Tag: news

We've repeatedly warned that this strain of Ebola might be spread by aerosols.

But there is a fascinating and terrifying wrinkle to this …

You might assume that hot, steamy places would be more likely to spread deadly germs than developed countries. But the opposite might be true.

In 1995, scientists from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) reported in the International Journal of Experimental Pathology:

We also demonstrated aerosol transmission of Ebola virus at lower temperature and humidity than that normally present in sub-Saharan Africa. Ebola virus sensitivity to the high temperatures and humidity in the thatched, mud, and wattel huts shared by infected family members in southern Sudan and northern Zaire may have been a factor limiting aerosol transmission of Ebola virus in the African epidemics. Both elevated temperature and relative humidity (RH) have been shown to reduce the aerosol stability of viruses (Songer 1967). Our experiments were conducted at 24⁰C [i.e. 75 degrees Fahrenheit] and < 40% RH, conditions which are known to favour the aerosol stability of at least two other African haemorrhagic fever viruses, Rift Valley fever and Lassa (Stephenson et a/. 1984; Anderson et a/. 1991). If the same holds true for filoviruses [Ebola is a type of filovirus], aerosol transmission is a greater threat in modern hospital or laboratory settings than it is in the natural climatic ranges of viruses.

Peter Jahrling was one of the authors of the report.  Jahrling was discoverer of the Reston strain of Ebola, and is now chief scientist at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

In 2012, scientists from USAMRIID published a report in the journal Viruses finding:

Aerosol transmission is thought to be possible and may occur in conditions of lower temperature and humidity which may not have been factors in outbreaks in warmer climates.

H/t Kit Daniels.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1rxCMwx George Washington

 

Preface: If you are an atheist (or adherent of another faith) and believe that the Catholic faith is crazy, you are obviously entitled to your belief.  But please remember that very few Americans are atheists … and the majority don’t trust atheists.  More importantly, it's wise to work with allies on core issues, such as fighting corruption … even if you would normally disagree with them. 

In this case, the Pope just may speak for a lot of allies.  After all, there are more than a billion Catholics worldwide.  Some 85% of the American population identifies itself as Christian, and 78 million Americans have been baptized into the Catholic Church. The U.S. has the world's fourth largest Catholic population.
 

Legal authorities have done nothing to crack down on Wall Street corruption.  The U.S. government admits that it refuses to prosecute fraud … pretty much as an official policy.

Sure, a few "small fish" are indicted … but the big boys go free.  Indeed, there are two systems of justice in America … one for the Wall Street  fatcats, and one for everyone else.

In reality,  the government helped cover up the crimes of the big banks, used claims of national security to keep everything in the dark, and changed basic rules and definitions to allow the game to continue. See this, this, this and this.    Because fraudsters weren’t prosecuted and the banks weren’t broken up, the fraudsters are now committing bigger and bigger crimes, and banks are now bigger than ever … leaving the economy open to an even bigger crash than occurred in 2008.

Even the President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank has repeatedly said that bankers have to improve their ethics … but to no avail.

Why isn't the government cracking down on corruption and fraud?  Because most government workers are themselves corrupt.

Yesterday, Pope Francis gave a powerful speech, directly addressing these problems (Google translate):

The scandalous concentration of global wealth is possible due to the connivance of public leaders with the powers that be. The corruption is itself a process of death … when life dies, there is corruption.There are few things more difficult than opening a breach in a corrupt heart: "So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich with God" (Luke 12:21). When the personal situation of the corrupt becomes complicated, he knows all the loopholes to escape as did the dishonest steward of the Gospel (cf. Lk 16.1 to 8).

 

The corrupt through life with shortcuts opportunism, with the air of one who says, "It was not me", coming to internalize his mask as an honest man. It's a process of internalization. The corrupt can not accept criticism, dismisses anyone who provides criticizes, tries to belittle any moral authority to question him, does not value the other and insults anyone who thinks differently.  If the balance of power permits, he  prosecutes anyone who contradicts him.

