Fascist Empire Planet (Archive)

Recorded by Thomas Harding of The Daily Telegraph, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe (pictured on patrol), CO of the 1st Bttn Welsh Guards, has been killed in Afghanistan by an IED.

He is the first CO to be killed in action since the death of Lt-Col H Jones of the 2nd Bttn the Parachute Regiment in 1982 at Goose Green in the Falklands War and the highest-ranking British Army officer to be killed in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

Thornloe's death comes less than two weeks after the death of Major Sean Birchall, also of the Welsh Guards. He is the third Welsh Guards officer to be killed on the current roulement, with Lt Mark Evison killed on 12 May after sustaining injuries whilst on patrol outside Check Point Haji Alem in Helmand.

The first bare details were reported early Wednesday afternoon by AFP, which released details of an incident in which a bomb blast (IED) had killed two and wounded six in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 158 the number of international soldiers to lose their lives in Afghanistan this year.

It took until mid-morning today for the MoD publicly to confirm what has been known to the media since yesterday – that they were two of ours, "one soldier from 1st Bttn Welsh Guards and the other from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment."

The MoD website, however, makes no mention of Lt-Col Thorneloe or of the injured – although two were very seriously injured, one of whom is "critical". No other names have yet been given, in accordance with normal practice. Tpr Joshua Hammond of the 2 Royal Tank Regiment has now been named. He was, presumably, the driver.

This, according to The Daily Telegraph and others, brings the number of British personnel killed since the start of operations in October 2001 to 171. The explosion, we are told, happened whilst on a deliberate operation near Lashkar Gah, the media informing us that they were taking part in Operation Panther's Claw.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Lt-Col Thorneloe, with the others, was riding in a Viking as it was negotiating a canal crossing. The explosion took out the rear compartment of this articulated vehicle, as well as the tractor. That would bring to eight the number of troops killed in Vikings, with Thorneloe the most senior, regarded as a "high flier" and former aide to defence secretary Des Browne.

If the unverified details are correct, then they would seem to reinforce the intelligence coming out of theatre that the Taleban are resorting progressively to much larger IEDs. However, such information as is available suggests this was not a massive bomb, and possibly survivable in a MRAP such as the Mastiff.

With the known vulnerability of the Viking, and its scheduled replacement, the use of this vehicle was supposed to have been restricted. With such a high-profile death, this may bring into focus the use of this tragically vulnerable vehicle, and calls into question the entire MoD protected vehicle policy.

Note: Release of Lt-Col Thorneloe's name was originally embargoed until 10pm this evening, but The Sun has now published details on its web site. We have, therefore, now decided to publish our own post.

More details in The Times.

COMMENT THREAD

July 02, 2009 08:55 PM

Florida’s Republican governor violated the sate Constitution when he refused to fill an appeals court vacancy because all the candidates recommended by the Judicial Nominating Commission were white.

The state’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled this week that Governor Charlie Crist must appoint one of the commission’s six nominees to fill an opening in central Florida, which he has refused to do because none of the candidates are minorities. 

The vacancy in the Daytona Beach-based Fifth District Court of Appeal was created by the December retirement of Judge Robert Pleus. Florida’s Constitution says the governor has 60 days after receiving the nominating panel’s list to fill a court vacancy.

But when the governor got the Judicial Nominating Commission’s (JNC) roster of four white men and two women he asked the panel to reconsider and add minorities. The commission is made up of a group of lawyers, most appointed by Crist, who reviewed dozens of candidates including at least three black lawyers. 

The commission rejected the governor’s request to add new candidates and a standoff ensued with Crist refusing to make the appointment. In March, the retiring judge asked the Supreme Court to order Crist to name his replacement from the existing list. 

In its 11-page ruling the Supreme Court says that the governor lacks the authority under the Constitution to seek a new list of nominees from the JNC and has a mandatory duty to fill the vacancy. It goes on to "applaud the governor's interest in achieving diversity in the judiciary" but says the Constitution does not grant him the discretion to refuse or postpone making an appointment.

Crist, a former Florida Attorney General who is running for U.S. Senator in 2010, says he remains committed to ensuring that the diversity of the people of Florida is represented in the judiciary. 

July 02, 2009 07:22 PM

Citigroup analysts appear to be a hopeless lot. Please consider this July 1, analyst recommendation: Citi tells clients to buy Bank of America.

The analysts added Bank of America (BAC) to their "Ten+ Aggressive Growth List," telling clients that the Charlotte, N.C.-based company is a good long-term investment and that it should return to normalized annual earnings of $3 a share in a few years.

"We believe the firm stands to benefit long term from market-share gains across a variety of businesses, including traditional banking, mortgage origination, retail brokerage, and investment banking," Citi analysts said in a research note.

They also highlighted Bank of America's record of making acquisitions and argued that two controversial recent takeovers -- namely, Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch -- offer good growth opportunities for Bank of America when the mortgage and capital markets stabilize and resume their expansion.

