TiLTNews Network: Earth Watch - Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference, not by safety. It is easy to clamor for government security when terrible things happen; but liberty is given true meaning when we support it without exception, and we will be safer for it ~ Dr. Ron Paul
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Independent Living Bullion
Independent Living Bullion.
https://www.independentlivingbullion.com/news/2014/08/25/secret-buyer-of-us-debt-emerges-to-fill-feds-shoes-000593?AID=3818#disqus_thread
Secret Buyer of U.S. Debt Emerges to Fill Fed’s Shoes Precious Metals Market Update
August 25th, 2014
Reported strength in the U.S. economy is boosting the dollar and putting a damper on precious metals at this moment. Increasing geopolitical turmoil around the world has not, as of yet, driven enough buying demand for gold and silver to offset selling related to the brighter economic outlook.
The FOMC minutes released last week confirmed the Fed bond purchase program, which has run nearly continuously for the past 6 years, will end in the fall. Meanwhile, they’ve suggested increasing the key Fed funds rate within a few months thereafter.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen and crew have not made a credible case that the housing and stock markets won’t suffer a large setback when rates go up significantly. But investors aren't asking.
How Long Can the Fed Have It Both Ways?
https://www.independentlivingbullion.com/news/2014/08/25/secret-buyer-of-us-debt-emerges-to-fill-feds-shoes-000593?AID=3818#disqus_thread
Secret Buyer of U.S. Debt Emerges to Fill Fed’s Shoes Precious Metals Market Update
August 25th, 2014
Reported strength in the U.S. economy is boosting the dollar and putting a damper on precious metals at this moment. Increasing geopolitical turmoil around the world has not, as of yet, driven enough buying demand for gold and silver to offset selling related to the brighter economic outlook.
The FOMC minutes released last week confirmed the Fed bond purchase program, which has run nearly continuously for the past 6 years, will end in the fall. Meanwhile, they’ve suggested increasing the key Fed funds rate within a few months thereafter.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen and crew have not made a credible case that the housing and stock markets won’t suffer a large setback when rates go up significantly. But investors aren't asking.
How Long Can the Fed Have It Both Ways?
Fed officials began tapering late last year. Nine months later, the flow of freshly printed cash flooding into the markets to buy Treasuries and mortgage securities has dwindled from more than $80 billion per month to a “mere” $25 billion.
By October, Fed bond purchases using newly created money appear likely to end altogether. (But Fed officials have not suggested they would sell the trillions of dollars in bonds they now hold.) Interest rate hikes could be coming next year.
Partly in reaction to this shift in Fed policy, the dollar has strengthened, and the precious metals markets have struggled to move up.
But some market movements are difficult to explain. Record equity market valuations and lower Treasury yields don’t make a lot of sense if the flow of newly printed Fed cash is coming to an end.
Markets are famous for being irrational. There are plenty of examples of counterintuitive moves persisting for some time. But we don’t think investors should expect the current dichotomy to last forever.
The strength in the market for U.S. Treasuries is perhaps the most bizarre. Prior to tapering, the Fed bought more than 80% of all new issuance. Some rightly wonder how the central bank could now prevent bond yields from rising as needed to attract replacement buyers.
By October, Fed bond purchases using newly created money appear likely to end altogether. (But Fed officials have not suggested they would sell the trillions of dollars in bonds they now hold.) Interest rate hikes could be coming next year.
Partly in reaction to this shift in Fed policy, the dollar has strengthened, and the precious metals markets have struggled to move up.
But some market movements are difficult to explain. Record equity market valuations and lower Treasury yields don’t make a lot of sense if the flow of newly printed Fed cash is coming to an end.
Markets are famous for being irrational. There are plenty of examples of counterintuitive moves persisting for some time. But we don’t think investors should expect the current dichotomy to last forever.
The strength in the market for U.S. Treasuries is perhaps the most bizarre. Prior to tapering, the Fed bought more than 80% of all new issuance. Some rightly wonder how the central bank could now prevent bond yields from rising as needed to attract replacement buyers.
Perhaps all is not quite as it appears.
About the time the Fed implemented the first round of tapering late last year, a mysterious new buyer suddenly appeared on the Belgian-based Euroclear clearinghouse. This buyer filled the enormous demand void left by the Fed. The surge in holdings is attributed to Belgium itself in the reports, but don’t be misled. The tiny nation is simply where Euroclear is based, and the real buyer remains a well-guarded secret.