 

Corruption is expressed in an atmosphere of triumphalism because the corrupt fancies himself a winner. In that he struts to belittle others. The corrupt knows no fraternity or friendship, but complicity and enmity.

The corrupt does not perceive his corruption. It's a little like what happens with bad breath … it's hard for those who have it to know, unless someone else tells them.

 

For this reason, the corrupt can hardly get out of their internal state by way of remorse of conscience. Corruption is a greater evil than sin. More than forgiven, this evil must be cured.

Corruption has become "natural" to the point of getting to statehood linked to personal and social custom, a common practice in commercial and financial transactions, in public procurement, in any negotiation involving State agents. It is the victory of appearances over reality …

 

***

 

There are now many international conventions and treaties on the matter … not so much geared to protect the citizens, who ultimately are the latest victims – particularly the most vulnerable – but how to protect the interests of operators of economic markets and financial companies.

 

The penalty is selective. It is like a net that captures only the small fish, while leaving the big [fish] free in the sea.

(Note: I tried to improve Google translate's rough translation. My Italian is rusty, and I would welcome a better translation from a fluent Italian speaker.)

What Does it Mean to Do God's Work?

The head of Goldman Sachs said he’s doing “God’s work” with his banking activities.

The head of Barclays also told his congregation that banking as practiced by his company was not antithetical to Christian principles.

Are they right? Is big banking as practiced by the giant banks in harmony with Christian principles?

Do Justice

Initially, the Bible does not counsel us to ignore the breaking of laws by the the powerful.

In fact, the Bible mentions justice over 200 times — more than just about any other topic. The Bible asks us to do justice and to stand up to ANYONE — including the rich or powerful — who do injustice or oppress the people.

Indeed, one of the first things God asks of us is to do justice:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

While many churches and synagogues have become obsessed with other issues, many have arguably ignored this most important of God’s demands of us. As pointed out by a leading Christian ministry, which rescues underage girls trapped as sex slaves in third world countries:

In Scripture there is a constant call to seek justice. Jesus got upset at the Pharisees because they neglected the weightier matters of the law, which He defined as justice and the love of God . . . Isaiah 58 complains about the fact that while the people of God are praying and praying and praying, they are not doing anything about the injustice.

Should Christians just pray for justice and leave the rest to God?

That’s not what the Bible asks us to do. Instead, Hebrews 11:33 tells us that we are God’s hands for dispensing justice, and God uses us to “administer justice.”

We have to “walk our talk” and put our prayers into action.

God demands that we do everything in our power to act as “God’s hands” in bringing justice. And as Saint Augustine reminds us, “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”

Indeed:

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene. (Isaiah 59:15-16)

This is the only place in the Bible where the word “appalled” is used for the way God feels — in other words, the only thing which we know God is appalled by is if people are not doing justice.

There are hundreds of other references to justice in the Bible, including:

• Blessed are they who maintain justice . . . . (Psalm 106:3)

• This is what the LORD says: Maintain justice and do what is right . . . . (Isiah 56:1)

• This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. (Jeremiah 22:3,13-17)

• Follow justice and justice alone. (Deuteronomy 16:19, 20)

• For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice . . . . (Job 11:5,7)

• Learn to do right! Seek justice . . . . (Isaiah 1:17)

So if the powerful players in the giant banks broke the laws, they must be held to account.

Fraud and Manipulation of Money

The big banks have engaged in systemic, continuous ongoing criminal fraud.

Allowing the banks to commit crime with impunity is not what Jesus would do. What would Jesus do? Turn over the tables of the money-changers. (economists agree.)

Moreover, the giant banks manipulate currency through the use of schemes such as manipulating interest rates (gaming interest rates in different regions – Libor, Eurobor, etc. – can in turn drive their currencies up or down), high frequency trading and artificially suppressing gold prices (which artificially inflates the value of fiat money) .

