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Good morning, worker drones: This Week In Mayhem
- Afghanistan
- Bank of America
- Bank of America
- Bank of New York
- Bond
- Caspian Sea
- Corruption
- Deutsche Bank
- Fail
- FBI
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Iran
- Japan
- Karl Denninger
- Kool-Aid
- Obama Administration
- Racketeering
- Reality
- Reuters
- Sheila Bair
- The Clearing House Association
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- United Kingdom
- Yen
Good morning, worker drones: This Week in Mayhem
by Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem reviews the most important financial and geopolitical news of the past week and takes a look at the week ahead.
LAST WEEK IN MAYHEM
Economic:
1. Racketeering 101: Bailed Out Banks Threaten Systemic Collapse If Fed Discloses Information.
And so the guns come out blazing. The Clearing House Association,
another name for all the banks that were bailed out over the past year
with the generous contributions from all of you, dear taxpayers, are
now threatening with another instance of complete
systemic collapse if Bloomberg's lawsuit is allowed to proceed
unchallenged, let alone if any of the "Audit The Fed" measures are
actually implemented.
As a reminder, The Clearing House
Association consists of ABN Amro, Bank Of America, The Bank Of New
York, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, US Bank and Wells Fargo
2. FDIC releases Q2 report. FDIC loses more money in Q2 -- DIF continues to become depleted. FDIC is probably broke now despite the vapid assurances of Sheila Bair. We will know 55 days after the end of Q3.
This is NOT an exponential curve -- Sheila Bair promises America ice cream and puppy dogs.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fdic-q2-2009-report-released
3. Japan's DPJ sweeps to power. Campaign Promise included a boycott of treasuries not denominated in Yen. Will they follow through, or was this hot air?
We obtained this exclusive photograph of a USTbond issued in Yen.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/dpj-set-win-japan-election-may-issue-seppuku-bonds
4. The Denninger-Jim Willie fued escalates! We suggest a ZeroHege mediated poker match to settle this dispute.
"While I disagree with pretty much everything Jim Willie writes when it comes to metals and such, every squirrel finds a nut once in a while"
-Karl Denninger, 08/21/2009
"By the way, Karl Denninger needs a reality check. He does great
forensic analysis, but has not produced a single original thought or
global hypothesis in memory"
-Jim Willie, 08/27/2009
"Global hypothesis? You mean global conspiracy theory,
right? Why bother with those unless you're trying to drive someone
toward a paid "newsletter" in which one can push some "alternative"
that relies on something that "will happen tomorrow" - and when it
doesn't, well, we just got the day wrong, but it will happen tomorrow!"
-Karl Denninger, 08/29/2009
Bring on the lulz!!\ But seriously we read you both.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1387-The-Problem-With-Hucksters.html
http://financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/willie/2009/0827.html
Geopolitical:
1. FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds exposes vast corruption in newly-released videotaped deposition. This includes the sale of US nuclear secrets to criminal and intelligence elements in Turkey and Pakistan. For those curious of those responsible, this included many members of Congress and the Executive Branch. One key figure was Marc Grossman, number 2 at State Department. Another was former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who Edmonds accused of taking bribes. Deep corruption all around. ZeroHedge is following this, U.S. Congress Critters. Article coming once we finish analyzing the deposition.
“From my opinion, if I'm some of the current
members of Congress, I'd be very very worried about the information
that's going to come out of this. There are current members of Congress
that she has implicated in bribery, espionage. It's not good. It's
crazy, it's absolutely crazy. For people in power situations in the
United States, who know about this information, if they don't take
action against it, in my opinion, it's negligence.”
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/sibel-edmonds-deposition-deep-corruption-beneath-surface
http://video.brownpublishing.com/video/newsdemocrat/sibel/
2. DHS claims vast authority to seize electronic equipment without a warrant or suspicion at the borders, in latest documents published under the Obama administration. DHS: Expect your computer to be seized without suspicion.
