Thursday May 15 2008

Gold Gains in London as Dollar Drops Against Euro; Silver Rises
Gold rose for the first time in four days in London as the dollar weakened against the euro, increasing the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. Silver gained and platinum declined.Gold has had a correlation of 0.67 to the euro-dollar exchange rate this year, up from 0.58 last year, Bloomberg data show. A figure of 1 would mean the two move in lockstep. The euro climbed for the first time in three days after the German economy grew at the fastest pace in 12 years.Gold is tracking the gain in the euro ``on the back of the German GDP numbers,'' Mario Innecco, a futures broker at MF Global Ltd. in London, said today by telephone.

Four Proofs of Silver Manipulation!
Mr. Hommel:
I’m looking for a silver expert to talk with about a story I’m working on.Basically, the CFTC has been getting complaints that the silver futures market has been unfairly skewed to the downside. The commission says there’s no evidence for this, and I’m hoping you can help me with some insight into what the other side of this argument might be.If you have a second to chat about your thoughts on this, please give me a call.Thanks,

U.S. Treasuries Drop on Concern Inflation May Be Accelerating
Treasuries fell on speculation yields aren't high enough to compensate investors for the risk that inflation will accelerate and as UBS AG raised its crude-oil price forecast for the year by almost a third.Ten-year notes dropped as more traders predict the Federal Reserve will raise the benchmark interest rate by year-end to quell inflation. Rising prices are a concern and the U.S. still has ``a fairly healthy economy,'' San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said late yesterday. New York manufacturing was probably flat this month, a Fed report is expected to show today.

The U.S. Dollar vs Inflation, Americans Vote for the Dollar
By Dan Denning
A new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times report finds that, "76 percent of Americans think the government should do something to halt the falling dollar. Among those with incomes of $100,000 or more, seven in 10 favoured aiding the currency."In words, if not in deeds, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson favours a 'strong dollar.' But his counterparts at the Fed, in both deeds and words, clearly do not (see below). For two or three years the weak dollar did not bother Americans because it didn't affect their purchasing power. It only affected people like your editor, who were paid in dollars but lived abroad.

If inflation is up 3.9 percent, why does it feel worse?
One reason: Wages aren't keeping up with price rises.
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Between the gas pump and the grocery checkout, Americans have plenty of reasons to list inflation as Economic Enemy No. 1. But how bad is it, really? The short answer: bad enough, but don't judge the problem only by what it costs to fill a fuel tank.

Inflation may be worse than consumer price index shows
By John Waggoner, USA TODAY
Technical factors held down the government's consumer price index in April, but economists say inflation isn't whipped.The measure of prices rose 0.2% in April, down from 0.3% in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. The CPI is up 3.9% from a year earlier.The government's inflation formula dampened April's increase in gasoline costs, which rose 5.8% on an unadjusted basis. The government's formula adjusted that gain to a 0.2% drop because gasoline usually rises this time of year, the government says.

Oil Wars
Despite all the recent talk of soaring prices at the pump, political and economic pundits rarely mention the impact of war and political instability in the Middle East on the skyrocketing price of oil. There is strong evidence, however, that the heightened price of energy is a direct consequence of the destabilizing wars and geopolitical insecurity in the region.These include not only the raging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the threat of a looming war against Iran. The record of soaring oil prices shows that anytime there is a renewed U.S. military threat against Iran, fuel prices move up several notches.

U.S. seeks reports on Americans' foreign bank accounts
By Lynnley Browning
In its hunt for wealthy Americans who have stashed money overseas to evade taxes, the U.S. government has turned to an obscure law enacted nearly four decades ago.Under the law, originally aimed at rooting out laundering of drug money, citizens or residents of the United States must tell the Internal Revenue Service each year if they have any foreign bank or financial accounts holding a total of $10,000 or more. Income from the assets is taxed at ordinary rates of up 35 percent.

