Category: News

Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

Naked Emperor News
May 26, 2010

“In a sign of defensiveness…”

This rendering of the new Opel Astra GTC comes from the recent Calibra spy shots of a camouflaged version which will debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, ready for sales to start in the spring of 2011. So far there are those commentators who love it, and those who say the Astra GTC looks too much like the Renault Megane Coupé.

The rendering has a few add-ons which would eventually only appear on the GSi and OPC sports versions. The name of this car is still under discussion and we could see anything from the Astra GTC, Astra Sport Coupé or Astra Calibra emerge. Whatever the case, the Astra GTC should be developed as the coupé version of the Insignia, with a shooting brake design.

Engine options are likely to include the 1.7 CDTI with 130 hp and the 2.0 CDTI with 160 hp, while the 1.6 Turbo engine with 210 hp should appear on the new GSi version. The top of the range sports model will be the OPC version with a 2.0 Turbo unit and 240 hp.

Source | Es.Autoblog

Who would have thought that May 26th would be an important day for Buckeye Nation?

Well, we anticipated this day for a long time, because today is the day we start our Countdown To Kickoff!

There are 99 days until the season begins at Ohio Stadium, so today we tip our hats to Luke Fickell.

Fickell has been around the Buckeyes his entire life, and it shows.  He graduated from Columbus DeSales High School (oh, and by the way, he won a State Championship in wrestling while there), and then went on to The Ohio State University, where he started as a freshman at nose guard.

Now starting his 10th year as an assistant coach at Ohio State, he’s the man who will coaching the big names on the defense.  Ross Homan, Brian Rolle, Etienne Sabino….these are the men who will crush the opposition under the guidance of Fickell.

Oh, and if you needed another reason to admire Fickell, try this on for size.  Last year, he declined an offer to coach at Notre Dame.  Hell yes.

99 days until kickoff!

British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will take over as the leading lady in the next Transformers blockbuster, Deadline Hollywood has learned.

The Victoria’s Secret pin-up, 23, has accepted a role in Michael Bay’s forthcoming third Transformers sequel just days after men’s mag fave Fox ended months of strained relations with Bay and his staff by abruptly quitting her role as Mikaela Banes in the franchise.

Rosie beat out a bevy of beauties to play Shia LaBeouf’s love interest on the silver screen. Other actress shortlisted as a potential robot-slaying bombshell include Gemma Arterton, Zoe Saldana, Vanessa Hudgens, Amber Heard, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Hayden Panettiere, Twilight actress Ashley Greene, and Rosie’s fellow Vicky’s Secret angel Miranda Kerr.

Transformers 3 is due in the theaters across the US on July 1, 2011.

Materials: 2x LACK shelving units, 2x LACK small shelf, 1x LACK large shelf, 2×3 GRUNDTAL spots and dimmer

Description: The inspiration came from a trendy furniture store where they had this white furniture in front of this blue-green wall. As it was way over my budget, I had to improvise: enter the Ikea LACK shelves.

1. I used 2 LACK shelf units and 3 LACK shelves and a number of MDF panels.

2. Two green neon tubes were built inside the LACK shelf units as well as 6 GRUNDTAL spots on 2 dimmers.

3. All the cables go behind the MDF-panels, covered in white fake fur, which are placed ~2cm in front of the wall.

4. from 4mm MDF boards I made new fronts for the lack shelf units to make the 4 compartments somewhat look like old-school tv screens.

5. The top and sides of the shelf units are laminated with white plastic foil, so they look like they are made out of one solid piece.

Voila! I’m so happy with the result that I sometimes close the curtains just so I can put on the lights in my shelf. 🙂

See more of Bram’s stylish Lack.

~ Bram D., Netherlands

To get the bad news over with first: this is just a concept. Put down your Visa card. Freescale’s been exploring the various shapes and uses tablets could take over the years, with this smartbook concept being ideal for DJs. More »










Freescale – Android – FreescaleSemiconductor – YouTube – Google

	Carlos Ghosn: 2011 Nissan Leaf sold out That didn’t take long.		Not all bad: Honda CR-Z called “one of the most desirable cars on the planet” Surprised us, too.
	Kia’s hydrogen vehicle plans include 10,000 on the road by 2015 Ambitious, to say the least.	Other news: BMW 320d goes over 1,000 miles on one tank of fuel Ford invests $135 million for electric vehicle development at two Michigan sites Musk says hiring ex-NUMMI workers is top priority for Tesla

