More from Chris:
– Exposed: The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) Scam
Added: 06.03.2011
Global News
Robert Fisk: Saudis Mobilise Thousands of Troops to Quell Growing Revolt
Saudi security forces in armoured vehicles responding to the threat of a Shia uprising this week
Saudi Arabia was yesterday drafting up to 10,000 security personnel into its north-eastern Shia Muslim provinces, clogging the highways into Dammam and other cities with busloads of troops in fear of next week’s “day of rage” by what is now called the “Hunayn Revolution”.
Saudi Arabia’s worst nightmare – the arrival of the new Arab awakening of rebellion and insurrection in the kingdom – is now casting its long shadow over the House of Saud. Provoked by the Shia majority uprising in the neighbouring Sunni-dominated island of Bahrain, where protesters are calling for the overthrow of the ruling al-Khalifa family, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is widely reported to have told the Bahraini authorities that if they do not crush their Shia revolt, his own forces will.
The opposition is expecting at least 20,000 Saudis to gather in Riyadh and in the Shia Muslim provinces of the north-east of the country in six days, to demand an end to corruption and, if necessary, the overthrow of the House of Saud. Saudi security forces have deployed troops and armed police across the Qatif area – where most of Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslims live – and yesterday would-be protesters circulated photographs of armoured vehicles and buses of the state-security police on a highway near the port city of Dammam.
Read moreRobert Fisk: Saudis Mobilise Thousands of Troops to Quell Growing Revolt
Utah House Passes Bill Recognizing Gold And Silver as Legal Tender
The Utah House was to vote as early as Thursday on legislation that would recognize gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency in the state. (AP)
Utah took its first step Friday toward bringing back the gold standard when the state House passed a bill that would recognize gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency.
The House voted 47-26 in favor of the legislation that would also exempt the sale of gold from the state capital gains tax and calls for a committee to study alternative currencies for the state.
The legislation now heads to the state Senate, where a vote is expected next week.
Under the bill, the coins would not replace the current paper currency but would be used and accepted voluntarily as an alternative.
If the bill passes, Utah would become the first of 13 states that have proposed similar measures. The others states are Colorado, Georgia, Montana, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
Read moreUtah House Passes Bill Recognizing Gold And Silver as Legal Tender
Everything Is Now Correlated Exclusively To The Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet: If The Fed Ends QE2 On June 30, The Market Collapse Will Be Epic
The chart which we presented a few weeks ago courtesy of Sean Corrigan sees a few additional components added to it. Whereas before the chart focused on the Adjusted Austrian money supply and commodity prices, it now sees the addition of the S&P and Junk spreads.
In a word: every single asset class correlates 1:1 with the Fed’s balance sheet.
If the Fed is really planning on ending QE2 on June 30, the market collapse will be epic.
And, yes, this should not come as a surprise to anyone.
Courtesy of Sean Corrigan of Diapason.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/04/2011 14:29 -0500
Source: ZeroHedge
Libya: Rebel Fighters Being Coached By UK Military
British move comes as Tripoli says it has accepted a peace initiative put forward by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
Rebel fighters in eastern Libya are to receive advice from British experts. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
Britain is to send experts able to give military advice into east Libya to make contact with opposition leaders, as the struggle for control escalates.
The move is a clear intervention on the ground to bolster the anti-Gaddafi uprising, learn more about its leadership, and see what logistical support it needs. Whitehall sources said the diplomatic taskforce would not give arms to the rebels, as there is an international arms embargo.
It came as Libya’s deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, said that Tripoli had accepted a peace initiative put forward by Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez, which was heavily criticised by the White House. Kaim said it stated that a committee would be formed by African, Asian and Latin American countries “to help the international dialogue and to help the restoration of peace and stability”.
Interpol issued a global alert against Muammar Gaddafi and 15 other Libyans, including his daughter and seven sons, in an effort to enforce sanctions.
US: One Of The Biggest Food Producing Regions Could Soon Be Under Water
US Corn Belt Braces for Major Flooding in Spring
After a nasty winter in which winter storms blanketed large portions of the U.S., the great thaw is now threatening one of the key corn producing regions of the country.
The Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa are all under threat.
Accumulated precipitation this winter through the end of February, from northern Iowa into the southern two-thirds of Minnesota and westward to the Dakotas, ranged from 125 percent of normal to well over 200 percent, meteorologists say.
That raises the risk of major flooding, especially in the big corn, spring wheat and soybean areas of North Dakota’s Red River Valley and the upper Mississippi River region
Read moreUS: One Of The Biggest Food Producing Regions Could Soon Be Under Water
Libya: British Army Ready To Invade At 24 Hours’ Notice
British troops have been put on stand-by for deployment to Libya if the crisis in the country worsens.
Sources confirmed that The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, had been placed on heightened readiness, prepared to deploy to North Africa at 24 hours’ notice.
