Thursday, February 26, 2009

from Jenna Orkin:

Central Banks Have to Coordinate Efforts or Face Global Collapse
CIA Adds Economy to Threats
US, Russia, Plan to Destroy Chemical Weapons Imperiled By Crisis
FBI Fears Home-Trown Terrorism After US Citizen's Somalia Strike
FBI Director: Mumbai Attack Raises Questions of Terrorism in US
Mumbai Attackers Phones Traced to Italy
Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Spreads to U.S.
Bank Bailouts Around the World
Wall Street Drops on Misgivings About Obama Speech
Pentagon Officials Must Sign Budget Secrecy Pledge
The Next Domino: The Credit Card Debt Crisis
Ssh. No one mention Treasuries.

China Prepares to Buy Up Foreign Oil Companies
Oil for Money, China Style
The BRIC brigade
China Breaks Its Silence on Afghanistan
Thailand's Economy Joins Asian Slump
South Korea Sees Lumpy Road for Won, Slowing Bank-Debt Sale

Non-OPEC Oil Production Peaked in 2004
US Nuclear Supercarrier Sent To Fight Somali Pirates

Eastern European Tinderbox: How Explosive Could It Get?
Crimea Scene Investigation
Anti-NATO Protest in Crimea
Tajikistan Going Up Against Moscow Again
Scroll past first article to synopsis from Stratfor.
Bosnia Unraveling
Bank Bond Risk Soars to Record in Europe On Payment Concerns
EU Planning 200 Billion Euro Package for Eastern Europe
Latvia's Credit Rating Cut to Junk; Ratings Companies Warn of "Major Crisis" Brewing in Eastern Europe
Former Estonian Official Convicted of Treason
ECB Adds Voice to Warnings on Irish Public Pension Levy

Citibank Dumber Than Your Spam Filter
Terrorists in Athens Plant Bomb at Citibank
The 60 kilogram device, assembled with ammonium nitrate fuel oil - the explosive used in the Oklahoma City bombing - could have destroyed the four-storey building and killing hundreds.
Bank of America Robber Still on the Run
Bank of America Official Sentenced For Sending Stolen Money to Casino
JP Morgan Slashes Dividends 87 Per Cent
Prospect of Canadian Bank Dividend Cuts No Longer Seen Unlikely
Speculation Rises Over Wells Dividend
Fed Issues Guidelines on Bank Dividends
Following Bailout Money to Tax Havens

Quote of the Day:

"The Cato Institute estimates Zimbabwe's inflation rate at 89.7 sextillion percent...."

Putting that into perspective, the official count of stars in the universe is about 70 sextillion, apparently... http://www.dailyreckoning.com/
************************************************************************************

From Rice Farmer:

Soros Sees No Bottom for World Financial Collapse
Gone in Sixty Days: Citi and Bank of America Won't Live to See May
Taliban Bombs Made With British Electronics: Report

25 comments:

John said...

"As The Arabs See The Jews"

His Majesty King Abdullah

The American Magazine November, 1947

Summary

February 26, 2009 "Information Clearing House" - - This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein’s grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In the article, King Abdullah disputes the mistaken view that Arab opposition to Zionism (and later the state of Israel) is because of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He notes that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe. King Abdullah also asks how Jews can claim a historic right to Palestine, when Arabs have been the overwhelming majority there for nearly 1300 uninterrupted years? The essay ends on an ominous note, warning of dire consequences if a peaceful solution cannot be found to protect the rights of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22108.htm

RanD said...

To all good FTW laborers, once-upon-a-time hypocrites, slackers and cowards, warriors and heroes alike --

From my perspective, on FTW's previous post GhostofSpartacus just provided all of us here at FTW with an excellent example of what we should all consider ourselves involved in as co-creators of what this contributor defines as an epochal phase of our uniquely human species' evolution into a world fundamentally removed from its past. Having said such a large and at first perhaps psychologically jarring thing, it is good to also draw from Sebastion his contribution to such matters by restating his quote from Kurtz: "In a war there are many moments for compassion and tender action. There are many moments for ruthless action, what is often called ruthless, but may in many circumstances only be clarity, seeing clearly what there is to be done and doing it, directly, quickly, awake, looking at it."

From there, let's go on to offer that the "war" being alluded to here is simply the one we are all daily working hard at to bring ourselves securely into our future.