AutoblogGreen for 05.26.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 May 2010 05:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this year, we noted that infomercial king Kevin Trudeau was sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of court after asking his “fans” to email the judge in a case in which Trudeau is battling the FTC. The contempt charge is a bit tricky, because it’s difficult to see what’s wrong with having people email a publicly available judge. And, indeed, it appears that the contempt charge has been overturned and Trudeau won’t have to go to jail over it after all. That said, it still doesn’t seem particularly wise to ask people to spam a judge who’s in charge of determining your fate.

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Eco Factor: Sustainable solar powered home made from shipping containers.

Rapid industrialization and our quest to possess the latest in technology leave an everlasting impact on the environment. Researchers over the globe have now recognized that the only way out of global warming is to use renewable energy and recycle materials that usually reach the landfills after use. Industrial designers have also started to come up with sustainable homes that are made using recycled materials and are powered by renewable energy to reduce the impact on the environment.

Designer Omar Aponte has shared with us his shipping container home concept that will be powered by renewable solar energy. Dubbed Ecogaria, the environmentally friendly home is made from old shipping containers, making it affordable and green. The flexible house can be made according to user specifications and features flexible solar panels mounted on the roof that generate all the energy the house needs.

Thanks: [Omar Aponte]

Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

Daniel O’Connor
Camapign For Liberty
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

In modern times, The Rothschild family is often referred to as archetypal capitalists who were Europe’s wealthiest family from 1820 onward and gained this position through their ability to exploit the capitalist system–this widely held view is completely false. The Rothschild family was indeed the Continent’s wealthiest family throughout the nineteenth century but they gained this position through the exploitation of governments. Therefore, The Rothschilds should not be labeled as capitalists but rather another group of people in bed with governments, at an enormous scale.

200 years later, this misnomer not only still exists but is probably the most pervasive and deleterious aspect of modern economic thought. People continue to blame society’s problems on freedom while neglecting the incessant cronyism, corporatism and government expansion that permeates the economy. This notion was repugnant in the early years of American society which is why the Rothschild family had such difficulty penetrating The United States economy.

Traditionally, The Rothschild family conducted business in countries where they had strong relations with the governments of those nations; otherwise they refused. In the 1830s and 40s, this presented a huge dichotomy to the five Rothschild brothers who were scattered across Europe’s financial cities because they also recognized the large economic growth taking place in the United States indicating enormous potential for profits. Not only did the family lack a strong relationship with the federal government but The United States was also in the midst of major financial reform revolving around Andrew Jackson’s abolition of the Bank of the United States (BUS).

In the 1998 widely acclaimed book “The House of Rothschild: Money’s Prophets 1798-1848″ by Niall Ferguson, the author notes:

“The Bank of the United States had employed Barings as its European agent but the relationship broke down in 1836-7, and the Rothschilds hurried to offer their services. Biddle (the bank’s head) had ambitious-sounding plans, including “a business with a guarantee of two million pounds sterling to provide advances for goods and stocks,” and a scheme for a quasi-monopoly on cotton exports. It seemed to James (Rothschild) like a financial marriage made in heaven: these were, he enthused, “the wealthiest people in America” and “no less solid” than the Banque of France. At once, he began to imagine “flooding the American market” with his Spanish mercury “so that in six months we will be masters of the market”.” p 373

This alliance never came to fruition as Nicholas Biddle’s power and credibility later dwindled coupled by other large problems that arose within America’s financial system.

“In October 1839 the BUS (Biddle’s bank) suspended payments and in 1841 finally collapsed. Its failure coincided with a rash of defaults by states… In the wake of this fiasco, which saddled the London and Paris houses with a large quantity of thoroughly bad debts, the Rothschilds were content to hand back to Barings the position of bankers to the federal government. “You may tell your government” James was reported as telling representatives of the US Treasury, “that you have seen the man who is at the head of finance of Europe, and that he has told you that you cannot borrow a dollar, not a dollar.” The experience with the BUS had made James wish he had “never become involved with [America].” In future, he concluded, unless the federal government were “prepared to guarantee all the States and make the payments with us” and to set up an officially backed central bank, he would keep his distance.” pp 374-375

