BARACK OBAMA: The Last American President

“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot
stamping on a human face-forever.” George Orwell

I have reported on various aspects of Executive Order (EO) 13603 in the past. However, I have not reported on the EO in a global sense. When one considers the ramifications of the interconnected sections of this EO, it becomes clear that Obama never intends on vacating the White House. This document also gives a clear look into what America will look like under the coming martial law.

 The Ever-Enduring Presidency

Obama has provided a strong set of clues as to how his presidency will continue beyond his scheduled exit date of 2016. If Americans wonder how far this lunatic President will go towards fulfilling the dreams of his real father, and his original political handlers, Weathermen Underground and communist agitators, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dorne, one should read this EO and thoughtfully consider the ramifications. This Obamanistic portend of the future is summarized in the following paragraphs.

The Legalization of Peacetime Martial Law

The descent into total and abject tyranny is almost complete. With President Obama’s draconian executive order, THE NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS ACT, he has granted himself the authority to declare peacetime martial law. This Executive Order was posted on the WhiteHouse.gov web site.

The Elimination of Private Property

This executive order is particularly draconian in that it eliminates the private ownership of everything and Obama has delegated the complete control of the nation’s resources to his cabinet level department heads (i.e. Czars). The delegation of control of the nation’s resources and people is particularly troubling because the heads of America’s resources shall have this power “under both emergency and non-emergency conditions” to control every aspect of our lives. And under this executive order, the President is to the sole decider of what constitutes an emergency (Section 201, paragraph b).”

The Legalization of Government Sponsored
Cronyism and Protection Rackets

Through Sections 301b and 302, Obama’s executive order legalizes governmental cronyism in which loans/grants are guaranteed by the Federal Reserve and the related actions are not subject to any kind of review or accountability process. Further, the development and implementation of a type of economic worthiness score, related to the relative importance of companies for “national defense,” will permit the government to decide what companies prosper and will receive stimulus money and which companies will fail in a strange version of “Fabian Socialism for corporations”. This is absolute fascism in which the government will ultimately control all business activity (see Sections 302, 303, 304, 305).

Due to the outcry of massively wasteful taxpayer giveaways to the solar industry which were dispensed to companies such as Solyndra and Pat Stryker’s Abound Solar, the American people have demanded accountability for this thinly veiled misuse of the public’s money. It should be noted that both solar companies heavily donated to the Obama 2008 campaign. Abound Solar’s Pat Stryker also contributed $50,000 to Obama’s inauguration ball. Now, both companies are near bankruptcy despite the government giveaway of billions of dollars to both of these Obama donating corporations. Boss Tweed would marvel at the firmly entrenched criminal enterprise system sponsored by the Obama Administration.

Section 303 provides a nonspecific delegated power which will presumably be delegated to the President, “to enable rapid transition of emerging technologies.” This precisely ties in with what I have publicly maintained for months: One of the goals of the globalists, in their engineering of “The Great Gulf Coast Holocaust,” was to destroy the Gulf’s shrimp and oyster industries in order to pave the way for the massive development of algae farms in support of the nation’s new biofuel craze. along the Gulf Coast. To this day, the Gulf of Mexico is still being carpet bombed with Corexit and this toxic substance takes the CO2 out of the water and the only substance that can proliferate in this new environment is algae. Never mind that massive sinkholes complete with explosive methane have been produced by this process which gravely threatens the welfare of Louisiana residents. Subsequently,globalist controlled algae farms are growing exponentially in the Gulf and is beginning to spread across our country. Buffet, Gore, Stryker and Soros are only a few of the billionaire globalists to invest heavily in the biofuel algae industry.

The Literal Legalization of Slavery

As if the previous sections of the already mentioned executive order are not enough to inflame already aware Americans, Section 601 signals the most Orwellian aspect of this executive order in which “upon request by the Director of Selective Service, and in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, assist the Director of Selective Service in development of policies regulating the induction and deferment of persons for duty in the armed services” (paragraph 2). What is particularly troubling is that the Secretary of Labor will possess oversight over the Selective Service process, instead of the Secretary of Defense. This revelation left me scratching my head as I wondered why would the Department of Labor be in charge of the coming military draft?

