Another Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

“I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor” (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

Another non-Russian, non-oligarch, non-billionaire, non-tax-evader speaks up…

So much has been written of the Cypriot bail-ins and massive haircuts for the uninsured depositors – assumed to be nasty oligarchic Russian money-launderers – that, it appears, the reality for people living in Cyprus has been forgotten. We noted earlier the small business issues, but as the Sydney Morning Herald reports, real lives have been destroyed. 65-year-old John Demitriou retired (back) to the picturesque fishing village of Liopetri, Cyprus, with his life-savings of around $1 million living off the interest it paid from Laiki ‘Popular’ Bank and spending it on his grandchildren. He was in no hurry to invest it; to spend it on big purchases.

Then, after being told just last week by his bank manager, “there’s no problem, nothing to worry about,” he so painfully notes, “I went to bed Friday as a rich man. I woke up a poor man,” as Laiki’s depositors over EUR100,000 were devastated thanks to the bail-in. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs notes, “there is no need for special measures,” to help John (or the other 5000 Cypriot-Australians on the island) as he exclaims, “it’s not Russian money; it’s not black money; it’s my money.”

Via Sydney Morning Herald,

”Very bad, very, very bad,’‘ says 65-year-old John Demetriou, rubbing tears from his lined face with thick fingers. ”I lost all my money.”

Read moreAnother Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

AND NOW: ECB Backs Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s Liquidation Policy ‘Template’

You can’t make this stuff up!


ECB Backs Dijsselbloem’s Liquidation Policy “Template” (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

It appears the European Central Bank is having trouble keeping its lies straight. When Jeroen Dijsselbloem (“Diesel-BOOM”, “D-Boom”, or just “Diesel”) made his now infamous “template” comment last week, reality was shattered for many trend-following, momentum-monkey, hope-and-dreamers that actual real monetary pain could exist for a bank that was entirely incompetent (and insolvent). Instantly the rest of Europe stepped up to deny-deny-deny (as did D-Boom himself) explaining this was a ‘unique’ situation with French ECB Director Benoît Coeuré explicitly stating that Cyprus is not a model for future bank rescues.

However, as Reuters reports, it appears fellow-Dutchman and ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot said last night that there was “little wrong” with J-Boom’s comment and that “the content of his remarks comes down to an approach which has been on the table for a longer time in Europe. This approach will be part of the European liquidation policy. Further confirming D-Boom’s perspective, Knot added that, “there has to be transparency about losses in the banking sector… and banks have to wind down their loss-making operations.”

It seems that in 2012 the ECB split was between the Germans and Draghi on unlimited inflation threats; in 2013 it will be between those who want bail-ins and bail-outs.

Via Reuters,

European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot said on Friday there was “little wrong” with Eurogroup chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s recipe for dealing with future euro zone banking crises, a newspaper reported.

Read moreAND NOW: ECB Backs Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s Liquidation Policy ‘Template’

TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AWAITS CYPRUS – Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash

Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

One of the prevailing false conventional wisdoms about the Cypriot cash confiscation is that it primarily affected rich, tax-evading individuals of Russian origin. Alas, those same individuals are likely to have been least affected, as subsequent discoveries of capital control breaches by the “richest and best connected” reveal, while increasingly it appears that the uninsured depositors on whose back the nation of Cyprus was bailed out are small and medium corporations, who had been parking cash for net working capital purposes with Cyprus’ banks, cash which is now gone forever to feed the creeping insolvent Euro-monster, and which can’t be used to fund such day to day business activities as payroll, purchases, and business operations.

Such as this one:

The most of circulating assets on our business Current Account are blocked.

Over 700k of expropriated money will be used to repay country’s debt. Probably we will get back about 20% of this amount in 6-7 years.

I’m not Russian oligarch, but just European medium size IT business. Thousands of other companies around Cyprus have the same situation.

The business is definitely ruined, all Cypriot workers to be fired.

We are moving to small Caribbean country where authorities have more respect to people’s assets. Also we are thinking about using Bitcoin to pay wages and for payments between our partners.

Special thanks to:

– Jeroen Dijsselbloem
– Angela Merkel
– Manuel Barroso
– the rest of officials of “European Comission”

So while Cypriots may have been quite cool and collected during yesterday’s bank reopening when the Troika was kind enough to give them access to €300 of their cash per day, one wonders just how cool and collected they will be when the implications of the cash crunch spread through the system, when hundreds of small and medium business are forced to lay everyone off overnight, when paychecks suddenly stop and when not only savings but ongoing cash grinds to a halt.

