Thursday, August 28, 2008

Your Enemy, George Soros

Source: EIR - Executive Intelligence Review

This article appears in the July 4, 2008 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Your Enemy, George Soros



Pdf 1: [The excerpts of Soros Dossier published in EIR]

Pdf 2: [Complete Lpac pamphlet, Your Enemy, George Soros]




Introduction


Back during Presidential campaign year 2004, my associates and I were calling attention to an important book on the subject of "The Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man." That man had a conscience. In the following report, LPAC is featuring a much bigger story, on the subject of George Soros as a political-economic hit-man. The George Soros we present in this report, has no conscience about what he has done, or what he does. This a report written, in large part, by Soros' own mouth.


George Soros is not a top-ranking financier, he is like the mafia thug, without a real conscience, like a thug sent to kill a friend of yours, by only a hit-man for the really big financial interests, hired out to rob your friends, and you, of about everything, including their nation, and your personal freedom.


George Soros does not actually own Senator Barack Obama; some other people do; but, Soros is a key controller, and seemingly the virtual owner of both Democratic Party Chairman Howard "Scream" Dean, that Party, perhaps your political party, and, in fact, your nation, which are both what political-economic hit-man George Soros is aiming to destroy.

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

June 16, 2008



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New `Cuba Missiles Crisis' in Europe: Are We Headed Toward World War III?

Source: EIR - Executive Intelligence Review

This article appears in the August 29, 2008 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

New `Cuba Missiles Crisis' in Europe:
Are We Headed Toward World War III?

by Helga Zepp-LaRouche

This article was translated from German and subheadings added.

[PDF version of this article]


EIR Online for this week's issue...



'Either there is an immediate halt to the imperial geopolitics-driven provocations against Russia—such as the attack on South Ossetia by the British puppet-regime in Georgia, and the U.S.-Polish agreement to station anti-ballistic missile defense systems and a U.S. base in Poland—or the strategic situation could very quickly escalate into a Third World War. Driven by the progressive meltdown of the world financial system, the British Empire faction's drive to encircle Russia and China and force them to capitulate, is playing with fire—a dangerous game of Vabanque, which could result in the destruction of human civilization. This policy, British in origin and carried out with American help, includes a possible military strike against Iran—an option which is by no means "off the table."


Considering the monstrous destruction and horror wrought by the two world wars of the 20th Century, it is truly unfathomable how little public courage our political leaders have shown in the face of this threat—a threat which only an imbecile could fail to recognize. I suppose it's better than nothing, when one politician or another asserts that we shouldn't break off relations with Russia because we still have common security interests, such as with regard to Iran. But, why hasn't a single current or former minister or parliamentarian shown the courage to publicly denounce this strategy of confrontation against Russia and China, and to demand that Germany distance itself from it?


Dmitri Rogozin, the Russian Ambassador to NATO, summed it up when he responded to reporters in Brussels by asking: "Are you ready to risk your prosperity and your lives and the lives of your children for the sake of Saakashvili?" He might as well have referred to the latter by his nickname "Sorosvili," since George Soros, and his business partner at the Quantum Fund hedge fund, Mark Malloch Brown—more recently Lord Malloch-Brown—have been funding every single member of the Georgian government, from the Cabinet level down to the lowest-ranking police officer, to the tune of millions, ever since the so-called Rose Revolution. Shouldn't Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency be capable of recognizing such an obvious operation by the British secret service? This ban on thinking had better be lifted soon, before World War III erupts.



The British Strategy


Georgia's British-inspired aggression was aimed at humiliating Russia, weakening it, isolating it from the West, and driving a wedge, once and for all, between Russia and the United States, in order to destroy the potential for U.S.-Russian cooperation in the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt. The report by the French military secret service DRI, that it was American officers who had been active in the bombardment, and that it was American military advisors who had been embedded in the Georgian Army in aiming the "Grad" multiple rocket launchers, is only apparently contradictory: The paradox disappears, once we consider H.G. Wells' theory that the United States must become permeated with British-imperial doctrine...'