Then it dawned upon me that we were not just talking about military conscription. I refer to the 2008 Presidential campaign in which Obama stated that “we need to construct a national civilian security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded” (as the military). Obama is clearly planning to conscript civilians, train them and send them where they are needed and will pay them whatever wage the Secretary of Commerce determines (Section 601; paragraphs 3, 4-Section 801; paragraph C). In one fell swoop, Obama has sidestepped the 13th Amendment as we are talking about the introduction of forced labor (i.e. slavery).The previously mentioned sections discuss the term, “Consultant”, in which a person can be forced to work without compensation.

Does anyone else find it ironic and tragic that our first black president has declared his intention to impose government sanctioned slavery upon the American people? For those that know their history, it should also remind everyone of the forced labor camps run by the Nazi’s in which political prisoners were forced into slave labor in support of the German war effort while they were being systematically starved to death. Is this why Jesse Ventura’s FEMA camp episode was scrubbed from Television and why TruTV ‘s archives are missing the FEMA camp episode? Perhaps, America would be well advised to pay attention to the good work being done by Gary Franchi on the topic of FEMA camps. Bill Ayers, the benefactor of Obama’s Harvard education and his original political sponsor is on the record of having stated one day, in America, “we will have to send 50 million Americans to re-education camps and murder 25 million of them.

The Legalization of Sexual Assault and
Illegal Searches Upon American Citizens

The Secretary of Transportation has been authorized control over civil transportation which “includes movement of persons and property by all modes of transportation in interstate, intrastate, or foreign commerce within the United States, its territories and possessions, and the District of Columbia, and related public storage and warehousing, ports, services, equipment and facilities, such as transportation carrier shop and repair facilities.” “Civil transportation” also shall include direction, control, and coordination of civil transportation capacity regardless of ownership” (Section 801 part A). Can there be any doubt that the expanded surveillance program by of the TSA, in their unconstitutional, hands down our pants VIPER program, is designed to control all travel in the United States? The former Soviet Union used to have checkpoints every 20 miles in order to restrict travel and to prevent the congregation of “revolutionary forces” for purposes of opposing government control as well as to limit the ability of political dissidents to flee from their governmental pursuers. I feel compelled to ask, what is the government going to do that is so nefarious and so intrusive that they are seeking to set up a control grid which will accomplish these same Soviet Union-style goals?

The Legalization of Eco-Terrorism
and the Deindustrialization of America

The Secretary of Energy will have control over all “Energy” (which) means all forms of energy including petroleum, gas (both natural and manufactured), electricity, solid fuels (including all forms of coal, coke, coal chemicals, coal liquification, and coal gasification), solar, wind, other types of renewable energy, atomic energy, and the production, conservation, use, control, and distribution (including pipelines) of all of these forms of energy…” This means the government will have total control over all utility prices, the installation of smart meters along with the implementation of the smart grid and the amount of energy which can be consumed by average Americans will be severely curtailed under this new system of energy feudalism which will be imposed on the new American serfs. Obama, in the 2008 Presidential Campaign, stated that “under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Previously ignorant Americans will soon come to know the true meaning and the accurately prophetic meaning of these words (Section 801, part b).

The Legalization of Starving
Americans Into Submission

The Secretary of Agriculture will posses control over “fertilizer” (which) means any product or combination of products that contain one or more of the elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for use as a plant nutrient.” The Secretary of Agriculture will also control “food resource facilities “(which) means plants, machinery, vehicles (including on farm), and other facilities required for the production, processing, distribution, and storage (including cold storage) of food resources, and for the domestic distribution of farm equipment and fertilizer.” This is the total control of all food.