Citi rates Bank of America's shares as a buy with an $18 price target, implying 36% potential upside from their closing price Tuesday.

Flashback March 31, 2009

Inquiring minds are taking another look at a post of mine from April 2, 2009 called Citibank to Investors: We Suggest You Bet Against Us.

In a statement that ought to scare the hell out of the bears Citigroup Says Buy Bank Puts Because Rally Will Fade.

March 31 (Bloomberg)

Investors should buy put options on financial companies because derivatives-market trading suggests the industry will retreat after a 43 percent surge since March 6, Citigroup Inc. said.

“Despite the rally, credit and option markets are pricing in increased downside risk,” New York-based Citigroup strategist Alvin Wang wrote in a note sent to clients today.

He recommended puts giving the right to sell the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund, an exchange-traded fund that tracks a basket of bank stocks, for $8 before May 15. The XLF, as the ETF is known, added 5.5 percent to $8.81 in New York, bringing its gain since March 6 to 43 percent. The May $8 puts fell 25 percent to 70 cents today.

Citigroup is essentially telling investors to bet against JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, and a whole slew of financial stocks that have been smashed to smithereens.

Pardon me for asking, but where was this advice a year ago, or six months ago, or even three months ago?

I am not particularly bullish on financials right now, but perhaps I ought to be on the grounds that Citigroup has not gotten anything right during this economic decline and is now recommending a bet against itself.

Indeed, Citigroup's recommendation could be a nice contrary indicator especially as More Ugly Details Emerge On "Geithner's Heist America Plan".

XLF 15 Minute Chart



Those $8.00 strike May PUTs are likely to expire worthless. If so, I have to ask the question: Can anyone at Citigroup get anything right?

Can Citigroup Strike Out Again?

Those strike $8 May XLF PUTs did expire worthless. Indeed someone could have had a 300% profit by betting on $8 May XLF CALLs.

At the time of Citigroup's inspirational XLF PUT recommendation this is what the weighting of the XLF sector looked like. Note that Bank of America had the second largest weighting. Click on link for current weightings.



XLF Daily Chart



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Bank of America Daily Chart



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Excuse me for asking but exactly where was the Citigroup recommendation to buy Bank of America at $3? $4? $5? $6?

The answers are nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, and at $6 a recommendation to bet against financials via PUTs, a recommendation that went to $0.

Now, after a 300%+ rally from the lows, Citigroup analysts advise buying Bank of America stock.

This is not a recommendation, but it just may be time to buy some XLF PUTs. My big caution on the PUT trade is whether or not Geithner's Heist America Plan gets off the ground.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post ListMike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

July 02, 2009 07:19 PM

Perhaps no surprise, given the content of other recent posts including Crowley, mountaineering, the herding of humanity and the forthcoming return of King Arthur, that today a RAF Tornado F3 jet crashed, sadly with the loss of two lives, "on a hillside near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot in Glen Kinglass, near Arrochar, at about 11.45 BST".

From the same BBC report, we note that the two military crew were from 43 Squadron and that "the Rest and Be Thankful is a tourist spot on the A83 Arrochar to Inveraray Road, north west of Loch Lomond."

From wikipedia we note that Arrochar is overlooked by a group of mountains, "in particular" the distinctive Ben Arthur, or Cobbler, nicknamed due to it's resemblance to a shoemaker, bending over his last. (getting shafted maybe?)

From the same source, on the A83, specifically the Rest and be Thankful, we glean that:

Rest-and-be-Thankful are the words which are located on a stone near the junction of the A83 and the B828, placed there by soldiers who built the original Military road in 1753, which is referred to as the 'Drovers' road'. The original stone fell into ruin and was replaced by a commemorative stone at the same site.

A drovers road being a route used to transport livestock.

cheers (will try to edit/expand later)

see also my post from last April, Leuchars in the Sky for Di's Son.

July 02, 2009 07:56 PM

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the June Employment Report.

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction..




Establishment Data



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Highlights

• 467,000 jobs were lost in total vs. 345,000 jobs last month.
  
• 79,000 construction jobs were lost vs. 59,000 last month.
  
• 136,000 manufacturing jobs were lost vs. 156,000 last month.
  
• 244,000 service providing jobs were lost vs. 120,000 last month.
  
• 21,000 retail trade jobs were lost vs. 18,000 last month.
  
• 118,000 professional and business services jobs were lost vs. 51,000 last month.
  
• 34,000 education and health services jobs were added vs. 44,000 added last month.
  
• 18,000 leisure and hospitality jobs were gained vs. 3,000 added last month.
  
• 52,000 government jobs were lost vs. 7,000 last month.
  

A total of 223,000 goods producing jobs were lost (higher paying jobs), and in contrast to last month, the service sector was hit hard again. Indeed most of the improvement in May was a 149,000 relative improvement in the service sector as compared to April.

