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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

North Korea's nuclear test ready "soon"




(Reuters) - North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said, an act that would draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch.

The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the U.N. Security Council, which includes the North's sole major ally, China.

Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at honing the North's ability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, a move that would dramatically increase its military and diplomatic heft.

Now the North appears to be about to carry out a third nuclear test after two in 2006 and 2009.

"Soon. Preparations are almost complete," the source told Reuters when asked whether North Korea was planning to conduct a nuclear test.

This is the first time a senior official has confirmed the planned test and the source has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the 2006 test days before it happened.

The rocket launch and nuclear test come as Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule North Korea, seeks to cement his grip on power.

Kim took office in December and has lauded the country's military might, reaffirming his father's "military first" policies that have stunted economic development and appearing to dash slim hopes of an opening to the outside world.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, which have most to fear from any North Korean nuclear threat, are watching events anxiously and many observers say that Pyongyang may have the capacity to conduct a test using highly enriched uranium for the first time.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking to reporters during a trip to Brasilia, said he had no specific information on whether North Korea would go ahead with a test.

"But I again would strongly urge them not to engage in any kind of provocation - be it nuclear testing or any other act - that would provide greater instability in a dangerous part of the world," he said.

Defense experts say that by successfully enriching uranium, to make bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima nearly 70 years ago, the North would be able to significantly build up stocks of weapons-grade nuclear material.

It would also allow it more easily to manufacture a nuclear warhead to mount on a long-range missile.

The source did not specify whether the test would be a third test using plutonium, of which it has limited stocks, or whether Pyongyang would use uranium.

South Korean defense sources have been quoted in domestic media as saying a launch could come within two weeks and one North Korea analyst has suggested that it could come as early as the North's "Army Day" on Wednesday.

Other observers say that any date is pure speculation.

The rocket launch and the planned nuclear test have exposed the limits of China's hold over Pyongyang. Beijing is the North's sole major ally and props up the state with investment and fuel.

"China is like a chameleon toward North Korea," said Kim Young-soo, professor of political science at Sogang University in Seoul. "It says it objects to North Korea's provocative acts, but it does not participate in punishing the North."

Reports have suggested that a Chinese company may have supplied a rocket launcher shown off at a military parade to mark this month's centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the state's founder, something that may be in breach of UN sanctions.

China has denied breaching sanctions.

YOUNGEST KIM STILL IN CHARGE DESPITE ROCKET FIASCO

The source said there was debate in North Korea's top leadership over whether to go ahead with the launch in the face of U.S. warnings and the possibility of further U.N. sanctions, but that hawks in the Korean People's Army had won the debate.

The source dismissed speculation that the failed launch had dealt a blow to Kim Jong-un, believed to be in his late 20s, who came to power after his father Kim Jong-il died following a 17-year rule that saw North Korea experience a famine in the 1990s.

"Kim Jong-un was named first secretary of the (ruling) Workers' Party and head of the National Defense Commission," the source said, adding that the titles further consolidated his grip on power.

North Korean media has recently upped its criticism of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who cut off aid to Pyongyang when he took power in 2008, calling him a "rat" and a "bastard" and threatening to turn the South Korean capital to ashes.

Pyongyang desperately wants recognition from the United States, the guarantor of the South's security. It claims sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula, as does South Korea.

"North Korea may consider abandoning (the test) if the United States agrees to a peace treaty," the source said, reiterating a long-standing demand by Pyongyang for recognition by Washington and a treaty to end the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in a truce.

Reuters

Russian Military Concedes Iran, N. Korea Nuclear Threat




Russia's military leadership has for the first time acknowledged a nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea.

“The threat is always there, so we closely monitor the nuclear program developments of many countries," Army General Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the General Staff, told RT television.

"The analysis that we conducted together with the Americans confirms that, yes, there is a probability that the threat exists. And we agreed that it is necessary to create a missile defense system,” Makarov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has previously held that there is no nuclear threat to Europe and Russia from Iran and North Korea, because they do not have the capacity to build nuclear weapons or deliver them.

“Many countries that claim not to possess nuclear weapons do in fact have them,” Makarov said.

“Certainly, if it gets into the hands of extremists, it represents a threat to international security,” Makarov said.

He added that in order to counter these threats, Russia is ready to work together with other countries.

“Let's solve this problem. Let us work together to get rid of the threats that may arise, not only for Europe but for Russia because we too are part of Europe,” the general said.

North Korea has conducted two underground nuclear weapon tests, in 2006 and 2009.

