ISRAEL TRUTH TIMES

A blog dedicated to investigating events as they occur in Judea and Samaria, in Israel and in the world, and as they relate to global powers and/or to the Israeli government, public figures, etc. It is dedicated to uncovering the truth behind the headlines; and in so doing, it strives to do its part in saving Judea and Samaria, and by extension, Israel and the Jewish People, from utter destruction at the hands of its many external and internal enemies.

Monday, November 29, 2010

So obvious, yet forgotten: ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE. And so do her natural resources, don't ever forget that, Benedikt and all the various thieves and rapists of our Land!


A people have no need to annex what is already theirs
by Victor Sharpe
The very fact that the Israeli Knesset passed a bill that would require a referendum before any land officially under Israeli sovereignty is surrendered, specifically the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, is in itself a tacit admission by the present Israeli government that at some future time the very thought of giving away these parts of the ancestral and biblical Jewish homeland may be entertained.
That is treachery most base; treachery to the living Torah; treachery to Jewish history; treachery to Zion; and last but not least treachery to the eternal Holy Covenant made between God and the Jewish people . Liberals, leftists and secular folks may not like being told this, but it is a truth that cannot shrivel away.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office rejected the idea that the referendum law would hurt the chances for peace negotiations between Israel and its neighbors. But when did it become an accepted truism that a so-called peace between Israel and the Arabs, those who call themselves Palestinians, requires that Israel gives to them it’s very biblical birthright for a mess of potage?
Have the Oslo Accords, the Wye Agreement, the Roadmap, ad nauseum, all now superseded the eternal possession of the Jewish people to their God given homeland? It would seem so, and that is a monstrous tragedy so enormous as to spit in the face of the Almighty and make the very angels in heaven weep.
Netanyahu said: “A referendum prevents an irresponsible agreement and on the other hand makes it possible to achieve a strong public backing for an agreement that will respond to Israel’s national interests.”
There again. The word “agreement” and the implicit suggestion that the Golan Heights, ancient biblical Bashan, the homeland of the Tribe of Manasseh, may be given away in an, oh, so base agreement with the Syrian Arabs.
The referendum bill also covers United Jerusalem, but then if the Knesset votes more than two thirds to give away parts of Jerusalem to the hateful Arabs, known as Palestinians, in order for them to create a new Arab capital that has never existed in all of recorded history, it will be a sin so abhorrent that I fear God’s wrath upon the Land itself.
And all this political foolishness is to appease the present occupant of the White House who is a clear and present danger to the very existence of Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. All this erodes the millennial and inalienable rights of one people alone – the Jewish people – to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Indeed, there should be demands made upon the artificial entity known as the Kingdom of Jordan for the return of biblical Gilead – the ancestral homeland of the Jewish tribes of Gad and Manasseh.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government and previous governments stretching back to that of Yitzhak Rabin, all betrayed Jewish patrimony in the Land of Israel. They have accepted the Arab and pro-Arab lie that Israel “occupies” Arab territoryspecifically territory belonging to a fraudulent Arab people who have come to call themselves Palestinians. This stupidity has torn a grievous, self-inflicted wound into the very psyche of Jews within Israel and the Diaspora.   
Notice that the referendum refers only to Jerusalem and the Golan because they were “annexed.”  Does that fact make them special? These are Jewish lands and there is no need to annex what already belongs to the Jewish people.
Notice too, that Judea and Samaria are not included in this foolish attempt to bargain over an illusory “land for peace” deal with the Arab world. The reason given is that Judea and Samaria have not been annexed.
Again! So what? These lands are the very warp and woof, the very fabric and fiber of Jewish history during and after biblical times. Whether they were or were not annexed is mere sophistry.  
I was looking back at what Professor Talia Einhorn wrote in 2003 about Judea, Samaria and Gaza, or as it is known by its Hebrew acronym, Yesha: meaning Yehuda, Shomron and Azza.
She was commenting on the ‘slip of the tongueby then Prime Minister Sharon who used the word “occupation” in reference to Israel’s presence in Yesha. In 2003, Yesha still included Gaza. It was abandoned in 2005 for the sake of peace!
She stated clearly then that Israel, the Jewish state, is not an “occupying force” in Yesha. This is what she said:
‘‘Up until 1948, Judea, Samaria and Gaza were a part of the British Mandate. In the 1948 War of Independence, Egypt illegally grabbed the Gaza Strip and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, the ‘West Bank’.
Egypt did not claim sovereignty in Gaza but Jordan deigned, in 1950, to annex Judea and Samaria. This annexation was not recognized by international law. The Arab nations objected to it, and only Britain and Pakistan recognized it – and Britain did not recognize the annexation of eastern Jerusalem.
“In 1967, after the Six Day War, these territories – which were originally meant for the Jewish Nation’s National Home according to the Mandate Charter – returned to Israeli control.
Professor Einhorn added that, “according to international law, Israel has full right to try to populate the entire Land of Israel with dense settlement and thus actualize the principles set by the League of Nations in the original Mandate Charter of San Remo in 1920.
“At that time, the mandate to the Land of Israel was granted to the British and an introduction to the mandate charter states clearly that it is based on the international recognition of the historic ties between the Jewish People and the Land of Israel. Clause II of that mandate charges Britain withensuring the existence of political, administrative, and economic conditions that will guarantee the establishment of the Jewish national home in the Land of Israel.’”
We, of course, know how that turned out. Britain reneged on its promises and undertakings. Britain tore away 80% all of the mandate territory east of the Jordan River in 1922 and gave it away to the Emir Abdullah.
There is nothing, therefore, in international law that requires the creation of a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Professor Einhorn pointed out that the UN Partition Resolution of November 29, 1947 merely recommended that a Jewish and Arab state in what was the geographical territory known as Palestine “shall come into existence.”
Though the Jewish leadership accepted the partition plan, it was, as we all know, rejected utterly by the Arab states, which thus voided the UN’s recommendation of any legal basis.
So the fact that what is left of Yesha – Judea and Samaria – has not previously been the subject of an Israeli annexation is neither here nor there. It is empirically the Land of Israel by all that is holy. And if that’s a dirty word to some, so be it.
Simply put: The Jewish people do not annex land that already belongs to them. And the Jewish people cannot be called settlers in their very own ancestral and aboriginal homeland.
Now if those facts are understood and hammered home again and again by every Israeli and every Jew in the Diaspora, think of the power and the glory that will illuminate the world as the veil of deception is finally torn from the world’s eyes.
Victor Sharpe is the author of Volumes One and Two of Politicide: The attempted murder of the Jewish state.


