Merkel Hides Behind The Troika Report, The Greeks Seethe, And The Drachma Advances

Frau Merkel takes a mini-vacation.  How could she not?  The Greeks love her?  The testosteronepit, via Zero Hedge:

..Athens was prepared for her. Both sides. Police had designated a “red zone” where demonstrating and loitering were prohibited. The Parliament, the prime minister’s mansion, and the presidential mansion were sealed off. Some metro stations were closed, some buses and trolleys were pulled out of service. Water cannons, 7,000 police in riot gear, crowd-control fences... it was all there.


As were 80,000 protesters—or 60,000—who’d been seething for days. It wasn’t just Merkel’s presence on their soil, but also the restrictions on their constitutional right of assembly. “FRAU MERKEL GET OUT,” a poster read. A group of school kids were taken into custody. Tear gas was used. Protestors were trying to tear down crowd-control fences. A melee broke out. Rocks flew. A Nazi flag was burned. But... “Strange thing about Greek demos is that they are part political protest, part village fete, small of meat on the BBQ everywhere,” ‏@teacherdude reported (screenshot).

So why the heck did Merkel dive into this? To express “her support for the difficult reforms,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert explained on Monday, and to “emphatically” point out “everything” that still needed to be done. It was the outline of her strategy. Accomplished politician, she’d try to satisfy both sides, those who want Germany to open the wallet even more, and those who don’t want to see their money disappear into a bottomless pit.
..
Merkel was the epitome of understanding. Greece is in a “very difficult period,” she said, but should “finish what it has started,” otherwise “things will be even harder.” It’s about “our children and grandchildren.” Then, brutally, she pointed at the sword of Damocles hanging over Greece: “Of course, we are not the representatives from the Troika.”
The mighty Troika. It will come out with a report that had been delayed, rescheduled, and re-rescheduled. It will spell out whether or not Greece complied with the agreed-upon 89 “structural reforms.” It’s a huge report, worked on for months, a shield for politicians to hide behind, even for Merkel [Greece Prints Euros To Stay Afloat, The ECB Approves, The Bundesbank Nods, No One Wants To Get Blamed For Kicking Greece Out].

And what was the purpose of her visit, a reporter asked. “I came here to understand the situation on the ground,” she said. “Close contact leads to greater understanding. What the visit means to Greeks, I don’t know.”

So it went. No answers of any kind. They strolled to the Presidential Mansion and said hi to President Karolos Papoulias before heading to the Hilton for a meeting with business leaders from both countries. Chancellors have to bring home the bacon. They travel with a delegation of executives and meet local tycoons to do business. With privatizations on the docket in Greece, surely there’d be some sweetheart deals to be made. And by 7:18 p.m., she was waving goodbye from the door of the plane.

She’d given nothing away. Other than platitudes. No assurances that Greece would remain in the Eurozone, though it was her “hope and wish” that Greece should try. A broken record. There was no promise that the next bailout tranche of €31.5 billion would be disbursed, ever. Greece, which has been paying its bills only selectively, will run out of money entirely by the end of November, and barring a miracle, would have to revert to the drachma.

The Landlord came by to check upon her "investment."  The disdain for her new tenants was palpable.  Towards her, her new tenants felt the same.  Their new "arrangement" will not be comfortable.

The crescendo to all this ugliness will be bloody, both literally and figuratively.  All action going forward will illicit equally strong reactions.

Deep Into The Lieborgate Rabbit Hole: The Swiss Hedge Fund Link?

Just because 16 banks did the rigging, doesn't mean Almost Everyone Else didn't know about it, and use it to their advantage.  Derivatives are firmly involved now, and so is Geneva, Switzerland.  The derivatives Leviathan rises from the depths; The monster's size grows quickly to the horizon, then beyond.  We gasp at its size, unable to process..  Zero Hedge connects all the dots.  Excerpts:


That Lieborgate is about to spill over and take down many more banks is well known: as previously reported that the world's biggest bank Deutsche Bank, has become a rat for the Liebor prosecution having turned sides. The reason: "Under the leniency programs of the EU, companies may get total immunity from fines or a reduction of fines which the anti-trust authorities would have otherwise imposed on them if they hand over evidence on anti-competitive agreements or those involved in a concerted practice." However, just like in the case of Barclays (with Diamond), JPM (with Bruno Iksil), UBS (with Kweku) and Goldman (with Fabrice Tourre), there always is a scapegoat. Today we find just who that scapegoat is. From Bloomberg: "Regulators are investigating the possible roles of Michael Zrihen at Credit Agricole, Didier Sander at HSBC and Christian Bittar at Deutsche Bank, the person said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The names of the banks and traders were reported earlier today by the Financial Times."



