Barter EU

European govts sold $1.3bn in arms to Middle East, some ended up with ISIS - report

Jul 4, 2016 7:05:16 GMT -5 Entendance said:

...there is one group of interests that have only benefited from the refugee crisis, and in particular
from the European Union’s investment in ‘securing’ its borders. They are the military and security
companies that provide the equipment to border guards, the surveillance technology to monitor frontiers,
and the IT infrastructure to track population movements.
Most perverse of all, it shows that some of the beneficiaries of border security contracts are some of the
biggest arms sellers to the Middle-East and North-African region, fuelling the conflicts that are the cause
of many of the refugees... BORDER WARS:
THE ARMS DEALERS PROFITING FROM EUROPE’S REFUGEE TRAGEDY. Full Report***here

Meanwhile...

German arms exports almost doubled in 2015: report

***Secret of Austria's Right-Wing Presidential Candidate’s Popularity Revealed

German Factory Orders Unexpectedly Decline ***(Don’t Worry, It’s “Just a Breather”)

***Pew Research Survey Points to Widespread Angst About How the EU is Handling the Refugee Crisis

***How Europe Is Getting Rich by Fueling Its Own Terror Epidemic

Largest bank in Europe's largest economy...

Martens and Martens. “..a year ago, Deutsche Bank’s stock closed at $34.88. Its share price at the open this morning was $12.56, a loss of 64% in one year’s time. But from June 1 of 2007, Deutsche Bank has lost a whopping 90% of its share value, right on par with Citigroup.”

The only thing certain about the next financial train wreck is that nobody is going to be able to say “nobody saw it coming.”

***Is Deutsche Bank as Dangerous to Financial Stability as Citigroup Was in 2008?

“Across Italy, cities faced with shrinking income and rising expenses bought swaps from U.S. firms to cut short-term interest costs..”

***Morgan Stanley Discloses $3.21 Billion Italian Swaps Claim

In his latest essay, Emmet Scott explores the parallels between the barbarian invasions of Rome in the 4th century A.D. with the migrant invasions of Europe in the 21st century...

December 2016: The Barbarians Who Sacked Rome Came Into the Empire as Refugees

Do the Merkels and Junckers of the world give a rat’s ass about the problems they cause?

New: ***'Not My Fault!'

Welcome to Eurabia, formerly known as Europe.

Ideological and Geopolitical Origins of the EU, Part II:***Islamization, Mass Immigration, and Destruction of European Ethnicity

Islam Academic: Migrants Want Eurabia, Globalists Using Migrants to Destroy The West

Jesuits Do It Better

Mutual benefits: Islamic moral economy and Neo-Liberalism
An interview with Abdessamad Belhaj by Bianka Speidl

You conduct research in Belgium and you gave a lecture in Brussels on the Muslim perception of the goods in Europe. You argue that the neo-liberal economic order profits and accommodates the way sharia governs the life of Muslim immigrants. How did you reach this conclusion?
Multidimensional academic research of Islam in Europe as a discursive tradition and a contemporary social complex reality unveils a solidly based “Islamic moral economy”. By an Islamic moral economy, I mean an informal and parallel economy expressed, practiced and expanded through everyday religious, cultural and social acts. In turn, the material gains justify the viability of the ethics of Islam. It is an Islamically and socially embedded economy based on a simple circular argument: whatever is framed by sharia should be good and whatever works should be framed by sharia. Islamic moral economy leads to collapsed societies and stateless territories, although it often claims to be just and virtuous. It struck me as a research idea when, one of the highest representatives of the Muslim community in Belgium told me that “even if the arguments for the necessity to reform Islam are valid from an ethical point of view, abandoning traditional Islam would be an economic disaster for the community”. As such, what I call Islamic moral economy is the sanctification by Islam of an economic model that reflects the deep social structures (families, clans and tribes) of North African and Middle Eastern societies. It is the spiritualisation of an economy in which every act, violent or moderate, and transaction, legal or illegal, serves as a tool to spread Islam, support and maintain the Muslim community.