It was nearly a clean sweep again this month with education and health services jobs the only real winner for the month.

Note: some of the above categories overlap as shown in the preceding chart, so do not attempt to total them up.

Index of Aggregate Weekly Hours

Work hours are now down to 33.0 in aggregate. This is contributing to household problems. The expectation was for work hours to rise.

Birth Death Model Revisions 2008



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Birth Death Model Revisions 2009



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Birth/Death Model Revisions

After the typical in January in which the Birth/Death Model revisions bore some semblance of reality, the Birth/Death numbers remain in deep outer space.

At this point in the cycle birth death numbers should have been massively contracting for months. The BLS is going to keep adding jobs through the entire recession.

The Birth/Death numbers are a complete joke and has been for at least two years now.

BLS Black Box

For those unfamiliar with the birth/death model, monthly jobs adjustments are made by the BLS based on economic assumptions about the birth and death of businesses (not individuals). Those assumptions are made according to estimates of where the BLS thinks we are in the economic cycle.

The BLS has admitted however, that their model will be wrong at economic turning points. And there is no doubt we are long past an economic turning point.

Here is the pertinent snip from the BLS on Birth/Death Methodology.

• The net birth/death model component figures are unique to each month and exhibit a seasonal pattern that can result in negative adjustments in some months. These models do not attempt to correct for any other potential error sources in the CES estimates such as sampling error or design limitations.
• Note that the net birth/death figures are not seasonally adjusted, and are applied to not seasonally adjusted monthly employment links to determine the final estimate.
• The most significant potential drawback to this or any model-based approach is that time series modeling assumes a predictable continuation of historical patterns and relationships and therefore is likely to have some difficulty producing reliable estimates at economic turning points or during periods when there are sudden changes in trend.

Household Data

The number of unemployed persons (14.7 million) and the unemployment rate (9.5 percent) were little changed in June. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percentage points.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 433,000 over the month to 4.4 million. In June, 3 in 10 unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.

The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in June at 9.0 million. Since the start of the recession, the number of such workers has increased by 4.4 million.

Persons Not in the Labor Force

About 2.2 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in June, 618,000 more than a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the past 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 793,000 discouraged workers in June, up by 373,000 from a year earlier.

Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in June had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Table A-5 Part Time Status



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The chart shows there are 9 million people are working part time but want a full time job. A year ago the number was 5.5 million.

Table A-12

Table A-12 is where one can find a better approximation of what the unemployment rate really is. Let's take a look



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Grim Statistics

The official unemployment rate is 9.5% and rising. However, if you start counting all the people that want a job but gave up, all the people with part-time jobs that want a full-time job, all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls because their unemployment benefits ran out, etc., you get a closer picture of what the unemployment rate is. That number is in the last row labeled U-6.

It reflects how unemployment feels to the average Joe on the street. U-6 is 16.5%. Both U-6 and U-3 (the so called "official" unemployment number) are poised to rise further although most likely at a slower pace than earlier this year.

Looking ahead, I expect the service sector to continue to weaken. Mall vacancy rates are rising and a huge contraction in commercial real estate is finally started. There is no driver for jobs and states in forced cutback mode are making matters far worse.

Unemployment is likely to continue rising until sometime in 2010.

Depression Level Statistics

I consider these job losses to be depression level totals. Admittedly conditions are not as bad as the great depression, but this is certainly no ordinary recession by any economic measure including lending, housing, bank failures, jobs, the stock market, commodity prices, treasury yields etc. For more on this idea please see Humpty Dumpty On Inflation.

Regardless of whether you think these are depression level statistics, unemployment is high and rising. Moreover, the "adverse scenario" in the Fed's stress test was unemployment at 10.3% at the end of 2010.

If you want something to think about after reading that jobs report, please consider Aircraft repair jobs sold to foreign workers, resumes not important.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post ListMike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

July 02, 2009 05:03 PM

Then read the script on Watts up with that. Warming? What warming?

July 02, 2009 05:07 PM

While members of Congress criticize executives of bailed out companies for taking too many costly trips to resorts, their taxpayer-funded travel—often to exotic spots unrelated to their official duties—has increased drastically. 

U.S. taxpayers dished out $13 million for hundreds of federal lawmakers and their families to travel overseas in 2008 alone and the tab will only get bigger. A newspaper’s thorough analysis of 60,000 congressional travel records reveals that spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995 and has nearly tripled since 2001. 

Since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago, the cost of overseas travel for legislators and their families has jumped 50%. A few have traveled to war zones (undoubtedly for favorable sound bites) but mainly they have gone to locations unrelated to their work, such as the Galapagos Islands, Paris, Italy, New Zealand and Japan.  

Just last summer, Washington Democrat Brian Baird took a four-day trip to the Galapagos—a group of volcanic islands off the South American coast—with his wife, four other lawmakers and their family members. They spent $22,000 on meals and hotels, according to the newspaper report. A member of the House Science Committee, Baird said the trip was essential to learn about global warming.

