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On the spin
So I was out of touch for seven hours or so. I check in with the news
sources just now on all the stories that matter. Unbelievable how much
things have changed in a third of a day. Even more unbelievable is that
all of the news is good.
First of is the No Fly (“NF”). Jim Cramer said on the TV the other day that as soon as the NF is announced, it is off to the races.
The NF means that all that Libyan crude and gas is coming back on line
in just a few days. Any supply issues that were nagging the market have
been relived by just the news. Oil should be under 90 and headed to 80
in just the next few weeks!
There is also very reassuring news on the Japan nuke front. None other
than the leader of the free world has spoken. Obama has made it very
clear that there is no risk of radiation on US soil. From Hawaii to Guam
and Samoa. From Alaska down to the coast of Mexico. Not any place where
the American flag flies is there ANY risk of exposure that would/could
have a medical consequence. This is very reassuring news. There is no risk what so ever to America. None.
Important developments at the failed nuke site. There are now 300
hundred people attempting to deal with the problem. As one news report
highlighted this is a 600% improvement in just 24 hours. Clearly progress is being made.
We now have fire trucks on location that are able to squirt water on the
stricken reactors and storage sites. I was not aware that this
technique could be so successful. Apparently putting out a 3,000 degree
fire of boiling spent rods is not as difficult as first thought. Even
better is the helicopter. The pictures I saw showed that the Huey was
able to drop the water with pinpoint accuracy. Not a drop was wasted. What an elegant solution.
The final bit of info that should bring a resolution to the nuke
problems is that the French have airlifted in 100 tons of boric acid.
Just in case that might not prove to be enough the S. Koreans are
sending another 56 tons. Problem solved.
Once again I am surprised. I thought boric acid was only useful for
killing cockroaches. Some say it can be helpful with a yeast infection.
But now we know that old-fashioned 20 Mule Team Borax is all that is
needed to absorb any unwanted radiation.
The now, more than adequate, water supply coupled with the magic of
borax creates the favorable status that bankers refer to as “Two ways out”. Lawyers think of it as, “Belt and suspenders”. There are options, there are solutions, there’s little risk.
The final bit of data is that the G7 Central Bankers are now acting as one in coordinated global currency intervention. This truly is good news.
The steady hands of the central bankers have eliminated downside market
risk. With the risk now behind us only the upside is left. The Yen
carry trade now has the blessings of all those well meaning central
bankers. We know how powerful a force this can be. This is the “stealth”
QE3-4 that Bernanke desperately needs and wants. The circumstances will
give him good “cover”. When global inflation ratchets up again as a
result of the Free Money Card from the G7 Ben can say, “Don’t blame me. It was the other guys that made me do it”.
A look at the latest “smart thoughts” from virtually every
financial institution and TV talking head is that the tragic events of
the past few weeks can lead to only one conclusion. Global growth is about to explode. Yes there may be a hiccup for a bit, but the future is as bright as it has been for some time.
Not one fucking word of this is true. It will take years
for those nukes to cool down. There is more risk in front of us than
behind. The resources being brought to bear are inadequate. There is no
quick fix, including borax. I truly hope the winds will always be
favorable. But that is just a hope. If the citizens decide they want to
be at least 200 miles away it would have major consequences to the
capital and the country. There is no Japanese growth story until the
nuke issue has been resolved.
In a few hours NATO forces will take out the airports and anti-aircraft
installations in Libya. I have no doubt that they will control the
skies. But they will not strafe forces loyal to Ghadaffi. They will not
put boots on the ground. The civil war in Libya just got notched up, not
down. Where is the next NATO No Fly? Jordon? Syria? Bahrain? Algeria?
How about Iran? A few big protests over there and all we have to do is
send in a carrier or two and do the No Fly?? We shall see if this leads
to stability in the ME. I see it is as an act of desperation. One that will bring significant negative consequences.
The G7 lit a fire tonight. I think this was also an act of desperation. When markets don’t do what they want Central Bankers come to the rescue. They fix the markets. Just like that. They buy stability with printed money. And they tell you there is no cost to it. Simply not true.