Because if the locals thought the deposit haircut is the worst of it, just wait until the full brunt of what a -20% depressionary collapse in the economy hits them head on.

Obama’s ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Bill Hands The Biotech Industry The Power To Nullify The Decisions Of Federal Courts

“Yes, President Obama really did sign the “Monsanto Protection Act” into law earlier this week. It grants Monsanto and the entire biotech industry the power to nullify federal courts, even when those courts determine that particular GMO crops may be dangerous to human health or the environment.
The signing of this bill by Obama is widely seen as the “ultimate betrayal” by progressives and those on the political left. If Obama won’t take a stand against Monsanto, what does he stand for at all?”

– Mike Adams (Natural News)

Related info:

‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Written By Monsanto-Sponsored Senator

Outrageous Betrayal Of All Americans: President Obama Signs ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Into Law


Obama’s signing of Monsanto Protection Act proves he will betray progressives, too (Natural News, March 29, 2013):

The internet has erupted into a fury over Obama’s signing of the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” a rider to a federal appropriations bill that hands Monsanto the power to nullify the decisions of federal courts. If the courts decide that a genetically engineered crop is dangerous to the public or the environment, it can no longer order Monsanto (or any other company) to stop planting the crops. Instead, the law mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to issue permits and deregulation orders that allow the “continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities” even if a crop is deemed to be causing a plague or unleashing dangerous genetic pollution.

The actual language of the bill is barely-recognizable lawyerspeak, of course, but it’s not difficult to see how it will be interpreted by a federal government which routinely conspires with Monsanto and the biotech industry to sneak GMOs into the food supply. To read the bill language yourself, visit:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr933enr/pdf/BILLS-113hr933enr….
… and search for “735.” (Thanks to Anthony Gucciardi for finding this link.)

Activism holds politicians accountable

The backlash against the rider melded the efforts of numerous activist organizations, including Food Democracy Now, the Center for Food Safety, the Institute for Responsible Technology, the Organic Consumers Association and many more. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of petition signatures, protests outside the White House, and tens of millions of people learning the truth about how Obama has betrayed his own support base yet again.

That’s the real political impact of this: Obama’s own actions now prove he will betray progressives and democrats on the issues that matter to them, too. The GMO issue is a super-hot topic on the political left. Anyone who conspires with Monsanto is instantly — and justifiably — branded a “sellout” and a traitor to the People. This is why companies like Kashi, a cereal manufacturer that uses GMOs but doesn’t label its products as containing GMO, is feeling tremendous heat from the GMO labeling boycott efforts. Informed consumers are outright punishing any company, politician or media organization that allies itself with the interests of Monsanto.

That list now clearly includes Obama himself. By signing this into law, he betrayed America and granted Monsanto and the biotech industry unprecedented power over federal courts. He essentially took away the power of the government to halt the continued growing and commercialization of dangerous genetically engineered crops. And he got caught doing so.

Read moreObama’s ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Bill Hands The Biotech Industry The Power To Nullify The Decisions Of Federal Courts

‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Written By Monsanto-Sponsored Senator

Related info:

Outrageous Betrayal Of All Americans: President Obama Signs ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Into Law:

“In an outrageous betrayal of all Americans, President Obama just signed the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act” into law.

This law gives Monsanto authority over federal courts and allows it to plant experimental GMO crops even if they pose an extreme risk to human health and environmental health.”



US President Barack Obama (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowsky)

Obama signs ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ written by Monsanto-sponsored senator (RT, March 28, 2013):

United States President Barack Obama has signed a bill into law that was written in part by the very billion-dollar corporation that will benefit directly from the legislation.

On Tuesday, Pres. Obama inked his name to H.R. 933, a continuing resolution spending bill approved in Congress days earlier. Buried 78 pages within the bill exists a provision that grossly protects biotech corporations such as the California-based Monsanto Company from litigation.