This will allow Monsanto which demonstrably controls the Department of Agriculture, the FDA and EPA to move forward, unabated, for the total GMO takeover of our food supply. Even more disturbing is that a few men will have total control over all food production and the dissenting masses who oppose this fascist takeover can be effectively starved into submission or starved to death (Section 801, parts c-f).

The Legalization and Installation
of Eugenics as National Policy

Under this EO, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall maintain control over all “Health resources” meaning drugs, biological products, medical devices, materials, facilities, health supplies, services and equipment required to diagnose, mitigate or prevent the impairment of, improve, treat, cure, or restore the physical or mental health conditions of the population.” This is a declaration of a forced form of Codex Alimentarius. Under this provision, it will not matter if Obamacare is repealed by Congress, his cabinet appointee will maintain control over all health care, both pharmacological and alternative/natural (Section 801, part i). Can there be any doubt that the death panel provisions of Obamacare will be implemented and carried out with no oversight or regulation in an manner reminiscent of Logan’s Run nightmarish scenario?

I have long maintained on my talk show that there is a decided effort by a relatively few elite to control the nation’s water and this provision will be utilized as a form of both political and population control. On this point, there can be no doubt as the Secretary of Defense will be placed in charge of all water resources Section 801, part n). I can draw no other conclusion that placing the control of water under the DOD represents the weaponizing of water and the intended target of this full frontal assault are the American people for the purpose of imposing population control and complete compliance.

Conclusion

The Alpha

Everything must be considered in its context. First, what has been presented did not emanate from Congress, it came solely from Obama. The fact that every resource and every person will be absolutely controlled by Obama, speaks volumes as to how he views martial law. If this ever comes to fruition, it will be hell on Earth, and we must be mindful that this EO does not even spell out what Obama will do with those who will not comply. Given the absolute tyranny of what is expressed, it does not take much imagination as to how dissenters will be dealt with. However, I will leave that part  to your common sense and imagination.

The coming Constitutional Convention may solidify the permanence of an Obama White House. 

The Omega

Credit to Common Sense 

Crimea 2.0: Donetsk Activists Declare Kiev Independence and Request Support From Putin

Update with Ukraine's take: SEPARATIST ACTION IN EAST UKRAINE SHOWS "SECOND STAGE OF RUSSIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS AGAINST UKRAINE" IS UNDERWAY-UKRAINIAN ACTING PRESIDENT - RTRS

Less than a month after the Crimean referendum which pulled the region away from Ukraine and ceded it to Russia, another east Ukraine regional city, Donetsk, has just declared its independence from Kiev following the previously reportedmini coup yesterday in which pro-Russia activists seized the government building in the city, as well as the other two regional capitals. Specifically, as RT reports, today at 12:20 local time, a session of the people's Council of Donbass (Donetsk region) took place in the main hall of the Regional Council and without the police (whose allegiance to Kiev also appears to be non-existent) intervening,unanimously voted on a declaration to form a new independent state: the People’s Republic of Donetsk.

Sure enough, promptly thereafter the Council of the new republic issued an address to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for deployment of a temporary peacekeeping force to the region. Just like Crimea.

And so another city pulls away from Ukraine and gives Russia the go ahead to create a toehold in East Ukraine, just according to Putin's plan.

RT has the details:

The Council proclaimed itself the only legitimate body in the region until the regions in southeast Ukraine conduct a general referendum, set to take place no later than May 11.

The Council in Donetsk issued an address to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for deployment of a temporary peacekeeping force to the region.

“Without support it will be hard for us to stand against the junta in Kiev,” said the address.

Rallies in support of the federalization of Ukraine continue in a number of cities in southeast Ukraine. Thousands of citizens have joined the protests, demanding the earliest possible federalization of the country.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior said that last night unknown persons stormed the Security Service of Ukraine building in the city of Lugansk and seized a weapons warehouse there. During the night’s clashes, nine people were reportedly injured.