Of course, as so very often happens, the link between the investigated firm, and the person in question no longer exists - after all what better brute way to tie up loose ends, than to fire the person in question at some point in the past: "Michael Golden, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank, confirmed that Bittar left the bank last year and declined to comment on the investigation." Not surprising. Yet this is where the story gets interesting, and provides a whole new twist on the Lieborgate scandal.


Notice that up until now, the only firms that have been implicated in Lieborgate are, by definition, the BBA member banks which provided daily USD Libor fixings. However, nowhere is it said that this information never exited this close knit cabal of 16 manipulating banks. After all, there are $2 trillion in AUM (a number that is likely $5 trillion when accounting for all the rehypothecated assets at the Prime Brokers) out there run by unregulated hedge funds, and all of these entities would certainly find a way to make a pretty buck on even the tiniest 'manipulated', and leveraged Libor arbitrage. And would also pay a pretty penny to get that info. Which brings us back to Bittar. And LinkedIn.
And:

The original LinkedIn list continues (much to the likely chagrin of at least one SocGen trader and one more CA-CIB banker), but we have seen enough, and the pattern is forming: it appears that the bankers who were allegedly involved in Libor manipulation in some capacity in their previous lives working for banks, decided to quietly depart under mutually acceptable conditions and find new lives, still trading Libor and IR derivatives, in some of the best known, and even less regulated, Swiss hedge funds and private banks.




Our question then is the following: while much has been said about Lieborgate as being purely associated with the 16 BBA USD fixing member banks, just who else made money, and is the traditionally quiet and always under the radar Swiss financial community about to be exposed for having profits far more from Lieborgate than any of the BBA member banks?


Because if the stigmatized traders were accepted with open arms at various Swiss hedge funds, one would think there may, just may have been, some quid pro quo in the past (for those who have worked in the financial industry this needs no further explanation).


We eagerly await the answer, and perhaps the Swiss regulators to finally wake up to their own "pristine" financial industry.


So really..  Just about anyone remotely on the inside could pay for manipulated rate information, and now, it's possible that many, many, many people did, and they all profited from it;  A lot.  All on the backs of those who didn't.  Also known as "muppets," also referred to as "customers." 

LIBOR goes global in three..  Two..

JAMES KUNSTLER: We're Entering A Dangerous New Period In History

He's not wrong.   Businessinsider:
News that that a swarm of termites deep inside the British banking system have been fiddling the interbank interest rates (LIBOR) for years in order to systematically vacuum a few billion pence off the exchange floors for themselves is the latest blow to the credibility of the global money system - and probably a fine overture to a looming climactic implosion of the gigantic, creaking, smoldering, reeking, duck-taped edifice of broken promises, booby-trapped hedge obligations, counterparty follies, central bank euchres, sovereign flim-flams, and countless chicanes too various, dark, and deep to smoke out.


Next, we'll probably hear that Lloyd Blankfein over at Goldman Sachs has been tinkering with the rotation of the earth in order to gain a few micro-milliseconds of advantage in his firm's high frequency trading rackets. After all, back in 2008 Lloyd himself claimed to be "doing God's work."


In short, world banking is now hopelessly pranged, and I am not at all sure the project of civilization (modern edition) can continue by other means. The impairments of capital formation are now so profound that no one and nothing can be trusted.


Not only are all bets off, but nobody will want to make any new bets - and by that I mean venture to invest accumulated wealth (capital) in some useful project designed to sustain human well-being. What remains is just the desperate hoarding of whatever remains in assets uncontaminated by the pledges of others to pony up.


