The fact the news media is talking

about inflation means it's on the way

U.S. consumer prices flat,

inflation pressures muted

Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:11am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

U.S. consumer prices were flat in July versus June, but fell over the past 12 months by the most since 1950, according to government data that suggested benign inflation pressure even amid signs the recession may be winding down.
The Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index was unchanged after rising 0.7 percent in June, in line with market forecasts for a flat reading.
Gasoline prices fell 0.8 percent after jumping 17.3 percent the previous month, helping to keep overall prices contained. The food index declined 0.3 percent, the biggest fall since May 2002, after being flat in June, while prices for apparel and new vehicles rose in July.
Compared to the same period last year, consumer prices fell 2.1 percent, the largest decline since January 1950, reflecting the huge drop in oil prices since last year's peak.
U.S. government bond prices extended gains on the data, while the dollar deepened losses against the yen. ( read more here )

Dollar’s Replacement Is Just

6,700 Miles Away

Commentary by William Pesek

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Forget all this chatter about finding a new reserve currency. We already have one, and it’s called the yen.

Before dismissing the idea, consider how the yen is strengthening because investors figure it’s a safe bet. It’s popping up more and more in market stories about how the yen is enjoying a haven status -- even if it’s at odds with events in Japan’s economy.

Japan is in a recession, deflation is afoot and debt is approaching 200 percent of gross domestic product. Investors returning from two decades in hibernation and looking at Japan’s fundamentals might run away. And yet, the yen has gained 14 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past year.

We can deduce three things from this surreal turn of affairs. One is the absurdity of our times. Two, this whole concept of a reserve currency needs an overhaul. Three, those figuring the yen can only rise in value may be disappointed.

The first point is the most intriguing. It’s true that the yen has been a pretty consistent winner for investors betting on a weaker dollar. Regardless of its structural problems, Japan has a stability to it that’s unique. Huge shocks play out over decades or years, not months or weeks.

That said, the idea that the yen is an oasis of prosperity in an otherwise crazy world shows the extent to which things have gone mad. Is Japan, the weak link among developed economies for the last 20 years, really a place investors can escape to?

Crazy 18 Months ( learn more at )

The Crony Capitalist Bailout Nation
Posted: August 8 2009

Were the bailouts even constitutional? looming threats upon USA credibility, bond values, interest rates and hyperinflation,TARP should have bailed out the people, Swap arrangements are smoke and mirrors, markets will devalue the dollar, Moral Hazard has already deeply damaged the nation
The starting point for all analysis of the ongoing bailout orgy that is currently being used in crony capitalist fashion to transfer wealth from our middle class to the Illuminati and their transnational conglomerates is whether these bailouts are authorized by the US Constitution. The answer is a resounding NO!!! Nothing in the Constitution could ever be interpreted in any manner that would in any way allow the conversion of our quasi-capitalist republic into a Marxist-fascistic police state, which is the last thing our Founding Fathers had in mind. How can our government simply hand over fiat money created out of thin air, which in itself totally violates the provisions in our Constitution dealing with the issuance of money, to whoever they deem to be too-big-to-fail? The very idea of such targeted bailouts violates every precept upon which our nation was founded, and our Constitution in no way allows the bailout of any private person or business entity, especially where this creates special privileges to be given to a chosen few "anointed" entities at the expense of our citizens in general. Regulation of interstate commerce does not mean doling out crony capitalist bailouts, which amount to nothing short of the implementation of feudalism under the Puppet Master oligarchs of our Shadow Government. Regulation would mean fining and jailing these criminals and allowing them to fail so better run companies can acquire their assets via liquidation to be supervised by regulators. You reap what you sow in this nation. You do not reap profits for yourself and have everyone else pay for your losses. That is pure poppycock detritus. But where is our redress? We have a President who is a usurper pushed into office by the Puppet Masters in another violation of our Constitution; we have a bogus Congress beholden to the Puppet Masters for the filling of their campaign coffers in a political system where elective offices are bought and sold based on wealth instead of ability and integrity, and we have a Kangaroo Court System where the judges know not to bite the hands that appointed them, lest their skeletons be released from their closets or worse. Our regulators, who are in on almost every scam and public rip-off (i.e. the Madoff debacle), look the other way or issue chump change fines without requiring any accountability. The only redress left now are forceful public demonstrations, and if the President and Congress still turn a deaf ear, then there is always the Second Amendment, which is the option which we predict will eventually be used to create a change in our government from total corruption back to public service. Obama wanted "change," and that is what the American people are going to give him, not what he is going to give us. And let's also make that perfectly clear to the Illuminati, whose boots Obama daily licks like a slobbering dog. ( learn more at )

9/11 Mind Swell Scientific

evidence refutes the official story
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Global Research, August 11, 2009

As we approach the eighth anniversary of 9/11 consider this paradox. In the post 9-11 years the scientific evidence for disbelieving the official government story has mounted incredibly. And the number of highly respected and credentialed professionals challenging the official story has similarly expanded. Yet, to the considerable disappointment of the international 9/11 truth movement, the objective fact is that there are no widespread, loud demands for a new government-backed 9/11 investigation. The 9/11 truth movement is the epitome of a marginalized movement, one that never goes away despite not achieving truly meaningful results, which in this case means replacing official lies with official truth. What has gone wrong?