"Clarifying the existing law, both sets of guidelines reiterated the
department's policy created during the previous administration: Agents
may seize, detain, and/or retain individuals' PCs and media without
having reason to suspect that those people or those machines and
devices are connected with a crime."
http://www.betanews.com/article/DHS-Expect-your-computer-to-be-seized-without-suspicion/1251488759
3. Missing ship Arctic Sea was likely carrying weapons systems for sale according to Russian general. Some may remember the 'missing ship' story. There was much disinformation on this story and still is. The most likely explanation is that the ship was carrying weapons systems. What weapons -- and their destination -- is the subject of debate. A senior Russian Navy general has claimed these were anti-air and anti-ship weapons en route to Iran. This story, however, does not make much sense unless the weapons were stolen by criminal elements within the Russian government. Indeed this is precisely the claim of the Russian naval general.
The word on the street is that these were stolen S-300 or X-25 missile systems bound for Iran, a country in which Russia has substantial economic interests. Why they were shipped through the Mediterranean is the part that does not make sense -- as it seems it would have been much simpler to smuggle these weapons across the Caspian Sea or via Turkmenistan if they were destined for Iran. Perhaps the destination was Syria, as Russia is building a deep-water port in Tartus. The other possibility is that these were simply stolen weapons and were destined for the black market. Project Mayhem suspects the latter. We will continue to follow this story if there are new developments.
http://kp.ru/daily/24342.4/532424/
THIS WEEK IN MAYHEM
Economic:
1. We are entering September as of Tuesday... The consensus at Zero Hedge is either the bond market or the stock market is wrong. Which is it?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/long-term-treasury-yields-someone-going-be-wrong
2. Chinese equities kick off the week down 6%. Shall we make bets on this weeks equity performance? Or has Skynet become self-aware?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=adSivGAJoKH8
2. ISM coming up on Tuesday. Will this report be a big fat fail whale? Or are we back to drinking government statistical Kool-Aid?
This Kool-Aid has Zerohedge brand vodka in it!
Geopolitical
1. Georgia naval blockade situation silently escalates without mention from the
MSM. Russia says it will protect vessels in Abkazia from Georgia.
Georgia threatens to continue a naval blockade and will regard actions
of Russian coast guard as acts of piracy. Where is the lapdog media?
Russian FSB to protect vessels in water area of Abkhazia from Georgia
The
coast guard of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian
Federation will help the border guards of Georgia’s breakaway republic
of Abkhazia to provide safety of the vessels coming into territorial
waters of Abkhazia, online paper Lenta.ru reports. The Russian and
Abkhazian boats will be protected from detention by the Georgian border
guards, according to the deputy head of the FSB of Russia Border Guard
Service Yevgeny Inchin, news agency RIA Novosti reports.
According
to Inchin, joint actions are stipulated by the agreement between the
Russian Federation and Abkhazia on border protection. Russian side
names preparation for the Olympic games in Sochi as one of the reasons
for such measures, Lenta.ru marks. Inchin has assured that
inviolability of vessels will be provided "effectively and
productively", online paper says.
The Georgian Minister of
Reintegration Affairs Temur Yakobashvili has already commented on
Inchin’s statement, saying that Tbilisi will regard actions of the
Russian coast guard as piracy, Lenta.ru adds.
http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1895
2. Af-Pak continues to destabilize. This is another spot to watch. No surprise here considering Zbigniew Brzezinski is behind the scenes, no doubt interested in fracturing Af-pak into a series of micro-states. Predator drones firing Hellfire missiles into weddings have a tendency to cause such instability. Well , whatever is best for the banks and oil companies!
The NATO tankers got exploded. Who could it be? Osama Bin Deceased did it from his cave while hooked up to a dialysis machine.
