Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2012

So soon? State Department warns travelers that the entire country of Mexico is, basically, a freaking war-zone

Although you wouldn't know it by the Obama administration's open-borders policy:

It’s amazing that only now do we get this serious travel warning when more people have been murdered every year in Mexico than in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s absolutely shameful that we’ve been propping up that government (remember that $2 billion we sent over last year?) and sending guns in while tens of thousands get murdered. Horrible.

Yep, no reason to build that wall. None at all.

Travel warning: Violence spreading in Mexico

Americans should avoid all but essential travel to all or parts of 14 Mexican states, the U.S. State Department warns as violence has spread. Shootouts, kidnappings and carjackings have climbed, as have cartels, also known as transnational criminal organizations (TCO), the State Department said this week in a broadened travel warning.

While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico every year, the country’s ongoing violence and security concerns pose risks for U.S. citizens, and travelers should take precautions, the State Department advises... More than 47,500 people were killed in drug-related violence in Mexico between December 2006 and September 2011, according to the State Department. While most of those murdered were involved in criminal activity, innocent people were also caught in the crossfire, the State Department said. Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared a crackdown on cartels in late 2006.

Say, I've got an idea! Let's have the ATF deliver thousands of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. Maybe that will help!


Hat tip: BadBlue.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Muslim Brotherhood: "Let's Skip The Foreplay" [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

Law of history #2: Whenever and wherever Islam reaches a certain critical mass, Islam tries to dominate the surrounding community.

Law of history #3: In the Islamic world, nature fills a power vacuum with – wait for it – Islam.

If you live in a dream world (or the White House), this will reinforce your fantasies about democracy blooming in Arabia and North Africa. But down here on earth, it’s proof positive that Egypt has already fallen into Islamofascist hands. How can we ever thank you, Barack Hussein Obama? They couldn’t have done it without you.

twincities.com, 2/9/12

Muslim Brotherhood Demands Egypt’s Military Rulers Cede Control


CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday demanded that Egypt's military rulers cede control of the government, stepping closer to a long-anticipated confrontation between the ruling generals and the Islamist-dominated Parliament.

In a statement on its website and a television interview with one of its senior leaders, the Brotherhood called for the military to allow the replacement of the current prime minister and cabinet with a new coalition government formed by Parliament, which would amount to an immediate handover of power.

The Brotherhood, the formerly outlawed Islamist group that now dominates Parliament, had previously said it was content to wait for the June deadline by which the generals had pledged to turn over power, which they seized with the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

###

The entire story is here. And you might like this: Islam on the March in Europe.


Tuesday, February 07, 2012

"CO2 Lies": German Media Destroys the Global Warming Scam; Al "Three Mansions" Gore Unavailable for Comment

And the hits just keep on coming for the United Nations' global warming scam:

“THE CO2 LIES … pure fear-mongering … should we blindly trust the experts?”


That’s what Germany’s leading daily Bild (see photo) wrote in its print and online editions today, on the very day that renowned publisher Hoffmann & Campe officially released a skeptic book – one written by a prominent socialist and environmental figure.

This is huge. More than I ever could have possibly imagined. And more is coming in the days ahead! The Bild piece was just the first of a series.

Mark this as the date that Germany’s global warming movement took a massive body blow.

Today, not one, but two of Germany’s most widely read news media published comprehensive skeptical climate science articles in their print and online editions, coinciding with the release of a major climate skeptical book, Die kalte Sonne (The Cold Sun)...

What has set it all off? One of the fathers of Germany’s modern green movement, Professor Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt, a social democrat and green activist, decided to author a climate science skeptical book together with geologist/paleontologist Dr. Sebastian Lüning. Vahrenholt’s skepticism started when he was asked to review an IPCC report on renewable energy. He found hundreds of errors. When he pointed them out, IPCC officials simply brushed them aside. Stunned, he asked himself, “Is this the way they approached the climate assessment reports?”

Vahrenholt decided to do some digging. His colleague Dr. Lüning also gave him a copy of Andrew Montford’s The Hockey Stick Illusion. He was horrified by the sloppiness and deception he found. Persuaded by Hoffmann & Campe, he and Lüning decided to write the book. Die kalte Sonne cites 800 sources and has over 80 charts and figures. It examines and summarizes the latest science.

Conclusion: climate catastrophe is called off.

