WTF?



 

Why is this a "Discontinued Series?" It's a flat line for fifty years, goes parabolic and then the series is discontinued? Chart depicts last data points available. July 2013.

Mission Accomplished

Al-Qaeda now has a stronghold in Iraq:
BAGHDAD — Black-clad Sunni militants of Al Qaeda destroyed the Falluja police headquarters and mayor’s office, planted their flag atop other government buildings and decreed the western Iraqi city to be their new independent state on Friday in an escalating threat to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose forces were struggling to retake control late into the night.

Qaeda-Aligned Militants in Iraq Claim Falluja as Independent State
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/world/middleeast/fighting-in-falluja-and-ramadi.html?ref=world&_r=0

 

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rica and Other Assorted War Criminals Who Cost US Taxpayers $6 Trillion and Much More

President Bush's national security adviser said al Qaeda operatives have found refuge in Baghdad, and accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime of helping Osama bin Laden's followers develop chemical weapons.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-administration-links-iraq-al-qaeda/

The Sept. 11 commission reported yesterday that it has found no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda, challenging one of the Bush administration's main justifications for the war in Iraq.

Along with the contention that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials have often asserted that there were extensive ties between Hussein's government and Osama bin Laden's terrorist network; earlier this year, Cheney said evidence of a link was "overwhelming."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars will together cost $4 to $6 trillion, according a new study from Harvard University's Kennedy School.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/28/the-total-iraq-and-afghanistan-pricetag-over-4-trillion

And Today:
BAGHDAD — Radical Sunni militants aligned with Al Qaeda threatened on Thursday to seize control of Falluja and Ramadi, two of the most important cities in Iraq, setting fire to police stations, freeing prisoners from jail and occupying mosques, as the government rushed troop reinforcements to the areas.

Dressed in black and waving the flag of Al Qaeda, the militants put out calls over mosque loudspeakers for men to join their struggle in both cities in western Anbar Province, which were important battlegrounds during the American-led war in Iraq and remain hotbeds of Sunni extremism
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/03/world/middleeast/Al-Qaeda-threatens-Iraqi-cities.html?hp&_r=0

 

US Economic Recovery Part III

2013 saw the pace of income growth fall to the lowest of the recovery.

The US labor force is actively shrinking:

Mortgage rates rise. Home refinancing collapses as do mortgage applications:

Housing Starts already at a lower non-population adjusted level from 1959 collapse further:

Non-defense ex-aircraft durable flatline:

The wealth effect will save us:

H/T: http://www.alhambrapartners.com/2013/12/27/facing-the-headwinds-of-2014/

Criminogenic-Producing or Intended to Produce Crime and Criminality

Bernard Madoff’s principal bank, JPMorgan Chase, has for years obstructed federal bank examiners trying to ascertain what it knew about his gigantic Ponzi scheme, an official document obtained by Newsweek shows.

The Justice Department refused in September to back up Treasury inspector general staff who wanted a  court order to enforce a subpoena, in effect shielding JPMorgan from law enforcement, the October 8 document shows.

The Justice Department told the Treasury Inspector General “that they were denying the request for enforcement of the subpoena,” which means officials “could not undertake further actions regarding this matter,” wrote Jason J. Metrick, the inspector general special-agent-in-charge.

http://www.newsweek.com/jpmorgan-doesnt-want-talk-about-bernie-madoff-225067

http://www.governmentattic.org/

 

If there is some corner of the world which has remained peaceful, but with a peace based on injustices—the peace of a swamp with rotten matter fermenting in its depths   -  we may be sure that that peace is false. Violence attracts violence. Let us repeat fearlessly and ceaselessly: injustices bring revolt, either from the oppressed or from the young, determined to fight for a more just and more human world.

Dom Hélder Câmara

UK Recovery

US Economic Recovery Part II

March 2001

Warning: Verizon commercial every five minutes

 

The US Economic Recovery

Spike in building permits that reaches the non-population adjusted figure from over fifty years ago:

There's more:

A decreasing velocity of M1 might indicate fewer short- term consumption transactions are taking place:

The problem must be the lack of inflation:

O ye of little faith.

1928 2007 2012

 

https://twitter.com/Not_Jim_Cramer

 

 

Duct Tape

Regarding the Possible Upcoming Bombing of Syria

"My credibility’s not on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line, and America and Congress’ credibility is on the line..."

