George Ure

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/George-Ure/e/B0098M3VY8%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share UrbanSurvival Bio: https://urbansurvival.com/about-george-ure/

Desperation Rebel Moves?

An unusual mid-day update: While the corporate MSM is giving wide play to the fact that Russia is now urging the Syrians to give up their chemical weapons to international control, a move which would defuse the situation ahead of Kerry one-week deadline, we are faced with an even more desperate reported moved by the rebel forces, which are desperate to drag the US/West into their conflict as al Qaeda’s hand in the background continues. Specifically I’d refer you to the RT report claiming “Syrian rebels plan chem attack on Israel from [inside] Assad-controlled territories.” Such a move would, indeed be desperate, but should it occur, the Israelis would immediately launch a counter-attack, which would then suck in Assad’s main forces, and the US, in turn, would be sucked in to side with Israel and about all that’d be left then would be the open question as to when to put on flash-goggles. But for today, things have taken a more reasonable track:

Modest Rally Before “War Anyway”?

?Sometimes The Onion gets it exactly right.  For example, the September 5th headline “Poll: Majority of Americans Approve of Sending Congress to Syria.”  But this morning, with the Fearless Leader speech on Syria about 30-hours ahead, we are sorting through poll results that all show more of less the same thing.  “CNN poll: Public against Syria strike resolution.”

Of course, there are others, too: A poll in the UK shows Brits aren’t willing to be hornswoggled, either.  All of which leads to a curious result in a Gallup poll which is out this morning as it shows an even closer margin:  51% against and 36% for with the largest segment against mentioning “None of our business” while those in favor citied “Prevent it from happening again/prevent terrorism” most highly.  Which has to prove that a huge number of Americans are still a) asleep and b) willing to go with any policy which can be wrapped up in enough warm & fuzzy “anti-terrorism” lingo.

What’s more, a thoughtful NY Times report by Jonathan Tepperman this weekend “Weighing War, Peace and Polls” got to the idea that poll results can change quickly.  Since Tepperman is the managing editor of Foreign Affairs which is the publication of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) we have to infer that what Tepperman’s OpEd sets us to expecting will be a big press publicly by the Obama administration in tomorrow’s speech.

The best outcome, from the administration’s standpoint, would be a watered down House statement which offers something in the way of slippery wording which the House can say is a “decisive position” but which has enough Clintonesque to it that it would contain enough “depends what you mean by…” wording to it, so that Obama would be unfettered and House members running for election could simply say “Well, our statement didn’t vote for war, exactly….”

In other words, make the wording acceptable so it can be sold to both sides, depending on how obfuscated the measure’s real intent is.  What we need is a vote, not necessarily clear and direct speaking by the House.    So if the House statement turns out to be a masterful job of weasel-wording, don’t be the least bit surprised.  Weaseling is what happens in Washington on most issues of any importance (which you’d expect from a lawyer/professional weasler-class chamber) so why should this be any different?

The poor people who trade Asian markets apparently don’t “get” this yes.  Just overnight, the Chinese Hang Seng was up about 130-points, India rose 1.5% and Japan was up nearly 2 1/2 percent.  Europe, being a little more “swave and de boner” about such colonial parliamentarian antics is actually down in England, France, and Germany…because – near as I can figure it – they don’t think the House decision will be decisive and (after Fearless’ speech tomorrow night) the public will be confused, bewildered, and dragged into war while we try to sober-up and figure out what just happened.

Still, the market futures were pointing upward, however modestly, still hoping that reason will prevail, although the odds of that are low since Obama has already reserved his right to ignore the House vote anyway.  And besides, tick-tock as the Israelis still have an Iranian nuclear issue to deal with and Syria is a kind of early-warning system which shares (near as we can figure from what’s public) air defense information with Tehran.

We’ll have to see how well Obama can do at pitchman tomorrow night, but a crafty House document which will be initially cheered, should then give way to an attack within a couple of weeks as the imperial presidency itself – or a LIHOP/MIHOP with all that military hardware floating in the Eastern Med seems as good a bet as any to provoke an American response if the House doesn’t line up for warfare.

Oh, and if it comes to that, president Assad of Syria is telling interviewer Charlie Rose “expect everything” in return.  This while John Kerry is starting a “one week clock” on Syria to turn over chemical weapons.