Presidents Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson were strongly opposed to a central bank, largely because they had witnessed the corruption surrounding central banks and the way in which large banking institutions profit from wars. A large portion of wealth that the Rothschild family accumulated derived from high interest rates charged to governments in order to help fund wars. Ferguson points out that:

“Historians have never adequately explained how an obscure Jewish merchant banker [Nathan Rothschild]–who only a few years before had been a smuggler, and a few years before that a minor textiles exporter–was able to become the principle conduit of money from the British government to the continental battlefields on which the fate of Europe was decided in 1814 and 1815. Of all the steps in the ascent of the house of Rothschild, this was surely the greatest; yet it is also the least understood.” p 85

The United States Federal Reserve Bank was not officially established until 1913 and therefore the Rothschild family never established a firm relationship with the federal government. Although they did closely monitor the activities in the US economy and took part in activities such as the gold rush and post Civil War financing. In fact, subsequent to The Civil War, large banking conglomerates in the US began to emulate Rothschild practices by pushing hard for a central bank and exploiting the federal government in various ways.

JP Morgan was the most obvious example. JP, like the Rothschilds, helped to provide funding for weapons during war (The Civil War). In the 1890s, JP provided huge sums of gold to the Federal Government. JP also went on to help form Chase Manhattan Bank which is now one of the worlds largest banking conglomerates, under the name JPMorganChase.

Over the past 100 years, Chase has maintained very close ties to the US government and other governments throughout the globe. The bank has been very successful at loaning money to governments through various means such as its close affiliation with Worldbank and The IMF.

The head JPMorganChase, David Rockefeller, maintained close relationships with many global leaders during the bank’s period of internationalization during the 1960s and 70s. David also maintained intimate relationships with members of the US government such as Henry Kissinger and the Dulles brothers during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In addition, he has also worked very closely with the former head of the New York Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner and Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, a longtime Chase executive.

It is precisely this type of cronyism which was detested by early Americans while being mastered by the Rothschilds in Europe.

The Rothschilds used their political influence and political intelligence to push out many aspects of their agenda. For example, Nathan Rothschild (in London) was able to make a huge profit by speculating on the stock market as he was the first to receive news of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.

The Rothschild family was also very effective at influencing monetary policy throughout Europe’s major financial cities as they were closely linked to the central banks and they also dominated the world’s precious metals market–specifically gold. Given the sheer quantity of gold the family had acquired through their various expeditions around the globe they were able to manipulate the continent’s money supply. Without the existence of central banks their manipulation tactics would not have been possible.

“James had in fact been sending substantial quantities of gold across the Channel since the beginning of 1825, if not earlier. In the first week of January alone, he had sent gold worth nearly £500,000, which he expected to “impress your Bank” (meaning the Bank of England). By the middle of the month, he was talking about “our old established practice” of “buy[ing] some gold whenever we can find any.”.” p 136

The family was obsessed with gold and imported it from all across the globe including South America, Russia, Turkey and Australia. Their perception and understanding for the value of gold is very much in line with that of modern-day Austrian Economists–it is the best store of value.

However, as the family always invested in gold, they did not always support the notion of gold to be upheld as a currency in circulation. Often times, they preferred the gold for themselves while allowing paper to circulate in the economy by encouraging their political associates to print notes.

Paper notes and govt bonds were much easier to manipulate, especially with greater political intelligence and political influence than any other banker in the market.

They also used faulty scare tactics such as “the fear of deflation” and a contracting economy as a means to keep paper in circulation (similar to modern-day economists who are closely aligned to the federal reserve, or the department of economics at Princeton).

“In 1819, the “bullionists” had effectively won…Dismayed, Nathan sought to dissuade Liverpool from going back on to gold, even pursuing ministers into the country to make his case…Nathan never opposed the resumption of cash payments (linked to gold) as a matter of theoretical principle; he and his fellow bankers made a practical argument that the short-run effects of a deflationary policy would be economically destabilizing, and that this might tend to run counter to the government’s goal of fiscal and monetary stabilization.” p 120-121

Sound familiar?

The family controlled so much gold that when they moved huge quantities of bullion from one central bank to another they were able to flood the market causing inflation and prices to then rise. Throughout a boom period ending in 1824, the family was able to generate huge profits. When Nathan and other bankers began to remove huge quantities of gold from England at the end of the boom in 1825, a bust was taking place and asset prices across the market continued to drop significantly.