More: EIR - Executive Intelligence Review

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

FROM RUSSIA WITHOUT LOVE

Source: Financial Sense

'The latest Polish-American defense pact would place U.S. missile interceptors just 115 miles from Russia’s borders.  Commenting on the deployment, Condoleezza Rice stressed that the anti-missile system was not a threat to Russia but was aimed at countering missile threats from Iran. 

The U.S. Secretary of State was quoted at a press conference in Berlin as saying:

"I think everyone understands that with a growing Iranian missile threat, which is quite pronounced, that there need to be ways to deal with that problem."

And as George Strait put it: “I got some ocean front property in Arizona. If you’ll buy that I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free.”  Not only do the Iranians lack the capacity to deliver a missile into Poland, but they also lack a motive.  Why would the Iranians target Poland?  Condoleezza Rice is either stupid or, worse yet, thinks the Russians are stupid and would actually believe that a missile interceptor system deployed along their western border is meant to counter an Iranian threat.  This move in Poland is the latest in a series of foreign policy blunders committed by an ideological Bush administration.  Before Poland, the U.S. signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to place a missile defense tracking radar on Czech territory.

The NATO alliance states are not in a position to confront Russia militarily.  Others have tried throughout history.  Napoleon and his Grand Army of 450,000 went into Russia in 1812.  Following the disastrous French campaign, fewer than 40,000 of Napoleon’s men were able to escape.  Later, during World War II, Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa would not fare much better and would result in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.  

Russia has a million-man army and the ability to enlist 10 million more. The Russians also have the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, consisting of land-based immobile (silos), land-based mobile, submarine-based, and air-based warheads.  Russia’s most recent intercontinental ballistic missile, the Topol‑M, is capable of making evasive maneuvers and is designed to withstand any hit from laser technology, thus making it capable of penetrating any U.S.-planned anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense system.  In a hypothetical conventional war, without the use of nuclear weapons, the Russians, with their 20,000 battle tanks, would sweep Eastern Europe in a matter of weeks.

And if the war is a non-shooting new Cold War, the Russians will have plenty of options, including cutting off the 2500-mile Druzhba pipeline, the world’s longest oil pipeline, delivering oil from southeast Russia to much of Europe, as well as shutting out the United States from outer space.  If you are a NASA astronaut with no shuttle of your own, your only ticket to the international space station is aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.  Furthermore, Russia will use its veto power in the UN Security Council to block all U.S.-sponsored resolutions, including those aimed at dissuading Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapons program...'


More: Financial Sense

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Le krach au coin de la rue

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Credit Crisis II, a World Financial Armageddon?


'...Bankrupt en masse

In effect, this means the Western banks, etc are bankrupt en masse. The only thing propping up the entire Western financial system, and its respective stock markets has been massive ‘temporary’ lending, on an ongoing basis, by the Fed and ECB. Both central banks are beginning to balk at this situation. Even as they are starting to have second thoughts, the Western financial institutions continue to borrow more money than ever on a weekly basis. Why aren’t things loosening up?

Can’t stop or else

And, if the ECB or the Fed stops the emergency infusions, or even admit who the borrowers are, another round of collapsing banks/bank runs ensues as investors flee and pull their money out. In other words, the central banks have no choice but to continue the weekly $30-50 billion or so of infusions each for the Fed and the ECB, or else face a cascade of bank runs around the world.

…And each week the Fed and the ECB are effectively taking on another $30 or $50 billion of the bad assets from the various and sundry financial institutions scattered across the EU and the US. So, week after grueling week, the Fed and the ECB keep adding another $50 to $100 billion of bad assets to their balance sheets, as ‘collateral’ and making ‘temporary’ loans they keep having to roll over and extend the repayment on. Ie, the junk stuff is becoming a permanent resident on the central bank’s balance sheets. If either the Fed or the ECB stop the weekly infusions, quite possibly the entire Western financial system stops dead. And we get a massive world stock crash.

