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Observations II

Posted by Admin on April 14, 2011

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Greetings: We return this day with more observations of your world and projections of what is to come. We begin with those humans who live under the yoke of tyranny or are a part of the physical oppression of others. They know quite well the role of physical force. It is the threat or the actual application of physical punishment, torture, or deprivation that keeps such families, clans, societies, and countries organized for the benefit of their tyrants. It is an age-old ways of controlling humans on your planet. Fears of physical harm force all into rigid structures.

Your so-call advanced societies have a much more subtle, but equally effective means of control; it is called money. Those who have it exercise various means of domination over those who do not. The elites, who have vast wealth, exercise absolute domination over the rest of such societies.

The illuminati, amassing wealth for hundreds of years, have played a largely behind the scenes role in controlling money. In the United States they created institutions such as the Federal Reserve to lend dollars to the government and in turn to the people of the U.S. Their amassed trillions of dollars insulates them from currency fluctuations, for they will always have more money than anyone else, will always hold more land, own more corporations, and control more banking institutions.

Those who have acquired wealth by playing the money game either through their inventive skills or through climbing to the top of the corporate or banking ladder have sold out to the money controllers. Oh they may be most generous in their philanthropy, but they do not give away enough money to make them one of the middle class, or even one of the lesser wealthy. Grand movies are made about the super rich. Comedies are made about the middle class and the poor.

Money invades the life of all in the developed economies. Money controls all aspects of people’s lives. You are told how much money you can borrow from a bank. You are told how much money you will pay in taxes. You are told how much money an item will cost at the super market. Money has become so widely accepted that few stop to question how it dominates their lives.

On the new Earth there will be no need to earn money. We know this is hard to conceive of, but that is the way it will be. Banks create money to lend. The Federal Reserve creates money to lend to the U.S. government. All of this money is created from nothing. If then money can be created from nothing and accepted by all as something of value, why not create money enough for everyone? This is a glimpse of what your future holds.

It is the affect of these controlling structures on individuals that we now wish to address. If you are living under the domination of a tyrant who uses physical force to control you, you are very aware of that domination. Your every movement is monitored and proscribed by soldiers or police. Your freedoms are few. If you choose, you may become part of the regime of the tyrant, and dominate others to achieve a better life for yourself and your family. But you will pay a terrific cost by betraying who you really are: a majestic soul who has incarnated to experience life in the density of Earth. The tyrant may just as well be a religious leader, still you are selling out part of who you are if you align with his or her dominating ways, if you become part of the tyrant’s clan, a follower, or a servant to his or her cause. And conscious people will look upon you with distain because they know that you have sold out.

In the case of a society that is ruled by money, a similar situation exists. Here people believe they are part of a marvelous scheme in which they may climb the ladder to financial success by playing according to the rules. Here they sell out by making the accumulation and use of money their goal. Here the tyrant is less visible, the rules of the game more obscure, and the rewards seemingly less tainted — from a very young age almost everyone is convinced that they want to be rich, and lead a wonderful life that only wealth can bring. So with a society structured around money as its controlling factor, everyone is led to believe that having money, being a part of the system, and selling out to the money tyrant is a good thing. The media glorifies those who are rich. Products and services are offered to those who have the money to pay. Neighborhoods are delineated by those who have money and those who do not. Whereas the selling out to the physical tyrant was an obvious abandonment of your friends and family, with money as the tyrant everyone is selling out to some degree, so there is no judgment by others because everyone is playing in the same game. However, those who make money and what it buys their goal are abandoning their true nature to a tyrant just a surely as those who become part of a physical tyrant’s favored few.

The energies of change are now impacting all on your world — land, sea, air, animals, fish, and most particularly, humans — dissolving the old to make way for the new. Recently there have been three of these energies: Energies of Truth, Energies of Freedom, and Energies of Oneness. From the first of these has arisen the unveiling of the corruption and deceit from governments, corporations, bankers, and religions. Julian Assange and others involved with whistle blowing are driven by the Energies of Truth. Reactions of people to the Energies of Truth are seen in the elite as they seek to label anyone who is not a part of their scheme a terrorist, as they seek to undermine what is beneficial for the many in favor of what benefits the few. The results of the Energies of Truth can be seen in payments by the Catholic Church for abuses by priests.

The Energies of Freedom are entering the lives of all humans. It is not just the courageous people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and other Middle East countries. It is the actions of wives who seek freedom from abusive husbands, children who seek freedom from domineering parents, and workers who seek freedom from domination by corporations.

The Energies of Oneness are the most recent. They are causing all to take a second look at who are their brothers and sisters. These energies are stirring a gratitude for Earth and all that she has provided. Oneness is exhibited by those who see poverty and hunger in a new light, see that the unfortunate are truly no different than their own family. Again the elites, the wealthy, the comfortable, and all who have used their money, power, and status to establish themselves as better than lesser humans are resisting this energy, and engaging in class warfare.

The energies of change are impacting all on Earth. This is not a temporary condition; Earth-humans will NOT return to the old ways of seeing and believing. The waves of change are seeping over all. There is no going back. All are sensing these energies of change, whether they understand them or not.

Those of you who are reading these words, and comprehend the magnitude of the changes, would do well to search within to determine how you are reacting. Are you going to fear, or embracing the light? Many of you will soon realize that you are the light bearers who others will seek out to gain understanding, and to inquire as to what they should do. Do not hide your light; let it shine by your example. You have much to give; decide how you will assist the transformation of your human sisters and brothers.

This all resolves itself then into the impact on individual humans and how they react to the many energies and changes. Do they see the changes and say, “Indeed this is the time of great change. We welcome this.” Or do they say, “I will resist these changes because I like things they way they are.” Or do they see the changes and go into fear for their personal safety? Or do they choose to ignore the changes, hoping all will return to “normal” in a short while? The choice is yours, humans of Earth, choose well for your choices impact all in the universe.