As Ron Paul notes, the Bible forbids altering the quality of money (which, at the time and place, was entirely in the form of coins):

Even the Bible is clear that altering the quality of money is an immoral act. We are instructed to follow the rules of “just weights and measures.” “You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin” (Leviticus 19:35-36). “Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, and a false balance is not good” (Proverbs 20:23). The general principle can be summed as “You shall not steal.”

Proverbs 11:1 also provides:

Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

So to the extent that the giant banks have engaged in any dishonest acts or the manipulation of currencies, they are violating scripture.

Oppression of the Poor

The Bible condemns oppression of the poor for the benefit of the affluent:

He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want. (Proverbs 22:16)

To the extent that the giant banks have oppressed the poor to increase their riches, they are violating scripture.

Due to their looting, inequality is now worse in American than in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, most Latin American banana republics … and ancient Rome.

Waging War

Bankers are often the driving force behind war. "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9), and Jesus would not have taken kindly to waging wars for profit based upon false pretenses.

Jesus Was Killed for Standing Up to Corruption

Reverend Howard Bess notes:

Jesus did not go to the temple to cleanse. He came to the temple to announce the destruction of a whole way of life. Those who operated the temple had no power to silence Jesus and put him to death. Those powers were held by the Roman retainers.

 

The charges that were leveled against him can be summed up as insurrection. There were three specific charges: encouraging non-payment of taxes, threatening to destroy property (the temple), and claiming to be a king. It was the temple incident that took Jesus from being an irritating, but harmless country rebel from the rural north to a nuisance in a city that controlled the great tradition. Rome’s retainers killed him on a cross.

In other words, Jesus wasn't sentenced to death until he challenged the money changers.

Resurrection: Christ's Ministry

Christ – and his ministry – lives to the extent that we act as God's hands to confront the big banks which are warping our economy and our world.

But Isn't the Economy Still Too Fragile?

Shouldn't we wait until the economy is stronger before prosecuting fraud?

Nope …

Ecclesiastes 8:11 notes:

When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.

Nobel prize winning economists agree.

Postscript: Not all bankers are bad people. For example, many bankers at smaller banks and credit unions are good people who are trying to help their communities. Each must be judged by his or her own acts.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1zqmMFq George Washington

Submitted by Ron Holland via The Daily Bell,

Although there are no firm statistics on the number of Americans living outside the US, the US State Department estimates that somewhere between 3 and 6 million Americans now live offshore. I think this is a low estimate and the number is clearly growing.

I now live in Canada but often travel back to the United States. Driving through Customs near Buffalo is usually not a big ordeal but it does involve a time-wasting delay much like visiting the post office or any other US government bureaucracy. But governments should police their borders, as this is one of the few legitimate functions of a central government.

Still, whenever I’m there I do notice the America I grew up in and once knew has really changed since 9/11. The trend toward a more militarized and aggressive police force continues to quicken. I know most Americans accept this as part of the consequences of the War on Terror just as they do the loss of financial privacy, increased fines and asset seizures.

The Canadian government recently warned citizens to be careful when taking cash to the US because of the risk of police taking their cash for hyped-up offenses. Did you know that in the last 13 years, over $2.5 billion has been stolen by law enforcement in almost 62,000 cash seizures? I have to say that as an American, I’m outraged at the situation and always on guard when in the USSA.

I fear many Americans who don’t travel internationally might have become somewhat immune to the intrusive, arbitrary nature of today’s American government and its institutions. Here in Canada, law enforcement is almost always professional and courteous and even the bureaucrats are friendly and helpful, which simply amazes me.

So to my American family, friends and business associates, I want you to know it is still possible to achieve the American Dream of a simple life with opportunity for wealth creation, fun, freedom and good times without an overly intrusive, threatening government … just not in the United States. Many other nations, in Central and South America and elsewhere, certainly also experience corruption and inefficiencies but government threats remain outside of everyday life for most citizens and expats.

Following are a few things I’ve noticed recently pertaining to international real estate and lifestyle decisions many people are considering, ranging from a new presidential executive order to mouth-watering Austrian chalets.

