floridaoilspilllaw.com
The WDSU report notes the risk of infection by the flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus increases if the liver is impaired from alcohol use, which is on the rise around the Gulf since the oil disaster.
For more information see: Feds funding study of oil spill’s effect on FLESH-EATING bacteria — Blamed for multiple recent Gulf-area deaths after water/seafood contact
Reports from WDSU on July 8 and KHOU on September 9 and 22:
The National Science Foundation awarded a rapid response grant to research how the oil disaster may “change” Vibrio vulnificus. From the NSF website on June 21, 2010:
How are the oysters faring with the oil spill? The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a rapid response grant to scientists Crystal Johnson, Gary King and Ed Laws of Louisiana State University (LSU) to find out.
The researchers will look at how the abundance and virulence of naturally-occurring bacteria called Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, often found in oyster beds, may change in response to the spill.
The findings will provide insights into vibrios’ ability to “consume” oil, and will allow the biologists to uncover antibiotic compounds in certain species of phytoplankton that live in association with vibrios.
“Adaptation to the spilled oil may result in an increase in some types of vibrios,” says Johnson. “We believe that vibrios will change in response to the stress of direct exposure to oil and/or to indirect effects of interactions with other species affected by oil.”
Vibrios… may even help break down the components of the oil.
“Little is known about how microbes–in the water, along coasts, and associated with other species–are affected by the spill,” says Phillip Taylor, acting director of NSF’s Ocean Sciences Division.
“Through this NSF rapid response grant, these scientists will be able to track the oil’s effects on marine species living in the Gulf, and by extension, the possible threat to human health.” …
“Oil-induced changes in phytoplankton community composition and their associated bacterial communities are related to changes in vibrio abundance,” he says. Some species of phytoplankton in Louisiana and Mississippi coastal waters may excrete antibiotics that inhibit the growth of vibrios, according to Laws.
View Original Article HERE
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Median Household Income Is Falling In Almost Every Single Major American City
endoftheamericandream.com
Median household income is falling in the vast majority of U.S. states and in virtually every single major U.S. city. According to the Census Bureau's annual survey of income and poverty in the United States, of the 52 largest metro areas in the nation, only the city of San Antonio did not see a decline in median household income in 2009. Needless to say, that is not good news. If incomes are falling from coast to coast, then how in the world can anyone claim that we are experiencing a "recovery"? The truth is that we are not in the middle of an economic recovery. What we are in the middle of is a long-term economic decline. Incomes are going down and middle class American families find themselves squeezed like never before. Meanwhile, unemployment has skyrocketed in recent years and it has become much harder to get a good job. Less Americans than ever are able to achieve anything even close to resembling the American Dream. Things are getting really tough out there, and as more jobs and factories leave the United States, as the U.S. government goes into even more debt and as the economy continues to implode things are going to get even worse.
According to the Census Bureau, median household income declined in 34 U.S. states in 2009, and the only state where median household income actually moved up was in North Dakota.
In some areas of the United States, the decline in household income during 2009 was absolutely jaw dropping....
*In Detroit, median household income declined 10% to $48,535.
*In Orlando, median household income dropped almost 10% to $46,856.
*In Cleveland, median household income fell 8.5% to $45,395.
*In Miami, median household income declined 8.2% to $45,946.
*In Indianapolis, median household income dropped 7.1% to $50,140.
Remember, these declines were just in one single year.
And each year, 40 or 50 thousand dollars buys a whole lot less than it did the year before.
In fact, as I have written about previously, it is exceedingly difficult for an average American family of four to make it on $50,000 these days. Money just does not stretch as far as it used to.
So is there any city in the United States that is doing relatively well?
Yes, there is.
Washington, D.C. has the highest median household income of any major U.S. city. With a median household income of $85,198, the folks over in D.C. are doing quite well.
But what should we expect? As the federal government continues to grow, Washington D.C. is rapidly becoming the center of the economy.
Today, the average federal worker makes nearly twice as much in total compensation as the average worker in the private sector does.
Does that seem like a good thing to you?
Of course not.
We are descending into European-style socialism as a staggering rate and the private sector is dying a very slow and painful death.
In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live a middle class lifestyle without working for the government these days.
The percentage of Americans that are hanging on by their financial fingernails continues to go up. 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.
Unfortunately, a growing number of Americans are not even "hanging in there" anymore. Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment insurance, which is almost four times as many as were receiving it back in 2007.
Poverty is exploding from coast to coast and tens of millions of Americans now find themselves completely dependent on the federal government. The number of Americans enrolled in the food stamp program passed the 41 million mark for the first time ever in June. More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program originally designed principally to help the poor.
Yes, things really are that bad.
Incomes are going down and yet health insurance premiums are skyrocketing.
Foreclosures continue to set records and there are very few signs that the housing crisis is going to end any time soon.
U.S. consumers are completely and totally tapped out, and yet everyone expects them to start spending again soon and pull us out of this "recession".
The reality is that there is not going to be any "recovery" without good jobs for the American people.
But every single day more factories and more good jobs flee our shores and they are never coming back.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government goes into much more debt every single month, our state and local governments go into much more debt every single month and America becomes poorer as a nation every single month.
Can someone please explain to me how in the world that is a recipe for long-term economic success?
It is time to wake up, America. Your economic goose is cooked. The government can borrow and borrow and borrow to mask our problems for a while, but eventually this whole thing is going to come crashing down like a house of cards.
We are in deep, deep, deep trouble and it is time to admit it.
Read Article With Links HERE
Median household income is falling in the vast majority of U.S. states and in virtually every single major U.S. city. According to the Census Bureau's annual survey of income and poverty in the United States, of the 52 largest metro areas in the nation, only the city of San Antonio did not see a decline in median household income in 2009. Needless to say, that is not good news. If incomes are falling from coast to coast, then how in the world can anyone claim that we are experiencing a "recovery"? The truth is that we are not in the middle of an economic recovery. What we are in the middle of is a long-term economic decline. Incomes are going down and middle class American families find themselves squeezed like never before. Meanwhile, unemployment has skyrocketed in recent years and it has become much harder to get a good job. Less Americans than ever are able to achieve anything even close to resembling the American Dream. Things are getting really tough out there, and as more jobs and factories leave the United States, as the U.S. government goes into even more debt and as the economy continues to implode things are going to get even worse.
According to the Census Bureau, median household income declined in 34 U.S. states in 2009, and the only state where median household income actually moved up was in North Dakota.
In some areas of the United States, the decline in household income during 2009 was absolutely jaw dropping....
*In Detroit, median household income declined 10% to $48,535.
*In Orlando, median household income dropped almost 10% to $46,856.
*In Cleveland, median household income fell 8.5% to $45,395.
*In Miami, median household income declined 8.2% to $45,946.
*In Indianapolis, median household income dropped 7.1% to $50,140.
Remember, these declines were just in one single year.