Hey, John Boehner: you listening? The EPA needs to be de-funded completely.

That agency is a multi-billion dollar organization built on a series of lies and crimes, as the horrific story of DDT reminds us.

And if Boehner won't do it, we need to find a House Speaker -- like Michele Bachmann or Allen West -- with the stones to shred this taxpayer-funded boondoggle benefiting the Marxist Left.


Hat tip: Vicki.

Monday, February 06, 2012

Special Offer for Democrats Only: Looking for Excellent Investment Returns at Low Risk?

Hey, Dems: check out this low risk, high-return investment: the Greek 1-year bond, which is paying over 500%!

This investment must be low risk, because Greece follows the very same policies that are practiced by the Democrat Party: unsustainable deficit spending, bloated entitlements and easy access to welfare -- the same as Greece!

C'mon Dems, hurry up and jump on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make 500% on your money the easy, social Democrat welfare state way! Call 1-800-GOT-STUPID? now!


Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be construed as investment advice. This means you especially, Democrats, because your grasp of arithmetic, logic, reasoning skills, and financial information is obviously in question. Any and all site content, including advertisements, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument, or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy -- especially those espoused by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors, firms or organiziations affiliated with the author(s). Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or advertisement on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.


Sunday, February 05, 2012

Warmal Colding strikes Europe: record cold snap kills hundreds; thousands trapped by "heaviest snow... ever recorded"

Al Gore hardest hit.

Bosnian authorities on Sunday used helicopters to evacuate sick people and deliver food to thousands of people who have been cut off by the heaviest snow the country has ever recorded... Across Eastern Europe thousands of people were digging themselves out from heavy snow that followed a weeklong cold snap that has killed hundreds.

More than 100 remote Bosnian villages are cut off by snow over 6 1/2 feet high in the mountains. More than three feet has fallen in the capital Sarajevo, where a state of emergency has been declared...

London's Heathrow Airport—Europe's busiest—canceled a third of Sunday's flights and warned of delays amid heavy fog.

...Rome is struggling under its first heavy snowfall in 26 years, and snow has also fallen on Spain's Balearic islands in the Mediterranean... Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday said the snowfall was beautiful, but he is wishing spring will come soon.

Please take note of the reaction of the global warming cult to news stories like these. When record cold temperatures savage the planet -- which some scientists believe herald the onset of a new ice age -- they screech that "weather isn't climate".

But when temperatures hit 100° in Manhattan during the month of July, they're the first to shriek about "evidence" of warmal colding.

How stupid do they think we are? Stupid enough to think that they can continue to pull off the United Nations' latest multi-billion dollar scam, courtesy of corrupt scientists seeking grant money and the Marxist left, who desperately want to regulate the economies of the West through cap-and-trade.


Saturday, February 04, 2012

Perfect: Obama pulls combat pay for U.S. troops

But he obviously holds the U.S. military in very high esteem.

President Obama’s latest policy outrage makes no attempt to hide his contempt for our military, as he is ordering that our troops serving overseas in war zones overseas are not to receive combat pay unless they are being shot at. A Marine who lives in Florida has just posted a note on Facebook which stated that he received a letter from his PayPal account that he would only be receiving his Hazard pay (Imminent Danger Pay) if he is actually in a hostile area and at risk of being shot at...

...According to Military.com, as of February 1, 2012, this new measure went into effect, and soldiers who are to received the additional $225/mo. combat pay ‘must’ must be in immediate risk of harm. The measure is very specific in its criteria for receiving the additonal pay.

This follows efforts by the president to make veterans pay for their own health insurance -- even those injured in combat -- and his calls last month for raises for millions of federal paper-pushers.

In other words, the president continues to siphon off more and more money from our defense infrastructure -- hitting our warriors first, last and hardest in the process -- to fund his green energy scams and public sector union cronies (which, coincidentally, also contribute heavily to his campaign).


Thursday, February 02, 2012

Three Must-Read Quotes from Eric Holder's Fast and Furious Testimony Today. Plus: Brian Terry's Mother Rips Holder.

Eric Holder was back in front of the House Oversight Committee today to testify on Operation Fast and Furious. For those unfamiliar with the crimes, consider it like Watergate, only with 300 dead -- including Brian Terry, a U.S. Border Patrol agent killed by murder weapons supplied to drug cartels by Eric Holder.

