Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Big Reset: America’s Financial System Will Suffer a Horrible Reset By 2014

End Of Days News

 
America will soon suffer a horrible reset. That’s inevitable.

 But the people of this country and their unique nature, with the resolve to roll up their sleeves, deal with the reset, and get back on to a sound hard asset backed currency (even if they have to dig it out of the ground with their bare hands) will reestablish a sound economy, like the one embodied in the best elements of the Constitution and Bill of Rights along with the beliefs and morality that existed before the banksters came to rule the land. The present day currency cargo cult will come to an end.

I have optimism in that. But until we go cold turkey on a century of debt and take the cure, these things will not happen. The longer we wait, the worse the reset will be.

If one currency devalues itself into hyperinflation, all debts, foreign and domestic, would suffer either a complete default, with the principal and interest unpaid or the debts would be paid with hard assets such as gold or other commodities.

The difference in how the debts are resolved would be a test of the national character, will of the people, and courage of the political leaders. The people’s will is reflected in how much hardship they can take until they hit the breaking point.

Weimar Germany tried the former by printing its way out of war reparations. That ended badly and WWII was one of the result. Political courage is lacking in our country as it is in most. The people’s will is pretty questionable given that over half of the people in this country live almost entirely on government transfer payments.

The problem we face today is that the same problems that beset Germany and the dozens of other countries who went through hyperinflation, is that we now have dozens of countries pursuing the same policies but on a global basis.

 What was once a single country reset to normalcy, will be world wide.

The FIAT empires are designed to enrich some and em-beggar the common folks. Inflation is the only path these people follow, knowing that inflation removes debt, but the cost is terrible.

 Inflation is insidious and its effects have 4,000 of historical precedence. How to fix its effects are well known.

The historical record is full of countries that printed themselves into penury and after their painful and deadly resets, many countries came back from the dead by creating a gold and silver backed currency. They survived the currency/debt reset because what the system had to deal with was funny money. People will almost always persevere evenif the FIAT does not.

 The financial system we had worked well in the US for nearly 150 until the Federal Reserve was founded (with mal intent and a plan to destroy America). Subsequently gold and silver were either stolen from the citizenry or repudiated by the government—see Johnson taking silver from our coins and Nixon taking us off the gold standard. The stage was then set.

Since then our country has not made even a single step forward in real growth of wages and wealth. While the charts of debt and income went upwards for 40 years, most of us have been stuck in the euphoria of inflation induced pseudo-wealth or, for a few, transformed formerly honorable professions like banking, lawyering and political offices into a dog eat dog hog wallow of moral and financial turpitude. The coarser elements of human nature forced their ways into the fabric of this country. those who’s lives were devoted to plunder took power from good people.

So, the answer would be, and maybe some good news here, is that America will suffer a horrible reset. That’s inevitable.

 But the people of this country and their unique nature, with the resolve to roll up their sleeves, deal with the reset, and get back on to a sound hard asset backed currency (even if they have to dig it out of the ground with their bare hands) will reestablish a sound economy, like the one embodied in the best elements of the Constitution and Bill of Rights along with the beliefs and morality that existed before the banksters came to rule the land. The present day currency cargo cult will come to an end.

I have optimism in that. But until we go cold turkey on a century of debt and take the cure, these things will not happen. The longer we wait, the worse will be the reset.

The US economy contracted by .1% in the 4th Q. We are back into recession, not that we left it. Anything that you hear from the government and others that we are recovering is false hope and muddled thinking. But that is no surprise to regular readers here on SD. Most of us are living that reality and are prepared as best we can for the reset.

I think that when bond rates go back to their historic norm of 5%, or higher, the bond bubble will rupture. This will remove 25% of the bond values and start the reset. That might take a while, maybe mid 2013 or into 2014.

THIS BETTER OPEN YOUR EYES FOLKS! Judge Napolitano on Obama's Drone Strike Policy 'This Is the Power Claim...

End Of Days News

Judge Andrew Napolitano rips President Obama's drone policy and the Justice Department for resisting attempts to gain access to the legal opinions that the drone policy is based on.

"Suddenly it shows up in an NBC newsroom earlier this week! It could only have come from a governmental source. So they really have made fools of the federal judges who’ve spent hours and days and weeks struggling over the laws involved here," Napolitano said.