Now let us turn to those us who watch and wait. We do this because we may not interfere with your personal choices, your individual free will. We may not come to your assistance until you request it. In many of the recent “natural” disasters, the countries not affected came to the assistance of those in distress. The recent earthquake in Japan saw countries and organizations from around the world offering assistance. It was the choice of the Japanese people to ask for and accept this assistance.

So will be the case with your sisters and brothers from the stars. There will come a time in the near future when your entire world will be in a state of distress. There will be no other countries or organizations to come to the assistance of those requesting help. It is at that moment if you ask for our assistance that we will answer your call. We, your brothers and sisters from the stars, will deliver much-needed assistance — in much the same way that assistance has been provided to the people of Japan.

Despite our best efforts, we will not be able to assist every individual in a timely manner, nor will we impose ourselves on those who do not wish our assistance, nor do we wish to circumvent your opportunities to assist a neighbor or family member. Just as has been the case in Japan, people have assisted each other with food, water, and shelter. When your entire world is in distress, you too will be called upon to assist each other and we have no doubt that you will respond.

So it is wise to store some food and water and to secure shelter first for yourselves, then for your family members, friends, and neighbors. The period of distress will last for several months, until the necessities can be restored. Until electricity can once again be counted on to light your homes. Plan for such a time.

You will not be thrown back into the primitive state of your ancestors. At the same time, your major cities will become unsustainable. It is from the countryside and in smaller villages that the civilization of Earth will be reconstructed. Here we of the stars can be most effective in rendering assistance. So we say to you this day, plan well for the transformation is upon you.

Some have visualized the pending changes as the separation of the Earth into two parts. Others have seen a second Earth make an appearance and humans being transported to that sphere. In your earlier communications you foresaw such an event, Mark. What is more accurate is a separation of the Earth into different densities based on vibration.

Those who are of the 3rd vibration will experience the physical changes that Earth is projected to undergo, including earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. These will change the face of the planet, water will intrude over land, the poles will shift, and the crust of the Earth will rotate. The net result of this will be a more moderate climate and the greening of the deserts. It will take some time for the Earth to adjust to all that is new. The animals and fish will adjust quite rapidly; it is the humans who remain on the Earth of a higher vibration who will have the most difficult adjustments. Your need for shelter, food, and water will not completely disappear.

Those of you who are vibrating at a higher frequency will not experience the trauma as severely as those who are vibrating at a lower frequency. You will rise above much of the trauma, but you will see it nonetheless. Thus you will exist alongside those of the lower vibrations. You will walk among them but they will barely see you. In some cases you will be able to reach out to assist them. Entire communities will be distinguished by their combined frequencies: Individuals of the higher frequencies blending with those of the somewhat lower frequencies.

Those of you who have achieved a higher frequency will be able to see us, your sisters and brothers of the stars, as we come to assist your transition. Those of the lower frequencies will not see our assistance but they will benefit from it nonetheless.

It has always been that way. Over the centuries, we have worked with certain individuals to insure the progress of humanity. It has been seen as innovations in technology, government, and better ways to experience one another. We have been the helping hand behind the discovery of electricity and harnessing it for lighting. Many of our suggested innovations have been corrupted by those who would keep such innovations for themselves or use them to induce fear into the population, but we have seen enough good come from our urgings that we have continued.

Now it is your turn to provide assistance to those of a lower vibration. From your vantage point, you will assist the continued evolution of mankind on Earth. The greater advantage you have is that you will possess human bodies exactly like those of the humans of the lower frequencies; they will relate to you more readily than they have to us who have seemed strange. You are to be the Caretakers, not only of the Earth, but also of your human brothers and sisters.

This has not been done before: Humans who are of a slightly higher frequency assisting those of a slightly lower vibration. All who remain on Earth will slip into what you are calling higher dimensions, for none who are addicted to fear, hate, anger, war, or violence will survive what is coming. (Their dense energies will not enable them to move upward.) Those who consciously put aside lower vibrations will shift into a higher dimension and journey to the new Earth. Those of you who are vibrating at a higher frequency yet will interact with them as guides, mentors, and elders. It will be a glorious time when the new humans of Earth can vibrate at the frequencies of the animals and plants, can see the oneness of all, can relax into the beauty of Earth, and most importantly can assist each other in love and light.

The time of great change is upon you. Listen well to the various communications, and embrace the higher energies. Each must find his or her own way of being, for both your evolution and your uniqueness are valued.

As we currently see the situation, there will be continued earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and severe weather. How impacting each will be on humans is determined by a number of factors: Earth’s desire to cleanse herself in a particular area. The fears held by the human residents of that area. The illuminati’s use of HAARP, and other methods, to increase the severity of these events.

As we have told you before, we can see the Earth in the future. We are looking at a beautiful new Earth through the perspective of our higher frequency (where there is no time and we can see without distortions), so we see her somewhat differently than do you who are looking through a 3rd dimension vibration. Earth is much the same as today (mountains, oceans, etc.); it is that we see her differently from our lighter perspectives (as will you when you achieve faster vibrations).

Let us remind you once again that your individual future is determined by your individual frequency of vibration. You have been told by various lightworkers, and by those of us from the higher vibrations, of several methods to increase your vibration. If you have not already done so, it is not too late to undertake this process. Staying in a higher vibration means avoiding fear both now and when the climax of the transformation takes place. Much like the vibration of a tuning fork that can be quelled by holding it against your hand, so can fear dampen your vibration.

Now is the time to avoid anything that reduces your ability to vibrate at the highest possible level. Practice living in higher vibration daily. Practice it with your eyes open, practice in your home, in your place of work, and as you walk in nature. Practice it as you walk tall among those who are fearful. Practice it so that others who see you notice you are oblivious to the fears of 3rd dimensional surroundings, and practice it so that others inquire of you how also to do that.