Earlier this year House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (of Air Pelosi fame) made an eight-day pit stop in Italy, along with eight other lawmakers and their entourage of spouses, en route to Afghanistan to supposedly check up on U.S. troops. The group spent nearly $60,000 on hotel and meals in Italy though it’s unclear what exactly their official mission was there. 

On a separate European jaunt, Alabama Republican Bud Cramer racked up a $5,700 tab for two weeks even though he wasn’t running for reelection and his term expired just two months later. Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, took a group to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Panama to solidify the message that “homeland security does not begin or end at our borders.”

Members of Congress have for decades been given carte blanche to travel wherever they want with their family and stick taxpayers with the hefty tab. Nearly two dozen full-time government employees organize the trips and the Air Force maintains a fleet of 16 passenger planes for many of the trips. In many ways the federal lawmakers are like the executives of the government bailed out companies they love to criticize. 

July 02, 2009 02:42 PM

Two British soldiers were killed and six injured in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today, via The Times.

A "big bomb" is said to have struck a combat vehicle carrying British troops close to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, yesterday. Everyone in the vehicle was killed or injured. Next of kin have been informed. The two dead soldiers were from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, respectively.

We have learned that this is a major incident with huge political ramifications, but details have been embargoed until 10pm to allow the next of kin time more time before the news breaks. This blog is respecting that embargo and offers our greatest sympathy. We will publish more at 10pm or sooner if the embargo is broken.

COMMENT THREAD

July 02, 2009 02:53 PM

There she was, our Glenys, in her place as Minister for Europe, answering or, rather avoiding, questions about the second Irish referendum as to the manner born. Apart from being economical with the truth about the Irish government not being bullied or pressurized into that second referendum, she gave no explanation at all as to why it is needed. After all, the people of Ireland have spoken.

Another point she omitted to explain, despite being asked by the Lord Pearson of Rannoch is what happens if there is no Accession Treaty either with Croatia or Iceland, the latter country not having applied for membership yet. Or if there is a treaty in the near future, how near is it and what happens to those "legal guarantees" in the meantime?

No doubt, the Baroness Kinnock (any sign of Master Kinnock following mummy and daddy into the House of Lords?) intends to go on as she has started.

COMMENT THREAD

July 02, 2009 02:02 PM

The law 733 which was aimed to suppress Freedom of Speech in the web has been approved. I wrote a message about it, but before to publish it I want to see if the infamous article 60 has been or not included in the final approval of the Senate. In any case the Massacre of Viareggio of three days before, a psy-operation, is linked with the approval of this law, named "Security Law", which introduces the formation of free 'civilian' squads to patrol the cities.

Vatican and Jesuits are gathering the fruits of the immigration policy by them supported, which gives the alibi to reintroduce Fascist/Stalinist assassin militia in the civil streets of the Apennine peninsula.

Zouaves are coming back - what did I told you about the RESTORATION OF THE PONTIFICAL REIGN?


"P2" AKA the "double P":


1) P - o - P - e (double "P")

2) II Pontifical reign (double "P")

3) Porta Pia's breach (double "P")

An upgrade will follow.

".....P-bye P-bye......cretins...."

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

29 YEARS AGO........

Saturday, June 06, 2009

VATICAN LAW TO ASSASSINATE FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN THE(IR) APENNINE PENINSULA

--------------------------------------------------------------
(As I have no time, no resources, no money, no support at disposition, it is clear that what I wrote is affected by many errors and uncorrectness. I am not a prostitute lay journalist of this dirty Vatican 'tollerant' regime called 'democracy'. I have not the 51% of the Bank of America supporting my writings. I don't control the Casinò of Ostenda and neither Citroen and Peugeot as the General Superior did at least in 1958. So corrections and additions could appear in the future)

July 02, 2009 12:38 PM

Tuesday 30 June 2009

Relatives of passengers aboard Yemenia Airways flight IY 626 which crashed en route to the Comoros from Paris on Monday have criticised the airline for having a poor safety record. Out of 153 on board, a 14-year-old was rescued alive.

Tuesday 30 June 2009 By FRANCE 24 (with wires) (text) /Philip CROWTHER (video)

Paris airport emergency number for families of passengers: +33.(0)1.48.64.59.59 Yemenia Airways's call centre in Sanaa: +967.1.250.800/ emergency number: +967.1.250.833


A Yemenia Airbus 310-300 with 153 people on board crashed into the sea late Monday night while approaching the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros. A 14-year-old girl is the sole survivor so far, according to the local Red Cross and rescuers.

Earlier reports had suggested the survivor was a five-year-old child.

Three bodies have been recovered, while the location of up to a hundred others has been identified by search and rescue personnel, according to authorities.

There were up to 66 French nationals on Yemenia flight IY 626, which originated from Paris. French authorities have also dispatched two airplanes and a ship from the Reunion islands to aid the search.