And each year, 40 or 50 thousand dollars buys a whole lot less than it did the year before.
In fact, as I have written about previously, it is exceedingly difficult for an average American family of four to make it on $50,000 these days. Money just does not stretch as far as it used to.
So is there any city in the United States that is doing relatively well?
Yes, there is.
Washington, D.C. has the highest median household income of any major U.S. city. With a median household income of $85,198, the folks over in D.C. are doing quite well.
But what should we expect? As the federal government continues to grow, Washington D.C. is rapidly becoming the center of the economy.
Today, the average federal worker makes nearly twice as much in total compensation as the average worker in the private sector does.
Does that seem like a good thing to you?
Of course not.
We are descending into European-style socialism as a staggering rate and the private sector is dying a very slow and painful death.
In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live a middle class lifestyle without working for the government these days.
The percentage of Americans that are hanging on by their financial fingernails continues to go up. 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.
Unfortunately, a growing number of Americans are not even "hanging in there" anymore. Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment insurance, which is almost four times as many as were receiving it back in 2007.
Poverty is exploding from coast to coast and tens of millions of Americans now find themselves completely dependent on the federal government. The number of Americans enrolled in the food stamp program passed the 41 million mark for the first time ever in June. More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program originally designed principally to help the poor.
Yes, things really are that bad.
Incomes are going down and yet health insurance premiums are skyrocketing.
Foreclosures continue to set records and there are very few signs that the housing crisis is going to end any time soon.
U.S. consumers are completely and totally tapped out, and yet everyone expects them to start spending again soon and pull us out of this "recession".
The reality is that there is not going to be any "recovery" without good jobs for the American people.
But every single day more factories and more good jobs flee our shores and they are never coming back.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government goes into much more debt every single month, our state and local governments go into much more debt every single month and America becomes poorer as a nation every single month.
Can someone please explain to me how in the world that is a recipe for long-term economic success?
It is time to wake up, America. Your economic goose is cooked. The government can borrow and borrow and borrow to mask our problems for a while, but eventually this whole thing is going to come crashing down like a house of cards.
We are in deep, deep, deep trouble and it is time to admit it.
Read Article With Links HERE
What In The World Are They Spraying?
Infowars.com
The Chemtrail/Geo-Engineering Coverup Revealed.
By now everyone has seen crisscrossing streaks of white clouds trailing behind jet aircraft, stretching from horizon to horizon, eventually turning the sky into a murky haze. Our innate intelligence tells us these are not mere vapor trails from jet engines, but no one yet has probed the questions: WHO is doing this and WHY. With the release of this video, all of that has changed. Here is the story of a rapidly developing industry called Geo-engineering, driven by scientists, corporations, and governments intent on changing global climate, controlling the weather, and altering the chemical composition of soil and water — all supposedly for the betterment of mankind. Although officials insist that these programs are only in the discussion phase, evidence is abundant that they have been underway since about 1990 — and the effect has been devastating to crops, wildlife, and human health. We are being sprayed with toxic substances without our consent and, to add insult to injury, they are lying to us about it. Do not watch this documentary if you have high blood pressure.
Produced by G. Edward Griffin, Michael Murphy, and Paul Wittenberger. Runtime 95 minutes.
Expected ship date, October 22, 2010.
Preorder now to secure your copy. Order here and get it first.
The Chemtrail/Geo-Engineering Coverup Revealed.
By now everyone has seen crisscrossing streaks of white clouds trailing behind jet aircraft, stretching from horizon to horizon, eventually turning the sky into a murky haze. Our innate intelligence tells us these are not mere vapor trails from jet engines, but no one yet has probed the questions: WHO is doing this and WHY. With the release of this video, all of that has changed. Here is the story of a rapidly developing industry called Geo-engineering, driven by scientists, corporations, and governments intent on changing global climate, controlling the weather, and altering the chemical composition of soil and water — all supposedly for the betterment of mankind. Although officials insist that these programs are only in the discussion phase, evidence is abundant that they have been underway since about 1990 — and the effect has been devastating to crops, wildlife, and human health. We are being sprayed with toxic substances without our consent and, to add insult to injury, they are lying to us about it. Do not watch this documentary if you have high blood pressure.
Produced by G. Edward Griffin, Michael Murphy, and Paul Wittenberger. Runtime 95 minutes.
Expected ship date, October 22, 2010.
Preorder now to secure your copy. Order here and get it first.
Project Gulf Impact Crew Poisoned in 'Nazi America'
Deborah Dupré
Examiner.com
Each of the filmmaker crew members that have been in the U.S, war zone trenches since May, documenting the Gulf operation crime against humanity, are poisoned. Alex Thomas of The Intel Hub reports on an exclusive interview with film director of Project Gulf Impact, Matt Smith about his condition in the Youtube video below. They discuss the similarities between the Nazi holocaust in Germany and the one underway in the U.S.
Quoting Smith who was interviewed by Intel Hub radio show host, Shepard Ambellas, Thomas writes:
“Everyone down here knows what's going on and the media black out is like calling the oil spill an oil spill when it is a flood. This media blackout is so deep, it’s like the Gestapo, its seriously feels like we are in some sort of Nazi State with the media. The media control is horrifying. It is so horrifying because it is getting WORSE."
Smith says that it feels like a different country down along the Gulf Coast.
He explains that the sick people in the south have no money or health insurance and cannot afford health care.
It has been reported to the Examiner that many South Louisianans do not even have gas money to drive to New Orleans only a couple of hours away.
Smith said that the crew wore respirators the day they fell ill. The respirators did not prevent them from becoming poisoned. He and everyone on the boat are poisoned. They all required hospitalization. Three of them are in the hospital.
He explains that he has never been that sick in his life. What felt like a cold quickly turned into a life-threatening condition. He like the others awakened during the night feeling like they were underwater, unable to breathe.
Smith and the crew witnessed huge fish kills, dead dolphins and a dead whale. The locals say they have never seen as much oil on the Gulf waters as they have seen lately: 6 inches to 3 feet of oil.
Ambellas and Smith discuss how, instead of Americans being outraged at the genocide in progress in the Deep South, people in the U.S. are behaving like Germans during the Nazi extermination of six million Jews and other persecuted groups.
During the radio program, Ambellas mentions the history of the U.S. military's deadly chemical human experimentation. He talks about how the American public is conditioned, beginning from childhood and reinforced with TV. In analogy to the lack of public response to the chemical warfare declared on the people, Ambellas recites:
"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."
And so it is, a merry dream, except for Americans sick, suffering, dying, pleading in vain for help. For them, it is a nightmare with no foreseeable end. The public merrily continues daily tasks, or Century of Self "spiritual" activities, or street rallies for whatever cause psychological operators determine, the latest being FBI arrests of human rights workers. After those rallies, predictably, there will be something else to distract from the Gulf operation crime against humanity on America's back doorstep.