16 dead in Pakistan blast at Police Training Session
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090831_16_dead_in_Pakistan_blast.html
Nato tankers blown up in Pakistan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8230030.stm
August deadliest month for US in Afghanistan
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9AC3PMO0
U.S. commander says Afghanistan situation "serious"
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE57U22C20090831
Intimidation and Fraud Observed in Afghan Election
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/world/asia/23afghan.html?em
3. Watch the situation in Japan this week for clues on foreign policy, in particular future USTbond purchases.
"If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic."
»
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Catherine Fitts has a lot to say about collateral fraud here:
http://solari.com/archive/housing_bill/
and here:
http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/CAFmrl.html
I think she is a very reliable source and was there at the forefront.
Another one to put to rest: foreign embassies have NOT been told to load up on local currency, or US embassies abroad, or whatever this silly rumor is. I do not know where this one started, but it is simply false. Trust me on this, I'm on the inside. So move on.
Thanks.
The original source was something called HSL (Harry Shultz Letter), which was published sometime in June 2009. The claim was that some embassies were being told reallocate their currency positions. Clearly this was not "all" embassies, and I do not think the countries in question were specified. If you have inside information and can give any sort of details to disconfirm the rumor please email me project.mayhem.research [at] gmail [dot] com. The claim in HSL was that there would be a significant geopolitical event within 180 days (years end). This lines up with many other sources of information.
"In its current issue, HSL reports rumors that "Some U.S. embassies worldwide are being advised to purchase massive amounts of local currencies; enough to last them a year. Some embassies are being sent enormous amounts of U.S. cash to purchase currencies from those governments, quietly. But not pound sterling. Inside the State Dept., there is a sense of sadness and foreboding that 'something' is about to happen ... within 180 days, but could be 120-150 days."
HSL's suspicion: "Another FDR-style 'bank holiday' of indefinite length, perhaps soon, to let the insiders sort out the bank mess, which (despite their rosy propaganda campaign) is getting more out of their control every day. Insiders want to impose new bank rules. Widespread nationalization could result, already underway. It could also lead to a formal U.S. dollar devaluation, as FDR did by revaluing gold (and then confiscating it).""
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/schultz-paints-bleak-picture-of-future
I cannot send you information to "disprove" the rumor any more than I can send you information proving that Santa Claus does not exist. I know my embassy did not receive any such notification, nor any other embassy of anyone I know in the service. Admittedly, I do not have any current colleagues in Embassies in Chad or Malta or Botswana or several other similarly important posts, but it's a definite negative from Beijing, Tokyo, Manila, Jakarta, KL, Bangkok, London, Bonn, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Rio, Mexico City, and Adelaide.
The German US Embassy is in Berlin, not Bonn, the Australian one is in Canberra, not Adelaide. But I'm sure all the other information from Mr. "Insider" is correct.
Sorry, threw in a couple of Consulates, too. Don't have any colleagues in Berlin or Adelaide, but wanted to get the countries covered.
There is no US Consulate in Bonn, so it's quite obvious that you don't have "colleagues" in Germany. Makes me wonder about your "colleagues" in all those other countries. Maybe you should spend a little more time researching your story before you start bragging like a dim-witted teenager.
Yes, I am a dimwitted teenager, and you are absolutely correct in that all US Embassies and Consulates and field offices and Agency rep offices and CIA outposts and even IRS info centers are absolutely flush with any and all foreign currencies and completely out of US dollars. Well, we tried to hide it from you, but you are just too clever. Even that 'other' agency, which continues to maintain a presence in the old WG capital, is flush with Euro (They even have some old DM's lying around). You caught us!
Funny, though, I asked someone to cross the river and pay a call on Foggy Bottom to see the mood, which according to the fabricator, er, crack reporter of the "Embassies have been instructed to...." is "very depressed".
I believe Mr. Conspiracy's information is somewhat dated. That depression set in when Connie Rice took command, got even deeper when Negroponte left DNI to take a quiet office near Connie, but lifted at 12:01 on 20 January 2009. Apparently all the FS staff were already short the dollar, so the cash-out command coming from Ms. Clinton did not catch anyone by surprise.
