As Britain goes to the polls, gold says "Goodbye" in fine style to the man who dumped half the UK's reserves on the market in May 1999...
HOW SWEET of gold to mark Gordon Brown's last day in power with a new all-time high against the Pound Sterling.
He did so much, short term, to dent the former. But his famous "prudence" – in truth, an abject misreading of both economics and history – has in fact worked to destroy the latter instead.
Perhaps today's valedictory jump...leaping 3.7% to touch £805 an ounce...was just one last blow-off to mark Brown's political passing. But the gold price in Sterling looks more ironic than toppish given his legacy of debt. more..
Frequent contributor Harun I. recently submitted a chart which may well be the "chart of the century": exponential growth and depletion.
The chart displays two lines: the blue line traces out exponential growth (for example, in demand for oil, deficit spending, etc.) while the lower lines traces out exponential depletion (for example, of oil reserves). The consequences of a "modest" 3% growth/depletion rate are striking and sobering. more...
UK bank shares fall after Moody's credit-rating agency warns of risk from sovereign debt downgrade
Fears that Greece's sovereign debt crisis could spill into the banking sector and prompt another credit crunch hammered bank share prices today amid warnings that Britain's banks remain "vulnerable".
Shares in the major banks dominated the top 10 fallers in the FTSE 100, led by Barclays, which ended 6% lower at 301p. The falls wiped out any lingering hopes that a new government would be able to point to gains on the taxpayers' stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, which plunged through their break-even levels. more...
Outsourcing industry sees good times ahead as costs are slashed across the board
Britain's senior civil servants are making preparations for spending cuts of up to 30% from next year, resulting in major job losses, in what is being dubbed the "public sector recession".
Leading figures in the outsourcing industry have said they are planning to take over large swaths of public services as Whitehall prepares to cut costs across the board. more...
US equities were gripped by panic selling as the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points driven by a cascade of 100 share high frequency program trading, estimated to have been about 80% of volume. Gold rocketed higher to $1,210. more...
Air chaos from volcanic ash may return within days because of wind direction changes, weather forecasters and aviation chiefs warned last night.
The warning came just hours after all UK and Irish airspace re-opened yesterday following two days of disruption centred on Scotland, Ireland and the North of England.
It also came as the Icelandic volcano at the heart of the problem yesterday increased the amount of ash it is belching out. more...
We could be very close to the end of a financial era that started about 1971. The monetary system as we know it today, which is backed by a changing (non stable dollar), appears to be in its final stages and just waiting for a fierce run to gold, silver and certain other non monetary assets, to provide the death blow.
Here
Content creators haven’t had it easy in the last few years. The almost endless expansion of the Internet’s capacity to move content—first copyrighted text, then images, audio, and video—has fundamentally undermined the pay model of those who produce content. So the lobbying for draconian measures to protect traditional notions of copyright in Britain’s Digital Economy Act has been intense.
Lobbyists told politicians that: more...
Sterling fell against the dollar on Thursday as the market awaited the outcome of the most closely contested general election in nearly two decades, while lower-than-expected UK services sector data also hurt the pound.
Sterling fell below the psychological $1.50 level as some traders attempted to take out barriers, and investors pared back riskier assets on euro zone debt concerns.
Britain's top shares fell 1.6 percent by late trade. more...
Speaking as Greek austerity measures won enough votes to be approved by parliament, El-Erian offered a stern warning about the potential of the crisis to escalate into something resembling, though not duplicating, the 2008-09 financial crisis.
"We've seen a crisis start in a country—Greece—become regional, impact the whole of the Euro zone and is on the verge of truly going global," said El-Erian, CEO of the world's biggest bond fund. more...
Wall Street was gripped by a fresh financial panic tonight as fears spread that the Greek debt crisis will trigger a new catastrophe for the fragile global banking system.
Turbulent scenes in New York – reminiscent of the chaos around the fall of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 – followed a weak statement from the European Cental Bank that investors dismissed as a "do nothing" response to fears of wider contagion.