Rallies in support of the federalization of Ukraine continue in a number of cities in southeast Ukraine. Thousands of citizens have joined the protests, demanding the earliest possible federalization of the country.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior said that last night unknown persons stormed the Security Service of Ukraine building in the city of Lugansk and seized a weapons warehouse there. During the night’s clashes, nine people were reportedly injured.

In the city of Kharkov protesters erected barricades around the buildings of the city and the regional administrations and the regional headquarters of Security Service of Ukraine.

* * *

And this was recorded moments ago in the other east Ukraine city of Kharkiv which appears set to be the next major regional center to fall to pro Russian sentiment and complete the preliminary annexation of the east part of the country.

Credit to Zero Hedge

Shocking Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America

How long can America continue to burn up wealth?  How long can this nation continue to consume far more wealth than it produces?  The trade deficit is one of the biggest reasons for the steady decline of the U.S. economy, but many Americans don't even understand what it is.  Basically, we are buying far more stuff from the rest of the world than they are buying from us.  That means that far more money is constantly leaving the country than is coming into the country.  In order to keep the game going, we have to go to the people that we bought all of that stuff from and ask them to lend our money back to us.  Or lately, we just have the Federal Reserve create new money out of thin air.  This is called "quantitative easing".  Our current debt-fueled lifestyle is dependent on this cycle continuing.  In order to live like we do, we must consume far more wealth than we produce.  If someday we are forced to only live on the wealth that we create, it will require a massive adjustment in our standard of living.  We have become great at consuming wealth but not so great at creating it.  But as a result of running gigantic trade deficits year after year, we have lost tens of thousands of businesses, millions upon millions of jobs, and America is being deindustrialized at a staggering pace.

Most Americans won't even notice, but the latest monthly trade deficit increased to 42.3 billion dollars...

The U.S. trade deficit climbed to the highest level in five months in February as demand for American exports fell while imports increased slightly.

The deficit increased to $42.3 billion, which was 7.7% above the January imbalance of $39.3 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

When the trade deficit increases, it means that even more wealth, even more jobs and even more businesses have left the United States.

In essence, we have gotten poorer as a nation.

Have you ever wondered how China has gotten so wealthy?

Just a few decades ago, they were basically a joke economically.

So how in the world did they get so powerful?

Well, one of the primary ways that they did it was by selling us far more stuff than we sold to them.  If we had refused to do business with communist China, they never would have become what they have become today.  It was our decisions that allowed China to become an economic powerhouse.

Last year, we sold 122 billion dollars of stuff to China.

That sounds like a lot until you learn that China sold 440 billion dollars of stuff to us.

We fill up our shopping carts with lots of cheap plastic trinkets that are "made in China", and they pile up gigantic mountains of our money which we beg them to lend back to us so that we can pay our bills.

Who is winning that game and who is losing that game?

Below, I have posted our yearly trade deficits with China since 1990.  Let's see if you can spot the trend...

1990: 10 billion dollars

1991: 12 billion dollars

1992: 18 billion dollars

1993: 22 billion dollars

1994: 29 billion dollars

1995: 33 billion dollars

1996: 39 billion dollars

1997: 49 billion dollars

1998: 56 billion dollars

1999: 68 billion dollars

2000: 83 billion dollars

2001: 83 billion dollars

2002: 103 billion dollars

2003: 124 billion dollars

2004: 162 billion dollars

2005: 202 billion dollars

2006: 234 billion dollars

2007: 258 billion dollars

2008: 268 billion dollars

2009: 226 billion dollars

2010: 273 billion dollars

2011: 295 billion dollars

2012: 315 billion dollars

2013: 318 billion dollars

Yikes!

It has been estimated that the U.S. economy loses approximately 9,000 jobs for every 1 billion dollars of goods that are imported from overseas, and according to the Economic Policy Institute, America is losing about half a million jobs to China every single year.

Considering the high level of unemployment that we now have in this country, can we really afford to be doing that?

Overall, the United States has accumulated a total trade deficit with the rest of the world of more than 8 trillion dollars since 1975.

As a result, we have lost tens of thousands of businesses, millions of jobs and our economic infrastructure has been absolutely gutted.

