From Jenna Orkin et al.
Headlines
Spain Approves New Austerity Measures, Limited Stimulus
This confirms that Spain is now infected. -- MCR
Spanish Flights Resume as Air Controllers End Strike After Arrest Threat
This was only the beginning... worldwide. -- MCR
Report calls for radical redesign of cities to cope with population growth
*Two-thirds of the world's people in the cities? Ain't never gonna happen. -- Rice Farmer
Market Pro: Beware China’s Coming Correction?
Shit... beware of everything. -- MCR
U.S., S. Korea, announce free-trade accord
*Yawn... All these FTAs mean nothing because globalization is dead.
The United States is drawing a clear battle front. It is indicating it will contest the region with China. From a military standpoint I have never really seen South Korea as anything other than Japan's protected left flank. It's either going to be over Japan or Europe that the nukes will come out eventually unless something changes. -- MCR
EU's Bailout Fund May Be Increased, Reynders Says in a Break With Merkel
$1 trillion wasn't enough. we'll just print some more. -- MCR
Saudi Shares Climb Most in Four Weeks as Crude Oil Approaches $90 a Barrel
This may be the run to $100 oil. -- MCR
Growth can't continue forever in finite world
Seems we've heard this somewhere before. -- MCR
Deficit Commission Fiddles While Rome (and Dublin … and Athens … Lisbon) Burns!
"No more of this 'take huge amounts of money from European taxpayers so that bondholders get 100 cents on the dollar' garbage. Instead, we’ll need to see actual haircuts in the value of European sovereign bonds." -- Hell. Make ‘em look like Marines. -- MCR
What's behind the 2010 gold rush?
"... will its allure last as fears over the economy ease?"... Man, I don’t know what drug they're on but I'm not sure I want it. -- MCR
M2, Up 19 Out Of 21 Consecutive Weeks, Hits Fresh All Time High Of $8,809,200,000,000
"For now it is a trickle. Soon, it will be a flood." -- MCR
Copper: Part I The new currency.
JP Morgan revealed as mystery copper trader
Fed Wants to Strip a Key Protection from Home Owners
"At the depths of the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression, we are surprised that the Fed has proposed rules that would eviscerate the primary protection homeowners currently have to escape abusive loans and avoid foreclosure: the extended right of rescission." -- I wasn't sure that homeowners had any protections left anyway. But this is pretty in your face nasty. -- MCR
"The Fed's proposal to amend a 42-year-old provision of the federal Truth in Lending Act has angered labor, civil rights and consumer advocacy groups along with a slew of foreclosure defense attorneys."
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/01/104568/fed-wants-to-strip-a-key-protection.html#ixzz17G866WfG
Foreclosure Fraud Bombshell – Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be Void
Minister for homeless is sleeping in his Commons office
The Goldman Sack Blows The Whistle On The JP Morgue Silver Manipulation Scheme
Another hilarious video from Xtranormal. Spot on as usual. Very funny. -- MCR
Silvergoldsilver.com Runs Out Of All Precious Metals In Hours
I guess someone was listening. -- You can still buy from local coin dealers. -- MCR
A Crackdown On Chinese Real Estate Will Push All That Liquidity Into Gold
That's where everyone's going to be running soon enough. And that will ultimately force a showdown of paper gold vs. actual physical gold. -- MCR
"Greece and Ireland are insolvent. Spain, Portugal, and Belgium are under severe stress. The proper way to alleviate the stress is to admit a need for haircuts on senior bonds, and take those haircuts." -- MCR
Spain's air staff forced to work
Record levels of poverty among families with wages
Market Celebrates Just Announced Record Foodstamp Usage By Closing At 2010 Highs
As I've said before, the Dow is now almost a perfect misery index. -- MCR
The 15 World Cities That Were Destroyed By The Recession
Is your city here? -- MCR
Debt Crisis Is Changing Europe's Currency Union
Cities Seek to Cut Strings Tying Up Natural Gas Money
In other words, cities want to rush into shale gas fracking, the destruction of water tables and the poisoning of their citizens in order to make a very little cash... I don’t have words. -- MCR
Economy
Former OMB Director Debunks The Economic Recovery Myth
And now lets review where the government's money comes from
I wonder how insane it can get. Who's going to buy the bonds?... Why the Fed of course. – MCR
Millions Bracing for Cutoff of Unemployment Checks
Bracing is right. -- MCR
Six Banks Got Over 98% of the Fed's PDFC Money
"Over the lifecycle of the PDCF program, The Federal Reserve lent a total of about $8.95 trillion to primary dealers of government securities. (This group is already a very small club: Currently, the New York Fed lists a total of 18 institutions authorized to perform this function.)