Those State weenies are pretty good FX traders.
lol, thanks.
The Foreign Service personnel at the various embassies and consulates around the world get a kick out of the endless conspiratorialists like you, too, so I guess we do each other a valuable service. Laughter is good for the soul.
A person might think that if the dollar was about to collapse the government would be a little more concerned with matters other than whether or not embassies and consulates had enough cash on hand to pay the electricity bill or order hamburgers for the cafeteria.
I can make a guess as to how this whole thing started, giving the originator the benefit of the doubt that it was not pure fiction.
The fiscal year ends on 30 September. Often Embassies/Consulates/various govt agencies housed overseas have some cash left at the end of the year. Nobody wants their budgets cut, so the control desk back in DC usually instructs them to spend the cash before year end, thereby proving that the previous budget was just right. Sometimes embassies/consulates do a little unnecessary construction, sometimes they buy new furniture, etc.. It is possible that it was suggested that those with cash on hand do one of those, or even just convert what remained into local currency and top up the petty cash fund. Nothing sinister.
Of course, someone with a penchant for seeing a conspiracy under every rock can take a simple suggestion like that and blow it up to grand proportions, knowing that an audience exists for such “revelations”.
Now if you would like to beef about government waste inherent in such a system, you would be standing on steady ground. Otherwise, it’s just more tin foil stuff. Knock yourself out, though.
I guess I’ll have to take a more discerning eye toward the other grand conspiracies about which I do not have any working knowledge. Could it be that all of them are equally fluffy? That would be so disappointing.
Fantastic, thanks. Thats the sort of info I was interested in. If this is the case, then either A) the HSL is wrong, B) your information is wrong , or C) it was only one non-significant embassy. I appreciate the info, I hope it is true, although I believe the dollar is still toast intermediate-term (6-18 months).
Two months left to read the book on US collapseProfessor Igor Panarin, whose book “The Crash of America” is just out, claims that by November the book will be yesterday’s news.
Panarin believes President Obama will lead his country to a breakup. Panarin compares Obama to former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.
Panarin made his controversial forecast back in 1998, saying 2010 would be the starting point of the collapse. He spent the following eleven years monitoring the events around the US and says they largely confirm his theory.
“Today I received another confirmation that the collapse of the dollar and the US is inevitable. Japan’s Democratic Party won the election, and I’d like to remind you that its leader [Yukio Hatoyama] has the snubbing of the dollar among his economic plans. In plainer words, he plans to transfer Japan’s monetary reserves from US dollars into another currency. The move will seriously accelerate the dollar’s exchange slump as early as this November. Disintegration will follow shortly,” he added.
http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-08-31/months-left-us-collapse.html
I tried looking for Panarin's book but I can't find it, haha. Maybe its only out in Russian.
PM. Way to go on the inferential analysis. This one is for you, featuring another master of putting it all together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImdqZTONdPM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Finfowars%2Dshop%2Estores%2Eyahoo%2Enet%2Fcampfemadvd%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded
Another excellent post PM.
I'm stunned - I really thought Sibel Edmonds would have "committed suicide" by now, or had a one car accident, or been killed in a carjacking when leaving an airport, or ....
It's rather amazing... I think part of the reason Edmonds is alive is that Brad Blog broke the story -- and it became a bit too "high profile" for anything to happen to her. Her blog has been shut down at least once by Google. Check out the second link, second video (where the K St deposition really gets going). She talks about a lesbian Congresswoman who was blackmailed by Turkish intelligence, foreign infiltration of the FBI's translation division (which was protected from high up), stolen nuclear plans obtained by government officials with high clearances (which were then sold on the black market). She also talks about the Valery Plame incident, which was not as it seems. Brewster Jennings' cover was blown years earlier by US State Dept's Marc Grossman, who was involved in highly illicit nuclear trafficking with Turkey and Pakistan. Grossman deliberately blew Brewster Jennings' cover in order to protect an international criminal nuclear trafficking ring involving high US officials, far before Novak leaked Plame's identity. This is juicy stuff, haha
http://video.brownpublishing.com/video/newsdemocrat/sibel/
*Anyway this is all testimony under oath. Congress has some explaining to do.