Contact with the flight was lost at 1:51 am local time (GMT+2), when the plane appears to have pulled off from its final approach to land for a second try. According to a senior Yemeni aviation official, Mohammad Abdel Kader, “the weather conditions were bad, with winds gusting up to 61 knots”.

Flight plan of Yemeni Airbus A310-300 that crashed off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros on June 30 at around 1am Paris time
The Yemenia flight took off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, subsequently making stopovers in Marseilles and Djibouti, with a change of aircraft in Sanaa. The 143 passengers on board included nationals from France, Canada, Comoros, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Yemen.

Questions on safety record

The airport authorities cite bad weather at the time of the accident, and Yemenia’s deputy director assured FRANCE 24 that "the plane had taken off without any technical problem."

But the crashed aircraft had been cited for technical faults earlier, according to France’s transport minister Dominique Bussereau, and “banned” from French airspace. It was also an aircraft that did not belong to Yemenia, but it was owned by another company, the lessor International Lease Finance Corp.

"The Airbus A310 in question was checked in 2007 by the DGCA [France’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation], and they noticed a certain number of faults. The unit has since not reappeared in our country," Bussereau told TV channel I-Tele.

Relatives of passengers at the Charles de Gaulle airport also told FRANCE 24 correspondent Gulliver Cragg that the plane from Sanaa to Moroni was usually “in very poor condition” and badly maintained.

Also at the airport were activists from a group called "SOS voyage aux Comores" (SOS Comoros Travel) who said that they had already protested against conditions on the flights earlier.

"Flights between Sanaa and Moroni are carried out by cowboy operators," spokesman Farid Soilihi told AFP. "They treat people like cattle, they pile them in, they don't respect timetables, there are always technical problems."

Airbus and France’s Office of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) will be sending teams to the region to investigate the accident.

The European Commissioner for Transport, Antonio Tajani, has said that it would contact Yemenia to inquire on its safety record, and would also propose a “global blacklist” along the lines of EU’s current blacklist of banned airlines. ..Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20090630-child-rescued-alive-after-yemeni-airbus-crash-,,

July 02, 2009 10:08 AM

Micah 3
1And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

2Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

4Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

5Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

6Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

8But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

9Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

10They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
..

July 02, 2009 09:56 AM

One small clause in the Bill to establish a statutory code of conduct for MPs' has been defeated - by three votes, including John Reid and Margaret Beckett.

The clause sought to make statements by MPs in the House subject to actions in the courts, threatening the centuries-old Parliamentary privilege that affords MPs immunity from prosecution for defamation.

It is a victory, but a small victory, but not enough ... and since so few people now listen to what MPs say in the House, one can hardly believe it matters.

COMMENT THREAD

July 02, 2009 09:48 AM

Read the post here and follow the link. Likewise here. One can only marvel at the fact that there is a political debate, even if we support the losing side.

In the UK, of course, we already have crap and fade. It is called the European Trading Scheme (ETS). No debate here ... another example of how the EU completely emasculates political discourse. Instead, our MPs are rushing through a Bill further to emasculate their own powers. In Brussels, the issue du jour is whether to keep José thingy on as commission president.

You can understand why so many people find US politics more interesting than our own. Weep while you can.

COMMENT THREAD

July 02, 2009 09:28 AM

Here's something to think about when the unemployment numbers come out Thursday Morning: Aircraft repair jobs sold to foreign workers, resumes not important.

A News 8 investigation found that hundreds of aircraft mechanics have been brought into the United States to work at aircraft repair facilities.

Insiders say the companies that are importing the mechanics are so eager to save money, they’re overstating their qualifications. The result may be a threat to safety, abetted by lax enforcement of immigration law.

At daybreak any morning at San Antonio Aerospace, hundreds of workers amble through the gates for the day shift. They repair big jets like Airbuses, Boeing 757s and MD-11s.

Jada Williams used to work for one of the contracting companies, Aircraft Workers Worldwide (AWW), based in Daphne, Alabama. AWW supplied workers for two facilities, Mobile Aerospace Engineering (MAE) in Mobile, Alabama and San Antonio Aerospace, which are both controlled by ST Aerospace. San Antonio Aerospace is a division of ST Aerospace, the largest aircraft repair company in world.

"They’ve employed over 200 since I left,” said Williams, who said she was unfairly fired by the contractor last fall. "And I know we had over a hundred when I was in there, just in Mobile.”

San Antonio Aerospace uses several contracting companies to supply it with workers. It can be a high-profit business for the contractors. They can make $3 to $12 an hour for every worker hired by SAA, contractors say.

The drive for profits is so big, Williams and other insiders said, that the contractors often falsify the qualifications of the imports.

"We had two,” she said. “One of them was a female. She was about 16. It was a brother and a sister. One guy was a grocery bagger, one was a security guard in Puerto Rico. Their ages were between 18 and 22.”