Received from Nurit

Sunday, November 28, 2010

A sure recipe for failure! If THIS is how they plan to beseech Hashem for rain, they have it all wrong: on the contrary, we will have persistent drought! Avoda Zara and Chillul Hashem, smack in the middle of Israel, by our chief rabbis? And Benedikt involved? PLEEAAASE!

Religious Community Leaders discuss freedom of religion




Clerics also hold interfaith prayer session for rain.

  Israel’s religious leaders met on Thursday in lower Galilee to discuss freedom of religion and worship in the Holy Land, as well as to offer a joint prayer for rain.

The Council of Religious Community Leaders in Israel, whose fourth annual convention took place at the Domus Galilaeae International Center near the Mount of Beatitude, is comprised of the heads of the various religious communities in Israel, including both chief rabbis, heads of churches, the head of the Druse community, the head of the Islamic Appeals Court and heads of other communities such as the Baha’i, Ahmadiyya, Lutherans, Anglicans, Samaritans, Copts, Ethiopians and Assyrians.

Bahij Mansour, director of Inter-religious Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the event and said that beyond freedom of worship, the council’s Thursday session also dwelt on the role of religious leaders during crises.

The body was formed some four years ago at the initiative of the Foreign Ministry and the Interior Ministry to provide a forum for cooperation and dialogue among the different creeds. Besides holding workshops to that end, since its inception the council has been involved in numerous counts of lowering tensions between religious groups, such as those that arose between Muslims and Jews in Acre, Christians and Druse in Shfaram, and Druse and Jews in Peki’in, Mansour noted.

And – as one would expect from a congregation of men of faith a short distance from the alarmingly expanding shores of the Kinneret – the religious leaders held, prior to the Thursday meeting, separate and then joint prayers for an end to the drought.
Mansour noted the council’s growing recognition from organizations and bodies around the world, and an invitation to its members by Pope Benedict XVI to a meeting at the Vatican in January, which constitutes the Holy See’s official recognition of the forum and its importance in conducting dialogue and relations among the various religions in Israel.

 

 

Annual conference of Council of Religious Community Leaders in Israel

25 Nov 2010
The council members will meet with the Pope at the Vatican in January.
  
   Pope meets religious leaders during his trip to Israel (GPO archive photo)


http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2010/Council__religious_community_leaders_annual_conference_25_Nov_2010.htm


Communicated by MFA Spokesman’s Bureau
On Thursday, 25 November 2010, the Council of Religious Community Leaders in Israel will hold its annual convention at the Domus Galilaeae International Center, near the Mount of Beatitudes in the lower Galilee. The Council is comprised of the heads of the various religious communities in Israel: the chief rabbis of Israel, heads of churches, the head of the Druze community, the head of the Islamic Appeals Court, and heads of other communities such as the Baha’i, Ahmadiyya, Lutherans, Anglicans, Samaritans, Copts, Ethiopians, and Assyrians.
This year’s conference is particularly significant considering the meeting of the council members with Pope Benedict XVI, scheduled to take place at the Vatican on 13 January 2011. This historic meeting constitutes official recognition by the Vatican and the pope of this forum and its importance in conducting the dialogue and relations among the various religions in Israel.
The theme of this, the Council’s fourth, convention, is freedom of religion and worship in Israel. During the convention, the film “Faith”, which deals with religious freedom in Israel, will be shown, with a discussion afterwards about the role of religious leaders.


Gold/Platinum: another interesting ratio, and what it means for the outlook on gold.


Gold:Platinum ratio predicts a repeat of 70s gold rally

If the gold:platinum ratio and current economic conditions are to be believed, gold is setting up for a further rally that has echoes of the 1970s
Author: Hubert Moolman
Posted:  Thursday , 25 Nov 2010

JOHANNESBURG - 
Most people are mainly concerned with what is going on right now and are less concerned with what happened yesterday, last week or last year. The further in the past an event or development, the less are we concerned about (or aware of) it, and the less is our understanding of it. This appears to be our nature, and it causes many to miss important "big picture" developments.
Here, I would like to discuss one such development and at the same time highlight the outlook for economic conditions over the next few years.
Platinum has been a star performer since the beginning of this century. From about the year 2000 to 2008 it went from just under $400 to a high of $2200. That is an incredible rally, and possibly unrivaled during that period by any other metal or investment class. What is discussed here for platinum holds true for many other assets, even fiat money, but in different aspects, and to various degrees.
Since about the turn of the century, platinum has become the prestige metal. Even credit card companies got into the act by replacing gold cards with platinum cards as their premier credit cards. This, together with platinum's subsequent rise, ensured that the world became a little platinum crazy.
A lot of this fascination with platinum was due to it again becoming more valuable than gold. This platinum mania was indeed justified due to its stellar price performance, especially versus gold. However, it is this very fascination and mania that prevents many from seeing what has been developing over the last 40 years or more, and is now about to conclude (over the remainder of gold's bull market). Many will be surprised at the impressive gold miner rallies, straight ahead, which will come despite weak general markets.
To understand this development, it is important to understand what the outlook is for the world economy over the next decade.
For most of the last century we have had corrupt debt-based monetary system that has been suppressing the price of gold for at least the last 80 years. Fiat money and fractional reserve banking are main features of this system, which is the chief underlying cause of most of our economic problems.
This system is now in its 11th hour, and so are all those trends that have come about due to its existence. One such trend is: platinum consistently getting more valuable than gold. There are many more, such as gold and gold mining shares as a percentage of global assets decreasing significantly plummeting from 26% of global (investment) assets in 1981 to just 0.8% in 2009, according to Sprott Asset Management.
It is important to note that there will always be such trends, such as increase or decrease between gold and other asset classes; however, under a proper monetary system they will not be as out of balance to the extreme that they are under a debt-based monetary system.
Below is a long-term gold/platinum ratio chart.