The secret buyer of U.S. government debt may well be the European Central Bank in cooperation with the Fed. It is also quite possible our privately held and unaccountable central bank is working with some other proxy. The market-manipulators at the Fed can certainly create the illusion of buyers clamoring to buy Treasuries at epic low yields -- even if they can’t have it in reality. The Fed is all about psychological manipulation.
Clint Siegner is a Director at ILB, the nation's largest and fastest-growing dealer in low-premium precious metal coins, rounds and bars. Siegner, a graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government and honest money into the development of ILB's brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.
About the time the Fed implemented the first round of tapering late last year, a mysterious new buyer suddenly appeared on the Belgian-based Euroclear clearinghouse. This buyer filled the enormous demand void left by the Fed. The surge in holdings is attributed to Belgium itself in the reports, but don’t be misled. The tiny nation is simply where Euroclear is based, and the real buyer remains a well-guarded secret.
The secret buyer of U.S. government debt may well be the European Central Bank in cooperation with the Fed. It is also quite possible our privately held and unaccountable central bank is working with some other proxy. The market-manipulators at the Fed can certainly create the illusion of buyers clamoring to buy Treasuries at epic low yields -- even if they can’t have it in reality. The Fed is all about psychological manipulation.
Clint Siegner is a Director at ILB, the nation's largest and fastest-growing dealer in low-premium precious metal coins, rounds and bars. Siegner, a graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government and honest money into the development of ILB's brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Holocaust survivors pen open letter condemning Israel’s Gaza war
http://rt.com/news/182472-israel-holocaust-gaza-war/
Holocaust survivors pen open letter condemning Israel’s Gaza war
Published time: August 24, 2014 17:26
Palestinians look at the remains of a commercial center, which witnesses said was hit by an Israeli air strike on Saturday, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 24, 2014 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Tags
Army, Conflict, Israel, Military, Religion,War
Over 300 survivors and descendants of the Holocaust have published an open letter condemning what they call Israel's "genocide" in Gaza. http://ijsn.net/gaza/survivors-and-descendants-letter/
The letter slamming the “massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine” was signed by 327 descendants and survivors of the Nazi genocide and placed by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network as an advertisement in the New York Times.
1The letter also condemns politicians and opinion writers who have, the signatories say, openly called for the “genocide of Palestinians” in what they say is an “extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society.”
The survivors point to the death of more than 2,100 Palestinians in Israel’s campaign, many of whom are children and the bombing of UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. On the Israeli side, 68 people have been killed, mainly soldiers.
The letter concludes by calling the Gaza campaign “genocide of Palestinian people” and demands an end to the Israeli blockade of the tiny strip of land.
Hollywood against Hamas
The letter was published just moments after 190 influential people in Hollywood put their names on a statement condemning the actions of Hamas, saying the organization “cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities”.
A general view of the rubble of a residential tower, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, is seen in Gaza City August 24, 2014 (Reuters / Mohammed Salem)
It was published by the Creative Community for Peace, which was founded in 2011 and aims to bring together “prominent members of the entertainment industry to counter the cultural boycott against Israel and promote an accurate image of the Jewish state.”
The list included actors Minnie Driver, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, although the vast majority of actors did not put their names to the statement.
The statement referred to Article 7 of Hamas’ charter which says, “There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!” which they say reflects Hamas’ true nature.
However, the statement is also headlined “Commitment to justice and peace”.
Hamas cannot be allowed to “hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope not our human shields,” it reads.
Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza in 2007 after Hamas, which rejects Israel's right to exist, took control of the territory, having won elections the year before and ousted political rivals Fatah.
Tel-Aviv’s operation Protective Edge which started in early July was triggered by rocket attacks by the military wing of Hamas on Israeli. Hamas has been shelling Israel’s south with barrage of rockets, some of which made it as far as the capital’s metropolitan area.
Since then, over 17,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the Gaza Strip, making around 100,000 Palestinians homeless, since the war began on July 8, according to UN estimates.
Egypt called on Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday to halt hostilities and resume peace talks, but both sides kept up attacks.