All this points to a dangerous new period of political history, a deadly Hobbesian scramble to evade the falling timber in a burning house as the rudiments of a worldwide social contract go up in flames. Such is the importance of legitimacy: the basic condition for governance, especially among supposedly free people.


You can meddle in a lot of distributory issues - who gets what - but when you mess with the most basic operations of money to the extent that no one is sure what it's really worth, or what it represents, then you are deeply undermining society. This is now the condition that is set to blow up republics.


Reality dislikes fraud and accounting tricks. Reality is serious about settling scores. Reality eventually intervenes and puts an end to monkey business. What will it be this time?


Europe and America have been buying a month here, a month there (of a fragile, continuing status quo) on the installment plan. That's what QE, TARPs, LTRO, EFSF, Operation Twist, et cetera, are all about. Think of them as multi-billion dollar (euro) fire extinguishers bought on credit cards. Europe is now completely out of credit to buy more fire fighting equipment.


For months now it has been down to whether Germany intends to keep supporting Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, the French banks (and a few stray forgotten places between the backwaters of the Danube and the Gulf of Finland) without any say in how they manage their allowance. Much as Germany enjoyed the Ponzi heyday of the Euro zone, a big "tilt" sign now flashes ominously over the continent, signaling game over. All fall down.


Everybody gets real poor real fast. M. Hollandaise over in Paris has already sealed his fate with his stupid plan to return to "go" on the Ponzi game-board. Merkel's tattered scarecrow of a coalition will blow away in the next national election. The Club Med countries will soon boil up in street-fighting, Holland and Finland will drink themselves to death, and across the channel outsider Britain will fizzle away to a burnt bowl of mulligatawny. That's what the end of the summer looks like to me.


Over here, in this sorry-ass edition of America, the election will look more and more like a World Wrestling Federation staged dumb-show between two catamite hostages of a foul corporate oligarchy. Imagine that horse's ass Mitt Romney spending the next four months denouncing Obama-care, modeled on his own health care reform in Massachusetts, while Obama pretends he has a grip on an economy where the rule of law is absent due to Obama's own omissions and negligence.


And if you can't stand that spectacle, just look around at America itself: a wasteland of futile motoring and discount shopping populated by depressed, overfed clowns bedizened with sinister tattoos, pretending to be Star Warriors. No nation ever seen in human history ever laid such a disappointing egg. Only to have it fry on the sidewalk.____________________________________

You ever get that sneaking suspicion 2013's gonna be real different than 2012?

Also:  I'm in the mood to type like hillbillies talk, that's why.

Global Financial House Of Cards In Peril By New Round Of Moody's Downgrades

Britain gets sucked into the mix..  British banks to be downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody’s as euro-crisis spreads  The Extinction Protocol.  Excerpts:

Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays are all in line for a downgrade by ratings agency Moody’s over fears the eurozone crisis threatens their stability. In a move that would cost financial institutions billions of pounds and could have a knock-on effect on the cost of credit to business and consumers, Moody’s is set to push some banks down two notches, sources said. Moody’s will also downgrade a number of the biggest banks around the world, it was claimed, a decision that would show how the eurozone sovereign debt crisis is hitting all areas of global finance. The cuts are part of a wider review by Moody’s of the global banking sector that Sky News said is likely to be unveiled tonight after the US market closes. The downgrades, which are expected to range in scope from one notch to three notches, will follow joint efforts by the Bank of England and Treasury to boost cash flows in Britain’s banks through a multi billion pound cheap loan scheme. The banking industry has been hit by higher funding costs as the eurozone troubles escalated and has been hoarding money for fear of another worrying phase in the crisis.

And U.S. banks aren't immune,either..  This from the L.A. Times.  Excerpts:

U.S. banks hammered with downgrades: Moody’s Investors Service lowered the credit ratings of 15 the world’s largest banks late Thursday, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking. The ratings agency said it was especially concerned about banks with significant financial markets businesses because those markets have become so volatile.