chart comes from sharelynx.com
During the gold bull market of the 1970s, it is clear that this ratio was in a significant uptrend. It went from about 0.2 to 1.4 over a 12 year period. That is a seven-fold increase. I have said it before, the same conditions that propelled gold and other commodities higher during the 70s are present now.
These factors are pushing gold higher now and will continue to do so for many years to come. I certainly expect the gold/platinum ratio to trend higher, just as it did in the 70s. As you can see on the chart, the trend for this ratio began moving higher in 2008 and, like it did in the 70s, it will accelerate as we move along in this bull market.
The great debt bubble of the last century peaked in 1999, when the Dow/gold ratio peaked. This was the tipping point, which signaled the end of the prosperity that was built by this debt. This was soon confirmed, when gold bottomed, and started an uptrend that continues to accelerate. Likewise, in the middle of the 60s, the Dow/gold ratio peaked, whereafter the link of the dollar to gold was removed and gold started its upward march in the 70s.
We are on a downward economic activity trend, and this should accelerate and continue until debt levels are acceptable for a new economic boom. I believe this will take at least 10 years.
Despite the fact that commodities, like platinum, will outperform most asset classes over the next years, I believe that they will still depreciate significantly as compared to gold (and silver). This is basically what happened during the 70s and is also what happened during the great depression. Below is a chart that shows the cyclical downturn(s) of industrial production in the US over the last 50 years.

You will notice that during the two parts (70 to 75 and then 76 to 80) of the gold bull market, industrial production turned  down significantly. Also, note that the downturn occured towards the end of those gold rallies and, in the case of the second one, continued until after the end of the gold rally.
Back to the long-term gold/platinum ratio chart
On the chart, you will see a 25-year down-trend resistance line, which was broken in 2008. In textbook fashion, the ratio has moved up quickly since then, whereafter it has returned to test the breakout area. A quick move to 1 is expected very soon, and it would go a long way in confirming that the trend in this ratio is unfolding very much like the one of the 70s and is likely to continue throughout this decade.
I believe that the ratio will reach the 1.4 level faster than many would believe (if they believe at all) and that it will go on to reach levels unimaginable for many, because they are unable to comprehend the long-term developments. I just wonder whether banks will revert back to gold credit cards as their premier card. Actually, I wonder if banks will still be around.
Herbert Moolman is a gold and silver analyst and is the founder HG and associates



Not that I feel sorry for the Irish - not one bit, see below - ; yet the loss of democracy, the loss of sovereignty engineered by the New World Order criminals deserves to be exposed.





'Dublin event reminiscent of financial Jewish scapegoating'
By JPOST.COM STAFF 26/11/2010
In letter to Ireland's PM, Simon Wiesenthal Center says Irish economic meltdown cannot be camouflaged by anti-Semitism.
 
The Director for International Relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Dr. Shimon Samuels on Wednesday sent a letter to Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen saying that "the Center was struck by the timing of an event in Dublin, sadly reminiscent of financial scapegoating of the 1930's."

"In the midst of Ireland's greatest post-war crisis, a poster illustrating an atomized Europe around a Star of David, invites the public on December 3 to an Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign book launch/wine and cheese reception," read the letter.

"The book, 'Europe's Alliance with Israel: Aiding the Occupation', apparently, presents the EU as encouraging 'the apartheid state of Israel' and "calls for a continuation and deepening of international activism and protest to halt the EU's slide into complicity...it explores the complex political ties that have prevented European countries from holding Israel to account," the Wiesenthal Center explained.

"Who are these complex political ties?" Samuels questioned, saying that "the poster, and book cover it features, arguably fit the 2004 "working definition of anti-Semitism" of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, to which Ireland is, ipso facto, party."

Samuels explained that in the late 1980s he had "led a mixed caucus of Irish-American and Jewish-American United States senators and congressmen to Jerusalem and Dublin, co-organized by the Irish Development Authority. The declared purpose of the hosts was, to adapt from the empathy of American Jewry for the Jewish State, a program to enhance the affinity of Americans of Irish origin to the economy and land of their roots - then enjoying an economic boom."

"Anti-Semitic scapegoating has too often served to deflect attention from economic suffering," Samuels wrote. "In the 1930's, this led democracies into the abyss."

Samuels urged Cowen "to publicly condemn the timing of this poster and the book cover's subliminal message."

"In wishing Ireland a speedy recovery, we are confident that the people of Ireland will never allow the circumstances of the meltdown - reportedly, extortionate bank fees, obscene bonuses and mismanagement - to be camouflaged by antisemitism," Samuels added.



Article and comment contribution of Aryeh:

This is no doubt all because of Israel's occupation of Gaza. Just ask the humanitarian former President of Ireland. After all it could not possibly be due to the consistent stupidity and incompetency of one Irish Government after another. Nor the stupidity and incompetency of all the other EU Governments over the past fifty plus years. It must be the fault of the Israelis. That is after all what all the good and decent people of Europe believe.

I have to say the sound of European bellies grumbling with hunger will be a pleasant change from their usual grumbling about how the Jews are the cause of all their problems. May they all have a long, painful and irreversible economic collapse, may they suffer all the humiliations, pain, suffering and death that they have given us over the past 2000 years and may it rain upon them ten thousand fold.      
 



Gloom, anger spreads as European economies teeter
Funding from EU, IMF may not stem debt crisis, analysts say
By Alan Clendenning and Shawn Pogatchnik
-
Associated Press
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/24/ireland-unveils-4-year-plan-claw-back-20-billion/

DUBLIN | Anger and fear about Europe's seemingly unstoppable debt crisis swept through the continent Wednesday. Striking workers shut down much of Portugal, Ireland proposed its deepest budget cuts in history and seething Italian and British students clashed with police over education cuts.

Amid it all, analysts were deeply skeptical about the future, saying even the desperate efforts of governments, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) might not be enough to prevent countries from defaulting or banks from going under.

The Irish Stock Exchange saw a bloodbath in bank stocks as investors pushed the panic button and bond traders were betting that it would only be a matter of time before Portugal and possibly Spain would be the next countries begging for outside help.

In Lisbon, strikers all but closed the airport, stranding passengers who couldn't get in or out of the country.

Government policies have "sent people into poverty and misery," said union leader Manuel Carvalho da Silva, noting that Portuguese civil servants will see wage cuts averaging 5 percent next year.

Italian students occupied university buildings and piazzas to denounce education cuts being debated by Parliament, clashing briefly with police in Rome and blocking five main bridges over the Arno River in Pisa.

In Britain, students decried government plans to triple tuition fees.