At some point in your lecture you state that “property is a religious instrument”. How does theology transform into economy?
Islamic moral economy relies on religious and economic premises that are closely interconnected. To put it briefly: Islamic moral economy believes that if there is money, it is because of Islam, and if there is Islam it will bring money because of the constant redistribution of the goods. In Islam, all property belongs to God, and when he gives it to people, he expects a deal: that of spending it in “the way of Allah”. Islamic law urges to use every property in the service of religion. Property is regulated by sharia, the only valid law from an Islamic point of view. The faithful considers all property as “given” and not “acquired” by work. So, the more property a person has, the more it feels she or he should give it back to God, that is to mosques, call to Islam, pilgrimage, supporting jihad, etc. If a person acquires property and does not redistribute it, religion and society will activate a discourse of guilt, that we might call the trade of guilt. Here, hell appears as the ultimate scarecrow through which Islamic moral economy threatens anybody who does not contribute to it. Conversely, paradise is an incentive to participate in this economy. So, this trade sustains the Islamic moral economy, leading to expansion and the exhaustion of resources. This moral economic circle has two additional consequences. First, trust is based on the apparent practice of Islam (showing up to the mosque, etc.). Second, it alienates the believer from the modern society and its citizens.

How is it that while poverty prevails in the Muslim world, people still trust this system?
In terms of market economy and instrumental rationality, the situation is disastrous. The point lies in the different ways of thinking: the faithful Muslim does not doubt even if he or she is miserable, because God supervises this moral economy, while the average European doubts. The certainty, the patience and the determination of the Muslim, concomitants to his faith, are sustained daily by this moral economy as we can observe in the flourishing of religious foundations and the construction of mosques. The massive Islamisation worldwide financed by the rentier economy of oil since the 1970s has been another result of the same perception of property. Rentier economy means income generated not from labour, production or service, but from donations by oil countries, and Muslim governments which redistribute international funding. In particular, oil allowed countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran to re-Islamise migrants in Europe, and Muslim societies from Africa to South East Asia. This income was sold as a divine grace, to disseminate conservative and political Islam, the results of which we see today in the spread of Salafism and political Shiism. This Islamic moral economy is autonomous and nurtured, among other things, by a “gift economy”, the Islamic perception of property, transnational exchange, Islamic finance, halal industry, family or clan based informal economic activities, demography, illegal money, etc.

What is a gift economy? Is it about profit serving God’s cause?
In a gift economy, valuables are not traded or sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. The person who donates for building a mosque – sadaqa – provides a gift, the function of which is to strengthen the identity and the cohesion of his or her own community, and the place of the donator in this community. It is the opposite of market economy where goods and services are primarily exchanged for value received. It is a sacred economy in the sense that economic activity, from the household to the market, is formulated in a religious language and acts, so much so that a person would donate money for a radical organisation with the complete conviction that it is not at all an economic activity – an illegal one I should add – but a pure act of religion. The typical manifestation of gift economy is how Islamic charities function: the more money you donate to an Islamic charity in Europe, the more central your position becomes in the community, which allows you to get material benefits. Islamic charities are usually led by Islamists, mainly Muslim Brotherhood affiliates, with international webs from Indonesia to the United States. They practice missionary work, while funding Hamas, and other Islamic projects controlled by Islamists, sustain numerous teams and business projects in Europe and elsewhere.

And the law of the state matters nothing?
Well, state law has no weight compared to the law of God – or what is considered as such. Often, Islamists accept state law as a parallel law, to establish a parallel society. Islamists today defend secularism in Europe because in the current form of secularism, parallel economy is possible.

But how come that a person donates while living from social benefits?
There is a sort of charismatic economy around Muslim communities that also attracts converts. This moral economy appears as a blessed subsistence, rizq that you get with no specific reason; it just happens that your brother or a sister (in Islam) fulfilled his or her religious duty and you benefit from this. The ethics of rizq send the message to the convert that, “if you submit your will to God, and join us, you will be blessed”; the convert learns quickly that he or she should give to continue getting gifts. This redistributive system allows surviving on the periphery even without having a job for 30 years while having as many kids as possible.