The blue-chip Dow Jones index briefly fell 900 points, or 9%, dipping below 10,000 points for the first time since early February, before halving its losses in the next 30 minutes. more...
Last month, during the main annual session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Watch worked with a global coalition of 25 human rights groups to organize a conference focused on the countries that rank as the world’s worst violators. Our Geneva Summit for Human Rights featured leading dissidents, attracted hundreds of activists, and was covered in the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and La Stampa. Internet freedom for human rights defenders was a key theme. more...
The crucial Greek austerity bill has been passed by parliament.
The cuts it will bring are needed to release funds in 110 billion euro (£94 billion) three-year rescue package of loans from the other 15 euro-zone countries and the International Monetary Fund.
The vote was carried out by roll call, and reached the simple majority of 151 votes in favour in the 300-member parliament to pass.
The governing Socialists have 160 seats but three of their deputies abstained.
Greeks have been outraged by the measures, which slash salaries and pensions for civil servants and raise consumer taxes.
Thousands of people gathered outside parliament to protest at the measures. More....
Knowing what lies ahead is a great emotional burden.
The knowledge that the present is unsustainable is, for many of us, a great emotional burden. It troubles our sleep, our minds, and our basic emotional well-being. Knowledge, like memory, cannot be erased at will, and thus it runs in the background of our lives, unseen by others but deeply troubling to the knower.
I am not alone in feeling this weight; correspondents and readers write me that they feel it, too.
Yet it is not just the knowledge that all this is based on cheap, abundant oil and a rapidly imploding financial system based on fraud and lies that burdens us; it is the mirror image of reality pressed upon us by the status quo: the Mainstream Media, the corrupt Savior State beholden to Power Elites and crony-capitalist, predatory monopoly-capital cartels and Global Corporate America (which conveniently enough owns the mainstream media).
more...
The euro crisis is far from over. Markets are reacting with skepticism to the largest bailout ever – an attempt to prevent the bankruptcy of Greece. Former Eastern Bloc countries, such as Slovakia, are now expected to bailout Greece. On Sunday the IMF and the 15 other Eurozone countries – the member states of the European Union (EU) which, together with Greece, use the euro as their common currency – agreed to bail out Athens with bilateral loans totaling €120bn ($160bn) over the next three years. Many of these 15 countries, however, have huge debts themselves. They have agreed to help Greece, hoping that someone (read: Germany) will come to their rescue, too. Will Berlin and the IMF be able to save them all? more...
It [thedocument] was written by a small cellule of EU officials in 2003 or 2004 (If I remember correctly) under prodding from Paris. It explores the legal basis for measures to stabilise the euro and EMU.
After combing through the EU treaties and court judgments, it concluded that Brussels may impose “quantitative restrictions” on capital inflows. Free movement of capital in the EU is not an “absolute freedom” and could be limited in an emergency.
“Should extremely disturbing capital movements endanger the operation of economic and monetary union, Article 59 EC (Maastricht) provides for the possibility to adopt restrictive measures for a period not exceeding six months,” it says.
It would be renewable every six months. Any decision would be taken by EU finance ministers under qualified majority voting, so no country could veto it.
The document was shown to me by one of the authors at the time. Part of it was later included in a published report, but nobody noticed — except Bernard Connolly, former currency chief at the Commission and later global strategist at Banque AIG. He always suspected that the EU experiment would end in capital controls.
So has the bond crash in southern Europe reached the point where it is “extremely disturbing” and “endangers” monetary union? More ...
Atrios, the other day, describing this story about the toxic dispersants (symptoms at high doses: headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems) being poured into the gulf by the ton to break up the oil slick:
The President’s Cancer Panel is the Mount Everest of the medical mainstream, so it is astonishing to learn that it is poised to join ranks with the organic food movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies.
The cancer panel is releasing a landmark 200-page report on Thursday, warning that our lackadaisical approach to regulation may have far-reaching consequences for our health. more...