While Irish bank shares plummeted for a third straight day amid fears investors would be wiped out, yields on Portuguese and Spanish government debt shot up sharply because of rising concerns that their debt loads will prove unsustainable and put them next in line for European bailouts.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced Wednesday he now expects the EU-IMF bailout loan to total 85 billion euro ($115 billion). Some experts accused Ireland of minimizing the true scale of its financial disaster, saying Ireland probably needs a bailout of 130 billion euro ($175 billion) because of looming defaults on residential mortgages.

"The government is completely in denial about the amount of money they'll have to borrow," said Constantin Gurdgiev, a finance lecturer at Trinity College Dublin.

He compared Ireland's plight to that of Greece, which received a 110 billion euro ($145 billion) EU-IMF rescue bailout in May.

"Our economy is more than three times overindebted than Greece. If Greece is insolvent, where does that put us?" Mr. Gurdgiev asked.

Eurasia Group, a New York-based research and consulting company, warned that the problems of the 16-nation eurozone won't stop with Ireland. It predicted a rescue plan for Portugal could be unveiled early next year, when Portugal must sell government bonds to finance spending.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

About silver: Interview With Theodore Butler; this guy really understands his stuff!


Ted Butler: all credit goes to him!







Interview With Theodore Butler

By: James Cook & Theodore Butler


-- Posted 24 November, 2010


Cook: For the past ten years you have been claiming that silver was the best thing people could own. How do you feel now with silver around $25 an ounce?
Butler: I have a sense of relief that I could not possibly have hurt anyone who followed my advice. I also feel intellectually vindicated about the way things are turning out. Lastly, I feel amazed how good silver still looks for further gains.
Cook: How high could it climb?
Butler: Real high, but by now you should know I shy away from specific price targets.
Cook: A lot has been going on with silver lately. Most of the things you’ve written about are starting to happen. What do you think about the recent spate of lawsuits against JPMorgan and HSBC?
Butler: It’s a big deal. The main thing is not the outcome of this case, but rather the fact that they were filed.
Cook: How many lawsuits were filed?
Butler: The latest tally is 25, I’ve been told.
Cook: Why do you think these lawsuits are important?
Butler: It is another confirmation of the growing recognition that silver has been manipulated in price.
Cook: They must be reading your newsletter because everything claimed in the first lawsuit originated with you. Do you agree?
Butler: Yes, I know that for a fact.
Cook: The basis of the lawsuit is that these big banks are short an inordinate amount of silver. How much to be exact?
Butler: It varies over time, but at the time referenced in the lawsuit, JPMorgan, either alone or with another U.S. bank, held short on the COMEX the equivalent of 25% of world annual mine production
Cook: How many ounces is that?
Butler: In most recent CFTC data, it is 150 million ounces, but within the past year it has been over 200 million ounces
Cook: You’re claiming that’s manipulative?
Butler: Absolutely. It would be impossible for such a concentrated short position not to be manipulative. It was this observation that led to the current CFTC silver investigation which, in turn, led to this lawsuit.
Cook: How many ounces are there held short in total?
Butler: The total net short position in COMEX futures is around 550 million ounces, but if you include everything, especially unbacked bank certificates and pool accounts, it grows to 2 or 3 billion ounces.
Cook: Who are these short sellers outside of the big one or two?
Butler: On the COMEX, there are about 8 commercial entities short over 300 million ounces, including the biggest.
Cook: They got squeezed pretty good when silver hit $29, didn’t they?
Butler: You bet.
Cook: How big have the losses been for the shorts?
Butler: In silver, the big 8 were out over $3 billion at the top, and more than $5 billion if you include all the shorts.
Cook: You pointed out that there had to be a lot of margin calls, when gold is included, what’s the total?
Butler: All in all, almost $15 billion.
Cook: They actually had to cough up $15 billion?
Butler: Absolutely. That’s a key component of the clearinghouse system.
Cook: Did anybody fail to make their margin calls?
Butler: It’s hard to tell.
Cook: I thought the price rise to $29 might have been because some folks couldn’t make margin calls and the brokerage firm bought back their position. No?
Butler: I’m certain there was a lot of that; they liquidate the contracts to satisfy the margin calls.
Cook: They don’t mess around do they?
Butler: This is basic commodity stuff. As a customer, if you don’t meet your margin calls your broker will liquidate your position. Otherwise the brokerage firm must eat the customer’s loss. Brokerage firms don’t allow customers a free ride. If a brokerage firm doesn’t meet its overall margin requirements to the clearinghouse, that’s a default, a real no-no.
Cook: It’s hard for me to believe that JPMorgan is sitting flatfooted waiting for the axe to fall. Don’t you think they’ve dug up a lot of silver to help reduce this short position?
Butler: I’m sure they’ve come up with as much silver as possible, but there are physical constraints to that. Their problem is not a money problem, but a physical material problem.
Cook: I see they raised margin requirements on silver. Why only silver?
Butler: Silver had moved the most and the margins should have been raised. The scandal was when they raised the margins. This is an issue of timing. They waited until prices made a downside reversal and then raised silver margins.
Cook: Is this fishy?
Butler: This is an example of why I refer to the CME Group (COMEX) as operating a criminal enterprise, as I’ve seen them pull this dirty trick numerous times in the past. The exchange times the margin increase so that it comes when it is least likely to hurt, and maybe help, its big constituent member short holders. That time is always best when the price makes a sudden reversal down after a big climb. This way, the margin increase actually hurts the longs and benefits the shorts. The reversal to the downside swings the financial tide against the longs temporarily.
Cook: What should they have done?
Butler: What they should have done is raised margins on the way up, but that would have hurt the shorts, something the exchange would never do. By timing the margin increase just after a price reversal to the downside, the exchange helps the shorts.
Cook: Are they above the law?
Butler: What’s particularly infuriating and illegal is that the exchange is designated under commodity law as a self-regulatory organization (SRO). That means the CME Group is supposed to do things on a fair and even-handed basis, not cater to the selfish interests of its most important members. The phrase that comes to mind when describing how the CME fulfills its regulatory obligations is letting the fox guard the henhouse.
Cook: How in the world did this come about?
Butler: The CFTC and Congress made a very big mistake when they turned over so much regulation to the exchanges years ago. There is a conflict of interest in what the exchange does in its regulatory role. That’s why the COMEX is fighting the CFTC tooth and nail over position limits and every other issue that may infringe on its own interests.
Cook: The Commodity Future Trading Commission has ruled that within 3 months or so they will put limits on how much one entity can be long or short. Will this break up the concentrated short position?
Butler: If they stick to the timeline dictated by the new law and if they impose legitimate limits and throw out the phony exemptions to those limits.
Cook: Won’t that set silver “free at last?”
Butler: Yes, “thank God Almighty.”
Cook: Will the COMEX back down?
Butler: I don’t think so. They know this is the one issue that can blow the lid off silver.
Cook: Silver could turn into a runaway train. Why don’t these short sellers get out of the way and cover now?
Butler: They desperately want to, but it’s easier said than done because their position is so large that they are trapped. Just covering the limited amount of shorts to date has already had a profound impact on price. Why do you think we’ve risen so much in the past few months?
Cook: One of the commissioners at the CFTC has made a number of statements criticizing the shorts and the Commodity Exchange itself. Sounds like the senior regulators have embraced your views. Do you agree?
Butler: It’s hard to reach any other conclusion.
Cook: If that’s true then position limits are inevitable would you say?
Butler: The new law has mandated position limits, so unless the law is repealed I would say they are inevitable. But more than that, it’s important to remember that position limits are of specific relevance for silver more than any other market.
Cook: What do you mean?