And what about the European policy makers?
Socialist and social democratic parties also played a major role in this gift economy: they gave Muslim families social assistance, in exchange of votes, and then supported the construction of mosques and the spread of Islamism, etc. It is an alliance that, at the end of the day, discourages Muslims from integration, citizenship and work. Meanwhile, as one might expect, Islamists emerged as leaders of this Islamic moral economy, replacing the left wing politicians. Now, as neoliberals stop this welfare policy, Islamic moral economy will lose a source, and some impatient young Muslims will turn to radical Islam while others will rely on moderate Islamists blessed by neoliberalism as mediators.

What is the link between the neo-liberal economic order and Islamic moral economy?
I argue that the neo-liberal economic order that minimalises state control needs an accordingly minimal society in which people do not cost, almost anything to the state, except a minimal income that should be used for consumption. Also, such a society would have necessarily a minimal cohesion since without social services and culture, people are disconnected. This results in weakening further the state and the middle classes, diminishing the social burden to the minimum in terms of health and education, while keeping people’s impulses for consumption and – with the help of pluralism and democracy – maintaining their trust in the system. However, this leads to sustained poverty, which is going to be the fate of a considerable portion of people in the West. Neoliberalism puts in a winning position those who produce at a cheap price, and here come immigrant workforce into the picture. One of the side effects of this process is the deepening rift in the society and the growing support for radical right wing parties. In a sense, the aim of neo-liberalism is to maintain a society in which sustained poverty does not lead to rebellion, due to the necessity of securing the capacity to consume and as a result to be controllable. This should remain, in the neo-liberal perception, a creative and controlled chaos.

But why does Islam gain special importance in this process?
Because among all religious traditions Islam, as it is practiced today by many Muslims and promoted by radical and moderate Islamists alike, has the potential to play the game of neo-liberalism. Some basic principles of Islam are consistent with the logic of neoliberal economy.

What principles do you mean?
Islam does not have a central authority to restrain it, it claims to be universal, it legitimates poverty, yet it is socially active, keeps national feelings weak or prevents them from evolving. Also we have to add that sharia is permissive beyond the few forbidden things as we can see with branding as halal various food products and even inventing halal beer. The point is that the redistributive character of this moral economy guarantees self-subsistence. In other words, minimal wage maintains a huge mass of consumers. That said, the neo-liberal utopia finds a natural environment in the Muslim suburbia, from which the state withdraws. Parallel to this process these grey zones disrupt social cohesion and peripherialise societies.

Are parallel societies wanted side effects then?
To some extent, yes. I think this neo-liberal order does not have a persuasive narrative to offer to the people. The narrative of human rights and dignity, freedom of expression, welfare-state, which are very connected to Christian democracy by the way, and solid, extended middle classes are outdated for neoliberalism, except as slogans. They cost too much according to neoliberals. Islam as an ideology today offers all the possibilities for such policies to be justifiable. One can also mention how neoliberal thinkers and managers in Western Europe, encourage migration and accommodate Islam. The affinities of Islamisation with neoliberalism are structural, and not accidental.

Is there a marriage of convenience between neoliberals and Islamism? If so, does this idyll remain unshaken by mass-migration and self-segregation?
As actual resources in a Muslim society are limited and when poverty cannot be sustained any more, some people will move to another place to start another cycle of Islamic moral economy that ultimately means exhausting resources. In Islamic discourses, migration is seen as a beginning of the Islamisation of Europe, the rich land that will change the fate of Islam, from a religion of the poor to a religion of the rich. This is of course a paradox since the poor can only make Europe poorer. Furthermore, immigration is justified as victory to the community. The reason Islamic moral economy is disastrous is that it is nomadic and moving, and not sedentary and local: it uses income to justify moral viability, increases the number of the community through demography, converting and migration, exhausts resources and moves on.