The 600-strong infantry unit returned from Afghanistan in late 2009 and is based at Fort George near Inverness. “They’re ready, just in case,” said a source.
The Ministry of Defence insisted that the battalion was prepared for humanitarian relief operations, not combat.
But the disclosure that British troops are on stand-by came amid growing concerns that Col Gaddafi’s struggle to retain power could take Libya into a protracted civil war and cause a humanitarian crisis.
Nato members yesterday agreed to draw up contingency plans for how their armed forces could intervene. Britain is also preparing to send diplomats and specialist advisers to the eastern city of Benghazi, where the disparate Libyan opposition is based.
Read moreLibya: British Army Ready To Invade At 24 Hours’ Notice
Gold to $6,000 as Media Ridicules
With the advance in gold and silver remaining strong, the Godfather of newsletter writers Richard Russell stated in his latest commentary, “There’s something magical, mysterious and rather beautiful about a primary bull market. The bull market in gold has been in effect for over ten years, and the mysterious part of it is the way the American people have both ignored it and damned it.”
Richard Russell continues:
“I’ve begged and implored my subscribers for a decade to enter the great bull market in gold. Even today, after a solid decade of higher prices, the great majority of Americans own not a single ounce of gold. And even today, after an amazing ten consecutive years of higher prices, we hear know-nothings denouncing real money, gold, as a barbaric and worthless relic of former times.
…..
Today while gold is within a few percentages of its record high, I’m asked how high I think gold can climb. My retort is, “Wrong question, the real question is how low can fiat or irredeemable money fall?“
This time, gold has, so far, only multiplied five times — from 255 to 1430. If gold was to repeat its 1970 performance and multiply 24 times, it would rise to over 6,000. But there’s a difference between the two gold bull markets: This time the other half of the world’s population (China, India, Asia) has been added to the mix. And this time, the very viability of fiat currencies is a part of the picture.”
Full article here: KingWorldNews
Chief Investment Strategist John Embry: Gold to $1,650, Shorts to Get Crushed
With gold and silver taking off today to the upside, King World News interviewed John Embry, Chief Investment Strategist at Sprott Asset Management which has $8 billion under management. When asked about the action in gold and silver Embry stated, “This is a complete change in the market. In the old days when the bullion banks took the gold and silver prices to the woodshed, I mean it took days if not weeks or months to repair the damage. Today to have it turn around on a dime and go rocketing up, silver to 30 year highs and gold challenging its all-time high again, this is new action and I think it is indicative of the changed condition of the market.”
John Embry continues:
“The physical market is slowly starting to take precedence over the paper market. Historically the paper market dominates most of the time. In this instance they have been so abusive in the paper market, and kept the prices at such attractive levels that they have induced so much physical buying, that the physical buying is overwhelming the available supply.
That’s where the price is going to be set in the physical market and when that happens these guys on the short side of the paper market are going to have a religious experience.”
Full article here: KingWorldNews
Soldier Bradley E. Manning, Who Leaked Government Files To WikiLeaks, Forced To Sleep Naked Every Night
Private Bradley E. Manning, 23
WASHINGTON — Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking government files to WikiLeaks, will be stripped of his clothing every night as a “precautionary measure” to prevent him from injuring himself, an official at the Marine brig at Quantico, Va., said on Friday.
Private Manning will also be required to stand outside his cell naked during a morning inspection, after which his clothing will be returned to him, said a Marine spokesman, First Lt. Brian Villiard.
“Because of recent circumstances, the underwear was taken away from him as a precaution to ensure that he did not injure himself,” Lieutenant Villiard said. “The brig commander has a duty and responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of the detainees and to make sure that they are able to stand trial.”
Private Manning is a maximum-security detainee under “prevention of injury watch,” a special set of restrictions — a step his supporters, who contend that he is not suicidal, have said is unjustified. He has not been elevated to the more restrictive “suicide watch” conditions.
Silver Shorts Bloodbath!
In what can be only described as a total gutting of all silver shorts everywhere, including those with infinite Fed funded balance sheets (wink wink Blythe), all one can do is commiserate.
With silver hitting $35.55 intraday, not even a last ditch attempt to spread the ridiculous Chavez rumor once more (this time the two dictators will really get peace ironed out, we promise) will prevent a battery of margin calls from forcing all the silver market timers to liquidate assets to keep their primer brokers happy.
That’s ok: all those market timer will sooner, or much, much later, get the top right.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/04/2011 15:56 -0500
Source: ZeroHedge
US: On Charles Ponzi Day We Celebrate Another All Time Record In Food Stamp Usage
Bernanke’s plan to recreate Libya in our own back yard is continuing to work magnificently. It is no surprise that on Charles Ponzi day, the update to food stamp usage indicates that in December those receiving an average of $134 per month has just hit 44.1 million people.