Akin to the definition of insanity, the hallmark of entrenched but marginalized movements is that they continue to pursue exactly the same strategy and tactics that have failed to produce solid results. They indulge themselves with self-delusion, defensive thinking and acting as if the world at large must surely and finally wake up, see the light and embrace the Truth. Years and, potentially, decades go by, but this quixotic status quo remains embedded, as if set in intellectual concrete. There is no brain tumor to blame. Nor any mass hypnosis of true believers to prove. There is just monumental disinterest among the dominant culture, political establishment and the broad public that is far more engaged with other issues, problems and movements.

The 9/11 truth movement, at best, gets meager public attention when it is derided and insulted, used as an example of persistent conspiratorial insanity.

Make no mistake; I concluded a few years back, after using my professional engineering and materials science background to study the evidence, that the official government story is a lie. As a former full professor of engineering, I firmly believe that elements of the US government were involved with contributing to (not just allowing) the 9/11 tragedy, but that does not necessarily eliminate the role of those terrorists publicly blamed for the events. Science, logic, evidence and critical thinking told me this.

Who should we blame for the failure of the 9/11 truth movement to fix the historical record and, better yet, identify those in the government who turned 9/11 into an excuse for going to war, getting them indicted, prosecuted, and punished for their murderous acts? ( learn more at )

This is No Recession:

It’s a Planned Demolition
Posted By admin On August 11, 2009 @ 11:48 am 11, 2009

Credit is not flowing. In fact, credit is contracting. That means things aren’t getting better; they’re getting worse. When credit contracts in a consumer-driven economy, bad things happen. Business investment drops, unemployment soars, earnings plunge, and GDP shrinks. The Fed has spent more than a trillion dollars trying to get consumers to start borrowing again, but without success. The country’s credit engines are grinding to a halt. Bernanke has increased excess reserves in the banking system by $800 billion, but lending is still slow. The banks are hoarding capital in order to deal with the losses from toxic assets, non performing loans, and a $3.5 trillion commercial real estate bubble that’s following housing into the toilet. That’s why the rate of bank failures is accelerating. 2010 will be even worse; the list is growing. It’s a bloodbath.
The standards for conventional loans have gotten tougher while the pool of qualified credit-worthy borrowers has shrunk. That means less credit flowing into the system. The shadow banking system has been hobbled by the freeze in securitization and only provides a trifling portion of the credit needed to grow the economy. Bernanke’s initiatives haven’t made a bit of difference. Credit continues to shrivel.
The S&P 500 is up 50 percent from its March lows. The financials, retail, materials and industrials are leading the pack. It’s a “Green Shoots” Bear market rally fueled by the Fed’s Quantitative Easing (QE) which is forcing liquidity into the financial system and lifting equities. The same thing happened during the Great Depression. Stocks surged after 1929. Then the prevailing trend took hold and dragged the Dow down 89 percent from its earlier highs. The S&P’s March lows will be tested before the recession is over. Systemwide deleveraging is ongoing. That won’t change.
No one is fooled by the fireworks on Wall Street. Consumer confidence continues to plummet. Everyone knows things are bad. Everyone knows the media is lying. Credit is contracting; the economy’s life’s blood has slowed to a trickle. The economy is headed for a hard landing.
Bernanke has pulled out all the stops. He’s lowered interest rates to zero, backstopped the entire financial system with $13 trillion, propped up insolvent financial institutions and monetized $1 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and US sovereign debt. Nothing has worked. Wages are falling, banks are cutting lines of credit, retirement savings have been slashed in half, and home equity losses continue to mount. Living standards can no longer be bandaged together with VISA or Diners Club cards. Household spending has to fit within one’s salary. That’s why retail, travel, home improvement, luxury items and hotels are all down double-digits. The easy money has dried up.
According to Bloomberg:
“Borrowing by U.S. consumers dropped in June for the fifth straight month as the unemployment rate rose, getting loans remained difficult and households put off major purchases. Consumer credit fell $10.3 billion, or 4.92 percent at an annual rate, to $2.5 trillion, according to a Federal Reserve report released today in Washington. Credit dropped by $5.38 billion in May, more than previously estimated. The series of declines is the longest since 1991. ( learn more at )