"It says ‘any informed high-level U.S. government official can strip an American of his or her constitutional protections and order the killing of that American if the person is overseas, if it’s difficult to arrest that person," Napolitano explained on FOX Business.

"This is the power claimed by kings and tyrants. This is about as un-American a power as one could imagine," Napolitano concluded.

DHS Insider: Obama’s cyber warriors & preparing for collapse

End Of Days News

By Douglas J. Hagmann
6 February 2013; The following information was provided to me by my DHS contact on two different occasions. Information from my first contact was previously published in two parts (here and here). I was asked to withhold the final portion of the information that was provided to me at that time until after the inauguration. The following resumes where part II left off. At the request of this source and for the sake of continuity, the following combines the information withheld and the information from our most recent contact on 4 February 2013.

DH: Do I have your permission to record this conversation?

RB: Please do.

DH: We’ve spoken at different times since the information you gave me was published. You have since given me additional information on top of the information you asked me to withhold until after the inauguration. First, what was the reason for asking me to wait to publish the remainder of our discussion until after the inauguration?

RB: This bunch, top level DHS brass, is clamping down on leaks. One way they are finding leakers is to put out false information specific to certain individuals. They can trace the information directly to the leaker due to the nature and specificity of the information. It was part self-preservation, part vetting one of my closest and most important contacts. It was a test to assure that I am not being used for disinformation purposes or being targeted as a leaker. It was something I felt I had to do, and I’m glad I did. I feel more comfortable now about my sources.

DH: So, if I understand you correctly, your sources “passed” whatever test you were performing?

RB: Yes.

DH: And you still have access to information, I mean, whistleblower type information?

RB: I know what you mean, so I guess that’s one way to put it. Okay.

DH: For continuity and to refresh your memory, I’m going to play the remainder of our recorded interview from our contact last month.

[At this point, we listened to the dialogue previously recorded. After the recording concluded, this DHS source suggested that we combine new information with the previously recorded information to avoid unnecessary repetition. It was agreed and the recorder was turned back on with his consent].

DH: Just to be clear, let me hit this again. The main reason you asked me to wait to publish your previous statements had more to do with you, your sources and well, your own self preservation than the content of our discussion.

RB: I guess you could say that. But the information is still valid and becomes even more important when combined with the latest information I have for you.

DH: Okay, we can get on with it, then.

RB: First of all, two days after the inauguration, at exactly 7:00 a.m. on January 23, something called “the Cyber-Warriors for Obama Project” was activated. I heard about this the week after the election, but only saw a hardcopy draft in late December. From what I was told, I believe this is a project that is being paid for through funds from Obama’s political corporation, the 501(c)4 Organizing for Obama, I believe it’s called. I can’t be sure, but that’s what I was told.
At that time, I was shown a white, three-ring binder with Obama’s circular campaign logo imprinted on the outside of the binder with the name “Cyber-Warriors for Obama” printed in blue across the top. Inside were the names and e-mail addresses of 3,575 “cyber assets,” or “warriors,” listed in alphabetical order under about a dozen or so “team leaders.” From a separate sheet I was shown, most of these “assets” are being paid just over minimum wage, but as I understand it, they work from home and have no overhead. I believe there are about two dozen supervisors who make substantially more.
Now I only had the binder for a minute, and could not take it from the room I was in, so this is strictly from memory.
It was tabbed, and one section with the word “targets” had a list of religious web sites, web sites I recognized as Christian. Another section was a listing of conservative Internet sites. There was another tab with the label “problem sites” that seemed quite extensive. I looked at that section, and it was broken down further into “birther” sites, “pro-gun” sites, “anti-abortion” sites, just to name a few.
There was also a section of the usual news sites, like CNN, ABC, you know. Numerous e-mail addresses were conspicuous under each news organization, which also included Fox… [unintelligible]. I figured you were going to ask.
The first page of the binder had bullet points labeled “objectives” and instructions for the cyber-assets. There was also a very detailed non-disclosure agreement with the word “DRAFT” typed in big, light grey letters across the body of the two-page agreement. The agreement and the instructions were typed on white paper with a warning, printed in red on each page, that the document was not to be copied or disseminated.