Did I mention Dow futures are up 25?

An Israeli Mistake in the Making?

A headline this morning on the Israel National News site that “ADL Director Abe Foxman tells IDF Radio White House called him directly.  Analyst: Jewish groups “courting disaster.”

Also in our scan this morning, the Times of Israel report “Gold treasure trove unearthed at base of Temple Mount.”

Another Davos Meeting

It is perhaps significant that another set of sessions will be held in Dalian this week with China  reportedly planning to “…stay the course on sustainable growth.”  Which gets us to a bigger topic – has the world sort of run out of “low hanging fruit” for growth for a while?  More on that in the Coping section following our morning review of formative news…

More after this…

Spy-minded Net Use

A word to the wise from our Winnipeg news analyst fellow:

Dear Mr. Ure,

Have a look at this BBC report of university researchers seeking to identify and geo-locate anti-social tweets in the UK. An aim included in a research document released exactly one year ago outlined the pursuit of “a computer-based environment that best integrates the technology in order too be as unobtrusive as possible”. One could surmise that progress conceivably meets or exceeds sponsors’ expectations. Netizens may wish to moderate their behavior accordingly in advance of further program expansion.

The best net-use advice I can think of is to “Write everything like it was going to be read to a military tribunal in an attempt to prosecute you for being anti-America” however strangely that will be interpreted in the period ahead.

But still, realize (like by constant critic Bruce down in Ecuador would point out) that sometimes the guillotine operators kill for sport, too.

Warfare on the Web Next

Something to be incredibly aware of is the arrival of low-intensity conflict on the web as the Syrian Electronic Army is reportedly behind a number of attacks and with a reported FBI advisory out on the group.

Although some reports of the SEA are dismissive, some, like Congressman James Langevin of the Democratic Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, are clearly worried.  So if the power goes off, have that AM radio so you can determine how widespread the outage is, should one happen as a result of hack attacks on power infrastructure.

Constitution Shredding

We note that Washington DC has reportedly denied a permit for 9/11 bikers to hold an event in a few days, but plans are moving ahead anyway.  Planned as a counter to the “Million Muslim” March” seems to be there’s an old saying being proven again.

“In America everyone is equal…just some are more equal than others.”

Trend-Spotting

If you’re tempted upon reading the NY Sun  report “Collapse of American Influence Recalls disintegration of Soviet Union, Fall of France,” try to remember that writer Conrad Black is not only a good writer and historian but just got out of the  big house back in May of last year.

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Coping: Our “Least-Cost” Futures

Ever cheerful and chipper, Oilman2 has his game on and keyboard warmed up already this week, as he contemplates something he calls simply The Descent, which is a nice “tone-setter” for the week.

Jim Kunstler wrote a short bit this summer about the possibility of Japan descending to a lower energy state with reduced chaos and fuss. He asserted this because prior to western civilization forcing itself onto their culture, they had a stable and very artistic culture, albeit they too maintained a savage edge in certain respects. However, living on an island is similar to what we are faced with as a human culture – there must be a certain degree of ‘unfairness’ in life – everyone cannot be on top and there are definite limits for each of us based on the circumstances of our birth.

Jim Kunstler’s post is over here.

I think this thought train needs to be run with the US in the passenger car. Our society, like many others born of western civilization, is relatively shiny and new. We have barely 2 centuries of history, and that history is far from a reign of peace and artistry. Our country was born just before the industrial revolution, and acceded to powerful status on the back of cheap coal and oil, and a plethora of natural resources.

Oil has peaked, decent coal has peaked, uranium has peaked, most metals have peaked and we are staring down an unavoidable descent in standard of living and eventually population. Maybe not in our boomer generation, as we are winding down our years, but our children and grandchildren will live in a far different world.

Because our country rode the crest of the industrial revolution, and bore the sparkling banner of ‘new technology’ with both military and energy dominance, we have long bathed in the highest living standard on the planet. This cannot stand in the face of ever declining petroleum availability – we have no choice but to dial things back dramatically over the next decades.

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An Important Reader Note and Peoplenomics Update

A kind reader (Julie, thank you) pointed outed out that we had somehow slipped a bit and had links in articles opening in the same page this week – causing lots of back and forthing which I fixed this morning for the Friday post, if you haven’t read it yet, and if should be back to opening in new windows from here on…until it happens next time, of course!