Butler: COMEX silver is the only market which must have position limits radically reduced from the current accountability level. In all other commodities, including gold, the level of position limits is not so important because the short position is not that large. In silver, it’s the core issue.
Cook: What kind of position limit level do we need to see in silver?
Butler: If we don’t see a new level of close to 1500 contracts, instead of the current 6000 contract level, then this market is more crooked than I have been alleging. And I would think those in the public who follow this issue closely will be outraged and demand an explanation from the regulators. I know I will be.
Cook: Is it safe to say that silver is a buy until the short position is covered?
Butler: At least until the concentrated short position is reduced.
Cook: The volume on the SLV, the exchange traded fund, went ballistic recently. How many shares were trading before this jump and what did it go to?
Butler: There was an average daily volume of close to 15 million shares a day and it jumped to ten times that on a recent trading day.
Cook: How much of that was day trading?
Butler: Close to 99%, same as in every other market.
Cook: OK, but how much silver do you think was purchased on balance and must be delivered to the SLV?
Butler: I had been guessing close to 20 million ounces, but much to BlackRock’s credit (they’re the new sponsor), the silver is being brought in much more quickly than when Barclays was the sponsor.
Cook: Where is the silver coming from?
Butler: No one knows for sure, but the hallmarks on many of the new bars being deposited were from Russia and China. I think that’s good, because as those two countries wake up to the silver manipulation, they should be unlikely to continue supplying material at artificially depressed prices.
Cook: I heard a big delivery came in to the SLV last week. True?
Butler: Yes, there was an extraordinary deposit of 11.3 million ounces into the SLV on Wednesday, November 10, the largest one day deposit in the ETF since 2006. This brings the deposits into the Trust to over 18 million ounces in little more than a week and a half, to a new record of over 344 million ounces.
Cook: Are you underestimating the amount of silver available? Seems like there is always more silver.
Butler: While it is certainly possible that I have underestimated the amount of silver bullion in the world, that is not yet evident to date. I have always estimated about one billion ounces and we haven’t grown above that amount yet. What has happened is that more silver is being transferred from unreported inventories to reported inventories. This does create the illusion that the supply of silver is endless. It is not.
Cook: How much is left in unreported inventories that can come into the market?
Butler: Unless you have Superman’s x-ray vision and can see all the world’s vaults simultaneously, there is no way to know how much is left in unreported inventories. And I guarantee that you will make yourself crazy if you persist in trying to figure out the amount remaining.
Cook: Are you still sane?
Butler: No one comes with a butterfly net.
Cook: How much is known or in the reported category?
Butler: Since 2006, more than 550 million ounces have been transferred from unreported silver into reported world inventories, including the SLV and all other similar programs. Currently there are more than 716 million ounces in total world visible silver bullion inventories. That’s a very big chunk of my long-time estimate of one billion ounces in total world inventories. The way to look at it is that there are 550 million ounces less that can be transferred in the future. The long-term rise in price would seem to confirm my thinking.
Cook: Could the big shorts be buying the SLV to cover their short position?
Butler: Sure, but not to excessive amounts, as that would require lying to the SEC on ownership disclosure regulations. That’s not likely.
Cook: How much silver do you think JPMorgan and one other bank are short?
Butler: As of this moment, I’m guessing JPM may now be below 25,000 contracts. That’s 125 million ounces. But we won’t know for sure until more CFTC data are released.
Cook: How about the big eight shorts?
Butler: My guess is they are down to 56,000 contracts. That’s 280 million ounces.
Cook: How about all the shorts combined?
Butler: In COMEX futures total, I’d guess a bit under 500 million.
Cook: How does that compare with other commodities?
Butler: Still way off the charts when comparing paper contracts to real world production and inventories.
Cook: Do you see this leading to a price explosion in silver soon?
Butler: It’s one of several things that will lead to an explosion.
Cook: How does the silver short position compare to gold?
Butler: The silver short position is much bigger than gold in every measurement, especially compared to world inventories. Silver’s relative short position is more than 100 times larger than gold’s.
Cook: Do you think silver will outperform gold?
Butler: Yes. Silver has yet to leave gold in the dust, although it has fully matched or exceeded gold’s price performance. That is actually an advantage to those gold investors who have yet to make the switch into silver. It’s not too late.
Cook: Are you suggesting a switch now?
Butler: Yes. The facts suggest silver will outperform gold in the future, the logical investment action would be to convert gold into silver. Not because gold is likely to go down necessarily, but because silver is likely to offer better investment bang for the same buck.
Cook: Have people begun to switch?
Butler: There has been a noticeable shift to physical silver investment demand, perhaps from gold investors, although I still believe it’s in the early stages. Additionally, U.S. Mint sales of Silver Eagles are particularly strong relative to Gold Eagle sales, further confirming what may be a growing investor preference for silver over gold. Given how little silver exists compared to gold, if this trend continues, the influence on silver prices should be profound.
Cook: What’s the gold-silver ratio now?
Butler: The gold/silver ratio narrowed to almost 52. This is the best relative reading for silver since the summer of 2008, just before the price of silver was manipulated lower by JPMorgan and other commercial crooks on the COMEX.
Cook: You’ve got big cahunas calling JPMorgan a crook over and over again. Ever hear from their lawyers?
Butler: Not a peep and I send every article I write in which I mention JPMorgan to Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan and to the top regulatory officials at the CME, in addition to the CFTC.
Cook: I wonder why they haven’t sued you. If someone was calling my company crooked I think I would at least have my lawyer send them a letter.
Butler: Look, I’m not looking to get sued, but I don’t know of any other way to flush these weasels out. I know that JPM and the CME are operating as a criminal enterprise when it comes to silver.
Cook: What about the COMEX? You’ve been calling them sleazy for years. Have you ever received an answer to the numerous letters you’ve sent them?
Butler: Up until a few years ago, they would respond from time to time, but more recently they’ve been hiding behind the CFTC’s skirt and letting the Commission do their dirty work.
Cook: Yes, but now I see the COMEX has been in bitter disagreement with the CFTC on position limits. Why are they so opposed?
Butler: It may indicate that the CFTC, under Gary Gensler, is sick of the exchange using the CFTC. The reason the CME is so opposed to position limits is because of silver, not any other commodity. Don’t be fooled into thinking this isn’t a silver-specific issue.
Cook: Why only silver?
Butler: This is an important point. There is no position limit problem in any other commodity apart from silver. Not in oil, or grains or gold. Just silver. It’s the dirty secret that’s about to be revealed.
Cook: How much money have the banks made over the years with this big short position in silver?
Butler: Cumulatively, it could be billions of dollars.
Cook: This gravy train has suppressed the price, right?
Butler: Yes. The concentrated short position makes it impossible for the price not to have been suppressed.
Cook: If the market gets free of the concentrated short position it should revert to the true market price. Any idea what that is?
Butler: I’ll let the market tell us, but much higher than we’ve been in silver.
Cook: Do you think it will overshoot?
Butler: I think it’s impossible for it not to overshoot.
Cook: You think that Chairman Gensler at the CFTC is a straight shooter, right?
Butler: I think he walks on water. I may be dead wrong, but I’m a pretty good judge of human character.
Cook: Will he cure the silver mess?
Butler: If he follows the law and what he knows to be right.
Cook: Is he more competent than prior chiefs?
Butler: Gensler is the smartest guy in any room. It would be an insult to compare him to any former chairman or chairwoman.
Cook: Do you still claim the CFTC has looked the other way?
Butler: They have in the past, but I sense that is changing.
Cook: I think they hate your guts. Nobody’s been in their face with solid accusations like you have. Are they still hostile?
Butler: Hard to tell. I’m not concerned with past feelings. I don’t see why they would still be hostile; I offer constructive solutions where nobody else does. If they are hostile to anyone it should be towards those responsible for the manipulation, like JPMorgan and CME.