Holocaust survivors pen open letter condemning Israel’s Gaza war
Published time: August 24, 2014 17:26
Palestinians look at the remains of a commercial center, which witnesses said was hit by an Israeli air strike on Saturday, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 24, 2014 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Tags
Army, Conflict, Israel, Military, Religion,War
Over 300 survivors and descendants of the Holocaust have published an open letter condemning what they call Israel's "genocide" in Gaza. http://ijsn.net/gaza/survivors-and-descendants-letter/
The letter slamming the “massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine” was signed by 327 descendants and survivors of the Nazi genocide and placed by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network as an advertisement in the New York Times.
1The letter also condemns politicians and opinion writers who have, the signatories say, openly called for the “genocide of Palestinians” in what they say is an “extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society.”
The survivors point to the death of more than 2,100 Palestinians in Israel’s campaign, many of whom are children and the bombing of UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. On the Israeli side, 68 people have been killed, mainly soldiers.
The letter concludes by calling the Gaza campaign “genocide of Palestinian people” and demands an end to the Israeli blockade of the tiny strip of land.
Hollywood against Hamas
The letter was published just moments after 190 influential people in Hollywood put their names on a statement condemning the actions of Hamas, saying the organization “cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities”.
A general view of the rubble of a residential tower, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, is seen in Gaza City August 24, 2014 (Reuters / Mohammed Salem)
It was published by the Creative Community for Peace, which was founded in 2011 and aims to bring together “prominent members of the entertainment industry to counter the cultural boycott against Israel and promote an accurate image of the Jewish state.”
The list included actors Minnie Driver, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, although the vast majority of actors did not put their names to the statement.
The statement referred to Article 7 of Hamas’ charter which says, “There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!” which they say reflects Hamas’ true nature.
However, the statement is also headlined “Commitment to justice and peace”.
Hamas cannot be allowed to “hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope not our human shields,” it reads.
Israel tightened its blockade of Gaza in 2007 after Hamas, which rejects Israel's right to exist, took control of the territory, having won elections the year before and ousted political rivals Fatah.
Tel-Aviv’s operation Protective Edge which started in early July was triggered by rocket attacks by the military wing of Hamas on Israeli. Hamas has been shelling Israel’s south with barrage of rockets, some of which made it as far as the capital’s metropolitan area.
Since then, over 17,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the Gaza Strip, making around 100,000 Palestinians homeless, since the war began on July 8, according to UN estimates.
Egypt called on Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday to halt hostilities and resume peace talks, but both sides kept up attacks.
Bergdahl swap – Obama used illegal means say US investigators | shaunynews
Bergdahl swap – Obama used illegal means say US investigators | shaunynews
The Pentagon violated the law when it swapped a soldier held in captivity for five years in Afghanistan for five Taliban detainees without giving politicians sufficient notice, US investigators have found. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that President Barack Obama’s administration violated a law, which bars defence officials from using federal funds to transfer any Guantanamo detainees without giving key committees in Congress at least 30 days’ notice. The Department of Defence used $988,400 of its wartime funding for the transfer that freed Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. The GAO also said on Thursday that the department had spent money that was not “expressly appropriated for the purpose”. With a 2014 law, Obama gained some flexibility in transferring prisoners from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But he was still required to notify Congress 30 days in advance. The GAO said members of congress were advised by telephone of the decision to make the swap on May 31, the day it took place, and June 1, and received written notice on June 2, the AFP news agency reported. At the time, Republicans, and even some of Obama’s Democratic allies, fumed over what they considered a bad and dangerous deal. The White House and Pentagon defended the transfer, arguing that protecting US lives was the executive branch’s constitutional obligation. They cited Bergdahl’s rapidly deteriorating health and security to justify quick action and keeping Congress in the dark until the last minute. “We believe it was lawfully done and lawfully conducted and this was a judgment shared with the Justice Department,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told CNN after the GAO released its findings.