Valerie Plame. Don't really know what the story seems to be, but here is some background that might help.
Plame was originally a NOC, though not especially successful. She decided to change to the more traditional Official Cover status. She landed in a division where she worked on the nuclear account, all the while maintaining her cover status. She could have applied to have her cover lifted, so that she could then state her true employer on job applications, credit applications, etc., but chose not to do so. Many time members of the clandestine services will retain the cover status because it's kind of cool, other times many are not certain that they may not decide at some future date that they wish to take another overseas posting.
Plame was married to Joe Wilson. At some point word came out about a possible link between Iraq and Niger Yellowcake. Because Wilson had both knowledge of Niger and had a certain amount of gravitas, he was suggested by Plame, and approved by the PTB to go on the Niger mission. What he found was that the supposed contract was a forgery (based primarily on the fact that the main signator was not a member of the Niger Government coincident with the contract's date). The forgery was traced to people in Italy.
The story should have ended there, but Dick Cheney wanted intelligence output to back up his desire to attack Iraq. As with all Agency output, anything not supporting Cheney’s aims was dismissed or else theAgency was told to re-write it giving him what he wanted, not what actually was. Then-CIA head George Tenet, who had become far more a politcal animal than an intelligence chief, told staff to follow Cheney’s wishes. The intelligence produced was garbage, and everyone at the working level in the Agency knew it.
Cheney also went after Wilson, just as he went after anyone who dared get in the way of his aims.
As an aside, upwards of 90% of the “intelligence” on Iraq’s supposed WMD came from a single source (which is anathema to a real Agency analyst). This source (Curveball) approached services all over the world with his tales of Saddam’s WMD efforts. Curveball was looking for money and another place to live. Most Agency debriefers knew Curveball was a liar. The Administration, on the other hand, loved him because he was telling them what they wanted to hear. Some of the corroboration about which Cheney claimed was actually just liaison reports from UK and Italian intelligence officials who had also debriefed Curveball. This fact did not deter Cheney.
If you will recall, prior to the US invasion, UN weapon’s inspectors were still searching sites in Iraq. At that time Bush still believed WMD existed, and he wanted at least one “find” to justify the attack he already had planned. The Agency was asked to provide something really juicy to the UN inspectors so that Bush would have his proof. Everything the Agency provided the UN turned out to be a dead end, even though it was the “best stuff” they had. At that point the Agency analysts realized that other Iraqi sources who had said Saddam had abandoned his WMD programs years before were the ones telling the truth, and Curveball was in fact an appropriate moniker for a man who just trying to get a Green Card and some cash.
Though the Agency then knew there were unlikely to be any WMD’s in Iraq, Cheney and Bush wanted to hear nothing of it. The rest is, sadly, history.
By the way, one guess as to which US company did more business with Saddam Hussein, that “horrible man who gassed his own people”, in the period 1995-2000. Bonus points if you can name the CEO of that company, and the position he left Halliburton (whoops!) to assume in Washington. Hint: he is a psychopath.
PM - Excellent work. There is much more where all of this came from. Please keep up your efforts
Nice collection of Real and Potential mayhem drivers
You're an artist PM. Very grateful for your effort and analysis.
That was a really, really interesting summary of important issues and events... I really enjoyed reading it... especially items I had never even heard of like Sibel Edmonds deposition... I look forward to the next installment.
Israel lost its puppy government when BO replaced WMD (Whitehouse Madman of Decider). Bad for Israel, good for ordinary J6P in USA.
Usa lost its puppy government when DPJ expelled the old ruling party. Good for average J6P in Japan, bad for Geithner, Bernanke, Obama and dollar.
Those glory days are gone. Say goodbye to your puppy.