We who exist in the density without time can assure you that Earth will continue. We can assure you that humans of Earth will continue, albeit at a higher vibration. Moreover we can assure you that everything will be quite different on the new Earth — that the new Earth will be a planet of love, light, and Oneness. We have seen the brilliant new Earth as she shines like a beacon for all in the universe. And you the humans who then reside upon her will be honored as those who transformed themselves from a density of fear into beings of love and light. And there will be great joy among all in the universe as these momentous events are realized. What you do for yourselves and each other reverberates through the universe.

Once again we are pleased to communicate with you and look forward to more opportunities. We hold you in unconditional love. Until next time, I am Adrial, a celestial of this universe, I am Bren-Ton, I am Justine, and I am Moraine, all from Andromeda, and I am Zepher of the Pleiades.

_________________________________________________________

DECLARATIONS

Read archived messages from Adrial, Bren-Ton, Justine, Moraine, and others at this site or by referring to:http://www.cosmicparadigm.com/Marks_Corner/

For observations by Mark Kimmel, go to: http://www.cosmicparadigm.com/Marks_Corner/

You may make copies of this message and distribute in any media as long as you change nothing, credit the author, and include the web address.

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POOFness for SEPT 5: And Here We Go!

Posted by Admin on September 6, 2010

Cults and new religious movements in literatur...

Image via Wikipedia

Greetings and Salutations,

Some of you know and for those who don’t, banks in this country are changing to treasury banks this weekend. I’ve already told you what time it is for the fed. It’s so hard for americans to come to grips with the fact, the fed isn’t running anything. Soon, you will be hearing that we’ve returned to the constitutional treasury, you know, where it has precious metal backing the currency. What reagan tried to do and got shot for his attempt, is happening under this current administration. Kept silent from the people is how many attempts that have been made on this man’s life to prevent the same thing. This time people with bigger teeth are at work to stop any interruptions in the conversion process. The line is in the rock and that’s it, like it or not. From that point on, there will be some disorder because, many preconceived notions will be destroyed as having no merit. The sleeping giant shall awaken from it’s fitful dreams.

You have free will and it will be personal to you, as to what you will do with all of this stuff when the moment strikes. You can either lose your mind and act out, or sit and contemplate and move on. The funds will be a great incentive to ‘reason’ first. This is a lost art with this constant pounding from the media. The right wing wants to go back to the past, tho the bridge was taken out, so it will be impossible. They won’t tell their supporters that but it sounds good to the people. Money supply is the determining factor, no matter what they say. This is no longer an island that can do what it chooses. Others with a longer and more powerful ability are the ones at work preparing this country and the world to step into the future. After they’ve seen and watched, what these guys have done with the chances they were given, ‘daddy has taken the t-bird away’. I was shown a doc a bit ago, with a loan of gold given to washington, dated 1786, by a chinese trust. This story is long and deep. All they tell us about is those rotten ‘commies’, nothing could be further from the truth. Even if McCain would have won the elections, he’d have been faced with the same thing..the Truth..and miss bendy straws with him. Once one enters the white house all a sudden the world view changes, it isn’t quite the same as you believed.

Religion is getting an upfront and personal too. All heads of all religious faiths will be called to the big tables where the archives will be brought out and opened, more uncomfortable stuff will have to be dealt with, basically, no more wars fought in the name of whatever deity they have been telling folks who’s running things. You can’t fight the Creator’s war, the best is act ignorant. They have created God in their image anyhow and that is an impossible task when you’re talking about the Infinite with a finite mind. The right is out here wanting to ‘let them eat cake’, how does that square up with the Master’s teachings? My kingdom is no part of this world. So much for ‘politrix’. I am adding something to this newsletter for you to contemplate. It’s about a hypothetical interview with Jesus…think about it.

This is a working weekend for the bankers as they prepare for what is going down now. I’m outside the thick doors but I am getting the minutes, when somebody steps out to use the bathroom from time to time. Hold onto your hats, this is going to be a wild ride. You’ve never seen nothing like this before.

I will call for consultations as long as I can, just email this address if needed.

Love and Kisses,

“Poofness”

PS:

I woke up last night to the sound of laughing and realized I’d fallen asleep with the TV on. It was 3 AM and I knew it was Jon Stewart but I had to fumble around for my glasses to see who his guest was. Unbelievable! It was Jesus, in his robe and all. His nose was bigger than I thought, his skin a lot darker, but his eyes were more piercing than I’d ever imagined. It was like light came out instead of going into them.

John was making some joke about both of them being Jews and Jesus, after laughing harder than I thought he would, said quite seriously to Jon, “Yeah, that’s one of the weirdest things, isn’t it? How could they forget that?”

Jon was all over him with questions from the daily news. What was his take on the whole Mosque/Ground Zero fiasco? Jesus said he’d seen some newscasts on the story and couldn’t believe the drama and fear it was bringing up. “They want to build a public building for prayer, education and community gathering. That’s a good thing. A better thing perhaps, would be the construction of an interfaith building, There’s room for everyone, and it’s these distinctions between religions that’s causing all the problems in the first place.”

Jon looked incredulous. “An interfaith building??”

“Yes, a multi-tasking mosque, with a synagogue, chapel and meditation hall in it. A building where people of different faiths come together to make a better world together. That’s the point of religion right? It’s not about doctrine. It’s a plan for action, an opportunity to be a bigger force for good. Religion is just the map. Faith is the real adventure.”

“I don’t know….” said Stewart, making one of those funny mouth movements he does after hearing a strange idea.

Jesus pipes in, “What could be better in that spot than a building that represents, by its very structure, a coming together, a new vision that goes beyond religious borders? It’s like taking a good idea and making it great. The real prophets of the day know this. Where are their voices? Why aren’t you interviewing them?”

“Hmm, I thought I was,” says Stewart, tapping his pencil on the desk.

“You know why you have border issues here? Because you believe the borders are real, like they MEAN something. Muslim against Christian, Mexican against American, Republican against Democrat-all those borders are made up. You put up walls to defend your ideas-and not even your OWN, but ideas passed down to you from someone else-and then you make other people look like demons. It’s no wonder this country is in a state of collapse. You don’t even get it how connected you are. You’re like five fingers on a hand who think they’re separate and make up reasons why not to get along.”