The Bank of England then became responsible for fixing the economic crises in 1825. (This scenario should also sound familiar)

Many parallels can be drawn between the practices of the Rothschild family and our modern-day financial system. Although much revenue came from charging interest to governments, they were also engaged in many other areas of the economy. They bought and sold government bonds; traded enormous sums of foreign currencies; invested heavily in certain industries such as textiles and railroads; and they also dominated the commodity industry, globally.

In 2010, banks remain engaged in many of the same practices as the Rothschild family. Banking and finance are indeed a very important aspect of the economy and perfectly acceptable in a free market economy. However, it is when banks collude with governments and exploit the population for their own benefit that the term capitalist gets distorted.

In a free society, the role of government must be limited thus preventing cronyism at a grand scale, as in the case of the Rothschilds. Figures like Jefferson and Jackson acknowledged corruption within government which is why they pushed so hard to separate government and monetary policy by opposing a central bank.

Had Andrew Jackson not succeeded in abolishing The Bank of the United States, perhaps the Rothschild family could have made even greater fortunes by exploiting The U.S. political establishment.

Unfortunately, cronyism and corporatism are probably more rampant today than any other time in American history, as it has become accepted. And it is continuously mislabeled as capitalism.

The plug-in hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder was the best concept to come out of the Geneva Motor Show this year. With a claimed 0-60 time of about 3 seconds, the ability to return a fuel efficiency of 78 mpg, and a 15 mile electric-only range, it quickly became an object of lust for millions.

And now it appears the car is being readied to race in next year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.

(more…)

The first 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD pickups are going to make their way out of the Flint Assembly Plant this week, where production began on Monday. The first units are headed to Strawberry Point, Iowa, and Sumner, Washington.

“Members of UAW Local 598 put the finishing touches on the first truck, a red, regular cab Silverado HD,” General Motors said in a statement. “It is headed to Rodas Chevrolet in Strawberry Point, Iowa, a town that has a population of 1,400 and boasts the world’s largest (artificial) strawberry.”

Click here to get a price quote on the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD.

“We’re in a rural community out here. Ninety percent of buyers are pulling a trailer of some kind,” said Dan Paris, co-owner and general manager of Rodas Chevrolet. “We have guys that are definitely watching this one coming. I don’t think it’s going to take very long” to sell the first truck. “We kind of had some buyers in mind when we ordered them.”

The second Silverado, a red crew cab, is making its way to Sunset Chevrolet in Sumner, Washington, which has a population of 8,500 and is a blue-collar and farming town.

Refresher: Engine choices for the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado and the 2011 GMC Sierra HD include a Vortec 6.0L gasoline V8 making 360-hp and 380 lb-ft of torque and the 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel V8 making 397-hp and 765 lb-ft of torque. The 6.0L gasoline V8 is mated to a Hydra-Matic 6L90 6-speed automatic transmission, while the 6.6L Duramax diesel is mated to a new Allison 1000 6-speed automatic. Both pickups have a towing and payload ratings to 21,700 pounds of towing and 6,635 pounds of payload.

2011 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty:

– By: Kap Shah

Via Prison Planet.com » Prison Planet

David Gutierrez
Natural News
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

The FDA has sent warning letters to four pharmaceutical companies citing them for omitting and minimizing information about risks and exaggerating potential benefits in material promoting their drugs.

The letters order the companies to cease banned marketing behaviors and instruct their employees on rules for promotions, but do not impose any fines or other sanctions.

Among the companies reprimanded are Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly & Co. for their diabetes drug Byetta. The FDA letter notes that at a meeting of the Endocrine Society in June, an Amylin representative told an FDA employee that the drug caused 80 percent of patients to lose seven to eight pounds in 30 weeks of treatment. When the FDA representative asked about the source of that claim, he was provided with copies of two published studies that did not support it.

The letter states that Amylin representatives made other misleading or false statements about the drug’s benefits, and suggested that it could be used as a standalone treatment. At the time of the conference, Byetta was not yet approved as a standalone drug, making it illegal for the company to promote it for that use.

Eli Lilly was also taken to task for “entirely [omitting] risk information” in a print ad for the antidepressant Cymbalta, and for minimizing risks and exaggerating benefits in another ad.