Any distraction will do to maintain avoidance of the obvious, the petrochemical-military-industrial complex, under the U.S. Commander in Chief Barack Obama, committing the local Mission Creep, American genocide, starting with Gulf Coasters.
Deborah Dupré, with post-graduate science and education degrees from U.S. and Australian universities, has been a human and environmental rights advocate for over 25 years in the U.S., S.Pa. Islands and Australia. Support her work by subscribing to her articles and forwarding the link of this article to friends and colleagues or reposting only the title and first paragraph linked to this Examiner page. Dupré welcomes emails: info@DeborahDupre.com Please send Gulf illness news tips to her with your name or anonymously. See her Vaccine Liberty or Death book plus Compassion Film Project DVDs.
Gulf Aid
Obtain a Toxic Survival Kit or to have one delivered to a Gulf Coast resident in need by visiting Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors online or email info@gcbarefootdocs.org.
Learn to become a Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctor here.
If you are a Gulf Coaster wanting to evacuate but need help, please ask! If you can assist a Gulf Coaster in evacuating, please advise! See Kimberly Dawley's crisis aid forum: --http://pub47.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3957401277&frmid=0
Make Gulf incident reports and view them at oilspill.labucketbrigade.org. Text or call in reports to (504) 27 27 OIL. Email them to bpspillmap@gmail.com. Twitter them with hashtag #BPspillmap. If in danger or see an emergency, contact your local emergency response agency immediately.
Also see from The Intel Hub:
•Fascism in America, Government Complicit in Covert Spraying of the Gulf
•Raw Footage: Dispersant is STILL being sprayed,plumes in Florida and Alabama
•Thousands in Gulf Suffer from Misdiagnosed Skin Lesions
View Article With Links HERE
Examiner.com
Each of the filmmaker crew members that have been in the U.S, war zone trenches since May, documenting the Gulf operation crime against humanity, are poisoned. Alex Thomas of The Intel Hub reports on an exclusive interview with film director of Project Gulf Impact, Matt Smith about his condition in the Youtube video below. They discuss the similarities between the Nazi holocaust in Germany and the one underway in the U.S.
Quoting Smith who was interviewed by Intel Hub radio show host, Shepard Ambellas, Thomas writes:
“Everyone down here knows what's going on and the media black out is like calling the oil spill an oil spill when it is a flood. This media blackout is so deep, it’s like the Gestapo, its seriously feels like we are in some sort of Nazi State with the media. The media control is horrifying. It is so horrifying because it is getting WORSE."
Smith says that it feels like a different country down along the Gulf Coast.
He explains that the sick people in the south have no money or health insurance and cannot afford health care.
It has been reported to the Examiner that many South Louisianans do not even have gas money to drive to New Orleans only a couple of hours away.
Smith said that the crew wore respirators the day they fell ill. The respirators did not prevent them from becoming poisoned. He and everyone on the boat are poisoned. They all required hospitalization. Three of them are in the hospital.
He explains that he has never been that sick in his life. What felt like a cold quickly turned into a life-threatening condition. He like the others awakened during the night feeling like they were underwater, unable to breathe.
Smith and the crew witnessed huge fish kills, dead dolphins and a dead whale. The locals say they have never seen as much oil on the Gulf waters as they have seen lately: 6 inches to 3 feet of oil.
Ambellas and Smith discuss how, instead of Americans being outraged at the genocide in progress in the Deep South, people in the U.S. are behaving like Germans during the Nazi extermination of six million Jews and other persecuted groups.
During the radio program, Ambellas mentions the history of the U.S. military's deadly chemical human experimentation. He talks about how the American public is conditioned, beginning from childhood and reinforced with TV. In analogy to the lack of public response to the chemical warfare declared on the people, Ambellas recites:
"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."
And so it is, a merry dream, except for Americans sick, suffering, dying, pleading in vain for help. For them, it is a nightmare with no foreseeable end. The public merrily continues daily tasks, or Century of Self "spiritual" activities, or street rallies for whatever cause psychological operators determine, the latest being FBI arrests of human rights workers. After those rallies, predictably, there will be something else to distract from the Gulf operation crime against humanity on America's back doorstep.
Any distraction will do to maintain avoidance of the obvious, the petrochemical-military-industrial complex, under the U.S. Commander in Chief Barack Obama, committing the local Mission Creep, American genocide, starting with Gulf Coasters.
Deborah Dupré, with post-graduate science and education degrees from U.S. and Australian universities, has been a human and environmental rights advocate for over 25 years in the U.S., S.Pa. Islands and Australia. Support her work by subscribing to her articles and forwarding the link of this article to friends and colleagues or reposting only the title and first paragraph linked to this Examiner page. Dupré welcomes emails: info@DeborahDupre.com Please send Gulf illness news tips to her with your name or anonymously. See her Vaccine Liberty or Death book plus Compassion Film Project DVDs.
Gulf Aid
Obtain a Toxic Survival Kit or to have one delivered to a Gulf Coast resident in need by visiting Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors online or email info@gcbarefootdocs.org.
Learn to become a Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctor here.
If you are a Gulf Coaster wanting to evacuate but need help, please ask! If you can assist a Gulf Coaster in evacuating, please advise! See Kimberly Dawley's crisis aid forum: --http://pub47.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3957401277&frmid=0
Make Gulf incident reports and view them at oilspill.labucketbrigade.org. Text or call in reports to (504) 27 27 OIL. Email them to bpspillmap@gmail.com. Twitter them with hashtag #BPspillmap. If in danger or see an emergency, contact your local emergency response agency immediately.
Also see from The Intel Hub:
•Fascism in America, Government Complicit in Covert Spraying of the Gulf
•Raw Footage: Dispersant is STILL being sprayed,plumes in Florida and Alabama
•Thousands in Gulf Suffer from Misdiagnosed Skin Lesions
View Article With Links HERE
Economic Collapse Update: Acceleration In Autumn
By Giordano Bruno
Neithercorp Press – 09/29/2010
Our current economy is a shell game. A grand fraud designed to siphon more and more tangible wealth (not fiat wealth) from the average person and transport it post-haste into the silk lined pockets of a corporate banking minority. The goal? To reduce the self sufficiency of American citizens to the point of total fiscal and social dependence on the top 1% richest men in the world. Conspiracy theory? Not in the slightest. Just a cold hard fact of history. “Feudalism” is, sadly, rampant in the annals of human culture. Anyone who believes that our modern era is somehow different is simply fooling themselves. Elitists seek power over others, they always have and they always will, and, the most efficient way to gain control over the lives of the masses is through engineered imbalances in economy.
Every time you hear the term “bailout”, or “quantitative easing”, just think “wealth transference”. Every dollar that is printed from thin air by the private Federal Reserve and handed to a globalist entity like Goldman Sachs or AIG through our Treasury represents yet another dollar of debt (and another percentage of interest) that you, the U.S. taxpayer, and your children, are expected to eventually pay for without ever seeing any benefits. Right now, at this very moment, you and your descendents for generations to come are being enslaved by forcefully imposed usury. Our country has been “volunteered” for a financial debasement on a scale that dwarfs the Great Depression or even the Weimar catastrophe. We ignore this reality at our peril.