Earlier in April South Korean media reported that intelligence indicated North Korea was preparing a third in a row underground nuclear test. The information was based on satellite photographs of North Korean test site, where underground nuclear test had been previously conducted.

U.S. and other Western countries suspect Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy program. Tehran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is aimed at meeting the country's electricity needs.

RIA Novosti

Netanyahu: "We know" what Iran is doing




Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says sanctions are taking a bite out of Iran's economy but it is not enough.

"So far they haven't rolled back the Iranian program, or even stopped it by one iota," Netanyahu told CNN's Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview that will broadcast on Tuesday night.

"I can tell you the centrifuges are spinning. They were spinning before the talks began recently with Iran. They were spinning during the talks. They were spinning as we speak," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also expresses confidence that Israel knew what Iran was trying to do with its nuclear program. "We know," he said.

"This is not the case, the questions, people had about Saddam Hussein," Netanyahu said, referring to the faulty intelligence that was relied on ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

CNN

Palestinian Sentenced to Death for Selling a Home to Jews




Former Palestinian intelligence official Muhammad Abu Shahala has reportedly been sentenced to death by the Palestinian Authority for selling a Hebron home to Jews. In response, Jewish officials from the community in Hebron are calling for international officials now to get involved—in order to save Abu Shahala’s life.

“According to various news agencies, Mr. Muhammad Abu Shahala, a former intelligence agent for the Palestinian Authority, has been sentenced to death, following a hurried trial. His crime: selling property to Jews in Hebron,” David Wilder and Noam Arnon, of the Jewish community in Hebron, write in a letter addressed to Ban Ki-moon, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other high ranking officials.

Mr. Abu Shahala reportedly confessed following torture sessions at the hands of his captors. The death sentence can be executed only following concurrence by Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, president of the PA. After he signs the death warrant, Abu Shahala may be killed.

It is appalling to think that property sales should be defined as a ‘capital crime’ punishable by death. The very fact that such a ‘law’ exists within the framework of the PA legal system points to a barbaric and perverse type of justice, reminiscent of practices implemented during the dark ages.

It is incumbent upon the entire international community, which views Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority as a viable Middle East peace partner, to publicly reject such acts of legal murder, when the ‘crime’ is nothing more than property sales. What would be the reaction to a law in the United States, England, France, or Switzerland, forbidding property sales to Jews?


The Weekly Standard

Swiss scientists demonstrate mind-controlled robot




(AP) Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot by thought alone, a step they hope will one day allow immobile people to interact with their surroundings through so-called avatars.

Similar experiments have taken place in the United States and Germany, but they involved either able-bodied patients or invasive brain implants.

On Tuesday, a team at Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne used only a simple head cap to record the brain signals of Mark-Andre Duc, who was at a hospital in the southern Swiss town of Sion 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

Duc's thoughts - or rather, the electrical signals emitted by his brain when he imagined lifting his paralyzed fingers - were decoded almost instantly by a laptop at the hospital. The resulting instructions - left or right - were then transmitted to a foot-tall robot scooting around the Lausanne lab.

Duc lost control of his legs and fingers in a fall and is now considered partially quadriplegic. He said controlling the robot wasn't hard on a good day.

"But when I'm in pain it becomes more difficult," he told The Associated Press through a video link screen on a second laptop attached to the robot.

Background noise caused by pain or even a wandering mind has emerged as a major challenge in the research of so-called brain-computer interfaces since they first began to be tested on humans more than a decade ago, said Jose Millan, who led the Swiss team.

While the human brain is perfectly capable of performing several tasks at once, a paralyzed person would have to focus the entire time they are directing the device.

"Sooner or later your attention will drop and this will degrade the signal," Millan said.

To get around this problem, his team decided to program the computer that decodes the signal so that it works in a similar way to the brain's subconscious. Once a command such as 'walk forward' has been sent, the computer will execute it until it receives a command to stop or the robot encounters an obstacle.

The robot itself is an advance on a previous project that let patients control an electric wheelchair. By using a robot complete with a camera and screen, users can extend their virtual presence to places that are arduous to reach with a wheelchair, such as an art gallery or a wedding abroad.

Rajesh Rao, an associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, who has tested similar systems with able-bodied subjects, said the Lausanne team's research appeared to mark an advance in the field.

"Especially if the system can be used by the paraplegic person outside the laboratory," he said in an email.

Millan said that although the device has already been tested at patients' homes, it isn't as easy to use as some commercially available gadgets that employ brain signals to control simple toys, such Mattel's popular MindFlex headset.

CBS News


Former IMF Chief Gives Eurozone Warning




The IMF's former chief economist warns the latest bailout fund is not enough to deal with the eurozone crisis.