Cook: You’ve been the pioneer of virtually every new revelation about silver for over a decade. Just about everything that you predicted has come to pass. You’ve been a great conceptual thinker on silver and the premier whistleblower. Do you think the CFTC will ever acknowledge this and give you the award you deserve?
Butler: I sure hope so, but you’d have to ask them.
Cook: Everybody and his brother is writing about silver now. Some of it is amateurish and the good stuff originated with you. However, most of these articles never give credit to you. Do you agree that this is dishonorable?
Butler: Yes.
Cook: These organizations and individuals are trying to elbow themselves into position to take credit for your work. I’ve never seen anything like it, have you?
Butler: No.
Cook: What do you make of it?
Butler: Those that plagiarize are stealing my stuff and then lying by pretending they thought up my ideas. I’d avoid such people with a ten-foot pole.
Cook: They need to at least mention you if you are the source of their information. Right?
Butler: I think so.
Cook: Let’s change directions. What about COMEX silver inventories? What’s going on with them?
Butler: Recently, COMEX warehouse inventories dropped to near four year lows, at just under 108 million ounces. This drop, importantly, was accompanied with great turnover (in and out movements); highly suggestive of tightness and that the inventory is held in strong hands.
Cook: What’s the historical perspective on this?
Butler: COMEX silver inventories are down 60% from the 280 million ounce peak in the mid-1990’s. In contrast, COMEX gold inventories are at a record high of over 11.3 million ounces, the highest in the 45 year history of the COMEX. This is an apples to apples comparison, as the COMEX is the dominant market for both gold and silver trading.
Cook: Are we in a shortage?
Butler: I think we are in the early stages of a silver shortage that is bound to grow more severe.
Cook: Won’t this cause a surge in mining production?
Butler: Sure, eventually. But any mining increase in response to higher silver prices will take many years to hit the market. It’s not like flipping a light switch.
Cook: You’ve mentioned three things that will drive up the price of silver. It looks like one of them, investment demand, is kicking in. Will it get bigger than this?
Butler: I think that’s a certainty, as more people are waking up to the silver story.
Cook: Your second bullish factor is industrial demand. Do you still expect industrial users to panic because of a shortage?
Butler: Ever see what’s left in a supermarket after a hurricane warning?
Cook: Where does the price of silver burn itself out if a buying panic occurs?
Butler: Use your imagination. Then double it.
Cook: Your final and biggest bullish factor is the end of the concentrated short position. What will this do?
Butler: Terminating the concentrated short position will end the decades-old manipulation itself. That will bring about an honest and free market.
Cook: How will they cover the short position?
Butler: By buying back the position, delivering against it or by defaulting on it.
Cook: What about going forward? What will no big short sellers mean for the future?
Butler: It will be a different world price-wise.
Cook: According to the CFTC, the deadline for position limits is just over 2 months. Is silver a ticking time bomb until then?
Butler: Silver is a ticking time bomb for many reasons and the coming open debate on position limits is one of them.
Cook: The shorts are going to have to buy back futures aren’t they?
Butler: At some point, the shorts buying back is the post plausible outcome, as the only other choices are to deliver metal or default.
Cook: How many more shorts other than JPMorgan will have to cover?
Butler: My guess is somewhere around 15 to 20 thousand, a 75 to 100 million ounce equivalent.
Cook: Am I missing something or is this a lock?
Butler: If you mean much higher prices, then it looks like a lock to me.
Cook: This is so compelling I have to ask why it hasn’t been discounted in the silver price? How come it’s not $100 already?
Butler: I think it’s a combination of a lack of homework and the initial disbelief of the whole silver premise which prevents an objective investigation.
Cook: I remember when we first met ten years ago. You were telling me silver was the best thing on earth to own. Meanwhile, a well known investment service was sending out mailings suggesting people short silver at $4.00. They said silver was more plentiful than cockroaches. I wonder what happened to them?
Butler: I hope they covered their shorts quickly.
Cook: I bring this up because a lot of people have disagreed or argued with you along the way. They’ve all been proven wrong. However, to this day there are naysayers. What do you say to a guy like Jeffrey Christian at CPM who says there’s no way that JPMorgan is short that much silver?
Butler: Generally it’s good that disagreement exists so that market participants can hear both sides of the silver story.
Cook: What about Jon Nadler who says if Ted Butler was right the price would already have gone up?
Butler: The price has gone up and will continue to do so, in my opinion.
Cook: Why exactly has silver made this big recent move?
Butler: Primarily because of a lack of additional commercial short selling on the COMEX. It was the absence of additional commercial short selling, particularly by the big concentrated shorts, like JPMorgan, that allowed the price to climb as much as it did. On the rally it became obvious that the shorts were experiencing great financial stress, being forced to deposit many billions of dollars in margin calls. This should be taken as further proof of the manipulative role that the big shorts exerted on the price of silver.
Cook: Why did it get whacked?
Butler: The problem for the big shorts was that not only were they experiencing financial stress due to the rising price, they were unable to reduce their short position. That circumstance threatened to result in financial ruin if permitted to continue. Faced with financial ruin and the growing awareness by many of the predicament the big shorts were in, they resorted to their only alternative to that ruin – create a large and dramatic sell-off. That was what we began to see on Tuesday, with the CME’s unethically timed silver margin increase and the collusive vicious sell-off on Friday, under the cover of general commodity weakness.
Cook: What’s next?
Butler: No one knows for sure. It comes down to how much additional long liquidation the big shorts can engineer. We are still above all the critical moving averages, so there does exist the possibility we could go lower to get the technical funds completely flushed out. For sure, if we do go lower, it will be because JPMorgan and the other COMEX crooks are successful in tricking the technical funds into forced selling and not for any other reason. But there has been significant liquidation already, so it is just as possible it could be done or nearly so. Certainly there is nothing in the real world of silver that would account for further selling.
Cook: What’s the status of the formal investigation of silver by the CFTC, Enforcement Division?
Butler: It has yet to be concluded. A new director was just named which should help resolve the investigation that was initiated because of my revelations in 2008 and which Commissioner Bart Chilton publicly referenced recently. No one is more anxious than me to see what the investigation concludes.
Cook: You’ve made a big thing about pool accounts at brokerage firms, international banks and private mints. What can go wrong?
Butler: Everything. It is not hard to imagine investors ending up with a total loss because the metal may not exist to back these programs. If someone is claiming to store 1000-ounce bars for you and you don’t have the serial numbers for the exact bars you paid for, you should run, not walk, to a storage program that allows you to get the specific bars. I’d be especially wary of metal purported to be stored out of the country.
Cook: Are you recommending people switch from gold to silver?
Butler: Most definitely. That still appears to be a switch, which will be greatly rewarding. It amazes me how so many commentaries predict that silver will outperform gold, yet won’t come out and say that you should sell gold in order to buy silver. It makes no sense not to sell gold in order to buy silver if you are convinced silver will outperform gold. I think many feel it’s heresy to sell gold for any reason. But if your goal is to get the best return on your investment dollar in the future, which it should be, switch to silver from gold.
Cook: The bottom line is that people who followed your advice have made a lot of money. What advice would you give to our clients now?
Butler: Well, the days of 4 or 5, 7 to 12 dollar silver are over and that’s too bad for new buyers. At least we spared no effort in urging folks to buy all along. I think in the future we will look back at current prices with much the same result, namely, large profits for those who bought. Although the price is much higher now than it was then and conditions have changed, in many ways today’s new conditions are better.