Jon sat there with his mouth open.

“You’re like children playing war games. You spend all your time, all your energy attacking the “other side” instead of realizing you need to bridge the two sides in order to get across to a higher level of thinking. Even news shows are at war. Look at how you make fun of FOX. What light does that add to the world? All the time you could be giving to real visionaries, all the ways you could be role-modeling good behavior, showing the audience how it really WORKS to bring great and opposing minds together, and you sit there poking fun at another station. That’s really enlightened, isn’t it?”

This was the first time I’d ever seen Jon Stewart speechless. He looked like an embarrassed 6th grader. No pencil tapping now. More like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

“What in the world are you people doing? The ones who call themselves “religious” are often the most immature, the most judgmental and intolerant. What is THAT about? That’s exactly the opposite of what every religion teaches. And I mean EVERY religion,” Jesus said, as he looked away from Stewart and spoke right to the camera.

“All the religions say two basic things,” he said, holding up his fingers in a peace sign. “First, there is no distance between you and this one you call God. God is the creative force behind all things. It’s invisible, but you are the manifestation of it. I’m telling you, the Sistine Chapel should have been a mirror.”

The audience laughs, but Stewart stares into those deep eyes of the Nazarene.

He goes on, “You are the eyes, the hands, the feet of that creative force. That energy is in you. It’s called your breath.” He holds up his index finger and taps on it a few times. “That’s the first thing. Don’t think there’s some man out there pulling strings. Grow up. This civilization-if you can call it that-is YOUR creation. This earth, it is not a bunch of resources to be exploited. It is not to be owned. It is your mother, the womb that you sprang from. You are its consciousness, its neural cells. The whole earth is the organism that you belong to. You did not come down to earth, you came up from earth, as I did. Its well-being is in your hands. Can you be proud of what you’re doing? Are you going to be the ones who kill it off, after all that talk about pro-life?”

Jesus was getting a little worked up, like that day he stormed through the temple turning over the merchants’ tables. Jon cut to a commercial, “And we’ll be right back to hear the 2nd basic thing from our guest tonight, ladies and gentlemen, the Jewish prophet Jesus of Nazareth. Stay tuned…”

They were laughing about something when they returned from the commercial, Jesus stretched out in his chair with his long lanky legs covered by his tunic, his sandaled feet hidden under the desk.

“OK,” Jon says, “You were saying there were two things. Let me see if I got this right. There’s no bearded guy up there on a cloud. That God we talk about and fight over is the creative force inside us and around us? It’s invisible and we’re like….(a long pause) its shadow?”

“Not exactly,” says Jesus. We’re like the physical form of the same energy. The ice cube version of water or steam. Same elements, different form. The sea and the iceberg. You’re all icebergs in the Sea of God,” he said, half-laughing at his own quaint metaphor. “But the problem is you don’t realize that underneath it all, you’re all connected. There’s just one big iceberg with a lot of tips. The truth is, you’re Creation continuing the co-creation of Itself.”

“Oh my,” says Stewart. “Let’s leave that discussion to Bill Moyers, What about number two? What’s the number two thing we’re supposed to know?”

Jesus holds up his two fingers again, tapping the tip of his middle finger. The camera zoomed in so closely on him I could see a scar on his forehead. “It’s not so much what you need to know-that’s part of the problem, all these peoples’ belief systems. That’s what gets you in trouble. No one has to believe in me to get to heaven. A…there is no heaven to get to and B, it’s not what you believe but how you act that matters. If anyone learned anything from reading that Bible they should have picked up that one. There’s 3000 references to helping the poor in there. But let me get back…”

“Yes,” says Stewart. “The second thing..”

“The second thing is this: forget everything you ever learned in any holy book and just treat everyone like a brother and a sister. I mean that literally. If it were your brother coming across the border…your sister with cancer and no health care….your child unable to get an education….your mother with no food in her house. And even further, your brother who was gay or hated gays, your sister who was a corrupt politician, your brother who bombed an abortion clinic, your sister who got an abortion. What does it look like to love unconditionally? To bridge differences, to come together over what we can agree on? Can you get through one day without thinking you’re better or less than another? That’s the thing to strive for. That is living faithfully.”

“But…but…” says Stewart. “What about the Tea Partyers, the terrorists, what about Fox News and hate crimes?”

“If you think they are so different from you, be the opposite of what you think they are and enact that powerfully in the world. Don’t focus on who’s wrong. Just be a greater force for good.”

“Not focus on who’s wrong? How could I do my show?”

“Exactly. Remember what Gandhi said? Be the change you want to see in the world?”

“Sure. I have that quotation on my refrigerator.”

“Well, it’s time to take it further. You’re evolving as a people. You’ve come through the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the wrongly named Period of Enlightenment. You’re now in the Information Age. You are growing your consciousness. In the physical world, you have Olympic marathon trainers who run 10 miles or more a day. They spend every waking hour in training, eating the right foods, researching the right clothing and equipment, working out, following a discipline. And in the metaphysical world, the spiritual world, you have people doing the same-they are your mystics and prophets-engaging in spiritual practice, accelerating their wisdom, expanding their consciousness, transcending judgment and radiating love into the world. You might be in that category.,.”

Stewart does one of his choking, ahem things, putting his hand over his mouth. “Out of the question,” he says frankly. “I thrive on judgment.”

“Good to know yourself. You’re all evolving at different rates. In the fall, when you look at a maple tree, you see leaves that are green, yellow, orange and red. They don’t all change at the same time. And that’s what makes life exciting. You all know different things. That’s why you need each other. Like that guy Ken Wilbur said, “You’re all right, only partly so.”

Stewart nods his head in agreement, tapping his pencil on the table again.

