23 Jun 2012

Nuclear talks with Iran end with no progress made, more sanctions and potential war loom

By Madison Ruppert
After three rounds of talks between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany (known as the P5+1), on the Iranian nuclear program, no visible progress has been made.
This is likely because one side – particularly the West – came to the table with unreasonable expectations which reflect the wishes of extremist, delusional Israeli politicians who have expressed concerns over the nuclear talks blocking Israel’s ability to conduct a unilateral strike.
It is worth restating that Iran does not have nuclear weapons and is not even pursuing them as stated by none other than U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (twice), Israeli military chief Benny Gantz, and the U.S. intelligence community, to name a few.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of measurable progress in the negotiations, there are currently no plans for further negotiations.
This means that starting July 1, a new round of the crippling sanctions which have been imposed on Iran will be become active.
According to some, these sanctions which will include many more potentially devastating measures such as the removal of insurance from any and all tankers carrying Iranian oil “will bring an end to nearly all of Iran’s oil sales, sales which account for nearly 80 percent of Iran foreign revenues.”
Furthermore, Homeland Security News Wire reports, “planning, in both Israel and the United States, for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has now shifted to a higher gear.”
Of course my readers are likely well aware of the fact that the planning is largely complete and the hardware is in place

Smashed Watermelon and Dead Rat Collateral - Max and Stacy "Most Dangerouse People in Finance" with Constantin Gurdgiev

Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss smashed watermelon and dead rat collateral and the fraud flow of a less than zero balance sheet. In the second half of the show Max talks to economist, Constantin Gurdgiev, about intergalactic bailout bonds to the rescue and other crazy ideas to solve the global debt catastrophe and the significance of the gold collateral to Germany's idea of a European Redemption Fund. Source

Dr. Michael "The Big Short" Burry's "Brutal Hangover Is Inevitable" State-Of-The-World UCLA Commencement Speech

Tyler Durden's picture
Infamous for his prediction of the great recession, Europe's demise, and the collapse of the US financial system (as well as profiting extremely handsomely from said predictions), so well captured in Michael Lewis' book "The Big Short", UCLA's Dr. Michael Burry undertakes UCLA's Economics Department's commencement speech with much aplomb. In this "age of infinite distraction", the astounding truthiness of this 15 minute speech is stunning from single-sentence summation of Europe's convulsions that "when the entitled elect themselves, the party accelerates, and the brutal hangover is inevitable" he reminds us that Californians, and indeed all Americans, should take note. A quarter-of-an-hour well spent from a self-described 'chicken-little' who was "just trying to figure it all out". Source

Iceland Mocks EU’s Struggle With Collapse: Iceland is speeding ahead on its bid to join the bloc and even delivered a pep talk Friday to those struggling to hold it together.

Iceland Plans to Join European Bloc Despite Economic Turmoil - By
BRUSSELS — Despite a sovereign debt crisis that threatens to tear the European Union apart, Iceland is speeding ahead on its bid to join the bloc and even delivered a pep talk Friday to those struggling to hold it together. 

Less than two years after starting membership talks in the wake of its own banking crisis, Iceland has now finished 10 of the 35 “chapters” of E.U. laws that new members must work their way through – a pace that Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said was the fastest for any country since new rules were adopted in 2006.
Iceland’s foreign minister, Ossur Skarpheoinsson, said the country was “pressing full steam ahead” despite the “depressed” mood in Brussels, where officials have been trying for more than two years to contain the sovereign debt crisis that threatens to undermine not only the 17-nation euro area but the entire 27-nation E.U. itself.
Mr. Skarpheoinsson expressed optimism the crisis would be solved, as well he should: Each new E.U. member must agree to give up its currency and adopt the euro eventually.
“It is a vote of confidence, and you are listening to someone who is coming from a country that has gone through the worst crisis,” Mr. Skarpheoinsson said at a news conference following the latest round of membership talks.
He advised the Europeans to face their current difficulties “just like we in Iceland encounter snow storms: Zip up, pull the hood and brave the storm. In the end we know that the day returns to calm and sunshine.” (reading between the lines? if you have the balls not to bail out your local banksters)

Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith on the Follies of Big Banks and Government

Rolling Stone editor Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith, creator of the finance and economics blog Naked Capitalism, join Bill to discuss the folly and corruption of both banks and government, and how that tag-team leaves deep wounds in our democracy.  Taibbi’s latest piece is “The Scam Wall Street Learned from the Mafia.” Smith is the author of ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism. Source

Could the downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian anti-air defenses lead to Article Five invocation?

