Dollar Headed Down For The Count!

Russia Threatens Full Naval Blockade Of Syria

Last week, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, General Philip Breedlove, suggested that Russia has effectively declared a no-fly zone in Syria. 

That contention was supported by Moscow’s rather bold move to effectively instruct the US-led coalition to keep its planes out of the sky starting last Wednesday. Ultimately, The Kremlin has declared a monopoly on Syrian air space for the duration of Russia’s military campaign, marking an epic embarrassment for Washington, and serving notice to the anti-regime forces operating in Syria that there’s a new sheriff in town. 

Well, don't look now, but in addition to the de facto no-fly zone, some experts are out suggesting that Russia is set to use its Black Sea fleet to enforce a blockade on the Syrian coast. Here's Sputnik:

Russia's Black Sea Fleet may be used in Syria to blockade the Syrian coastline and deliver armaments, as well as possibly deliver artillery strikes, the head of Russian State Duma's defense committee and former Black Sea Fleet commander Vladimir Komoyedov said.

"Regarding the large-scale use of the Black Sea Fleet in this operation, I don't think it will happen, but in terms of a coastal blockade, I think that it's quite [possible]. The delivery of artillery strikes hasn't been excluded; the ships are ready for this, but there is no point in it for now. The terrorists are in deep, where the artillery cannot reach," Komoyedov said.

Komoyedov added that the size of the naval grouping used in the operation will depend on the intensity of the fighting. He noted that currently, the navy's Mediterranean flotilla is currently sufficient for actions in the given area.

Komoyedov also said that auxiliary vessels will certainly be used in the operation against ISIL to deliver armaments as well as military and technical equipment.

Meanwhile, the aerial bombardment continues unabated as Russian warplanes have reportedly destroyed "a terrorist base in the woods" where tanks - which are ironically Soviet made- were stationed. Here's RT:

The Russian Air Force in Syria has conducted 25 sorties on 9 Islamic State installations in the last 24 hours, eliminating a disguised terrorist base equipped with tanks, a command center and a communication hub, the Defense Ministry reported.

Russian bombers taking off from Khmeimim airbase knocked out a terrorist base hidden in the woods near the city of Idlib, eliminating 30 vehicles, among which were several Soviet-made T-55 tanks.

“Six airstrikes hit the base, and the terrorists’ equipment was fully destroyed,” Konashenkov said. 

And here's the video which purportedly shows the attack on the hidden ISIS base:

While according to Russian weatherwomen, mother nature is smiling on The Kremlin's efforts (via The Guardian):

It’s warm and sunny in Syria – and conditions are perfect for flying fighter jets and launching airstrikes, according to a weather report broadcast on Russian state television. 

“Russian aerospace forces are continuing their operation in Syria. Experts say the timing for it was chosen very well in terms of weather,” said the forecaster in a segment aired on Rossiya 24 on Sunday, standing in front of a screen showing a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet with the words “flying weather”.

For those wondering how long it would be before an "accident" took place, "inadvertently" pitting Russian fighter planes against NATO, we got the answer on Monday as Turkey scrambled F-16s to the border after Russia allegedly violated Ankara's air space. Here's a bit of color from BBC:

Russia said the incident was a "navigational error" and that it has "clarified" the matter to Ankara.

Turkish jets patrolling the border were also "harassed" by an unidentified plane on Sunday, Turkey said.

Turkey, a Nato member, has called the Russian strikes a "grave mistake".

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Turkish TV that the rules of engagement were clear, whoever violates its airspace.

"The Turkish Armed Forces are clearly instructed. Even if it is a flying bird, it will be intercepted," he said.

Only, that's not true, because the first time Ankara shoots down a Russian "flying bird", Erdogan will have a real war on his hands and will swiftly discover that while bombing air force-less Kurdish separatists with impunity is easy, dog fights with Russian fighter pilots are not, and just about the last thing Turkey needs with inflation soaring and the lira tumbling and elections looming is to go to war with Russia. 

In any event, the situation is clearly escalating, and as the Russians get more bold with each passing NATO bluff and subsequent fold, the stakes get still higher. As hyperbolic as it may sound, the West is now one Erodgan miscalculation away from open warfare with Russia and Moscow looks to be just days away from enforcing a full naval blockade of what is rapidly becoming a Mid-East Kremlin colony.

Credit to Zero Hedge

US Senator Wants to Arm Syrian Rebels to Shoot Down Russian Planes....Then who is the enemy?

Senator John McCain reacted to Russia’s announcement that it had begun launching air strikes targeting ISIS militants in Syria by calling on the White House to arm Syrian rebels with weapons to shoot down Russian planes.

McCain initially responded to Fox News host Neil Cavuto’s question about whether he would shoot down Russian planes by saying no, but then went on to assert that he would arm Syrian rebels to carry out that very same task.

“I might do what we did in Afghanistan many years ago, to give those guys the ability to shoot down those planes, that equipment is available,” said McCain, adding that the Free Syrian Army would shoot down the planes, “just like the Afghans shot down Russian planes after Russia invaded Afghanistan.”