Their ages are important because it takes years of experience or schooling to learn how to repair a big jet, experience they couldn’t have had.

One former SAA mechanic, who spent years learning his trade before being laid off, said foreign workers got their training on the job from the Americans they worked with.

"The more experienced mechanics, we would get paired up with either one or two of these guys,” he says. “And they would watch us for a month or so. And that’s how they would get their training.”

Williams is suing her former boss, Daniel Harding, for unlawful termination and racial discrimination. She has a computer full of company documents that were acquired accidentally when AWW got new computers for its office and gave her an old one. Spreadsheets, resumes and payrolls revealed many company practices, from interviews, to trips to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City for visas, charts marked the progress of Mexican workers to the United States. Documents also showed workers were charged $3,500 each by AWW to get into the United States.

Williams also has an e-mail trail from AWW president Harding to Moh Loong Loh, the President of San Antonio Aerospace. He described one candidate as having “ 25 percent English skills.”

Williams said in Mobile the numbers were even bigger. She said she picked up a group of 60 people from Puerto Rico at Mobile Regional Airport last February. Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, its residents are U.S citizens. For the contractors, this is a bonus because they can pay the Puerto Ricans low wages without having to deal with foreign immigration requirements.

There is an interesting video in the above link that inquiring minds may wish to consider.

Putting profit over the safety of aircraft and passengers is unconscionable. If anyone at AWW or San Antonio Aerospace is in violation of immigration laws or falsifying documents, I hope they join Madoff for a nice stay in prison.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post ListMike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

July 02, 2009 07:38 AM

Amidst a big round of applause, El Monte California avoids bankruptcy after police union agrees to cuts.

The city averted bankruptcy Tuesday night after all four of its employee unions, including the Police Officers Association, agreed to cuts in benefits to help eliminate the city's budget deficit.

Though a round of applause spread through the City Council chambers after the last-minute announcement was made, many residents and staff members walked away from the meeting still frustrated by El Monte's dire financial situation.

"City departments are working with skeleton crews, and we are being forced to concentrate on essential services," acknowledged City Manager Jim Mussenden.

The council Tuesday approved a budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which began Wednesday, that includes massive cuts to city services and recreational programs. It also will result in the layoff of 100 employees and the closure of one of the city's four fire stations.

The cuts totaled $12 million - more than one-fifth the city's total $49.3 million budget.

The deficit is the result of falling sales tax revenues combined with retirement costs and deferred compensation benefits in employee contracts.

Sales tax revenue has been dropping since 2007 and fell an estimated $5.5 million last fiscal year alone. It is expected to continue falling in the coming year, despite a half-cent sales tax increase voters approved in November. Sales tax in the city stands at 10.25 percent, one of the highest rates in the state and country.

Employees agreed to forgo pay increases they were due starting Wednesday, accept a $200 lower contribution from the city for medical benefits, and, in some cases contribute 5 percent toward their PARS retirement accounts.

The non-police employees also agreed to continue through June 2010 the 10 percent cut in pay through furloughs they agreed to late last year.

In addition, upper management, including the city manager, assistant city managers, finance director, police chief and assistant police chief all agreed to continue the 10 percent cuts they accepted last year, and accept a $200 lower contribution from the city for medical benefits. Civilian management also agreed to contribute 5 percent of their salary towards their PARS retirement accounts and police management agreed to forgo their 4 percent pay increase due July 1.

No Reason To Cheer

El Monte solved nothing. The cuts were temporary and the city will soon be back in trouble.

The root cause of this mess is retirement costs and deferred compensation benefits in employee contracts. The union cuts did not solve the basic problem.

Note that the city sales tax is an excessive 10.25 percent, one of the highest rates in the country. What are El Monte taxpayers getting for their money? The answer is skeleton crews, longer emergency response times, a layoff of 100 employees, and the closure of one of the city's four fire stations.

All El Monte did was postpone the real problem for another day while city services degrade and the city sales tax remains excessive. This is no reason to cheer.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post ListMike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

July 02, 2009 06:12 AM

Most readers who are into this stuff will be aware of Karen Mulder's story, it has been covered on some forums and gone into briefly at this blog on a few occasions. So I'm not sure what more I can add except to go over it again and post a large collection of images of Karen I've amassed (like a robot; click for HQ/bigger size) to illustrate what's going on in terms of these Monarch programmed supermodel sex-slaves and the mentality of the people (the "elite") behind it (shown in part, by their repetitive use of symbolism).


Ms Mulder: Mannequin or Model?

C'est un mannequin!