By Madison Ruppert: The West has tried to push several incidents to justify a foreign intervention in Syria, with the most recent being the alleged Houla massacre which quickly fell apart thanks in part to the BBC using an image from Iraq in an attempt to make readers emotionally react to the incident. (left: A Turkish F4, the same type of fighter jet shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft systems.)
Thankfully, even lamestream media outlets around the world have begun to take notice (see below video) of the lies and misrepresentations that have been the hallmark of the tragic situation in Syria for well over a year now.
Also noteworthy have been the attempts to drudge up Iraq-style chemical weapons claims – which are devoid of any factual basis and nothing but pure, unadulterated propaganda – in order to build popular support for an attack on Syria.

"Europe is About to Impose Extreme Repression" MEP Nigel Farage


Greek healthcare system collapses, hospital workers now working without pay

(NaturalNews) The economic situation in Greece is only continuing to worsen, as reports indicate that hospitals and care centers throughout the nation are running completely out of medicines, and many healthcare workers are now voluntarily providing care services without pay. (Picture right: Mario Drag Race by Banzai7)
Strapped with spiraling debt, the Greek healthcare, which is government-run, has had to receive gobs of international financial aid just to keep operating with some semblance of normalcy. There has also been plenty of IOUs issued, and desperate patients quietly forking over cash "gifts" to doctors to receive treatments. All in all, the healthcare situation is in utter chaos, save for those that have sacrificed their own time, often free of charge, just to help those in need.
As we reported here at NaturalNews back in 2010, Big Pharma had already been withholding drugs from Greece because of the country's inability to pay for them. Greek authorities had tried to negotiate with drug companies to lower the exorbitant costs associated with drugs, and some complied. But many others simply stopped shipping in medicines, leaving thousands of ill patients without any options.

Lord Monckton: UN Teaches Children They Need to Die!

Symbolism! Dontcha just love it? Even the three-letter abbreviations for the world's airports convey a resonant message for the goofy Gaia-worshipers here in Rio de Janeiro for the conference on "sustainable development" (whatever that may mean). Flights still follow the old colonial patterns, so it is easier to fly to Rio (GIG from Madrid (MAD) than from London. Entertainingly, the bag-tag on my suitcase bore the legend MAD GIG --a deftly synoptic description of the leftfest on Brazil's once-fashionable coast.

Ministry of [Un]Truth - Eric Sprott

Speaking at a Brussels conference back in April 2011, Eurogroup President Jean Claude Juncker notably stated during a panel discussion that "when it becomes serious, you have to lie." He was referring to situations where the act of "pre-indicating" decisions on eurozone policy could fuel speculation that could harm the markets and undermine their policies' effectiveness.1 Everyone understands that the authorities sometimes lie in order to promote calm in the markets, but it was unexpected to hear such a high-level official actually admit to doing so. They're not supposed to admit that they lie. It is also somewhat disconcerting given the fact that virtually every economic event we have lived through since that time can very easily be described as "serious". Bank runs in Spain and Greece are indeed "serious", as is the weak economic data now emanating from Europe, the US and China. Should we assume that the authorities have been lying more frequently than usual over the past year?
When former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan denied and down-played the US housing bubble back in 2004 and 2005, the market didn't realize how wrong he was until the bubble burst in 2007-2008. The same applies to the current Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, when he famously told US Congress in March of 2007 that "At this juncture… the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained."2 They weren't necessarily lying, per se, they just underestimated the seriousness of the problem. At this point in the crisis, however, we are hard pressed to believe anything uttered by a central planner or financial authority figure. How many times have we heard that the eurozone crisis has been solved? And how many times have we heard officials flat out lie while the roof is burning over their heads?

The future of drone technology: supersonic, insect-like and networked swarms

By Madison Ruppert: A model of an insect size U.S. Air Force drone is held by a member of the Micro Air Vehicles team of the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is developing small drones at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, July 11, 2011. (Image credit: Cryptome)
The mad scientist arm of the Department of Defense known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is well known for engaging in truly mind-bending research and development projects.
Some are seemingly benign and benevolent, such as mind-controlled robots and artificial skin for disabled individuals. Others cannot be lumped into this category by any means, such as the Battlefield Illusions” program which is focused on creating more powerful weaponized hallucinations to be deployed against so-called enemies.
It is of significant importance to note that above all, DARPA is mandated to serve the military. No matter how many supposedly beneficial technologies they develop, they are ultimately a military research organization designed to create cutting edge war machines and intelligence gathering tools.
While the massive rollout of drone technology in the United States is troubling enough in and of itself, it just gets worse when one realizes what the future holds: swarms of drones, insect-like surveillance craft and supersonic remotely controlled aircraft traveling upwards of 1,000 miles per hour.

Gerald Celente "the banking system is colapsing world wide" Old-Man Europe, Romney & Sons, and a Golden Summer

Germany and Greece faced off today in the Eurocup 2012 with German newspapers pushing headlines like "bye Greeks, we can't save you today." But can anyone in Europe save the monetary union from itself? Mario (three card) Monti, Italy's technocrat prime minister says there is only one week left to do it, but looking back at older headlines, it appears there have been many times Europe had only "one week left," or "ten days left." What's up with that?