McCain is referring to how the United States armed Islamic militants in the 1970s, a policy that led to the rise of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and Osama Bin Laden.

Senator McCain is opposed to Russia’s bombing of ISIS terrorists because he believes that Moscow is using this explanation as a cover to attack US-backed Syrian rebel forces who are trying to topple Bashar Al-Assad.

Although the rebels have fought against ISIS, there are numerous accounts of the FSA and other jihadist groups handing over their weapons to Al-Qaeda affiliates and in some cases defecting outright to join ISIS. The FSA has also been accused of a number of war crimes, some of which are on a par with ISIS.

McCain also made reference to claims that the Russian air strikes had claimed civilian lives, although Moscow vehemently denies this, with spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov asserting, “Russian jets did not use weapons on civilian infrastructure or in its vicinity.”

Russian Maria Zakharova, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also claimed that western media outlets were circulating fake pictures of dead civilians in order to impugn Moscow.

Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer tactical bombers reportedly struck eight ISIS targets, including key coordination centers situated in a mountainous region that were completely destroyed.

Credit to  EUtimes

RIGHT NOW THERE ARE 102.6 MILLION WORKING AGE AMERICANS THAT DO NOT HAVE A JOB

The federal government uses very carefully manipulated numbers to cover up the crushing economic depression that is going on in this nation.

For the month of September, the federal government told us that 142,000 jobs were added to the economy. If that was actually true, that would barely be enough to keep up with population growth. Sadly, the truth is that the real numbers were actually far worse than that. The unadjusted numbers show that the U.S. economy actually lost 248,000 jobs in September and the government added more than a millionAmericans to the “not in the labor force” category. When I first saw that number I truly believed that it was inaccurate. But you can find the raw figures right here. According to the Obama administration, there are currently 7.9 million Americans that are “officially unemployed” and another 94.7 million working age Americans that are “not in the labor force”. That gives us a grand total of 102.6 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now.

That is not an economic recovery – that is an economic depression of an almost unbelievable magnitude.

This is something that my friend Mac Slavo pointed out the other day. I encourage you to read his analysis right here. If we measured unemployment the way that we did decades ago, we would all be talking about how similar Obama’s economy is to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

But instead we let the feds get away with feeding us this completely fraudulent “5.1 percent” unemployment number and most of us believe the mainstream media when they tell us that everything is just fine.

Well no, everything is not just fine. At this point, the labor force participation rate is the lowest that it has been since 1977. And the labor force participation rate for men is at the lowest level ever recorded. The only way that the federal government has been able to get the official unemployment rate to go down so much is by pretending that hundreds of thousands of Americans that have been unemployed for a very long time “leave the labor force” each month.

The chart posted below shows how our labor force participation rate has deteriorated since the year 2000. And in particular, the decline since Obama first entered the White House has been very striking. Does this look like a “healthy economy” to you?…



To me, the civilian employment-population ratio is a far more accurate measurement of the employment picture in America than the official unemployment rate is. Just prior to the last recession, approximately 63 percent of all working age Americans had a job. During that recession, that figure slipped below 59 percent and it stayed there for several years. Just recently it slipped back above 59 percent, but as you can see we are now falling once again…



The reason this number is falling is because lots of Americans have been losing jobs lately.

In fact, we are seeing layoffs at major firms at a level that we have not witnessed since 2009…


The jobs report today has been described as “ugly,” though it certainly didn’t, or shouldn’t have, come out of the blue: Layoffs in the energy, Big Tech, retail, and other sectors have recently mucked up our rosy scenario.

“The third quarter ended with a surge in job cuts,” is howChallenger Gray, which tracks these things, started out its report yesterday. In September, large US-based companies had announced 58,877 layoffs. In the third quarter, they announced 205,759 layoffs, the worst quarter since the 240,233 in the third quarter of 2009!

Year-to-date, we’re at nearly half a million job cut announcements (493,431 to be precise), up 36% from the same period last year.

Some of the companies that have recently announced layoffs include Wal-Mart, RadioShack, Delta, Sprint, ConAgra, Caterpillar, Bank of America, Halliburton, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

If you need to find a job or you plan to switch jobs in the near future, time is of the essence. Jobs are going to become much, much harder to find in the months ahead, and so every single day of job searching is absolutely critical at this point.

Right now, there are more than 100 million Americans that get some sort of assistance from the federal government every month. Government dependence is at a level that we have never seen before in U.S. history, and it is going to get a lot worse.

If we get to a point where the government is either unwilling or unable to take care of all of these people, we are going to have a massive societal problem on our hands. More than a third of the people living in our nation cannot independently take care of themselves, and more Americans are falling out of the middle class every single day. When the welfare state starts breaking down, the chaos that will ensue will be far worse than most people would dare to imagine.

So what do you think?

Are job losses and layoffs starting to happen in your area?

