Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Morning After the G-20

From Jenna Orkin

Global/Americas

Parsing the G-20's Trillion Dollar Pledge
Some of the money has yet to be pledged, some is double-counted and some would be counted in a “synthetic currency” that is not actually real money.
CEO Confidence Falls to Record Low
Maybe it's just that they can no longer hide the facts.
CEOs Expect More Job Cuts Through Year's End
US Jets Chase Stolen Plane
Nice to see NORAD's on top of its game when it counts.
Stolen Plane Leads Bizarre Chase
Update of previous article.
Obama Assassination Attempt Thwarted
These two events Monday, the first evoking 9/11, the second, JFK and both with direct links to Turkey, are ignored in Tuesday's New York Times. Were they too weird to be fit to print? But a perusal of NYT archives did yield this: US Practices How to Down Hijacked Jets
Economic Patrols Masking Nukes?
Is the Dollar Doomed?
Geithner/Summers Plan Even Worse Than We Thought
Soros Says US Banks "Basically Insolvent"
Soros Says Dollar May Be Replaced as Reserve Currency
Fed Announces Currency Swap with Four Central Banks
Bank Shares Fall as Mayo Gets Biblical on Sector
Bank Losses to Exceed Great Depression: Mayo
Unwinding AIG's Derivatives Exposure: Loomis and Buffett
Citigroup is Living on the Edge
Goldman Sachs' CEO Speech
It seems clear now that managers of companies with large off-balance sheet exposure didn't appreciate the full magnitude of the economic risks they were exposed to; equally worrying, their counterparties were unaware of the full extent of these vehicles and, therefore, could not accurately assess the risk of doing business. Post Enron, that is quite amazing.
Anti-Tax Crusaders Talk Revolt
Mortgage Delinquencies Soar in the US
"Chinese Warren Buffett" Cheated Dallas Investors
Good to see the SEC on the case, albeit one that is one/one thousandth the size of Madoff's and one six millionth (give or take) the size of the upcoming derivatives debacle.
Obama and Gates Gut the Military
Mixed Reaction to US Defense Overhaul
Communities Print Money to Keep Cash Flowing (from Rice Farmer)
Regular People Get Ready for the Worst (from Rice Farmer)
Electricity Grid in US Penetrated by Spies
Under the Bush administration, Congress approved $17 billion in secret funds to protect government networks, according to people familiar with the budget. The Obama administration is weighing whether to expand the program to address vulnerabilities in private computer networks, which would cost billions of dollars more. A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Pentagon has spent $100 million in the past six months repairing cyber damage.
Chavez Says Venezuela Wants to Diversify Oil Sales
Venezuela Creates $4 Billion with Japan
Japan, Venezuela to Cooperate on Oil, Gas Projects
Venezuela Leader Eyes Oil Deals in China

From Secrecy News:

The Director of National Intelligence last week named Roslyn A. Mazer of the Department of Justice to be the next Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.What makes this an intriguing appointment is that from 1996 to 2000 Ms. Mazer was the first chair of the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP), which is among the most successful classification reform initiatives of the last half century...


Under Ms. Mazer's leadership from 1996 to 2000, the ISCAP declassified information in an astounding 80% of the documents that were presented for its review.In fact, Ms. Mazer's ISCAP was so successful in overturning spurious classification claims that the Central Intelligence Agency begged for relief from ISCAP jurisdiction. The CIA plea was rejected in a 1999 Office of Legal Counsel decision. But in his 2003 executive order on classification (sect. 5.3f), President Bush granted the CIA a veto over ISCAP declassification rulings.In a 1998 speech to a conference of intelligence agency classification officials, Ms. Mazer criticized what she termed "the Lewis Carroll element of classification policy" which leads to "keeping classified categories of information that everyone already knows."
Shrinking Airlines Park More Planes in the Desert
Drop in Fur Sales Saving Two Million Animals Annually


Europe
RBS To Cut 9000 Jobs
Moldova Election Turns Violent
Italy Muzzled Scientist Who Foresaw Quake (from Rice Farmer)
Earthquake Locator/Monitoring Website


Asia
Far-Off Conflict Reaches Dubai in Chechen Slaying
All Roads Lead to Pakistan
US To Shift Afghan War to Pakistan
Pakistan Could Collapse Within Six Months: US Expert (from Rice Farmer)
Russia's East Siberia-Pacific Pipeline Weeks Away From China
Japan c/a Surplus Halves
Japan Prepares Record Fiscal Stimulus
Japan to Double Stimulus Spending to 4% GDP

Somali Pirates Vs. The World and Guess Who's Winning
Piracy Surge Off Somali Coast
Somali Pirates Avoid Warships to Hijack Three Ships

Australia
Australian Job Advertisements Fall Record 44% on Year

13 comments:

Douglas said...

Bill OUTLAWING ORGANIC FARMING

Http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-875

Robert said...

Message to Jenna,
It's been said before, but it's worth saying again. Your stewardship of this blog is really outstanding. Thank you for what must be a huge time consuming effort!

agape wins said...

04,08,09.

I have always been one to Question things, & read between the lines, even with what MCR writes.