The global effects of this round of downgrades should be a large portion CNBC's jabber-talky today, but probably not scary enough for Rick Santelli to shit his pants on-air.  Although that day is coming, it probably won't be Friday..  When that day comes, don't worry, though:  I will be posting video!

Deja Vu: Pasok Is Warming Up To Coalition With Only New Democracy

Ahh, the great PASOK flip-flop.  Nice..  Sensible Greeks, you have every reason to believe the two parties that brought you to the brink of financial DOOM will find the way back to prosperity!  Good for you;  Here's a participation ribbon!  Rest up, Riot Dog; You'll be busy soon enough!  Zero Hedge.  Excerpts:

One of the biggest caveats from yesterday's Greek election result was that Pasok announced it would only participate in a broad coalition government that includes Syriza. Obviously Syriza promptly turned down the offer, which has now put the ball back in the court of the Pasok leader - Venizeloz. Being a career politicians, and knowing quite well what the final outcome of the Greek fiasco would be, it was only a matter of time before the former minister of defense, finance, and yes, sport, would flip flop, and hint that a government of just ND and Pasok would also work, as the alternative is just too harsh to even consider. In other words, we may shortly get a repeat of the precisely same leadership that brought Greece to 23% unemployment and a completely destroyed financial and economic system, with Veni back in the role of finance minister once again.

And:
Does this mean a Greek government just may happen, evading a 3rd Greek election in as many months? We will know for sure by tomorrow night, when Pasok said is the deadline by which a new government has to be formed. As for bets on the longevity of the new cabinet, we have no idea what the spread is, but we take the under.


What's the definition of insanity?  Happy fun times are just ahead with your "new" old leaders, Greece!  Opa!  When you take back to the streets, remember to hydrate?  It's gonna be a long, hot summer!

First Official Greek Exit Polls: Pro-Bailout Parties Plunge; Anti-Bailout Radical Left, Neo-Nazis Soar

For Greece:  Shit just got real.  Without a bailout, Greece's economy implodes.  Then what?  Can a bunch of crazy Neo-Nazis and Leftists really find common ground opposing the E.U./German bailout, and maybe, even a little romance..?  Zero Hedge.  Excerpts:

As we expected, the previous unofficial poll forecasts were total rubbish, and according to exit polls from NET TV, the results are as follows:



•New Democracy: 17-20%


•Pasok: 14-17%


•In a stunner, Syrizia, or the coalition of the radical left - a vehement anti-Bailout party - gets more votes than the ruling PASOK party: 15.5%-18.5%


•Independent Greeks: 10-12%


•Finally, and not surprisingly in the aftermath of the French results, the ultra right Golden Dawn gets 6-8% of the vote and will make it into Parliament.
..
Tallied across, up to 60% of the new parliament will be anti-bailout (at least according to exit polls), and hence "Domino toppling." Good luck with that pro-bailout coalition government. Needless to say these results are very ugly and make any prospect of a pro-bailout coalition cabinet virtually impossible. Suddenly the fate of the European experiment is in the hands of the ultra right and the far left - yup, Neo-Nazis will determine the future of Europe. How quaint... again - congratulations Europe.

Meanwhile, in Germany..
And just to confirm that the world is losing it, in the Schleswig-Holstein election, according to ARD, after the CDU (with 30.5%), SPD with 29.5%, Green Party with 14%, and FDP with 8.5%, we get... the Pirate Party 8%.



So Neo-Nazis in Greece, Pirates in Germany: the world has officially lost it.
And in France?

French hope for change as ‘Mr. Normal’ defeats ‘President of the Rich’  Raw Story.  Excerpts:


François Hollande has won the presidency of France, turning the tide on a rightwards and xenophobic lurch in European politics and vowing to transform Europe’s handling of the economic crisis by fighting back against German-led austerity measures.



The 57-year-old rural MP and self-styled Mr Normal, a moderate social democrat from the centre of the Socialist party, is France’s first left wing president for 17 years. Projections from early counts, released by French television, put him on 51.9% and Nicolas Sarkozy on 48.1%.