During testimony, three particular quotes struck me as especially memorable:

• GOP Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle to Eric Holder:

"What more could have possibly gone wrong before you'd have been held accountable [for Operation Fast and Furious]? I would suggest that the President has been eerily quiet about coming to your defense. So let me ask it this way: How many more Border Patrol agents would have had to die as part of Operation Fast and Furious for you to take responsibility?"

• Eric Holder threatens Darrell Issa, asserting that Congress can not view sealed wiretap records even if a whistleblower reveals them:

"That direction that you just said, about the media and Congress and court orders, is really incorrect and you act at your peril if you think that's the truth."

• GOP Rep. Patrick Henry to Eric Holder on the delays in the DOJ's "investigation", which has now taken longer than the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of JFK:

"Thirteen months later, we have a possibility of somebody actually being punished for an agent getting killed. This is absolutely absurd."

Brian Terry's mother also watched Holder's outrageous performance today and had the following to say on Facebook.

“THIS IS FOR YOU SON,” Mrs. Terry posted on Facebook at about 3:30 p.m. “Mr. Holder. How come you can never say my sons name. You never have. All i ever hear you say is ‘i didnt find out or I cant say’ Im actually tired of hearing your double talk in answering questions. What a joke you are. You know my son was a real AMERICAN, a WARRIOR, and a HERO, who was also protecting COWARD POLITICANS like you.”

“Hope you remember that,” Mrs. Terry added in her message to Holder before signing it: “PROUD MOM OF BRIAN A. TERRY.”

Brian Terry was murdered with a weapon his own government allowed to be sold to Mexican drug cartels via Operation Fast and Furious. Like Terry, about 300 Mexican citizens were also murdered with the guns Holder’s Justice Department gave to the drug cartels.

Nobody has been held accountable inside the Justice Department, and more than 100 congressmen, three U.S. senators, two sitting governors and all major Republican presidential candidates have demanded that Holder step down in the wake of the scandal. Holder has time and again refused to hold anybody accountable and has refused to step down himself.

Holder never even apologized to the Terry family until publicly shamed into it during November's Congressional testimony. And, even then, he released the apology publicly to Politico before the family ever saw it.

Holder needs to be held in Contempt of Congress right now and prosecuted for obstruction of justice.


Cartoon: IBD - Ramirez

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Photos: Massive Food Shortage Unfolding in Mexico -- Is a Refugee Crisis Imminent?

I predict an influx of undocumented Democrats.

The Rarámuri indigenous community in northern Mexico faces severe food and water shortages after the region's worst drought in more than 70 years...






The people are getting angry:

Thousands Demand Food, Jobs in Mexico City - The shortage of basic foods and the spike in prices are devastating the urban dwellers who consume these goods daily,” National Peasants Confederation, or CNC, president Gerardo Sanchez said.

Even Mexico’s Drug Cartels Are Affected By Worst Drought In Years - Mexico is currently experiencing its most intense drought in 71 years... More than 2 million people in the country have been affected by the water shortage... Government officials warn that the drought could last for at least another five months, with freezing temperature in some states now threatening to endanger lives and crops... Nearly 7 percent of the country’s agricultural land, mostly in the north and centre, has suffered complete losses

Drought Threatens Food Supply of 2.5 Million Mexicans - Some 2.5 million people are at risk of going hungry due to the severe drought plaguing more than half of Mexico’s 32 states, a leading expert said Thursday... The shortage of rain has already led to the loss of 3.2 million tons of maize, 600,000 tons of beans and 60,000 head of cattle, he noted. ...Without measures to counteract the agricultural losses, “this population runs the risk of suffering hunger,” Romero said, calling it “paradoxical” that the government delayed so long in tapping some of Mexico’s $147 billion in international reserves to address the problems caused by the drought.

You can donate to Mexican food relief here.


Hat tip: Doctor M.

Constitutional Showdown: DOJ Threatens to Defy Congressional Demands for Fast and Furious Documents

Yesterday the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued yet another demand for documents, this time going to the unprecedented step of threatening Attorney General Eric Holder with Contempt charges should he again defy Congress (PDF). The highlights of the Committee's demands revolve around the Justice Department's fabrications, delays and denials, many of which appear to involve false testimony. In short, Holder has until 4 February 2012 to avoid a Contempt of Congress charge.






CNN reports this evening that the DOJ is ignoring those threats and claiming it can't produce any documents in time (this, after literally years of requests).