Just look at what has happened to manufacturing jobs in America.  Back in the 1980s, more than 20 percent of the jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs.  Today, only about 9 percent of the jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.

And we have fewer Americans working in manufacturing today than we did in 1950 even though our population has more than doubled since then...

Many people find this statistic hard to believe, but the United States has lost a total of more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.

Millions of good paying jobs have been lost.

As a result, the middle class is shriveling up, and at this point 9 out of the top 10 occupations in America pay less than $35,000 a year.

For a long time, U.S. consumers attempted to keep up their middle class lifestyles by going into constantly increasing amounts of debt, but now it is becoming increasingly apparent that middle class consumers aretapped out.

In response, major retailers are closing thousands of stores in poor and middle class neighborhoods all over the country.  You can see some amazing photos of America's abandoned shopping malls right here.

If we could start reducing the size of our trade deficit, that would go a long way toward getting the United States back on the right economic path.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama has been negotiating a treaty in secret which is going to send the deindustrialization of America into overdrive.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being called the "NAFTA of the Pacific", and it is going to result in millions more good jobs being sent to the other side of the planet where it is legal to pay slave labor wages.

According to Professor Alan Blinder of Princeton University, 40 millionmore U.S. jobs could be sent offshore over the next two decades if current trends continue.

So what will this country look like when we lose tens of millions more jobs than we already have?

U.S. workers are being merged into a giant global labor pool where they must compete directly for jobs with people making less than a dollar an hour with no benefits.

Obama tells us that globalization is good for us and that Americans need to be ready to adjust to a "level playing field".

The quality of our jobs has already been declining for decades, and if we continue down this path the quality of our jobs is going to get a whole lot worse and our economic infrastructure will continue to be absolutely gutted.

At one time, the city of Detroit was the greatest manufacturing city on the entire planet and it had the highest per capita income in the United States.  But today, it is a rotting, decaying hellhole that the rest of the world laughs at.

In the end, the rest of the nation is going to suffer the same fate as Detroit unless Americans are willing to stand up and fight for their economy while they still can.

Credit to Economic Collapse

Dr. Jim Willie Dollar Mortally Wounded

Ukraine PM Warns Russia's "Economic Aggression" Is Unacceptable

"Russia was unable to seize Ukraine by means of military aggression," Ukraine's PM Yatsenyuk blasted, "Now they are implementing plans to seize Ukraine through economic aggression." His comments come after Russia's Gazprom raised prices for gas 81% from $268.50 to $485.50 (on the basis that the previous discount was a subsidy for allowing the use of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, which Russia now has annexed) to which Yatsenyuk chided "political pressure is unacceptable, and we are not accepting the price of $500." Mr. Yatsenyuk, as WSJ reports, said his government will not pay the new price and will raise the issue in the Stockholm Arbitrage court, which was selected by the two countries years ago to settle the gas disputes - butwarned his people that the country should prepare for Russia switching off natural-gas supplies.

As The Wall Street Jorunal reports, Ukraine's prime minister warned Saturday that the country should prepare for Russia switching off natural-gas supplies, as the energy monopoly Gazprom said it will raise the price for gas for Ukraine by 81%.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, saidMoscow's price increase was a form of "economic aggression," adding that Kiev will not recognize the new price and is ready to challenge it in the international arbitrage court.

Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Saturday in a televised interview the company has raised the cost of gas to Ukraine to $485.50 from $268.50 for 1,000 cubic meters from April 1.

Moscow says the price change is due to Kiev's failure to pay its bills.

Mr. Yatsenyuk responded aggressively:

"Political pressure is unacceptable, and we are not accepting the price of $500," Mr. Yatsenyuk told ministers.

"Russia was unable to seize Ukraine by means of military aggression," Mr. Yatsenyuk said. "Now they are implementing plans to seize Ukraine through economic aggression." he added.

