Newspaper

No, that is not a typo, at least not according to the blog of traffic counting website Compete.com, which notes that with 7.1 million unique visitors, the website of the newspaper that broke the Edward Snowden scandal and has been covering the NSA's spying scandal has seen an unprecedented increase in traffic. Granted the Y/Y number is an aberation due to the switchover from Guardian.co.uk to an impartial dot com address, but either way, as Compete notes, just "Guardian.co.uk over the recent months also shows that the news outlet had their best month for unique visitors (UVs) in two years."

I guess this means we can quote him on it...

Sylvio Berlusconi is no stranger to being a catalyst for European crisis: in November 2011 it was his unwillingness to leave the PM post (and be replaced with a Goldman technocrat), that precipitated a bond crisis accented by the ECB's unwillingness to interject and buy Italian bonds until the career politician had left. Tomorrow, an Italian Senate committee is due to begin hearing arguments on whether to eject ex-PM Berlusconi from Parliament and on. The special Senate Elections and Immunities Committee will have its first hearing on Berlusconi’s expulsion from the Parliament and six-year ban on 9 September. It seems now less likely that a vote will already take place on 9 September. The decision of the commission will be followed by a vote of the whole Senate. According to Deutsche Bank, the duration of the process is unclear. Indeed, it could be lengthened by several months if the commission (or the parliament) asks for a ruling of the Constitutional Court. However, a worst case scenario could see the government fail, early elections being called, and a repeat of this February's political circus all over again, only this time with even less political capital, if such a thing ever existed in Italy.

• Summers Faces Key 'No' Votes if Picked for Fed (WSJ)
• NYT Editorial Board Says Summers Would Be Wrong Fed Choice (NYT)
• Russia says it's compiled 100-page report blaming Syrian rebels for a chemical weapons attack (McClatchy)
• China says Syria crisis can't be resolved with military strike (Reuters)
• G-20 Faces Growth Threats as Syria Adds to QE Exit Risks (Bloomberg)
• Apple Supplier Fire Spurs Biggest Chip Price Rise in 3 Years (BBG)
• U.S. Decided Not to Horse-Trade With Russia on Assad (WSJ)
• Financial Crisis: For Corporations and Investors, Debt Makes a Comeback (WSJ)
• Gorman Says Chance of Another Financial Crisis ‘Close to Zero’ (BBG) and in other news, "no risk of a Us downgrade" -  Tim Geithner
• A Biotech King, Dethroned (NYT)

Russia’s only aircraft carrier will visit Moscow’s small naval base in Syria later this year, BBC Monitoring reported citing a newspaper published by the Russian government. Earlier this year a Russian naval officer told Interfax that the Navy had decided to end the Admiral Kuznetsov’s scheduled maintenance early and deploy it on a mission that would include a stopover in the Mediterranean Sea, where Russia has established a permanent naval task force in response to the hostilities in the Middle East. That report did not specify whether it deployed to the Tartus military base in Syria, although speculation abounded.

• Yes: Support Builds in Congress for U.S. Strike Against Syria (WSJ)
• No: Boehner backs Obama on Syria, but House leaning toward ‘no’ (The Hill)
• U.S. Congress fight over Syria pits establishment versus upstarts (Reuters)
• Wednesday humor: Japan’s Abe Says Fukushima Will Be Resolved Before 2020 Olympics (BBG)
• Bank of Japan to Consider Further Easing if Sales Tax Hike Goes Ahead (Reuters)
• S&P accuses U.S. Justice Department of filing $5 billion lawsuit against it in "retaliation" for the company's downgrade of America's debt in 2011 (WSJ)
• German Candidates Spar Over Records (WSJ)
• Emerging Nations Save $2.9 Trillion Reserves in Rout (BBG)
• Split Congress Mulls Denial of Military Force Request (BBG)
• Sharp Fall in Overseas Investment By Chinese Firms (WSJ)
• Jorge Lemann: He Is...the World's Most Interesting Billionaire (BusinessWeek)
• Why Amazon Is on a Warehouse Building Spree (BW)

With the value of the rupee plunging to new lows, the current account deficit at an all-time high and inflation running at nearly a ten-percent annual clip, India is in serious economic trouble. Indeed many are beginning to wonder whether the country is edging toward a replay of the events in the summer of 1991. Back then, an acute balance of payments crisis forced New Delhi into the indignity of pawning its gold reserves in order to secure desperately needed international financing. At a small public event the other week, Duvvuri Subbarao, the outgoing head of the central bank conceded that policymakers rarely learn from their mistakes: "...in matters of economics and finance, history repeats itself, not because it is an inherent trait of history, but because we don’t learn from history and let the repeat occur."

