Friday, November 21, 2008

WHAT A WEEK!

MCR

All things considered, the appointment of Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary was probably the best-possible choice. That's not because he's Tim Geithner. He'll have a mixed record I'm sure. That's not the point. It's because he's the current Chairman of the NY Fed, which is the real seat of economic power in many areas. He knows the NY Fed and that's important because it's become totally apparent that no one else knows what the heck to do. He will bring some stability which is essential for all of us. It's much easier to build lifeboats when the mother ship is a little steady on the way down. Hillary at State doesn't scare me that much either. She could be very useful there. Holder at Justice isn't frightening. Waxman chairing the House Energy Committee is a great windfall!. Those who would call me a Clintonophile missed the first three years of FTW. They should go back and check it out before they diss me in comments. Hillary's asset is the degree to which she is trusted in so many countries; all of which are panicking at the moment. Though I never really cared for her, she has shown some heavy and classy chops and gained a lot of gravitas after the campaign. She is formidable. What we all have to see is whether Barack Obama will be holding the reins and guiding the team or not. These people see that the world is falling apart. They also see that they are going to be judged on how they handle it and they will know -- for a change -- that accountability will be sure and swift.

All of the economic signals indicate chaos rising; a new Zodiac sign I think. Citigroup is toast. I just love that Prince Alwaleed had to up his stake in Citi (see Rubicon and FTW). This confirms again that "the unwinding" [Great title for a Jack Nicholson movie] is out of control. The Saudi kingdom might soon be looking as unsteady as Pakistan. World leaders are freaking that things will get out of control everywhere. Soon enough. Soon enough. -- One or more of the big three will likely go down in December or early January. All of the unemployment numbers are exploding. States and cities are failing. Deflation is setting in. Retail and manufacturing are imploding. And I just heard numbers predicting three million more foreclosures next year. -- Oh yes, and Christmas will be a disaster of course.

Picture a nice Brooks Brothers suit on a handsome guy. (Me for example.) Now picture that while I am standing still, every piece of stitching, every inch of thread, suddenly vanishes. If I stay perfectly still things might be OK. But as soon as I start to move, the sleeves, lapels, lining, etc will start falling off. All that is happening at the moment with the economy is that the stitching is coming out. A couple of frays may have shown and maybe a pocket is dangling but that's it. Suze Orman (Will someone please explain Peak Oil to her?!) is still getting it right... up till the collapse thing. She said today that the stock market and the economy are two different things. Right on! What happens on Wall Street doesn't hit Main Street for months. Main Street hasn't felt the full effects of what happened in September yet.

And we are still nowhere near a bottom. I have not seen a single"credible" expert even suggest that we might be. This economy is in a power dive.

We have yet to see where Bill Richardson will land. He's been at Energy once before. We could do much worse. We could do better. Too bad Matt Simmons isn't interested.

Today's announcements were essential for Mr. Obama. The 500-point rally at the close was perfectly understandable -- if futile in the long run.

Next week will be a contest between cascading economic disasters, and the hope inspired by today's appointments and the faith the market shave in them. Any bets? -- Oh yeah, and I picked up a bit that the former chairman of Citigroup, Sandy Weill, is forming a new venture cap firm to go after "overlooked" (I think it was) industries. (Iwrote a lot about Mr. Weill and his Citigroup in FTW.) Yeah, like blacksmithing operations maybe; or how about small local foundries and metalworking operations. I think the real elites -- their self-sustaining castles and fiefdoms as secure as they're going to get-- have disengaged enough that we are seeing a "clean up" crew. My guess is that half or more are suckers. But all of them will have to perform and before long they will comprehend the stakes.

In the meantime all eyes await Mr. Obama's demonstration of what kind of president he will be.