The question now becomes, what happens when these two central banks finally decide they have to let go? You are not going to tell me they are going to keep infusing a combined $50 to $100 billion worth of financial bailouts each week forever? This massive temporary lending certainly has to end at some point...'

...



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More: Kitco.com 

By Chris Laird

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Why house prices could fall by 50%

By Jody Clarke 
Source: Money Week

'...So prices are destined to fall further, the only question is: by how far? At MoneyWeek's latest roundtable discussionJames Ferguson, an economist at Pali International and author of MoneyWeek's weekly Model Investor email, suggests house prices are likely to drop by 50%. And even that will only bring them back to fair value. James is often considered to have pretty extreme views on the housing market, but at our roundtable this month no one was arguing with him. Some of the other participants even pointed out that with the kind of overshoot you get in most markets, 50% could be optimistic. And how long will all this take? Based on the speed prices are falling, says James, it'll be a while before the official statistics show the market has bottomed but some sellers will always be more desperate than others. Give it 18 months to two years "and you'll find some serious bargains about...'

More: Money Week
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British gold sovereigns

By Mark O' Byrne, 'Why you should buy British gold sovereigns'
Source: Money Week

'Gold bullion remains an essential diversification and essential financial insurance to have in all properly diversified portfolios. Besides the ever more important factors of inflation hedging and financial insurance, we believe that gold is likely to continue to outperform other asset classes and to provide significant returns to gold buyers, and eventually surpass its inflation adjusted 1980 high of $2,400/oz in the coming years.

In fact, Citigroup's former head of technical research and managing director of Yamada Technical Research Advisors LLC., Louise Yamada sees gold on its way to $3,000 within a decade. "Gold is the purest play against the dollar," said Louise Yamada, Yamada is highly respected and was voted Wall Street's best technical analyst from 2001 to 2004.


Credit Agricole's (France's largest bank and the fourth largest bank in the world) brokerage, Cheuvreux, see the possibility of a rise to $2,000/oz or higher

So, how should one invest in gold?

There are many different ways to invest in gold and one's motivation for buying gold should dictate how one buys gold. Are you a speculator, investor or saver? Are you buying to make a capital gain or as a hedge against systemic risk and using your gold as financial insurance? Is your motivation a little of each?

ETFs, mining funds, digital gold, Perth Mint certificates, gold bullion coins and bars in one's possession and or semi numismatic gold coins are good ways to buy gold.

Given the extent of current macroeconomic and systemic risk a diversified precious metals holding makes sense and it should not be a question of "either or", rather a combination of these various ways.

Having eggs in various gold baskets, so to speak, is the most sensible and prudent strategy.

As part of this mix, older gold coins should be looked at. Classic European and world gold coinage is an often overlooked but extremely important sector in today's gold market. Pre 1933 and 19th century European and world gold coins are an intelligent alternative to modern gold bullion coins or bars, as there is often more room for appreciation because of their rarity - and yet, they can often be bought at bullion prices.

What is important, from an investment point of view, is the fact that gold bullion and older gold coins are not subject to VAT, due to the EU Gold Directive. Even more important is the fact that, unlike the other forms of gold investment outlined above,British gold sovereigns are also not subject to capital gains tax (CGT). Thus all post-1837 British gold sovereigns – because they are legal tender and have a legal tender face value - are capital gains tax free, which is obviously a massive benefit to investors vis-à-vis other gold investments.

The prices of these beautiful coins are only slightly higher than modern gold bullion, but they offer many advantages. Besides not having to pay CGT, other advantages include increasing scarcity, aesthetic value and historical significance. European and British gold coins are recognised by sophisticated investors as one of the most advantageous ways to invest in 'bulk' gold.

European, American and world gold coins are bought by both collectors and investors at a small premium to the price of bullion coins. Perhaps the most popular semi-numismatic gold coins internationally are British sovereigns.