DH: Where did you see this? I mean, was it at DHS?

RB: Yes, and that’s as much as I can say on the location.

DH: What’s the magic behind the number 3,575?

RB: I asked the person showing me [the binder] that question. Supposedly, it has to do with their budget, or the project funding.

DH: Go on.

RB: The instructions seemed very specific. Infiltrate web forums, collect screen names, avatars, and posters’ tag lines, and attempt to resolve these to their actual identities. I read one paragraph that listed circumstances when the “asset” was only to monitor but do not disrupt without authorization. There was another section titled “Divert, Disrupt and Destroy,” listing “how to’s” in certain cases.
There was also a section on maintaining a social media presence, and another on the most effective use of Twitter.
Lastly, there was a “reference section,” which included statistics, specific language to use to marginalize different posters, and effective methods to discredit people while maintaining a sense of legitimacy.
It was surreal, to say the least.
Oh, one more thing that’s important. As I said, these “kids,” or young people I believe, are known collectively as “Cyber-Warriors for Obama.” The subheading was “And the truth shall set you free.” Truth? Really? They were hired on their hacking abilities, or more precisely on their abilities to make postings through proxy servers and effectively use alternate identities and multiple e-mail addresses. Their purpose is to spread disinformation, not truth.
There were also motivational statements on various pages, including one that referred to Obama as the “Pharaoh of the Internet,” which I thought was an odd characterization.
But what’s important is that suddenly, through the use of Internet aliases, multiple e-mail addresses, and screen names, a project that employs 3,575 people will have the appearance and effectiveness of maybe 10,000 or more different people.

DH: Do you know if these “team members” have their own copies of the binder you saw?

RB: No. I was told that these people were hired through the campaign offices located throughout the country, and that training meetings were held at various locations. The binders were for instructional purposes, not to hand out. Although I think the people have, or were given, a list of web sites.
I don’t know any more on the actual mechanics of the project.

DH: During our previous contact, you said that we should listen to Obama’s comments about the economy, I mean during the inaugural speech. What’s so significant about that?

RB: Well, this is perhaps the most important issue people need to understand. There will be, and was, talk of a recovery and a stronger economy, but it’s all propaganda. As you heard me say in the recording you just played, the complete inaugural address will be a “Baghdad Bob” moment, and it was. Many economists will use false figures and statistics to deceive the American people. People must not downplay the importance of the economic aspect of this address. The sudden collapse of the U.S. dollar (however it actually plays out) and everything that goes with it (such as social chaos and riots) will be one part of a plan that was set in motion a long time ago.

DH: And you are getting this from your current intelligence sources? Frankly, I’m not sure I completely understand the connection between DHS and what’s going on with the economy. Seems like it should be separate.

RB: What’s not to understand? The economic devastation that will take place is an attack, a planned attack on the U.S. Just look at it that way. This “regime” already knows the outcome, which is the debasement of our national currency. Like I said, it’s been in the works most recently since the 1990′s. A collapse does not happen without a lot of pain - people losing everything in their retirement accounts, savings and so on. Don’t you think that will cause one hell of a national security problem? And who is running our national or domestic security? DHS.
Oh, and one of the reasons I wanted to include more recent information into our discussion relates to something you did last month, after our talk. I know you said you did not want to source your own work, but there was one important radio program you did that caused a very angry response inside DHS.

DH: How so?

RB: You had a financial insider on your program who went by some letter, like the first or last letter of his name.

DH: Yes, that was “V” who is a source for Steve Quayle. We did a program at the beginning of January, I think – I’d have to look. [Edited to add that the actual program was 11 January 2013.]

RB: Yeah, that was it. If you ask your network, I think you’ll find a request was made for the transcript of that program by DHS. The information given by that source was protected, or confidential, especially regarding the actions of big bankers here in the U.S. and the foreign markets. These international bankers are playing a big role in killing the U.S., and although they’re bold, they still don’t want certain things disclosed before their time.

DH: But that information had nothing to do with national security. I mean, how would this relate to DHS?