RECOMMENDED READING from the FTW archives:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/120104_world_burns.shtml

AND HERE'S a couple of recent stories very much worth reading too. It'sapparent from the second story that Bush-Cheney (remember them?) are full speed in their end game.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/20/global.trends.report/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-environmental-rules21-2008nov21,0,6868742.story

Have a good weekend... I'm going out on a boat tomorrow.
*********************************************************************************

JO

This is an era in which calamities don't get fixed; they are simply superceded by even bigger calamities. Nothing surprises us anymore but it is still possible to be left breathless by quotes such as the following:


From the day of its founding in 1913 to September 24, 2008 the Fed’s assets – the aforementioned cornerstone capital for the US financial system – grew to $1 trillion. By November 14, 2008 the amount had grown to over $2 trillion. And in a speech in Texas, the head of the Dallas branch of the Fed said he expected the total to reach $3 trillion by year-end. www.dailyreckoning.com


We re-read the paragraph. Yes, in the seven weeks that ended last Friday, the fed's assets grew by the same amount which had previously taken 95 years. And even as we speak, the Fed is doing the same trick again.

It feels like becoming aware of how fast the earth is spinning beneath your feet. You feel a little off balance, about to fall, which indeed you are...

19 comments:

Craig Brandt said...

M. Ruppert,

Today I realized that I have been reading your work consistently now for over four years and it's probably more like five or six. What I would like to do is thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am sincere in saying that you are my hero. The words that you have written have guided me in making some profound decisions over the past few years. These decisions probably would not have been made without you and I would have been the worse for it. You, my friend, have changed the course of my life and it has been for the better. I owe you a debt of gratitude. I believe in karma and at some point in time in the future, you will be duly rewarded.

Thank you.

Craig Brandt
Oberlin, Ohio

PeakedOut said...

NBPatton,

You are not alone, but you are too early. Not until the general population is in dire straights will the masses follow your lead. To engage in conflict will be a last resort for most. First, we must try to encourage a turning away from the system that is abusing us,then, move on to a new system. To engage the powers that be at this stage would be suicide, to do so once collapse has them too busy to address small individual revolts is the best bet.

Keep your shooting eye sharp, but be ready to educate the masses too. They not only need to know who is to blame, but they must also have an alternative solution to turn to. Become active in local organizations if for no other reason than to observe how they motivate and move people for a cause. Educate, don't preach or go on tirades. I suspect everyone reading this blog knows how futile and frustrating it can be to try to persuade people of the dire things coming our way. Only when they personally feel the pain will they look for new answers. That time is near. Have a message of hope for them, and prepare them to fight for their own future. We need brave leaders, but you must use prudence in picking the time to teach and the time to fight.

Unknown said...

The Fed purchase those asset with newly created dollars and they've bought a lot of assets lately. However the dollars will not crash while US banks keep hording them and not releasing them as loans to the general economy. When the banks stops hording dollars, and if at that point the economy has any uncollateralized assets left, then new loans can be made. Until then it seems deflation will rule and everyone should hold cash (not gold), sit tight and wait for everything to get cheaper.

I would be interested if MCR can comment the following: to rein in deflation after inauguration (before inauguration there's simply no political will) US government will have to spend an insane amount of dollars to replace dollars lost due to the current crunch but given peak oil it would be unwise to spend them on infrastructures since that will only reignite demand up to the limit set by peak oil. If more inflation is needed then it seems the only good option left is to start a new war to a) reduce population, infrastructure and thus demand permanently and b) provide employment to the unemployed through military service and war spending and eventually reflate the economy enough to get things back to normal. Am I missing some other good options without war?

Unknown said...

Food crisis leading to an unsustainable land grab
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/food-biofuels

Unknown said...

to reiterate MCR's link, here's another one:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/barack-obama-president-intelligence-agency

ProGo said...

Christ that news about the FED would be blowing my mind if my mind wasn't already filled with contempt.

NB Patton said...

MCR, I love you man,...
I just cannot get behind your comments on the appointments. Every single one of those options so far wreaks of old paradigm, including Obama! And your comments on Tim Geithner,... WHAT?!?! A Fed Chairman bringing stability?! That's like saying a more experienced member in a bank robbing team will bring stability to the community the bank resides in because he will conduct the robbery with less collateral damage.

I had your back before because of the logic you submitted about the territory of expected change that we had conquered in all of our hearts. However this time I don't see the logic. What happened to your call to defend the battleground?!? These are his first actions since the election, how long will you continue to justify or rationalize his decisions?