...the Justice Department late Wednesday sent a sharp letter to Issa rejecting his demands from a day earlier for documents by a next-week deadline... Issa is threatening the attorney general with contempt of Congress if DOJ fails to deliver.

The exchange of stinging letters the past two days caps weeks of maneuvering by both sides in advance of the anticipated Holder appearance Thursday before Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Justice Department [claimed] Issa's letter showed "significant misunderstanding both of the documents we recently produced and of the Department's position on the issues you raise."

The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa's February 9, 2012, deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline "impossible" to meet because of the broad scope of the request... He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa.

The political battle has been raging for more than a year, following the discovery that two of the "fast and furious" weapons that had gone missing in Mexico in the botched sting were discovered at the scene of the killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in Arizona.

This, my friends, could precipitate a true Constitutional crisis. The DOJ's lawless behavior is unacceptable no matter which political party is in power.

Liberals who ignore this flagrant criminality do so at their own peril. Because Democrats will not always control the Executive Branch.


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Priorities

Contrary to rumor, the President and Democrats in Congress really do have a national security strategy. See if you can figure out what it is.

...President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta have already settled on a plan to slash $487 billion from existing manpower, as well as from procurement and development of equipment and weapons. The cuts include reducing the Army by 72,000 people and the Marines by 20,000. The cuts also include elimination of six tactical fighter squadrons and one training squadron, plus buying fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters -- on top of already planned reductions in the number of F-22 air superiority fighters to be put in service. The Navy will decommission seven cruisers and two amphibious craft, plus delay its procurement process for new ships. Together, these moves will dramatically reduce our ability to put "boots on the ground" and to insure the air superiority needed to protect and assist U.S. forces in major conflicts. Having such forces at the ready is also the best way to keep minor conflicts from exploding into big ones.

But the Obama-Panetta cuts aren't nearly enough for some in Congress. On Friday, representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey of California, and Rush Holt of New Jersey wrote Obama to encourage him to "take even bolder leadership on this issue as you finalize your budget." They want Obama to double the Pentagon cuts because "the Cold War is long over, and no remotely comparable adversary has emerged or is likely to emerge. ... We believe that savings of around $900 billion over the next 10 years can be realized." Following their advice would greatly reduce the reach of American power, and make us seem like a paper lion to the bad guys of the world.

...The terrible irony here is that military spending has been on a steady decline since 1965, as seen in the nearby chart. And, as the defense portion of the budget has contracted for nearly five decades, entitlement spending has exploded... Obama, Panetta and their liberal Democrat allies like Frank are playing chicken with American security.

Was that last sentence racist? Let's ask Leonard Pitts.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

What's Wrong With This Picture? [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:

What's wrong with this picture? Hint: Every move Obama makes in the Middle East abets the Muslim cause at Israel's expense. Sheer coincidence, no doubt.

###

JPost, 01/26/2012

Muslim Brotherhood repeats: No talks with Israel


Spokesman says dialogue with Jewish state ‘not up for discussion.’

###

Reuters, 25 Jan 2012

Obama set to speed up aid to Egypt-official


Obama considers redirecting aid to Egypt

Oh, and then there's this:

Reuters, 26 Jan 2012

U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving


Among those hit by travel bans - one of those targeted called it "de facto detention" - is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood... The United States said Egypt should reverse them: "We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow these folks to come home as soon as possible," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Perhaps the White House will go to the Obama version of DEFCON 1; i.e., issuing a strongly worded memo, with copies to the United Nations and George Soros.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Obama Henchman John Podesta Lumps Canada In With Terror States To Justify the Disastrous Keystone XL Decision

John Podesta is one of a long line of Soros-funded Obama stooges (which is the term they prefer, I hear) who runs the ill-named "Center for American Progress". From all appearances, CAP's mission is three-fold: (a) to de-industrialize America through eco-Marxism; (b) to continue pushing the country down the road to a failed, European social welfare state; and (c) to manufacture propaganda for the state, Hugo Chavez-style.

For the latter purpose, Podesta was able to secure a forum at The Wall Street Journal this morning. He used it to deliver one of the more malicious pieces of propaganda ever printed in an American newspaper. The op-ed was timed, of course, to reinforce tonight's State of the Union address and, in particular, to justify Obama's disastrous Keystone XL pipeline decision.