RB: Now you’re giving me a headache [laughter]. Let me spell it out for you, and this is the crux of everything. We have Obama (or whatever his real name is) in the Oval Office. You’ve said it before, that America is a “captured operation.” Well, it is, and every top level operative at DHS and Justice knows it. They have his dossier.
Think about Obama’s mother working in microfinance with Timothy Geithner’s father. What are the odds? And that’s just one “coincidence.”
A lot of people won’t get this until it’s too late, or maybe never get it. But take a good look at Obama and the people who surround him. Look at the 2008 economic crisis under Bush. Look at the run up to where we’re at today. The orchestrated boom of the 1990′s. The GLB Act signed into law under Clinton that changed the complexion of our domestic economy. Look at the people who are still around, the architects of this. It’s a big lie! It’s all been rigged, and the insiders know this! Look at the continuity of agenda since “Bush senior.”
Now listen to what I am telling you. This is a continuing operation that involves many of the same people on both sides of the aisle in Washington. This is one of the reasons why no one wants to talk about Obama’s past. He is the product of a continuing intelligence operation, put in power to oversee the dismantling of the U.S., with the economy being the lynchpin of our destruction. Obama, Jarrett, and the Clintons are in constant contact with all high level operatives inside the DHS. Perhaps not directly in all cases but through their contacts. They are working together to see to it that the U.S. economy is brought down, robbing the people of their wealth and then blaming partisan politics for the crash.
For the first time in recent history, you’re going to see people hungry and out in the streets. Those unprepared or those thinking this is all [expletive deleted]. Desperate and begging for food. Think Katrina, but on a national scale. That’s what is being planned for Americans, and few people are willing to see what’s happening, or willing to believe it. Now here’s where DHS, my sources and information comes in.
Everybody is looking at the gun “problem” in America. Fights over the Second Amendment. State laws that go against the Constitution. Blame it on Sandy Hook or Colorado. Tell people we need to be disarmed because it’s for the children. It’s all [expletive deleted]. Most people know it’s all [expletive deleted], but that’s where their rational assessment stops. Why do you think the people in power want to - no – need to disarm the public? It’s because they are planning an economic collapse, and an armed and informed populace is a danger to their plan.

DH: Wait, wouldn’t it make sense to let the guns stay in the hands of the people and have the people shoot it out among themselves? Wouldn’t this fit in with their desire for chaos, and make it easier for Martial Law to be implemented?

RB: In a way, but you’re still not thinking big enough. The way this is being planned includes that scenario, but they are very afraid that once total chaos breaks out, they will become the targets. So to a point you’re right, but then a crackdown must take place.

DH: But the elected ones are well protected.

RB: Yeah, but you are not thinking like them. There are several scenarios or models they have commissioned. They exist in printed form and have been given to Obama and Jarrett specifically. It’s war gaming with the American people. That caused some mid-level military people with a conscience to ask what the hell is going on, and some even refused to take part in these exercises. By the way, Napolitano is the go-to person for these models.
Anyway, there is a fear that their own people won’t be loyal to them when everything begins to implode. You’ve been seeing purges lately. Remember what Jarrett supposedly said about being “hell to pay” after the re-election? That process has started.

DH: Those who have been “purged” – why haven’t we seen anyone speak out about what’s going on?

RB: They’ve been threatened. Some were not worth even being threatened and became “examples.”

DH: Like who?

RB: Oh c’mon, look at the recent mysterious deaths. Pick one.

DH: Okay, but wouldn’t they be safer by speaking out, by telling everything they know? Some ordinary people might call them cowards. Why not just go public [interrupted/over talk]

RB: Yeah, how’d that work out so far? And go public to who? CNN? They are in real danger, and so are their families. Anyone close to them. Even if one or two would go public, how do you think that would work out for them? I’ll tell you how. They would make [Senator] McCarthy look like an American hero, which he was, but that’s… They’ve made it so that no one will be able to make any real difference to their agenda. They know that.

DH: So no one is going to say anything – ever?

RB: That’s not what I said. Some will talk when the time is right. Some have “insurance policies” that will be used at the right time, when they will make the most difference.

DH: I feel like we’re getting off point. So, what is being planned?