The British sovereign (originally the one pound coin) is the most widely traded semi-numismatic gold coin in the world.There is constant and excellent liquidity in most countries in the world. For the investor looking for slight leverage to the gold price with the potential for the premium (numismatic value) to rise, British sovereigns are a good way to invest in gold...'


More: Money Week

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Is Your Bank Safe from Collapse?

'JP Morgan Chase acquires the Bear Stearns financial empire for $260mln. That’s less than the $275mln the New York Yankees paid to secure A-Rod for 10 years!

Ordinary Americans, usually too preoccupied gossiping about junk like Tori Spellings new baby, are finally starting to realize that somethings not quite right with America’s financial system.

The US economy is–to put it bluntly–whack.

Housing prices are still falling. Home foreclosures are heightening. The US Dollar is depreciating. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Inflation is soaring.

Is this the beginning of the great bank run of 2008?
Ben Bernanke and Warren Buffet predicted in 2007 that we would see major bank failures in 2008. They seem to be right, but who is next?

What I am afraid of is seeing a large consumer bank fail. If a major bank like Washington Mutual, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo were to go under, Americans would panic and make a run on the banks, withdrawing their savings.

If you know anything about how banking works, bank runs create a vicious cycle of financial pain that does exponential damage to the way banks operate. To make things worse, there are rumors that the FDIC only has $54 billion to cover over $4 trillion in deposits.

What is the safest bank to put your money?
I honestly don’t know... '



By J, Wu 

Source: Bankaholic

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Telegraph: Stage two of the gold bull market is just beginning

Source: Telegraph Blogs
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008


'...What we are about to see is a race to the bottom by the world's major currencies as each tries to devalue against others in a beggar-thy-neighbour policy to shore up exports, or indeed simply because they have to cut rates frantically to stave off the consequences of debt-deleveraging and the risk of an outright Slump.


When that happens - if it is not already happening - it will become clear that the both pillars of the global monetary system are unstable, infested with the dry rot of excess debt.


The Fed has already invoked Article 13 (3) - the "unusual and exigent circumstances" clause last used in the Great Depression - to rescue Bear Stearns. The US Treasury has since had to shore up Fannie and Freddie, the world's two biggest financial institutions.

Europe's turn will come next. We will discover that Europe cannot conduct such rescues. There is no lender of last resort in the system. The ECB is prohibited by the Maastricht Treaty from carrying out direct bail-outs. There is no EU treasury. So the answer will be drift and paralysis.


When EU Single Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was asked at a dinner what Brussels would have done if the eurozone faced a crisis like Bear Stearns, he rolled his eyes and thanked the Heavens that so such crisis had yet happened.

It will.


Gold bugs, you ain't seen nothing yet. Gold at $800 looks like a bargain in the new world currency disorder...'

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Just a picture...



Photo Rena Effendi: Des lacs de pétrole à Balakhani
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The Four Tires of the Apocalypse

Source: 321.gold

Darryl Robert Schoon
Aug 5, 2008

'The engine used to run on premium, e.g. gold and silver; now it's being run on credit which over time will destroy the engine and everything else.

The euro, the yuan, the yen, and the dollar are The Four Tires Of The Apocalypse, an event that recently appears to have come out of nowhere. It didn't. Its apparently sudden appearance is new only to those who wished to see otherwise.

The destructive juggernaut now bearing down on the financial house of cards constructed by central bankers contained within it the seeds of its own destruction from its very beginning. Over time, those seeds would turn into Cerberus, the hound of hell, on whose mercy Bernanke et. al. now depends.

Epochs, like movies, need time to reveal protagonists and antagonists, as well as victims, villains and victors. We are now at the end of an epoch and as the final scene opens, the program notes are becoming disturbingly clear.

We find ourselves participants in the last and final act of capitalism and its credit based capital markets - or more correctly, credit and/or debt markets masquerading as free markets...'

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