The dispute between Jim Willie and Karl Denninger has a precedent; few weeks ago there was a somewhat similar dispute between Yves Smith and Tyler Durden.
The common theme in both disputes can be framed the question: Is the market run honestly or not?
To simplify the opposing arguments:
Tyler pointed out that the Fed is secetly buying bonds with freshly created money. In the linked article Jim points to big bond fraud, counterfeited bonds and bonds without supporting assets.
On the other side, Yves and Karl state that with respect to the crisis things go normal (with minor misdeeds) ways. Karl asks for proof of fraudulent bonds in official data, Yves claims that the Fed’s procedures are normal and Tyler does not understand the bond market.
As the reactions in the dispute show, it hits a rare nerve. Both disputes got to a personal tone with the later one being far worse. In my opinion the reason for the emotions in the dispute is totally different investment implications. If the game is totally rigged, stay out in an asset that can not be devalued or easily taxed with gold being the classic example. If the game is basically honest, normal trading will work and yield a profit to the smart trader. So, place your bets.
Here are links to the older dispute: http://www.zerohedge.com/article/open-market-operations-and-statistics?p... http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/08/monetizing-debt-disinformation-in...
Not to mention Shedlock calling out Sinclair today. Paper or metals - place your bets, indeed.
I *just* read that! I am hedged in cash and precious metals. But I think it was interesting Mish got so frustrated. My money is on Sinclair.
I will provide my thoughts, since I found Mish's article to be both irritating and intellectually sparse. So much corruption yet he still cannot see! I wonder if he will ever get it. Here are my responses.
Project Mayhem responds to Mish's latest article
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/08/countdown-to-dollar-implosion-madness.html
"
The odds that the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) got together and gave the US an ultimatum on anything for November are none and none." -Mish
--^ Think again. Russia and China have been conducting joint military exercises through the military arm of the SCO. China and Brazil have set up bilateral currency swaps. There might not be a leaked ultimatem -- but it is certainly possible.
"
By the way, can I have a timeframe on that $1650 please? Is that also November?"
--^ Good question Mish. I hate when people make predictions without time frames. I predict gold well north of $1200 by years end. I also predict a 'swine flu' pandemic, complete with dangerous government-mandated vaccinations starting in mid-October.
"Simple math. Trade deficit shrinks, foreign purchases of US securities shrink"
--^ Actually it's not so simple. Tyler showed last week that the Fed was helping foreign CBs roll from GSE paper into Treasuries. That was going to be in this week's column but I overlooked this story. Here is the link. The banks are CORRUPT. What is so hard to understand about this?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-enabling-foreign-central-banks-swap-out-their-agency-debt-treasuries
"
If the price of oil drops again, as I expect it will, the trade deficit is likely to shrink more, which would be US$ friendly."
--^ Lolwut. The price of oil cannot be considered outside of it's connection to gold. The link severed in 1971 still remains because gold is for sale in USD. Trade Deficit is only one of several components determining a currency's strength on the international markets. The others traditionally include interest rate differentials and fiscal deficit. I agree we could see dollar strength, but I think this is only short-term (<6 months). Intermediate-term (6-18 months) and long-term (18+ months) the US Dollar is in serious serious trouble.
"Based on interpretations of the Commitment of Traders Reports (COT) we have see a couple countdowns to running out of gold and or silver on COMEX by various people. Those never happened."
--^ True. But this does not mean it is not in the cards. Adrian Douglass has claimed ETF shares are being used for physical settlement, which may have prolonged the paper carnival.
"We have seen "gold to the moon" hyperinflation calls based on backwardation. Those never happened, either."
--^ If this is a swipe at Fekete, history will prove you have egg on your face. Gold will go into backwardation within 18 months.
"
There is also a bunch of hype going around right now about bank holidays and a devaluation of the dollar vs. all major currencies coming up this Autumn"
--^ Are you even paying attention? You ran an article yourself about the FDIC being broke. Foreign embassies have been told by US State Dept to purchase local currencies. What could possibly cause this directive? Pandemic? Bank Runs? The list is short.