Putin Calls Kerry a Liar

Kerry also downplayed any threat from the Russian vessels.
"Their ships are kind of staying out of the way. They are not threatening that, and I don't think that would be what would happen here," Kerry said, in apparent reference to possible Russian retaliation to potential U.S. action in Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/04/us-syria-crisis-usa-russia-idUSBRE98314W20130904

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a liar...
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57601401/putin-calls-kerry-a-liar-on-syria/

110 lb. Iraq War Veteran Arrested for Playing Banjo in Protest of War on Syria

 

March 21 2003 - A War Began on Lies and Misinformation

 

Hello NSA. I Accidently Deleted an Email. Can You Help Me Find it?

DATELINE: 1-30-13

London, Jan 30 (ANI): The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashar al Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/us-backed-plan-launch-chemical-weapon-attack-syria-045648224.html

Mormons in the Hood

Constitution Free Zone

"You’re driving along a remote, dusty road, when suddenly you come upon a border patrol checkpoint. There, agents demand to see your identity papers, and search your car. You are taken by surprise, because you know you haven’t wandered across the Texas-Mexico border. In fact, you’re quite sure of that, because you’re driving through rural Wisconsin countryside west of Green Bay. Even the Canadian border is more than 90 miles away. "
http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/homeland-security-assuming-broad-powers-turning-vast-swaths-us

"He's too Busy Jacking Off to do anything for the City"

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/sydney-leathers-trashes-anthony-weiner-howard-stern-article-1.1412946

Hello. I'm John Wiliams, President of the SF Fed. A Moron and or a Liar, Take Your Pick

"And it is also prudent to wait a bit and make sure that inflation doesn't keep coming in below expectations, possibly signaling a more persistent decline in inflation."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/28/usa-fed-williams-idUSN9N0EF00H20130628

 

"As I said in the speech, the economy is far stronger now than it was four and a half years ago."

 

 https://twitter.com/Not_Jim_Cramer/status/354414583143874561/photo/1

Uncle Ben

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

MORELIA, Mexico (AP)

At least five people were killed and seven were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a group of community self-defense members
/
Michoacan state prosecutors' spokesman Alejandro Arellano said about 300 masked community vigilantes wearing similar T-shirts arrived at city hall in the town of Los Reyes and announced they would take over policing the town.
Minutes later three assailants opened fired on the crowd, killing three members of the self-defense group, a police officer and a passer-by, Arellano said.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130723/DA7MUHOO1.html

General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Seeks Civil War?

"Egypt’s military chief is calling for supporters of the new regime in the country to take to the streets."
http://www.euronews.com/2013/07/24/egypt-army-general-s-call-for-mass-demonstrations-condemned/

Wonder What the Crime Rate is In Chief Kessler's Jurisdiction?

Herr Schäuble Sprechen

 

“Anything else is not in the best interest of Greece. If you take guarantees and then you are discussing a haircut, you are a liar.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10189235/Germany-refuses-fresh-relief-for-Greeks-as-debt-ratio-spirals-out-of-control.html

 

October 13, 2012:
" We refused to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt. We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that bet is paying off in a big way."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57531867/obama-i-refused-to-let-detroit-go-bankrupt/

July 18, 2013:
"The city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in federal court."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/18/detroit-prepares-bankruptcy-filing-friday/2552819/

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Bonnaroo 2012

The Non-PM of the Uncoup

"[E]lBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had been due to be sworn in as interim prime minister on Saturday night, but the presidential office later appeared to row back, saying consultations were continuing. On Sunday, ElBaradei was reported to have cancelled an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press citing laryngitis and a fever."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/07/egypt-clashes-protests-new-government

The History of Military Dictatorship in Egypt

I'm Shocked, Shocked to Find Out Spying is Going On Here

"The monitoring of friends -- this is unacceptable. It can't be tolerated," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday through her spokesman Steffen Seibert. "We are no longer in the Cold War."
"Germany´s Chancellor, Angela Merkel has blasted the United States for spying on European citizens as well as on E.U. diplomats in Washington, New York and at the European Council in Belgium.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/merkel-furious-at-us-spying-and-eu-to-check-offices-for-bugs-a-908859.html

