A central banker’s ‘License to Lie’
CommentUSA - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who retires this week as the world’s most powerful central banker, cannot be trusted. Neither can Janet Yellen, who will succeed him this weekend at the Federal Reserve. And neither can Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England; Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, or any of their counterparts at the central banks of Turkey, Argentina, Ukraine and so on.
I am not trying to aim a valedictory insult at Bernanke or his central banking colleagues. On the contrary, I am drawing attention to the skill and determination required by central bankers to perform one of the world’s most demanding and important jobs. For just as James Bond has a “License to Kill” in the Ian Fleming books, so central bankers possess a “License to Lie” — or, putting it more diplomatically and politely, to make promises about the future that cannot be honored and often turn out to be false.
Nobody ever blamed a central banker for promising to support the currency and then suddenly allowing a massive devaluation — as happened in Argentina last week and may soon happen in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and many other emerging markets. To mislead investors is actually a key skill required by a central banker’s job description. Revealing the true state of national finances at a time when a devaluation or comparable financial crisis is looming might be to guarantee the loss of the central bank’s entire reserves.
In the days when developed economies managed their exchange rates, it was taken for granted that whenever a central banker appeared on television categorically to rule out devaluation, support for that currency was about to be withdrawn. Yet despite this historic record of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments, central bankers enjoy more respect and trust than any other public official. They are particularly trusted by the people they most frequently deceive — financial market investors.
Millions of Dollars in Phony $100 Bills Flooding the Big Apple
USA - An international counterfeiting ring has been pumping millions of dollars in phony $100 bills into New York and other cities in the metropolitan area over the past several years, forcing the Secret Service to step up its operation to shut it down, sources told "On The Inside." The Secret Service warning says the bills contain a set of five different serial numbers and have two black 7s above the last zero on the lower right-hand corner, above the “100” mark on the back of the bill. If you have a phony $100 that is confiscated, you will lose the value of the money but can declare a tax loss at the end of the year, officials said.
We Are Sleepwalking Towards A Cashless Society
UK/USA - HSBC, the world’s third largest bank and money launderer of choice for drug traffickers, arms dealers and terrorist groups worldwide, was recently in the news for limiting the amount of cash customers could withdraw from their own accounts.
During the same period the bank seemingly had no such troubles honouring electronic transfers, from which one can fairly surmise that it’s customer’s cash, rather than customer’s money in general, that’s at issue. This new stunt from the British-based bank, already up to its neck in just about every financial scandal imaginable, is merely the latest episode in big finance and big government’s all-out assault on cash transactions.
As Patrick Henningsen at the Center for Research on Globalization notes, “it has long been the dream of collectivists and technocratic elites to eliminate the semi-unregulated cash economy and black markets in order to maximize and to fully control markets. If the cashless society is ushered in, they have near complete control over the lives of individual people.”
New York’s Data Collection Program Tracks Students From Preschool to Career
USA - New York’s new, multi-agency surveillance program will collect data on public school students, starting from preschool to their entry into the workforce and potentially throughout their entire lives.
Developed by the New York State Education Department, funded by the federal government and promoted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the P-20 data collection program allows government entities to share and access records for every student in the state with the overall goal of monitoring individuals from childhood to death.
“By working in collaboration with other state agencies, the New York State Education Dept. will be able to establish a P-20 data system without duplication of effort and cost,” a US Department of Education web site states. “It will allow NYSED and other agencies to link data without the need for agencies to unnecessarily add new regulations or seek legal policies to collect data out of their purview.”
Forget global warming, worry about the MAGNETOSPHERE
UK - Deep within the Earth, a fierce molten core is generating a magnetic field capable of defending our planet against devastating solar winds. The protective field extends thousands of miles into space and its magnetism affects everything from global communication to animal migration and weather patterns.
But this magnetic field, so important to life on Earth, has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years. And this, scientists claim, could be a sign that the Earth’s poles are about to flip. Experts believe we're currently overdue a flip, but they're unsure when this could occur. If a switch happens, we would be exposed to solar winds capable of punching holes into the ozone layer. The impact could be devastating for mankind, knocking out power grids, radically changing Earth’s climate and driving up rates of cancer.
‘This is serious business’, Richard Holme, Professor of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences at Liverpool University told MailOnline. ‘Imagine for a moment your electrical power supply was knocked out for a few months – very little works without electricity these days.’ The Earth's climate would change drastically. In fact, a recent Danish study believes global warming is directly related to the magnetic field rather than CO2 emissions. The study claimed that the planet is experiencing a natural period of low cloud cover due to fewer cosmic rays entering the atmosphere.
If 3 Inches Of Snow Can Cause This Much Chaos In Atlanta, What Will Economic Collapse Look Like?
USA - This week, three inches of snow “paralyzed” the ninth-largest city in the United States, and the highways of Atlanta “resembled a scene in a post-apocalyptic world” according to national news reports. Hundreds of cars were abandoned on the side of the road, people were spending the night in churches and grocery stores, and many walked for hours in a desperate attempt to get home or find needed provisions.
So if three inches of snow can cause this much chaos in one of our major cities, what will a full-blown economic collapse look like? Most Americans have no idea how fragile our way of life is. In the event of a major natural disaster, a massive EMP blast or a complete economic meltdown, our lives would change very rapidly, and most people are totally unprepared for that. In Atlanta, a relatively minor snowfall has resulted in the deaths of 5 people, more than 100 injuries, and some commuters reported being stuck in traffic for up to 18 hours. According to USA Today, highways around Atlanta resembled “a post-apocalyptic world” at the height of the storm…
Merkel calls for EU Treaty Change in Bundestag
GERMANY - Clarification needed on who’s: “entitled to what social benefits under which conditions". In her government declaration to the Bundestag today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for EU treaty change saying: “We need to further strengthen the EU institutions to set up a real economic union.”