In the hubbub around the president's decision not to approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline between Canada and the United States, Americans missed the big picture. While conservatives have been fighting to build a pipeline to import more foreign oil and deepen U.S. dependence, the U.S. is poised to transform its energy portfolio by developing domestic resources—renewable and mineral—that will let it become a net exporter of clean energy and energy technology in this decade...

Renewable energy resources like those produced by Solyndra?

And since when was Canada lumped in with America's enemies?

Only in the mind of a malevolent, Soros-controlled drone could Canada be equated with a totalitarian Islamist terror state.

Under President Obama's leadership, we appear to be at the beginning of a domestic gas and oil boom. After a four-decade decline in oil production, the U.S. is now producing more than half of our oil domestically. This can free us from our addiction to foreign-sourced barrels, particularly if we utilize our dramatically larger and cheaper natural gas reserves. Natural gas now costs the equivalent of less than $15 per barrel, versus the $100-plus barrels we import from the Middle East... [But there] are critical environmental questions associated with developing these resources, particularly concerning methane leakage and water pollution.

Buried in this pile of literary excrement is the caveat that applies to all Obama dictums: companies will get regulated out of business by the EPA, the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, and dozens of other elements of the bloated federal bureaucracy long before a single watt of energy is ever produced.

I'll spare you the rest of Podesta's verbal diarrhea.

Decades from now, when the complete history of the Obama administration is written, its accomplices like John Podesta -- who betrayed their country for a few pieces of Soros' gold -- will receive the full measure of scorn and hatred they deserve. Future generations destined to suffer because of nefarious individuals like Podesta will curse their names and, if there is any justice at all, turn their gravesites into landfills.


FDR Didn’t Bomb The Death Camps, Obama Won’t Bomb Iran [Dan from NY]

Dan from NY:



As more and more evidence accumulates that shows FDR and the allies knew about Hitler's death camps and decided not to bomb them, the more and more Obama’s unwillingness to take the atomic bat out of Iran’s hands starts looking like déjà vu all over again. Of course, there is one (and only one) big difference between now and then: Israel was born and has been blessed with the wherewithal to crush the Iranian viper in its infancy, before it becomes lethal. What’s yet to be determined, though, is whether Israel has the will to carry out its G-d-given mission. We should get our answer before the year is out.


Monday, January 23, 2012

Dual Disasters Boil Over in Egypt: "Millions of Egyptians will die"

Advocates of Egypt's "Democracy" movement -- Barack Obama included -- failed to note that there were no organized secular, liberal political parties that could offer a counterweight to Islamists in a popular election. The result, therefore, was utterly predictable. Predictable, at least, by anyone with a modicum of sense.

The United States and other Western governments must accept the new reality that Islamists have emerged to fill the power vacuum in the Arab world after a wave of popular uprisings, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Sunday.

The New York-based group also urged Islamist parties, which have emerged as the biggest winners in recent elections in Tunisia and Egypt and are expected to fare well in Libya, to respect the rights of women and religious minorities, saying they cannot "pick and choose" when it comes to human rights. [Ed: delusional? You make the call.]

...Since the collapse of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia a year ago, Islamist groups once largely confined to the political sidelines, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have formed parties and contested parliamentary polls, winning the greatest share of seats.

As background, about half of all Egyptians are "functionally illiterate"; 90% of adult women have undergone ritual, genital mutilation; and nearly a third of Egyptians marry their first or second cousins. And nearly half of Egypt's citizens live on subsistence rations, earning less than $2 a day, much of which must be spent on food.

With that as context, Spengler's "Failed treasury auction portends Egyptian disaster" in Asia Times is unsettling, to say the least.

Investors bought less an a third of the 3.5 billion Egyptian pounds (US$580 million) worth of Treasury bills offered to the market on January 22, a red flag warning that Egypt's foreign exchange position is close to the brink.

Yields on Egyptian government debt maturing in nine months jumped to nearly 16%, but the government could not place its local-currency debt to Egyptian investors, even at that exorbitant rate.

This is a new and ominous decline in the financial position of the most populous Arab country. I have been warning since last May that "Egypt is running out of food, and, more gradually, running out of the money with which to buy it." How fast this may occur is hard to specify, but the government's inability to borrow on money markets suggests that the crunch is not far off.

Why are investors fleeing?