Those bankers that are spinning a tale of upside opportunity are an
interesting part of the mix. You don’t normally see them coming out of
the woods together like this. The noise from the “good news” boys seems a bit too orchestrated for me. One thing that may be a factor is the calendar for new issues, secondary’s and big syndicate bond deals. There is a ton of paper that wants/needs to get sold. It is sitting on the shelf waiting for a window. Those bankers have a good reason not to rain on their parade. But really, how can they be so confident when there is so much uncertainty?
Sorry for the rant. I’ve been around for a bit. I’ve always made note of the events that shape us. Never in my life have I seen so much spinning and manipulating.
It is coming from heads of state, government officials, central
bankers, commercial bankers and the press. It will be interesting to see
how long the spinning and manipulating will work. Not long is my guess.
Spin, Spin and more Spin
»
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So this post fits well into the ideas about where we are in the cycle (plagiarized by me from another ZHer, I do not recall, but credit is due).
The cycle goes:
1. Financial crisis
2. Sovereign crisis
3. Political crisis
4. People crisis
We are in the midst of Step #3, Political Crisis. Most of what we discuss has moved into the political arena, the questions become why our leaders are so incompetent, why are we unable to anticipate or solve any problems and why does it seem our politicians have caused so many of our problems?
Soon, in the next couple of years (IMO before the 2012 election), we will face a crisis that will move us into step #4, the People crisis. In effect the politicians will defer responsibility, they will have no answers and the people will be forced to decide.
I believe it will be financial in nature and the people will be asked - give up your 401K and pensions to the government, or we default with all the chaos that this entails. The problem then belongs to the people, the politicians will have abrogated, shortly after is when the big crash occurs.
sschu
long borat'z btchz!
erm, borax. ;)
Bruce, Boric Acid is important! Roaches can survive a nuclear disaster!
Global ponzi.
This is pure rumormillnews.com stuff but allegedly China has troops 60 miles s of US Border- apparently they did pledge the country in case err - sry (when we default and go BK) - then they come to claim their prize.
Hawaii is part of the US?
Boric acid on a yeast infection! I always learn something from your taint-ed visuals.
La cucaracha!
The wind will blow inland in Japan for a while this weekend so the clock is ticking.
Meanwhile I continue to love how no one mentions the oceans. It's kinda like liquid land that humans live off of but not on. A continuous shower falls and then sinks. So long as it hits nothing on the way down, that's good, but one has to wonder what the combination of already excessive mercury and just a little radiation on the fish of the sea that get the double dose will result in. Fishzilla maybe?
Selfishly, the prized blue fin tuna and other gulf originating species, which were hunted by myself and large fishing fleets that are now dry docked during the critical spawning season, will now have some time to bounce back. So it's not all bad news, not yet anyway....
For those of you that read the posting about Indian Point in Westchester County NY, which was built in 1962, the same year as this hi tech car:
http://www.cool-leds.com/1962_vw_beetle.JPG
well, unfortunately it is built on a fault line, among other potential problems. You may have noticed the red dot in the middle of the e.vac.u.ation map. That red dot is where Mister Bruce Krasting's third floor veranda is located,the one where he enjoys an occasional Macanudo and Johnny Black while viewing the lovely nuke plant in the distance. HEY MISTER KRASTING, WAKE UP! CALL THE GOVERNOR. TELL HIM TO SHUT DOWN THAT P.O.S.
Perfect Bruce, just perfect. TY
Bruce: Kill Your TeeVee
CNBC and the talking heads are calling you like a siren's song.
Cramer the Clown:
The housing bottom is in, unemployment has turned around, GDP is ratcheting up, the economy is about to explode, buy the Lies-man... I mean buy the dip, this time it's different...
Bruce: 2-1 Count, Green Light, Swing for the Fences
Go out to the garage, get you Home Depot sledge hammer, walk into the front room and take your best cut at a fast ball and plant that sledge right in the sweet spot of your flat screen and walk away...
Just walk away. You won't miss the worthless corn hole corrupt corporate chimp and chimpette media machine one bit...
Double post... NSA fucking with my Internet again... But I am not a Domestic Terrorist...
"But they will not strafe forces loyal to Ghadaffi."
Actually, this resolution allows action far beyond a NFZ, including attacks on Qaddafi's forces.
