US "Isolated" As Key Ally Japan Considers Joining China-Led Bank

Well, that escalated quickly. 

Just a week ago it appeared Washington had managed (for the time being at least) to convince the US’ closest allies to refrain from joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a sinocentric institution aimed at promoting development across Asia that is meant to rival the US/Japanese-led ADB and begin a seismic shift away from the world’s traditionally US-dominated institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF. Then, much to the chagrin of Washington, the UK joined as a founding member calling it an “unrivaled opportunity.” 

As we and many other observers correctly noted at the time, the move by Britain could well embolden other countries who had expressed an interest initially but been deterred by pressure from Washington to reconsider their bids for membership. In (very) short order, everyone from Germany to Australia to Luxembourg was suddenly ready to cast their lot with the Chinese despite US warnings that the bank won’t adopt the proper operational standards. As we said yesterday, the world is now wise to the fact that US criticism of the new venture is very likely nothing more than an attempt by The White House to undermine Chinese regional ambition: 

...and that means in short order Australia and South Korea will likely be on board and at that point, the stigma the US has created around membership will have completely disappeared (if it hasn’t already), opening the door for other US “allies” to join despite the bank’s alleged “low” standards.

Now, it appears the last valuable friend the US has in the bid to keep China from undercutting the ADB is beginning to consider a bid to join up. Here’s more from Reuters: 

Japan's foreign minister signaled cautious approval of the institution that the United States has warned against…

The opposition to the AIIB began crumbling after Britain said earlier this month that it would join the institution, saying it was in its national interest. France, Germany and Italy swiftly followed suit.

Australia now appears close to joining, although no formal decision has been made, and Beijing said Japan and South Korea were also considering the possibility. Asked about the three countries joining the bank, China's Foreign Ministry said it was "open" to it.

"They have all already expressed that they are contemplating the issue at hand," ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily briefing. "We are open to them making the relevant decision."

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said Tokyo could consider joining the China-led bank if it could guarantee a credible mechanism for providing loans.

Make no mistake, they’ll still be plenty of officials in Japan who will stick to the script and fight the proposal, but the fact that the country is openly considering it when relations with China are rocky at best and when Japan is so influential in what is pretty clearly a competing institution speaks volumes about the extent to which US hegemony is waning. For his part, PM Abe is still hanging onto the same tired rhetoric: 

• ABE: AIIB IS DIFFERENT TO IMF, WORLD BANK AND ADB 
• ABE: NEED TO CONSIDER AIIB QUESTION CAREFULLY

As for BoJ Gov. Kuroda, he was apparently too busy buying stocks to comment.

Via Bloomberg: 

Asian Development Bank and World Bank have accumulated experience in helping Asia improve infrastructure, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Friday, declining to comment on whether Japan should participate in a new China-led lender.

Kuroda said he couldn’t respond directly when asked whether Japan should join Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Credit to Zero Hedge 

Military Takeover Plan Revealed: Is Your State Next

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR - ITALY CONFERENCE

Russia... Employers are preparing for nuclear war

Companies and employers are obliged to provide their employees with personal protective equipment in case of radiation or chemical contamination - buy gas masks and special kits

The purpose of Minister of Emergency Situations signed Vladimir Puchkov order which shall take effect from today - the protection of the population in the event of a chemical or radioactive contamination.The whole territory of St. Petersburg is related to a particular (highest) group of civil defense, including may be subjected to radioactive contamination in the event of an accident at Leningrad NPP. Therefore, 100 percent of the citizens should be provided with gas masks, nearly one in three from St. Petersburg - as "medical personal protective equipment" (kits with special preparations - AI-2).

Primary responsibility for civil defense management Ministry of Emergency Situations holds the employers. They have to buy gas masks to all employees and to create a 5 percent margin. In the absence of necessary warehouses executives have the right to distribute gas masks and kits to the employees themselves, charging them with responsibility for the safety of property. And all this - at their own expense.
Any failure to comply with these requirements qualify as sufficiently serious administrative offenses: legal entities can be fined from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, their managers or other officials - up to 20 thousand.