I made this analogy in the last thread and I'll say it again.
If someone is telling you how much he wants to help you, while slowly loading a revolver, closing the cylinder, cocking the hammer, taking aim at the bridge of your nose,... At what point do you stop believing his words and take action to protect yourself from the impending danger you can clearly see, regardless of rhetoric or promises?

This is no longer rhetoric. These are his first actions (loading the cylinder) and they STINK of the same old bullshit we have been wading through for almost a century!

You allowed the enemy to advance across the "battleground of expectations" because of the white flag that their leader is so enthusiastically waiving... And rightfully so, who would fire on such a display?
Now emerges his entourage from the fog of war behind him and they are all holding weapons at the ready, not white flags, not hope, not change. When do you act? After the cavalry charges into your flanks?

Andrew Jackson fired his Secretary of the Treasury TWICE because he wouldn't follow his orders to withdraw America's capital from the central bank. I don't think Jackson would have hired one of the heads of the Hydra to help him kill it, nor do I think that of Obama.

This 747 is going DOWN, the chaos will be horrific regardless of who is at the reigns. I think the more important question is who do we want in charge through the looking glass? Who do we want designing our "new paradigm", Old Paradigm people? Why? So we can have a more efficient central banking 2.0? NWO? Or just more of the same? I don't pretend to know what is in store other than it will be BAD if TPTB remain TPTB!
_________

And for those of you who think Peak oil will save us by somehow forcing liberty upon the world, look at history! It WON'T save us from tyranny. Tyranny can be localized, just like economies can be. The big pucker factor for me is once the globalization collapses, the ancient sunlight that is left in the Earth will only be used to empower those at the top. Thereby exponentially decreasing the potential threat that the people pose to their governments.

Enough talk, lets do! I'm off to my nearest End the Fed Reserve Rally. I'll be the a-hole waving the Culpeper Flag. Hope to see some of you there!

Linda said...

We Are All Charlie Browns!

Hi MCR

It is so good to hear from you after all this time, and thanks for speaking to us again. I look forward to everything you have to say.

Just a thought and a belief I have about being human:

From the moment we are born, we begin creating a matrix of beliefs and belief systems to surround ourselves. This matrix is ever evolving, but at any point in time it feels static. Our belief matrix systems determine how we view the world around us, every action we take, and all decisions we make.

When we search for answers, our habit is to search for them where our beliefs can be verified-not where they can be challenged.

I think the "screaming" progressives, who are critical of every move Obama makes, are doing so from their beliefs about what we have to do to solve our situation. They are also simply looking to verify their belief that no politician can help or even has the intent to help from within a corrupt system.

And who can say this is not a well-founded belief!

However, perhaps if we can open ourselves up to search outside our belief systems, we may find solutions we never dreamed existed, and even accept that Obama may be willing and able help from within his matrix of beliefs and his position.

At this point I think we all feel like Charlie Brown....full of hope that Lucy will not pull the football away this time.

But who can blame us for believing our hope will be dashed as she pulls the football away one more time.

Linda F.

gildone84 said...

Mail said:
"Am I missing some other good options without war?"

If the infrastructure we invest in is things like rebuilding our passenger rail system and urban mass transit systems, that would help keep a lid on oil demand.

Unknown said...

Mikey mike....
You've heard this before.... but here it is:

You're watching a corporate/elite-backed candidate appoint corporate/elite-backed staff.

What's necessary to help Americans right now? A peaceful revolution! And what's the most we can expect from Obama? A fresh face that will do little except prevent violent revolution!

Closing Guantanamo is the perfect example of what we can expect. It makes a grand statement but achieves nothing.

I hope that if this continues you will realise it sooner rather than later.

stu said...

Mike,

What's your take on Lyndon LaRouche? Many of his views on the problems with our economy seem to be well founded, but he has quite a different stance when it comes to green energy. His stance is that it is just another way for TPTB to take from the sheeple to line their pockets.

I think LaRouche seems right on with his economic analysis but wondered if you had anything else I should be aware of.

Rice Farmer said...