How does this system realize itself in Europe?
The moral economy of Muslim communities in Europe is active at different levels. One of these levels is donations: those collected in Muslim countries, always ready to donate for Muslims in Europe, and those of Muslim communities in Europe. This process is not mere charity; it is a social market as the mosque, for example, will contribute to the moral economy of the community in return. The mosque creates a school, runs associations, opens shops, has an international bank account, employs young people, establishes partnership with a Muslim country, solves conflicts, contracts marriages, and so on. Islamisation is a matter of stakeholders, who do not possess necessarily the capital of religious authority (families, clans, small shops, etc.) as much as it is a matter of shareholders, who possess this capital (imams, theologians), if not more. My discussions with young Muslims in Europe reveal how they feel confident about Islam as the most viable social and economic system in a world they see as falling apart – even if the links they entertain with Islam as a religious tradition are usually loose. This perception is well exemplified by the Moroccan community in Europe that sends, every year, more than 4 Billion dollars to Morocco as financial transactions to build houses, mosques, sustain large families, invest in banks, etc. while living in minimal conditions in Europe, benefiting from social assistance.

Are they constructing mosques while living as destitute?
The building of mosques is another example for this process. Because of neutrality, the states in Europe do not build mosques, yet a bunch of few activists can build a mosque in a couple of years. How? Through donations. In this process, the role Islamism plays as an economic planner, the attraction of youth to the Middle East to benefit from a “moral economy” of jihad, the emergence of an Islamic bourgeoisie in Turkey, and in other places in the Muslim world, are all manifestations of this Islamic moral economy.

You have just mentioned the link between jihad and moral economy. Could you tell us more about the link between them?
At its height, the ISIS disposed of a budget of 2 billion dollars. Radical movements in particular promote the strategy of „managed chaos”, emphasize communitarianism, submission, and also promise salvation for the marginalized in the hereafter as well as victory in the herein, etc. The gain is not abstract as a western person would think. Jihad blesses anarchy and economy of war as “sacred anarchy”, considers warlords as sanctified men, and crimes as acts of piety. To use differently Benjamin Barber’s terms, I think “jihad deadly loves MacWorld”. Islamic movements and the migration waves provide examples of how MacWorld attracts jihad. On the one hand they yearn for the living standards of the West. On the other hand, as shown by the crisis of the second and third generation of immigrants, they cannot obtain what they desire. This failure, ineptness and exclusion generate aggression. Jihadism sustains a religious narrative – an apocalyptic one I would say – stressing the need to demolish the “pagan” West and bring Islam to victory. However, in fact it serves economic interests, usually of international dimension, while it provides false feeling of religious self-realisation. Generating fear strengthens the Islamic moral economy, as it proves to its adherents the moral superiority of Islam, and prepares for its long awaited victory.

Even so, the neoliberal elite needs Muslim immigrants in particular?
Migration is useful for the neo-liberal model of the borderless, minimal, global society, but is calamitous for the European citizens as a whole. The millions of migrants neoliberalism welcomes appear as a cheap work force; it believes that the expenses spent on them will pay back by lower salaries, etc.. In the meantime, European citizens get poorer since average wages are decreasing, and unemployment is on the rise. The logic of neoliberalism only looks at the profit it could get from Muslim migration. It does not want to see that Muslim migration has its own moral economy, and that this moral economy is a deadlock.

And terrorism is the unwanted side effect?
Exactly. Neoliberals underestimate three threats and consider them as collateral damages. First, that Islamic moral economy leads to bankruptcy and collapsed societies. Second, that jihadism is inseparable from the Islamic moral economy, and indeed a sign that it needs violence to sustain its existence or to expand further its boundaries. Third, that a reaction of European citizens to Islamic radical violence might lead to disintegration. Neoliberalism overlooks these risks and surrenders to the promises of Islamic moral economy such as Islamic finance, sustained by a global flux of money from East Asia to the US, cheap work force and population growth.