"[B]ut others say that the chancellor will probably be friendly to Obama during their next talk, and not because this is what diplomatic conventions call for, even amid tensions. No, it's because there is some question as to whether Berlin's dismay about the espionage by the National Security Agency (NSA) is really as great as it claims. Could some of the indignation be feigned? Did the revelations really shock the chancellor? And if it did come as a surprise, has German counterintelligence failed miserably?
The opposition doesn't believe that Merkel was unaware of the situation. In an editorial for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week, Sigmar Gabriel, chairman of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), openly aired the suspicion that Merkel was familiar with at least some of the spying activity. The government has vehemently rejected this accusation as crude campaign bluster.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/how-much-did-merkel-know-about-nsa-spying-in-germany-a-909174.html

"America's National Security Agency works closely with Germany and other Western states on a 'no questions asked'-basis, former NSA employee Edward Snowden said in comments that undermine Chancellor Angela Merkel's indignant talk of "Cold War" tactics.
"They are in bed with the Germans, just like with most other Western states," German magazine Der Spiegel quotes him as saying in an interview published on Sunday that was carried out before he fled to Hong Kong in May and divulged details of extensive secret U.S. surveillance/"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/07/us-usa-security-germany-idUSBRE9660C020130707

U.S. National Security Agency - The Global Peeping Toms- Fuck You National Security Agency

"[A]s the headline suggests, the crux of the main article details how the NSA has, for years, systematically tapped into the Brazilian telecommunication network and indiscriminately intercepted, collected and stored the email and telephone records of millions of Brazilians. The story follows an article in Der Spiegel last week, written by Laura Poitras and reporters from that paper, detailing the NSA's mass and indiscriminate collection of the electronic communications of millions of Germans."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/07/nsa-brazilians-globo-spying

منافق

It appears that interim Prime minister ElBaradei is anti-Egyptian military only when they do not place him at the seat of power.

January 14, 2012
"[M]y conscience does not allow me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless there is real democracy,” Mr ElBaradei said.

Referring to last year’s protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, he added that “the captains of the vessel ... are still treading old waters, as if the revolution did not take place.”

Mr ElBaradei’s decision to withdraw from the contest is yet another blow to the credibility of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been accused of numerous human rights violations since Mr Mubarak stepped down.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9014988/Mohamed-ElBaradei-drops-Egyptian-presidential-bid.html

July 6, 2013
"[E]lBaradei is our first choice," a source close to the army said earlier this week.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/06/mohamed-elbaradei-interim-pm-opposition

"[A] military source told the AFP news agency that Mr ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, would be sworn in as prime minister later on Saturday, three days after Mohammed Morsi was ousted by the army.
/
Mr ElBaradei has defended the army's intervention, saying although it was a "painful measure", Mr Morsi had "undermined his own legitimacy".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10164552/Egypt-Mohamed-ElBaradei-to-be-interim-prime-minister.html



 

U.S Ambassador to Egypt Anne W. Patterson and the Uncoup

Ambassador Patterson on the Uncoup:
"Of course it is challenging to be dealing with any new government. However, at the state institutional level, we are for instance still liaising with the same military and civil service personnel, and thus have retained the same long-established relations."
The Uncoup

"Instead, the U.S. president gave a wink and a nod to a military takeover in Egypt, which the State Department is now indicating may not be a coup, because the generals have not imposed a military leader. Instead, they have put in place as president Egypt’s highest judge, after he was in office but two days. Even if a figurehead, that makes the military removal of a duly-elected Egypt president not a coup, therefore legitimate?
That question has the legal minds at the State Department working overtime.

The upshot, in Egypt Obama’s principal representative, Ambassador Anne Paterson, is vilified by all sides, and the Muslim Brotherhood is likely permanently disabused of the notion that participating in democratic processes can lead to its views taking hold anywhere from Syria to Yemen."

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/america-mess-egypt-164639195.html?l=1



 

Referee Beheaded in Brazil

An amateur football match in Brazil led to two murders as a referee was beheaded by spectators after he had stabbed a player.
http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1492969/referee-beheaded-killing-player-brazil?cc=5901

Newsweek Reporter in Cairo asks, "Shouldn't the Tear Gas Have Come Before the Bullets?"