I agree with the post below, that humans today have the attention span of a house fly. Most have the intelligence of one too, unfortunately.
No, scratch that, most humans have less intelligence. Other animals are unable to perceive or understand much of the world around them, but at least they respond to what their native abilities provide them. In contrast, humans wander around motivated by pure fiction... by stuff that doesn't even exist! Not even house flies are that dumb.
I guess the final question will be whether the grip of fiat, fake, fraud, fiction, fantasy (and fractional reserve practices) will be broken before the complete and utter destruction of 98% of the species. So far, it doesn't appear so.
If the fuel rods are in proper storage after being spent and the plant is still in operational condition, the fuel rods are placed in a pool of boric acid. This cools the rods down relatively quickly but they are left in the pool for up to 6 months to be safe. Also, within a few weeks they can be dry stacked, so these problems are smaller than Chernobyl, and remember tmi did not directly kill anyone.
Also, who could believe Libya would accept a ceasefire before a shot was fired? I think they have a strategy of waiting for a while and then going into Benghazi and slaughtering the rebels. Makes sense. Some of the oil may be back on line soon, and there will be no reason not to anticipate a full recovery.
Since you snarky guys are so clever, tell me why the new Quantex coal to liquid process isn't making a bigger slash. All the oil you could want at $50/bbl??
I'm not sure how many people here support this attitude:
#1: The world sucks because almost nothing intelligent can be done in the face of endless lies and total control by the predators-that-be (people in governments and large corporations and influential scumbags).
#2: However, if some amazing event occurs (like a second american revolution, except worldwide), and honesty, ethics and individualism can prevail to a significant degree, then ALL supposed problems can be easily solved. Okay, "easily" doesn't mean "trivially", it just means the solutions are already known, and would be implemented if not for the control of the predators-that-be.
So give "snarky guys" their due. Accept that the increasingly authoritarian, anti-ethical, predatory, top-down system we have today leads to worse and worse conditions. Then we're happy to agree that solutions are known and practical. They are.
Great piece Bruce. Considering that the average American has the attention span of a house fly, is it any wonder that a manipulated corporate media could throw this much crap at people and really believe that anyone at this point would actually care? Social engineering has been taken to new heights. Most seem to believe that we require staying connected to the matrix and that if not, we might actually miss the next great bullshit story that keeps us pinned to the edge of our seats. Not that what is happening in Japan is a total tragedy, but at the speed that these events hit us, you begin to wonder about the lack of any depth in reporting such events before we're hit with the next major offensive in a far off land.
Was it really that long ago that 250,000 lives were lost from an earthquake in Haiti? I wonder how their doing? Have the billions raised to rebuild gotten them anywhere? Just what are the continued consequences of spilling 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf Of Mexico? Was New Orleans ever rebuilt so that the poor were able to move back into their homes? Your right Bruce, all is not well when we live in a world of manipulated sound bites to take us from one mess to another so as to allow those making a profit continue to do so. Kudlow was sorry about the loss of life in Japan, but okay people he smirked, let's move on and make some real money rebuilding? Catepillar seemed to be his new corporate catch phrase.
Maybe some day we'll all realize that there is more to life and living other than pumping out a continuous line of bullshit in the hopes of sweeping disasters under the rug at light speed and moving on to the next big thing that will keep free market capitalism lurching forward. But this weekend, I think I'll do myself a favor and pour a stiff one, put my feet up and hope that my brackets might make me a few extra bucks with my bookie.
Was it really 250,000 deaths in Haiti? Wow! If true, somehow the magnitude of that got lost on me.
My (pretty lame) memory reminds me somewhere around 150,000 people died in the Indonesian tsunami not many years ago. But lacking a tsunami in Haiti, I'm very surprised 250,000 people died there. Yikes!
One difference with Japan is, depending upon how events play out at the nuclear facility, the deaths could occur over the next several decades, and possibly be spread across much of the planet to some degree.
Yes, it is true. One quarter of a million people died in the Asian Tsunami. Haiti? I'm not sure.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/byyear.php
Yes it was over 250,000 and another 300,000 missing. Maybe someone could write to the great Bill Clinton and ask him how all that fund raising cash is helping to rebuild the country? I bet if Haiti had oil or rare earth metals, we'ed be all over them like fly's on shit.