I mention the latest presidential executive order not because it concerns your lifestyle or real estate but because this is how you are likely to lose more liberties, have your gold confiscated or your bank safe deposit box frozen during a future real or contrived crisis. Roosevelt used this governmental tool to illegally confiscate private gold in 1933 and there is no immediate defense or remedy to a presidential executive order. Yes, Congress can act over time but exactly how this would help after the fact is a question no one can answer.

When retiring overseas, many countries require a minimum pension or retirement income in order receive the coveted benefits of expat retirement and your Social Security benefits can be all or part of this package. Therefore, leaving the US does not mean you lose your “promised but not guaranteed” Social Security benefits … at least not until Congress starts to “means test” Social Security in order to end benefits to the wealthy and middle class. It is possible to continue to receive your benefits. Read more here.

A couple of weeks ago I was flying back to Canada from a Casey Research conference in historic San Antonio, TX. The American Airlines flight magazine had an excellent article on the radical transformation of Colombia from a crime haven to a tourist haven and now the toast of South America. I have visited Colombia several times recently and you must put this exciting country on your bucket list for a visit. Read about it in “A Radical Transformation.”

I don’t have a compulsive bone in my body except for being on time and I unrealistically expect everyone else to be on time. This is a minor problem for me in the United States, Canada or Europe – other than in Switzerland where everyone and everything is done in a timely manner. But in Central and South America, nothing happens by the clock. This is something potential expats and others considering living in Latin cultures will want to be aware of. While this article focuses on Ecuador, it provides excellent insight into the entire region.

The Colombia economy is booming and is viewed increasingly by international investment managers as a good candidate for global diversification. The earlier long years of political upheaval and guerilla violence means that much of the reserves of this resource rich country including oil, gold and coal have not been explored and the reserves are still unaccounted for. Read what the NASDAQ has to say about the country at “Colombia Represents A New Vision in South America.”

Of course, going offshore isn’t restricted to the lower cost, tropical venues of Central and South America. Some people may enjoy the opportunities for cold weather sports and the history of a wonderful country like Austria. Think of Austria as similar to Switzerland or Germany but a place where locals and visitors alike have a lot more fun. While Austrian real estate is not a bargain as it still is in South America, compared to Switzerland it is an excellent value. Here are a few chalets to tempt your wandering eye.

The opportunities still available are truly amazing and I encourage you to takes steps to ensure your lifestyle and wealth now, while you can.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1nDpn9M Tyler Durden

If, as the smart chaps on financial media continuously remind hungry investors, “earnings are the mothers milk of stock market rallies” then WTF is going on in the chart below… (Hint: “perenially too optimistic”)

 

 

As ValueWalk’s Michael Ide notes,

European equities had their 42nd straight month of earnings downgrades in September, with an average of 100 downgrades per working day since March 2011, says a recent report from UBS. That’s not quite as bad as Japan’s 51-month downgrade streak in the early nineties, and fortunately there are signs that estimates could finally turn around.

 

“Bottom-up consensus earnings estimates have tended to be perennially too optimistic across many Global Equity markets. But even by these standards, the sheer persistence of downgrades in Europe over recent years has been dramatic,” write UBS strategists Nick Nelson and Karen Olney.

*  *  *

Dramatic, persistent, irrelevant… as long as Draghi keeps the dream alive

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1tljIHe Tyler Durden

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

The Social Security Administration has just released wage statistics for 2013, and the numbers are startling.  Last year, 50 percent of all American workers made less than $28,031, and 39 percent of all American workers made less than $20,000.  If you worked a full-time job at $10 an hour all year long with two weeks off, you would make $20,000.  So the fact that 39 percent of all workers made less than that amount is rather telling.  This is more evidence of the declining quality of the jobs in this country.  In many homes in America today, both parents are working multiple jobs in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. Our paychecks are stagnant while the cost of living just continues to soar.  And the jobs that are being added to the economy pay a lot less than the jobs lost in the last recession.  In fact, it has been estimated that the jobs that have been created since the last recession pay an average of 23 percent less than the jobs that were lost.  We are witnessing the slow-motion destruction of the middle class, and very few of our leaders seem to care.