RB: The DHS will oversee the domestic crackdown that will happen when the perfect storm bears down on us. And the perfect storm is the economy, meaning the U.S. dollar collapse and hyperinflation, racial or class riots sparked by a high-profile incident, and another mass causality event involving guns. Watch for these three things to happen all at once, or in close succession.
The polarization caused by these events will be sufficient to cause a second civil war.

DH: When? How soon will all of this happen?

RB: I don’t have a crystal ball, but I have seen various reports referencing unprecedented “drills” to take place in later March and April. I’ll mention this because I know a lot of people on the inside at DHS have seen this. A document called “Operation Thunderdome.” It’s maybe 50 or 60 pages, I’m not certain. It describes an economic collapse in the U.S., followed by an attack on the government by “a made-up patriotic group.” It combines gun owners, Constitutionalists, and even Christians into an enemy group that pulls off an attack in Washington.
But don’t fall into the trap of trying to pick the time of these events. Their plans are flexible, but their objectives are carved in stone.

DH: Sounds like a Reichstag type event - sometime.

RB: Exactly. Maybe not just one. They have plans and back-up plans and back-ups for the back-ups. And in spite of the warnings, and history, enough people will be outraged and side with the government. This brings me to my final point. What do you think all of the prepositioning of paramilitary assets, caches of ammunition, and the opening of non-descript buildings owned or leased by the federal government are for?
It’s for you and people like you. It’s for those who are turned in by their neighbors, friends, co-workers, and others who are hungry, broke and broken. What we are about to experience will be like it was during the Civil War, only worse. People will be outgunned, surveillance will be everywhere, and it will be much more difficult to hide and fight back. Not impossible, but more difficult.

DH: So you’re painting a picture of a Mad Max scenario, hence the reference to Thunderdome?

RB: Believe it or not, part of the model, or at least one of them, includes the depiction of a somewhat “normal” society, at least after the initial “hostilities.” People will be controlled by the national government, centralized – in order to escape the chaos. Think of it this way. You want food and medical care? You will not be able to own a gun, period. The current federal legislation is all window dressing – a distraction. No one expects anything meaningful to pass. It won’t have to. States, yes, but those states are lining up for federal money. The elected leaders are of the same ideology as Obama, but aside from those, we’ll see many people turning in their weapons for food, shelter, medical care, and false guarantees of safety. That’s what the new normal will look like.
As I said, you’ve got to think bigger – much bigger. The lies are bigger than most people can imagine. The people at the top are laughing at us. Think about that. They are laughing at us because it’s right in front of our noses. And you know, the bigger the lie…

DH: Yes, the more people will fall for it.

RB: Right. I think we’re done here for now. I’ve given you as much information as I know, as I have seen. Watch the economy – the indicators. Watch for a false flag. We are being baited. Let people pooh-pooh this information, seek information through FOI requests. Not gonna happen. We’re talking about an operation so black and so big, and one that has to be done in the next few years, under Obama. This is something that is international in scope. The plan is international, and is dedicated to the dismantling or destruction of America. It’s happening right in front of us, but too few can actually see it.

DH: I’m sure you, well… We’ll be accused of scaring people without citable evidence.

RB: People need to wake up. Believe me or don’t. It’s their choice.

DH: Wait, one more thing. What should we be looking for next?

RB: Look around. You’re seeing it. We’ll talk again. Please shut off the recorder.



Arab Spring Part II? Tunisian Gov’t Dissolved as Leading Critic of Islamists Gunned Down in Front of House

End Of Days News

Arab Spring Part II? Violence Grips Tunisia as Leading Critic of Islamists Gunned Down in Front of House
 
New violence broke out in Tunisia after a leading critic of the country’s Islamist rulers was gunned down at point blank range in front of his home Wednesday. In response to the killing, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali announced he is dissolving the Islamist-led government and will form a new government made up of technocrats.
 
Secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid was shot four times as he was leaving his house in the capital Tunis Wednesday morning. His wife, Basma Belaid, told the French radio channel RTL that he was shot twice in the head, once in the neck and once in the heart.
 
Belaid’s family is blaming the ruling Islamist Ennahda party for his killing, calling it an effort to silence the opposition.
 