International Forecaster May 2008 (#4) - Gold, Silver, Economy + More
By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster
The long line of exposure of debt problems by major and minor corporate entities has a long way to go. The signals by the Fed, Treasury and some corporate leaders that the credit crisis is over is very misleading, as we see one corporation after another declare some of their losses. From our vantage point we are nowhere out of the woods. The credit healing process can be accomplished by admitting the loss and writing them off and then rebuilding the balance sheet. Unfortunately this won’t be easy in a recession and some companies won’t remain solvent.

A deficit of intelligence, insanity in surplus
By The Mogambo Guru
The trade deficit came in at only US$58 billion for March, which I have scheduled as Prosecution Exhibit # 7,327 in the upcoming Mogambo Court Of Awesome Revenge (MCOAR), wherein I will easily show that Americans have now eaten, drunk, breathed and injected so many pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, fertilizers, plastics, industrial by-products and toxic substances of one kind or another that the total volume of the mind-altering, poisonous, cancer-causing crap inside people is obviously producing stupidity and mental illness of Biblical proportions.

THE SECRET BAILOUT OF JPMORGAN:
HOW INSIDER TRADING LOOTED BEAR STEARNS AND THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER
Ellen Brown,
The mother of all insider trades was pulled off in 1815, when London financier Nathan Rothschild led British investors to believe that the Duke of Wellington had lost to Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. In a matter of hours, British government bond prices plummeted. Rothschild, who had advance information, then swiftly bought up the entire market in government bonds, acquiring a dominant holding in England’s debt for pennies on the pound. Over the course of the nineteenth century, N. M. Rothschild would become the biggest bank in the world, and the five brothers would come to control most of the foreign-loan business of Europe. “Let me issue and control a nation’s money,” Rothschild boasted in 1838, “and I care not who writes its laws.”

Volcker Says Fed Interventions Risk Political Battles
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker warned that Ben S. Bernanke's interventions in securities markets opened the door to political interference that may threaten the Fed's independence in setting interest rates.``Intervention in a broad range of credit-market instruments may imply official support for a particular sector of the market or the economy,'' Volcker said in testimony to the congressional Joint Economic Committee in Washington today. Support for specific markets ``throws them into political battles,'' he said in an interview, referring to the Fed.

IMF chief says worst of financial crisis is over
The worst of the financial sector crisis is over although the impact on the broader economy will likely drag on in coming months, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Thursday."There are good reasons to believe that the largest part of disclosure in financial institutions has been done, especially in the United States... so that the worst news is behind us," he told a panel at the European Parliament."The main problem is the linkages between the financial crisis and the real economy and this is not behind us," he added, estimating the impact of the financial turmoil to weigh on economic activity for another "several quarters."

Foreclosures are soaring as America's property slump deepens
Suzy Jagger in New York
More than 8,000 American households are entering the foreclosure process every day, providing new evidence that the property recession in the United States is deepening.The daily rate is the highest on record, with the total number of homeowners falling into arrears with mortgage payments up 65 per cent, compared with the same period the year before. More than a million home foreclosures are forecast for 2008.Nevada emerged as the worst-hit state across the US, with one in every 146 households across the state filing for foreclosure last month.

Recovery From Worst Housing Slump Since 1930s Comes With Angel
The way out of the worst U.S. housing slump since the 1930s goes through Angel Gutierrez.
Gutierrez buys bad mortgages a dozen at a time for a fraction of their face value from lenders overwhelmed by the highest number of defaults in 23 years. When he goes door to door to negotiate lower payments for homeowners or pay them to move so he can sell the house, he's speeding up the recovery by establishing a price for the homes and flushing out the least reliable borrowers.``You buy the mortgage for pennies on the dollar, carry the big stick, tell the homeowner how it's going to be, then double your money very easily,'' Gutierrez said.

New housing starts plunge by a quarter
Dearbail Jordan
The number of new housing starts in the first quarter of 2008 fell by nearly 25 per cent compared to last year as the rising cost of mortgages and falling house prices took their toll on the British construction industry.The Department of Communities and Local Government today said the number of new house builds fell by 24.4 per cent to 32,144 in January to March on the first quarter last year, and shrank by 21.5 per cent compared to the final three months of 2007.