Credit to Infowars

First-hand look at Russian 'smart bombs' used in Syria against ISIS

Preview Of World War III? Russia Is Putting On A Display Of Firepower That Is Shocking The World

The Russians have unleashed their own version of “shock and awe” in Syria, and the brutal efficiency of their airstrikes against ISIS targets has stunned many observers around the globe.  For more than a year, the Obama administration has claimed that its bombing campaign in Syria has been a “success”, and yet ISIS has continued to grow stronger and gain more territory.  But now just over a few days the tide of the conflict appears to have turned.  The whole world has gotten a chance to see what a global superpower can truly do to a bunch of radical Islamic terrorists when it is focused and determined.  The images that we have seen of hardened ISIS command centers being wiped off the face of the map by Russian bombs are truly impressive.  But why did those targets still exist in the first place?  Was the U.S. military unable to identify them previously?  Or could it be possible that the Obama administration did not want to hit them?

What we do know is that a state of panic has been created among ISIS militants that we have not seen previously.  There are reports of hundreds of terrorists abandoning their positions and trying to flee the country…

Russian air strikes Saturday targeting the Islamic State group in Syria have sown “panic”, forcing some 600 “militants” to abandon their positions and head to Europe, Moscow claimed.

Summing up the results of Russia’s first three days of strikes, a senior official with the General Staff said Russian jets had made more than 60 sorties over 50 IS targets and added that Russia would ramp up its aerial campaign.

“Our intelligence shows that militants are leaving areas under their control. Panic and desertion have started in their ranks,” Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, a senior Russian General Staff official, said in a statement.

“Some 600 mercenaries have abandoned their positions and are trying to find their way into Europe,” Kartapolov said.

Of course the mainstream media in the United States is downplaying the effectiveness of these attacks.  The Obama administration is very much against these Russian airstrikes, and it is quite an embarrassment to the U.S. that the Russians are doing what we were either unwilling or unable to do.

You can witness video footage from some of these bombings right here and right here.  In recent years the Russian military has been rapidly modernized, and now they are displaying their might for all the world to see.  The following is how one particular attack was described in the Daily Mail…

‘The sound of the rocket was extremely frightening. Then a huge explosion happened in front of my eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it before in Talbiseh. The scale was far worse than anything the Syrians have done. The destruction was huge and horrible. Buildings were destroyed completely. And streets just disappeared under clouds of dust and rubble as the walls fell.’

These Russian airstrikes are intended to pave the way for ground assaults by Syrian and Iranian troops.  If ISIS begins to lose a lot of territory inside Syria in the coming weeks, a lot of people are going to have some very serious questions regarding why previous U.S. attempts were seemingly so unsuccessful.  The following comes from Zero Hedge…

Now obviously one must consider the source here, but Kremlin spin tactics aside, one cannot help but be amazed with the pace at which this is apparently unfolding. If any of the above is even close to accurate, it means that Russia is on schedule to declare victory over ISIS (and everyone else it looks like) in a matter of weeks, which would not only be extremely embarrassing for Washington, but would also effectively prove that the US has never truly embarked on an honest effort to rid Syria of the extremist groups the Western media claims are the scourge of humanity.

Inside Russia, these airstrikes are proving to be extremely popular.

Unlike the war-weary U.S. public, Russian citizens are relishing the opportunity to be proud of their military, and Russian media outlets are loudly trumpeting the efficiency of these airstrikes…

Channel One’s evening news program on Saturday opened with dramatic cockpit videos of Russian jets making what were described as direct hits on terrorist training camps and weapons stores. The bombs were never off by more than five meters, a military spokesman said, because of the jets’ advanced targeting capabilities.

One popular Russian commentator even suggested that what is going on in Syria shows that in contrast to Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin is “a real man”…

Political commentator Yulia Latynina said Russia wants to see the destruction of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “Only this will allow Putin to achieve the desired result, to show Obama how he, Putin, a real man, succeeded where Obama was disgraced,” she said in her program Saturday night on Ekho Moskvy radio.

I had to smile when I first read that.  Without a doubt, this entire episode is making the Obama administration look rather pathetic.

For weeks, Obama seemed to have little idea what the Russians intended to do in Syria.  And now that the Russians are bombing the living daylights out of ISIS, the best that Obama can do is whine loudly about it.

The Russians appear to be succeeding where Obama failed, and this has put the U.S. government in a very precarious position in the Middle East.  After seeing the Russians have such success inside Syria, the president of Iraq is now considering asking the Russians to conduct a similar campaign inside his own nation…

One day after launching a campaign of airstrikes in Syria, Russia announced that it was considering going into Iraq.

A foreign ministry representative said Thursday that Russia would consider any request from Iraq to conduct anti-ISIS airstrikes in the country, and Iraqi President Haider al-Abadi told Western news outlets that Russian airstrikes were “a possibility” and that Iraq would “welcome it.”

Of course the truth is that the U.S. could have dealt a decisive blow to ISIS long ago if it truly wanted to.

The Obama administration was hoping that some combination of ISIS and other Islamic terror groups would ultimately topple Assad and bring about regime change in Syria.

Now that appears very unlikely to ever happen, and the Russians have greatly strengthened their hand in the Middle East.

So what will Obama’s next move be?

Nobody knows for sure, but it will almost certainly be the wrong one.

Credit to End pf the American Dream

The American 'Recovery' In 1 Chart

If this is the 'recovery' just what will the next recession look like?

Credit to Zero Hedge