Speaking to Sky News' economics editor Ed Conway on Jeff Randall Live, Professor Ken Rogoff said: "Europe is in a deep governance crisis and the scale of it is really outside the bounds even of this firewall of money, especially when you consider some of the money is coming from debtors that we're worried about.

"Europe put up $200bn (£124bn) of the total. Europe is the problem so in some sense it exaggerates how big it is."

Prof Rogoff served as an economic councillor and director of the research department of the International Monetary Fund from August 2001 to September 2003.

He was also on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System. Prof Rogoff is currently a professor of public policy and economics at Harvard University.

He also said: "The UK is so vulnerable to what's going on in Europe, with the UK recovering from this massive financial crisis.

"At the end of the day the UK needs to find ways for growth with or without the eurozone because it may not figure out how to grow, but I don't think this is a matter of fiscal stimulus leading to this growth, it's a matter of restructuring."

He said on the status quo of the eurozone: "I don't think the status quo, even with these tweaks and fiscal rules even the euro bond, is going to be stable so they're going to need a tighter union.

"I think that some of the countries will end up outside of that, at least for 30 or 40 years because they aren't ready to be in a tighter union. I don't think it will be preserved."

Britain has committed a further £10bn to the IMF's bailout war chest. The financial organisation has raised more than £269bn for its global bailout fund.

Sky News

UK economy in double-dip recession


The UK economy has returned to recession, after shrinking by 0.2% in the first three months of 2012.

A sharp fall in construction output was behind the surprise contraction, the Office for National Statistics said.

A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. The economy shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders says it "adds to the picture that the economy is bumping along the bottom".

She said economic output was slightly smaller now than it was in the autumn of 2010.

Wednesday's figure is an early estimate and is subject to at least two further revisions in the coming months. It is compiled using 40% of the data gathered for later revisions.

The UK economy was last in recession in 2009.

UK GDP growth, quarter on previous quarter%Source: ONS-0.2%20082009201020112012-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.5-1.0-0.50.00.51.01.5

Prime Minister David Cameron said the figures were "very, very disappointing".
"There is no complacency at all in this government in dealing with what is a very tough situation, which frankly has just got tougher."

"I don't seek to excuse them, I don't seek to try to explain them away," he said at Prime Minister's Questions.

He said it was "painstaking, difficult" work, but the government would stick with its plans and do "everything we can" to generate growth.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the figures were "catastrophic" and asked Mr Cameron what his excuse was.

"This is a recession made by him and the chancellor in Downing Street. It is his catastrophic economic policy that has landed us back in recession," Mr Miliband said.
BBC

SOROS: Europe's Social, Economic, And Moral Crisis Could Result In A Soviet-Union Like Collapse

Mr. Soros:
Maybe you can give us a moral lesson.....

Legendary investor George Soros said today that the troubles Europe faces are as serious as those that caused the Soviet Union to collapse, according to WSJ.

From that report:

“Europe is similar to the Soviet Union in the way that the euro crisis has the potential of destroying, undermining the European Union,” he said in a debate on public policy education Tuesday. “With the profound social, economic and moral crisis that Europe is in, we can see a similar process of disintegration.”

Soros has long spoken ominously about the eurozone's prospects for survival as a monetary union, writing in an FT column that the region may have entered "a less volatile but more lethal phase" of its sovereign debt and banking crises.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-says-europe-could-collapse-like-the-soviet-union-2012-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheMoneyGame+%28The+Money+Game%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#ixzz1t49AZwYO

The Implications Of China Paying In Gold




The implications of China paying for Iranian oil in gold is the most important event in the modern history of gold

1. It is reasonable to assume that China has been threatened with total or at least selective exclusion from the SWIFT system if it pays in any currency for Iranian oil.

2. Gold has been decided by China as the means of making payment for massive international purchases free of the SWIFT system.

3. Other Asian and Middle Eastern nations will now see the gold they hold as money free of Western economic interference.

4. Gold now is not only money free of liability, but also free from interference regarding settlement by the long arm of Western influence.

5. The SWIFT system is becoming ever more a weapon of Western international political will.

6. In case of war anywhere, it is now demonstrated for all to see that only gold will buy the materials required. Paper currencies are under the SWIFT system’s control in settlement.

7. Far from being a barbaric relic, gold is now clearly the money of state survival in every sense.

8. It is reasonable and possible for the supply of physical gold to fall far behind the size of the massive short positions now common to algorithm and hedge fund paper shorts. That will make an effective cover at a reasonable price as compared to a certain day’s close impossible the following day on an exogenous event.