A recently published poll in Germany revealed that sharia for Muslims living in Europe is far more important than the respect for state law. What are the means available to the state then?
Above all, the state should change its perception and management of migration; it should address individuals and citizens, not communities. It should not adapt itself to the demands of the Muslims, as it should not adapt itself to the demands of any other group of migrants. It is the immigrant, as an individual who should adapt itself to the state that receives him. That said, the state should base its policy on a coherent strategy: a strict contract of integration, a persistent discourse and policies of cultural and social cohesion, on the respect for law, ethics, secularism, and being part of the nation. I think the panic of European citizens is justified and legitimate: it is a moral panic of resistance to the neo-liberal order, and rejection of the peripheralisation of Europe. European citizens see every day how immigrants evolve in a parallel economy and who display ethics that do not meet European ethical standards and do not serve local interests. As for Muslims, I think there is hope that with a radical movement of self-criticism, the migrants in Europe will stop the machine that produces sectarianism, ISIS, terrorism and maintains the oppression of women.

************

Austrian  Hofer wants to suspend naturalization of Turks, says ‘Auxit’ still possible

***Meanwhile...

Speciale Piano Kalergi: Invasione Programmata per la Sostituzione dei Popoli Europei

Sollte dir dieser Strand gefallen, dann kannst du deinen Freunden behilflich sein, indem du sie über Fred & EntendanceInvestors Beach informierst.
Lasst uns gemeinsam diesen Ort zu einen blühenden Club für Vortrefflichkeit, Bildung und Information machen!

If you like this beach, then you can help your friends locate it by letting them know about Fred & EntendanceInvestors Beach.
Let's all make this place a thriving sheltered Club for excellence, education and information!

"...Da ricercatore che si occupa di processi cognitivi mi sono chiesto perché le cose stiano così, o almeno quali potrebbero essere le cause di tanta apparente ritrosia a considerare scenari diversi dall’€, come tu proponi invece da tempo. Ora, se escludiamo ragioni guidate da meri interessi personali, che possono esistere, ma probabilmente riguarderanno un numero relativamente esiguo d’individui, non credo che la soluzione sia pensare che la resistenza a cambiare prospettiva dipenda dal fatto che queste persone (i piddini, giusto?) non capiscono o non vogliono capire. Come tu ben sai questa non è una spiegazione, ma casomai il problema. Il punto è proprio cercare di capire perché molti non vedano altre soluzioni se non quelle proposte dall’autorità politica e/o tecnica.

 Riflettendoci un po’ mi sono venute in mente tre ragioni che vorrei proporre alla tua attenzione e che potrebbero forse essere utili per guardare al problema da una prospettiva diversa. Mi scuserai se le ragioni che ti offro fanno riferimento solo a processi mentali o cognitivi, e non a temi di natura economico-politica, argomenti giustamente spesso centrali all’appassionata discussione che avviene sul tuo blog. Tuttavia, se consideriamo che anche l’economia e la politica sono due prodotti della mente umana, allora è anche ai meccanismi psicologici che bisogna guardare per capire, almeno in parte, certe scelte o non scelte fatte dalle persone.

La prima ragione per cui molte persone forse seguono in maniera acritica il pensiero dominante pro-€ chiama in causa la naturale propensione dell’essere umano ad obbedire all’autorità. Si potrebbe obiettare che questa è un’ovvietà, perché (quasi) tutti quanti noi rispettiamo le regole dettate dalle leggi promulgate dall’autorità politica, fa parte del patto sociale. La questione però è un po’ più sottile di così. Qui non si tratta di seguire le regole o le leggi, ma di abbracciare e fare proprie convinzioni e soluzioni veicolate dalla politica su larga scala. Dire che la soluzione è rimanere nell’euro, piuttosto che uscirne, è un progetto politico, un’indicazione per un sostengo politico, che il governo, l’autorità, veicola alla popolazione.
Come si comporta la maggior parte delle persone difronte all’autorità ce lo ha rivelato, in modo spettacolare e preoccupante, un famoso esperimento di Stanley Milgram condotto nel 1961.

