 average. Indirect participation plunged to 32.8%,compared to 41.41% previously. As the directs took down "just" 13.5%, the Primary Dealers ended up taking down a majority of the $38 billion bond auction, or 53.7%. The recycling of cheap Fed money has now fully arrived, and with an Discount Window to 2 year arb of 0.4% (0.66% - 0.25%), it shows just how bad things must be for the PDs. (Emphasis mine)

The Real Effect
As we covered in our States Belly Up series and examined in June, the term "austerity" is about to re-enter the American lexicon in a very big way. Of course, when dealing with complex and convoluted issues, we need to take definitions of our words and ideas into account. For instance, the term cool can mean -

1. moderately cold; neither warm nor cold: a rather cool evening.
2. socially adept: It's not cool to arrive at a party too early.

Now that we realize the variances in terminology, it would be prudent to familiarize ourselves with exactly what the term austerity will mean for you in the future. Definition:

1. the state or quality of being austere
2. reduced availability of luxuries and consumer goods, esp when brought about by government policy

For simplicity's sake, we shall examine definition two. Given the above definition, one would infer that when an individual, specifically when a politician is discussing austerity, that he is referring to a curtailing of government spending. However, what is important is not the definition of the word per se, but more importantly it is the subject of the austerity which then goes on to define the word.

For instance, government policy could dictate that austerity would mean that teachers in the Detroit school system take a 5% pay cut. This is the definition of the word as described in our example above and coincidentally is the type of austerity that I recommend as it cuts the amount of the government's expenditures thereby lowering the demand placed on taxpayers.

On the flip side, austerity could (incorrectly) be defined as cuts in the living standards of the populace in order to support the largess that the bureaucrats have grown accustomed to. In our Detroit example, instead of the the teachers taking a pay cut, the taxpayers are expected to foot the bill via a property tax increase.

Further, this concept of austerity becomes particularly devious when combined with the concept of "social responsibility" creating the conditions of fascism. In this situation, subjects of austerity are selectively chosen at the exclusion of others. For example, the Detroit school board in dealing with it's proposed 5% pay cut for teachers invokes social responsibility, in order to strong arm the populace into tolerating their own austerity in the aforementioned form of a property tax increase. We can also see this in play in the 2008 concept of "To Big to Fail" in which fraudulently "sound" institutions bankrupted and then utilized the long brutal arm of government to delay the inevitable.

This logic also applies over large geographical areas as well as the elite define national austerity. For instance, much of the increase in energy prices is due to "peak oil" and "green" government policies which drives up the cost of commodities. In addition, the Fed's current "Zero Interest Rate Policy" or ZIRP could also be viewed as an austerity measure over time. (To holders of long term treasury debt).

Irregardless of the specific subject of austerity, from government's perspective, the one who will always pay is the taxpayer. The bourgeoisie view the populace at large as a resource to be harvested and culled as needed in order that they can continue to "do God's work." To the career politician, the only job is convincing the subjects to go along with the haircut and indeed this is exactly how we have arrived at the abysmal conditions that we are subject to today.

It is to this end that we see the hyper increase of scanners, trackers, cages and measuring devices invading every nook, cranny and orifice of our being while slowly being removed from the realm of the elite. They argue that their work is special and sensitive while we cannot be trusted to our own devices lest we accidentally hurt ourselves. It is these concepts implemented in baby steps over time that you end up with tyranny.

Al Qaeda Doesn't Exist