OK, on to the next topic…Peoplenomics this morning if important for people trying to save a little money for a rainy day – or retirement…

The Most Difficult Market Judgment of the Year

This morning, as we will discuss in some depth in our ChartPack section, there
looms one of the ugliest cash and account management decisions of the year,
thanks to Syria.  Plus, along with that, we’re also starting to see some of
the more unexpected impacts in other areas starting to come into view as well.
But before Mr. Jolly gets into these light-hearted topics, we’ll do our usual
Mrs. Olson’s with two eggs over easy and a side of death, doom, and disaster
first…

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Which Job Report to Believe?

Before we roll in to this morning’s job numbers from the feds, a quick look at the Gallup Poll data on the payroll to population poll is instructive.  According to the numbers they released Thursday, the percentage of the US population actually taking part in “work” is down to 43.7%, which is nearly 20 points below what the government has been selling; generally in the 60’s.

The roughly equivalent number on the federal side is the Labor Participation Rate, which last month was at 63.4%.  There are always bound to be some differences in statistical methodology.  Why, even when I run exactly the number numbers, I often come up with different results – and that’s in my own data!  So no wonder, there’s a good bit of jobfusion.

Still, knowing that Gallup says 8.7% unemployment, it’s fun to read this morning’s job report:

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 169,000 in August, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in retail trade and health care but declined in information. Household Survey Data Both the number of unemployed persons, at 11.3 million, and the unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent, changed little in August.

The jobless rate is down from 8.1 percent a year ago. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.1 percent), adult women (6.3 percent), teenagers (22.7 percent), whites (6.4 percent), blacks (13.0 percent), and Hispanics (9.3 percent) showed little change in August.

The jobless rate for Asians was 5.1 percent (not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.) In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was about unchanged at 4.3 million. These individuals accounted for 37.9 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 733,000.

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Coping: Getting Mine on Healthcare

Long time reader John thinks I got something wrong yesterday by posting a reader note about dialysis and healthcare reform.  He offers a very detailed (and worthwhile) discussion:

Longtime (7 years or so) reader of UrbanSurvival here, George. I have enjoyed your columns and take seriously what you have to say, even though I do find myself disagreeing with some of the things you post. I have found most of what you write to be well sourced and at least checked to some degree of accuracy. But this caught my eye, and I hope you will read on and see why I am so upset that you did not verify before allowing this to be posted to all your readers.

If I can be shown to be wrong I will gladly admit it and consider any factual counter arguments, as I am  just that sort of individual.   (So am I – g)

Regarding your Thursday’s main column. Your reader Susanne wrote in saying:
Change.org just had a petition from a woman who will no longer get kidney dialysis after Oct. 1.
Note there is no such petition to be found on Change.org’s site. Ask her to cite and or supply a
link or exact copy of said petition. I have been all over their site and can find no archived or current
petitions saying what she claims. I for one would like to know the particulars, since I have several
hard core right wingers who have sent me many un-substantiated emails citing similar claims or
that their policies are going up based on Obamacare.

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War, Popcorn, G20, and Compliance

I’ve decided to moderate my outspoken criticism of the pending attack on Syria, since it is obviously baked-in-the-cake now, given that the US Senate breaks its own freaking rules in its headlong rush to war.  The UN report not being in doesn’t seem to mean bupkis, and China this morning has sided with Russia over Syria which is significant since if China were to vote with its wallet (by not buying our “bond” offerings) we’d soon enough implode financially and the Rest of World (RoW) knows it.

Oh-oh…al Qaeda-linked rebels attacking a Christian village?  Tisk, tisk… Rebels executing folks?  Oh my…This is moderation, Mr. Kerry?  (…ahem…)

Although I bemoan the fact that the corporate coup d’état has overwhelmed the democratic republic formerly known as the United States of America, it wasn’t until just yesterday that alternative media boss Matt Drudge explained in simple enough terms in a Tweet  that we’re down to two political parties in America, the Authoritarians and the Libertarians.

And this has caused some to continue the thought by extension in articles like: “GOP Will Die Unless It Embraces Liberty.” (The answer?  They seem to be politics as a religious party to oppose an atheist party, as well…extremism isn’t limited to the sand box.)