Media Floats Talking Point That Gun Owners

Are Domestic Terrorists
Posted By admin On August 12, 2009 @ 8:28 am

The establishment media and the Southern Poverty Law Center are again floating the talking point that militia groups and worried gun owners are growing in the United States and that this could portend a violent act of domestic terror, despite the fact that every major domestic terror attack in the 1990’s was carried out by the federal government itself, from Ruby Ridge, to Waco, to the Oklahoma City bombing.
“Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends,” reports the Associated Press. “The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration.”
The article cites people who own guns and implies that they are domestic terrorists or cop killers in the vein of Richard Poplawski, the Pittsburgh man who gunned down three officers during a domestic dispute earlier this year.
The report cites a Homeland Security “threat projection” which states “White supremacists and militias are more violent and thus more likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks on the scale of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.”
Of course, the irony behind all this is the fact that all the major acts of violence in connection with the militia movement during the 1990’s were committed by the government and federal agents.
It was an FBI sniper that killed Randy Weaver’s son and also his wife as she was holding their 10-month-old baby while running for cover during the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992.
It was the BATF that burned the Branch Davidian ranch to the ground, killing seventy-six people including more than 20 children and two pregnant women, during the Waco massacre in 1993.
And it was high level FBI officials that groomed Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in the run up to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in 1995.
McVeigh’s accomplice Terry Nichols’ revelation that McVeigh was being steered by a high-level FBI official are supported by a plethora of evidence that proves McVeigh did not act alone and that authorities had prior warnings and were complicit in the bombing.
The Deseret Morning News named the FBI agent at Larry Potts, but that information was later sealed by the court.
The affidavit was filed in a lawsuit brought by attorney Jesse Trentadue, whose brother Kenneth was tortured and beaten to death in an Oklahoma City federal prison in 1995. Authorities claimed Trentadue had committed suicide but he was being held in a suicide proof cell at the time and autopsy photos of his body showed he had been shocked with a stun gun, bruised, burned, sliced and then hung. ( learn more at )

"Average" Americans being

affected by financial problems
08.01.09
By Timothy Jones

Many people often think that they won't fall victim to bankruptcy, but a recent report finds that the average American facing financial distress is employed, married and between the ages of 35 and 44.

That's according to a study from the Institute for Financial Literacy which found that in addition to the average financially distressed American being more "average" than one might think, a number of other demographic groups also saw an increase in distress during 2008.

The Annual Consumer Bankruptcy Demographics Report looked into the statistics of a number of American groups throughout the course of 2008 - the first full year of the current recession.

According to the findings, being "overextended on credit" was the number one issue causing financial stress for Americans with 72.6 percent citing it as a problem - up from 69.2 percent in 2007.

Jobs appear to also be playing a factor in a person's financial situation, but not necessarily unemployment. The report found that the percentage of those citing "job loss" as a cause of their stress dropped slightly in 2008. But during that same time, the percentage of people citing "reduction of income" increased 0.7 percent. This may indicate that cutbacks at companies are affecting Americans more than job losses.

Blackwater CEO accused

of

killing witnesses

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:24:10 GMT

The lawsuit filed by Iraqis against the US contractor Blackwater takes turn with a former employee and a former US marine accusing the firm's owner of murder.
In sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, the two testified that company owner and CEO Erik Prince may have murdered or arranged the murder of individuals cooperating with US federal authorities investigating the case.
"[Prince] views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," the former employee -- referred to as "John Doe 2" -- alleges in his statement.
"[Prince's] companies encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life," he adds.
Both men, whose identities were not disclosed for fear of their safety, allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq, One of them even claims that Prince profited from the "illegal" or "unlawful" transfer of weapons into Iraq on his private planes.
In two separate five-page declarations concerning Blackwater, which now operates under the Xe Services LLC, they also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed videos, emails and other documents that were proof of their guilt and intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies.
These and other allegations, make up a seventy-page motion that consists of a series of sworn affidavits given under penalty of perjury.
The motion was filed by lawyers on behalf of Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct.
Blackwater lawyers insist that Prince and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing. The company spokespersons, however, refuse to comment to the media.
According to a source close to the case, John Doe 2 is a former member of Blackwater's management team. Based on his own testimony, he worked with the company for four years.
"It appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct," says John Doe 2, citing information provided to him by former colleagues.
"I fear violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration… On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death and violence," he adds.
Referred to as "John Doe 1", the former US marine who worked for Blackwater in Iraq also made a similar statement.
"I learned from my Blackwater colleagues and former colleagues that one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information about Erik Prince and Blackwater have been killed in suspicious circumstances," he said.
The US Attorney's office in the District of Columbia has refused to comment on the case, citing legal restrictions.
US Federal prosecutors convened a grand jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings in Baghdad, where seventeen Iraqis lost their lives.
Five Blackwater employees are waiting to face trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
A hearing before Judge Ellis in the civil cases against Blackwater is scheduled for August 7.