His emphatic victory is a boost to the left in a continent that has gradually swung right since the economic crisis broke four years ago.
And:
The defeat of the most unpopular French president ever to run for re-election was not simply the result of the global financial crisis or eurozone debt turmoil. It was also down to the intense public dislike of the man seen as “President of the Rich” who had swept to victory in 2007 with a huge mandate to change France. Most French people felt he had failed to deliver his promises, and he was criticised for his ostentatious display of wealth, favouring the rich and leaving behind him more than 2.8 million unemployed. Political analysts said anti-Sarkozyism had become a cultural phenomenon in France. The turnout was high, estimated at around 80%.

 
The world wide markets should be reacting shortly.  Greece has killed their bailout.  The French threw out bailout enabler Sarkozy.  Like it or not, Change will follow shortly throughout Europe, that is for sure.. 
 
CBC resumes live coverage 3 a.m. Central.  It's gonna be a "newsy" week..

Spain is About to Enter a Full-Scale Collapse

Be..  What's Spanish for afraid?  Be that.  Zero Hedge.  Excerpts:

Spain is about to enter a full-scale Crisis.


A few facts about Spain:
• Total Spanish banking loans are equal to 170% of Spanish GDP.
• Troubled loans at Spanish Banks just hit an 18-year high.
• Spanish Banks are drawing a record €316.3 billion from the ECB
(up from €169.2 billion in February).


Things have gotten so bad that Spanish citizens are pulling their money out of Spain en masse: €65 billion left the Spanish banking system in March 2011 alone.


As bad as they are, even these data points don't do justice to the toxic sewer that is the Spanish banking system.


Case in point, over HALF of all Spanish mortgages are owned by Spanish cajas.


If you're unfamiliar with the caja banking system, let me give you a little background...


Until recently, the caja banking system was virtually unregulated. Yes, you read that correctly, until about 2010-2011 there were next no regulations for these banks (which account for 50% of all Spanish deposits). They didn’t have to reveal their loan to value ratios, the quality of collateral they took for making loans… or anything for that matter.


So, with Spain today, we have a totally unregulated banking system sitting atop HALF of ALL Spanish mortgages after a housing bubble that makes the one that happened in the US look like a small bump.

Aye carumba..

Iceland Forgives Mortgage Debt for the Population. Putting Bankers and Politicians on "Bench of Accused"

Short, Spanish language video(subtitled) courtesy Sherrie Questioning All.  At least one coutry in the entire world seems to have pulled its head out of its collective ass.  Power to the Icelandic People!  Boo-Yaa!  Bring it-Bring it!  Boo-Yaa!


Ladies and gentlemen:  Bjork.

Greece Has Defaulted: Here Is Where We Stand

This weekend should be interesting.  From Zero Hedge.  Excerpts:
1) Greece was able to write off 100 billion euros worth of debt in exchange for a 130 billion rescue package of new debt, of which Greece itself will receive 19%, or about 25 billion, so that it can continue to operate as an ongoing concern. Somehow Greece is in a better position than before, with more debt and less sovereignty and still---by virtue of sharing a common currency---trying to compete toe-to-toe with the likes of Germany and the Netherlands, kind of like being the Yemeni National Basketball team in an Olympic bracket that includes the US, Spain and Germany. At least a "within the euro" default prevented bank runs in Portugal, Spain, Italy et al.



2) As a result of the bond haircuts, Greece has many pension plans that can no longer even pretend to be viable, at least according to the original contracted scheme, but pensionholders still working can take heart in the fact that their current wages will be cut, too.
And:
8) Given how much angst was caused by the drawn out Greek affair, the Spanish leader knows he has enormous leverage with EU leadership and he can continue to do what he has been doing with regard to ignoring the deficit targets demanded/suggested by the EU. The EU might well bark at him, but they cannot afford to bite at this time. Muchos gracias, Greece.

Zero Hedge Nails It..