Interview With Theodore Butler - SilverSeek.com

See also this:

"Increases to the silver margin requirement in futures contracts should be viewed as the final act of desperation. It is a device to control price within the paper silver arena. However, in a grand backfire, a higher margin produces a lower price for the physical buyers, who eagerly step up to place and fill orders. The margin maintenance hike on November 9th was six times greater for silver than for gold. The Big Four US banks are caught in an historically unprecedented short squeeze, bleeding $billions. Tuesday November 9th saw a powerful gold & silver price downdraft. The COMEX raised the silver margin requirement in a bland attempt to slow a raging bull market amidst a broken global monetary system. One week later they raised the margin again for both monetary metals. The price downdraft continued. But some calmer winds in Europe enabled precious metals prices to recover. Silver has snapped back much more than gold.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised the margin requirements for silver on November 9th. It was highly motivated. They wanted to prevent a blowout upside move in silver past $30 before Christmas, and to relieve some of the pain to the Big Four US banks. Unlike gold & silver, no margin hikes were doled out for soybeans, corn, sugar, or cotton despite their concurrent price gains. The message is clear, that desperation has set in relative to precious metals, as conditions are breaking down badly. The CME sent out a memo raising the margin maintenance requirements for silver futures by up to 29%, from $5000 to $6500 per contract. Initial positions have a slightly higher margin. It is their right, being the market maker. Let not their fast disappearing silver inventory deter their path. Less than two weeks later, the CME raised the silver margin maintenance requirement another 11.5% to $7250 in a sign of desperation. They also raised the gold margin, but only by 6% from $4251 to $4500 in a symbolic gesture. The CME motive is less about risk mitigation concerns and more driven by the desire to restrain the bull market movement. The investment world will regroup long before Christmas, like in the next week or two. Just when the European woes focused on Ireland, and a rescue aid package seemed in the offing, the silver price jumped upward by $2.00 on a single day, November 18th, a strong telegraph across the paper-physical silver table. The Powerz cannot halt the silver juggernaut, which will see $30/oz by January. If a double hike in the silver margin is the best they have, then they are truly whistling in the grave yard."

http://www.financialsense.com/contributo...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The U.N. has become the most dangerous body in the world after the Vatican, its instigator and spiritual mentor.



For Immediate Release:
November 22, 2010
Contact:  Anne Bayefsky
anne@hudsonny.org
(917) 488-1558
from EYE ON THE U.N.