Nell’esperimento due persone vengono convocate per un esperimento cui decidono di partecipare volontariamente. Nel laboratorio a una delle due viene dato il ruolo di insegnante, e all’altra di allievo, visto che lo scopo dell’esperimento è, racconta il ricercatore in camice bianco (l’autorità), vedere come le persone imparino dalle punizioni. La persona designata come insegnante deve quindi leggere delle liste di parole, che l’allievo, in un'altra stanza, deve ripetere. A ogni errore l’insegnante deve punirlo con una scossa elettrica, che aumenterà progressivamente. Ovviamente l’allievo è un confederato dello sperimentatore, e non riceve alcuna scossa. L’insegnante però non lo sa, e crede di dare delle scosse vere, e dall’altra parte a un certo punto iniziano i lamenti e poi le urla di dolore dell’allievo. Difronte ai dubbi dell’insegnante in merito al fatto che fosse lecito proseguire, il dottore in camice bianco lo rassicura e gli dice di continuare, che è tutto sotto controllo, che non si può tornar indietro, che c’è un preciso impegno preso una volta accettato di far parte dell’esperimento (ti ricorda qualcosa?). Molte persone ubbidirono, più o meno passivamente, e continuarono ad infliggere dolore ad un loro simile (così credevano) solo perché l’autorità glielo chiedeva, e tanto bastava per continuare nella loro azione illegale e poco etica, anche se la loro vittima li supplicava di smettere dicendo di sentirsi male. Questo esperimento dimostrò chiaramente che su molte persone l’autorità ha una presa incredibile, e sono pronte a seguire l'autorità in modo acritico e irresponsabile.
Se l’essere umano è capace di questo, e bada bene non in guerra, ma in condizioni di normale vita quotidiana, forse non c’è da stupirsi che molto spesso sia disposto a seguire la scelta e la narrazione dell’autorità politica di turno, in merito all’euro o a qualsiasi altro argomento, anche quando questo significa imporre condizioni di vita difficili ad altri cittadini. Ovviamente Milgram trovò che alcune persone si rifiutarono di seguire le indicazioni dell’autorità, e infatti c’è sempre chi sfida, a torto o a ragione, l’autorità costituita, il pensiero dominante.
Potrebbero esserci motivi di natura evoluzionistica che spiegano la naturale tendenza dell’essere umano a rispettare e seguire l’autorità. Infatti, non è difficile capire che per animali che vivono in gruppo, come la specie homo sapiens (ma lo stesso vale per molti altri animali), è fondamentale che siano selezionati nel pool genico quei geni che favoriscono il rispetto del capo branco, cioè dell’autorità, altrimenti ci sarebbe una situazione anarchica foriera di scontri continui tra gli individui. Spero sia chiaro che con questo non sto dando a te, e ai lettori del tuo blog, la patente di anarchici e rivoluzionari, con problemi genetici! Non voglio nemmeno giustificare nulla, sto solo fornendo una diversa chiave di lettura.
Il secondo motivo chiama in causa il fenomeno del conformismo sociale, illustrato in un altro famoso esperimento condotto dal maestro di Milgram, Solomon Asch.

Asch presentò a gruppi di 8 soggetti tre linee, tra le quali una era visibilmente più corta delle altre. Chiedeva quindi alle persone di decidere quale fossa la più corta. Sette di queste persone erano dei confederati, e tutti d’accordo indicavano come più corta una linea che in realtà non lo era. Cosa fecero i veri soggetti sperimentali, ignari di essere tali? Spesso conformavano il loro giudizio a quello della maggioranza del gruppo, indicando come più corta la linea che invece era più lunga. Attenzione, perché questi soggetti non stavano mentendo! Non avevano alcuna ragione per farlo, semplicemente la pressione sociale della maggioranza era così forte da influenzarli pesantemente. A pochi piace essere in disaccordo con la maggioranza. Se la linea scelta fosse veramente percepita come più corta è molto difficile stabilirlo sperimentalmente, ma non è importante per il nostro argomento. Analogamente, non è importante sapere se quelli che sostengono l’euro lo vedono veramente come l’unica soluzione. Il fatto è che esiste un meccanismo cognitivo sensibile al conformismo che porta le persone a sostenere le tesi della maggioranza.
Il terzo motivo fa riferimento all’effetto bystander o effetto spettatore. Purtroppo questo meccanismo cognitivo non fu messo in luce tramite un esperimento, ma fu rivelato da un vero caso di omicidio avvenuto a NY nel 1964. Brevemente, una ragazza di nome Kitty Genovese fu aggredita e accoltellata a morte in strada, senza che nessuno dalle case circostanti intervenisse o chiamasse tempestivamente la polizia nonostante il trambusto e le urla. Perché? Perché, per semplificare, ognuno pensava che lo avrebbe fatto qualcun altro.