Since the initial meltdown began in 2008, we have seen two and a half years of stall tactics and skewed statistics designed to prolong total collapse while central banks position themselves for optimal gain. Simultaneously, the concrete underlying factors of our economy, including employment and purchasing power, have gone down the tubes. True, the system was an illusion long before its many flaws were openly revealed, and it needs to be dissolved, but should it be dissolved to the advantage of the elites who designed its flaws in the first place, and to the detriment of the rest of us? I think not…
Today, as Autumn 2010 begins to settle upon us, many notable and even dire trends are beginning to break the surface of the water and circle the sinking wreckage of our financial system. I believe these factors signal an extreme acceleration in the possibility of “trigger events”, which we have discussed in previous articles, and herald a new dynamic, a process that will directly contribute to a final breakdown of the present system. Let’s examine these trends now…
Dow Bubble Until November Elections?
If you look back at the history of economic collapses across the world, you’ll find a strange and ironic constant preceding most breakdowns; the disproportionate values of stocks and securities when compared to actual profits and consumer activity. The Great Depression saw record breaking rallies in the Dow and relentless financial propaganda claiming recovery was imminent just before total derailment. In many cases, investor confidence seems to be most heightened just before a brutal plunge. Perhaps it’s the power of reactionary denial, or maybe it’s the increase in false data supplied by establishment economic goon squads.
September has seen a very uncharacteristic stock rally, especially considering the fact that U.S. poverty levels are now at a 15 year high:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17poverty.html?_r=1
Food Stamp usage has hit a record high every month for the past 18 months:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/food-stamp-usage-hits-18-sequential-record-high-408-million
The income gap between the very rich and the very poor has hit a record high:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/income-gap-widens-census-_n_741386.html
Consumers have cut back on their credit use for 23 consecutive months:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-09-08-consumer-credit_N.htm
Median household incomes fell in 34 states last year, the worst income depletion since the Great Depression, according to Census data released this month:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-28/michigan-florida-lead-34-states-with-drop-in-median-income-census-says.html
Stock Market volume has been dismal, down in some cases by 50% (which would explain how the Dow has been so easily pumped up):
http://www.businessinsider.com/today-on-wall-street-horrible-volume-layoff-news-and-another-crash-2010-9
The Federal Government has now had to bailout three large credit unions, making the American taxpayer responsible for the backing over $30 billion in bonds while at the same time managing $50 billion worth of troubled assets inherited from the same institutions:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499604575512254063682236.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Moody’s has (finally) lowered the Illinois debt rating from stable to negative, and California is now asking Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan for $5 billion dollars in cash just so their state government can continue to operate for the rest of the year:
http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/09/moodys-lowers-outlook-on-illinois-to-negative.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-27/california-may-seek-5-billion-from-wall-street-lockyer-says.html
Most disturbing is new Federal Reserve data revealing that foreign central banks are dumping record levels of U.S. Agency debt. Agency Bonds support government funded organizations like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, etc. This means that this autumn there will be an even more pronounced destabilization of the mortgage giants, and we will have to foot an even greater bill as the Treasury continues their endless bailout with increasing amounts of fiat capital. Foreign banks recently dumped $57 billion worth of Agency debt all at once! Some analysts, like Jim Sinclair, believe this heralds a major proliferation in quantitative easing by the Fed (more than they have openly forecast), and a severe debasement of the dollar in the near term. I tend to agree…
http://jsmineset.com/2010/09/23/foreign-central-banks-net-sellers-of-us-agency-debt/
With all of these factors and hundreds more widely visible to anyone who wants to see them, how is it possible for the Dow to sustain its current upward trend? Witchcraft? The point is, when there is such an incomprehensible discrepancy between real market data and illogical market behavior, it is often a sign of a bubble; one that is dangerously close to failure.
Some believe that the market is being propped up by elements of the Treasury and the Fed until the end of November elections. The Dow is definitely being manipulated this month, but I’m not so sure it will last until November. An economic panic could serve several purposes so close to voting time, including easier promotion of scapegoats in order to rush otherwise ill conceived legislation. The move towards trade conflict with China is a good example…
Trade War With China?
Well, we’ve been warning about this since 2008, and now its here. Open economic animosity between the U.S. and China to the point of trade decoupling. Six months ago this still seemed for many like a remote if not impossible scenario. This month, it is now a stark reality. The speed at which elements of our government are implementing trade and currency legislation against China, and the rate at which China has begun to meld into ASEAN to counter U.S. import duties, is astonishing, even to me:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68L5K120100924
The House Ways and Means Committee has already approved a bill which could lead to trade penalties on Chinese goods if it meets equal success in the Senate, which is quite possible in the looming shadow of November elections:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39342833
The bill, however, appears mainly for show, especially in light of the fact that the U.S. is already slapping duties on an increasing number of Chinese goods, like copper tubing and steel pipe, without “committee approval”:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68Q4IK20100927
Chinese credit rating agency, Dagong Global, has also been denied status as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) by the SEC on thin grounds:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90859/7150960.html
The Chinese have accused the SEC of bias, which is understandable. Apparently, the SEC is content to have agencies like Moody’s continue to give the AAA stamp to every security in the U.S. no matter how toxic and worthless, and would rather not have a third party around to gum up the works.
The trade war has already commenced while mainstream economists are still hoping out loud that America will be saved by increasing its exports to China! The disconnection between what the media reports and what is obviously happening is absolutely incredible!
A trade war with China, though, is in fact far preferable to the next likely step in this volatile process; a currency war.
The justification presented by the Obama Administration for the sudden increase in hairy chest beating on the trade deficit with China has been the now widely debated Yuan appreciation issue. China has recently de-pegged its currency from the dollar and appreciation has occurred, however, a substantial trade imbalance persists. Some analysts and government officials claim that a minimum 20% valuation of the Yuan is necessary in order to bring greater import/export equilibrium with the West. The Chinese have been accused of deliberately undervaluing their currency to the detriment of the rest of the world in order to prop up their own economy during the height of the global credit crisis. They have even been accused of direct responsibility for the financial meltdown itself. At least, that’s the official story. Here’s the REAL story…
The Yuan has been undervalued on the world market for a long time, this is no secret. The Chinese have indeed enjoyed an incredible export advantage over the U.S.; also no secret. However, who was it that initiated this trade advantage in the first place? It was not the Chinese, but corporate globalist interests in the U.S. and Europe that encouraged the freezing of the Yuan and outsourcing of American industry into cheap labor markets in order to increase profit margins while at the same time weakening U.S. infrastructure. Wage slaves making cheap Nikes and Levis sold for incredible markups across the Pacific to label obsessed Americans; does no one remember the 80’s and 90’s?