According to the "PS" at the end of this article,
http://www.counterpunch.org/hudson11212008.html
Citibank was handing out flyers to students, asking them to put their money in Citibank. Whoa! Since when do students have money? But I guess Citibank doesn't, either.

The American in Paris said...

M. Ruppert,
Greetings from Paris, France. I discovered you through oilempire.us and quickly watched your videos and read Rubicon. I am now following your blog everyday, often checking several times a day for updates. It is amazing. Thank you. You have made an incomprehensible world understandable albeit difficult once you see what is really happening. Please keep posting and updating. Thank you thank you.
Daniel

PNW free thinker said...

No need to post this... I just wanted to let you guys know that the Interregnum article link in blue at the top of the FTW Headlines section on the main FTW page is pointing
to a nonexistent file:

www.fromthewilderness.com/interregnum2007.shtml

I was getting a 404 error for the link, but it came up under:

www.fromthewilderness.com/interregnum2008.shtml

when I subtituted that manually

Then I tried the link on the right hand column and found that one works.


Thank you guys for all your hard work and your selfless, horable, and ethical undertaking of sharing so much inportant information with the people of the world who need it so badly.

Jenna Orkin said...

pnw, i forwarded your email. have no other way of letting u know that than to post your comment. thx

Phlutor said...

Would someone mind please explaining for me: Who benefits from the potential $3 trillion of Fed assets, and how? I AM working my way through Crossing the Rubicon, for the second time, but it's taking awhile to catch up with y'all.

Mike, I'm a beginning rider and just got myself dumped in the sand yesterday. Flaky rider, flaky horse...yup. Didn't break anything, but I'm sore as hell and will be digging sand out of my bodily orifices for a week. If I didn't think horses would be a serious mode of transportation in the future, I'd reconsider my ambitions...oy...

Anonymous said...

Okay, humor me for a minute as a relative newbie (I'm working on reading Rubicon, but though I'm collecting a lot of puzzle pieces, I don't quite have the whole picture yet.)

Who stands to benefit from the Fed being worth $3 trillion, and why? How does it work?

Please pardon my ignorance, and thank you in advance for your patience.

Anonymous said...

Wups! I meant neutronium, not plutonium. My bad...

Jenna Orkin said...

Mark Robinowitz wrote:

I didn't say that Chossudovsky aligned with the racists, but that
he inadvertently allowed them to post crap on his website, with
predictable results -- he got smeared in the media for the alleged association with Holocaust deniers, perhaps the worst possible
way to be portrayed in public. When playing chess, it is a good idea to think ahead a few moves.
Web based forums that allow anyone to post anything risk attracting racists and/or government disinformation agents who seek to discredit the website managers or promote their own hateful agendas.
Many websites have had this problem if they focus on controversial topics while allowing anyone to post anything.
9/11. Israel / Palestine. War on Iraq.

www.oilempire.us/forums.html has a few examples.
Moderating any controversial forum takes a lot of energy and time.
There's a difference between editing and censorship.
It seems likely that bad actors posted racist stuff on Global Research's forum and immediately had media attention directed toward the crap that they posted there.
Hopefully some of the Holocaust deniers are merely covert propagandists who don't actually believe their lies. We don't
need people who praise Hitler to tell us about Israeli imperialism,
that is a classic false dichotomy. One can simultaneously support Palestinian rights and also recognize the truth of the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews and other groups. The slow motion genocide of Palestine does not justify Holocaust denial, and the reality of the Holocaust does not justify the occupation of Palestine.
www.oilempire.us/holocaust-denial.html
It's sad that Global Research denies Peak Oil, since some material on that website is brilliant.
One of the best articles on Global Research is a valuable perspective for contemplating the shift in elite policies as represented by the incoming Biden / Obama administration.

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7693
The Post-Bush Regime: A Prognosis
By Richard K. Moore
Global Research, December 27, 2007

A more interesting topic than this predictable smear campaign is the recent capture by "pirates" of the Saudi oil supertanker. This seems to validate predictions that soon-to-be President Obama will increase the importance of the Africa Command (AFRICOM).