The "average" yearly wage in America last year was just $43,041.  But after accounting for inflation, that was actually worse than the year before…

American paychecks shrank last year, just-released data show, further eroding the public’s purchasing power, which is so vital to economic growth.

 

Average pay for 2013 was $43,041 — down $79 from the previous year when measured in 2013 dollars. Worse, average pay fell $508 below the 2007 level, my analysis of the new Social Security Administration data shows.

 

Flat or declining average pay is a major reason so many Americans feel that the Great Recession never ended for them. A severe job shortage compounds that misery not just for workers but also for businesses trying to profit from selling goods and services.

 

Average pay declined in 59 of the 60 levels of worker pay the government reports each October.

And please keep in mind that "average pay" is really skewed by the millionaires and billionaires at the top end of the spectrum.

Median pay in 2013 was just $28,031.02.  That means that 50 percent of American workers made less than that number, and 50 percent of American workers made more than that number.

Here are some more numbers from the report that the Social Security Administration just released…

-39 percent of American workers made less than $20,000 last year.

 

-52 percent of American workers made less than $30,000 last year.

 

-63 percent of American workers made less than $40,000 last year.

 

-72 percent of American workers made less than $50,000 last year.

I don't know about you, but those numbers are deeply troubling to me.

It has been estimated that it takes approximately $50,000 a year to support a middle class lifestyle for a family of four, and so the fact that 72 percent of all workers make less than that amount shows how difficult it is for families that try to get by with just a single breadwinner.

The way that our economy is structured now, both parents usually have to work as hard as they can just to pay the bills.

But there was one group of Americans that did see their incomes actually increase last year.

Those making over 50 million dollars had their pay increase by an average of $12.8 million in 2013.

For everyone else, the news was not good.

And of course this is a trend that has been going on for a long time.

Posted below is a chart that comes from the Federal Reserve.  It shows how real median household income in the United States has declined since the year 2000…

 

Meanwhile, the cost of living has continued to rise at a steady pace.

Needless to say, this is putting a tremendous squeeze on the middle class.  With each passing day, more Americans are losing their spots in the middle class and this has pushed government dependence to an all-time high.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans now live in a home that receives money from the government each month.  This is completely and totally unsustainable, but our long-term economic problems just keep getting worse.

Our politicians have stood by as millions upon millions of good paying jobs have been shipped out of the country.  Millions of other middle class jobs have been lost to technology.  This has resulted in intense competition for the middle class jobs that remain.

And at this point we are even losing lots of lower paying retail jobs.  For example, it is being reported that Sears plans to close 110 more stores and lay off more than 6,000 workers.  Sears says that the report "isn't accurate", but it isn't denying that stores will be closed either…

In an email to USA Today, Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said the store count and closures "isn't accurate,'' but did not provide store closures or layoff numbers.

 

"As we stated in our (second quarter earnings report), we disclosed that we would be closing unprofitable stores as leases expire and in some cases will accelerate closings when it is economically prudent. And that we would consider closing additional stores during the remainder of the year,'' Riefs said. "Make no mistake, we believe the store will continue to play an integral role in our transformation, however, if a store is not generating a profit, it is straightforward that the store should be considered for closure."

No matter how many stores Sears does end up closing over the next few months, the truth is that our economy is a complete and total mess at this point.

Our politicians and the mainstream media are trying to put a happy face on everything, but the cold, hard numbers prove that we are not anywhere close to where we were prior to the last recession.

Because it is so difficult to find a good job in America today, I often recommend to people that they should consider starting their own businesses.

But thanks to the bureaucratic control freaks in the Obama administration and in our state governments, small business ownership in America today is at an all-time low.  It is almost as if they don't want the "little guy" to win.  Every avenue of prosperity for the middle class is under assault, and there does not appear to be much hope that this will change any time soon.

