A President’s Policy

BERLIN (Own report) – Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President-elect of the Federal Republic of Germany is the epitome of the past two decades of Berlin’s expansionist policy – from the war over Kosovo to intervention in the Syrian war. As State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery, Steinmeier was implicated in the aggression against Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999, with which Germany, in violation of international law, entered its first war of aggression since 1945. As head of the Federal Chancellery, he had participated in the struggle to obtain access to Russia’s vast natural gas reserves. As Foreign Minister, he was massively striving to roll back Russia’s political influence by associating Ukraine with the EU, even condoning a coup – with fascist participation – in Kiev. Steinmeier’s activities had also been influenced by the so-called war on terror. In the Chancellery, he played a leading role in cooperation with the CIA’s torture program. In the fall of 2002, he helped to prevent an innocent native of Bremen from being released to Germany from the US Guantanamo torture camp. He was complicit in the interrogation of German suspects in Syrian and Lebanese torture chambers. Just recently, Steinmeier provided political support to a jihadist militia, classified a terror organization by the German judiciary.

Another Oligarch Preaches to the Peasants – Charlie Munger Says “Prepare for Harder World”

While several exceptionally wealthy and successful people have admirably come out and spoken passionately of the broken nature of financial markets and the political system, as well as the threat this poses to society in general (think Paul Tudor Jones and Nick Hanauer), there have been several examples of oligarchs coming out and conversely demonstrating their complete disconnect from reality, as well as a disdain for the masses within a framework of incredible arrogance.

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The latest example comes from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right hand man, who tends to demonstrate an incredible capacity for verbal diarrhea. Recall his commentary on gold: “gold is a great thing to sew onto your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939.”  

Out of Control

KIEV/BERLIN (Own report) – Accompanied by protest demonstrations, Kiev’s Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, will have talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel today, Thursday, on expanding German support to Ukraine. Yatsenyuk is pursuing an arms buildup by all possible means. Observers assume that Kiev is preparing a new offensive in Ukraine’s civil war. It was reported that several NATO countries are involved in arming the country’s military. The German government confirmed back in September that it had satisfactorily complied with Ukraine’s requests including “defensive equipment”. Even trans-Atlantic supporters of Kiev’s February 2014 putsch, are now warning that a considerable rise in the influence of fascist militias and certain oligarchs is threatening to establish an uncontrollable warlord system. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk’s party has particularly taken the lead in supporting right-wing extremist battalions. Yesterday, Yatsenyuk was ceremoniously received by German President Joachim Gauck.

Ukraine: You Better Pay Attention Because That’s How It’s Eventually Going to Play Out in North America.

If the shopping mall regime would take a few minutes out of the day to stop following the Kardashians in the USA, they would be able to see how the events in Ukraine are something that is coming their way. Long-term strategy by the Soviets is still in full effect and the only thing that has changed is the accelerated rotting of America from within.

From Ann Barnhardt, the raw and uncut truth on Ukraine:

There is basically a media blackout on the counter-revolution in Ukraine, but y’all better pay close, close attention, because A.) decent human beings are being slaughtered in the streets for standing up to an illegitimate government and this ALWAYS merits attention as a function of simple charity and B.) I think the events in Ukraine are a foreshadowing or prototype of what will eventually play out in North America.  The two situations have many similarities.

On Poland and Detroit. Not For the Faint of Heart.

Back to finance.  Poland did exactly what I and a few others have been warning about for years with regards to private retirement accounts and pensions.  Poland confiscated 50% of all private pension funds last week.  PRIVATE pensions.

As Warren Pollock and I have been screaming, one of the largest chunks of collateral left in the system is private retirement money, both in the form of 401(k)s and IRAs and in private pension accounts.  In the U.S., the latest data for 2012 shows that there are now $10.5 Trillion in private 401k and IRA holdings, with another $9 Trillion in pensions and annuities.

The regime has been fairly open about its plans to “nationalize”, read CONFISCATE, this collateral and implement a system of “mandatory retirement savings accounts”, which will be just another confiscatory redistribution into the hands of the oligarchs and their cronies.  This what Poland just did.  This is what MF Global was in its essence.  This is what Cyprus was, except the Cypriot confiscation was done to demand deposit accounts instead of retirement accounts, which is now termed a “bail-in” – but it is all of the same stripe, namely the utter destruction of the notion of private property and the redistribution of all wealth into the hands of the oligarchs.   In Poland, the private pension paradigm has now also been destroyed because no one will want to put money into a private pension after this knowing that it can and will be stolen by the government at any time with zero redress.

Turk – Unspeakable Financial Destruction Is Headed Our Way

“What Cyprus makes clear is the realization that there is not enough money in the world to bail out the banks.  So to keep the political experiment called the European Union alive, the oligarchs in Brussels have now resorted to stealing depositor money.

The important point here is if they can steal it in Cyprus, they can do the same in Spain, Italy or any other country where the banks are insolvent, and the reality is that most of the global banking system is insolvent.  But sometimes it takes a while for a lesson to sink in.  Some people began recognizing the counterparty risk that comes with bank deposits when Northern Rock collapsed in 2007, and the point was driven home again in 2008 with the Lehman debacle.

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More details about the Cyrus bank collapse are starting to emerge, Eric, and it is not a pretty picture.  Depositors in those banks are going to lose a lot of money.  At Laiki Bank, which was the second biggest in Cyprus, the confiscation of depositor money went from 9.95% to what officials are now saying will be 80%.