“But back to Gandhi. I agree with what he said, but I’ll say it a different way, just to shake things up a bit, which I love to do. By the way, it’d make a great bumper sticker:
Be the God you want to see in the world.”

“Oh-oh, sounds blasphemous to me,” says Stewart.

“You know as well as I do, every good idea starts out as a blasphemy.”

“OK, great, we’re out of time,” says Stewart, as the camera swings over for a shot of the audience. They’re all standing, some crying and laughing at the same time, the most incredible look of collective awe I’ve ever seen. And Jesus walks over like Jay Leno and starts shaking hands with them. What a night!”

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Singapore gold slips below $1,200 before Fed meeting

Posted by Admin on August 10, 2010

10 Aug 2010, 1036 hrs IST,REUTERS

SINGAPORE: Gold ticked lower on Tuesday as early bargain hunting subsided, but investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve would take further steps to ease monetary policy later in the day, boosting bullion’s safe-haven appeal.

Researchers at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank said there is a “significant” chance the U.S. economy will slip back into recession in the next two years although a reversal is unlikely in the next few months.

Spot gold eased 30 cents to $1,199.70 an ounce by 0238 GMT. Bullion had fallen slightly on Monday as a firmer dollar prompted investors to lock in profits ahead of a closely watched statement by the Fed at 1815 GMT.

“Investors await the outcome of the FOMC meeting. The Fed may announce plans for further quantitive easing to stimulate the economy, which could benefit gold,” said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

“Should this occur, gold prices may tick up to $1,210. I remain bullish on gold on a long term basis,” said Ong, referring to a high seen mid-July.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery were barely changed at $1,201.8 an ounce.

Cash gold and U.S. futures struck a lifetime high in June on worries the euro debt crisis was spreading and the U.S. economy was slowing. Dismal U.S. jobs data on Friday fuelled speculation the Fed could soon buy U.S. debt to support the economy.

The euro slipped against the dollar while the Nikkei edged up, but the market was split on whether the Fed’s meeting will take any new steps in quantitative easing.

Most investors seem to assume the Fed will sound more cautious on the recovery, but there the agreement ends.

Silver and platinum group metals tracked equities higher. Dealers noted light physical buying in Hong Kong but consumers from mainland China were on the sidelines after snapping up gold last week, when the government said it would allow more banks to import and export gold due to growing demand.

“I think sentiment is bullish after gold rises to these levels. It’s also important to note the Chinese government is pushing people to buy gold instead of property,” said a dealer in Hong Kong.

“But I think Chinese buyers will wait and see at these levels. If the price goes back down to $1,180, you may see people coming back to buy.”

Annual house price inflation in China fell in July for the third month running under the impact of a government drive against property speculation.

Zijin Mining Group said a government-ordered production suspension affecting two of its mines in China’s Shandong province would have an impact on its annual output target.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/bullion/Singapore-gold-slips-below-1200-before-Fed-meeting/articleshow/6285994.cms

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Ron Paul: Inside Sources Told Me Fed Is Panicking At Mass Awakening

Posted by Admin on May 28, 2010

Congressman: “We are still fighting,” to add stronger provisions to watered down legislation

Ron Paul: Inside Sources Told Me Fed Is Panicking At Mass Awakening 270510top

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, May 27, 2010

Appearing on The Alex Jones Show yesterday, Congressman Ron Paul revealed that through his inside sources he had learned that the people who control the Federal Reserve are panicking about the fact that Americans are waking up to the fact that the U.S. is controlled by the central bank.

“I had some information passed on to me, sort of inside information, somebody who knew somebody who was well tuned to the people at the Federal Reserve – and they said they are really really concerned about our movement to expose the Fed for what they’re doing,” said Paul, adding, “What they’re upset or worried about is the fact that more and more people are aware of the Federal Reserve now like never before,” explaining that exposure will lead to change and a reform of the Federal Reserve.

Paul attributed the success of the freedom movement in the last decade to the growing awareness of the power that the Federal Reserve wields over America.

“Even those who defend the Fed are very frightened about it,” added Paul, noting that a growing number of Americans were knowledgeable about the central bank despite the fact that the subject is rarely covered by the education system.

Host Jones made reference to a recent Council on Foreign Relations speech by Trilateral Commission and regular Bilderberg attendee Zbigniew Brzezinski in which he warned that a “global political awakening,” in combination with infighting amongst the elite, was threatening to derail the move towards a one world government.

“I hope he has some real reasons to be worried about that,” responded the Congressman.

Despite the Senate voting down Ron Paul’s version of the audit the fed bill earlier this month, a weaker version was passed which will mandate the central bank to reveal which financial institutions received bailout money at the peak of the economic crisis, something the Fed has desperately tried to avoid divulging.

Paul expressed his own disappointment at the watered down bill, but his colleagueCongressman Alan Grayson expressed confidence that the stronger provisions of the original House amendment could be added in Committee, ensuring the Federal Reserve doesn’t get off the hook, as Congressman Paul has warned.

Paul told host Jones that people should look into which Senators did not vote for the original audit the Fed bill, characterizing the weakened version as “A bailout for the system and for the Federal Reserve.”

Paul said he was going to try and influence the bill in conference by adding stronger provisions.

“I think right now the cards are stacked against us but we’re going to keep fighting because the more attention we get and the more people know, I ink we can be proud of how far we’ve gotten already,” said Paul.

From http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-inside-sources-told-me-fed-is-panicking-at-mass-awakening.html

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Feds: Government can't push BP aside on oil spill

Posted by Admin on May 25, 2010

Feds: Government can\'t push BP aside on oil spill

By GREG BLUESTEIN and ERICA WERNER | Posted: Monday, May 24, 2010 11:28 pm

The Obama administration’s point man on the oil spill rejected the notion of removing BP and taking over the crisis Monday, saying the government has neither the company’s expertise nor its deep-sea equipment.

“To push BP out of the way would raise a question, to replace them with what?” Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, who is heading the federal response to the spill, said at a White House briefing.