His brother, Abdel Majeed Belaid calls the killing “a clear message to Tunisians … shut up, or we kill you.” He added that his brother who was a fierce critic of the government had received death threats “for a long time” including a text message the day before he was killed.
 
Abdel Majeed Belaid tells Al Arabiya that the current regime is “worse” than the dictatorship that was toppled in the 2011 revolution. That’s a strong statement considering his slain brother had been imprisoned and tortured when President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was still in power.
 
“He died for the country. He died for democracy,” his wife said. “He was threatened all the time.”
 
Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi denies any involvement, telling Reuters, “Is it possible that the ruling party could carry out this assassination when it would disrupt investment and tourism?”
 
Ghannouchi also accused opposition figures of exploiting the assassination to stir up more unrest in the country where the “Arab Spring” revolutions began two years ago. He said, “Tunisia today is in the biggest political stalemate since the revolution. We should be quiet and not fall into a spiral of violence. We need unity more than ever.”
 
But violence did erupt. Furious protesters poured into the streets in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 demonstrations that resulted in the Islamist rise to power. Demonstrators built barricades and clashed with police, who in turn arrested numerous protesters.
Video showed outraged protesters filling the Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis and pouring into the streets of other Tunisian cities. Some of them revived the iconic slogan of their revolution, crying: “The people want to topple the regime.”
Angry clashes broke out in front of Tunisia’s Interior Ministry, where police used tear gas to disperse the protesters. Sympathizers not interested in politics also turned out to mourn the popular public figure and express their shock about the violence that has marred the country’s heated — but otherwise previously peaceful — public debate.
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, himself an Islamist and head of the moderate religious party Ennahda, quickly condemned the bloodletting on state television. By Wednesday night, Jebali had sacked his Cabinet and called for new elections, leaving himself at the head of a caretaker government.
“Belaid was killed, but the real target behind the assassination is the Tunisian revolution as a whole,” Jebali said of his political adversary. “He represented the true values of dialogue, respecting and embracing others in rejecting violence. This is a political assassination.”
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, “There is no justification for an outrageous and cowardly act of violence like this.”
 
“There’s no place in the new Tunisia for violence. We urge the government of Tunisia to conduct a fair, transparent and professional investigation to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, consistent with Tunisian and international law,” she added.
 
Belaid, a 48-year-old lawyer, represented not only his secular party, the Democratic Patriots, but also spoke for the Popular Front, a larger coalition of secular opposition parties. He was known for his criticism of the Islamist Ennahda party and for speaking out against political violence, accusing the government of not doing enough to combat the violence of radical Islamists who have targeted art exhibitions which they deemed un-Islamic.
 
In the October 2011 elections, Ennahda won 42 percent of seats and formed a coalition government with two secular parties. But the government has so far not answered the Tunisians’ desire for an improved standard of living.
The government has also accused Al-Qaeda-linked militants for stockpiling weapons with the hopes of one day establishing a more hardline Islamic state. Police say they can’t stop the smuggling of weapons from neighboring Libya to domestic radicals.
 
AP provides more detail on the militant Islamist threat:
With the fall of the country’s secular dictatorship, however, hardline Islamist groups also have flourished and there were a string of attacks by ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis against arts, culture and people they deemed to be impious.
In the last few months, there also have appeared the Leagues to Protect the Revolution, groups that say they are fighting corruption and seeking out remnants of the Ben Ali regime.
 
In practice, opposition leaders such as Belaid said the leagues became Ennahda-backed goon squads that attacked opposition rallies. Last weekend saw a string of attacks against such meetings, including a rally held by Belaid’s Popular Front in northern Tunisia.
Middle East expert Barry Rubin, Director, Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, warns it would be unwise to underestimate just how significant Belaid’s killing is. He tells TheBlaze:
Destroying the left will be the first strategy of the Islamists. Remember that in Tunisia, where two moderate parties were willing to try working with the Muslim Brotherhood, Belaid was the most important politician in the country who said “no” and warned–just as we have–that the Islamists were determined to create a dictatorship.
 