Our trade deficit has surged non-stop from 1990 to the present day, and all of a sudden our government is concerned? Why did they not slap China with broader trade duties ten years ago? Or even three years ago? Why is it so urgent that the Yuan appreciate over 20% now? Is it just a coincidence that we are bringing the anvil down on China only after they have positioned themselves to effectively flush our currency without looking back?
Interestingly, the exponential spike in our export imbalance starting around 1991-1992 coincided almost exactly with the Federal Reserve interest rate cut from 1990 to 1994.
This bar was lowered even further in 2001-2003 when the Fed cut rates to an insane 1%, which led to the infamous mortgage and derivatives bubble. While trade deficits and a 70% consumer based system rotted the American economy from the outside-in, the housing market collapse and resulting credit crisis rotted it from the inside-out. What this means is, either the U.S. has somehow been subject to a “perfect storm” of fiscal debacles that have positioned us for an amazingly thorough collapse, or, corporate interests and the Federal Reserve (same difference) deliberately took actions which gutted our country. As we have shown in many previous articles, the evidence dictates that the latter cause is most viable.
Where does a currency war with China play into all this? Yuan appreciation is the end game. In 2007, China publicly suggested that U.S. trade pressure will result in retaliation, up to and including a devastating dump of their Treasury Reserves that would result in the collapse of the Greenback:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2813630/China-threatens-nuclear-option-of-dollar-sales.html
That was back before the recession/depression had even hit full steam, and rhetoric against the Yuan was minimal. Today, the downturn is rolling ahead full bore and the rhetoric against the Yuan is nearing fever pitch! Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stated this past week that a 20% Yuan devaluation would trigger severe job losses and social instability, putting his country at risk. That is to say, the Chinese are presenting this (falsely) as a matter of life and death for them, a situation that requires an extreme response if escalation occurs:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-22/wen-says-investment-structure-is-main-cause-of-trade-imbalance-with-u-s-.html
Some U.S. business leaders have spoken out against pressure on the Yuan, pointing out that China holds all the cards if a currency war is initiated:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-27/yuan-legislation-in-u-s-congress-may-prompt-retaliation-businesses-say.html
This is absolutely true. The problem is that the elites in our government fueling this conflict are well aware that China can and likely will begin a T-bond dump that will implode our currency. They know that China has absolutely no incentive to increase imports from the United States while it holds all the industrial capability necessary to supply itself with needed goods and a solidified ASEAN trading bloc to support its expansion. They also know full well that tariffs and trade embargos in the midst of economic meltdown tend to inflame retaliation and lead to even greater collapse, just as the Smoot – Hawley Tariff Act did in 1930, right before the Great Depression spiraled out of control.
A trade/currency war is EXACTLY what global banks want, in order to remove the dollar as the world reserve currency, create panic and desperation in the American populace, and to introduce the SDR (along with a stronger Yuan as a component) as the only workable security capable of holding together international commerce.
America: The Villain?
Are the Chinese aware of this plan? I believe that elements of the Chinese government and its central bank have been clued in all along. Why else would China, an export based economy for decades, abruptly decide to drastically reposition itself as a consumer hub at the center of an Asian trading bloc, all in the span of three years? I don’t think many mainstream analysts realize how radical this Chinese metamorphosis has been, and how significant it really is. The move seems unprecedented and almost irrational, unless you are a Chinese financial official cognizant of a plan to unseat American primacy. Then, a rush to detach from the U.S. makes perfect sense.
Remember, China began cross-border Yuan exchange programs as well as “Yuan Bond” programs in 2007/2008, meaning they intended to revalue their currency before the severity of the crisis was fully known to most of the world. The Chinese have been preparing for a move away from the dollar all along. Why else would they do this unless they knew the U.S. consumer would not recover, that their exports would continue to suffer far into the future, and that the Federal Reserve would continue to create Everest sized mountains of fiat money from thin air?
If banking elements of China are working in concert with other central banks to force the U.S. into “global harmonization” under the IMF, it means this entire trade war state of affairs, all the accusations and cross-accusations, all the talking points and debates, every facet of the issue that has burgeoned so far this season, is one fantastic charade!
What’s the point? While China is being built up as the villain of our American economic collapse fairy tail instead of the global banks, America is being built up as the villain for the rest of the world. Already, China is feeding talking points into the mainstream that paint the U.S. as a kind of stampeding single minded monster trying to dominate at the expense of logic (take special note that ASEAN is being overtly used as a collective moniker in this article, similar to the EU):
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91343/7150375.html
The problem is, there is some root truth to the indictment. What this new political fulcrum leaves out though is that America is not the culprit, at least not in the traditional sense. It is the big stick used by the culprit (central bankers) to beat the rest of the planet into submission. The lies of tomorrow’s history books are being written today, as American “excess”, capitalism, hegemony, selfishness, and sovereignty are quietly being introduced as the cause of all sorrows overseas.
Most of Europe under the G20 has opted out of any involvement in the U.S./China currency dispute, and with good reason. The EU will not associate itself with the trigger event that will lead to the end of the dollar and the chaos that will follow in global markets:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68P1F220100926?pageNumber=2
That is an honor reserved for America alone. What better way to destroy the concept of sovereignty than to tarnish and villainize forever the image of the one country in the world universally symbolic as the “land of the free”?
Gold Is Money Again…Must Be Time For A Collapse…
Finally, we get to the biggest development this fall; the so far unstoppable juggernaut of gold and silver.
Gold is breaking records weekly, sometimes daily, now rushing past the $1300 an ounce mark without batting an eye. Not long ago I predicted gold would hit the $1350 to $1400 mark by this winter, but it seems I may have underestimated the precious metal. $1500 is not out of the question in the next three months, especially if trade laws are passed against China before elections.
Silver has passed the $21 an ounce mark but is still highly undervalued in my opinion. I suspect that we could see a rapid increase in physical silver, akin to a “short squeeze”, before the year is out.
What is driving the new gold rush? MSM economists are apparently at a loss for words (which is rare). Gold criticism and uneducated skepticism has fallen silent lately. It’s hard to argue with the $1300 an ounce gold. Pundits are still bewildered at gold’s success, especially since they rely on disingenuous CPI and inflation data from the Federal Reserve and the government to make their deductions. This has led them to assume that an excessive sense of “fear” has pervaded markets and created a bubble in gold. They can’t seem to grasp that the bubble is not in gold, but in fiat currencies and the stock market, and this is why gold is on the rise.
Central Banks, primarily in Asia, are snatching up gold weekly. We all know about China’s unparalleled gold buying, but there are many other countries turning to PM’s as well. Thailand has apparently been buying gold in large quantities under the radar, improving their reserves by as much as 20%:
http://gata.org/node/9002
South Korea has been “under pressure” to diversify into gold because of their lack of defense against global devaluation in top currencies:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-25/bank-of-korea-under-pressure-to-buy-gold-oh-says.html
Bangladesh recently bought 10 tons of the hedge metal. Nepal has announced a revamping of gold reserves, and, most importantly, they have publicized a desire to use their new gold reserves to back their currency!
