What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Analysts: Muni-Bond Selloff Looks Like Lehman All Over Again

"It's wrong to just take to periods and look at empirical data to forecast out. You need theory to explain the moves and any similarities. The similarities come about based on Austrian Business Cycle Theory, which says a slowdown in money printing results in a shrinking in the capital structure of the economy. As a result there is upward pressure on interest rates, as those seeking funds must bid up rates to entice investors. It such a slowdown in money growth occurring? It sure is. Just like it did in 1929, 1987 and 2008." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnalysts: Muni-Bond Selloff Looks Like Lehman All Over Again

Debt Excess and the Liquidation Process in a Historical Context

"We find it constructive to divide debt into three categories based on the criteria of capital consumption. We'll start with liabilities taken on with the intent of making a subsequent sale at a profit: in other words, debt that increases the capital base, such as business loans. We call this 'good' debt. In the second category, we have mortgages, financial sector loans and foreign debt, all of which are classified as 'bad' debt. In the third and last category, we have debt that allows pure capital consumption, such as consumer credit and government debt. It should be obvious that consumptive debt cannot exceed productive debt for an indefinite period of time." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDebt Excess and the Liquidation Process in a Historical Context

Truth From The Treasury Secretary: Social Security at Risk

"He is only talking here about the problems that political gamesmanship between Democrats and Republicans might temporarily cause in the Treasury selling debt. But the danger is the same, if not greater, when markets won't allow the Treasury to raise funds at cheap rates. It will mean cutbacks in Social Security and other entitlement programs or it will mean the Federal Reserve stepping in and printing more money to buy the Treasury securities that no one else will want. Either way, it won't turn out well for the retirees who depend on Social Security, either there will be immediate cutbacks or price inflation will cut into the purchasing power of the payments." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTruth From The Treasury Secretary: Social Security at Risk

Bond Funds Lose $30.3 Billion in August in Big ‘Shift’

"The withdrawals for the month through Aug. 19 are already the third-highest on record, following $69.1 billion of withdrawals in June and $42 billion in October 2008, according to a report dated yesterday by TrimTabs Investment Research in Sausalito, California. Bond funds have suffered $4 billion in redemptions this year, on pace for the biggest withdrawals since investors pulled $7 billion in 2004. The prospect of losses in the fixed-income market and rising rates have spurred investors to retreat after pouring $1.2 trillion into bond mutual funds and ETFs from 2009 through 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBond Funds Lose $30.3 Billion in August in Big ‘Shift’

SWAT Cop: American Neighborhoods Are ‘Battlefields’

"This battlefield mindset is the product of a generation of politicians telling police that they're at war with things -- drugs, terrorism, crime, etc. -- and have then equipped them with the uniforms, tactics, weapons, and other accoutrements of war. One essay by Sgt. Glenn French was particularly disturbing. French serves as commander of a SWAT team in Sterling Heights, Michigan. French doesn't criticize me for arguing that too many police officers have adopted this battlefield mindset. Rather, he embraces the combat mentality, and encourages other cops to do the same." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT Cop: American Neighborhoods Are ‘Battlefields’

Your identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

"Requirements in Senate Bill 744 for mandatory worker IDs and electronic verification remove the right of citizens to take employment and 'give' it back as a privilege only when proper proof is presented and the government agrees. Any citizen wanting to take a job would face the regulation that his or her digitized high-resolution passport or driver's license photo be collected and stored centrally in a Homeland Security database. The pictures in the national database would then need to be matched against the job applicant's government-issued 'enhanced' ID card, using a Homeland Security-mandated facial-recognition 'photo tool.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYour identity will become “property of the U.S. government” under new rules

60 Minutes: Crude Solution

"When petroleum giant BP spilled millions of litres of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico three years ago, it was the worst ever offshore oil disaster. To try and break up that massive slick, vast quantities of chemical dispersant was sprayed on the spill. It seemed to work: the oil disappeared. But people started getting sick and then people started dying. Now, this environmental disaster has become a health catastrophe. The dispersant, when mixed with the oil, increases in toxicity by 52 times. This sickly, invisible toxin, still lurks in the water and absorbs straight into peoples' skin. They're still approved for use and our authorities are clueless as to how deadly they are." Continue reading →

Continue Reading60 Minutes: Crude Solution

West Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by Fukushima Radiation

"While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be 'pockets' and 'streams' of highly-concentrated radiation. A team of top Chinese scientists has just published a study showing that Fukushima nuclear pollution is becoming more concentrated as it approaches the West Coast of the United States, that the plume crosses the ocean in a nearly straight line toward North America, and that it appears to stay together with little dispersion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWest Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by Fukushima Radiation

Fukushima apocalypse: Years of ‘duct tape fixes’ could result in ‘millions of deaths’

"It will be hot, uncomfortable, your senses shielded, and you would be filled with anxiety. You are standing on a building that is close to collapse. Workers will have to be removed and replaced often. So you don't have the benefit of doing such a critical task and knowing and trusting your comrades, as they will frequently have to be replaced when their radiation dose limits are reached. If they exhibit physical or mental signs of radiation exposure, they will have be replaced more often. It will be one of the worst, but most important jobs anyone has ever had to do. And even if executed flawlessly, there are still many things that could go wrong. " Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFukushima apocalypse: Years of ‘duct tape fixes’ could result in ‘millions of deaths’

Japan nuclear agency upgrades Fukushima alert level

"Japan's nuclear agency has upgraded the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant from one to three on an international scale. Japanese reports say it is a provisional move that had to be confirmed with the IAEA, the UN's nuclear agency. This week is the first time that Japan has declared an event on the Ines scale since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The move was announced in a document on the agency's website and was subsequently approved at a weekly meeting of the regulatory body. Shares of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) fell as much as 13% to 537 yen." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan nuclear agency upgrades Fukushima alert level