He said Ukraine " will not touch" any of the gas destined for Europe if Russia limits supply for Ukraine. Mr. Yatsenyuk said Ukraine will continue to try to negotiate the new gas deal with Russia.

Gazprom's additional argument for raising the price (aside from credit-risk-adjusting for the billions already owed) is somewhat remarkable...

Mr. Miller said Ukraine owes Gazprom $2.2 billion for March deliveries, and another $11.4 billion the country saved as part of a discount agreement that Moscow recently scrapped.

Mr. Miller the discount was a prepayment for the Russian Navy's use of Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol through 2017, but as that port had been annexed by Moscow, along with the rest of Crimea, Ukraine should repay $11.4 billion it saved, Mr. Miller said, following similar statements by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

In other words, because we annexed territory for which we had previously given you a discount for, you now need to pay us full price.

Mr. Yatsenyuk said his government will not pay the new price and will raise the issue in the Stockholm Arbitrage court, which was selected by the two countries years ago to settle the gas disputes.

With the US and IMF lining up to give "aid" to Ukraine, we wonder how all those taxpayers will feel when the hard-earned money gets greatly rotated from Ukraine's balance sheet straight to Gazprom's... or how the 'newly liberated' people of non-Crimean Ukraine will feel about their leaders when the country goes dark and cold...

And if Yatsenyuk thinks he can wait it out... starving Gazprom of potential revenue (that they are not even paying anyway) think again... As Reuters reports,

Gazprom Neft has not been affected by Western sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea but is ready to move away from dollars in its contracts and to redirect oil flows to Asia if needed, the CEO of Gazprom's oil arm said.

..

"As for sanctions, they have not affected the company's business in any way," Dyukov said in St. Petersburg, where Gazprom Neft is now based.

He suggested that Western companies did not want broader sanctions imposed on Russia, but that Gazprom Neft would reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar if necessary and turn to Asia if doorways to the West were shut.

...

"No such task has been set (by the government)," he said. "But ... we have discussed with our buyers the possibility of switching contracts to euros and ... 95 percent said they are ready."

"This shows that in principle there is nothing impossible - you can switch from dollars to euros and from euros, in principle, to roubles," he told reporters in remarks authorised for publication on Monday.

"Of course, I have had meetings, contacts with representatives of Western business circles ... In principle, they are not interested in escalation of tensions," Dyukov said.

So once again, actions by the West that were supposed to show strength will 'boomerang' back and do more to weaken the appearance of any global might that may remain.

Credit tp pZero Hedge

US Threatens Russia Over Petrodollar-Busting Deal

On the heels of Russia's potential "holy grail" gas deal with China, the news of a Russia-Iran oil "barter" deal, it appears the US is starting to get very concerned about its almighty Petrodollar

• *U.S. HAS WARNED RUSSIA, IRAN AGAINST POSSIBLE OIL BARTER DEAL
• *U.S. SAYS ANY SUCH DEAL WOULD TRIGGER SANCTIONS
• *U.S. HAS CONVEYED CONCERNS TO IRANIAN GOVT THROUGH ALL CHANNELS

We suspect these sanctions would have more teeth than some travel bans, but, as we noted previously, it is just as likely to be another epic geopolitical debacle resulting from what was originally intended to be a demonstration of strength and instead is rapidly turning out into a terminal confirmation of weakness.

As we explained earlier in the week,

Russia seems perfectly happy to telegraph that it is just as willing to use barter (and "heaven forbid" gold) and shortly other "regional" currencies, as it is to use the US Dollar, hardly the intended outcome of the western blocakde, which appears to have just backfired and further impacted the untouchable status of the Petrodollar.

...

"If Washington can't stop this deal, it could serve as a signal to other countries that the United States won't risk major diplomatic disputes at the expense of the sanctions regime,"

And here is Voice of Russia, "Russia prepares to attack the Petrodollar":

The US dollar's position as the base currency for global energy trading gives the US a number of unfair advantages. It seems that Moscow is ready to take those advantages away.