The White House is facing increasing questions about why the government can’t assert more control over the handling of the catastrophe, which unfolded after a BP offshore drilling rig blew up April 20.

All of BP’s attempts to stop the leak have failed, despite the oil giant’s use of joystick-operated submarine robots that can operate at depths no human could withstand. Millions of gallons of brown crude are now coating birds and other wildlife and fouling the Louisiana marshes.

BP is pinning its hopes of stopping the gusher on yet another technique never tested 5,000 feet underwater: a “top kill,” in which heavy mud and cement would be shot into the blown-out well to plug it up. The top kill could begin as early as Wednesday, with BP CEO Tony Hayward giving it a 60 to 70 percent chance of success.

Allen said federal law dictated that BP had to operate the cleanup, with the government overseeing its efforts.

“They’re exhausting every technical means possible to deal with that leak,” he said. “I am satisfied with the coordination that’s going on.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar suggested over the weekend that the government could intervene aggressively if BP wasn’t delivering. “If we find that they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we’ll push them out of the way appropriately,” he said.

But asked about that comment Monday, Allen said: “That’s more of a metaphor.”

Allen said BP and the government are working closely together, with the government holding veto power and adopting an “inquisitorial” stand toward the company’s ideas. The commandant also said the government has the authority to tell BP what to do, and such orders carry the force of law.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also took a more measured tone at a news conference Monday in Galliano, La., with Salazar and six U.S. senators who had flown over the coast to see the damage. “We continue to hold BP responsible as the responsible party, but we are on them, watching them,” she said.

BP said it is doing all it can to stop the leak. Its chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, made the rounds of network morning news shows to say that the company understands people are frustrated.

“Clearly Secretary Salazar is telling us that we need to do this as expediently as we can,” Suttles said. “And of course we are.”

Hayward, BP’s chief executive, walked along oil-soaked Fourchon Beach and said he had underestimated the possible environmental effects.

“I’m as devastated as you are by what I’ve seen here today,” Hayward told reporters after he spoke with cleanup workers in white overalls and yellow boots, some shoveling oily sand into garbage cans. “We are going to do everything in our power to prevent any more oil from coming ashore, and we will clean every last drop up and we will remediate all of the environmental damage.”

Mark Kellstrom, an analyst with Summit, N.J.-based Strategic Energy Research, said time might be running out for BP to continue calling the shots. “The rhetoric is growing up in Washington for the politicians to kick out BP and let the government take over,” Kellstrom said, though he added that it would be a mistake.

BP had hoped to try a top kill earlier but needed more time to get equipment into place and test it. A top kill has worked on aboveground oil wells in Kuwait and Iraq but has never before been attempted so far underwater.

Suttles said the biggest technical challenge is that the fluid must be pumped in very quickly, and engineers need to make sure it goes into the well, not out through the leaking pipe, which could make the leak worse.

A containment device is on the seafloor, ready to be put in place if the top kill fails or makes the leak worse. It is a smaller version of a 100-ton box that BP lowered several weeks ago in hopes of capturing much of the oil. But it got clogged with icy crystals, and BP was forced to abandon it.

Engineers are working on several other backup plans in case the top kill doesn’t work, including injecting assorted junk into the well to clog it up, and lowering a new blowout preventer on top of the one that failed.

The only certain permanent solution is a pair of relief wells crews have already started drilling, but the task could take at least two months.

In another source of tension between BP and the government, the company was still using a certain chemical dispersant Monday to fight the oil despite orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to employ something less toxic.

“If we can find an alternative that is less toxic and available, we will switch to that product,” Suttles said. “To date, we’ve struggled to find an alternative either that had less risk to the environment or that was readily available.”

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson called BP’s response “insufficient.”

Others have blamed the administration for not doing enough, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who said Sunday on Fox News that Obama was being lax in his response to the spill.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the criticism ill-informed and suggested Palin needed a blowout preventer, the technical term for the device intended to prevent an oil spill from becoming a full-scale catastrophe. The phrase has entered the political vernacular since the one on the Gulf well failed.

“You’ve got to have a license to drive a car in this country, but regrettably you can get on a TV show and say virtually anything,” Gibbs said.

___

Werner reported from Washington. Associated Press Writers Kevin McGill and Alan Sayre in Louisiana and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

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Financial Crisis: The Next Big Bank Bailout is on the Way

Posted by Admin on March 24, 2010

Financial Crisis: The Next Big Bank Bailout is on the Way

by Mike Whitney

//
//

Global Research, March 17, 2010

Information Clearing House – 2010-03-16

Housing is on the rocks and prices are headed lower. That’s not the consensus view, but it’s a reasonably safe assumption. Master illusionist Ben Bernanke managed to engineer a modest 7-month uptick in sales, but the fairydust will wear off later this month when the Fed stops purchasing mortgage-backed securities and long-term interest rates begin to creep higher. The objective of Bernanke’s $1.25 trillion program, which is called quantitative easing, was to transfer the banks “unsellable” MBS onto the Fed’s balance sheet. Having achieved that goal, Bernanke will now have to unload those same toxic assets onto Freddie and Fannie. (as soon as the public is no longer paying attention)

Bernanke’s cash giveaway has helped to buoy stock prices and stabilize housing, but market fundamentals are still weak. There’s just too much inventory and too few buyers. Now that the Fed is withdrawing its support, matters will only get worse.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped the folks at Bloomberg from cheerleading the nascent housing turnaround. Here’s a clip from Monday’s column:

“The U.S. housing market is poised to withstand the removal of government and Federal Reserve stimulus programs and rebound later in the year, contributing to annual economic growth for the first time since 2006. Increases in jobs, credit and affordable homes will help offset the end of the Fed’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities this month and the expiration of a federal homebuyer tax credit in April. Sales will rise about 6 percent this year, and housing will account for 0.25 percentage point of the 3.6 percent growth, according to forecasts by Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist for Barclays Capital in New York…“The underlying trend is turning positive,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York.”