Read more‘Monsanto Protection Act’ Written By Monsanto-Sponsored Senator

Russia Is Next In Line To Restrict Cash Transactions

Russia Is Next In Line To Restrict Cash Transactions (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

The Russians are taking a page from the Europeans book (and not a positive one for libertarians). Given the substantial criminal activity and illegal entrepreneurship in Russia – the grey and black economies account for 50–65 percent of GDP and estimates that about $50 billion was taken out of Russia illegally in 2012 alone – the great and glorious leaders have decided to impose restrictions on cash transactions. As Russia Beyond The Headlines reports, Russia may ban cash payments for purchases of more than 300,000 rubles (around $10,000) starting in 2015 – starting with a higher ($19,500) restriction in 2014. They will also enforce mandatory cash-free salary payments (cash compensation accounts for 15% of GDP currently) in an effort to both bring some of the population’s ‘grey’ income out of the shadow; and increase the volume of cash reserves in the banks. It would appear that wherever we look now, leadership are realizing that the limits of fiscal and monetary policy have been reached and now changing rules, limiting freedom, and outright confiscation are the only way to maintain a status quo. Ironic really, when the enforcement of said rules may just be the catalyst for the end of the status quo as the middle class suffers.

Read moreRussia Is Next In Line To Restrict Cash Transactions

Oooops … (Memo From The Central Bank Of Cyprus Sent To Bank CEOs)

Oooops… (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013)

After reading this memo from the Central Bank of Cyprus sent to bank CEOs on February 11, arguably to put them at ease, all we can say is “Oooops”…

We’ll ignore the contents of the memo, including such statements that “restricting the property rights of depositors” is unconstitutional – that is after all for the people of Cyprus to opine on (we did however have a hearty laugh upon learning that there is a European Convention of Human Rights),

As for the FT article referenced? The following, from February 10, which references a “confidential memo” which foretold the events from two weeks ago with absolute precision :

Read moreOooops … (Memo From The Central Bank Of Cyprus Sent To Bank CEOs)

It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned For US and UK Depositors

It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors (Web Of Debt, by Ellen Brown March 28, 2013):

Confiscating the customer deposits in Cyprus banks, it seems, was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few Eurozone “troika” officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Bank of England dated December 10, 2012, shows that these plans have been long in the making; that they originated with the G20 Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland (discussed earlier here); and that the result will be to deliver clear title to the banks of depositor funds.

New Zealand has a similar directive, discussed in my last article here, indicating that this isn’t just an emergency measure for troubled Eurozone countries. New Zealand’s Voxy reported on March 19th:

The National Government [is] pushing a Cyprus-style solution to bank failure in New Zealand which will see small depositors lose some of their savings to fund big bank bailouts . . . .

Open Bank Resolution (OBR) is Finance Minister Bill English’s favoured option dealing with a major bank failure. If a bank fails under OBR, all depositors will have their savings reduced overnight to fund the bank’s bail out.

Can They Do That?

Read moreIt Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned For US and UK Depositors

Cyprus-Style Bank Account Confiscation Is In The New 2013 Canadian Government Budget!!!

Cyprus-Style Bank Account Confiscation Is In The New 2013 Canadian Government Budget! (Economic Collapse, March 28, 2013):

The politicians of the western world are coming after your bank accounts.  In fact, Cyprus-style bank account confiscation is actually in the new Canadian government budget.  When I first heard about this I was quite skeptical, so I went and looked it up for myself.  And guess what?  It is right there in black and white on pages 144 and 145 of “Economic Action Plan 2013” which the Harper government has already submitted to the House of Commons.  This new budget actually proposes “to implement a ‘bail-in’ regime for systemically important banks” in Canada.  “Economic Action Plan 2013” was submitted on March 21st, which means that this “bail-in regime” was likely being planned long before the crisis in Cyprus ever erupted.  So exactly what in the world is going on here?  In addition, as you will see below, it is being reported that the European Parliament will soon be voting on a law which would require that large banks be “bailed in” when they fail.  In other words, that new law would make Cyprus-style bank account confiscation the law of the land for the entire EU.  I can’t even begin to describe how serious all of this is.  From now on, when major banks fail they are going to bail them out by grabbing the money that is in your bank accounts.  This is going to absolutely shatter faith in the banking system and it is actually going to make it far more likely that we will see major bank failures all over the western world.

What you are about to see absolutely amazed me when I first saw it.  The Canadian government is actually proposing that what just happened in Cyprus should be used as a blueprint for future bank failures up in Canada.

Read moreCyprus-Style Bank Account Confiscation Is In The New 2013 Canadian Government Budget!!!

The Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic

The Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

Everything you wanted to know about the ‘unique, exceptional, non-template, toolbox-of-blueprint-instruments’ bailout of Cyprus but were afraid to read more than 100 words.

Read moreThe Definitive Cyprus Bailout Infographic

Mexico: Hundreds Of Armed Vigilantes Seize Town, Arrest Local Police Officers

Mexican Vigilantes Seize Town, Arrest Police (Huffington Post/AP, March 27, 2013):

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Hundreds of armed vigilantes have taken control of a town on a major highway in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, arresting local police officers and searching homes after a vigilante leader was killed. Several opened fire on a car of Mexican tourists headed to the beach for Easter week.

Members of the area’s self-described “community police” say more than 1,500 members of the force were stopping traffic Wednesday at improvised checkpoints in the town of Tierra Colorado, which sits on the highway connecting Mexico City to Acapulco. They arrested 12 police and the former director of public security in the town after a leader of the state’s vigilante movement was slain on Monday.

Read moreMexico: Hundreds Of Armed Vigilantes Seize Town, Arrest Local Police Officers

Twitter Caves To Putin, Censors Content Within Russia

Twitter Caves to Vladimir Putin, Censors Content Within Russia (PJ Media, March 27, 2013):

If you have been following the Internet crackdown underway in Russia, you will not be surprised to learn that Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin has recruited many websites — which are either terrified of his wrath or interested in currying his favor — to help crush and eradicate criticism of his government online.

However, you may be surprised to learn that one of those websites is Twitter.

The Moscow Times reported last week that — according to the Kremlin itself — for the past several weeks Twitter has been blocking Russian access to any tweets designated by the Kremlin as “extremist.” Twitter has also deleted at least one user account at the Kremlin’s request.

On its applicable agency website (known by its acronym Roskomnadzor), the Kremlin praises Twitter’s management team for its “constructive position” in reconfiguring its website in a manner “acceptable to Russian side.”

Here is the full Kremlin statement, via Russian wire service Interfax:

Read moreTwitter Caves To Putin, Censors Content Within Russia

FBI’s ‘Top Priority’ For 2013: Pursuing Real-Time Gmail Spying Powers

FBI Pursuing Real-Time Gmail Spying Powers as “Top Priority” for 2013 (Slate, March 26, 2013):

Despite the pervasiveness of law enforcement surveillance of digital communication, the FBI still has a difficult time monitoring Gmail, Google Voice, and Dropbox in real time. But that may change soon, because the bureau says it has made gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of Internet conversation and cloud storage a “top priority” this year.

Russian Authorities Raid Amnesty International Office

Russian Authorities Raid Amnesty International Office (New York Times, March 25, 2013):

MOSCOW — The Russian authorities on Monday raided the local headquarters of the human rights group Amnesty International, the latest in a continuing series of office searches intended to put pressure on nongovernmental groups.The head of Amnesty’s office in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, said in a telephone interview that officials from the general prosecutor’s offices and from the tax police arrived unannounced on Monday morning to conduct what they described as an “audit” and demanded a list of documents, most of which Mr. Nikitin said were already on file with the government.

Read moreRussian Authorities Raid Amnesty International Office

Muammar Gaddafi’s Wife And Three Children Go Missing From Algeria

Interpol alerted after late Libyan dictator’s wife Safia, daughter and two sons flee Staoueli, near Algiers, where they were living


Muammar Gaddafi’s second wife, Safia, and three of their children had been living in Algeria since fleeing Libya in 2011. Photograph: Khaled El-Fiqi/EPA

Muammar Gaddafi’s wife and three children go missing from Algeria (Guardian, March 25, 2013):

Libyan officials are trying to locate Muammar Gaddafi’s wife and three of his children who are missing from their refuge in neighbouring Algeria.

Algeria confirmed the late dictator’s second wife, Safia, daughter Aisha, and sons Hannibal and Muhammad had fled the upmarket coastal region of Staoueli, close to Algiers, where they had lived since fleeing Libya in 2011.

Oman and Venezuela had both reportedly previously offered members of Gaddafi’s family asylum, and officials say it is also possible they have joined former Gaddafi fighters in Mali.

Gaddafi’s most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, remains in custody in the Libyan town of Zintan, and his brother Saadi is under house arrest in Niger.