Non è così difficile quindi immaginare che esistano nella società molte persone che pur sapendo di assistere a un “omicidio” politico e sociale quale è l’€, non agiscono, non si mobilitano, perché pensano che il problema lo risolverà qualcun altro. Stanno alla finestra, come quelle persone che lasciarono morire Kitty Genovese, non perché approvassero, non perché fossero cattive o stupide, ma perché a volte così funziona la nostra mente. Si chiama anche diluizione della responsabilità..." Il piddino e l'€: la parola al neurologo

Meanwhile, in Ireland..."...The trick is the use of a shell company that is based in Ireland but which is officially “stateless”. By directing all the money it

makes outside the US into it’s “Irish” shell company Apple – thanks to the Irish government – walks away with a tax rate of “0.005%”.

Next up for scrutiny: Netherlands! Starbucks, Amazon pay less tax than a sausage stand, Austria says

"...The €, being dependant on political cohesion instead of original market demand, will simply cease to be money, somewhat rapidly..."

***Why the EU is doomed

Former Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi dies at 95. The jesuits were Ciampi’s teachers.

I Gesuitici Draghi e Ciampi:*** i veri artefici della distruzione dell'Italia

"No we Can't" An answer to Angela Merkel on the psychotic migrant invasion

A woman named Katia Schneidt, who has experience working with refugees and teaching them German, has written a book about her experiences entitled No We Can’t! In the television interview below, Ms. Schneidt explains why the migration policies currently being followed by the German government can’t help but fail.

View it*** here

Meanwhile...

Deutsche Bank Is Asked to Pay $14 Billion to Resolve U.S. Probe Into Mortgage Securities

Deutsche Bank shares plunge 8%

They have declined about 46% this year...who's next?

The Poisoned Chalice:*** From Eurozone to Dead Zone

ATHENS, GREECE today: gassing pensioners. Outstanding. Thanks to the european union.

***Greek police fire tear gas on pensioners during anti-austerity protest

Meanwhile...in Dresden

Merkel must go! Hundreds protest in Dresden on German Unity Day

When Gorbachev decided that it was the end of the Soviet Union and dissolved the Warsaw Pact that is when NATO should have done what NATO leaders promised him, he said.
Namely, that NATO would not expand an inch. And that there would not be unified Germany in NATO.
"Now Clinton, the man, decide to expand NATO. And that is where we are today: ten former Warsaw Pact countries are now NATO members," he said.
"What a wonderful Europe we could have created without all these military activities and alliances. It may have made OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) strong and make the Europeans to have their own United Nations system. There are so many things alternatively that could have been [done] if not militarists have taken the driver's seat for the last twenty five years," he regretted. ***Jan Oberg, Director of Sweden-based Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research

          ***Dissolving the People

Meanwhile...RT UK’s bank accounts have been blocked, RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan reported. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reacted, saying it seems that in leaving the EU, London also left any freedom of speech obligations behind there.