After Islamist parties won more three-quarters of the seats in recent parliamentary elections - 47% for the Muslim Brotherhood and 25% for the even more extreme al-Nour Party - the business elite that prospered under military rule is counting the days before exile...

...Egypt's middle class will leave and tourism, down by a third over the past year, will virtually disappear in response to Salafist restrictions. The Barack Obama administration in Washington will try to appease the new Islamist government whenever it takes power, but will succeed no better than the Jimmy Carter administration did when the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took power in Iran in 1979.

Spengler concludes with an ominous prediction: "Millions of Egyptians will die before this is through."

Should such a disaster come to pass, much of the blame will rightly fall on Barack Obama, who sold out a long-time U.S. ally in pursuit of heaven knows what.


Hat tip: Winterspirit.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Obama: Resolutely Determined to Do Absolutely Nothing About Iran

Dan from NY:

This comes from an Iranian news site (www.mehrnews.com), and you have to assume the Iranian regime has to approve the slant of everything that goes out.

Even so, the idea that Obama is still offering to engage the Mullahs, and being ridiculed for it, is more like a running joke over there than it is news or giving away state secrets.

# # #

Details of Obama’s letter to Iran released


TEHRAN, Jan. 18 (MNA) -- A number of Iranian officials have released the details of the letter that U.S. President Barack Obama recently sent to Tehran [...] warning that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke a response by the United States.

Obama has called for negotiations ... MP Ali Motahhari said on Wednesday, “In the letter, it has been stated that ‘closing the Strait of Hormuz is our red line’ and they have requested direct negotiations..."

Obama says U.S. will not take hostile action against Iran ... “In the letter, Obama has mentioned cooperation and negotiation based on the interests of the two countries... He has stated in the letter that they will not take any hostile action against the Islamic Republic of Iran..."

“Obama’s letter indicates that the United States has become afraid of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s might and has realized the point that an arrogant spirit is of no use... The important issue is that without the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permission, no country can benefit from the Persian Gulf."

Mr. Chamberlain, meet Mr. Obama.


Monday, January 16, 2012

The Euro? 404 Error, Not Found

I happened to get a quote on the Greek 1-year bond earlier today and found that its yield had hit an apt figure:

The 1-year yields roughly 404 percent, which is apropos because 404 is the universal web status code for "not found".

And that's what the head of Unicredit Securities said today regarding the future of the Euro. Here are the soundbites, so you don't have to slog through the whole article (all bullet points are verbatim quotes):

• Europe's common currency is virtually dead...
• The Euro's doomed...
• ...when Athens is declared bankrupt, a "10 magnitude" earthquake will shake Europe...
• ...Holders of Greek government bonds will have to write off their entire investment, the southern European nation will stop paying salaries and pensions and automated teller machines in the country will empty 'within minutes'...

Bloomberg also relays an assessment that "the panic escalating this way may sweep across Europe in a self-fulfilling fashion, leading to the breakup of the euro area."

In other words, the exact same spending plans of the Democrat Party -- led by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, who have put America in hock so deeply that it simply cannot be bailed out -- are the same plans that are poised to destroy the European financial system.

If we have a prayer of saving this country, if it's not already too late, I urge you to eradicate the Democrat Party at the ballot box in 2012. Obliterate it, at every level of government. It's the only way to be sure.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Operation Grand Slam Nears Completion in Europe: Complete, Total Meltdown of Financial System

Mike Shedlock -- who has a damn good track record on macroeconomics over the past several years -- uses the following headline, which actually understates the problem.

Europe’s $39 Trillion Pension Time Bomb Explodes in 2012...


Even before the euro crisis, people were worried about Europe’s pension bomb.

State-funded pension obligations in 19 of the European Union nations were about five times higher than their combined gross debt, according to a study commissioned by the European Central Bank. The countries in the report compiled by the Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University in 2009 had almost 30 trillion euros ($39.3 trillion) of projected obligations to their existing populations.

...Stable or falling birthrates, plus rising life expectancies, are adding to pressures, with the proportion of economic output devoted to spending on retirement benefits projected to rise by a quarter to 14 percent by 2060, according to the ECB report.

Europe has the highest proportion of people aged over 60 of any region in the world, and that is forecast to rise to almost 35 percent by 2050 from 22 percent in 2009, according to a report from the United Nations. That compares with a global estimate of 22 percent by 2050, up from 11 percent in 2009.