9. It may not be possible to use TA of any nature to determine a price of overvaluation for gold. Should the USA decide to take on China in full out economic war with the physical market totally illiquid, such as through isolation from the SWIFT system, consider the gold price that might result.

Jim Sinclair's Mineset

Bahrain's protests Not Found?

If this don't wake you up, I don't know what will.....9 Banks Are Exposed To $200 Trillion Worth Of Derivatives

chartchart

This picture explains the graphics used for the rest of the infographic. A truck is worth one billion, a big tower is worth one trillion, and so forth

attached image



BNY has a derivative exposure of $1.375 Trillion dollars. 
Considered a too big to fail (TBTF) bank. It is currently facing (among others) lawsuits fraud and contract breach suits by a Los Angeles pension fund and New York pension funds, where BNY Mellon allegedly overcharged the funds on many millions of dollars and concealed it.


Demo2



State Street has a derivative exposure of $1.390 Trillion dollars. Too big to fail (TBTF) bank. It has been charged by California Attorney General (among other) lawsuits for massive fraud on California's CalPERS and CalSTRS pension funds - similar to BNY (above).
Demo3




Morgan Stanley has a derivative exposure of $1.722 Trillion dollars.
Its a too big to fail (TBTF) bank. It recently settled a lawsuit for over-paying its employees while accepting the tax payer funded bailout. Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley had a license plate that said "2BG2FAIL" on his Porsche Cayenne Turbo. All this while $250 million of bailout money ended up in the hands of Waterfall TALF Opportunity, run by the Morgan Stanley's owners' wives-- Marry a banker for a $250M tax-payer cash injection.
The bank also got a SECRET $2.041 Trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve during the crisis, beyond the tax payer bailout.
Demo4



Wells Fargo has a derivative exposure of $3.332 Trillion dollars.
Its a too big to fail (TBTF) bank. WF has been charged for its role in allegedly pursuing illegal foreclosures and deceptive loan servicing. Wells Fargo was just slapped with a $85 million fine by Federal Reserve for putting good credit borrowers into bad-credit rating (high rate) loans.
In March 2010, Wachovia (owned by Wells Fargo) paid $110 million fine for allowing transactions connected to drug smuggling and a $50 million fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine. It also failed to monitor $378.4 billion (that's $378400 millions dollars) worth of transactions to Mexican "casas de cambio" (think WesternUnion, anonymous cash transfer) usually linked to drug cartels. Beyond that, WF lets its' VIP employees live in foreclosed mansions. WF knows how to cash your legit check, then claim "fraud" and close your account. WF also re-orders your transactions to create more overdraft fees. Wells Fargo's Wachovia also got a SECRET $159 billion bailout from the Federal Reserve.
Wells Fargo paid NO taxes in 2008-2010 and had a tax rate of NEGATIVE 1.4% while making  $49 billion in profit during the same time.
Remember tower is worth one trillion DOLLARS
Demo5`




HSBC has a derivative exposure of $4.321 Trillion dollars. 
HSBC is a Hong Kong based bank and its original name is The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
You will find HSBC working a lot with JP Morgan Chase. Both HSBC and JP Morgan Chase have strong interest in gold & precious metals. HSBC and JP Morgan Chase are often involved together in financial scandals. Lately HSBC has been sued for allegedly funneling more than $8.9 billion to the largest ponzi-scheme in history - Bernie Maddof's investment business.
HSBC (along w/ JP Morgan Chase) has been sued for alleged conspiracy suppressing the price of silver and gold, partially through precious metal DERIVATIVES and making billions of dollars on it. State of Hawaii is suing HSBC (and other banks) for deceptive credit card lending practices.
DZ Bank in Germany is suing HSBC (and JP Morgan) for deceptive (lying) practices when selling home-loan-backed securities.
HSBC is also under investigation for laundering billions of dollars.
Demo6