And the truly frightening thing is that this is about as good as things are going to get for the middle class.  We are rapidly approaching the next major wave of our long-term economic decline, but that is a topic for a future article.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1txXAZg Tyler Durden

For all the headline fodder surrounding the arrival of Ebola in the US, or any other developed nation for that matter, the key issue surrounding the worst Ebola epidemic in history has little to do with what the virus is doing on the western side of the Atlantic, and everything to do with containing the source of contagion on the eastern side.

It is this issue that a paper in today’s edition of The Lancet: Infectious Diseases tackles. It’s conclusion:

The number of beds at EVD treatment centres needed to effectively control EVD in Montserrado substantially exceeds the 1700 pledged by the USA to west Africa. Accelerated case ascertainment is needed to maximise effectiveness of expanding the capacity of EVD treatment centres. Distributing protective kits can further augment prevention of EVD, but it is not an adequate stand-alone measure for controlling the outbreak. Our findings highlight the rapidly closing window of opportunity for controlling the outbreak and averting a catastrophic toll of EVD cases and deaths.

The authors do not specify if the catastrophic toll would impact only Africa, but they don’t have to: as long as the original epidemic continues unabated and in fact grows larger, the risk of a carrier sliding undetected into any developed nation rises exponentially.

The Yale News summarizes the full paper:

The Ebola virus disease epidemic already devastating swaths of West Africa will likely get far worse in the coming weeks and months unless international commitments are significantly and immediately increased, new research led by Yale researchers predicts.

The findings are published in the Oct. 24 issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

A team of seven scientists from Yale’s Schools of Public Health and Medicine and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Liberia developed a mathematical transmission model of the viral disease and applied it to Liberia’s most populous county, Montserrado, an area already hard hit. The researchers determined that tens of thousands of new Ebola cases — and deaths — are likely by Dec. 15 if the epidemic continues on its present course.

“Our predictions highlight the rapidly closing window of opportunity for controlling the outbreak and averting a catastrophic toll of new Ebola cases and deaths in the coming months,” said Alison Galvani, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health and the paper’s senior author. “Although we might still be within the midst of what will ultimately be viewed as the early phase of the current outbreak, the possibility of averting calamitous repercussions from an initially delayed and insufficient response is quickly eroding.”

The model developed by Galvani and colleagues projects as many as 170,996 total reported and unreported cases of the disease, representing 12% of the overall population of some 1.38 million people, and 90,122 deaths in Montserrado alone by Dec. 15. Of these, the authors estimate 42,669 cases and 27,175 deaths will have been reported by that time.

Much of this suffering — some 97,940 cases of the disease — could be averted if the international community steps up control measures immediately, starting Oct. 31, the model predicts. This would require additional Ebola treatment center beds, a fivefold increase in the speed with which cases are detected, and allocation of protective kits to households of patients awaiting treatment center admission. The study predicts that, at best, just over half as many cases (53,957) can be averted if the interventions are delayed to Nov. 15. Had all of these measures been in place by Oct. 15, the model calculates that 137,432 cases in Montserrado could have been avoided.

There have been approximately 9,000 reported cases and 4,500 deaths from the disease in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea since the latest outbreak began with a case in a toddler in rural Guinea in December 2013. For the first time cases have been confirmed among health-care workers treating patients in the United States and parts of Europe.

“The current global health strategy is woefully inadequate to stop the current volatile Ebola epidemic,” co-author Dr. Frederick Altice, professor of internal medicine and public health added. “At a minimum, capable logisticians are needed to construct a sufficient number of Ebola treatment units in order to avoid the unnecessary deaths of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people.”

Other authors include lead author Joseph Lewnard, Martial L. Ndeffo Mbah, Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo, Luke Bawo, and Tolbert G. Nyenswah.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1wvrmNh Tyler Durden

With The Royals and The Giants flip-flopping scores like an HFT-trader on FOMC day, we thought a glance at the two teams’ local real estate markets might give some context for who comes out the weekend the winner… As RealtyTrac notes, the San Francisco Giants may have one of the most Equity Rich real estate regions, but the Kansas City Royals hit a home run with home prices.