Bruce - I was rolling with this article. We are in uncharted territory when the masses are being treated like children by our leaders and the mainstream media. The fact that people are buying potassium iodide pills tells me people aren't buying it!
Good comments, BK.
The largest SPIN point is also the one literally likely to go BOOM!
Gaddafi Duck declares a unilateral cease fire ...
(but media types are SO savvy they say it may not be really honored)
... and buys more time to ...
a) teach world he didn't give up ALL his nuclear ambitions by lighting up ____________ (fill in city of your choosing - personnally I'd really miss Paris)
b) leverage deals made with other middle eastern dictators who received PM deliveries in return for turning up the heat in Iraq
c) watches Bahrain eclipse his spotlight by passive-aggressive, ruthless clamp down on their protesters
d) all of the above
barliman
gaddafi could divide the country, as long as he commands the areas which control the oil. A no fly zone took ten years to destroy Iraq, and that was ten years of suffering and starvation and disease for the Iraqi people, then ten years of war and occupation. It was a human catastrophe, which is why i predict the entire ME will under a no-fly zone in ten years. Obama has actually found a Republican policy he can push back on, the nof-ly zone, too bad the UN did an end run on him. now he has to commit troops. it must make the neo-conservative brains explode, to find the UN doing their mission. but ultimately this is a global problem, not just a US problem, so let the UN run the show. and maybe that will keep the neo-cons from committing more troops. as the poor and Muslim people take over their own governments they need to pump more oil to avoid poverty. oil should get cheaper, but that won't help. the global economy is heading into a deflationary funk, as money becomes worthless. we all knew that.
Need some financial advice. My Credit Union is offering me a life insurance policy, up to 10K, for less than $50 a month. I can borrow against the policy, whatever I owe is paid with the policy benefits after my death.
Sounds like a refugee from one of the "too big to fail" banks is now running your credit union.
it sounds to me like a reverse mortgage on life.
That sounds very expensive. You are paying 120 times what I pay for 30-year term (although I am in the most healthy/least expensive category).
But what happens to PMs?
I think as long as we stay in the dollar they will do nothing but increase.
But what happens it they introduce a world currency, claim it's backed by PMs, and fix gold as say $500 and silver at $20? I got junked several times for this yesterday so I would appreciate rather than a junk an explanation of why this is not feasible.
Besides, my tv tells me everything is fine... /sarc off.
The new currency in the scenario you outline would probably be exchanged at a rate of about $500 new to $50,000 old FRNS, hence those who have some physical gold and silver win. That's why we buy it and hold it.
i agree that it will still have value, point is it might not have near the value many think it will if this type of policy is implemented. Awful tough to beat a group that can change the rules on the fly.
My observation is that the news media has curtailed reporting of negative news ever since the flash crash which imho was triggered by the broadcast of the rioting in Greece. I agree with Bruce. In my 64 years I have never seen such wholesale disregard for reality and the controlled serving of kool-aid which the sheeple seem to drink with abandon.
Hillarious. By half way through I thought you had been on an early martini lunch, or maybe turned into an alien pod-clone.
I wrote it last night. I'm not Irish, but I'd had a few.......
Speaking of managing perceptions:
Pearl Roundabout, Symbol of Bahrain Protests, Razedhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/42148196
Bruce, I've been so engrossed with current events and how so many things are coming together at the same time to creat a perfect storm I just haven't had any desire to post any comments. I am sure glad you and so many other ZHers with their many good links are still sharing. Every month I continue to prepare. Not sure I know what exactly I'm preparing for, but still stocking up on needs. I'm thinking the PTB our using this extend and pretend in the same fashion, only for different motives.
Good Post!!
Very nice piece. Well done.
Since 2001, the .com bust, I have been stocking up for a rainy day and telling everyone I know that they should do the same. I had a hell of a time trying to get my friends and family to understand why this shit simply could not keep going on. <crickets> and <blank stares> is all I ever got in return. So I gave up on them and spent my time tending my own garden.
The process of opening my own eyes has been taumatic enough, and to this day I occasionally find blind spots created by my own bullshit beliefs.