Terrorism Against Jews Applauded and Promoted at the UN

On November 10, 2010, the UN "Human Rights" Council was engaged in another of its infamous "universal periodic reviews" - this time about human rights protection by Lebanon. For the occasion, Lebanon had produced a report objecting to the creation of the state of Israel.

Israel pointed out that, contrary to protecting human rights, Lebanon was actively hosting and collaborating with a terrorist organization.

But here is how the UN "human rights" world responded:



Watch video here.
Terrorism against Jews applauded at the UN

November 10, 2010, UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland


On November 15, 2010 the General Assembly’s Fourth Committee adopted nine more resolutions condemning only Israel. In the course of the feeding frenzy, here is what passed for acceptable language in the heart of the UN. Obama administration representatives made no objection to anything said during this verbal assault on the Israeli diplomat - and on the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

SYRIA:


  • “the Palestinian people, and its legitimate struggle to liberate itself…”




  • "the rights under occupation to resist the occupier…”




  • “the occupying power…and its apartheid practices…”




  • “The violation by Israel of international law is…a provocative act which repeats black pages in the history of modern humanity, particularly that it reminds us of what happened at the beginning of the Second World War in Europe.”





  • “There is no other terrorism on the surface of the planet like the terrorism committed by Israel. This entity was established on the basis of terrorism.”




  • “Israel…threatens to use nuclear weapons.”




  • “The leaders of Israel…are war lovers. They are teachers in provocation. They oppress others. And they send messages of apartheid and racism.”




  • “Lebanese resistance is not terrorism.”




  • “There is one single terrorism in the Middle East. It is the Israeli state terrorism.”




  • LEBANON:


  • “Hezbollah was only a resistance movement that had the honor to resist the occupation.”




  • .....
    And consider this too:

    Wednesday, November 17, 2010

    About silver: Nothing has changed despite appearances: forecast from a knowledgeable expert; plus, a clear explanation of the Irish crisis.

    Silver outlook remains very bullish
    11/17/2010 12:07:27 AM | James Turk, GoldMoney.com
    Fundamental factors have not changed and there has been no damage to its technical condition
    Silver’s short-term uptrend remains intact, notwithstanding silver’s big price drop on Friday.  The fundamental factors driving silver higher have not changed.  The outlook for silver remains very bullish.
    There has been no damage to silver’s technical condition.  For example, silver is above its 21-day Moving Average.  Also, silver remains well above $25, its last major resistance level.  More importantly, the price drop at the end of the week occurred with bullish sentiment taking a nosedive.  These conditions bode well for silver’s short-term outlook, as does the following chart.
     
    The above chart will be familiar because it is the one I used on King World News on October 28 to forecast a $30 silver price in less than 18 trading days.  Silver closed that day at $23.871.  On November 9, only eight trading days later, it reached $29.342 – nearly hitting my target.  The good news is that my reading of the above chart indicates that silver might yet reach $30 within my 18-day target, i.e, November 23.
    Note the new pattern silver has formed.  It is a pennant, and these have the same features as the flag pattern upon which I based my $30 forecast.  Both are continuation patterns within uptrends.  They allow for a short-term consolidation, mainly to work-off some bullish sentiment, which accurately describes what happened in silver as this pennant formed over the past few days.  A pennant pattern typically ends with an upside breakout.
    My expectation, therefore, is that silver will break out of this pennant to the upside, and probably early this week.  The demand for physical silver remains very strong, and it is the demand for physical silver, and not paper-silver, that ultimately determines the silver price.
    Most trading in physical silver takes place in London and Zurich.  The weakness on Friday occurred after both of these centers had closed.  That means that prices were driven down in the paper market.  We have seen these late Friday raids to ‘paint the tape’ many times over the past decade, so this latest one should not be a surprise.  But what is indeed a surprise to me is that the silver shorts would try this gambit now when the physical market is so tight.  Lower prices will only heighten the demand for physical metal.  Thus, I expect the silver price to rebound sharply this week.
    http://goldmoney.com/index.html
    Published by GoldMoney
    Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.
    This material is prepared for general circulation and may not have regard to the particular circumstances or needs of any specific person who reads it. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, express or implied, is made by GoldMoney, its affiliates, representatives or any other person as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. All opinions and estimates contained in this report reflect the writer's judgement as of the date of this report, are subject to change without notice and are provided in good faith but without legal responsibility. To the full extent permitted by law neither GoldMoney nor any of its affiliates, representatives, nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from any use of this report or the information contained herein. This report may not be reproduced, distributed or published without the prior consent of GoldMoney. 
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    James Turk, GoldMoney.com
    Since 2001, thousands of individuals and companies have used GoldMoney® to buy gold, silver and platinum to protect their wealth from today's financial uncertainties. Many of them have also found GoldMoney's patented process of digital gold currency payments to be an ideal payment solution for online commerce. GoldMoney was founded by gold industry leaders who understand gold's usefulness as a financial asset and value its worldwide role as money.



    UPDATE:


    "What a difference an evening makes – once word began circulating that Ireland was going to be bailed out by the ECB suddenly the hedge funds fell back in love with risk after seeking a divorce from her just the other day. The result – where some markets were limit down yesterday (cotton), today there were limit up. Such is the fickle nature of global capital flows or more appropriately, hot money flows. Do some of you out there find it as amusing as I do watching these hedge funds panicking over Chinese talk about rate hikes to tame inflation only to then run right back into every single market that they threw away the previous few days once they see more QE this time coming from the ECB.
    Make no mistake about it, the ECB is engaging in its own version of QE, just as Jim has repeatedly said they would. And if anyone is under any illusions that this was about Ireland, please let me dispel that notion here and now. It is about bailing out the BANKS who are on the hook for the money loaned to Ireland. It is always about the big banks ( I think that there is a special place in hell reserved for that crowd of international thieves). Now that Ireland has apparently received the same treatment as Greece, I suppose Portugal and Spain are next in line.
    I wonder what Germany must be thinking about all this.
    Regardless, the European Monetary Union is a joke – everyone knows it – there is no one size fits all policy that can ever make this forced union which resembles a patchwork quilt function properly. That did not stop the hedgies from bidding up the Euro once again with the result that down went the Dollar and up went the entirety of the commodity world. Fundamentals be damned; it is off to the races again as inflation is now back in vogue whereas yesterday it was deflation that the hedge fund world was enamored with.....

    http://jsmineset.com/