Cephalon was reprimanded for promotional cards for the lymphoma drug Treanda, which contain “an extremely limited risk presentation” and omit “important material information related to the dosing claims.”

Finally, the FDA sent a letter to Bayer over its marketing campaign for the intra-uterine device Mirena. In addition to playing down risks and making false and misleading statements, the FDA notes that Bayer’s ad campaign makes unsubstantiated statements claiming that “the use of Mirena instead of other means of contraception will result in increased levels of intimacy, romance, and by implication, emotional satisfaction.” The ads also promise that women who use the device will “look and feel great.”

The FDA is unaware of “any evidence suggesting that women who are using Mirena for birth control look great or feel great,” the letter reads.

The SMH has an article on the resignation of former leader Malcolm Fraser from the Liberal party, on the grounds it is no longer liberal, having become thoroughly infected with the disease of conservatism – ‘Leftie’ Fraser leaves party that left him. Crikey has more.

In resigning from the Liberal Party, Malcolm Fraser could well invoke the line that Ronald Reagan used to explain why he quit the Democratic Party – “I didn’t leave the party, the party left me.”

Since the end of his prime ministership 27 years ago, the Liberals have moved a long way to the right, leaving Fraser increasingly angry and isolated in the party he once led.

The prime minster who was attacked by Labor as being a granite-faced arch-conservative in the 1980s was in January derided by the Liberals’ Sophie Mirabella as a “frothing-at-the-mouth leftie.”

The surprising thing about Fraser isn’t that he resigned in disgust.

Accusing John Howard of being “inhumane” with asylum seekers and Tony Abbott of being guilty of “pure Hansonism,” the surprise is that he kept his membership so long.

The closest the Liberal Party has come to revisiting the liberalism of Fraser was its brief flirtation with that other Malcolm, Turnbull.

Turnbull lost the leadership in a clash over support for an emissions trading scheme to deal with climate change.

In this, Turnbull had Fraser’s full support.

Fraser last October endorsed a call by 40 scientists calling on the Government to make “every effort” to cut carbon emissions and lead global negotiations.

When did the Liberals tear down Turnbull and replace him with Tony Abbott? December 1 last year. When did Fraser quit the party? In December. This is no coincidence.

Since the fall of the Fraser government, the Liberals have moved to the right in every major realm of policy. …

The Iraq war particularly rankled with Fraser: “A good ally doesn’t just go along with whatever Americans want, and I am sure that George Bush senior and his colleagues agree with me,” he said in 2007.

“In some important quarters in America, we are held in contempt for being George W. Bush’s puppy dog.”

China’s largest auto parts maker forecasts that Chinese demand for copper could surge another 12% this year.

Copper is used for wiring in buildings, infrastructure, cars, and appliances, thus says much about growth in the economy.

Hellenic Shipping News:

“Consumption is still strong,” driven by continued economic growth, said Sheng Weimin from the unit of Wanxiang Group, the country’s largest auto-parts maker. Demand, including refined and scrap copper, may climb to 8.96 million metric tons, said Sheng, who’s studied metals markets for more than 15 years.

…

“Demand from downstream consumers is very good, their order books are full, but they are buying hand-to-mouth because no one wants to hold too much inventory in these uncertain times,” Sheng said, referring to car parts and appliance makers.

This comes on the heels of Australian miner Rio Tinto forecasting that global demand for copper, plus iron ore and aluminum, will double over the next fifteen years.

Join the conversation about this story »

(May 25th 2010) The international community must pledge financial support to rebuild the lives of those affected by Cyclone Aila, which hit Bangladesh a year ago, says Oxfam. With the threat of an impending monsoon, communities are still waiting for damaged embankments to be rebuilt so that they can return to their homes.

When Cyclone Aila swept across areas of southern Bangladesh and eastern India on 25 May 2009, it caused widespread damage and affected around three million people. In southern Bangladesh, the cyclone caused a tidal surge which broke through poorly maintained coastal embankments. In south western districts, especially in Shatkhira and Kulna, people living in the coastal villages were forced to flee to raised embankments as houses and crops became submerged under water.

Gareth Price Jones, the Country Director of Oxfam in Bangladesh said, “It is unfortunate to see that the international community did not fulfil their pledge to provide 1.15 billion U.S. dollars to rehabilitate cyclone Aila victims.