"The across the board dollar devaluation idea is potty because the US dollar floats"
--^ You have to measure against gold and oil, not against other currencies.
"And even if there was, Europe and Japan do not want stronger currencies and would not go along."
Mish I ran an article about Japan over the weekend. The new DPJ wants its Treasury bonds issued in yen.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/dpj-set-win-japan-election-may-issue-seppuku-bonds
"If something does happen in November, it will not be because some blogger knows something. It will be happenstance."
--^ No Mish; It will be because we had the eyes to see what you cannot.
Dude, you rock. Period. Full stop. I still hope you bring the concept of Freegold to ZH sometime, as I find it fascinating. I too have some cash in my PM safe, but only as emergency TP.
I am not sure if it is "cannot", "will not", or "does not want the public to see".
Great summary of the differences between the outlooks.
It is scary to see it all put together. Something big is afoot.
http://sunwalked.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/big-foot-steve.jpg
Beautiful POST. Great artwork.
Project Mayhem, once again you paint a disturbing, thought-provoking and, in most circles of civil society who practice denial as a high art, completely deranged picture of what is and what may come.
PM and others,
Related to your last point:
Any word on that story of two "Japanese" men smuggling a $135 billion in fake bonds in Italy?
It's hard to believe that what I assume is the largest couterfeiting case in history just "went away."
Who were these men? Where they arrested?
Please do yourself a favor and give this one a rest. Because you never heard about similar scams does not mean they have not existed for years.
I was first approached with counterfeit Bearer Bonds in 1981 in Saudi Arabia. Since then I have seen upwards of $100 trillion of them. The case to which you refer was not even close to the largest attempt to pawn these things. Even the press covered a few instances fifty times larger than this.
Most of them originated in Manila, though another version (better, but less agressively marketed) was done in Pakistan. I did not think there were still people in this world naive enough to fall for it. Then again, I still get fifty emails per week informing me I have won some European lottery, or my name was provided as a "trustworthy individual" through whom some large amount of money could be washed, etc.
Give this one up.
Wow , people really come out of the woodwork for the bearer bonds! Okay sure, if you know so much about this (are the same person with the embassy?), why don't you address precisely what you think happened in terms of the fake bearer bonds. Because I would indeed appreciate the information. I never claimed to know what happened, I was simply stating my opinion.
So you say, Two Japanese men got these bonds, which were probably created in Manilla, thought they were real, and were taking them to Switzerland (in an attempt to sell them? ) Okay fine. Now why were they released without charge in Italy and allowed to keep their fake bonds? This does not make sense to me.
Why were they released? Maybe for the same reason that people who get caught with million dollar bills with Bob Barker's face on them do not end up doing any time in jail.
As for the Japanese (maybe they were Filipino's, but in a country run by Berlusconi, all Asians are going to look alike), well, not all Japanese have brains. Some people think they are the first one on to something, which is a boon for the counterfeiters, and why this scam is now into its third decade.
Google this for more info. There are plenty of stories on the net of similar instances over the last decade or two, some much larger than this latest reported attempt.
But for those who insist on believing this story, I can sell you a map showing the location of Marcos' hidden gold stash, which he took from Japanese invaders during WWII. I also have the bank number and access code for Yassir Arafat's secret bank account at Bank Pictet, I have the REAL Hope Diamond (not that counterfeit at the Smithsonian), some skeletal remains of one of the passengers in the craft that crashed at Roswell, and I know where both Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa are.
Just for the record, I DO believe Goldman Sachs has access to information not available to lesser men; I just am more judicious in my choice of conspiracies, especially when I have direct experience with the conspiracy in question.
Thanks. I found a good link with more information. To be honest it sounds like there were some fakes and some real.
"
Right after the seizure Colonel Mecarelli, Guardia di Finanza commander in Como, said that for at least some of the securities, especially the ‘Kennedy Bonds’, there were doubts about their authenticity. As for the others, some were so well made that it was hard to tell them apart from real ones."