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Nepal-move-to-boost-gold-market-32052-3-1.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
So gold is money again? I would be ecstatic about this, if it weren’t for the proposition that a Treasury dump is in the wings. The dollar index has plummeted over the past week, and the Yen and Euro have gained considerably in opposition. I doubt that we will ever see another upward correction in the dollar like the one we saw this summer. Temporary increases in the Greenback’s value seem to have little effect on gold’s rise, however, and a full decoupling appears close at hand. Even the wild gyrations of the Dow lately have had little consequence on PM’s, yet another sign that the world is turning towards commodities as the only solid protection for savings.
Reports are coming in from the EU that banks are halting gold sales that have been operating for over a decade:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/09/27/eu.central.banks.gold.ft/index.html
That means sources of physical gold are beginning to dry up. This is becoming evident in the disconnection between physical gold values, and gold stocks. Physical values have far surpassed those of their paper counterparts. As demand grows and supply wanes, we could even see a complete decoupling of ETF values versus physical. This is already happening in some countries, like Vietnam, where the national currency and even the dollar are no longer trusted, and physical is trading at prices hundreds of dollars above set market value, something that could just as easily happen in the U.S.
One ember of stability in all this disaster is the strength of gold and silver as alternative currencies. In my recent article ‘Real World Solutions To Economic Tyranny’, I talked about the possibility of an “alternative economy” based on PM’s and created one community at a time, independent from our current fraudulent system, which could protect the Liberty Movement from collapse. Luckily, it seems others have had the same idea! Here is an article and video featuring G. Edward Griffin discussing the Idaho State Silver Gem Act, introduced by Representative Phil Hart, which would promote the use of silver as a designated alternative currency in the state (special thanks to Cassandra Anderson for sending me this link):
http://www.morphcity.com/home/84-silver-shines-as-an-economic-solution
The Fall Setup
If I was to compare the movements of the economic collapse to a chess game, I would say that the pieces are now in place this fall for a checkmate maneuver. Watch for increased tensions with China in October and November, followed by actual legislation sparking detrimental retaliatory actions. Also keep an eye on the dollar as it continues what looks to be its final decline.
Will we see a trigger event before the end of 2010? I predicted this much last year. My hope is that I was mistaken and that 2010 only represents a staging period for the inevitable deterioration further down the road, giving as many people as possible the extra time to prepare. As you can see though from the available information, this winter could be very unsettling. Hold fast, keep educating family and friends, continue preparations, and try to become as independent from this diseased economy as possible. Build meaningful community around you. Provide for yourself and others what the corrupt system will not, and remain free. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is truly one of the greatest contributions you can make towards a better tomorrow.
You can contact Giordano Bruno at: giordano@neithercorp.us
View Original Article With Links HERE
Neithercorp Press – 09/29/2010
Our current economy is a shell game. A grand fraud designed to siphon more and more tangible wealth (not fiat wealth) from the average person and transport it post-haste into the silk lined pockets of a corporate banking minority. The goal? To reduce the self sufficiency of American citizens to the point of total fiscal and social dependence on the top 1% richest men in the world. Conspiracy theory? Not in the slightest. Just a cold hard fact of history. “Feudalism” is, sadly, rampant in the annals of human culture. Anyone who believes that our modern era is somehow different is simply fooling themselves. Elitists seek power over others, they always have and they always will, and, the most efficient way to gain control over the lives of the masses is through engineered imbalances in economy.
Every time you hear the term “bailout”, or “quantitative easing”, just think “wealth transference”. Every dollar that is printed from thin air by the private Federal Reserve and handed to a globalist entity like Goldman Sachs or AIG through our Treasury represents yet another dollar of debt (and another percentage of interest) that you, the U.S. taxpayer, and your children, are expected to eventually pay for without ever seeing any benefits. Right now, at this very moment, you and your descendents for generations to come are being enslaved by forcefully imposed usury. Our country has been “volunteered” for a financial debasement on a scale that dwarfs the Great Depression or even the Weimar catastrophe. We ignore this reality at our peril.
Since the initial meltdown began in 2008, we have seen two and a half years of stall tactics and skewed statistics designed to prolong total collapse while central banks position themselves for optimal gain. Simultaneously, the concrete underlying factors of our economy, including employment and purchasing power, have gone down the tubes. True, the system was an illusion long before its many flaws were openly revealed, and it needs to be dissolved, but should it be dissolved to the advantage of the elites who designed its flaws in the first place, and to the detriment of the rest of us? I think not…
Today, as Autumn 2010 begins to settle upon us, many notable and even dire trends are beginning to break the surface of the water and circle the sinking wreckage of our financial system. I believe these factors signal an extreme acceleration in the possibility of “trigger events”, which we have discussed in previous articles, and herald a new dynamic, a process that will directly contribute to a final breakdown of the present system. Let’s examine these trends now…
Dow Bubble Until November Elections?
If you look back at the history of economic collapses across the world, you’ll find a strange and ironic constant preceding most breakdowns; the disproportionate values of stocks and securities when compared to actual profits and consumer activity. The Great Depression saw record breaking rallies in the Dow and relentless financial propaganda claiming recovery was imminent just before total derailment. In many cases, investor confidence seems to be most heightened just before a brutal plunge. Perhaps it’s the power of reactionary denial, or maybe it’s the increase in false data supplied by establishment economic goon squads.
September has seen a very uncharacteristic stock rally, especially considering the fact that U.S. poverty levels are now at a 15 year high:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17poverty.html?_r=1
Food Stamp usage has hit a record high every month for the past 18 months:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/food-stamp-usage-hits-18-sequential-record-high-408-million
The income gap between the very rich and the very poor has hit a record high:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/income-gap-widens-census-_n_741386.html
Consumers have cut back on their credit use for 23 consecutive months:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-09-08-consumer-credit_N.htm
Median household incomes fell in 34 states last year, the worst income depletion since the Great Depression, according to Census data released this month:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-28/michigan-florida-lead-34-states-with-drop-in-median-income-census-says.html
Stock Market volume has been dismal, down in some cases by 50% (which would explain how the Dow has been so easily pumped up):
http://www.businessinsider.com/today-on-wall-street-horrible-volume-layoff-news-and-another-crash-2010-9
The Federal Government has now had to bailout three large credit unions, making the American taxpayer responsible for the backing over $30 billion in bonds while at the same time managing $50 billion worth of troubled assets inherited from the same institutions:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499604575512254063682236.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Moody’s has (finally) lowered the Illinois debt rating from stable to negative, and California is now asking Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan for $5 billion dollars in cash just so their state government can continue to operate for the rest of the year:
http://chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/09/moodys-lowers-outlook-on-illinois-to-negative.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-27/california-may-seek-5-billion-from-wall-street-lockyer-says.html
Most disturbing is new Federal Reserve data revealing that foreign central banks are dumping record levels of U.S. Agency debt. Agency Bonds support government funded organizations like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Sallie Mae, etc. This means that this autumn there will be an even more pronounced destabilization of the mortgage giants, and we will have to foot an even greater bill as the Treasury continues their endless bailout with increasing amounts of fiat capital. Foreign banks recently dumped $57 billion worth of Agency debt all at once! Some analysts, like Jim Sinclair, believe this heralds a major proliferation in quantitative easing by the Fed (more than they have openly forecast), and a severe debasement of the dollar in the near term. I tend to agree…
http://jsmineset.com/2010/09/23/foreign-central-banks-net-sellers-of-us-agency-debt/
With all of these factors and hundreds more widely visible to anyone who wants to see them, how is it possible for the Dow to sustain its current upward trend? Witchcraft? The point is, when there is such an incomprehensible discrepancy between real market data and illogical market behavior, it is often a sign of a bubble; one that is dangerously close to failure.