I suspect that the Salafists, not the Brotherhood, committed this murder. But that’s the point: the Salafists are the shock troops for the Brotherhood, which uses them to attack oppositionists, secularists, moderates, churches, and women who seek equality. Many people will miss the point that Belaid is the second opposition leader killed in the last three months in Tunisia, a country which takes pride in its relative civility and where the “Arab Spring” began…
 
There is no government or established order yet in Tunisia. There’s only been an interim regime to draw up the Constitution and prepare for elections. Eliminating Belaid destroys the man who would have been the most outspoken opponent of the Islamists when Tunisia goes to the polls and he might have been strong enough to organize a non-Islamist government. In other words, they’ve eliminated their number-one barrier to running the country. And as we’ve seen in Lebanon, Islamists often win elections by killing off their rivals.
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali’s announcement of a new government is being viewed as a major concession to the opposition which has been calling for a reshuffle of the Islamist-dominated government.
 
“This is a sad day that shook the country regardless of our differences,” Jebali said in his televised address. “We are at a crossroads, and we will learn from it to make a peaceful Tunisia, secure and pluralist, where we may differ but not kill each other.”
 


Catholic Bishop: Obama Is 'Proponent' of What is 'Shameful and Criminal in the Eyes of Almighty God’

End Of Days News

dimarzio
 
(CNSNews.com) – Nicholas DiMarzio, the Catholic bishop of the diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., says that in his zealous support for abortion, President Barack Obama has used his position not to help mothers and children in difficult circumstances but instead has been an advocate for that which “is shameful and criminal in the eyes of Almighty God.”

In his column for the diocesan newspaper The Tablet, entitled “Deeper Into the Culture of Death,” Bishop DiMarzio praises Abraham Lincoln, the abolition of slavery, and notes how far the nation has come in electing Obama as president. DiMarzio also notes the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy and how Obama has promoted that decision.

“The so-called ‘pro-choice’ movement has its roots in the ideology of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who understood her call to be one who would ‘assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit,’” states Bishop DiMarzio. “Of course, a young Barack Obama was precisely the sort of unfit child that Sanger and her allies would want to eliminate.”

“Tragically, the President has not been an advocate for those young children faced with similarly difficult circumstances,” says Bp. DiMarzio. “He has chosen to use the bully pulpit not to call upon us all to be nobler and to embrace each child, regardless of origins and circumstances; rather, he has been a proponent of an expediency that is shameful and criminal in the eyes of Almighty God.”

Barack Obama
President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The bishop also discusses the Obamacare mandate that requires nearly all health care plans to offer contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs without co-pays, arguing that these rules “imposed on our Nation” would force “Catholic institutions to provide employees with medical procedures and services we believe to be in defiance of the will of God.”

“We know that, today, an administration that is hostile requires contraception and sterilization,” states the bishop. “However, as government involves itself in our internal affairs, there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the government would seek to compel religious institutions to provide abortion services in the future.”

He continues, “In my view, those who voted for President Obama bear the responsibility for a step deeper in the culture of death. Under the cover of women’s issues, we now see an assault on religious freedom and personal conscience.”

The bishop criticizes New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Catholic, for proposing “the largest expansion of abortion rights in New York State history,” which he says is an expansion of “this culture of death.”

“I would have hoped that the first African-American president of the United States would have stood on the side of freedom for all,” says Bishop DiMarzio in conclusion. “Instead, he stands on the side of political expediency. Mr. Lincoln, with great difficulty, put out into the deep and paid with his life.

 Would that our political leaders today would have some of the same courage.”

In the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., there are about 1.5 million Catholics, 206 parishes, and 119 Catholic schools.

Report: Obama ‘covertly recruiting’ Muslims as diplomats

End Of Days News

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is said to have been quietly
recruiting Muslims to serve as U.S. diplomats.
 
Judicial Watch said the Obama administration was hiring Muslims at the
State Department. The fiscal watchdog said the recruitment
was part of the administration’s outreach to Muslims to work for the federal
government.


“The Obama administration is covertly recruiting Muslims to work at the
State Department as Foreign Service officers representing the United States in one of 265 American embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions worldwide,” Judicial Watch said.
 
In a report on Jan. 31, Judicial Watch said the administration sought to
use the new Muslim recruits to bolster Washington’s relations with the rest of the world. The organization said the recruitment was headed by Mark Ward, deputy special coordinator in the State Department’s Office of Middle East Transition.
 