These lucky people will soon be able to buy an inflation adjusted 2.3 crumbs of notional bread with this generous handout from the Chairsatan.
In other words, America is now the land of the free, home of the brave, of whom 14.3% can’t afford to eat, even with all the new jobs created by both the old QE1, Lite and 2, and soon to be 3.
Don’t forget that according to the Bernank, QE2 has already created 250,000 new jobs… all at the a modest cost of $1.3 million per job.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/03/2011 12:00 -0500
Source: ZeroHedge
Fighting Rages in Libya’s East
See also:
– Egyptian Special Forces Secretly Storm Libya
At least 30 civilians killed after Gaddafi loyalists try to retake rebel-held town of Az Zawiyah, witnesses say.
Many eastern parts of the country have already fallen to anti-Gaddafi forces [Reuters]
At least 30 civilians have been killed after security forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan leader, attempted to retake the rebel-held town of Az Zawiyah, near the capital Tripoli, that has for days been defying his rule, witnesses have said.
The rebellion in Az Zawiyah – the closest rebel-held territory to the capital and also the site of an oil refinery – has been an embarassment to the Libyan authorities who are trying to show they control at least the west of the country.
Eastern regions of the country, around the city of Benghazi, have already fallen out of Gaddafi’s control after a popular revolt against his four decades of rule.
Egyptian Special Forces Secretly Storm Libya
CRACK special forces troops have been secretly pouring into Libya to back the rebellion against Colonel Gaddafi.
The elite troops moved in as the defiant tyrant vowed to “fight to the last man and woman” – and warned that “thousands will die” if the West intervenes.
But the Mirror can reveal his Tripoli stronghold is now under threat from a growing army of special forces preparing to quell civil war.
Intelligence sources have told us that post-Mubarak Egyptian troops have been allowed into Libya by Tunisian soldiers – showing increasing Arab-backing for the anti-Gaddafi revolt.
France Outlaws Full-Face Veils, Niqab Ban To Start Next Month
Veils that cover the face to be illegal from next month, with President Sarkozy accused of trying to win far-right votes
A woman in a niqab walks with a child in the Tuileries, in Paris, France. Photograph: Horacio Villalobos/EPAFrom
Saudi tourists window-shopping on the Champs-Élysées to Muslim women in a departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle airport or the few young French converts on suburban estates, any woman who steps outside in France wearing a veil that covers her face will be breaking the law from next month.
France’s bitterly divisive debate on Muslim women’s clothing took a new turn when the legal details of the controversial “burqa ban” were published in a decree by the prime minister. From 11 April women will be banned from wearing the niqab – full-face Muslim veil – in any public place, including while walking down the street, taking a bus, at a bank, library or shop, or in a cinema or theatre. It will be illegal for a woman in niqab to visit the Louvre, or any other museum, take a train, visit a hospital or collect her child from school.
Face veils will be outlawed virtually anywhere outside women’s own homes, except when they are worshipping in a religious place or travelling as a passenger in a private car, although traffic police may stop them if they think they do not have a clear “field of vision” while driving. Women wearing niqab will be fined €150 (about £130) and be given a citizenship class to remind them of the republican values of secular France and gender equality. Any third party found to have coerced a woman into wearing the face covering, for example a husband or family member, risks a €30,000 fine and a year in prison.
Read moreFrance Outlaws Full-Face Veils, Niqab Ban To Start Next Month
The Real US National Security Budget: $1.2 Trillion
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What if you went to a restaurant and found it rather pricey? Still, you ordered your meal and, when done, picked up the check only to discover that it was almost twice the menu price.
Welcome to the world of the real U.S. national security budget. Normally, in media accounts, you hear about the Pentagon budget and the war-fighting supplementary funds passed by Congress for our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. That already gets you into a startling price range — close to $700 billion for 2012 — but that’s barely more than half of it. If Americans were ever presented with the real bill for the total U.S. national security budget, it would actually add up to more than $1.2 trillion a year.
Take that in for a moment. It’s true; you won’t find that figure in your daily newspaper or on your nightly newscast, but it’s no misprint. It may even be an underestimate. In any case, it’s the real thing when it comes to your tax dollars. The simplest way to grasp just how Americans could pay such a staggering amount annually for “security” is to go through what we know about the U.S. national security budget, step by step, and add it all up.
So, here we go. Buckle your seat belt: it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Read moreThe Real US National Security Budget: $1.2 Trillion
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Tells Absent Senators: Return Or 1,500 Get Laid Off
(CNN) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday warned 14 absent lawmakers trying to stall his controversial budget bill to return to the state Capitol immediately to vote on the measure, or layoff notices will be sent to 1,500 public employees before the weekend.
“Unfortunately, if we don’t have action by tomorrow we have a legal and moral obligation to start forewarning people,” Walker said a Thursday night press conference.