Read moreMuammar Gaddafi’s Wife And Three Children Go Missing From Algeria

U.S. Government Plan Calls For More Scanning Of Private Web Traffic, Email

US plan calls for more scanning of private Web traffic, email (Reuters, March 22, 2103):

The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country’s private, civilian-run infrastructure.

As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their emails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyber attacks.

Under last month’s White House executive order on cybersecurity, the scans will be driven by classified information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies — including data from the National Security Agency (NSA) — on new or especially serious espionage threats and other hacking attempts. U.S. spy chiefs said on March 12 that cyber attacks have supplanted terrorism as the top threat to the country.

The Department of Homeland Security will gather the secret data and pass it to a small group of telecommunication companies and cyber security providers that have employees holding security clearances, government and industry officials said. Those companies will then offer to process email and other Internet transmissions for critical infrastructure customers that choose to participate in the program.

DHS as the middleman

By using DHS as the middleman, the Obama administration hopes to bring the formidable overseas intelligence-gathering of the NSA closer to ordinary U.S. residents without triggering an outcry from privacy advocates who have long been leery of the spy agency’s eavesdropping.

Read moreU.S. Government Plan Calls For More Scanning Of Private Web Traffic, Email

CIA’s Chief Technology Officer On Big Data: We ‘Try To Collect Everything And Hang On To It Forever’ (Video)

Watch the video here:

CIA’s Gus Hunt On Big Data: We ‘Try To Collect Everything And Hang On To It Forever’ (Huffington Post, March 20, 2013):

NEW YORK — The CIA’s chief technology officer outlined the agency’s endless appetite for data in a far-ranging speech on Wednesday.

Speaking before a crowd of tech geeks at GigaOM’s Structure:Data conference in New York City, CTO Ira “Gus” Hunt said that the world is increasingly awash in information from text messages, tweets, and videos — and that the agency wants all of it.

Read moreCIA’s Chief Technology Officer On Big Data: We ‘Try To Collect Everything And Hang On To It Forever’ (Video)

So Who Knew? In February Cyprus Deposit Outflows Soared To A Three Year High

So Who Knew? In February Cyprus Deposit Outflows Soared To A Three Year High (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

The decision to crush Cypriot depositors (first all of them, then just the uninsured ones) came in March, without any prior hints of the carnage that was about to be unleashed upon Cypriot bank unsecured liabilities. Or so the media narrative goes, because the last thing needed is to give skeptics any indication the “ad hoc” Troika plan was not so ad hoc after all, and some individuals – notably the whale depositors – were warned in advance, sparing them the indignity of pulling a few billion at €300 per day. Alas, as just released central bank data shows, there may be cracks in the narrative because in February, at a time when the Eurozone was supposedly getting better every day and the Dow Jones was on the verge of its all time high, Cypriot depositors pulled the largest amount of cash in over three years.

Add this curious finding to the to do list for the ‘task force’ investigating who not only circumvented the capital controls, but had advance knowledge it was coming. Surely they will get right on top of that.

Source: Goldman

Russia Launches Surprise Large-Scale, 36 Warship Military Exercise In The Black Sea

Russia Launches Surprise Large-Scale, 36 Warship Military Exercise In The Black Sea (ZeroHedge, March 28, 2013):

Many were wondering what Russia’s response to Germany’s deposit confiscation drill in Cyprus would be. The confusion was moderated somewhat after it was uncovered that the very Russians who were supposed to be punished, have been able to withdraw some or most of their Cyprus-based cash either before the Cyprus D(eposit Confiscation)-Day or during the capital controlled blackout using various disclosed loopholes. Yet that doesn’t mean that Putin would avoid this opportunity to give the “developed world” and his closest neighbors a quick lesson in realpolitik. After all, who better than a former KGB agent understands that one should never let a crisis go to waste. Sure enough, today at 4 am, in a very surprising move, Puitin ordered the launch of large-scale Russian military exercises in the Black Sea region in a move which according to Reuters “may create tensions with Russia’s post-Soviet neighbors Ukraine and Georgia.” Of course, it may create tensions with our island nations reachable by the Russian naval fleet, such as Cyprus, which would naturally mean tensions with the same European (read German) forces who structured the entire Cypriot bail in.

From Reuters:

Putin issued the order to start the previously unannounced maneuvers at 4 a.m. Moscow time (12.00 a.m. EDT) as he flew back from an international summit in South Africa, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters by telephone.