“Ward held a 90-minute seminar at a recent convention sponsored by two
groups — Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America —
with known ties to radical Islam,” Judicial Watch said.
 
The two Muslim groups have been linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. The
Investigative Project on Terrorism identified the Muslim American Society as
the U.S. chapter of the Brotherhood, with headquarters in Egypt.
 
“Besides being a citizenship duty, there are benefits that Muslims can
add to the American Muslim community and the global Muslim world by joining
the U.S. Foreign Services,” a statement by the Muslim American Society said
in late December 2012. “This session will shed light on the different career
opportunities for Muslim youth in the U.S. Foreign Services Department. It
will also clear any concerns that many people have feared about pursuing
in this career.”
 

Watch the Dollar: It Could Trigger the Next Crisis

End Of Days News

 
Expectations of an end to ultra-easy U.S. monetary policy are likely to set in during the second-half of 2013, triggering a bull run in the dollar that could last for five years, says independent economist Andy Xie. And this, he argues, could lead to a "crisis" in emerging markets as hot money inflows unwind.

The U.S. economy has begun to show signs of life again - with factory activity touching a nine-month high in January - prompting talks about an end to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program.

Xie forecasts the dollar index – which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of currencies - will rise to 100 in the next three years, a 25 percent rise from current levels around 80 on relative strength in the world's largest economy.
"The dollar bull market tends to trigger crises in emerging economies. This time is likely to be the same," the former Morgan Stanley economist said, citing the Latin American debt crisis in the 1980s and the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, during which a rise in the U.S. dollar against local currencies led to a spike in interest payments on external debt.

"During the last ten year's dollar bear market, massive amount of hot money flowed into emerging economies, causing currency appreciation, asset bubbles.(But) when the dollar turns the direction, so does the liquidity. The virtuous cycle on the way up becomes a vicious one on the way down," he added.

In the dollar bear market of the past decade, the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries have been the "darlings" of international speculative capital, making the them most vulnerable, according to the well-known economist. He did not provide targets for the BRIC currencies.

He said Brazil and India are most at risk among the BRIC countries because their capital markets are most open to foreign investment.

"A big worry this time is the hot money flowing in to local currencies, local currency debt by the big hedge funds, they were not there 15-20 years ago, they are planting money into emerging economies by buying local government debt," Xie said.

In Brazil, there is a high level of involvement by foreign investors in the country's local currency bond market, he said. Foreigners hold around 12.3 percent of the country's domestic debt, according to Reuters.

While in India, foreign investors play a critical role in the country's stock market, contributing to around 30 percent of market turnover. Last year, foreign institutional investor inflows (FII) into the country's equity market, for example, touched $23 billion – the second highest net inflow in a single calendar year.

"When the dollar strengthens, these trades will unwind. This will trigger the emerging market currencies to go down, inflation to go up, and interest rates to go up, and then government bond prices will decline," Xie said.

Emerging Market Fundamentals Strong
Other analysts say that emerging market economies are in a stronger position than in the past and that should offer some protection against a sharp unwinding of foreign funds should the dollar start to rise amid an unwinding of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program.

Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist, Asia ex-Japan and Credit Agricole, disagrees that the emerging market currencies will be vulnerable, given the robust fundamentals of their respective economies.

"While we expect the U.S. dollar to gain against the euro and yen over the next two years, we believe emerging market currencies will appreciate against the dollar," he said.

Historically, when the dollar falls against major currencies, it has also declined against emerging market currencies, but this time around will be different, he said.

"Emerging markets are growing faster; they will attract inflows into the economies, equity and corporate bond markets, which will underpin their currencies. They will also attract reserve diversification inflows," he said.

Three years from now, Credit Agricole expects the Indian rupee and Brazilian real will trade at 49.4 and 1.88 against the U.S. dollar, from 53.3 and 1.99, respectively. This marks gains of 7 percent for the rupee, and 5.5 percent for the real.

If there is a strong resurgence in the U.S. economy and the Fed subsequently raises interest rates at a faster-than-expected pace – making the interest rate differential less attractive – this emerging market currencies could come under some pressure, Kowalczyk said, adding that he does not foresee this situation playing out.