However, as I point out in this morning’s Coping section, the public has already been outbid….and the Wayne Madsen piece, over at Strategic Culture that paints a picture of “American Generals Stand between War and Peace:” is likely closer to the mark than what passes for news (mostly war-cheerleading) on the MSM.

One school of thought from a reader?

“I see this from the very cynical realpolitik viewpoint that the Assad/Iran/Hesbollah side has been gaining too much ground lately, and we’d like to see more of a multilateral stalemate, so it’s time to break some of Assad’s toys to even the odds. “

Probably the best assessment came from a reader Jeffrey (an attorney type, but we won’t hold that against him in this case):

It is not about morality; it is about an effective foreign policy.  If morality were a useful motive for military adventures, we would be at war with one third of the world on an ongoing basis, something we clearly cannot do.  There is nothing to be gained in a limited military strike and much to be lost, including the very real possibility of much wider engagement with Russia directly, an outcome clearly disproportionate to what is stake in Syria.  Moreover, taking up arms on behalf of the rebel forces, when they are substantially supported and populated by radical Islamic elements opposed to our interests and those of our allies, is fundamentally counterproductive and foolish.  The amateurish commitment of the President to drawing lines in the sand over a battle that is not ours should not be allowed to commit us to engaging in acts of war.  That is why the Constitution places the war making power in the Congress and not in the President.  Again, just because he is a damned fool does not mean that we should endorse his foolishness.  American arms should only be committed when there is no other course, where defense of our people is at stake or where a clear advantage is to be gained in carrying out our policy by military means.  The proposed military strikes do not meet any of those tests.  Even though we have disagreed in the past, I am indeed shocked that you are in favor of this proposed military adventure.

But, as I said….get over it.  There is some perceived corporate value in ramping up the war hysteria and, as usual, you have to think deeper:  Let me see if I can help?

What Is Being Hidden?

This may seem like stating the obvious, but here’s the fact:  Obamacare is now less than a month from happening and what could be better that a nice, potentially escalating, external war to prevent a critical mass of the American public from saying “This is bullshit, I’m not doing Obamacare!”

With war in the headlines doing anything anti-government (even thinking outside the box) becomes much less desirable and, with it, the sell job for Obamacare done by former president Bill Clinton becomes all that much easier.

Without war in the wings, millions more would pay attention to Freedomworks campaign to “Burn Your Obamacare card.”

Can’t have that, can we?  “Must have  compliance…Must have compliance…” (*..it sounds better done in a Homer Simpson voice…)

Bury the Budget, Too

Then there’s the matter of the federal budget.  While it should have been completed long ago (since it is legally required of congress, but since when does this matter anymore?) this one has been supplanted with continuing resolutions because we’re now at the fiscal point where we need to fish or cut bait.  Real and permanent cuts in spending because we’ve papered over about as far as we can…

With a good war percolating, there’s no telling what manner of screwings can be written into the new budget which no one will be looking at because the two or three open thinking slots most people have for news items could be occupied with top-of-mind grabbers like imminent war, a couple of forthcoming Hollywood scandals and one or two other “random” events.

Preoccupied with texting one-another, people will blow off structural damage to America, content in the mistaken belief that if it was important, it would be the lead news item.

“Must have compliance, must have compliance…”

But war’s all a coincidence, you understand, right?  LOL…

And Then There’s the Crash

We note that in long wave economic studies, there is a tendency for major market declines to get organized and appear about 55-days after a significant market peak.   Since the market peaked on August 2, our Peoplenomics subscribers have been marking time until September 26th plus or minus a couple of days, which is when the markets ought to be imploding down to the S&P 1,540 level after we get past the current sideways Wave 2 we seem to be in now. (No, this is not investment advice,but watch closely to see if it works out this way…)

What Else is there?

Well, another story that has disappeared from the MSM is the ammunition shortage.  We’re only a couple of months from deer hunting season in a big chunk of the country and surprise, surprise, the ammo shortage has been pushed into Mainstream invisibility.  Oh, sure, good articles like “Ammunition shortage affecting law enforcement agencies” are about if you take time to go looking for them, but in the main, the disarming through huge government ammunition buying (while we have other pressing financial needs of the country) seems to have gone “Poof!”

The federal militarization of the local police is continuing unabated…with SWAT teams serving warrants for even petty matters.