Just for the record; there has been no “increases in jobs”. It’s baloney. Unemployment is flat at 9.7 percent with underemployment checking-in at 16.8 percent. There’s no chance of housing rebound until payrolls increase. Jobless people don’t buy houses.

Also, while it is true that the federal homebuyer tax credit did cause a spike in home purchases; it’s impact has been short-lived and sales are returning to normal. It’s generally believed that “cash for clunker-type” programs merely move demand forward and have no meaningful long-term effect.

So, it’s likely that housing prices–particularly on the higher end–will continue to fall until they return to their historic trend. (probably 10 to 15% lower) That means more trouble for the banks which are already using all kinds of accounting flim-flam (“mark-to-fiction”) to conceal the wretched condition of their balance sheets. Despite the surge in stock prices, the banks are drowning in the losses from their non performing loans and toxic assets. And, guess what; they still face another $1 trillion in Option ARMs and Alt-As that will reset by 2012. it’s all bad.

The Fed has signaled that it’s done all it can to help the banks. Now it’s Treasury’s turn. Bernanke will keep the Fed funds rate at zero for the foreseeable future, but he is not going to expand the Fed’s balance sheet anymore. Geithner understands this and is working frantically to put together the next bailout that will reduce mortgage-principal for underwater homeowners. But it’s a thorny problem because many of the borrowers have second liens which could amount to as much as $477 billion. That means that if the Treasury’s mortgage-principal reduction plan is enacted; it could wipe out the banks. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Financial Times which explains it all:

“A group of investors in mortgage-backed bonds dubbed the Mortgage Investors Coalition (MIC) recently submitted to Congress a plan to overhaul the refinancing of underwater borrowers by writing down the principal balances of both first and second mortgages. The confederation of insurers, asset managers and hedge funds hope to break a logjam between Washington DC and the four megabanks with the most exposure to writedowns on second lien mortgages, including home equity lines of credit.

The private sector initiative coincides with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank’s open letter dated 4 March to the CEOs of the banks in question – Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo – urging them to start forgiving principal on the second lien loans they hold.

But the banks are unlikely to take action until they get new accounting guidance from regulators that would ease the impact of such significant principal reductions on their capitalization ratios.”

(Ed.–“Accounting guidance”? Either the banks are holding out for a bigger bailout or they’re looking for looser accounting standards to conceal their losses from their shareholders. Either way, it’s clear that they’re trying to hammer out the best deal possible for themselves regardless of the cost to the taxpayer.)

Financial Times again: “The four banks in question collectively own more than USD 400bn of the USD 1trn in second lien mortgages outstanding. BofA holds USD 149bn, Citi holds USD 54bn, JP Morgan holds USD 101bn and Wells Fargo holds USD 115bn, according to fourth quarter 2009 10Q filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

As proposed, the MIC’s plan entails haircuts to the first and second lien loans to reduce underwater borrowers’ loan to value ratios to 96.5% of current real estate market prices, according to two sources close.

For the program to work, HAMP would place principal balance forgiveness first in the modification waterfall. The associated second lien would take a principal balance reduction but remain intact through the process – ultimately to be re-subordinated to the first lien, the sources close said.

A systemic program to modify second lien mortgages called 2MP does exist but Treasury has stalled on implementation because the banks that hold them can’t afford it, six buyside investors said. The sources all said implementation of the program, called 2MP, would result in “catastrophic” losses for the nation’s four largest banks, which collectively hold more than USD 400bn of the USD 1trn in second lien mortgages outstanding.” (“Mortgage investors push for banks to write down second liens”, Allison Pyburn, Financial Times)

Hold on a minute! Didn’t Geithner just run bank “stress tests” last year to prove that the banks could withstand losses on second liens?

Yes, he did. And the banks passed with flying colors. So, why are the banks whining now about the potential for “catastrophic” losses if the plan goes forward? Either they were lying then or they’re lying now; which is it?

Of course they were lying. Just like that sniveling sycophant Geithner is lying.

According to the Times the banks hold $400 billion in second lien mortgages. But –as Mike Konczal points out–the stress tests projected maximum losses at just “$68 billion. In other words, Geithner rigged the tests so the banks would pass. Now the banks want it both ways: They want people to think that they are solvent enough to pass a basic stress test, but they want to be given another huge chunk of public money to cover their second liens. They want it all, and Geithner’s trying to give it to them. Wanker.

And don’t believe the gibberish from Treasury that “they have no plan for mortgage principal reductions”. According to the Times:

“Treasury continues to tell investors that any day now they will be out with a final program and they will be signed up”….“The party line continues to be they are a week away, two weeks away,” the hedge fund source said. ”

So, it’s not a question of “if” there will be another bank bailout, but “how big” that bailout will be. The banks clearly expect the taxpayer to foot the entire bill regardless of who was responsible for the losses.

So, let’s summarize:

1–Bank bailout #1–$700 billion TARP which allowed the banks to continue operations after the repo and secondary markets froze-over from the putrid loans the banks were peddling.

2–Bank bailout #2–$1.25 trillion Quantitative Easing program which transferred banks toxic assets onto Fed’s balance sheet (soon to be dumped on Fannie and Freddie) while rewarding the perpetrators of the biggest financial crackup in history.

3–Bank bailout #3–$1 trillion to cover all mortgage cramdowns, second liens, as well as any future liabilities including gym fees, energy drinks, double-tall nonfat mocha’s, parking meters etc. ad infinitum.

And as far as the banks taking “haircuts”? Forget about it! Banks don’t take “haircuts”. It looks bad on their quarterly reports and cuts into their bonuses. Taxpayers take haircuts, not banksters. Besides, that’s what Geithner gets paid for–to make sure bigshot tycoons don’t have to pay for their mistakes or bother with the niggling details of fleecing the little people.