Comply with the rules, of course, profitable. After all, the easiest mask on the St. Petersburg market is worth 150 rubles, AI-2 kit - 240 rubles. That is to ensure the collective enterprise of 50 people cost about 12 thousand rubles. Given that, according to the Committee on Labor and Social Protection of St. Petersburg, the city has about 3.1 million people, the total business expenses will exceed 700 million rubles.

However, in addition to the purchase of PPE, employers responsibility training for the rules of civil defense, coordination with local administrations comprehensive plans and so on. All this is not so much expensive as troublesome events. For example, the head of each organization or designee other officer (chairman of the committee) must undergo special training and every five years to improve skills in the institutions of Ministry of Emergency Situations (including Training Center in St. Petersburg). Tuition is free, but you need to enroll and get directions to the district administration. For ordinary employees should conduct classes in the approved curriculum followed consolidate the knowledge and skills in exercises and training.

Employers themselves are convinced that the imposition on them relating to civil defense obligations looks like another attempt to strangling business. "I think that the balance between budget and augmentable pressure on business to be respected, and any mass control of the company in terms of providing personal protection equipment will not be, - says Dmitry Karev, COO outsourcing company Acsour. - To have or not to have personal protection - to solve each employer. In principle, they are inexpensive, and you need to compare the risks, costs, and so on. "

But the managing director of PM NAI Becar in St. Petersburg Natalia Skalandis estimates the cost of providing PPE team of 50 people in about 250 thousand rubles. "A more effective solution would be the introduction of the obligation to provide remedies individually. That is, each citizen should he buy a gas mask and a first aid kit, as drivers are required to have a fire extinguisher and first aid kit car "- believes Natalia Skalandis.
Far greater risks for the new rules are caught recently in disgrace NGOs (non-profit) organizations - NGOs. According to the head of NGO "Human Rights Resource Center" Mary Kanev, civil protection should the State. "Requirements for the acquisition of PPE - an additional burden for organizations which often employs one or a maximum of three employees. In this situation, the pressure on NGOs, perhaps for some it will be the "last straw" in a choice of capacity to implement, for example, charity. According to my practical calculations, the compliance with all the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor, RTN, FEMA, and other agencies Roskomnadzora will cost a total of from 80 to 500 thousand rubles - depending on the number of employees, floor space and other nuances, "- Mrs. Maria Kaniewska.

Meanwhile, the majority of respondents journalist "BaltInfo" Employers could not comment on the new requirements and readiness to fulfill them. "Our specialist is just at a seminar on this issue," - confessed to the press service of "Imperial Porcelain Factory."

Experts remind that the procedure adopted by the accumulation of personal protective equipment installed in 1998 and approved by the federal law on the basis of its rules. It is no longer a St. Petersburg company, came under the rink checks, was fined and received a prescription MOE.


Credit to Baltinfo.ru

De-Dollarization Accelerates As More Of Washington's "Allies" Defect To China-Led Bank

The global de-dollarization trend continues as it appears the UK’s move to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Development Bank has indeed shown other US “allies” that spurning Washington’s advice is actually acceptable and concerns about the institution’s “standards” may simply be a diversion aimed at undermining China’s attempt to exercise more influence in its own backyard. Here’s more from the NY Times: 

Ignoring direct pleas from the Obama administration, Europe’s biggest economies have declared their desire to become founding members of a new Chinese-led Asian investment bank that the United States views as a rival to the World Bank and other institutions set up at the height of American power after World War II.

The announcement on Tuesday by Germany, France and Italy that they would follow Britain and join the Chinese-led venture delivered a stinging rebuke to Washington from some of its closest allies. It also called into question whether the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which grew out of a multination conference in Bretton Woods, N.H., in 1944 and established an economic pecking order that lasted 70 years, will find their influence diminished.

The announcement by Germany, Europe’s largest economy, came only six days after Secretary of State John Kerry asked his German counterpart, Frank Walter-Steinmeier, to resist the Chinese overtures until the Chinese agreed to a number of conditions about transparency and governing of the new entity. But Germany came to the same conclusion that Britain did: China is such a large export and investment market for it that it cannot afford to stay on the sidelines.