“These are large-scale unannounced test exercises,” Peskov said, adding that 36 warships and an unspecified number of warplanes would take part. “The main goal is to check the readiness and cohesion of the various units.”

Read moreRussia Launches Surprise Large-Scale, 36 Warship Military Exercise In The Black Sea

Food Fraud Hits New Low: Scientists Fail To Identify Mystery Meat

Bon appétit!


Food Fraud Hits a New Low with the Potential Emergence of Dog Meat in the UK (Liberty Blitzkrieg, March 28, 2013):

The food fraud story has now progressed from somewhat humorous with the undersized Subway footlong subs, to the highly disturbing with the revelations of horse meat and fake tuna, to the really creepy with the now potential emergence of dog meat in UK lamb curry.  No you can’t print lamb folks, which is exactly why many humans are now eating worse than their pets in the Western world.

A mystery meat, which has defied the best efforts of scientists to identify it, has been found in a lamb curry as part of an investigation into food fraud.

The discovery raises new questions about just what is going into the nation’s takeaways and processed foods.

The meat in a Beef in Black Bean Sauce dish turned out to contain high levels of chicken material including blood, while a burger contained no beef at all, other than blood and heart.

However, most alarming of all was a curry. A spokesman for the programme said: ‘Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the results came in for an Indian Lamb Curry.

‘It did contain meat, but that meat was not lamb, not pork, nor was it chicken or beef. Not horse, and not goat either.

All of the many tests to date by the lab used by the programme have failed to identify exactly which animal was the source of the meat.

Read moreFood Fraud Hits New Low: Scientists Fail To Identify Mystery Meat

‘This Isn’t Going To Stop With Cyprus’

Watch the video here:

‘This isn’t going to stop with Cyprus’ (RT, March 28, 2013):

The Cyprus liquidity crisis will only lead to violence, Wide Awake News founder Charlie McGrath has told RT. The journalist warns that the Cyprus solution may serve as a model as the wider EU deals with the financial crisis.

RT: The authorities have promised to reopen the banks on Thursday – do you think Cypriots can sigh with relief now?

Charlie McGrath: No, not at all. And let’s examine the word reopen, because they are not really reopening. They are putting on all these capital restrictions on the people of Cyprus, 300 euros is the max withdrawal they can make. They can only take 3,000 maximum amount if you are going to travel. You live in Cyprus and you have relatives that live in the United States and the UK, wherever and you want to send them money – you absolutely cannot.

The so-called establishment media is talking about, there’s been enough time that has passed since the announcement of this deal that they don’t think there’re going to have a bank run but the real reason they don’t think they’re not going to have a bank run is because they are really not opening the banks. They’re going to have all type of guards and police and very limited funds that the people of Cyprus can take. So, I don’t think they should be relieved at all, nor should Europe nor the rest of the world for that manner.

RT: At this point – how do you convince panicked savers across Europe that the EU won’t dig into their accounts, next?

Read more‘This Isn’t Going To Stop With Cyprus’

Serbu Firearms Refuses To Sell .50 Cal Sniper Rifles To NYPD

Serbu Firearms Refuses to Sell .50 Cal Sniper Rifles to NYPD (Guns, March 25, 2013):

Serbu Firearms, a manufacturer of bolt-action and semi-automatic .50 caliber sniper rifles, is refusing to sell their wares to the NYPD. Their reason, of course, is that owing to unfair gun laws, they will not support law enforcement in New York.

Serbu is one of almost 150 companies that has officially refused to sell to law enforcement in New York following the passage of the SAFE Act, the controversial gun control package that has been met with scorn by gun owners across the nation.

The company posted the NYPD’s inquiry as well as their refusal to their Facebook page, with names omitted.

Company founder Mark Serbu said, “Unfortunately, we have a policy of selling to state law enforcement agencies only what is allowed to be sold to private citizens in that state. Since the passage of the NY SAFE act, the BFG-50A is considered an assault weapon and as such is no longer available to private citizens in the state of New York. Therefore we have to respectfully decline to supply your department with BFG-50A rifles.”

He also said he felt bad about not being able to outfit the officers, because although he would like to get his guns into “as many police departments as possible,” his decision is a matter of principle.

“Because of a stupid law the venerable NYPD won’t have the best tools for the job.”

Read moreSerbu Firearms Refuses To Sell .50 Cal Sniper Rifles To NYPD