Some believe that the market is being propped up by elements of the Treasury and the Fed until the end of November elections. The Dow is definitely being manipulated this month, but I’m not so sure it will last until November. An economic panic could serve several purposes so close to voting time, including easier promotion of scapegoats in order to rush otherwise ill conceived legislation. The move towards trade conflict with China is a good example…
Trade War With China?
Well, we’ve been warning about this since 2008, and now its here. Open economic animosity between the U.S. and China to the point of trade decoupling. Six months ago this still seemed for many like a remote if not impossible scenario. This month, it is now a stark reality. The speed at which elements of our government are implementing trade and currency legislation against China, and the rate at which China has begun to meld into ASEAN to counter U.S. import duties, is astonishing, even to me:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68L5K120100924
The House Ways and Means Committee has already approved a bill which could lead to trade penalties on Chinese goods if it meets equal success in the Senate, which is quite possible in the looming shadow of November elections:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39342833
The bill, however, appears mainly for show, especially in light of the fact that the U.S. is already slapping duties on an increasing number of Chinese goods, like copper tubing and steel pipe, without “committee approval”:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68Q4IK20100927
Chinese credit rating agency, Dagong Global, has also been denied status as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) by the SEC on thin grounds:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90859/7150960.html
The Chinese have accused the SEC of bias, which is understandable. Apparently, the SEC is content to have agencies like Moody’s continue to give the AAA stamp to every security in the U.S. no matter how toxic and worthless, and would rather not have a third party around to gum up the works.
The trade war has already commenced while mainstream economists are still hoping out loud that America will be saved by increasing its exports to China! The disconnection between what the media reports and what is obviously happening is absolutely incredible!
A trade war with China, though, is in fact far preferable to the next likely step in this volatile process; a currency war.
The justification presented by the Obama Administration for the sudden increase in hairy chest beating on the trade deficit with China has been the now widely debated Yuan appreciation issue. China has recently de-pegged its currency from the dollar and appreciation has occurred, however, a substantial trade imbalance persists. Some analysts and government officials claim that a minimum 20% valuation of the Yuan is necessary in order to bring greater import/export equilibrium with the West. The Chinese have been accused of deliberately undervaluing their currency to the detriment of the rest of the world in order to prop up their own economy during the height of the global credit crisis. They have even been accused of direct responsibility for the financial meltdown itself. At least, that’s the official story. Here’s the REAL story…
The Yuan has been undervalued on the world market for a long time, this is no secret. The Chinese have indeed enjoyed an incredible export advantage over the U.S.; also no secret. However, who was it that initiated this trade advantage in the first place? It was not the Chinese, but corporate globalist interests in the U.S. and Europe that encouraged the freezing of the Yuan and outsourcing of American industry into cheap labor markets in order to increase profit margins while at the same time weakening U.S. infrastructure. Wage slaves making cheap Nikes and Levis sold for incredible markups across the Pacific to label obsessed Americans; does no one remember the 80’s and 90’s?
Our trade deficit has surged non-stop from 1990 to the present day, and all of a sudden our government is concerned? Why did they not slap China with broader trade duties ten years ago? Or even three years ago? Why is it so urgent that the Yuan appreciate over 20% now? Is it just a coincidence that we are bringing the anvil down on China only after they have positioned themselves to effectively flush our currency without looking back?
Interestingly, the exponential spike in our export imbalance starting around 1991-1992 coincided almost exactly with the Federal Reserve interest rate cut from 1990 to 1994.
This bar was lowered even further in 2001-2003 when the Fed cut rates to an insane 1%, which led to the infamous mortgage and derivatives bubble. While trade deficits and a 70% consumer based system rotted the American economy from the outside-in, the housing market collapse and resulting credit crisis rotted it from the inside-out. What this means is, either the U.S. has somehow been subject to a “perfect storm” of fiscal debacles that have positioned us for an amazingly thorough collapse, or, corporate interests and the Federal Reserve (same difference) deliberately took actions which gutted our country. As we have shown in many previous articles, the evidence dictates that the latter cause is most viable.
Where does a currency war with China play into all this? Yuan appreciation is the end game. In 2007, China publicly suggested that U.S. trade pressure will result in retaliation, up to and including a devastating dump of their Treasury Reserves that would result in the collapse of the Greenback:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2813630/China-threatens-nuclear-option-of-dollar-sales.html
That was back before the recession/depression had even hit full steam, and rhetoric against the Yuan was minimal. Today, the downturn is rolling ahead full bore and the rhetoric against the Yuan is nearing fever pitch! Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stated this past week that a 20% Yuan devaluation would trigger severe job losses and social instability, putting his country at risk. That is to say, the Chinese are presenting this (falsely) as a matter of life and death for them, a situation that requires an extreme response if escalation occurs:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-22/wen-says-investment-structure-is-main-cause-of-trade-imbalance-with-u-s-.html
Some U.S. business leaders have spoken out against pressure on the Yuan, pointing out that China holds all the cards if a currency war is initiated:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-27/yuan-legislation-in-u-s-congress-may-prompt-retaliation-businesses-say.html
This is absolutely true. The problem is that the elites in our government fueling this conflict are well aware that China can and likely will begin a T-bond dump that will implode our currency. They know that China has absolutely no incentive to increase imports from the United States while it holds all the industrial capability necessary to supply itself with needed goods and a solidified ASEAN trading bloc to support its expansion. They also know full well that tariffs and trade embargos in the midst of economic meltdown tend to inflame retaliation and lead to even greater collapse, just as the Smoot – Hawley Tariff Act did in 1930, right before the Great Depression spiraled out of control.
A trade/currency war is EXACTLY what global banks want, in order to remove the dollar as the world reserve currency, create panic and desperation in the American populace, and to introduce the SDR (along with a stronger Yuan as a component) as the only workable security capable of holding together international commerce.