Guest Post: When Debt Is More Important Than People, The System Is Evil  From Zero Hedge.  The excerpt is from the site, red emphasis theirs, light colored emphasis mine:



The ethics of debt, at least in the officially sanctioned media, boils down to: nobody made them borrow all those euros, and so their suffering is just desserts. What's lost in this subtext is the responsibility of the lender. Yes, nobody forced Greece to borrow 200 billion euros (or whatever the true total may be), but then nobody forced the lenders to extend the credit in the first place. Consider an individual who is a visibly poor credit risk. He would like to borrow money to blow on consumption and then stiff the lender, but since he cannot create credit, he has to live within his means. Now a lender comes along who can create credit out of thin air (via fractional reserve banking) and offers this poor credit risk $100,000 in collateral-free debt at low rates of interest. Who is responsible for the creation and extension of credit? The borrower or the lender? Answer: the lender. In other words, if the lender is foolish enough to extend huge quantities of credit to a poor credit risk, then it's the lender who should suffer the losses when the borrower defaults. This is the basis of bankruptcy laws--or used to be the basis. When an over-extended borrower defaults, the debt is cleared, the lender takes the loss/writedown, and the borrower loses whatever collateral was pledged. He is left with the basics to carry on: his auto, clothing, his job, and so on. His credit rating is impaired, and it is now his responsibility to earn back a credible credit rating....The potential for loss and actually bearing the consequences from irresponsible extensions of credit was unacceptable to the banking cartel, so they rewrote the laws. Now student loans in America cannot be discharged in bankruptcy court; they are permanent and must be carried and serviced until death. This is the acme of debt-serfdom.



Much more at the link.  Required reading. 

The beginning of the Fourth night of the Ninth Wave

Written back on July 13th, Calleman's analysis predicted the Fifth Day of the Mayan Ninth Wave would produce a global economic collapse.  I'm not saying anything more will happen from now until August 17th, when the Fifth Night begins, but don't be surprised if this does indeed happen, as momentum around the world continues to build.  First, excerpts from Calleman's article:

A couple of months ago I expressed my expectation that the Fifth day, beginning on July 31, 2011, will bring a global economic collapse, which would be the start of this end time scenario. What is going on now in this regard is that the European banks is still trying to find a solution for the Greek debt crisis by the end of July and a few days later, August 2, the decision will be made in the US whether to raise the lending ceiling or not. Meanwhile, increasing focus is placed on Italy, whose national debt in relationship to its GDP is almost as high (120%) as that of Greece (140%), but whose economy is seven times larger with correspondingly much larger potential consequences of a default on debt payments. A very delicate situation is thus already arising at the beginning of the fifth day and it remains to be seen if more money can be printed to avert a collapse.

Because it could be so painful a global financial collapse would seem to many to be a destructive event and hence not likely to occur in a period of light, a day. The economic system of the world is however probably the greatest obstacle to the development of unity consciousness that exists on our planet. I think it can even be said that a collapse of the world’s financial structure is a pre-requisite for us to be able to craft relationships of oneness between ourselves. For this reason it is not unlikely that such a collapse would occur in a day and then especially in the fifth day, which is the particular day that in the waves brings the breakthrough energy to the new frame of consciousness. Unity consciousness is thus likely to be perceived as a threat to many persons in economically dominant positions and this is part of the reason that so powerful media interests have sought to delude people about the Mayan calendar and postpone its true end date, October 28, 2011.

Around the world..

Asia markets plunge amid recession fears

From Thursday:  World stock markets in turmoil

European hijinx..  European Central Bank paralysis sparks global chaos

Crisis Exposes Rift Between ECB and Euro-Zone Governments

Stocks: Worst week since financial crisis

It's Friday night now, USA/CST.  We'll check back Sunday night when the Asian markets re-open.  Have a great weekend, and ride the Ninth Wave, babies..

Global employment crisis will stir social unrest, warns UN agency

From The Telegraph  Excerpts:

The United Nations work agency said it was putting back by two years from 2013 its previous assessment of the time needed to create the 22 million jobs still needed to regain the pre-crisis level - 14 million in rich countries and 8 million in developing states.
And:
In 35 countries for which data exists, nearly 40 per cent of job seekers have been without work for more than one year, running risks of demoralisation and mental health problems, and young people were disproportionately hit by unemployment.

It noted that social unrest related to the crisis has been reported in at least 25 countries, including some recovering emerging economies.

