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Today: 60 articles and 129 comments as of 10:11.
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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Ghalioun Elected Chief of Syrian Opposition Coalition
Today's Headlines
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Europe
AEP: Greek euro exit looms closer as banks crumble
A tsunami of capital flight from Greece threatens to overwhelm the authorities, forcing the country out of the euro before fresh elections in June. Economists warned that the Greek financial system could crumble within weeks or days unless the European Central Bank steps up support.
In which case the Greek financial system will crumble within weeks...
President Karolos Papoulias told party leaders that banks had lost €700m in withdrawals on Monday alone as citizens rush to pre-empt capital controls and a much-feared return to the Drachma.

He cited central bank warnings that "great fear" might soon escalate to panic. The leaked details lend credence to claims that capital flight by both savers and firms have reached €4bn a week since the triumph of anti-bailout parties on May 6.

Steen Jakobsen from Danske Bank said outflows are becoming unstoppable, not helped by open talk in EU circles of `technical' plans for Greek withdrawal.

"This has a self-fulfilling prophecy built into it and I don't think we can get to June. The fuse is burning and the only two options now are a controlled explosion where Germany steps in to ensure an orderly exit, or an uncontrolled explosion," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 05/16/2012 16:08 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
President Obama, The View, And The False Notion Of Too Big To Fail
Posted by: tipper || 05/16/2012 03:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
So now I’m wondering because I watched this JP Morgan Chase thing just go down. I’m wondering (A) what do you think happened and (B) sir what are you going to do about it because this has to be the last straw.

Clearly highlights this fattened rhino's understanding of the market and investing. Better she had said nothing at all.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/16/2012 8:57 Comments || Top||

#2  "Better she said nothing at all." Actually "nothing" is better than what any of those ladies on The View ever have to say.
However, the gist of the article is worth looking at. The news of JP Morgan’s loss has reignited the discussion over whether the financial sector is regulated enough. The answer is that regulation and the moral hazard-ridden business environment it produces is the sole reason why a bank’s loss is a hot topic of discussion to begin with. Without the Fed, the FDIC, and the government’s nasty history of bailing out its top campaign contributors, JP Morgan would be just another bank beholden to market forces. Instead it, along with most of Wall Street, has become, to use former Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig’s label, a virtual “public utility.”

Take away the implied safety net and “too big to fail” disappears. It’s as simple that.

The POV of the article itself is simplistically anti-any-and-all-regulation.
Take away the FDIC, and I (and many other savers) take all my money out of banks. Capisce? Apparently, not the author of this reductio ad absurdum. Author is blissfully unaware of the fact that when FDR first took office, US banks had essentially closed their doors.
Banks ARE public utilities, that's why they have been regulated for almost 200 years. Recently the big banks and Vampire Squids have been running the biggest gambling operation and organized crime ring in world history. The article completely misses that point.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/16/2012 14:41 Comments || Top||

#3  But then there are truly crazy ideas, like this one from a comment on this article in ZeroHedge:
"Any of the TBTF/TBTB banks that received Federal assistance in the period of 2008 - today would have their FDIC coverage removed effectice September 1, 2012. Any money in any account in any of those banks would no longer qualify for compensation of the account holder by the FDIC. Period.

Anyone wanting their money to be FDIC insured would have to move it into a bank that still qualififed (i.e. has never been bailed out by the government)."
This would most likely induce a run on the banks about to lose their FDIC protection, and put them into bankruptcy in short order.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/16/2012 14:48 Comments || Top||

#4  The economist Bill Black recently had the following to say about the TBTF banks and the disingenuous Jamie Dimon:
All of the systemically dangerous institutions failed [since 2008] in large part because of these financial derivatives - what we call the green slime. That's what brought down Fannie and Freddie and Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia. After those catastrophic disasters that caused the Great Recession, cost six billion [sic] Americans their jobs directly, prevented another five to eight million jobs from being created, helped lead to a global crisis called the Great Recession—after that, the banks still fought to be allowed to do exactly the same kind of derivative trades [that largely caused the current Recession]. And even when the Volcker Rule was adopted, over the banks' opposition and over the opposition of the Federal Reserve and of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, they gutted the rule—at least the draft rule to implement the Volcker Rule. Unless it is changed, the Volcker Rule will be essentially unenforceable, because the current draft allows financial institutions to simply call their trades "hedges", even though they operate exactly opposite to the way a hedge would work.
Bill Black will never appear on "The View". He is not simple-minded enough to appeal to the constituency of "The View".
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/16/2012 15:13 Comments || Top||