Today in the Shatkhira and Khulna districts only 45km of the 729km of damaged embankments have been reconstructed so far. People cannot return to their homesteads, as different points of breached embankments have not yet been repaired, due to inadequate resources and a lack of action. *

Over the last year Oxfam has continued to lobby the local and national government to take immediate steps to reconstruct damaged embankments to protect communities and their land from saline water.

While more than 100,000 people have fled to other parts of the country since the cyclone struck, some 125,000 people are still living in makeshift shelters on the embankments, struggling with basic needs such as shelter, clean drinking water and food. *

‘One year after cyclone Aila and I am still living on the embankments. Nothing has changed in my life, things have got worse. I need pure drinking water, a house and the means to make a living,” said Shorbanu Khatun, a resident of Shatkhira.

More than three million people have been suffering due to a lack of clean drinking water since the cyclone. Only 5-7 percent of the population in the area are living where tube-wells have been installed. The average distance for others to fetch drinking water is about 4 km. *

Oxfam has so far provided 12,000 families with 1.5 millions litres of safe drinking water as well as over 9000 families with shelter. It has also provided sanitation and a means of making a living to many families.

Around 60 percent of government schools in the affected areas are still inaccessible due to water logging or due to the lack of infrastructure. Many children cannot attend school, especially girls due to inadequate sanitation facilities.

With an impending monsoon the situation can only worsen unless the international community makes immediate arrangements to help people to cope and have access to food, shelter, safe drinking water and sanitation. Further delay will only increase the suffering of those affected.
Oxfam is also lobbying the Bangladesh government and international community for longer-term initiatives to rebuild the affected areas and help communities be better prepared for future disasters.

ENDS

 

Note to Editors

 

* According to the latest assessment by an alliance of INGOs involved in the response to cyclone Aila.

For further information or to arrange an interview contact Jonaid Jilani, +44 (0) 1865 181514 / +44  (0) 7810 181514 / [email protected]

Photos and caption can be found at

http://wordsandpictures.oxfam.org.uk/?c=6845&k=6423dedbd2

Parvez , a Bangladeshi singer’s call to help those affected by cyclone Aila.

http://www.oxfamblogs.org/southasia/?p=154

Online privacy issues are a big deal these days and a couple of the biggest web companies online, Google and Facebook, have been feeling the heat lately. Both are taking steps in ensuring that they meet the users’ demands. Google is now offering a way to opt out of analytics tracking with Google Analytics on any website that uses the tool. User… (read more)

Via Prison Planet.com » Commentary

The Economic Collapse
May 26, 2010

As the number of bank failures in the United States continues to accelerate, many analysts are warning that we could soon see unprecedented changes in the U.S. banking industry.  In fact, there are some economists that are warning that we could be about to witness the greatest banking consolidation in U.S. history.  As dozens of small and medium size banks have failed, the megabanks have systematically been gobbling up larger and larger slices of market share.  In fact, if current trends continue, it doesn’t take much imagination to foresee a future where the entire U.S. banking industry has been consolidated down to between 5 and 10 “superbanks”.  So would that be so bad?  Well, yes it would.  It would represent a massive shift in financial power away from the American people to big, global corporate banks.  But if you happen to be a fan of big, global corporate banks perhaps you will really love what is about to happen to the U.S. banking industry.   

On Friday, federal regulators seized Pinehurst Bank, which brought the total number of U.S. banks closed this year to 73.  At this point in 2009, only 36 banks had failed.

That means that the number of bank failures has doubled compared to the same time period a year ago.

Is that a good trend?

Well, it is a good trend if you are one of the megabanks that is gobbling up the remnants of these banks that were ”small enough to fail”. 

And the sad thing is that we are likely to see dozens and dozens more small and medium size banks fail in the coming months.

The FDIC recently announced that the number of banks on its “problem list” climbed to 702 at the end of 2009.  That is extremely alarming considering the fact that only 552 banks were on the problem list at the end of September 2009 and only 252 banks that were on the problem list at the end of 2008.

In fact, the FDIC is expecting so many banks to fail that they are opening up new offices just to handle all the expected failures.  The FDIC has opened a massive 100,000 square foot satellite office near Chicago that will house up to 500 temporary staffers and contractors to manage receiverships and liquidate assets from what they are expecting will be a gigantic wave of failed Midwest banks.  Not only that, but the FDIC has also opened similar offices in Irvine, California and Jacksonville, Florida. 