This week riot police were on the streets as protesters in Spain, Belgium, Italy and Greece demonstrated against tough austerity measures.


On a metaphysical note:
Uranus re-enters Aries on March 12  Another perspective.

Bank of America website exposes customer accounts, data

High incompetence from America's Bank. Blurg.. From Jalopnik Excerpts:

Bank of America's account websites are experiencing an unprecedented online security breach and isn't rectifying the problem. That's right, your online account data and full account access may be in the hands of someone else.
..

The person I spoke with immediately called Bank of America, and was told that although they knew of the problem, they didn't they yet know what was causing the problem, and despite having known about it for over a half an hour, they had not shut down online access. One hour later, my source tells me she still has access to the other party's account information.

There you have it. If you've got an account with BofA, enjoy your Sunday! Maybe the people who hold your money will get around to fixing a problem that allows others to steal said money: Or not.. The level of indifference BofA has shown towards their clients is astonishing, even for these clowns.

Another Example Of How We Don't Understand What's Destroying Us..

Two Views on The Bernank Gonzalo Lira points out the different reporting of Fed Chief Bernanke's speech last week. The American version of what happened is quite a bit different than, well, everyone else's..

..The American media is focusing on an obvious political nonstarter: The idea that the budget ceiling will not be raised.
..
The foreign media, on the other hand, is focusing on something that really matters: How the U.S. is exporting inflation, especially food price inflation, which is leading to social unrest.
..
Compare:
The New York Times reports in the lead of its story,

The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, warned Congressional
Republicans on Thursday not to “play around with” a coming vote to raise the government’s legal borrowing limit or use it as a bargaining chip for spending cuts.
..
Contrast those lead paragraphs with these from the UK’s Telegraph (not
exactly a bastion of Lefty thinking):Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has dismissed the idea that the central bank’s policies are to blame for the rise in global food prices to a record high that helped trigger political unrest in Egypt.

..
The Times and the rest of the American mainstream media is focused on a non-issue—while the rest of the world is focusing on something that matters: Food price rises, and the perception that America is exporting inflation.

The American financial media’s thing about the Federal government debt ceiling is sort of silly—everyone knows that the debt ceiling will be raised.

But food price inflation is real. The riots in Egypt are real—and they have nothing to do with “Muslim extremists”, or even Mubarak’s dictatorship: They’re about food prices, plain and simple, which have been steadily rising ever since the Federal Reserve’s loose money policies and various versions of QE have driven commodity prices to the moon.

Lira's right: Theatrics aside, the debt ceiling will be raised. Journalistically; not a big deal at all. Rising food costs triggering global, social unrest.. Of course that's the bigger story. And the bigger question? Why is there such a disconnect between American media's coverage/perspective and the World's? Yes, it was rhetorical.

Having Trouble Understanding The Machinations and Implications Of The EU Financial Crisis?

Gonzalo Lira can help. Why is the EU Crisis important? Globalist financial/banking policy has tangled not only neighboring European countries economies together in a way impossible to decouple without serious turbulence, but the majority of the world's collective economy is also locked in a larger magnification of what currently ails the EU. And, as goes Europe, so goes the Global Financial System. Lira writes simply, directly, distilling complex financial situations into an easy to understand narrative of real-time economic events, and why there are no easy or immediate answers to this rapidly blooming global catastrophe..

Lira also thinks the European situation is deteriorating rapidly, even more than he recently predicted. I know, I know.. The economic crisis is no where near as fun as Bristol Palin or even the Royal Engagement, but hopefully a few of you will take the 15 minutes or so required to read both articles. You should, then, have a much better handle on the implications this has for America's immediate financial future.

Short answer: Huge, and Terrible.

This Is The Tipping Point, Or A Contributor Thereof..

Yuan Bets Reined In After ‘Masterful Job’ at G-20: China Credit

Abhisit calls on Asia to use yuan in trade Huh. Thailand's thinking of dropping the Dollar.

Ireland Goes Bust, Irish Bank Run

Obama didn't have any fun at the G20 at all..

Just because you can't hear them doesn't mean massive financial bombs aren't exploding all over the place.