And so then, beginning from the above perspective, what are your thoughts & feelings about these things? fellow brothers and sisters. With our leader (btw, isn't the term 'director' a much better way to think and feel about our el numero uno top-dog FTW fellow?) having expressed need of taking leave of us for other things he must do, is it not time for us to pull in the slack he's left us with and all of us start becoming leaders amongst ourselves in service to our and whoever-else-that-wants-to-join-in's common good?

Let us come forward and say what we feel about these ideas, otherwise we might just wither away without any better vision to attach to beyond the world that we're watching crumble around us. I'll certainly invest my energy into helping set ourselves up for entry into a better future, and feel confident that TPTB down here at good ol' FTW planet Earth would be pleased as can be to see us getting busy at just this.

RanD

wxdude714 said...

I read Jenna and Mike's comment about keeping discussion to the now and what's going on, but in all the articles I've read on FTW, I don't recall ever reading this idea as a way to regulate the way money works.
As I read more of the Federalist papers my brain had an idea pop into my head. A lot of us look at how do we change the way money works and although silver and gold and other commodities would be a great thing to have backing a currency. This type of currency would have a damaging deflationary effect on jobs that require technology and information. My stance is fairly simple, there's never a limit on the amount of information that is worth money, but there will always be a limit to a finite amount of oil,natural gas, coal, metals,etc. Having a currency that is based on a fixed substance within an economy that is based on an unlimited amount of information and techonological advances would in the end destroy the economy as wage deflation kicks in those sectors coupled with falling reserves of carbon energy. It would actually have the same effect as we are seeing now in the renewable energy industry.
After some long thoughts today, if we want to change the way money works I think we have to change the entire tax structure. I think have a Constitutional Admendment that strips the income tax and other taxes would be a great thing moving forward in the peak oil world, so long as we replaced it with an energy tax levyed and collected by the government at the point of sale of all fossil fuel energy. This way we could have a direct influence on inflation or deflation on the economy and with the admendment stating it would be in control of the US Congress as they would set the energy tax rate. It would cripple the Federal Reserves ability to print print print away without any accountablity from the people. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Don Hynes said...

When Europe starts the printing presses to cover their trillion $ debts to insolvent Eastern Europe and Russia turns to China for face time, who's in place to buy all the Geithner AND Euro funny money?

agape wins said...

02,27,09

I'll start where I left you hanging, have you been thinking?

In the preparation posts I have read, few have commented positively about the women in their life!

“If we give the money to the widows, they will spend it unwisely because they are uneducated and they don’t know about budgeting,” he said. “But if we find her a husband, there will be a person in charge of her and her children for the rest of their lives. This is according to our tradition and our laws.”----How about educating them to be "in charge".

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/world/middleeast/23widows.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Where are The "females" in your life? Let's be clear, they are "Ladies", correct, or they would not be there, right?
By where, I mean; Are they informed & prepared, working BESIDE YOU?
Are they beneath/behind you, expecting "protection"?
Are they resisting/fighting you because of ignorance, or disbelief?

Where would YOU be without HER, could you carry on, IF they were ill or worse?
Where would SHE be, what would YOUR preparation amount to, if YOU became sick, or worse?

The third world is not the only place where "The Female" is looked down upon, Discriminated Against, & Abused; right here in America, Women/Girls, are contracted into marriage, forced into plural relationships, prostitution, and even sexually mutilated! They have to defer to their Superior, are under educated, under employed/paid; totally under appreciated!

Quoting from the above: "according to our tradition and our laws"

Face it, a team always works better!

What I have written is not intended
as a reflection against gays, every
relationship has it's he/she personalities! The link was addressing "Widows", gays are truly underground in Islam!

Today, again reading "The Survivors Club", on page 217 "it is better to respond to potentially dangerous events as if they were in fact the real thing than to fail to respond.", then on to p.220 "Do human body odors carry emotional information
that can be detected by others? And can the smell of fear help you survive? The answer to both questions seems to be yes, especially among women."
Your other half's sense of danger could save your future.

I know these are just snips which you may think are out of context, if you are unsure check it out.

Amae, look up it's positive aspect!

businessman said...

RanD...I've been holding off on commenting to you directly about your posts...just deciding to let them go...but since you've now launched into criticizing me directly, I figure it's time to speak up.

I mean...listen to yourself here:

"I think you're just suffering from a common form of deeply entrenched prejudice against anyone who sees things that most others have not yet learned how to see."

You're so completely full of yourself!