Mr. Giglio's eyewitness account states the Egyptian army fired on unarmed Morsi supporters and then used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

"standing next to me saying he saw a protester shot in the head for throwing stones, thinks he's dead."
"AFP reporting three killed in the clashes just now"
"Guy miffed as he listens to state radio (88.7fm Egyptian Radio) on his phone: "they say that there are no people dead!"


https://twitter.com/mike_giglio

Human Breast Milk has Become a New Luxury for China's Rich

"[A]dult (clients) can drink it directly through breastfeeding, or they can always drink it from a breast pump if they feel embarrassed," the report quoted company owner Lin Jun as saying.
Wet nurses serving adults are paid around 16,000 yuan ($2,600) a month -- more than four times the Chinese average -- and those who were "healthy and good looking" could earn even more, the report said"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hi3ZdZpeoZCU8sAExgaroV2YaiMg?docId=CNG.0148ab4e6c0dcbbd7ac0ac88f1762439.4d1
 

June 24 2012

"[M]orsy defeated former general Ahmed Shafik in a run-off last weekend by a convincing 3.5 percentage points, or nearly 900,000 votes, taking 51.7 percent of the total, officials said.
The announcement ended a week of angry disputes over the count in the poll to replace Mubarak, pushed aside by his fellow officers 16 months ago to appease the Arab Spring revolution."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/us-egypt-election-idUSBRE85G01U20120624

Bloomberg

NEW YORK — In his nationwide effort for tighter gun control, Mayor Michael Bloomberg attributes historic crime lows in New York to strict gun laws that are strictly enforced. "If we are serious about protecting lives," he wrote in a recent newspaper editorial, "we have to get serious about enforcing our laws."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/bloomberg-gun-control-lower-new-york-crime-rates_n_2535522.html


Front page NY Times story, July 2, 2013:
Audit of Crime Statistics Reveals Mistakes by Police - The New York ...

www.nytimes.com/.../audit-of-crime-statistics-finds-mistakes-by-police.ht...‎

 

View shared post

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN. Published: July 2, 2013. A long-awaited report ordered by the police commissioner in New York has found deficiencies in the Police Department's efforts to detect whether its crime statistics are being manipulated.

 

 

 

Evo Morales

...whose plane was forced to land after Portugal and France refused him access to their airspace.

 

 

"[I] know that the empires have an espionage network and are against the so-called developing countries. And in particular, against those which are rich in natural resources."

Oliver Wyman, 7 Billion Euro's Pulled From A Banker's Ass and the German National Anthem

"Ireland’s central bank will investigate whether tapes of senior bankers laughing at regulators contain evidence rules were broken during the 2008 rescue of failed lenders that eventually led to the country’s EU bailout.
/
Public outrage is growing in Ireland after a newspaper published transcripts of taped telephone conversations between executives of the now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank, wrecked when a property bubble burst in 2008 after years of reckless lending.
/
In the tapes published by the Irish Independent, Anglo’s then-head of capital markets John Bowe was asked how it had come up with a figure of €7-billion for a rescue. He responded that he had “picked it out of my arse.”
In another tape recorded as the crisis unfolded, executives sang the German national anthem and laughed as they discussed money flowing in from other countries after a guarantee of deposits held in Irish banks."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/irish-central-bank-probes-whether-tapes-show-rule-breaking/article12834559/

What does the Anglo Irish Bank and the entire banking sector of Spain have in common?

Obama Speaks to Poverty in Africa

“I’m calling for America to up our game when it comes to Africa,” Obama said. “There’s no question Africa’s on the move, but it’s not moving fast enough for the child still languishing in poverty in forgotten townships.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-30/obama-announces-plan-to-boost-power-in-sub-saharan-africa.html

Meanwhile in the United States during Obama's presidency:

2009-2011: Uneven recovery from the Great Recession. Hence the top 1%captured 121% of the income gains in the first two years of the recovery.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/125269359/Getting-Richer-Edmund-Saez

Must Spread Demokracy

I am Barack W. Obushma

"Despite Bahrain’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the U.S. has continued to provide weapons and maintenance to the small Mideast nation.
/
The Obama administration has stood by Bahrain’s ruling family, who are Sunni, during nearly two years of protests by the country’s majority Shia population. Bahrain is a longtime ally and the home to a large American naval base, which is considered particularly important amid the current tensions with nearby Iran."
http://www.propublica.org/article/americas-arms-sales-bahrain-crackdown

and today in Bahrain:
"A lower criminal court in Bahrain, headed by a member of the ruling family, has sentenced a 17-year-old boy to a year in jail for insulting the Gulf island's king on Twitter."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/06/2013629164825184368.html

