China's Wen offers to buy Greek debt

China offered on Saturday to buy Greek government bonds when Athens resumes issuing, in a show of support for the country whose debt burden pushed the euro zone into crisis and required an international bailout.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE69100N20101002

Pentagon Loses Control of Bombs to China Metal Monopoly

VERY INTERESTING and SCARY

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-29/pentagon-losing-control-of-afghanistan-bombs-to-china-s-neodymium-monopoly.html

Wave of strikes cripples Europe as workers vent fury

Rallies were called in 13 capital cities and millions of Spanish workers went on strike in a mass action that hobbled public transport, paralysed building work and left streets littered with uncollected rubbish.

Some 100,000 workers, including German miners and Polish shipbuilders, brought Brussels to a standstill to protest against savage spending cuts they claimed would make workers the biggest victims of an economic crisis that they are blaming on bankers and traders in the financial markets.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/wave-of-strikes-cripples-europe-as-workers-vent-fury-at-budget-cuts-2093499.html

J.M. Smucker to close 2 plants, cut 150 jobs

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9IH4TS00&show_article=1

Fears of Chinese land grab as Beijing's billions buy up resources

State-owned Sinopec clinched the deal with Spain's Repsol yesterday to buy 40 per cent of its Brazilian business, giving China's largest oil company access to Repsol Brasil's estimated reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and gas. The whopping price tag for Repsol Brasil – which values the company at nearly twice previous estimates – is a sign of China's willingness to pay whatever it takes to lock in its future energy supplies and avoid social unrest. It will give the company enough cash to develop all its current oil projects, including two fields in the Santos Basin.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/fears-of-chinese-land-grab-as-beijings-billions-buy-up-resources-2095451.html

America on the brink of a Second Revolution

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- “What’s distinctive about the Tea Party is its anarchist streak -- its antagonism toward any authority, its belligerent self-expression, and its lack of any coherent program or alternative to the policies it condemns,” warns Jacob Weisberg in Newsweek. But why not three cheers for the Tea Party Express?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/america-on-the-brink-of-a-second-revolution-2010-09-28

US Is 'Practically Owned' by China: Analyst

The US supremacy as the top world economy will end sooner than many people believe, so gold is a better investment than the dollar despite it hitting a new record, Tom Winnifrith, CEO at financial services firm Rivington Street Holdings, told CNBC.com Monday.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39376706

20 Hidden Taxes In Obamacare

Hidden Real Estate Sales tax in Health care bill – Surprise!There are already at least 20 hidden taxes in the Obama Health care plan coming down upon us the next few years. So, along with rationed care for seniors and forced health insurance, we now find there is a Real Estate Tax snuck into the Health care plan. You may ask, what in God’s green earth does health care have to do with Real Estate taxes??? Absolutely nothing, that is precisely why one got snuck in there.


http://www.firetown.com/blog/2010/09/26/20-hidden-taxes-in-obamacare/

Obama: Caterpillar to rehire if stimulus passes-YEAH RIGHT---they build factory in CHINA

2009---Obama speach saying Caterpillar will rehire laid off employees if stimulous aid is passed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29139938/

Caterpillar CEO Rebuttel 2009
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6866995&page=1

2010---Caterpillar building plant in CHINA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100929/ts_alt_afp/uschinacompanyinvestmentcaterpillar_20100929130112

The Currency Crisis of 2010-2011

Financial markets in the last two years have been absolutely nuts. Huge moves in currencies, bonds, stocks, commodities – every market went crazy as the world nearly fell into a dark age. Yes, it was very close to "guns, ammo and water" time, much closer than any of the CNBC pundits would let on.

The financial markets seem a bit calmer over the past few months. Even with people flooding into U.S. government bonds because of safety concerns, the markets aren't making the huge moves they made in 2008 and 2009. Yes, investors are avoiding the stock market, but it isn't like there is panic in the streets, like there was until May of this year. The markets have calmed a bit.

http://www.taipanpublishinggroup.com/tpg/taipan-daily/taipan-daily-092710.html?sub=TD&o=173912&s=176213&u=48412125&l=164441&g=183&r=Milo

Cold Hard Reality Hits Oregon

Borrowing money to cover operating expenses is just plain stupid. The results speak for themselves. Oregon is out of borrowing capacity until 2014 and it is currently deep in the hole on revenues. That is a toxic mix.

Just look at the nonsense labeled "pressing needs"

New state hospital
A collaborative research building at Oregon Health & Science University
A statewide emergency radio network
Slew of projects at community colleges

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/09/cold-hard-reality-hits-oregon-treasurer.html

Silver heading for supply deficit – Morgan

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Silver is likely heading for a supply deficit in the next decade or so, as demand growth gets a boost from new industrial uses for the metal, as well as increased investor interest, analyst and founder of Silver-Investor.com David Morgan said this weekend.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/silver-heading-for-supply-deficit-morgan-2010-09-28

U.S. Dollar Is `One Step Nearer' to Crisis as Debt Level Climbs, Yu Says

“Such a huge amount of debt is terrible,” Yu said. “The situation will be worsening day by day. I think we are one step nearer to a U.S.-dollar crisis.”