The existence of “petrodollars” is one of the pillars of America's economic might because it creates a significant external demand for American currency, allowing the US to accumulate enormous debts without defaulting. If a Japanese buyer want to buy a barrel of Saudi oil, he has to pay in dollars even if no American oil company ever touches the said barrel. Dollar has held a dominant position in global trading for such a long time that even Gazprom's natural gas contracts for Europe are priced and paid for in US dollars. Until recently, a significant part of EU-China trade had been priced in dollars.

Lately, China has led the BRICS efforts to dislodge the dollar from its position as the main global currency, but the “sanctions war” between Washington and Moscow gave an impetus to the long-awaited scheme to launch the petroruble and switch all Russian energy exports away from the US currency .

The main supporters of this plan are Sergey Glaziev, the economic aide of the Russian President and Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, the biggest Russian oil company and a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Both have been very vocal in their quest to replace the dollar with the Russian ruble. Now, several top Russian officials are pushing the plan forward.

First, it was the Minister of Economy, Alexei Ulyukaev who told Russia 24 news channel that the Russian energy companies must should ditch the dollar. “ They must be braver in signing contracts in rubles and the currencies of partner-countries, ” he said.

Then, on March 2, Andrei Kostin, the CEO of state-owned VTB bank, told the press that Gazprom, Rosneft and Rosoboronexport, state company specialized in weapon exports, can start trading in rubles. “ I've spoken to Gazprom, to Rosneft and Rosoboronexport management and they don't mind switching their exports to rubles. They only need a mechanism to do that ”, Kostin told the attendees of the annual Russian Bank Association meeting.

Judging by the statement made at the same meeting by Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, it is safe to assume that no resources will be spared to create such a mechanism. “ Some ‘hot headed' decision-makers have already forgotten that the global economic crisis of 2008 - which is still taking its toll on the world - started with a collapse of certain credit institutions in the US, Great Britain and other countries. This is why we believe that any hostile financial actions are a double-edged sword and even the slightest error will send the boomerang back to the aborigines,” she said.

It seems that Moscow has decided who will be in charge of the “boomerang”. Igor Sechin, the CEO of Rosneft, has been nominated to chair the board of directors of Saint-Petersburg Commodity Exchange, a specialized commodity exchange. In October 2013, speaking at the World Energy Congress in Korea, Sechin called for a "global mechanism to trade natural gas" and went on suggesting that " it was advisable to create an international exchange for the participating countries, where transactions could be registered with the use of regional currencies ". Now, one of the most influential leaders of the global energy trading community has the perfect instrument to make this plan a reality. A Russian commodity exchange where reference prices for Russian oil and natural gas will be set in rubles instead of dollars will be a strong blow to the petrodollar.

Rosneft has recently signed a series of big contracts for oil exports to China and is close to signing a “jumbo deal” with Indian companies. In both deals, there are no US dollars involved. Reuters reports, that Russia is close to entering a goods-for-oil swap transaction with Iran that will give Rosneft around 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day to sell in the global market. The White House and the russophobes in the Senate are livid and are trying to block the transaction because it opens up some very serious and nasty scenarios for the petrodollar. If Sechin decides to sell this Iranian oil for rubles, through a Russian exchange, such move will boost the chances of the “petroruble” and will hurt the petrodollar.

It can be said that the US sanctions have opened a Pandora's box of troubles for the American currency. The Russian retaliation will surely be unpleasant for Washington, but what happens if other oil producers and consumers decide to follow the example set by Russia? During the last month, China opened two centers to process yuan-denominated trade flows, one in London and one in Frankfurt. Are the Chinese preparing a similar move against the greenback? We'll soon find out.

Finally, those curious what may happen next, only not to Iran but to Russia, are encouraged to read "From Petrodollar To Petrogold: The US Is Now Trying To Cut Off Iran's Access To Gold."

Credit to Zero Hedge

ECUADOR'S TUNGURAHUA VOLCANO EXPLODES SPEWING COLUMNS OF ASH 6 MILES HIGH