South Korea, another US ally that the Obama administration has not-so-subtly lobbied to stay out of the AIIB for the time being, is reportedly reconsidering a bid to join and although reports that Seoul had already committed to the venture appear to have been a bit premature, the country will make a decision this month and is expected to discuss specifics this weekend at a meeting with Chinese and Japanese officials. Here’s FT: 

The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul this weekend for the first time in three years, in an effort to calm tensions in the region.

The trio have strong economic ties but frosty relations. International angst about this state of affairs among the regional superpowers has been further piqued by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a Chinese-led initiative sparking alarm in Washington and proving divisive elsewhere.

Meanwhile, even Europe’s own “magical fairyland” is taking the plunge. Via Bloomberg: 

China welcomes Luxembourg’s application to be a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China’s finance ministry says in a statement on website.

And so, with the most European of European countries on the bandwagon, and with South Korea leaning unmistakably towards joining up, we say again: 

Bottom line: this isn’t theory or conjecture anymore. Every shred of objective evidence suggests that the dollar’s dominance is coming to an end.

Credit to Zerohedge 

US President Obama Punishes Israel for Re-electing PM Netanyahu

Genesis 12 King James Version (KJV)

12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Photo from President Barack Obama's past visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Punishment for Israelis who chose to re-elect Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this week was not long in coming from U.S. President Barack Obama.

The Obama administration is now reportedly weighing the option of whether to agree to a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, as well as the withdrawal of Israel from Judea and Samaria, with mutually agreed land swaps.

The resolution would force Israel to enter immediate talks with the Palestinian Authority, in advance of a final status agreement for both sides.

Obama administration officials said Thursday the White House may support passage of this new resolution, according to a report published in the New York Times.

“We are now in a reality where the Israeli government no longer supports direct negotiations. Therefore we clearly have to factor that into our decisions going forward,” a White House official said.

Major differences have emerged between the two administrations over the question of how to deal with the constant threat posed by a Palestinian Authority that succors and glorifies the terrorists in its midst.

Future contacts between Israel and the United States would be managed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Pentagon officials, the White House official added, saying, “The president is a pretty pragmatic person and if he felt it would be useful he will certainly engage. But he’s not going to waste his time.”

Credit tohttp://www.jewishpress.com

Who’s Really Behind The Rigged Markets

by Shadow of Truth, The Daily Coin

The Shadow of Truth hosts Rob Kirby for an incredible discussion about the insidious, omnipresent forces behind what has evolved into continuous, non-stop global financial markets intervention by the Central Banks. Or is it really the Central Banks?

I think you will find this discussion highly informative, if not highly engaging. Please pass it along to friends and colleagues – the world needs to see The Truth:

By way of background, it was a renowned and respected macro-economist, Frank Veneroso, who discovered in the mid-1990’s that global demand for gold exceeded the annual global mining supply. He also discovered that it was western Central Banks that were selling outright and leasing gold from their holdings in order to balance out this supply.

Why? Because money-printing had started to accelerate, especially by Alan Greenspan’s Fed, in response to a series of increasingly severe economic shocks – like the S&L/junk bond collapse, the Asian debt collapse, Mexico’s peso collapse, Long Term Capital’s collapse, etc. If the Central Banks had allowed the price of gold to rise in response to growing demand for physical supply, it would have undermined the global fiat currency system and stripped the existing U.S.-centric global power structure.

This is why the Bank of England dumped 400 tonnes of its gold – 50% of its holdings – into the market, right at the bottom, starting in 1999. This launched the current bull market in gold. Yes, reader, gold is still in a bull market – it’s currently up 462% from its $250 in 2000/2001.

With that as the backdrop, led by Rob we discuss the connection between the U.S. Treasury and the Fed. Most people mistakingly believe that it’s the Fed which rigs the markets. But the Fed is a political creation. It was ordained by Congress; the Fed Chairman is appointed by the President; and Congress has the power – if it wanted to – to audit the Fed or get rid of the Fed.

It is the Working Group on Financial Markets that is the real “Wizard” behind the curtain. Using its Exchange Stabilization Fund, the Working Group – in conjunction with the Fed, which does the Working Group’s bidding in the markets – exerts its control in all of the financial markets all of the time. Collectively the Working Group/Fed is referenced as “The Plunge Protection Team (PPT).”

To read the rest of the article and listen to the interview, please click this link   -

Credit to Common Sense