BRITAIN is today facing the most uncertain General Election in a generation.
With General Election opinion polls still not pointing to a conclusive result, voters really do not know what kind of Government they will wake up to tomorrow morning. more...
Yesterday's violent riots were a reminder that many Greeks are strongly in favor of default.
Investors have begun to question the financial strength of other European nations, even those outside of the infamous PIGS group (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain).
Here's a snapshot taken from a Morgan Stanley report by Paolo Batori that shows how European financial systems have deteriorated during this crisis, and who's most at risk of becoming the next Greece. more...
What many traders are starting to realize is that the precious metals plunged with stocks in the recent market dislocation in 2008 because it was a 'liquidity crisis' among private institutions triggered by the credit unworthiness of individuals that provoked a general selling of assets.
What we are experiencing now is a sovereign debt (credit worthiness) crisis, which is really a currency crisis. A fiat currency is backed by nothing except the 'full faith and credit' of the issuer. It is not that it would have to be 'different this time' as some would think. It's not even the same thing, a different type of a crisis entirely. more...
(WallStreetJournal) – In a move that will stoke a battle over the future of the Internet, the federal government plans to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks.
The decision, by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, is likely to trigger a vigorous lobbying battle, arraying big phone and cable companies and their allies on Capitol Hill against Silicon Valley giants and consumer advocates. more...
New research shows that information on potentially lethal side effects of the blockbuster painkiller Vioxx was "neglected, restricted, distorted and silenced" by pharmaceutical giant Merck, writes London-based physician and author John Briffa in The Epoch Times. more...
It’s not surprising that so many parents are so worried about autism. After all, the disorder strikes about one out of every 115 kids, its prevalence seems to be growing, and its cause or causes remain mysterious.
A 1998 article published in the British medical journal The Lancet generated enormous impact by proposing a link between autism and childhood vaccines. Since then, celebrity activists like Jenny McCarthy have argued that common shots like the measles, mumps, and rubellla vaccine (MMR) trigger autism. Countless media stories have covered the alleged link. more...
(Reuters) - Iran began new naval war games in the Gulf on Thursday to show the Islamic state's "power to defend" itself against any attack, state television reported.
It was the second such display of military might in less than a month.
The maneuvers by Iran's regular navy, due to last eight days in the waterway crucial for global oil supplies, coincided with rising tension in Tehran's long-running nuclear dispute with Western powers. more...
One year after ground-breaking reforms that were meant to open thousands of hearings to the media, more family courts are now more closed to public scrutiny, it is claimed today.
Media organisations and lawyers both say that the campaign to open up the family courts has largely failed.
Changes rushed through Parliament before the election was announced will also make it even more difficult than before to report on the family courts. more...
Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, will have his plea not to have to spend the rest of his life behind bars considered by the courts this summer.
The serial killer's application to have a tariff set which could lead to parole is due to be heard at the High Court in London on July 16, it has been revealed.
Now known as Peter Coonan, the 63-year-old former lorry driver from Bradford was convicted at the Old Bailey in London in 1981.
He received 20 life terms for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven others in Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
A judge recommended that he serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars. More.....
David Miliband's chances of becoming the next Labour leader appeared to be growing, amid speculation that he would secure the backing of key figures from all wings of the party. More......
Crude Oil, The Terror Of The 100-Dollar Barrel
Like the easy-to-remember 100 for the barrel price in dollars, we have a shift to equally easy near-term future currency values and relations. The Euro and US dollar can attain parity, along with the GB pound, and 100 Yen will be equal to all three. Adding the 100-dollar barrel we have a future commodity and currency pack, possibly including a slightly shrunken but fixed-value gold standard of 1000 dollars an ounce, although this is less sure. More here
In a scary day’s trading with liquidity basically gone from Eurozone bond markets, equity markets finally woke up and took note and more than $1.1 trillion was wiped from the value of global stocks. Growing expectations that the €110 billion rescue package for Greece will need to be extended to Spain and Portugal was the cause. This was despite positive US home sales and factory orders data. MORE HERE
Greece's still-pending €110bn bail-out has already cost three lives in Athens' riots today. More bloodshed inside Western Europe would make a horrific end for this grandest of grand post-war projects...the crowning achievement of Europe's longest-ever period of peacetime.