The only people I have ever been able to convince that they should prepare, interestingly, are people who have never made a market trade in their lives and wouldn't have a clue how to begin, let alone the financial resources to do so. They seem to intuitively understand that real value is tangible, that food, medicine, weapons, fuel, etc. are things of great value.
It's been a long strange trip from my cubicle in the city to the garden in my backyard, Bruce. So strange, yet logical and true.
you may want to read this from 1982
"A Canadian family who felt the Falkland Islands would be a safer place..."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=So9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0j8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6...
What a horror. I wonder what happened to them.
Other than having relocated from the city to a semi-rural location, I don't follow the bugout model of survival. It seems to impractical to me. I think the greatest asset you will have beyond well planned stores is friends and neighbors that you can cooperate with for mutual benefit and security.
Just my opinion.
It is astounding - the amount of spin and dis and mis-information.
It is clearly for the sake of the central banks, banksters, and market manipulators so they can unwind (or wind) their currency and stock positions.
Modern cannon fodder is the individual household and family.
So now we have a sitzkrieg and two Libyas. One in the East full of oil and instability. One in the West for pirates, terrorists, and drug smugglers. What could go wrong?
Wow - I think it is your best piece ever ... and, unfortunately, 100% true ...
If you're over 50, you've lived with the fallout from hundreds of above-ground atomic explosions (tests) since you were a child. You're still here. The radiation from this single event in Japan is nothing compared to one above ground 'test.' The fallout from the resulting G7 monetization response will prove far more lethal to the citizens of the world. The fallout from the disruption of Japan's position as the world's modern East India Company - a global trading firm that has controlled the JIT delivery of everything high-tech - will never be cleaned up, since the fallout from the G7's decision to just print money will soon crush demand for Japan's recovery.
The "fucked-like-bad-sashimi" 4,000 MMW generator will never be online again. The BTU equivalent requirement in oil to produce the same amount of electricity is some additional 150,000 bbls/day; 4MM bbls/month, $400+MM/month. When such generators are completed. Until they are, if they are, 10% of the country's electricity is gone and Japan was a far more electric powered economy than say, the US. Oh, and there's the damage from a 9.0 quake and tsunami that has to be dealt with and those costs.
Bruce's post deserves another walk across the header here at ZH. Purple Mist Pumping has never been greater in the 50-something years I've lived on this planet, and since someone once said, "you can't fool all of the people all of the time," the fallout from the Purple Mist will be severe.
Shit, well said Thorny Xi. To which I can only aver, that I'll take a banking\currency crisis over irradiation any day. Nothing you can do to safeguard against that invisible, odorless, tasteless cloud.
This week was a life-changer for me. If they get that evil shit stowed over there, under a mountain of cement, whatever it takes . . . I'll greet each morning with a blessing.
Purple Mist Pumping has never been greater in the 50-something years I've lived on this planet, and since someone once said, "you can't fool all of the people all of the time," the fallout from the Purple Mist will be severe.
Ah, but someone else said "There's a sucker born every day." The question thus becomes what is the sucker birth rate? In my 65 years of observation, it seems that the sucker birth rate has been successfully nurtured to where the population of suckers exceeds the population of non-suckers.
Oh well, we are truely fu**ed
Japan and the world are still in a relative state of shock & denial...
the full scope, depth & breadth of this calamity has not sunk in yet, but it will...
when the fallout actually hits the fan, watch out below...
It will happen as soon as there are ipad shortages, not to mention spare parts for warranties.
Forget the San Andreas fault. There's a major fault through Manhattan that is due for an seismic event. I believe IP NPP sits along that fault.
Hope you got EQ insurace Bruce.
Cheers, Bruce. The world economy and the whole consumer-based system is unraveling. And TPTB have to keep up with that. Thus the BS-machine is spinning faster by the day. Entropy is going to have its ways around that machine, make no mistake about that ;)
They're in too deep now so spin and the heavy hand is all they have left. This is desperation and lies by people who want to protect their jobs at all costs, or at least find someone else to blame when it falls apart.
But it's too late, let them carry on and if you're dumb enough to buy and hold stocks, with no p.m.s and food stock? Good luck to you.
Welcome to Team Truth, Bruce.
I always knew you were one of us, but you're all in now.