It's so obvious from your posts that your first priority in participating in here is to have people think that you're absolutely wonderful. You told all of us to take a hike a few months ago, and that we no longer met your standards for participating in here, and when the feedback you got from the people in here about this was basically "good riddance" to you, you immediately continued on posting as if nothing had happened. Your move and your complete bluff in that situation were incredibly far removed from the spirituality you continue espousing in your postings.

The truth is...you need and want to have an audience of people to listen to you.

Your take on spirituality, while it is your own path, is bizarre and "out there" to many of the people participating in here, and you have been told so by others. There's simply no one whose posts have met with so much constant criticism as yours have within this Blog.

ecosutra said...

How can Citi be going under when they sold off trillions of their financial assets to Dubai in the form of sovereign wealth funds?

anton v said...

The pain of the financial crisis is catching up with our Bread-and-Circus distraction/entertainment. This is a pretty fascinating look at what the National Basketball Association is up against: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090227.

Too bad Bill Simmons isn't aware of the root causes...

anton v said...

Just stumbled on this, if you haven't seen it already:
http://action.thisisreality.org/page/s/coenbrothers

RanD said...

To Tim (re 'this world's evolution') --

The complete answer to your wonderful question is multi-faceted. I cannot even suggest a time frame within which I can provide you with even a concise synopsis of my perspective which would satisfy your curiosity. At the same time, there is so much going on right now that the "all of it" suggests to me that we may already have reached the point where it is no longer possible to successfully convey and secure to ourselves more useful knowledge re existential matters than what we already possess. Nonetheless, we have few better options available to us than "keep on keeping on" the best we can.

If and when I succeed in getting a response to you that I'm satisfied with, expect to find it on the comments page of FTW's most recent front page post.

Sincerely, RanD

Rice Farmer said...

So many things to comment on, so little time...

But this reeking pile of BS really gets to me: "FBI director: Mumbai attack raises questions about terrorism in U.S."

According to the US government -- which likes to terrorize us with absurd color-coded alerts -- there are zillions of dangerous terrorists out there just waiting to strike at the US. So, where are they?

In truth, the whole US of A is a mass of soft targets just begging for attacks by America-hating terrorists -- if they really exist. But almost nothing is protected. In fact, I once read an article by a so-called "urban spelunker" who observed that vital urban infrastructure has virtually no security. If America-hating terrorists were looking to do some damage, they would have taken advantage of this long ago.

Mueller cites the case of a Somali who settled in the US and subsequently went all the way back to Somalia to blow himself up. Excuse me, but I don't see how this bolsters Mueller's case. Why didn't the immigrant blow himself up in downtown Minneapolis?

One could think of all sorts of convoluted explanations for the lack of terrorist strikes in the US homeland, but the simplest explanation makes the most sense: there is no direct terrorist threat to the US. Terrorists obviously have a more important agenda than blowing up American shopping malls.

mrs p said...

I could be wrong but I believe the concept of "Terrsome" was created for other purposes than of itself. It's an old game, bought and sold in a lot of places by designers using neighborhood emotions to get things done often to cover up other business. After decades of global hankypanky the residue continues but if it were to fade away how could the story continue without a boogyman?

Anonymous said...

Rice Farmer:

I'm with you. If there are so many terrorists out there, how come we aren't seeing anything? A conservative friend of mine claims it's because all the "security measures" instituted are working. Right! Most people in the third world are so busy trying to eke out a living, where would they find the resources to come over here and pull some sophisticated maneuver? I think some undercover agents have pulled off black op/false flag events to justify taking away our civil liberties. I'm concerned that Obama hasn't said a word about revoking the Patriot Act. I see a lot in the Stimulus Package that could also be attempts to increase control over us. What do we need bridge and highway construction for if we won't have gas to drive cars anymore? We're bringing home the troops while still recruiting more. To do what? Blackwater is leaving Iraq but still has training camps running full speed. What will they be doing? We have a medical program outlined by Daschle which controls doctors and tells them who will get treated and who won't. We're being sold a bill of goods. But then, what else is new?

Unknown said...

RE: If there are so many terrorists out there, how come we aren't seeing anything?

Jeeze you guys, don't SAY that! If they have to produce the evidence, they certainly can. We don't need more terror to prove there's terror. It's a no-brainer that, before inside-job 9/11 there were several nut-cases doing very little damage. Tim McVeigh was not part of "the al Qaeda network", he was just a pissed off dude with a bad sense of humor. And there were a couple of embassy bombings.