But thanks to history – and the very same history that built the Euro, as well – Germany cannot inflate. The rest of Europe, however, cannot do anything else. Sharing one printing press was always unwise. Now it makes UK prime minister Gordon Brown look smart for staying outside. Which really is saying something.
No "single currency" could ever reconcile history, however, because Europe's monetary politics over the last 100 years is cleft right in two. Germany suffered first hyper-inflation...and then madness...before banishing the shame of cattle-trucks packed full of people by promising "Never again!" to wheelbarrows overflowing with bank-notes.
The rest of Europe, in contrast, and especially the PIGS of the south (but also Great Britain, you'll note), got things the other way round. Deflation came first, thanks to the interwar Gold Standard. Victory in Europe was then followed by the victory of soft money. Time and again, devaluation worked magic to rescue over-spent nations from ever settling their debts.More Here
Just been referred to this article , so if you hav en't seen it go HERE
Extract:
The key evidence of the scorched earth policy is in the record 12% budget deficit that the government will run this year and the deployment of quantitative easing for the primarily purpose of monetizing government debt so as to prevent government bond auction failures which would force interest rates higher. Both of these are aimed at generating a false bounce in the economy as the eventual consequences of both is higher inflation and interest rates.
We were just noting that the UK's Labour Party appeared to have egregiously infringed on the copyrights of a television program with its campaign poster for the second time, and Shane Richmond, over at the Telegraph, points us to an even more blatant infringement by the same party. In this case, the party put out a pamphlet that used a blogger's photo entirely without permission and against his wishes (he's voting for a different party). more...
This is the moment a teenage prank ended in terror as a police officer pulls a Taser gun and fires 12,000 volts into a pitch invader at a baseball match.
Steve Consalvi, 17, had leaped over a fence and ran around the outfield at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, towards the end of the Phillies' game against St Louis Cardinals. more...
The first casualty of state terror is the corruption of language, the invention of euphemisms, where words mean their opposite and slogans cover great crimes: There is no longer a world consensus that condemns crimes against humanity. This is because mass murder and assassinations secure investor ‘confidence’, because Indians are dispossessed so the mines can be exploited; oil workers disappear so the petroleum will flow; and the international financial press praises the success of el Presidente for “pacifying the country”.
When narco-presidents are embraced by the leaders of North America and Europe, it is evident that criminals have become respectable the respectable have become criminals. more...
Polling day has finally arrived in the UK and like the 2008 US elections the favoured buzz word is "change". But when it comes to the surveillance state is anything really likely to change? The media would have us believe that the three main political parties offer us a choice but upon closer inspection they all look the same.
The BBC website featured a bizarre item last week entitled 'Do CCTV and the DNA database make us safer?' [1]. The article is accompanied by a video of a press conference at which New Labour politicians Alan Johnson (Home Secretary), John Denham (Communities Secretary) and Peter Mandelson (Dark Lord) spoke about their desire to push ahead with CCTV cameras and the retention of DNA of innocent people (contrary even to a European Court of Human Rights ruling). more...
Talking heads are waxing enthusiastic over signals that the recession is receding, but debris from the derivatives debacle won't go away without a total financial system collapse, according to 321gold.com founder Bob Moriarty in this exclusive Gold Report interview. "Nobody and nothing is going to stop it from happening. It is as absolute as the time and tides," he says. While folks are all hunkered down in their bunkers waiting for the apocalypse, though, he suggests investing any spare cash in resource stocks-a "slam dunk" now that they're cheaper than they've been in nearly a decade. more...