Karen was born in Vlaardingen, South Holland (the 73rd [777] district, coat of arms above and the "Watchful Eye" Monument [the Illuminists love their phallic monuments ((I could not find any any additional info on the monument's context; probably on the surface something to do with watching over the ships to keep them safe))] from the town below); located near The Hague where she was moved to with her 'family', growing up in both The Hague and the smaller town of Voorburg. The Hague is of course the place where global government officials reside (and 'prosecute' their puppet "war-criminals"), it is safe to assume she was moved there as part of her government controlled 'Monarch' programming (I use that as a loose term for organized trauma-based mind control; not necessarily under the specific umbrella of the CIA Project Monarch) to be used as a child sex-slave for "elite" and government pedophiles ["In front of a live audience, the 33-year-old Dutch model claimed that she and other girls had been used as sex slaves by senior figures in the police and French government." (link to source below)] who live and work in The Hague. Her father 'Ben' was a civil servant/tax-inspector, so worked for the government suggesting her abuse/MK programming was establishment organized; further evidenced by her dissociated memories (dissociated to other parts/fragments of her fractured/fragmented/shattered mind) of her father hypnotizing and raping/traumatizing her at age 2, the rape/hypnosis/programming continuing long after childhood by countless establishment individuals who use these 'models' regularly, many of which are simply high-class sex-slaves (see info further down) + additional info on why Monarch victims often remember their initial abuse at the hands of their fathers before others.

The programming/internal (mpd) systems of Monarch slaves are known by programmers to often break down at around age 30, this fits Karen's timeline when she started to remember; dispensable Monarch slaves are treated by programmers/handlers more severely throughout their lives, these are the ones who are 'used up' earlier on, doing variously more severe things [low-level prostitution/child sex-slaves/non-public severely abused long-term sex-slaves/ultra-hardcore bdsm porn/bestiality/black-op soldiers ((including 'suicide bombers' and other such programmed individuals))/drug-trafficking/human-trafficking and the like, "These are children, who have been sold by pedophile fathers, or pornographic parents. The programmers/masters program them with the expectation that they will be "thrown from the freedom train" when they get to age 30. (Freedom Train is the code word for the Monarch trauma-based mind-control. To be thrown from the Freedom Train means to be killed.)"], Karen is of course not one of these individuals (same with most celebrity Monarchs); this just illustrates the fact that age 30 is often the age (as is the case with Karen) that dissociated memories start coming back as they are programmed with that in mind. The italicized quotes from Illuminati Formula and I think are very pertinent here.

"Some of the first memories that female Monarchs recover are their memories of their fathers raping them. This is because the programmers allow these memories to be less dissociated than the later ones where the slave may be sexually servicing an important Monarch slave handler... In later situations like that, the kitten alters which do the sexual servicing will be electro-shocked to block their memory as well as given hypnotic cues. The fathers or step-fathers are often not the person who will be their master when they grow up. The abuse of this person will serve as a cover for the programming. If the person’s front alters discover they are MPD, they will initially blame their multiplicity on the first abuser they remember, which then serves as a cover."

'Karen come Marilyn', the first (public) successfully Monarch programmed 'presidential model' sex-slave (most female Monarchs after Marilyn are dressed up as her [and programmed with her in mind] as is the case with Karen here).



Ben of course blamed the whole thing on his daughter's "cocaine addiction" (cocaine is a useful/commonly used drug for controlling slaves as it keeps them addicted/totally reliant on their handler/dealer for their 'next fix' [often how average people end up in sexual slavery, dealers get them addicted to cocaine then they end up performing sex acts for the drug as they need more and more]) and her strange eating habits (that explains everything!), linked article describing how she was, at the time of her "breakdown" kept under virtually constant sedation in the mental 'hospital' as she rediscovered the "little girl" inside her (see further down); the childhood hobby of painting is part of keeping the child Monarch slave's mind creative and dissociative (this kind of repetitive/relaxing/long-term activity keeps the child in a mild trance while also encouraging their creativity which is important [or the mind becomes 'stale' and can cease to function adequately if they are constantly traumatized with no creative activity such as that ((the creative parts of the brain needs to be stimulated in Monarch children to ensure healthy development)), or a musical instrument or whatever]), it also plays in to the double-bind leveled against the child as the programmer/hypnotist/father would praise the child for their work while also criticizing it and abusing them (can get so dissociative and confused that their mind 'dissociates into the picture' [as their minds are totally immersed in it so it would be the natural 'alternate reality' their mind would want to 'live in'/dissociate to]).


