Middle Class Dismissed

Saving Cyprus Means Nobody’s Bank Accounts Safe as Europe Breaks Taboo

"The island nation’s rescue sets precedents for the euro zone that may stick in the memory of depositors and bondholders alike as investors debate who will next fall victim to the debt crisis. Senior Cypriot bank bond holders will take losses and uninsured depositors will be largely wiped out. The message that stakeholders of all stripes can be coerced into helping a cash-strapped nation may make investors more skittish they’ll be targeted if Slovenia, Italy, Spain or even Greece again is next in line to need help. The risk is that bank runs and bond market selloffs become more likely the moment a country applies for a new rescue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaving Cyprus Means Nobody’s Bank Accounts Safe as Europe Breaks Taboo

Nigel Farage: Major European Bank Runs Now Taking Place

"The Germans are going to have a vote on it in their Parliament, but the Cypriots are being told that they shouldn’t have a vote on it. If that’s not moving into a German dominated Europe, I don’t know what is. If you happen to be a financial officer for a company, it would be criminally negligent of you to now leave your money or a company’s money in a Spanish or an Italian bank. I think what they’ve done today is to spark a major run on those banks. I see that some of the banks stocks have fallen 6% this afternoon, and I think in their desperation to keep the eurozone propped-up, I really believe that long-term they have made an absolutely fatal error." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigel Farage: Major European Bank Runs Now Taking Place

Top EU official: Cyprus bank rescue new template

"Inflicting losses on banks' shareholders, bondholders and even large depositors should become the 17-country eurozone's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders, a top European official said Monday. Banks' owners and investors must be held responsible 'before looking at public money or any other instrument coming from the public side,' said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the Eurogroup gatherings of the 17 eurozone finance ministers. The bailout program for Cyprus marks the first time in Europe's three-year-old debt crisis that large deposit holders — wealthy savers, business people or institutions — will be forced to take losses." Continue reading →

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Cyprus bail-out leaves ‘bitter taste’ for residents

"Standing in front of a cash machine on a street corner in Nicosia, Andreas Christou could hardly contain his fury. 'My money is in there and they won’t let me take it out!' he said, a few moments after withdrawing a paltry €100 – the maximum allowable after a draconian new capital control measure was introduced on Sunday. The 52-year-old businessman holds an account with Laiki Bank, the hardest hit of Cyprus’s debt-laden lenders. It will now effectively be dissolved under the terms of a deal brokered between international creditors and Nicos Anastasiades, the president of Cyprus, during marathon talks in Brussels." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus bail-out leaves ‘bitter taste’ for residents

Europe Deploys Next Generation Speed Cameras

"Struggling European economies are investing big money in stealth speed camera technology designed to mail tickets to motorists who have no way of knowing they are being watched. Eurozone economies have been shrinking, with both France and Spain under heightened scrutiny for failure to meet deficit reduction targets set by the European Union. Ratings agency Standard and Poor's called the situation in Spain and France 'socially explosive' in a statement to Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung. Both countries are now deploying the next generation of speed cameras." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEurope Deploys Next Generation Speed Cameras

Ron Paul: Neo-Con War Addiction Threatens Our Future

"The neo-con ideology promotes endless war, but neo-cons fight their battles with the blood of others. From the comfortable, subsidized offices of magazines like the Weekly Standard, the neo-conservatives urge endless war – to be fought by the victims of the 'poverty draft' from states where there are few jobs. Ironically, these young people cannot find more productive work because the Federal Reserve’s endless money printing to keep the war machine turning has destroyed our economy. The six trillion dollars that will be spent on the Iraq war are merely pieces of printed paper that further erode the dollar’s purchasing power now and well into the future." Continue reading →

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The Seeds of War Have Been Sown

"Unless the Troika backs off the weaker, heavily-indebted countries, which is not likely, yes, I believe Europe is headed toward massive civil unrest and war. Vladimir Putin is up in arms over the crisis in Cyprus. He will not stand idly by while Russian money is at risk in Europe. Keep in mind that Russia largely controls the European energy sector. If Putin feels Russian financial losses in Europe are unjust, I don’t doubt for one minute that he would threaten to retaliate by 'turning the lights out' in Europe. War and massive civil unrest in many parts of the world is a very real threat. And it’s already starting to impact the financial markets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Seeds of War Have Been Sown

Former US Treasury Official: ‘Banks Move To Enslave Humanity’

"What we are seeing, as in Greece, is the response to the effort to make the public responsible for the mistake of private banks. In Greece they forced the people to have wages cut, pensions cut, social services cut, public assets sold off, in order to cover the losses of banks. If they don’t stand with the people, there will be more political and social unrest and more discrediting of governments. What’s happening is governments are revealing that, even if they are democratically elected governments, they do not represent the people. They only represent a very few, very powerful folks. This of course destroys any confidence in democracy. That’s the biggest crisis.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer US Treasury Official: ‘Banks Move To Enslave Humanity’

Why the Government Is Desperately Trying to Inflate a New Housing Bubble

"Many people claim the Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate a new housing bubble to trigger a new 'wealth effect,' i.e. people seeing their home equity rising once again will feel encouraged to borrow and blow money like they did in 2001-2008. But if we look at current income (down) and debt levels (still high), there is little hope for a renewed wealth effect from housing. That leaves us with this conclusion: The Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate another housing bubble to save the 'too big to fail' banks from a richly deserved day of reckoning." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy the Government Is Desperately Trying to Inflate a New Housing Bubble

Bridges become the hottest new item for thieves to steal

"Are you in the market for a 22-tonne bridge? Is there an 82ft gap that you’re aching to span? If so, and assuming you like to play fast and loose with the law, you might want to get over to the Kocaeli province of Turkey where, earlier this month, audacious thieves stole an entire bridge overnight. It’s thought the miscreants intended to sell it for scrap metal; now villagers wanting to reach their orchards have to paddle across barefooted. It’s not the first time thieves have displayed such ambition. Earlier this year half a bridge in India was stolen over the course of three days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBridges become the hottest new item for thieves to steal