The next big bailout is on the way. Prepare to get reamed! Mike Whitney is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Mike Whitney

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False Profits…

Posted by Admin on February 8, 2010

False Profits

Sunday 07 February 2010

by: Leslie Thatcher, t r u t h o u t | Book Review

photo

The Neo-Cons

False Profits: Recovering From the Bubble Economy

By Dean Baker

PoliPoint Press, 2010

He who feels punctured must once have been a bubble.

– Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 6th century BCE

As the nation struggled to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the people who got us here are desperately working to rewrite history. The basic story of this economic collapse is very simple. The Federal Reserve Board, guided by its revered chairman, Alan Greenspan, allowed an $8 trillion housing bubble to grow unchecked.

– Dean Baker’s “False Profits”

The delicious double-entendre of Dean Baker’s most recent title is enhanced by the book’s cover photo of a trio of false prophets, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Henry (Hank) Paulson, all of whom are thoroughly excoriated within the book’s pages for their responsibility in feeding, prolonging, misdiagnosing and incorrectly responding to the 2007-2009 financial meltdown and the associated economic collapse. However, the book also chronicles the loss of $8 trillion of housing “wealth,” $1.4 trillion in annual demand, whatever financial security the vast majority of baby-boomers ever had, “increases” in homeownership rates and any other widespread economic gains associated to the post-2000 period. Truthout has published Dean Baker’s columns about net job losses for 2000-2010, a decade that also saw a 26 percent drop in the stock market, the elimination of the $236 billion federal budget surplus President Bush inherited and its transformation into a record deficit and the overall deliquescence of any societal and most people’s personal economic “profits.”

While most of us find ourselves economically worse off after the last ten years, some have done extremely well and most of those who bear the burden of responsibility for the American economic catastrophe have suffered no consequences whatsoever: financial, social or professional. Writing about Bernanke specifically, Baker’s remarks are equally apposite to other titans of finance, central banking and the financial regulatory regimes:

It would difficult to imagine someone with a comparable record of disastrous failures being allowed to remain in most jobs. Would a nurse who routinely administers the wrong medicine and causes his patients to die be allowed to keep his job? Would a bank teller who leaves the cash drawer open remain in her position? How about the school bus driver who comes drunk to work?

In most lines of work, a certain level of competence is expected. Unfortunately, this is not the case for those who set US economic policy.

Baker places the burden of blame on regulators and the political establishment because they utterly perverted their mission:

Progressives do conservatives’ bidding when we denounce them as “market fundamentalists.” We should, instead, be exposing their use of government to set up structures that ensure the market works to benefit the wealthy. We could then bring our policies into focus as those designed to ensure that market outcomes will benefit the bulk of the population.

The market is just a tool, like a wheel or a hammer. It would be bad politics and bad policy for progressives to make a big scene attacking the wheel. It is similarly bad politics and bad policy to put these attacks on the market at the center of a political agenda.

Baker never attacks the wheel; instead he demonstrates how it was deliberately allowed to run wild. As Baker himself warned as early as summer 2002, all indicators pointed to the rise in housing prices as a classic bubble, divorced from any tether in reality, yet the regulators, media and most mainstream economists kept pumping hot air into that bubble. Further, Dean Baker exposes the pathetic excuses that the regulators did not have the necessary tools to put on the brakes for the self-serving and specious rationalizations they are. Ever debunking the myth that somehow it was the “free” market at work, he relentlessly exposes how regulation, regulatory bodies and the public officials charged with supervising the financial industry have used their power to favor a narrow swathe of private interests over the public good. And, as always, Baker highlights what alternatives were and are available to turn that equation around. Baker’s relentless exposé of what is actually subsidized and who profits from specific policies, how wealth is transferred and how all this activity is disguised fuels his narrative with “true prophet” power.

“False Profits” combines impeccable scholarship – assembling an array of relevant facts and data totally accessible to non-economists – with Baker’s acerbic, but unforced, wit and verve. His iconoclasm constantly renews its sources and consistently targets those “false prophets” in all sectors who contribute to misleading the American people. Baker is the journalists’ economist, the reality-based economist: whatever other case he may be making, he invariably demonstrates why correct and timely information and clear understanding are essential to economic problem-solving, as well as how “fudges” harm everyone.

The book’s structure begins by a backward look, an analysis of precisely how we reached the present situation and what our present situation actually is (in chapters, “Economic Collapse: It Is Their Fault,” “Surveying the Damage” and “The Terrible Tale of the TARP”), then pivots on an exposition of why correct diagnosis and analysis are so crucial (“Will They Ever Discover the Housing Bubble?”), develops the case he has presented with three chapters of prescription (“Stimulus: It Is Just Spending,” “Real Stimulus: Programs to Boost the Economy” and “Reforming the Financial System”) and concludes with a resounding final call for accountability (“Remember the Housing Bubble”).

Unfortunately, recent events – the absence of any effective policy to slow down foreclosures; the most probably ineffective and unquestionably inadequate stimulus measures in the just-presented budget; financial services regulatory proposals that do not address the causes for regulatory failure – suggest that the present administration is only slightly more willing to learn from Dean Baker’s acute analyses than was its predecessor. And Ben Bernanke’s reconfirmation as Fed chairman is just the most recent and flagrant sign that the administration has no intention of investigating, let alone punishing, the regulatory – and individual regulators’ – blunders that led to the present pass.

Economics is a science of human behavior. It rests on the observation that people respond to incentives. Consequently, Baker’s apparently political argument that there must be consequences for the failures of judgment and action that resulted in the economic meltdown is a quintessentially economic one. With no disincentives for failure and the ever-present incentives for complicity offered by the industry that has captured them, regulators will continue to fail the whipping boy who pays for their transgressions – us.

1. Dean Baker, “False Profits,” p.5.

2. OpCit. p.9.

3. Read the book for the argument, but the unequivocal conclusion is, “The regulators – first and foremost the Fed – had all the tools necessary to combat the bubble. They chose not to.” (p.153)

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This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Leslie Thatcher is Truthout’s French Language Editor and sometime book reviewer.

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