Goldman Sachs has a derivative exposure of $44.192 Trillion dollars. 
The $1 Trillion pillars towers are double-stacked @ 930 feet (248 m). The White House is standing next to the Statue of Liberty.
Goldman Sachs has advantage over other banks because it has awesome
connections in US Government. A lot of former Goldman employees hold high-level
Mitt Romney's top donor is Goldman Sachs, and one of Obama's best donors.
Ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson became the Secretary of Treasury under Bush and during the 2008 financial crisis authored the TARP bill demanding $700 billion bail-out.
In UK, Goldman Sachs escaped £10 million bill on a failed tax avoidance scheme with help of good connections.
The bank is the largest player in the food commodities market, earned $955m from food speculation in 2009" - That's your $$.
Goldman Sachs employees are arming themselves with guns in case there is a populist uprising against the bank.
Goldman Sachs calls their investors "muppets". and use clients to make money for themselves, disregarding the clients.
The bank was fined $22 million for sharing valuable nonpublic information with top clients (Think insider trading with best clients).
Goldman Sachs was part-owner America's leading website for prostitution ads until the ownership stake was exposed.
Goldman Sachs helped Greece conceal its debt with secret loans, while simultaneously taking advantage of Greece.
Goldman Sachs got a $814 billion SECRET bailout from the Federal Reserve during the 2008 crisis.
Goldman Sachs got $10 billion of the 2008 TARP bailout, and in the same year paid $10.9 billion in employee compensation and "benefits", while paying a tax rate of 1%. That means an average of $327,000 to each Goldman Sach's employee.
Remember tower is worth Two trillion DOLLARSDemo7




Bank of America has a derivative exposure of $50.135 Trillion dollars.
BofA is sticking the tax-payers with a MASSIVE bill, by moving derivatives to
accounts insured by the federal government @ total of $53.7 trillion as of 06/2011.
During 2011-12 BofA has been in need of cash, so Warren Buffett gave BofA $5 billion.
Same year BofA sold its stake in China Construction Bank to raise $1.8 billion in cash.
Bank of America paid $22 million to settle charges of improperly foreclosing on active-duty troops
BofA recruited 3 cyber attack firms to attack WikiLeaks. but the Anonymous hacker group hacked the security firms first.
BofA was sued for $31 billion in home-loan losses in 2011, the bank is involved in many lawsuits, too many to document.
BofA also received a SECRET $1.344 trillion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve.
I made this picture a little bit bigger, so you can see it because it's TOO BIG TO SEE IT...
Remember tower is worth Two trillion DOLLARS (double-stacked)
Demo8



Citibank has a derivative exposure of $52.102 Trillion dollars.
The $1 Trillion dollar towers are double-stacked @ 930 feet (248 m).
Citibank customers have been arrested for trying to close their accounts, while in in Indonesia a man was interrogated to death in Citibank's special "questioning room". In 2011 Citibank paid a fine of $285 million for selling home-loan backed bonds to investors, while betting they would lose value (think derivatives/insurance). The man in charge of the unit at Citibank became Obama's Chief of Staff. 2 weeks before getting hired by Obama he got $900,000 from Citibank for great performance. This was after Citigroup took out $45 billion in bailout money.
Citibank knowingly passed over bad loans to the Federal Housing Administration to insure.
Citigroup also received a SECRET $2.513 trillion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve
Remember tower is worth Two trillion DOLLARS (double-stacked)attached image






JP Morgan Chase has a derivative exposure of $70.151 Trillion dollars.
$70 Trillion is roughly the size of the entire world's economy.
The $1 Trillion dollar towers are double-stacked @ 930 feet (248 m).
JP Morgan is rumored to hold 50->80% of the copper market, and manipulated the market by massive purchases. JP Morgan is also guilty of manipulating the silver market to make billions. In 2010 JP Morgan had 3 perfect trading quarters and only lost money on 8 days. Lawsuits on home foreclosures have been filed against JP Morgan.Aluminum price is manipulated by JP Morgan through large physical ownership of material and creating bottlenecks during transport. JP Morgan was among the banks involved in the seizure of $620 million in assets for alleged fraud linked to derivatives. JP Morgan got $25 billion taxpayer in bailout money. It has no intention of using the money to lend to customers, but instead will use it to drive out competition. The bank is also the largest owner of BP - the oil spill company. During the oil spill the bank said that the oil spill is good for the economy.
JP Morgan Chase also received a SECRET $391 billion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve.
Remember tower is worth Two trillion DOLLARS (double-stacked)...World's
Economy!!!!!
Demo10



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/9-banks-combine-for-over-200-trillion-derivatives-exposure-2012-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheMoneyGame+(The+Money+Game)&utm_content=Google+Reader#ixzz1t46XoI9a








Pakistan joins the missile parade

Senator Rand Paul confronts goverment crimes

Russia, U.S. to Hold Joint Anti-Terror Drills



Countries with greatest risk of terrorism


A detachment from the Russian Airborne Assault Forces will go to the United States in May for a joint anti-terror exercise, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Alexander Kucherenko said on Thursday.

The exercise will take place between May 24 and 31 at Fort Carson, Colo.

“This is the first time such an exercise is being held,” he said. “The AAF will contribute a special task group that will exercise with U.S. special service weapons.”

The Russian group will arrive a week before the start of the drills, he added.


RIA Novosti