 

 

Source: RealtyTrac

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/12tEnxH Tyler Durden

Submitted by Martin Armstrong via Armstrong Economics blog,

 

If you want to hide something in plain view, exaggerate it to the point it becomes extreme and convert it to a conspiracy theory. This is a very standard in how to create propaganda and if you keep saying a lie, its becomes the truth to many without ever having to prove anything. To uncover the truth, takes digging. This I have discovered both in politics as well as market fundamentals.

The two big conspiracy theories to be exaggerated that cover up the truth are the 911 WTC Attack and the Kennedy Assassination. With the former, people take it to the extreme and claim there was not even an attack by terrorists and the whole thing was made up. Sorry, there was an attack and the government knew it was coming and allowed it to for three purposes

• (1) eliminate the evidence on many cases in WTC7 including all my evidence that documented EVERY  market manipulation up to 1999 by the investment banks et al for which they are getting fined all the time today
• (2) wipe out the evidence that would have exposed the missing $2 trillion in the Pentagon budget, and
• (3) generate more power for government by allowing Americans to be victims as originally proposed in Operation Northwoods.

Now, that is far closer to the truth than claiming there was no Middle East terrorists involved at all, Strange, for that does not jive with Saudi Arabia threatening Russia with terrorism or the funding of ISIS to overthrow Syria which has now overthrown most of Iraq.

 

Then there is the Kennedy Assassination spun to be the product of the Mafia or with Oswald’s Russian connection. Eisenhower in his Farewell Address warned of the vast military complex that had grown out of World War II employing over 3 million people. There was no such industry before that war and the view was now Communism would take the world. My father was a Colonel under General Patton and you to tell me all the time about him as a child how he read the books of his opponent and how he accurately predicted that the real enemy would be Stalin and wanted to go all the way to Moscow.

In the Third 1960 Presidential Debate, Kennedy exposed the truth behind the decline in the Bretton Woods System – it was the vast expenditure on the military. Her said:

Now on the question of gold. The difficulty, of course, is that we do have heavy obligations abroad, that we therefore have to maintain not only a favorable balance of trade but also send a good deal of our dollars overseas to pay our troops, maintain our bases, and sustain other economies. 

The price of silver was rising and Kennedy set in motion the withdraw of silver from the monetary system. This too has been spun into a conspiracy theory  Here they have spun JFK’s Executive Order 11110 into the Federal Reserve killed Kennedy because he was taking their power to print currency away. You just can’t get any more far-fetched than that one.

Simply put, JFK also said the US current account deficit could be stopped at any time if the government stopped expanding its military worldwide for that was sending dollars offshore. If anyone had a motive, it was the very same people behind the NSA abuse of power – not the Federal Reserve, Mafia, or Russians. Just follow the money and you get closer to the truth – i.e. Halliburton, Cheney and the Iraq War against a nation who was against religious fanatics, the very terrorists who attacked the USA – go figure that one out without following the money. We took out two dictators who kept religious fanatics in check -Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Gaddafi.

BTW, as soon as Halliburton was to be investigated, they moved to Dubai. Just follow the money.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/12tElpq Tyler Durden

Taking inspiration from the fear of Ebola, AP reports that a Dallas-area man has stacked up barrels marked “biohazard,” surrounded his yard with yellow caution tape and crossed his door and windows with white tape marked “quarantine.”

 

 

“There’s negative people everywhere and they are going to give me grief about it but it’s all in good fun,” James Faulk told reporters Thursday while standing outside his home wearing a face shield and white protective suit with the label “CDC Trainee” and d gripping a clipboard and red plastic bag marked “biohazard infectious waste.”

 

 

“So the next step is: Let’s have fun on Halloween and scare some people in the process,” said Faulk, who on Thursday added a banner reading “Happy Halloween.”

 

 

University Park spokesman Steve Mace said police so far have gotten just one call about the house and an officer drove by to check out the situation. He said no laws were being broken.

 

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1wn2jzg Tyler Durden