Qatar-brokered deal
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the deal brokered by Qatar represented the “last, best opportunity” to ensure Bergdahl’s freedom. Bergdahl disappeared from his post at a base in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. To get him back, five senior Taliban leaders were released from Guantanamo and sent to Qatar, where they are due to remain for one year. The soldier has returned to duty by working a desk job at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. On Wednesday, his lawyer said Bergdahl wanted to leave the military and return to civilian life, the Reuters news agency reported. “It is time for Sergeant Bergdahl to just become plain old Bowe Bergdahl and move on with his life,” Eugene Fidell said. He remains under investigation for leaving his unit in Afghanistan, and a US Army investigator began formal questioning of the former prisoner of war on August 6.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/08/21/government-watchdog-says-bergdahl-swap-illegal-doubly-illegal/
The Pentagon violated the law when it swapped a soldier held in captivity for five years in Afghanistan for five Taliban detainees without giving politicians sufficient notice, US investigators have found. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that President Barack Obama’s administration violated a law, which bars defence officials from using federal funds to transfer any Guantanamo detainees without giving key committees in Congress at least 30 days’ notice. The Department of Defence used $988,400 of its wartime funding for the transfer that freed Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. The GAO also said on Thursday that the department had spent money that was not “expressly appropriated for the purpose”. With a 2014 law, Obama gained some flexibility in transferring prisoners from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But he was still required to notify Congress 30 days in advance. The GAO said members of congress were advised by telephone of the decision to make the swap on May 31, the day it took place, and June 1, and received written notice on June 2, the AFP news agency reported. At the time, Republicans, and even some of Obama’s Democratic allies, fumed over what they considered a bad and dangerous deal. The White House and Pentagon defended the transfer, arguing that protecting US lives was the executive branch’s constitutional obligation. They cited Bergdahl’s rapidly deteriorating health and security to justify quick action and keeping Congress in the dark until the last minute. “We believe it was lawfully done and lawfully conducted and this was a judgment shared with the Justice Department,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told CNN after the GAO released its findings.
Qatar-brokered deal
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the deal brokered by Qatar represented the “last, best opportunity” to ensure Bergdahl’s freedom. Bergdahl disappeared from his post at a base in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. To get him back, five senior Taliban leaders were released from Guantanamo and sent to Qatar, where they are due to remain for one year. The soldier has returned to duty by working a desk job at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. On Wednesday, his lawyer said Bergdahl wanted to leave the military and return to civilian life, the Reuters news agency reported. “It is time for Sergeant Bergdahl to just become plain old Bowe Bergdahl and move on with his life,” Eugene Fidell said. He remains under investigation for leaving his unit in Afghanistan, and a US Army investigator began formal questioning of the former prisoner of war on August 6.
http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/08/21/government-watchdog-says-bergdahl-swap-illegal-doubly-illegal/
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Rethink Military Action ‘Before Our Men Die’ | Voices of Liberty, Powered by Ron Paul
Rethink Military Action ‘Before Our Men Die’ | Voices of Liberty, Powered by Ron Paul Updated: August 21, 2014 by Ron Paul
Rethink Military Action ‘Before Our Men Die’
August 9, 2014 – The president has forewarned us that we must plan to be in Iraq for a long time. I guess our 24-year involvement hasn’t been enough time to bring unity and democracy to Iraq.
How many more years and how many more lives lost must we endure attempting to justify such a miserable failure in policy? I guess we’re supposed to be pleased because it’s certainly been a bipartisan effort. One of the sickest argument made for continuing our effort and even expanding it is to make sure the men and women who lost their lives did not do so in vain.
How will more losses justify what has already been lost?
The 24-year effort to remake the Middle East and, in particular, Iraq and Afghanistan, was doomed to fail from the start. Many informed Americans from the very beginning in 1990 argued the case for staying out of this effort. They were ignored by both Republican and Democratic leaders. The president suggested the problem is that the Iraqis are not united. They were once, under Saddam Hussein. Getting rid of him solved nothing since the right of self determination was denied.
Permitting the natural desire for smaller and separate government entities could have gone a long way in preventing the chaos which set the stage for the Islamic State invasion armed with American weapons coming from our ridiculous policy of arming the rebels in Syria.
We’re now hearing about the humanitarian concerns for the refugees in in northern Iraq. The real motivation may well be the danger to our military advisors trapped in Erbil—some boots on the ground that never left.
More people should listen to Ronald Reagan as he reflected in his memoirs on the tragic loss of 241 marines in a suicide attack in Beirut in 1983.
We’re now hearing about the humanitarian concerns for the refugees in in northern Iraq. The real motivation may well be the danger to our military advisors trapped in Erbil—some boots on the ground that never left.
More people should listen to Ronald Reagan as he reflected in his memoirs on the tragic loss of 241 marines in a suicide attack in Beirut in 1983.
“Perhaps we didn’t appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. The irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had been changed to a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 Marines would be alive today.”
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