America: The Villain?
Are the Chinese aware of this plan? I believe that elements of the Chinese government and its central bank have been clued in all along. Why else would China, an export based economy for decades, abruptly decide to drastically reposition itself as a consumer hub at the center of an Asian trading bloc, all in the span of three years? I don’t think many mainstream analysts realize how radical this Chinese metamorphosis has been, and how significant it really is. The move seems unprecedented and almost irrational, unless you are a Chinese financial official cognizant of a plan to unseat American primacy. Then, a rush to detach from the U.S. makes perfect sense.
Remember, China began cross-border Yuan exchange programs as well as “Yuan Bond” programs in 2007/2008, meaning they intended to revalue their currency before the severity of the crisis was fully known to most of the world. The Chinese have been preparing for a move away from the dollar all along. Why else would they do this unless they knew the U.S. consumer would not recover, that their exports would continue to suffer far into the future, and that the Federal Reserve would continue to create Everest sized mountains of fiat money from thin air?
If banking elements of China are working in concert with other central banks to force the U.S. into “global harmonization” under the IMF, it means this entire trade war state of affairs, all the accusations and cross-accusations, all the talking points and debates, every facet of the issue that has burgeoned so far this season, is one fantastic charade!
What’s the point? While China is being built up as the villain of our American economic collapse fairy tail instead of the global banks, America is being built up as the villain for the rest of the world. Already, China is feeding talking points into the mainstream that paint the U.S. as a kind of stampeding single minded monster trying to dominate at the expense of logic (take special note that ASEAN is being overtly used as a collective moniker in this article, similar to the EU):
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91343/7150375.html
The problem is, there is some root truth to the indictment. What this new political fulcrum leaves out though is that America is not the culprit, at least not in the traditional sense. It is the big stick used by the culprit (central bankers) to beat the rest of the planet into submission. The lies of tomorrow’s history books are being written today, as American “excess”, capitalism, hegemony, selfishness, and sovereignty are quietly being introduced as the cause of all sorrows overseas.
Most of Europe under the G20 has opted out of any involvement in the U.S./China currency dispute, and with good reason. The EU will not associate itself with the trigger event that will lead to the end of the dollar and the chaos that will follow in global markets:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68P1F220100926?pageNumber=2
That is an honor reserved for America alone. What better way to destroy the concept of sovereignty than to tarnish and villainize forever the image of the one country in the world universally symbolic as the “land of the free”?
Gold Is Money Again…Must Be Time For A Collapse…
Finally, we get to the biggest development this fall; the so far unstoppable juggernaut of gold and silver.
Gold is breaking records weekly, sometimes daily, now rushing past the $1300 an ounce mark without batting an eye. Not long ago I predicted gold would hit the $1350 to $1400 mark by this winter, but it seems I may have underestimated the precious metal. $1500 is not out of the question in the next three months, especially if trade laws are passed against China before elections.
Silver has passed the $21 an ounce mark but is still highly undervalued in my opinion. I suspect that we could see a rapid increase in physical silver, akin to a “short squeeze”, before the year is out.
What is driving the new gold rush? MSM economists are apparently at a loss for words (which is rare). Gold criticism and uneducated skepticism has fallen silent lately. It’s hard to argue with the $1300 an ounce gold. Pundits are still bewildered at gold’s success, especially since they rely on disingenuous CPI and inflation data from the Federal Reserve and the government to make their deductions. This has led them to assume that an excessive sense of “fear” has pervaded markets and created a bubble in gold. They can’t seem to grasp that the bubble is not in gold, but in fiat currencies and the stock market, and this is why gold is on the rise.
Central Banks, primarily in Asia, are snatching up gold weekly. We all know about China’s unparalleled gold buying, but there are many other countries turning to PM’s as well. Thailand has apparently been buying gold in large quantities under the radar, improving their reserves by as much as 20%:
http://gata.org/node/9002
South Korea has been “under pressure” to diversify into gold because of their lack of defense against global devaluation in top currencies:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-25/bank-of-korea-under-pressure-to-buy-gold-oh-says.html
Bangladesh recently bought 10 tons of the hedge metal. Nepal has announced a revamping of gold reserves, and, most importantly, they have publicized a desire to use their new gold reserves to back their currency!
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Nepal-move-to-boost-gold-market-32052-3-1.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
So gold is money again? I would be ecstatic about this, if it weren’t for the proposition that a Treasury dump is in the wings. The dollar index has plummeted over the past week, and the Yen and Euro have gained considerably in opposition. I doubt that we will ever see another upward correction in the dollar like the one we saw this summer. Temporary increases in the Greenback’s value seem to have little effect on gold’s rise, however, and a full decoupling appears close at hand. Even the wild gyrations of the Dow lately have had little consequence on PM’s, yet another sign that the world is turning towards commodities as the only solid protection for savings.
Reports are coming in from the EU that banks are halting gold sales that have been operating for over a decade:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/09/27/eu.central.banks.gold.ft/index.html
That means sources of physical gold are beginning to dry up. This is becoming evident in the disconnection between physical gold values, and gold stocks. Physical values have far surpassed those of their paper counterparts. As demand grows and supply wanes, we could even see a complete decoupling of ETF values versus physical. This is already happening in some countries, like Vietnam, where the national currency and even the dollar are no longer trusted, and physical is trading at prices hundreds of dollars above set market value, something that could just as easily happen in the U.S.
One ember of stability in all this disaster is the strength of gold and silver as alternative currencies. In my recent article ‘Real World Solutions To Economic Tyranny’, I talked about the possibility of an “alternative economy” based on PM’s and created one community at a time, independent from our current fraudulent system, which could protect the Liberty Movement from collapse. Luckily, it seems others have had the same idea! Here is an article and video featuring G. Edward Griffin discussing the Idaho State Silver Gem Act, introduced by Representative Phil Hart, which would promote the use of silver as a designated alternative currency in the state (special thanks to Cassandra Anderson for sending me this link):
http://www.morphcity.com/home/84-silver-shines-as-an-economic-solution
The Fall Setup
If I was to compare the movements of the economic collapse to a chess game, I would say that the pieces are now in place this fall for a checkmate maneuver. Watch for increased tensions with China in October and November, followed by actual legislation sparking detrimental retaliatory actions. Also keep an eye on the dollar as it continues what looks to be its final decline.
Will we see a trigger event before the end of 2010? I predicted this much last year. My hope is that I was mistaken and that 2010 only represents a staging period for the inevitable deterioration further down the road, giving as many people as possible the extra time to prepare. As you can see though from the available information, this winter could be very unsettling. Hold fast, keep educating family and friends, continue preparations, and try to become as independent from this diseased economy as possible. Build meaningful community around you. Provide for yourself and others what the corrupt system will not, and remain free. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is truly one of the greatest contributions you can make towards a better tomorrow.
You can contact Giordano Bruno at: giordano@neithercorp.us
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