The layoffs would take effect April 1, the governor said.
Walker’s threat to start laying off workers capped the third week of a high-stakes drama playing out in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, a Dane County judge on Thursday issued an order barring demonstrators from the state Capitol after business hours. During protests, some demonstrators have been sleeping inside the building. The order from Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge John Albert gave the state Department of Administration the authority to forcibly remove anyone who refuses.
Read moreWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Tells Absent Senators: Return Or 1,500 Get Laid Off
Chinese Military Is Training 10,000 Messenger Pigeons In Case The Communication Systems Break Down
China is training 10,000 messenger pigeons to deliver vital military communications in the event of the country’s communication systems breaking down.
China has had a division of military homing pigeons since 1950 Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
According to the Chinese state media, the pigeons are being trained by a special unit of the People’s Liberation Army in the central city of Chengdu.
“They will be primarily called upon to conduct special military missions between troops stationed at our borders,” said Chen Hong, an air force expert, to China Central Television (CCTV), the state broadcaster.
“In modern warfare, the pigeon is indispensable,” he added. “There are as many military pigeons as there are soldiers in the Swiss army, for example.” Chen Chuntao, the officer responsible for the pigeon “army” said the birds were the “most practical and effective short and medium distance tool for communications if there is electromagnetic interference or a collapse in our signals”.
Ivory Coast president cuts off power and water to north
Millions of people in rebel-controlled region left without vital supplies as country moves towards civil war
Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to cede the presidency to Alassane Ouattara, has also launched a crackdown on press loyal to his rival. Photograph: Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images
The Ivory Coast president, Laurent Gbagbo, has cut off electricity and water supplies to millions of people in the north of the country “for political reasons”, the UN has said.
The national power company reported that armed men entered its buildings on Monday night and ordered the shutdown, the latest step in an increasingly violent move towards civil war.
“The statement of the electricity company (says) this energy shortage is not due to technical issues,” a UN official, Ndolamb Ngokwey, told the BBC. “They clearly said it has to do with the political situation, so it was cut for political reasons.”
A war eight years ago divided the country into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south. Issia Doumbia, a spokesman for the New Forces rebels, who control the north and are loyal to Gbagbo’s rival Alassane Ouattara, told the Associated Press: “Millions of people across the north are without water or electricity. During the entire war, Gbagbo never cut the people off. But now, things are turning bad fast.”
Read moreIvory Coast president cuts off power and water to north
Activists Ready To Fight $7 Billion TransCanada Oil Pipeline From Alberta To The Gulf Coast
Must see:
– Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory: ‘Gulf Coast Oil Spill’
US landowners along the proposed route – from Alberta to the Gulf coast – accuse oil firm TransCanada of bullying
David Daniel, who is fighting TransCanada’s proposed oil pipeline from Alberta through Texas. Photograph: Rex C Curry/Polaris
In an earlier life, David Daniel jumped through fire and performed a motorcycle stunt called the Wheel of Death. For his second act, he picked a fight with a $7bn oil pipeline set to run through Texas.
He is not doing badly for a man taking on big oil in the home of black gold. Growing opposition to a Canadian project to pump crude from tar sands in Alberta across six American states to the Gulf coast could force the Obama administration to reconsider – and possibly delay – the project.
The grassroots rebellion will come to Washington on 9 March, just as the state department is due to decide whether to grant final approval to the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline. If it orders additional environmental or safety reviews it would force a delay in the construction start date, now set for the end of the year.
Read moreActivists Ready To Fight $7 Billion TransCanada Oil Pipeline From Alberta To The Gulf Coast
Ivory Coast on brink of civil war as seven women killed at protest march
Military says shootings were ‘blunder we regret’ as once stable nation faces meltdown
A picture allegedly shows the body of one of the seven women shot dead in Abobo, a working class neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Seven women have been massacred during a peaceful protest in Ivory Coast as the country appeared to stand on the brink of all-out civil war.
More than 200,000 people have fled, and the nation that was once a model of stability in west Africa is now experiencing bloodshed and economic meltdown.
The women’s demonstration became a scene of terror when security forces opened fire with machine guns in Abobo, a sprawling, impoverished suburb of the commercial capital, Abidjan, where some of the deadliest clashes have taken place during three months of crisis.
They were about to set off from a roundabout on a march to call on Laurent Gbagbo to step down as president. “Men in uniform drove up and started shooting randomly. Six women died on the spot,” Idrissa Diarrassouba told Reuters. A seventh died in hospital. Many others were wounded.
There was no official comment but a military source confirmed the shooting. “It was a blunder that we regret,” the source said, adding that security forces believe rebels sometimes hide among civilians. “It is unfortunate.”
Read moreIvory Coast on brink of civil war as seven women killed at protest march