The newspapers of the mainstream media across the Western world are jumping on the same bandwagon and making sure that the most used word this week is Syria followed closely by ‘bomb the b’stards’.

Demolishing the American War Brief Piece by Piece

First it was "contained." Then we found out there was a "small leak." Then, after numerous media reports confirmed it, Japan admitted there was "a big leak," which only became bigger with time. Then the severity level of Fukushima was raised from level 1 to level 3, the highest since the March 2011 disaster. And now it is many leaks. According to AP, "Japan's top nuclear regulator raised safety concerns Monday about hastily built storage tanks and their foundations at the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant after signs of new leaks of radioactive water. The latest leak was found over the weekend in a connecting pipe. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it suspects there may also have been leaks from three storage tanks because elevated radioactivity was detected near them. The levels were not considered deadly." Oh so it was not the 1.8 sieverts/hour reported over the weekend? Maybe in the case the honorable Prime Minister can take a big swig from the supposedly undeadly water.

While it is unknown is the US is suddenly focusing more on non-Cyprus based air support in the aftermath of the Cypriot decision to prohibit the launch of air strikes from its territory (just in time following a Russian agreement to restructure Cyprus debt), what is known, according to Reuters, is that while broad popular opinion is that the war drums are beating far more quietly following Obama's Saturday punt to Congress (a decision which can certainly still go either way), the US has decided to reroute CVN-68 USS Nimitz, and other ships in its strike group including four destroyers, in direction west toward the Red Sea "to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria, if needed, defense officials said on Sunday."

Whenever the state decides to remove the mask of decency and show its true, violent self, there is a positive outcome to the predation. Many finally catch a glimpse of the true force that backs monopoly government. Very few will allow this image to change their preconceived notions of the viability of institutionalized mass representation. The targeted harassment of dissenters is indicative of the state’s brash reaction to all challenges. It’s a task of extreme difficulty to pinpoint where the downward slide began. The rise of statism, moral relativism, and total war has undeniably had a negative effect on how individuals view themselves in civilized society. The degree of degeneration varies between areas, but it’s not hard to recognize the causal effect.

The Germans "haven't considered any military participation... and are still not doing so." The Brits unexpectedly voted 'not' to join Obama in an attack on Syria , with Cameron adding that he didn't think "it's a question of having to aplogize" to Obama. But Obama can rest assured as the French remains undeterred. After France refused to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but was quickly aided by the US in the military intervention against Islamist militants in Mali earlier this year, Hollande is vehement of the need to "punish" Damascus, "France will participate. It is ready." Sounds like a resounding 'we're in,' right? It seems Hollande is dead set on lower French unemployment... by making every jobless person a soldier in Syria (packing at least one backup white flag of surrender). But, don't get too excited since, with lukewarm public support, Hollande has said he will summon the French parliament to vote on the debate... on September 4th (no rush...).

Those curious if the Indian Rupee cratered once again in overnight trading will be disappointed: following the previously reported intervention by the RBI in which it would provide US dollars only to crude companies, the currency rose strongly at the open only to fade and trade rangebound before closing in the mid 67 range. In other words, much more will be needed by the central bank to stabilize the currency, the markets and the economy. The main overnight story, however, remains the Syrian conflict and market reactions to it. Stocks traded higher in Europe early today, with credit spreads tightening as market participants scaled back expectations of an imminent strike on Syria after US Defense Secretary Hagel said that the US will act on Syria only with international collaboration. Of note, the G-20 is set to take place next week where Syria is widely expected to be the hot topic for discussion among global world leaders. But while futures ramped in early trade following a spike in the USDJPY over 98, they have since retraced most of their upside, and crude is back to nearly unchanged.

Until now, the loudest and most material opponent to a Syrian invasion by the "liberating" powers was Russia. Moments ago, China joined the anti-western axis. BBC reports: "Russia and China have stepped up their warnings against military intervention in Syria, with Moscow saying any such action would have "catastrophic consequences" for the region." Adding to the picture, Interfax reported moments ago that representatives of Russia and China have withdrawn from a UN Security Council session on Syria. And since both countries have UN veto power, just like back in 2012 when this whole scenario was being replayed, there can be not joint UN resolution.