When is a cherry ever just a cherry in the fashion world?
This (abuse/programming at age 2) fits the timeline of Monarch programming as the abuse of the baby does not occur until after 18 months (her 'age 2' will of course have been an estimation), after a traumatic birth (often intentionally induced premature) the baby will be showered with love and affection by the parental figure (the actual father in this case) for the first 18 months or so; then when the severe traumatization/abuse/programming occurs following this 'love-bombing', the double-bind is far more effective in inducing dissociation/"splitting the core" (the original split/fracturing/shattering/compartmentalizing of the mind; as the mind is totally confused because of the double-bind "my father has been so caring and loving, I love him; now he is a monster causing me unspeakable amounts of pain, I hate him?" [obviously that is a non-literal illustration of the basic understanding/feelings a young child would have in this confusing/traumatizing situation]). Her hypnosis as a small child was all part of this programming (hypnosis plays a huge part in Monarch MK serving a number of purposes including setting up amnesia walls/making them forget an act of abuse if they did not dissociate sufficiently with the abuse alone [it is used for many more ways in terms of building internal structures/programming various sexual programs and the like]); as she grew up (obviously we don't have all the details of her life but we can surmise a lot based on what we know of Monarch MK programming) her shattered/fractured/fragmented/(etc) and dissociative mind would be extremely pliable for programming various alter-personalities, the below magazine editorial on her clearly illustrates her (sex)kitten programming/programmed alter (the mask of course is always extremely MK symbolic; of her masked personalities, 'secret/hidden identity/personality' as a sex-slave/kitten). I don't speak French but translating the first intro line of the editorial (obviously the header 'Karen la féline' needs no translation) it says "Karen Mulder is the latest masterpiece produced from the Netherlands" implying she is a product, she's been "produced" by programmers to be an 'top of the range' high-class Monarch sex-slave (much more leopard-print kitten programming suggestions further down).

Karen with her black feathered mask on a stick (+ stars/moons, black/white duality symbolism).

Karen in another photo covered in butterflies, more specifically to her programming a (new born) Monarch butterfly can be seen in the centre of her chest.


It was in the year 2001 (age 33) that her dissociated childhood memories of sexual abuse and programming started to come back, which she had been documenting in her writings (["When we visited her in Paris we could see for ourselves. Everywhere there were notebooks full of her tangled thoughts and mad ideas. She was accusing everyone and everything. It was awful to read them. She needs to remain in hospital because she is a danger to herself." - Ben Mulder] this writing down in notebooks of all memories that came back is the only logical way for them to quickly document flashbacks that would soon otherwise be forgotten again); culminating in an October 31st TV interview with Thierry Ardisson:

Everyone in Paris keeps talking about the rape allegations leveled on French television by Dutch supermodel Karen Mulder, doubly so now that the TV station, France 2, has admitted to wiping out the tape.

According to members of the audience, Mulder told the host of 'Tout le Monde en Parle' (Everyone is Talking about It) Thierry Ardisson that various people, including top executives at her former agency Elite and Prince Albert of Monaco, had tried to rape her. Moreover, Mulder said that her own father had hypnotized her from the age of two and then raped her.

Mulder had apparently contacted the show herself, explaining that she had "revelations" about malpractice at Elite. According to witnesses, Ardisson suspended the taping of the program for a "crisis meeting" backstage. Shortly afterwards, security men from the TV station frisked all the members of the audience and even impounded a videotape of the incident shot by a spectator.

...

One member of the audience, Emmanuel de Fournas, told French monthly Technikart, "Ardisson lost control of the program. He began yelling at his team. They even tried to impound spectators' cameras. It was a weird mess."

[quote source; Ardisson is clearly one of those media personalities who will discuss various sensationalist things, but when it gets too close to the truth and goes against people in power who could pull the plug on his lucrative role in the media he would rather just forget about it; trying to save face by sounding concerned for Karen's mental health and welfare.]

Edit: A pertinent quote from a July 1st article on 'Jezebel' about Karen (confirming what I was saying about cocaine and other methods of manipulation + "Elite" sexual slavery and the like), I cannot find the Daily Mail article the author quotes from:

In a series of more-or-less coherent magazine interviews [following the destroyed TV interview], Mulder repeated most of her accusations, and added that her agency had encouraged her to use cocaine and heroin. She told the Daily Mail, "They tried to turn me into a prostitute because they thought it would be so easy. I was raped by two bookers. I reported them and they were fired. Another time I was shut in the office of [a high-profile man from the modeling world] for a whole day. All these people who betrayed me I used to love very much. Then I realized how big the conspiracy was. It brought in the government and police, who both used Elite girls. People have tried to kidnap and poison me."

Karen with Prince Albert (when he was 'given her services' [as a sex-slave+arm candy] for a short period in 1999) at a tennis match; I find the tt's of getty to be intriguingly placed (obviously coincidental/synchronistic), the crosses covering both her eyes [she's a Monarch martyr].
What may have helped trigger these memories (particularly of the "Elite" Management pedophilic 'modelling agency') was a BBC undercover investigation which I feel was an intentionally botched investigation from the start, "Elite's European president, Gerald Marie, was shown apparently offering an undercover reporter £300 for sex and boasting of his intention to sleep with teenage girls." see Guardian article on how this allowed 'Elite' to sue and save face (despite Gerald Marie on camera showing how he treats his "Elite" models as essentially prostitutes/sex-slaves [Gerald was suspended following this, along with another higher up for making 'racist remarks']), this process obviously significantly aided by the corrupt court/legal system. "As a result, the suspended Elite executives regained their posts and the focus was turned on MacIntyre and the BBC's methods, instead of the still-questionable