This article is interesting, what is the background of the reporter, is it a true picture of the Russian mind, or just the English slant, I would enjoy reading Kamilov's opinion.
Although we seem to disagree on several points, it could be an Eastern/Western thought/expression difference, I find it enlightening to hear a differing point of view!
You don't post often enough, variety is what makes life interesting.

Quote:
"Russians are wary of foreigners," says Valery Yelizarov.

"They do not like to mix with people from other cultures and faiths.

"Now, with the financial crisis leaving millions of Russians unemployed, immigrants will be increasingly targeted by xenophobic attacks."

There is no easy way out for Russia as it tries to halt its population collapse, but to do nothing could bring the country to its knees and ruin any hope it has of joining the leading economies of the world. Unquote.

Sounds Too Western, and slanted toward keeping the old order of business. brainwashed or asleep!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7971719.stm

Now on to the Bees, is this a western issue or is it a world issue, where does Russia stand regarding Bayer & Monsanto + the whole seed issue?

http://viewzone.com/lostbees.bayer.html



>From Jenna,

Quote:
Nigeria: New Cooker Uses Trash to Feed Poor
The trash is used to generate energy, not food, we hasten to add.
Unquote.

The article is complex, actually about Kenya, the "cooker"
is a "Stove" so it has a connection to food.
The interesting part is the mention of "several projects" and then dropping
it after a mention of the farm.
How could we, you or me, improve the future of these people without
adversely affecting another part of their existence, the 35 mentioned will survive better than someone I would handicap by assuming I know what needs fixing most! Remember what We, the invaders, did for/to the native
peoples of North America.

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE53230K20090403

"Potatoes, rice and tea cook on some of the eight hotplates above a roaring, spitting furnace. A joint of meat roasts in an oven that can also be used for bread.

Behind the black-painted corrugated iron cooking area, rubbish collected by local youths dries on racks before being pushed into the furnace."

"The stove is one of several projects giving hope amid endemic violence, crime and disease in the huge slums. In another part of Kibera, a group of 35 youths have developed a farm on a former rubbish dump, feeding themselves and selling cucumbers, pumpkins and tomatoes."
From the latest post.

Drop in Fur Sales Saving Two Million Animals Annually

What happens when there is NO fake FUR/oil? Amae.

A peon said...

Obama looking at cooling air to fight warming

Using pollution to fight global warming.What won't they think of next?

As I was reading this article,this sentence caught my eye: "While the idea could strike some people as too risky,the Obama administration could get unusual support on the idea from groups that have often denied the harm of global warming in the past."

The headache I've had since yesterday just got a little worse.

Unknown said...

RE: Pakistan Could Collapse Within Six Months: US Expert

Could be true. But consider the source. The Times of India has a readership anxious to know that its primary rival is weak. The buildup of Indian weaponry also has to be justified somehow.

Furthermore, Kilcullen has a vested interest in prosecuting this war, and needs both funding and public support for a wider scope of action.

Also consider that the current U.S. administrtaion is acting on a "failed state" policy, which justifies rectifying by intervention any chaotic situation in a weak country.

It may be that the Pakistani state is doomed -- due as much to deliberately applied outside pressure as to internal weakness -- but the real news behind the news is how badly certain groups want this to be the prevailing notion.

At least Kilcullen has voiced some moderating influence on the use of drones .

More on that subject follows in a bit.

Unknown said...

Mike Ruppert has thoroughly documented the connection between covert action abroad and covert action in the U.S. We may look back on the days of covert action with envy. The Predator drones in Pakistan, with their high-resolution photography and Hellfire missiles, are a warmup for cheap, mechanized (and more or less overt) supervision everywhere.

People seem to think that unmanned drones are just a fringe, experimental technology.

Whoops… maybe not that fringe...

But aren’t they cumbersome to use, requiring constant refueling and maintenance? Nope.

Sky Sailor, built by European Space Agency for Mars exploration

“June 2008 : Continuous flight was demonstrated during a solar powered flight of more than 27 hours over 874.4 km what represents a Zürich-London trip.”

But a Carlyle company, at which former CIA director George Tenet worked for several years, has gone one better, for use on this very planet.

“At present long endurance is measured in terms of hours. Ultimately we are thinking in terms of months. The current development programme has the potential to extend Zephyr’s mission endurance to around three months, which could force a wholesale change to the way in which the industry thinks about UAV operations.”

Well, at least it’s the Pakistanis (poor devils) getting the benefit of all this research, rather than us comfy folk in North America.
Wait a minute...
"In 5 years from now we will be able to see solar powered private/military small scale UAVs monitoring large areas of farms or woods and conducting various border control missions."

Actually, that day has already dawned.
“A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using the UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.”

In fact, it’s already going on in North America.

February 16, 2009
“The first unmanned surveillance aircraft started patrolling the Manitoba portion of Canada's border with the U.S. after a launch ceremony was held on Monday.

“Based at a military facility in Grand Forks, N.D., the $10-million Predator B drone aircraft are equipped with sensors capable of detecting a moving person from 10 kilometres away.”