Mind the Gap

"Since his first day in office, President Barack Obama's foreign policy has rested on outreach: resetting ties with Russia, building a partnership with China and offering a fresh start with antagonistic leaders from Iran to Venezuela.
But the global travels on Sunday of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden highlight the limits of that approach. Leaders Obama has wooed - and met recently - were willing to snub the American president."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/us-usa-security-obama-analysis-idUSBRE95M0HL20130624

"[A] State Department official said Washington has told countries in the Western Hemisphere that he should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States."
/
"In a major embarrassment for U.S. President Barack Obama, an aircraft thought to have carried Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday, and Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino tweeted that Ecuador had received an asylum request from Snowden."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/us-usa-security-flight-idUSBRE95M02H20130624

Beijing made the final decision in allowing fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, as the United States was disappointed by Hong Kong’s “troubling” failure to arrest Snowden before he fled the territory.
http://www.scmp.com/

Marc Faber

"Believing In Bernanke Is Like Believing In Santa Claus"

other notable quotes from the good doctor:
“I keep in my toilet a picture of Mr. Bernanke. And every time I think about selling my gold, I look at it and I know better!”

"If you look at what happened in Cyprus, basically people with money will lose part of their wealth, either through expropriation or higher taxation. The problem is that 92 percent of financial wealth is owned by 5 percent of the population. The majority of people don't own meaningful stock positions and they don't benefit from a rise in the stock market. They are being hurt by a rising cost of living and we all know that the real incomes of median households has been going down for the last few years. What happened in Cyprus will happen everywhere in the world, in Western democracies."

"If I had to vote for either Obama or Romney I would shoot myself."

"In order to protect their assets, investors should buy themselves a machine gun…I need to buy a tank. Joking aside, look, we have manipulated markets. Whenever you manipulate markets, you will get unintended consequences."

“In the 40 years I’ve been working as an economist and investor, I have never seen such a disconnect between the asset market and the economic reality ... Asset markets are in the sky and the economy of the ordinary people is in the dumps, where their real incomes adjusted for inflation are going down and asset markets are going up. Something will break very bad.”

 

"Ireland is a Nation of Pimps and Obama is the Hypocrite of the Century."

Irish Politician Clare Daley

"the Taoiseach has showcased the Republic as a nation of pimps, prostituting ourselves in return for a pat on the head."

"there was speculation whether the Taoiseach was going to deck the Cabinet out in leprechaun hats decorated with a bit of stars and stripes to really mark abject humiliation."

"there had been almost unprecedented slobbering over the visit of US First Lady Michelle Obama"

" We’ve had separate and special news bulletins by the State broadcaster to tell us what Michelle Obama and her daughters had for lunch in Dublin but very little questioning of the fact that she was having lunch with Bono, Mr Tax Exile himself."

" Mr Kenny is pimping Ireland as a tax haven."

Ms. Daley on Obama:
"Is this person going for the hypocrite of the century award? Because we have to call things by their right names, and the reality is that by any serious examination, this man is a war criminal."

"This is the man who has facilitated a 200 percent increase in the use of drones, which have killed thousands of people including hundreds of children,"
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/g8-summit/ireland-pimped-out-like-prostitute-to-war-criminal-obama-says-politician-clare-daly-29357659.html

 

Bernanke's Tapir Moment

1 Million Protest in Brazil

If you know a Brazilian, you know that a Big Mac combo meal costs over $20 US, that in Brazil you don't call the police you call a relative or a friend, the politicians and therefore the police are hopelessly corrupt and that Brazil is a violent nation.

"[m]any have been united by a common concern for Brazil’s economy: even though incomes have gone up, Brazil’s new middle class has been demanding more from public services, and the rising cost of living, particularly food and services, has hit Brazilians hard.
American expatriate and Rio’s Gringo Café owner Sam Flowers says that food and labor costs have skyrocketed in just the last six months: “One product jumped forty percent in a week, many others are up 12 to 20 percent. Rent, food, transportation are all rising. Everyone is changing their spending habits and using credit cards more, some are even moving,” he tells The Rio Times.
http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/front-page/economic-worries-stoke-brazil-protests/#

 

Via Zero Hedge

 

“We’ve slipped away from a true republic. Now we’re slipping into a fascist system where it’s a combination of government, big business and authoritarian rule, and the suppression of the individual rights of each and every American citizen. When it comes to any significant differences on foreign policy, economic intervention, the Federal Reserve, a strong executive branch, a welfarism mixed with corporatism, both parties are very much alike. The major arguments in hotly contested presidential races are mostly for public consumption to convince the people they actually have a choice.”

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