Since then there have been, apparently, 700,000 new widows made in Iraq, plus over 4000 US soldier deaths, not to mention the blown off legs, the post-traumatic syndrome, babies born without heads in Baghdad due to depleted uranium attacks, and the trillions in debt. The War on Terror has obviously cost us much more than all the actual "terror" it was designed to protect us from. And all that has been very profitable to companies and individuals who need not be named again.

We know this. They know this. But if they think that we think more "proof" is needed, L.A. could be next. Or Berkeley. Or Boston. Or Chicago. The neocons boast of it and joke about it.

Indignation has its place, but let's be careful what we ask for!

Unknown said...

Rice Farmer -

I totally agree. I have always thought about this idea of strikes within the US. As a New yorker, my mother is always worried about going into the City, riding the subway and things like that. I've told her, "If they haven't done it yet, they're not going to do it". "they" being the "terrorists", of course.

The color coded system of fear is a joke. Blond haired, blue eyed Al-Qaeda is a joke. MSM is a joke. and we know it.

"They" won't blow up a shopping mall in America because "they" know America will destroy itself.

RanD said...

To businessman--

Be assured, the psychological conflict between us has been as challenging & unpleasant for me to experience and learn how to deal with as it has been for you; I very much look forward to when it will be otherwise, which it will.

From my perspective, our conflict merely mirrors the truly Divine Conflict which has long been integral to and systemic throughout the human condition during the course of our species' developing its general understanding of the nature of existence. And, you and those who share your perspective in opposition to mine are no doubt already becoming very incensed reading what I'm saying here. Again, I very much look forward to when it will be otherwise, which it will.

At this point I can see nothing I can do to help you understand RanD as well as RanD understands you and those like you who do not even want to try to understand RanD. This is a truly unfortunate situation. Nonetheless, this is the way it is for those who hate what RanD's life is all about; which, actually, is merely to have everyone understand how to live together peacefully and exercise behaviors and practices which cause no destruction to themselves nor to their Earthen environment. But then... there's really not a lot of money involved in thinking and living that way, is there. And that would be bad for business as usual, wouldn't it.

Sincerely,

RanD

Dave Z said...

So much of what we see is based on the lies of the covetous heart of man. The good news is that it seems that year/age of the Jubilee is fast approaching.

businessman said...

Rice Farmer...I think you're right on in your assessment. I've been thinking for quite sometime now that if the terrorists really wanted to get to us, they could just begin having suicide bombers explode themselves in shopping malls all across the country. This would create havoc and paranoia everywhere, as average citizens would now be worried that they could easily be gotten to anywhere.

The fact that utilizing suicide bombers in the Middle East is common shows that the terrorists have the technology, knowhow, and desire to make it happen. It's just that doing it in the United States is not a priority for them.

Don Hynes said...

"US Sends Nuclear Super Carrier to Fight Somali Pirates."

Super Carrier to fight guys on speed boats. China has significant naval presence in the Gulf, first time their military out of territorial waters in years.

India has their navy present on suppose connection between pirates and Mumbai attacks.

Nuclear Super Carrier?? There seems to be one heckova STORY behind the news on this one.

businessman said...

RanD...In the interest of everyone else in the Blog, we've said what we needed to say to each other.

Let's just let it go now and move on.

RanD said...

Btw, FTW admin-- Thanks very much for your work in general, and your top-notch skills as an editor in particular. Sincerely, RanD

Unknown said...

Yes, I agree with businessman. Enough of the RanD babble. Time to ban the pseudo guru.

RanD said...

businessman-- Much thanks to you for your suggestion that we "move on", I heartily agree. But don't think for a moment that I'm going to drop anything I need to say whenever I feel the need to do so. And I will always accept the possibility that you'll perhaps need to say whatever you need to whenever you feel the need to do so as well. The only oaths I concede to making are those of my choosing, not of another's. Okay? However, also do feel perfectly free to honor those oaths you personally choose to make and thus hold to your oath that you've said everything you needed to say to me. And I thank you for that! Cheers! Sincerely, RanD

Jenna Orkin said...

in light of pandabonium's comment on the previous thread as well as similar comments, please note that long spiritual discourses will not be published

Therapeutic Messenger said...

In reference to Baxter and Bird flu "accident". What can be done to protect self family and loved ones?
Here is a good place to start.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1eqTajcpQ. I got it I use it, it works. If stuff I do didn't work I would not be here today to post this. www.therapeuticmessenger.blogspot.com/