In short, it’s all about distraction and misdirection and so as of this morning I am lining up like a good, patriotic American:  “Bring on the air power, and let’s get ready to nuke those Ruskies back into the stone-age if they don’t like us “standing up for what’s right.”

Privately, of course, I’m more sane that that.  But I’ll wrap myself up in the blanket of conformity and admire Senator Cruz who points out “We’re not al Qaeda’s Air Force.”  Pretend he didn’t say that, OK?

Instead, let’s here more rah-rah for attacking a country which hasn’t attacked us.  For the fine irony of being led into war by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and for the utter delight of corporate profits to come.

“Must have compliance, must have compliance…”

More after this…

Job Cuts Rising

OK, you know this already because I told you about the Gallup Poll a while back which showed unemployment running 8.9%.  While we wait for the Bureau of Labor Make-believe to come out with new figures tomorrow showing otherwise (a hit of windowpane and ViceGrips helps), we are stuck with reporting this morning’s Challenger press release on August Jobs Losses”

Monthly job cuts surged to the highest level sinc February, as U.S.-based employers announced plans in August to slash payrolls by 50,46, a 33.8 percent increase from the 37,701 planned job cuts announced in July, accor ding to a report  Wednesday from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Job cuts last month were 57 percent higher than a year ago, when employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 32,239.

This marks the third consecutive month in which job cuts outpaced the comparable period from 2012.

August ranks as the second largest job-cut month of the year behind February, when announced layoffs reached 55,356. Employers have now announced 347,095 job cuts so far this year. That virtually matches the 352,185 job cuts announced from January through August 2012.

Then there’s the ADP National Employment Trends report…bottom line?  Saved by the service sector/shopkeeper economy:

Stock futures are flat to down a tad.

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Coping: Why Voting Doesn’t Matter

I suggested the other morning that there would be little point in voting hence forth, since Congress has been mostly bought and paid for.  Naturally, this rubbed a few people the wrong way because it’s a sad assertion to make, but the facts keep piling up, nonetheless.

The year 2013 is barely halfway through, in terms of DC lobbying reports, and yet as we see on this page – maintained by www.opensecrets.org – the spending already lies somewhere between impressive and prodigious.

A few of the headliners up toward the top of their report here, which is sorted by number of finance reports filed, not by total dollars spent:

Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America  has spent about $10-million so far this year.  They were in the vicinity of $18-million in 2012.

#2 on the list have invested more than $10-million this year and north of $14-million last year.

Verizon was a shade over $7-million, doing $15-million last year…

AT&T has spent $8-million.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has spend $8.8-million this year.

General Dynamics is in for $5.5-million.

Microsoft: $5.49 million.

Lockheed-Martin: $7.6 mil.

Individually, you can see that that contributions at this level may not seem to frightening, but when you add it up, company after company, group after group, you can see where special interest money really begins to add up.

On each of the OpenSecrets pages there are 50 listings on each page 26,015 reports which specify an agency.  But only 9.258 total clients.

But now we can take this, realizing we’re only part way through 2013 and assume that each client spends $2-million (just a guess thumbing through reports). 

The astounding result?  $18.516 billion being spent (ball park) on lobbying this year by nearly 10,000 special interest promoters…lobbyists.

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Breaking: [Russia:] Syria Nerve Gas Similar to “Rebel-Made”

Just breaking is a report from Russia Today that headlines “Russia releases key findings on chemical attack near Aleppo indicating similarity with rebel-made weapons”.” According to their report there are three main points made by the Russian Foreign Ministry: Shell used in the indictment was not part of standard Syrian military arms. RDX (hexogen/cyclonite) was used as the bursting charge and is not used in standard military chemical munitions. Soil and samples according to the Russian report contain “non-industrially synthesized sarin and diisopropylfluorophosphate” which was used by Western countries to produce chemical weapons during WW II”.

Peoplenomics: Playing the Markets by Prophesy?

Some mental tuning is in order this morning as the world is engaged in a massivehand-wringing festival over what happens next in the Middle East – and byextension – what will happen to life savings and the sunset of civilization ingeneral. Then we cast a steely eye on the matter of whether this could bethe “End of Days” period. Odd for an economics-oriented site I’llgrant you, but you “must be present to win” in markets, and if theworld’s going to end, some consideration of how to gracefully withdraw frommarkets and where to deploy life savings would make sense. Why, that’s just thekind of chipper and cheery good news that just makes you want to spring out ofbed this morning, isn’t it? First coffee and assorted headlines and thennotes on what to watch for.