#5  With some luck perhaps both Obama and The View will fail.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/16/2012 16:30 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Putin to reset relationship with Israel?
Posted by: ryuge || 05/16/2012 09:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is a smart move for Putin. Energy and technology big part of Putin's push. The terrorism alone is a major concern for Putin. This is a remarkable opportunity for the USA to reach out. Russia is a vast country with many resources. China is in a slide now. I don't trust the Chinese and I believe the Russians don't either. Working with Russia we could see many benefits for ourselves and Europe. Russia has spent 10 billion on the their Olympics in 1214.
They are in a joint venture type of growth phase.
This includes former satellites.
Posted by: Dale || 05/16/2012 9:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Not sure I buy the reset but it might work to keep Israel from working with Georgia and other Caucus states and it might eliminate embarrassment over Israeli avoidance of Russian built Iranian defenses.

It might also work to put Russia on the side of the winners instead of the losers as they currently are. This is big for pride and arms sales.

If you are Russia and you don't believe NATO missile defenses are designed to stop Iranian missiles (or know they are but could also limit your own missiles), eliminating Iranian missiles (by assisting the Israelis in doing what everyone wants/needs them to do). At that point NATO has to come clean or remove the offending installations.

Also if you are Russia you now see the US has a ton of oil ready to be exploited after the next election. A spike in oil prices now could be very profitable before that Yank oils becomes available. An Israeli attack against Iran is likely to have that effect.

Lastly if you are Russia you pride yourself on your military equipment which might not be as good as Anglo/European stuff in many cases but is better for a third world export market and you see India and Israel as a potential market. Especially after an attack on Iran makes the west finger wag and call Israel a naughty boy.

I'm sure Putins given the whole thing far more thought than I have but it would seem to be advantageous to reset their relationship.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 05/16/2012 11:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, one thing for certain. If Vlad bring a button with "reset" written in Hebrew, it will be written correctly.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/16/2012 14:44 Comments || Top||

#4  A few more generations, and it'll be over for Russia as it's been known for several centuries. Depopulated territory, rich in resources, within walking distance for a billion or so Han Chinese.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/16/2012 14:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Russia should open up Siberia to Latin American and Indian (and anyone else who has no previous claims to the area) immigrants willing to become Russian citizens.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 05/16/2012 15:34 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2012-05-16
  Ghalioun Elected Chief of Syrian Opposition Coalition
Tue 2012-05-15
  37 Dead, Including 23 Troops as Syrian Army Shells Rebel Bastion
Mon 2012-05-14
  Nearly 25.000 troops battle Al-Qaeda in Abyan
Sun 2012-05-13
  Al Qaeda's Leader Encourages Somali Militants to persist the fight
Sat 2012-05-12
  Tens of Thousands of Protesters Defy Syrian Regime Gunfire, 13 Dead
Fri 2012-05-11
  Somali Gov't, Al shabab claim victory over Bay,Bakol fighting
Thu 2012-05-10
  Damascus bombings kill 40, wound 170: state TV
Wed 2012-05-09
  Annan Fears 'Civil War' Looming in Syria
Tue 2012-05-08
  Al-Qaeda underwear bomb plot was targeted by US drone
Mon 2012-05-07
  Nine soldiers killed, military convoy attacked in N Wazoo
Sun 2012-05-06
  Man wanted in USS Cole bombing killed in Yemen: tribal chief
Sat 2012-05-05
  Pro-Regime Gunmen Kill 12 'Qaida' Militants in Yemen
Fri 2012-05-04
  Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
Thu 2012-05-03
  Afghanistan: Pakistani driving truck bomb arrested
Wed 2012-05-02
  Suicide bomb blast hits hotel in Somalia, two MPs believed dead

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