Bank chief Mervyn King raises spectre of British recession
Gary Duncan, Economics Editor, and Philip Webster, Political Editor
Britain faces two years of economic pain and could sink into recession, the Governor of the Bank of England has said in a stark warning to the nation.Mervyn King gave notice of a further squeeze on living standards, forecasting that inflation would climb to 3.7 per cent and remain high for two years. “The nice decade is behind us,” he said.

No rate cuts for two years, King hints as inflation heads towards 4 per cent
By Sean O'Grady, Economics Editor
The Bank of England indicated that there is not likely to be another cut in interest rates for two years, as it forecast that inflation will reach 4 per cent this autumn.The Bank admitted for the first time yesterday that recession was a real risk for the economy and that inflation would stay above the Government's official 2 per cent target until 2011.The Governor of the Bank, Mervyn King, said price rises would lead to "a squeeze on real take-home pay, which will slow consumer spending and output growth, perhaps sharply".

SA loses ground in global ratings
Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa has drifted closer to the bottom of a global-competitiveness index for 55 countries this year, hit by skills shortages, unemployment and weak infrastructure, where it ranked last, Business Day reported on Thursday.South Africa's rating slipped to 53 from 50 last year -- beating just Ukraine and Venezuela -- according to the index produced by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD)."It appears South Africa is losing ground, even with comparable countries," said Sollo Mosai, head of knowledge management at South Africa's National Productivity Institute, an independent body that carries out the research for the survey.

Zim introduces Z$500m note as prices rocket
Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's central bank introduced Z$500-million notes worth just $2 on Thursday in the latest sign of spiralling hyperinflation, only a week after issuing the Z$250-million bill.The new highest denomination note would buy about two loaves of bread.The central bank also introduced special agricultural cheques in Z$5-billion, Z$25-billion and Z$50-billion denominations to facilitate payments to farmers during the current selling season.Farmers normally have to carry huge stacks of banknotes after selling their produce to state agencies, while consumers often carry large piles of cash with them for simple daily transactions.

Virginia's Example Inspires the World
by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
Today is the 232nd anniversary of the inauguration of the American Revolution. It was on May 15, 1776 that Virginia’s ruling revolutionary May Convention adopted the resolutions that Virginians understood, according to young James Madison, as launching the ship of independence.The first of the Virginians’ resolutions called for the adoption of a declaration of rights. The committee appointed to draft that declaration, chaired by George Mason of Gunston Hall, soon reported a document establishing the Lockean foundation of Virginia’s assertion of home rule. All men are born free and equal, it said, and when they enter into a state of society, they cannot be deprived of their basic rights.

George Bush anniversary visit to Israel clouded by Ehud Olmert fraud claim
President Bush ’s state visit was overshadowed by fresh violence in Gaza
James Hider in Jerusalem
President Bush flew to Israel yesterday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the Jewish state. But behind the pageantry and warm welcomes were growing signs that his host, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, could see his political career crumble over corruption allegations.The state visit was also overshadowed by fresh violence in Gaza, as well as the embarrassing announcement by Mr Olmert’s ultra-religious coalition allies that plans had been approved to expand Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Bush: I Gave Up Golf For The Troops
As violence in Iraq continues -- clashes today left 11 dead and 19 injured -- President Bush has for the first time revealed the great sacrifice he's made for the sake of our soldiers: he's given up golf.

Countdown: Special Comment May 14, 2008 Part 2

Truth and War
by Steven LaTulippe
"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."~ Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering

US plot to nail Iran backfires
By Gareth Porter
WASHINGTON - The George W Bush administration's plan to create a new crescendo of accusations against Iran for allegedly smuggling arms to Shi'ite militias in Iraq has encountered not just one but two setbacks.The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki refused to endorse US charges of Iranian involvement in arms smuggling to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, and a plan to show off a huge collection of Iranian arms captured in and around the central city of Karbala had to be called off after it was discovered that none of the arms was of Iranian origin.