Do Voters Matter Anymore? Poll says “No!”

My consigliere called me this morning early – before he got to his office, in fact. 

“Do you see it?”

“Yep…”

“WTF?  What more proof do people need that this is a Goebbels-style propaganda machine come to power right here to America?”

It’s been bothering me all day.  War’s coming.  Look around, see for yourself.  But only if your dare.

Matt Drudge of www.drudgereport.com has been conducting a poll today because as an alternative media, I think he’s seeing it too:    And if he hadn’t before, the results (shown at right) from when I looked on Tuesday afternoon were just absolutely clear.

Even on the few mainstream put-ups that dare to mention it, more than 60% oppose.

Maybe America in general isn’t as hip as Drudge readers.  But the unassailable statistics are simple: America doesn’t want another war.

Hornswoggle, boondoggle, pork festivals that they are;  with satanic sacrifices at the feet of symbols and an extra helping of dead.

Yet America’s so-called leaders have already been propped up in front of teleprompters, falling in place, neatly in a row. A grand slam triumph over dissent, debate, and even discourse.

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A Rock-em Sock-em Anti-War Rally

Dow’s up a hundred in the futures….While Israel is getting a lot of attention by popping off with some missile firings (at nothing in particular, just testing) in the Med this morning, we’ve seen markets acting totally manic, depending on where the vantage point is. 

Israel says today’s lob was a joint test with the US. But other reports indicate the US was not (or did we simply forget we were?) involved.

Has the same kind of set-up and possible lead-in to follow as the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, to it, doesn’t it?  Except no one has fired back, but that would make a fine drama for later in the week, something of a sharp stick to prod congress into getting the rubber stamp out…

Fancy Footwork: Meantime, Fearless Leader is not to be questioned, it seems as transparency has taken a vacation for frequent press briefings.  We’re also learning a lot about how many din-dins SecState Kerry had with Syria president Assad before he got the Hil job. Fella’s gotta eat, right?

A lot of American’s are wondering how to read president Obama’s weekend statement on Syria.  That’s because on the one hand he said he’d already made up his mind to strike, but on the other, he’ll be asking Congress for consent. 

How the hell does that work?  Does that mean the president would likely order a strike on Syria anyway, even if congress said no?  I believe that’s the case, but it’s designed to give the illusion that America is firmly behind kicking off military action against yet another country.

Even the mildly skeptical will remember that Congress isn’t exactly known for its objectivity when a “national priority” is being sold hard by the executive branch.  We have only to look at  bailouts a couple of year back, and recall that despite phone calls and emails to congress running 200 and 300:1 against bankster bailouts, they happened anyway.  Nice to see money and positional power are still intact.

So, in the case of war, my bet is that the same thing will happen here:  Congress will be asked, and we’ll strike anyway, or there will be a Tonkin since as I’ve pointed out endlessly, it’s the illusion that counts and perception management.

The sad truth is that the greatest threat to America’s security is compound interest which is stalking us more effectively than al Qaeda or jihadists could ever do.  But rather than confess to their crooked ways, the Checkbook Republic Parties are being found out because of a unique characteristic of the global complex systems of modern life.

That principle is simple:  A little lie given enough time continues to compound until it becomes a big lie and that we’ve been well-trained to accept.   But the compounding of lies never stops and they keep getting bigger and bigger until the absurd lies begin.

For a current example, see the Miracle of the US Debt to the Penny which has been frozen in time how long in order not to reveal our economic reality?  Since about May 31st, lol.  So we have a Fed lending money to itself, a Public Debt figure that survives through off-books accounting, and now a war in the wings as something’s gotta take the fall but the PTB/bankster class.  And if the working stiffs get nailed, oh well, stuff just happens, eh bud?

Still, there was a “rock-em, sock-em” anti-war rally underway in Asia overnight, and you shouldn’t be surprised to see US markets shoot moonward, at least until a) congress demonstrates it can do much of anything and b) the president gives the strike order anyway, since nature abhors a power vacuum and congress wouldn’t know what to do with power if it had it, which it did until it abdicated.