A review of the history of the R2P campaign over the last two decades shows that it is nothing but a carefully orchestrated series of deceptive attempts by a coterie of US ‘think tanks’ and INGOs to force this dangerous ideological tool on the UN, resisted vigorously and with the highest level of skepticism and disdain by the wider membership of the UN; they view it as the nearest imperialist contraption to the 15th Century Papal Bulls that rationalized the subjugation of Indigenous peoples around the globe. more...
Here's one for conspiracy theorists. Is Google a) A Fortune 100 technology company providing people with a variety of cloud-based and online services and applications or b) a thoroughly evil firm seeking to control everything we do and keep a watchful eye over us at every turn?
For those who think the latter, this news story will help to fuel the fire. It would appear that Street View, a service that's already got people's backs up thanks to some of the images of people's homes that it's published, is in hot water again over the information it's taking from us.
According to reports emanating from Germany, the country's Federal Data Protection Commissioner is 'horrified' to have discovered that the service is recording users' MAC addresses and locations of WiFi networks while photographs of roads are being taken. This has led the UK's Information Commissioner's Office to step in, as officials have now stated that they want to seek assurances and details about what Google is doing. more...
The chief executive of clothing retailer Next, Simon Wolfson, warned today that unless the incoming government took urgent action to tackle the hole in the UK's public finances, the country could face the same economic woes as struggling members of the eurozone within three years.
"It is impossible to say whether this year could be worst than last year until we know the government measures to cure the deficit," said Wolfson. "But there is a great big hole to fill. I don't think we are in the same position as Greece because we are not in the euro. But something does need to be done, whoever wins the election, or in two or three years' time we could be a Greece or Spain." more...
European commission warns of dangers of crisis spreading as investors grow fearful of pension commitments
Financial markets tumbled today after a warning from the European commission that the turmoil in Athens was in danger of spreading to other countries, including the UK.
The commission said mounting government debts could trigger widespread panic among investors and threaten the EU's economic recovery.
The European monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, said it was vital to stop the crisis spreading beyond Greece. "It's essential to contain the bushfire in Greece so it will not become a forest fire and a threat to financial stability for the EU and its economy." more...
New figures released by the International Labour Office (ILO) and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) underscore the scale of joblessness throughout the G20 countries and the limited impact of various government stimulus measures.
The global economic crisis has thrown tens of millions of workers—especially those in the youngest and oldest cohorts—into permanent unemployment, the reports indicate. Labor and employment ministers, meeting last month for a G20 summit in Washington, responded to the OECD and ILO reports with vague recommendations for their governments to pursue “inclusive active labour market policies” and aim for a “higher equilibrium of progress” on employment issues.
more...
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece to “junk” status and Portugal to four notches above junk on April 27. The premium for 10-year Greek government bonds over euro zone benchmark German Bunds blew out to 942 basis points - its highest since late 1996 - from 690 bps April 28. The two-year Greek bond yield briefly hit more than 28 percent earlier in indicative trading. more...
Millions of workers are seeing their wages fall in real terms, as salaries fail to keep pace with the rising cost of living, a new study has shown.
The figures are the latest sign that rising inflation is squeezing workers' standard of living, even though the recession has officially ended.
Average wage rises have increased by just 0.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent, according to a respected monthly survey from Incomes Data Services (IDS). The study compared the three month period to the end of February with the three month period to the end of March. more...
The Treasury has found ways of implementing the Conservative election pledge to make £6 billion worth of efficiency savings in the coming year, The Times has learnt.
As well as drawing up draconian options for cutting welfare bills, officials have been preparing to make a reality of George Osborne’s plan to make savings over the next ten months. more...
Parents of children with birth defects say Britain knew of US chemical weapons use
Allegations that Britain was complicit in the use of chemical weapons linked to an upsurge in child deformity cases in Iraq, are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence.
The case raises serious questions about the UK's role in the American-led offensive against the city of Fallujah in the autumn of 2004 where hundreds of Iraqis died. After the battle, in which it is alleged that a range of illegal weaponry was used, evidence has emerged of large numbers of children being born with severe birth defects. more...