The US-Iran sound bite showdown
By Pepe Escobar
They just can't keep from going at each other's throats.
Just in time for President George W Bush's special guest appearance at the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, his ultimate nemesis, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, unleashed another rhetorical shot across the bow as his own way of "celebrating" the anniversary.And once again the substance of what Ahmadinejad actually said risks being lost in (mis)translation.According to Agence France Presse (AFP), quoting the Fars news agency, Ahmadinejad, speaking in the Iranian northern province of Golestan in one of his popular provincial tours, said,

The Myth of the Iranian Sanctuary
by Scott Ritter
Recently I was invited to provide testimony before the Chicago City Council on a proposed resolution to oppose any US military action against Iran. I salute the City Council for having the courage and sense of civic responsibility to consider a resolution which would pressure the Congressional delegation of the State of Illinois to heed the will of the citizens of Chicago. The resolution, as written at the time of the hearing, was a strong indictment of the current policies of the Bush administration in Iran as well as Iraq, and underscored the insufficiency of just cause for any military action against Iran.

Hezbollah deals more damage to Bush's credibility
By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah's humbling of Lebanon's U.S.-backed government has dealt a further blow to American credibility in the region less than a year after Hamas Islamists seized Gaza from Palestinian leaders supported by Washington.The Shi'ite Islamist group's easy military triumph over pro-government gunmen preceded this week's visit to the region by U.S. President George W. Bush, who had cast Lebanon as a success for his declared drive for democracy in the Arab world.

Hamas condemns the Holocaust
We are not engaged in a religious conflict with Jews; this is a political struggle to free ourselves from occupation and oppression
Bassem Naeem
As the Palestinian people prepare to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba ("catastrophe") - the dispossession and expulsion of most of our people from our land - those remaining in Palestine face escalating aggression, killings, imprisonment, ethnic cleansing and siege. But instead of support and solidarity from the western media, we face frequent attempts to defend the indefensible or turn fire on the Palestinians themselves.

The new Cold War
By Thomas L. Friedman
The next American president will inherit many foreign policy challenges, but surely one of the biggest will be the Cold War. Yes, the next U.S. president is going to be a Cold War president - but this Cold War is with Iran.That is the real umbrella story in the Middle East today - the struggle for influence across the region, with America and its Sunni Arab allies (and Israel) versus Iran, Syria and their nonstate allies, Hamas and Hezbollah. As the May 11 editorial in the Iranian daily Kayhan put it, "In the power struggle in the Middle East, there are only two sides: Iran and the U.S."

Where racial healing happens
Richmond, Va., shows how real dialogue is more than just talk.
By Rob Corcoran
Richmond, Va. - Shortly after Senator Obama's speech on race this March, a friend likened the racial issue to an old coffee pot that keeps percolating. Every few years something happens to bring the vexed problem bubbling to the surface.Unplugging the percolator requires courageous conversation and frank acknowledgment of the underlying sources of distrust.My friend, Mike McQuillan, is an educator, a veteran community organizer, and former Senate adviser. He played a key role in establishing the Crown Heights Coalition in New York after confrontations between Hasidic Jews and blacks in 1991.

Immigration, gang violence and a crusade
By Jennifer Steinhauer
LOS ANGELES: Jamiel Shaw Sr. never gave much thought to the immigration status of gang members in his South Los Angeles neighborhood. With his military wife deployed to Iraq and two sons to raise, there were football practices to manage, shoes to buy, college applications to consider.But in the two months since his older son, Jamiel Jr., was gunned down by a man the police say is a gang member who was here illegally from Mexico, Shaw has been able to think of little else.

Immigrants are hit by township violence
Jonathan Clayton in Alexandra
The name scrawled across the door of the flimsy wooden shack offered some protection. The angry mob baying for the blood of foreigners recognised it as South African and moved on.A little down the street, however, Willex Katundu, a Malawian who has lived in Alexandra township in Johannesburg for 23 years, was not so fortunate. A gang of ten broke into his house, ransacked his belongings and beat him up – he was only one of dozens to be attacked over the past 48 hours.



RTG are those of the webmaster who selects them from the wonderful world wide web and believes that the readers can discern for themselves the validity of the reporter or author of any article posted ...."what a concept"......the webmaster can be reached here!