But can the FDIC realistically handle all of these bank failures?

No.

The FDIC is backing 8,000 banks that have a total of $13 trillion in assets with a deposit insurance fund that is basically flat broke. 

So if the FDIC completely runs out of money, where will all the necessary funds come from?

From U.S. taxpayers of course.

It seems that we are the ultimate bailout machine.

Meanwhile, the biggest U.S. banks are hoarding cash in preparation for hard times.  In fact, the biggest banks in the United States cut their collective small business lending balance by another 1 billion dollars in November 2009.  That drop was the seventh monthly decline in a row.

The truth is that in 2009, the biggest U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in lending since 1942. 

So what were they doing with their money?

Well, thanks to the Federal Reserve, the megabanks were using the U.S. Treasury carry trade to make huge gobs of cash.  In fact, the little game that they are playing with U.S. Treasuries is working so well that four of the biggest U.S. banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup) had a “perfect quarter” with zero days of trading losses during the first quarter of 2010.

The truth is that the game is rigged to benefit the largest financial institutions, and they are slowly but surely gobbling up the entire U.S. banking market.  

Back in 2000, the “Big Four” U.S. banks – Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo – held approximately 22 percent of all deposits in FDIC-insured institutions.  As of June 30th of last year that figure was up to 39 percent.

The Founding Fathers of this country warned us of the danger of big banks getting too much power, but we have not listened to their warnings.

Now we have monolithic global banks that are so immense in size that we seem almost powerless to control them.

In fact, the six biggest banks in the United States (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo) now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America’s gross national product.

And there is every indication that they are only going to get bigger and more dominant – especially if there is a major economic downturn ahead.

Unfortunately, that is what a number of respected economists are forecasting.

For example, Bob Chapman of the International Forecaster recently warned his readers that things could get really, really bad by the end of 2010…. 

It should interest you to know that my Intel source inside the Fed says absolutely no later than November the banking system should implode. Presently 75% of banks have problems and that the top 5 banks will take over all the others in a general nationalization. There is tremendous fear and uneasiness in the banking world.

Now, let us hope that Bob Chapman’s source is wrong.  Certainly the U.S. banking system is in a state of complete and total chaos, but hopefully we can make it into 2011 without a complete implosion of the banking industry. 

However, Bob Chapman has been in the industry for decades and he would not have put out a warning like this without good reason.  Let us just pray that what this source is warning of does not actually come to pass.

But Bob Chapman is not the only one warning of difficult times ahead. 

CNBC recently quoted Brian Kelly, the founder of Kanundrum Capital, as saying that the chances of a global depression breaking out have increased dramatically in recent days….

“Two weeks ago I would give the global depression scenario a one percent chance, but the chances have increased to 10 percent today.”

In fact, world famous economist Nouriel Roubini is absolutely convinced that there is a good deal of economic trouble ahead of us….

“We are still in the middle of this crisis and there is more trouble ahead of us, even if there is a recovery. During the great depression the economy contracted between 1929 and 1933, there was the beginning of a recovery, but then a second recession from 1937 to 1939. If you don’t address the issues, you risk having a double-dip recession and one which is at least as severe as the first one.”

So will the end of 2010 be a very difficult time for the U.S. economy?

Only time will tell.

But what does seem certain is that small and medium size banks will continue to fail in large numbers, and the big dominant banks will continue to gobble up market share.

We are witnessing a dramatic consolidation of the U.S. banking industry, and the only question seems to be how fast it is all going to play out.

Via Prison Planet.com » World News

Tobias Buck and Roula Khalaf
Financial Times
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

At 11am on Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis will hear a warning siren and dash to bunkers and safe rooms across the country. The army and rescue services will practise their response to a massive missile attack, marking the climax of an ambitious home-front exercise.

Despite government assurances that the drill is a yearly routine, political leaders in Lebanon and Syria have accused Israel of warmongering.

Whether by accident or design, the five-day exercise has fuelled speculation over a renewed military clash between Israel and Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia group backed by Iran and Syria.

Israel’s northern neighbours are not alone in voicing concerns about the potential for more bloodshed. In recent weeks, Israeli politicians have repeatedly warned that the threat posed by Hizbollah’s rapidly improving arsenal is reaching a critical level.

Full article here