The U.K. will be one of the next victims of the contagion from the Greek fiscal crisis after Spain, Portugal and Ireland, economist Jean-Paul Fitoussi said.
Fitoussi, chairman of the Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economique said at a conference in Rome that contagion “will hit Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the U.K. This is because there isn’t a real European Union.” He added that contagion “is marching on, it’s already here.” more...
A DESPERATE Gordon Brown yesterday sought to blame celebrities, businesses and the media for Labour’s dwindling support at the polls
The Prime Minister declared it was the “people’s election” and the result should not be swayed by the press.
Mr Brown, who has himself paraded comedian Eddy Izzard and TV star Ross Kemp to win over voters, bemoaned the use of showbiz stars. more...
THE Tories were tantalisingly close to victory last night, according to the final round of opinion polls.
An Opinium poll for the Daily Express gave the party a substantial eight per cent lead over Labour on the eve of today’s General Election.
The survey of 1,383 voters gave the Conservatives a 35 per cent share of the vote, up two per cent from the firm’s most recent poll on Monday. more...
Children as young as 18 months old have received polling cards for the general election — prompting further fears of voting fraud.
The Standard has learned of dozens of cases of youngsters being registered to vote although they are not 18. Councils have put the incidents down to registration errors. more...
Witnesses told local media that tanks shells caused damage in property but reported no injuries among civilians.
Meanwhile army tanks also fire at farmers close to the eastern Gaza borders with Israel and forced to leave their lands, no injuries were reported. more...
Details of every garden in England have been put on a database by government officials.
The aim is to use the information to justify increased council tax bills after the election.
The 'garden tax' database, called the Geographical Information System, records even minor features of the land a home occupies. For example it shows if a driveway is shared and the size of side passages at end-of-terrace houses. more...
The NHS is being forced to cut services because of the huge costs of the swine flu scare that proved unfounded.
A survey has found that as many as one in six health trusts may have to slash services - or already have done so - to recoup costs.
The cuts required to pay for swine flu preparations are on top of the cuts needed after the election as the NHS adjusts to a post-credit crunch world. more...
In the latest issue of the excellent online resource, Military Resistance, it transpires that the British have named a base at Sangin, Helmand Province: "PB (Patrol Base) Waterloo."
Either the British Army do not share the superstitions of their Royal Navy colleagues, or they have a wry sense of irony. The British may have won the Battle of Waterloo (commenced 18th June 1815) but at an unimaginable cost: more...
Obama FCC Expected to Abandon Net Neutrality, Universal Internet
On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the Federal Communications Commission is expected to abandon its pledges to protect Net Neutrality and to ensure universal, affordable broadband. The story cites anonymous insiders confirming that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is "leaning toward" siding with the most powerful phone and cable lobbyists on a crucial decision: whether the FCC will have any authority to protect an open Internet and make it available to all.
It is a testament to the phone and cable industry's overwhelming influence that they seem to have convinced the nation's communications agency to swear off authority to protect Americans' right to open communications. But it is stunning that Genachowski would even contemplate allowing it to stand, given President Obama's repeated pledge to ensure fast, affordable, universal Internet broadband for every American.
So what's going on here? more...
Last year the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General William Ward, said the Pentagon had military partnerships with 35 of the continent's 53 nations, "representing U.S. relationships that span the continent." [1]
That number has increased in the interim. more...
Capital markets may be facing the biggest crisis in a century with governments all but powerless to ward off a sovereign debt disaster, according to Gary Jenkins at Evolution Securities Ltd.
Investors greeted plans for a 110 billion-euro ($143 billion) bailout of Greece by shunning the bonds of Europe’s debt-ridden nations on concern the aid package won’t solve the country’s deficit crisis or prevent contagion. Credit-default swaps on Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy surged and the euro tumbled. more...
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As Britain goes to the polls, gold says "Goodbye" in fine style to the man who dumped half the UK's reserves on the market in May 1999...