“In a real economic union we won’t get around further commitments and I’m convinced for that we also need to further develop the EU treaties.” Merkel also distinguished between EU free movement and access to benefits, saying: “We must take advantage of the opportunities offered to us by freedom of movement in Europe. But we must not close our eyes to abuse.”
“There needs to be clarification: Who is entitled to what social benefits under which conditions? There cannot be de facto immigration into social systems.” She added that “it is not foreseeable yet, but cannot be ruled out,” that there might have to be “action at the national level” following an upcoming ECJ ruling on access to unemployment benefits in Germany.
FDA allowed antibiotics in animal feed despite human health risks
USA - The US Food and Drug Administration allowed dozens of antibiotics used in animal feed to stay on the market despite findings by its own researchers that the drugs will likely expose people to antibiotic-resistant infections, according to a report released Monday by an environmental advocacy group. The FDA reviewed 30 different types of antibiotics that are put into livestock feed and found that 18 of them pose a “high risk” of exposing humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report about the FDA’s findings.
Fracking: Government considering law change
UK - Fracking could be carried out under people’s homes without the owner’s permission, under new proposals by the government. Trespass laws are currently being reviewed which could make it easier for energy companies to explore for shale gas. Currently, fracking companies need to ask homeowners before they drill under their land to search for shale gas, otherwise they could be trespassing. If the landowner refuses the company can turn to the law which would decide on drilling rights and how much, if any, compensation would be paid to the homeowner.
Parts of Britain to be abandoned to the sea after December tidal surge
UK - Parts of Britain which are still flooded after being swamped in last month’s tidal surge on the east coast could be abandoned to the sea forever. Paul Leinster, chief executive of the Environment Agency which is in charge of protecting the coastline, said parts of east Anglia might not be reclaimed from the sea. The Agency is now in talks with nature bodies about which areas should be left for wildlife to take over following the flooding. The news raises the prospect of Britain’s coastline being altered forever as a result of the surge.
A third of new drug approvals are based on only one trial
USA - According to a new report, more than a third of US drug approvals are based on a single large clinical trial, while others require more in-depth study. Some scientists question whether one trial is sufficient to know that a medicine is safe for patients. The variation in clinical evidence required to receive marketing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is highly variable and this has caused some medics cause for concern.
Pentagon to launch blimps to guard against cruise missiles
USA - The Pentagon has discovered a gap in the defenses of Washington DC, and it’s about to test a solution. But depending on your point of view, the solution is either vital for national security or a threat to American privacy. Starting this fall, two blimps will float at 10,000 feet over the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in an attempt to develop a defense for the nation’s capital against cruise missiles fired from ships offshore.
Governor Jerry Brown Speaks To KCAL9′s Dave Bryan About State ‘Water War’
CommentUSA - California’s ongoing drought is forcing Governor Jerry Brown to start a so-called “water war” between the north and the south. The governor revealed Wednesday he’s prepared to move water from Southern California to drier areas of the state as conditions worsen.
Speaking exclusively to KCAL9 political reporter Dave Bryan outside an engagement in Beverly Hills, Brown said it could be necessary to implement drastic measures to alleviate communities at risk of running out of water. “Make no mistake; this is a mega-drought. It’s serious. We don’t know how long it will go on, but we have to take real precautions going forward,” he said.
Brown also discussed a conversation he had with President Obama about getting federal assistance on Wednesday – a day when 17 water agencies across California are in danger of running out of water altogether in the next 60 to 100 days.
State agencies are taking action this week on the drought. CalFire has hired 125 additional firefighters to deal with the problem of wildfires spreading. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has also banned fishing now in some low water rivers and streams to protect the native fish in the area.
German Defense Minister: 'We Can't Look Away'
GERMANY - Germany has been heavily criticized in recent years for not doing its share in hotspots around the world. New Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen says that it is time for Berlin to take more responsibility. She also dreams of a European army.
SPIEGEL: Germany would like to become more engaged in Mali and perhaps also join the European Union mission in the Central African Republic. What are Germany's interests in those conflicts?
Von der Leyen: It isn't about German interests; it's about European interests. Africa is our direct neighbor. At the Strait of Gibraltar, the two continents are only 14 kilometers from one another. Should a large part of Africa become destabilized, it could have grave consequences for us. Let me remind you of the terrible images of the drowned refugees off the coast of Lampedusa.
SPIEGEL: The Central African Republic is not in North Africa. The country is 5,300 kilometers away from Germany. Why should German soldiers be sent there?
Von der Leyen: From a purely humanitarian perspective, we can't look away when murder and rape are taking place daily. A bloody war is developing in Central Africa between Christians and Muslims. We can't allow the conflict to engulf the entire region. Many African countries today have shown vast improvement and have demonstrated that stability and growth are possible. A booming Africa is an opportunity, particularly for a country like Germany with such strong exports.
Abused by the Core
IRELAND - Opposition to the expansion of the German-European military policy appears to be growing in Ireland. EU operations in Africa, which are to be reinforced, as Berlin has announced, are primarily serving to protect the interests of former colonial powers, declared representatives of the opposition last week in the Irish parliament, demanding that Irish troops not be sent to participate. Military neutrality has deep roots in Ireland and is still supported by an overwhelming majority of the Irish population - according to a poll, by nearly 80 percent.
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The views expressed in this section are not our own, unless specifically stated, but are provided to highlight what may prove to be prophetically relevant material appearing in the media.