The new “streamlined” military budget just submitted by Secretary Gates sheds cumbersome dinosaur technologies for exactly this sort of gear. Very intelligent move, and one that should be taken across the board in all fields. Because of these prescient innovations, the notion that “death of industrial civilization means the American state will not be able to control its territory” goes a little hazy. I’m sure that’s intended.

Another cause for concern is that apparently anyone, but ANYONE can start patrolling the skies, photographing, mapping, or delivering a few pounds of anything at all by airmail. Keep yer eyes peeled, maties!

Wait. Hold on, it gets gnarlier:

“Another platform which was recently tested by DARPA was the Wasp micro UAV – a 32 cm "flying wing" made of a plastic lithium-ion battery material that provides both electrical power and wing structure...

“In 2003 Israel also entered the development of micro UAVs, with the first flight of the Mosquito 1 micro UAV. The 205 gr. MAV flew several 40 minute missions, equipped with a basic video camera.”

Imagine Netanyahu with a bunch of half-pound flying robots at his disposal. Israel is now India’s number one military supplier. So all over Pakistan, huge sheets of mosquito netting are going to be needed, just to take a shower in peace.

(This page also states:)
“ Another program is the Robofly, a stealth robotic flyer that is about the size of a fly. Squads of roboflies may one day be sent to seek out targets, collect and provide information on damage assessment, or search for chemical and biological warfare agents.”

And folks, that page was last updated in 2005. Here is one from 2007. And here's one that seems to be quite recent.

I introduce these disturbing reminders to caution against the notion of massing in the streets with assault rifles and "Spirit of ’76" flags, thinking that the government is too confused to resist. If you make the elite paranoid enough (and you would certainly have to, to change anything) these are just a few of the tools they would consider expedient. I strongly urge that there are much better uses of idealistic energy.

rocklicker said...

'US graft adds to Mexico's woes'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7971335.stm

"President Calderon said it was impossible to smuggle tonnes of cocaine into the United States without the complicity of some American authorities."

pstajk said...

eyeballs,

i'm not paranoid or anything now

faaaantastic

Jenna Orkin said...

v has left a new comment on your post "The Morning After the G-20":

I'm a big fan of Max Keiser
! I like his take on tings and his style. He's been predicting a lot of stuff for years...

Unknown said...

Sneak Peak of a character I am developing. Hes called, "Rocko da Stinga". Please do not take this as me personally, its a character creation. I want to know if Rocko should be pursued, or kept in the vault?
Exhibit A-
"No one is told that the reason Somalians resorted to hijacking ships is because the global nuclear community dumped its waste on its shores, creating a mutating disaster of nuclear contamination. Killing off the fisheries. Their main resource of food.
I imagine US troops getting sent to the region and patrolling that beach, with the US government knowingly contaminating our troops again and again. Coming home with burning semen injecting their load into the wives "_" for fester? Don't you just love the new American gene pool? You gonna eat depleted uranium broccoli with my family?

How much you want to bet you never hear this story?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/...

and all the world wants is to allow Iran nuclear energy....."

Okay there is one line in there, that is over the top. I think you know which line it is. It makes me laugh, especially when I put in a few more adjectives. Please tell me what to do with Rocko da Stinga? More extreme? Toner down? For example I could add the "C" or "P" word after wives.

wxdude714 said...

Obama May Block Sun's Rays to End Global Warming
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513242,00.html

President Obama has not ruled out the possiblity of dumping large amounts of particles in the atmosphere. I believe this is an admission of guilt saying that the US Govt has been actively modifying the weather and is going to use the GW frame work to cover it up. The problem with this project is it alters the weather patterns by altering the distrubution of heat within the atmosphere on a daily basis. I've been able to successfully forecast storm movements based on this premise for over 7 years, through meteorological analysis of weather models coupled with satellite analysis of where our government is spraying these particles.
In 2007 I did some research and discovered that the EPA sampling for particle pollution is done every 3 days in the MD,VA and DC area. Therefore determining when there are black operations for weather modification using particles sprayed in the upper atmosphere becomes extremely difficult.
I work on a government contract that does air sampling for bio-weapons. On our machines we have a flow rate and we record initial and final rate over a 24hr period. During that summer I spent my time compling satellite photos and radar data in conjuction with our machine readings to develop an algorithim that would determine the increase in temperature from the fallout of these particles based on the change from initial to final flow rate. There is a clear increase in temperature at the surface from the deposition of these particles.
They might be able to "curb" global warming by warming the middle and upper trosphere over one area but wind up increasing the surface temperatures over another as the particles fall to the surface.
What happens if they hit Alaska with these particles and then have them reach the surface over the Arctic Ocean in the summer time? The dark colored particles would heat the surrounding air above 32F and actually accelerate the increase in summer ice melt in the Arctic.
This is why I think this idea is being floated. It's to cover up what's really taking place.

xxancroft said...

Eyeballs - your comment on the development of UAV drones is a nice little stand-alone article all on its own.

Anonymous said...

I had a dream the night before last about obama dodging assasinations and in a public parade I was able to meet him and I told him his priority should be world peace (rather than being a celebrity). I started to cry and then he started to cry. It was intense. And now I read the news. Interesting how life works. I've never dreamed of obama and assassinations before...