"But the concentration of the vast majority of PDFC funds was far narrower than that. Institutions that ultimately went on to become just six banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan—received at total of about $8.78 trillion through the PDFC program."
Gee, $9 Trillion to the same institutions that are now robbing American homeowners blind with fraudulent documents, kangaroo courts, and judges on the payroll. -- MCR
Cash-strapped cities look to cut strings tying up millions earned through gas drilling
That's right. Need cash? Just sentence some people to death and see to it that the water coming out of their tape is both poisonous and flammable. -- MCR
Congratulations America, You're Bailing out Europe
Not for long. -- MCR
14 Signs That America Is Turning Into Japan Or WORSE
The roof falls in on Millionaires Row
"Homes in Ireland's most expensive street have been abandoned and their residents have run for the hills."
Homeless in Toronto say they don't know about new shelter
Obama Tells Dems He'll Oppose Tax Cut Compromise Without Unemployment Extension
Gridlock is approaching. -- MCR
EU's Bailout Fund May Be Increased, Reynders Says in a Break With Merkel
Like I said, if everybody's borrowing, who's lending? -- MCR
Ron Paul Suggests We Need "Fed-WikiLeaks"
Branson Says Oil May Hit $200 a Barrel Without New Clean-Energy Policies
Obama Says Tax Cut Extension Must Include Jobless Benefits, Credit Plans
Senate rejects two bills on partially extending Bush-era tax cuts
Obama Signs Bill Averting Government Shutdown
This is about as clear as it can get. With tax cuts blocked and stalled, tied to an impossible extension of unemployment’s benefits, the time is near when emergency extensions can't possibly be passed. -- MCR
Why Long-Term Unemployed Likely Will Stay That Way
20 Hidden Costs of Home Ownership
Six Banks Got Over 98% of the Fed's PDFC Money
Who Needs Jobs When Wall Street Has the Fed?
Fed Just Creating Asset Bubbles, Not Stimulus: Ross
Take A Deeper Look And You'll Find China Is A Profiteers Mess
Terror/Intelligence/Politics
Israel Considering Strike Against Syria
Repeat offenders with 100 convictions spared jail
Like I've been saying for years, it costs real money to put people in jail, feed them and keep them warm. – MCR
Cyber attack hits India's investigative agency
Everything's being tested, looking for weak spots. -- MCR
Chile sends police to evict Easter Island squatters
Really makes you wonder how bad things are in the east if refugees are now fleeing into Europe. --MCR
The scene is now set for the fall of Silvio Berlusconi
Environment/Health
Oink! This little piggy can spread diseases
Climate talks on knife edge over Chinese demands
Mathematical Patterns Found to Forecast Spanish Earthquakes
Nuclear Boom in China Sees Reactor Builders Risk Their Know-how for Cash
"The Chinese are ready to spend $511 billion to build up to 245 reactors."
The real nitty-gritty on small farms and the food-safety bill (US)
There are some friendlies out there. Yahoo!
"As recently as Monday, the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) seemed set to sail through the House and to the president's desk for rubber-stamping. But now it's stalled in the Senate yet again, due to a technical error that could well sink the legislation -- and with it any prospects for food-safety reform for a generation. While advocates fight for the bill's life amid the chaos of the lame-duck Senate, renewed opposition to S. 510 is popping up in some surprising corners." -- MCR
Reduction in winter deaths essential, says Age UK
These are the "excess deaths" I talk about all the time. -- MCR
New generation of giant wind turbines planned for Britain
*How many will actually be built? -- Rice Farmer
Big freeze: Panic buying on petrol, milk, bread
"The warning came as power companies reported that electricity and gas demand across Britain was surging to near record levels, with electricity up 10 per cent year on year and gas up by nearly a third on this time last year."
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=519317&in_page_id=2#ixzz17CFrZU4D