Yu also said China is worried about the safety of its foreign-exchange reserves including those invested in U.S. Treasuries as the U.S. currency weakens, reiterating his earlier views on the dollar assets. The U.S. will record a $1.3 trillion budget deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the Congressional Budget Office said Aug. 19.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-28/u-s-dollar-is-one-step-nearer-to-crisis-chinese-former-adviser-yu-says.html

McDonald's Warns It May Nix Hourly Employee Health Coverage, Citing New Federal Rule

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575522413101063070.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/29/mcdonalds-warns-nix-hourly-employee-health-coverage-citing-new-federal-rule/

19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind

Just a few:

#2 Dell Inc., one of America’s largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/19-facts-about-the-deindustrialization-of-america-that-will-blow-your-mind

U.S Gold Buffalo coins sold out again

"The United States Mint has depleted its inventory of 2010 American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins," the Mint said in a statement, seen by Reuters on Monday.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page60?oid=111892&sn=Detail&pid=60

Gold is the final refuge against universal currency debasement

States accounting for two-thirds of the global economy are either holding down their exchange rates by direct intervention or steering currencies lower in an attempt to shift problems on to somebody else, each with their own plausible justification. Nothing like this has been seen since the 1930s.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8026324/Gold-is-the-final-refuge-against-universal-currency-debasement.html

‘Gold-to-Go’ taps into gold fever with ATMs

German firm plans to introduce machines in the United States this year...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39383743/ns/business-personal_finance/

European Central Banks Halt Gold Sales

Europe’s central banks have all but halted sales of their gold reserves, ending a run of large disposals each year for more than a decade.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39376353

Interview: Dr. Marc Faber on the Federal Reserve and Hyperinflation

GREAT ARTICLE

Dr. Marc Faber: The first action Mr. Bernanke should take is to resign. If I had messed up the system so badly, as he has done, I would have to resign. He has talked constantly about the Great Depression and what caused the depression but the problem is that he really doesn't understand what caused the depression, which was also excessive leverage at that time. I have to stress that in 1929 the debt to GDP ratio was of course minuscule in comparison what it is today. It was 186% of GDP but you didn't have Social security, Medicare and Medicaid and unfunded liabilities for Social Security and so forth. So, debt today, as a percent of GDP, is 379% and if you add the unfunded liabilities we are at over 800%.

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Hera/sep232010.html

FOOD INFLATION: COMING TO THE USA?

Food prices have doubled in the last 10 years. It’s been a nearly unprecedented increase in food prices. Is it happening in the USA? Yes, but to a far lesser degree. Food prices in the USA are up 33% in the last 10 years.

http://pragcap.com/food-inflation-coming-to-the-usa

Thoughts of the day?

---The economy is to serve the people, not the people to serve the economy.
---Development is about people, and not about objects.
---Growth is not the same as development, and development does not necessarily require growth.
---No economy is possible in the absence of ecosystem services.
---The economy is a subsystem of a larger finite system -- the biosphere, hence permanent growth is impossible.

Silver looks ready to rip

BNP Paribas obviously thinks the price of silver is about to go on a tear.

It has agreed to pay $US20.58 an ounce for 680,000 ounces of the white metal to be delivered from December through to June 2012. That compares with a closing price on Friday in New York of $US20.79/oz (although intraday it poked its head above $US21/oz).

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/silver-looks-ready-to-rip/story-e6frg9ex-1225926785632

Shiller Warns Seven Years of Economic 'Bad Times' in Store for US

Seven years of “bad times” may lie ahead for the U.S. economy as it recovers from the financial crisis that started in 2007, according to Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University.

http://www.moneynews.com/Headline/Shiller-Warns-Bad-Times/2010/09/22/id/371194?s=al&promo_code=AD16-1

The Government Tapeworm

there is a point at which government loses money by raising tax rates, and that point is not far from where we are now.

An academic study found that a tax increase of just 1% of GDP causes a recession and then a permanent loss of 1.84% of GDP compared to what it would have been without the tax increase.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_government_tapeworm.html

Dollar on skids

Dollar on skids after Fed, market eyes Japan---Dollar drops to lowest since Japan intervened last week.

TOKYO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The dollar fell on Wednesday to its weakest level on the yen since Japan intervened last week after the Federal Reserve signalled it was ready to stimulate the economy more, raising expectations it would print more dollars.

The dollar hit its lowest in seven weeks against the euro and a basket of currencies, and fell below 85.00 yen JPY=, which spurred speculation Japanese authorities may intervene to curb yen gains after they resumed yen-selling for the first time since 2004 last week.

The 85.00 yen level has been regarded as a potential trigger for intervention but authorities were so far not seen in the market on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE66Q00F20100922?bcsi_scan_24DE46460B4E2EF0=XkJOPN9AYmXIo9ksmnQp7zNKLeEcAAAAOyOtEA==

Quantitative Easing "QE" = fancy term for "stimulous" which means print more money which means your money loses value!

U.S. dollar slumps amid gloomy economic prospect, Fed hint

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S dollar slipped against major currencies this week as economy recovery was still vague, while the Fed signaled a further quantitative easing (QE) policy after its meeting on Tuesday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2010-09/25/c_13528024.htm

Curreny Crisis Has Begun

http://goldscents.blogspot.com/2010/09/currency-crisis-has-begun.html