"The seizure was carried out two weeks ago. The bonds were in the possession of two Oriental-looking individuals in their fifties with Japanese passports. The two men, were travelling from Milan to Chiasso, in Switzerland, on a local train used primarily by Italian workers commuting to-and-fro Switzerland for work."
"Also inside the agents found extensive and detailed original bank documents about the bonds."
"Under Italian law when law enforcement agencies seize fake bonds or counterfeit money they are under the obligation to arrest the bearers. And in order to avoid misappropriation, the agency seizing the material, in this case the financial police, must quickly proceed to its destruction (i.e. incineration)."
"That is not the only discrepancy. It is not clear how statements by US Treasury spokesman Meyerhardt and Italian financial police can be reconciled. For the former the bonds “are clearly fakes”; for the latter, speaking at the start of this whole affair, some bonds were indistinguishable from the real ones when it comes to quality and detail."
"Italy’s Guardia di Finanza has a reputation for being a highly specialised and expert financial police agency. How could it be so easily duped! And if the bonds are “clearly fakes” why did it take US authorities two weeks to find out."
Another discrepancy is the fact that, along with the securities, original and recent bank documents were seized as proof of their authenticity.
http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article18905
We don't know much besides the analysis that Tyler and Karl Denninger posted.
My suspicion is that the bonds were real, and that Treasury has been engaging in illegal activity. I think that these were probably Japanese intelligence attempting to take the bearer bonds to Switzerland. But those are just my thought I don't think we have proof. All we have is a bunch of contradicting statements from the MSM and Italian authorities.
PM: Here's a deal. Next time I go to Manila I'll pick up a few trillion dollars of these fake bearer bonds and send them to TD. He can either make copies and sell them to raise money for the site, or else silk screen them on to another t-shirt, and sell those.
Please specify if you want the fake Kennedy's or the old Hoovers. I can even arrange to have your avatar in lieu of JFK's head, since with Photoshop, the Filipino's have a lot more flexibility in their production capabilities.
Haha I would LOVE a copy of those. Seriously if you send ZH a fake bearer bond with my avatar I will make a whole whole story out of it. Hell I bet Tyler would promote to the front page and make it sticky. We definitely want fake Kennedy's.
I take it you think they were fake. Fair enough.
If I remember correctly, there were some strange contradictions in the media regarding this event. For example, the two smugglers were released and were not charged. Things like this make me, personally, think there is more to the story.
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http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1119-The-Saga-Of-The-Bearer-Bonds.html
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1142-The-Bond-Saga-It-Gets-More-Odd.html
PM....OUTSTANDING article, love the summary/summaries format.....great stuff and for once I welcome rinse, repeat cycle, lol!
Thank you for your efforts on this!
+1
I know I saw a recent story about the UK buying US debt. Given that they are running a sizable deficit themselves, why would they be doing that?
Let's not embrace conspiracies, let's embrace facts.
Karl D. +1 , the other guy -10
Yesterday conspiracy theories generally and eventually become conspiracy fact. Google: Operation Northwoods.
I'm absolutely thrilled to see a blog with this level of readership covering the Sibel Edmonds case. This has been overdue for 8 years. Also, I would like to express my great appreciation of your overall selection of news.
I can see that you truly "get" what's going on, and I'm behind you 100%. Just be careful. This could result in "retaliation" that goes beyond being on the receiving end of snarky comments on CNBC.
France and other countries get huffy about US giving bank secrecy to non-residents?
good articles; good articles 4 slow news day ..http://www..
hat tip: finance news & finance opinions
Priceless. Thank you PM.
thanks PM - all the news we need to know
Just because it doesn't fit into your world view doesn't make it untrue. If one stops and think about the seismic changes in just the USA over the past 2 years (I remember telling some people that massive bank failures were coming in 2007 and was laughed at) what was once impossible has now become old news.