...In so-called developed countries, the average lifespan will reach almost 83 by 2050, up from about 75 in 2009, the UN said.

...State pension obligations in France and Germany are three times the size of their economies, according to data compiled by Mercer.

Shedlock concludes: "The punchline to this economic disaster came in the middle of the article: 'Pension managers and governments are relying on economic growth to safeguard the promises they make.'"

Suffice it to say that Europe will be lucky to average any growth -- even one percent -- over the next five years given its imminent set of cascading defaults.

And, not to belabor the point, but this should serve as yet another alarm klaxon for any American concerned with the future of this Republic. That, of course, leaves out liberals, progressives and the rest of the Democrat Party, which appears bent on national suicide.


Image: Business Insider.

The haunting beauty of the welfare state evident in Greece as pedophiles awarded state disability pensions

The collapse of Greek society can't come quickly enough with news like this hitting the (virtual) presses:

There is a silver lining to America’s fundamental transformation into a replica of the bankrupt socialist basket case Greece. A least more people will qualify for special privileges and free handouts by being official victims. Greeks have extended that cherished status to pedophiles, exhibitionists, and kleptomaniacs, all of whom are now regarded as “disabled.”

The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action “incomprehensible,” and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants.

Also joining the ranks of the privileged: pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists, and sadomasochists.

Pyromaniacs and pedophiles are eligible for disability pay up to 35%. That beats being diabetic, which may only get you 10%.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who favors giving Greece one red cent of American money. They will flush it down the toilet, then use their utter helplessness as a weapon to morally mug us for more. Some derelicts are unworthy of charity until they repent and reform. The same goes for derelict nations.

Hell, I'm not worrying about paying Greek perverts (I'm sure Turbo Timmy will find a backdoor way to pull that off).

I'm worried about this delightful graph, which illustrates America's "fundamental transformation" into a social welfare state.

We are fast approaching Greece-level debts and, at the current trajectory of deficit spending, only three or four years will doom our financial system.

But at least we have warning signs.

The European socialist welfare states are collapsing before our eyes. What we are seeing in Europe is a preview of the Obama-Democrat agenda writ large. Socialism can't work, won't work, and has never worked in all of human history.

2012 may very well be our last chance to save this precious Republic.

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. --Ronald Reagan



Hat tip: Vicki.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Militant Quaker Starts Shooting At Cops In Alabama

Did I say "militant Quaker"? Cause I meant to say the usual, CAIR-supported Jihadists.

Alabama man suffers sudden jihad syndrome and starts shooting at the cops.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez wanted to do something extreme “to draw attention to Islam and himself.” So he fired on the police. The Gadsden Times reported:

A man thought to be an Islamic extremist is believed to have shot the windows out of at least two businesses in Alabama City early Sunday to lure police officers to the area and engage them in a shootout.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez was charged with attempted murder.

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez, 21, from Albertville, was charged today with attempted murder, according to a news release from the Gadsden Police Department.

“After the man was taken into custody, he reported that he knew he must do something extreme to draw attention to Islam and himself, so he planned to shoot police officers,” Gadsden Police Capt. Regina May said.

Gadsden police officers responded to alarm calls for glass breakage after doors were shot out about 1:30 a.m. Sunday at AutoZone and Rainbow Food Mart near the intersection of 27th Street and West Meighan Boulevard.

The article did not say if he was here legally but the department is checking his immigration status.


I blame Bush.

Oh, wait. That's Ron Paul's line.


Chart: The Price of Gold Since... The Year 1265 A.D.

Tyler Durden offers the following graph courtesy of the Bank of England, which reinforces the notion that what goes around comes around.

We have often seen requests to show the price of gold going back as long as possible. Tonight we can oblige, with a gold price chart, indexed in 2010 British Pounds, going all the way back to 1265...

...To the surprise of many, the early 1980s gold price surge is not the only time in history when gold exploded. It appears that based on the surge in gold back in the late 15th century, there was actually quite a serious need for Columbus to go forth and find a source of gold, because last we checked Ferdinand and Isabella did not have Bernanke's money printers back then. And yes, as Goldman says, there were no ETFs back in the 16th century to draw demand away from the real deal and into make believe exposure.

Ben Bernanke could not be reached for comment at press time.


Related: Introducing the Obama Financial Anxiety Index Level™ (O-FAIL for short)