Whew…let me pause till my blood pressure comes down a bit….there, all better.  Where were we?

Oh yes…So how much of an anti-war rally is going on this morning?

    • Japan’s Nikkei was up 3% overnight.
    • China was up 1%
    • In the early going in Europe this morning: France, Germany, and the UK were all down a bit earlier.

    So how does this work, you’re wondering?  Well, in the case of the US and Europe, indecision and a lack of a major war effort is bad for the defense industries.  But Asia may be rallying on the underlying reality that if America is not off starting a new war, consumer discretionary income should continue tracking modestly higher and that would be great for the factories of Asia since there’s no economic stimulus on earth like an American with a credit card.

    The Weak Ahead

    Our shortened workweek means that we’ll be putting five days of economic crap in a four-day sack, so this morning everyone gets to stand around the water cooler before the number crunch begins Wednesday, except for a July construction spending number for July, but that might as well be in archeology books, its so old by now.

    Tomorrow, though, we will see the balance of trade figures, which could be good for the dollar since it has been better than expected.  Or worse, ultimately it will come down to big ticket Boeing deliveries.  The auto sales will come out tomorrow afternoon, along with the Fed’s Beige Book report.

    Thursday morning you’ll be seeing the ADP Challenger job numbers in our morning report along with the holy grail productivity report.  As this weekend’s Peoplenomics report for subscribers points out in detail, we still don’t seem to be bright enough to tax machines which are quickly stealing the last vestiges of income tax-producing work from humans, but that will come into focus over years and frogs slowly boiled, and all that.

    Friday’s the Big One with the unemployment report.  I can hardly wait to see how far the labor participation rate moves in this one…

    More after this…

    Ambassador Rodman?

    So there he goes again…Dennis Rodman is off for round two in Pyongyang.  The way he’s doing this is through China because of a hole in US travel rules:

    ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. CITIZENS: Travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea is not routine, and U.S. citizens crossing into North Korea without proper documentation have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention (see Travel Warning ). You must have a valid passport and a valid DPRK visa to enter North Korea. The U.S. government does not issue letters to private U.S. citizens who wish to apply for DPRK visas. If you plan to enter and depart North Korea through China, you must obtain a multiple-entry visa for China, because a valid Chinese visa is required to enter China after leaving North Korea at the conclusion of your visit.

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    Coping: Tila Tequila’s Morph to Tila Truth?

    What better way to kick off a shortened work-week than a review of the various marketing campaigns that are on to control that space between your ears?

    You know serious change is in the air where when what I might loosely describe as a “Hollywood hottie” shows up on the net to talk about the illuminati and such.  But here we have this morning a young lady being repackaged from formerly being Tila Tequila to now becoming Ms Tila Truth – Truth Warriors.

    Yes, change is definitely going mainstream when headlines like “Celebrity Tila Tequila Exposes the Illuminati” appear, complete with a story of how this particular “awakening” happened.  And then come videos like this one dealing with perception, which as all of old-timers know, is how things really run…

    All of which is a fine improvement on watching a “bunch of grumpy old men” talk about what’s going on, for sure. 

    But it may mean something much deeper.  Well, two things:  The obvious is to wonder if this is something that is totally independent.  But the other thing is what happens when a large fraction on young people start to figure out that job creation is crashing before the the roll of automation?

    Shopkeeper economies are an interesting economics problem, in that it’s hard to be able to figure when they will break.  Whether the arrival of a young vixen is some kind of marker of a major shift in anything is an open question.  But it’s definitely going to prompt a lot of the 15-35 crowd to stir.

    From a marketing perspective, I’ve been waiting for this:  The first of the “beautiful people” set joining the questioner/prepper/skeptical inquirers crowd.  A good thing, indeed.  It means the reclaiming of American won’t be controlled by the rabid right, the ludicrous left, or extremes of any stripe. 

    Oh,. and thanks to reader Roger S for pointing this out to me (I wouldn’t have found it otherwise):

    Came across this babe. She is a cutey. I have read the article. And the bullet points following it.

    She is smart, informed and very dangerous, due to her talking to much. Don’t think it’d be to smart to include this in any of your posts. It is too hot. But it is worth you knowing.

    I beg to disagree…hot is good…and this is definitely hot.

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