London Abandons All Its Freedom of Speech Obligations - Russian Foreign Ministry on RT Blocked Accounts

Oct 12, 2016 17:54:23 GMT -5 Entendance said:

Meanwhile...in Austria...
***“Little Rambos” in Austria Arm Themselves

2 video
***Österreich rüstet auf

Economist: Austria Should Leave the EU after Brexit

Oct 10, 2016 14:42:59 GMT -5 Entendance said:

"One of the most bizarre phenomena in a very bizarre situation over the past year or longer is the refusal of any leading European Union political figure to openly discuss the reality behind the catastrophic social disruption being caused by the crisis from the influx of more than one million war refugees from Syria and other war-torn countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The EU debate on refugees, because of this silence, or refusal to talk about real causes and possible remedies, is leading to completely absurd statements by political veterans who know far better. It’s also feeding energy wars around the world, a good development not.

The refugees are a consequence of war. The war is a consequence of the decision by certain oil and military interests in NATO to retake or take new control of the world energy markets in oil and now, natural gas. As well, the war is a consequence of the reactions of other nations, including China and Russia and Iran, to the attempt by the United States and other Western countries to control global energy flows. Additionally and related, there is the reaction of extremist neo-Nazi elements in Ukraine, following a US-backed coup in 2014, to join that energy war with EU support, on completely fabricated grounds.
As a result of EU leaders’ silence, a tragic drama is unfolding that brings eerie echoes of the Thomas Harris novel, The Silence of the Lambs..."

***Silence of the Lambs-Refugees, EU and Syrian Energy Wars

H/T Tom from Florida

***It Wasn’t the People that Joined the Union

Vatican/Jesuits

"There has been no greater advocate of mass Muslim migration into Europe than the purported head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis..."

Pope Francis: Traitor to Western Civilization

Da Aeroporto Italia a Obitorio Italia...

Proof Britain's booming after Brexit vote: Economy drives ahead after EU Referendum

***Why they were WRONG! Calls for doom-mongers to apologise amid PROOF Britain is booming

***The eurozone is turning into a poverty machine

Moody’s Capital Markets Research issued a damning verdict on Deutsche Bank earlier this week. In a research report put together by the credit agency’s ‘Analytics’ research division, Moody’s analysts write that Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) expected default frequency remains at one of the highest levels in the banking industry, despite the bank’s efforts to shore up its capital position...

***Deutsche Bank Is Dangerously Close To Falling Below Its “Default Point”

Deutsche Bank in the Dumps

Nomi Prins: “It does not take a lot of domino effect derivative risk to bring down a financial system. We saw that in the subprime crisis. It was not like everyone had all their positions separated. All of the positions were interdependent.” “If the United States is leading in terms of “bigness” of financial systems and complexity but does not have regulation in place to control them, [then when they fail] the fall out changes the world.
“The fall out creates not just a crisis in the United States but creates a fall out throughout the globe. In which the world is still trying to recover and find alternatives to get away from that reckless regulatory system.”

"Greed, provincialism, cowardice, unfocused aggression, mania, egoism, immaturity, mendacity, incompetence, weakness, pride, blundering, decadence, arrogance, a need for admiration, naiveté: If you are looking for words that explain the fall of Deutsche Bank, you can choose freely and justifiably from among the above list. The bank, 146 years after its founding, has become the target for all manner of pejoratives, and not just from outside observers. All of the above terms were used in interviews held during months of reporting into the causes of the downfall of Germany’s largest financial institution. They popped up over the course of several hours of interviews with four Deutsche Bank CEOs, three former and one current..."

"The following video is excerpted from remarks made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to members of her political party, the CDU (Christian Democrats). In it you’ll hear her hectoring her minions about the lack of Christmas carols at their events, and deprecating their musical skills.
Since when did Mrs. Merkel ever care about Christians, Christianity, or Christendom? Is there anything Christian about her except her party’s name? It’s a bizarre performance, but that’s from a foreigner’s perspective. Maybe if I understood the German context more deeply, it wouldn’t seem strange at all...! ***Angela We Have Heard on High

'Helpless and Hopeless' Merkel Dismisses Islamization, Suggests Playing a Flute

The EU is a failure of historial proportions economically, politically and above all morally:
***Refugee Camp On Lesbos Damaged In Riots As Rumors Fly

"After years of gradually securing its official gold reserves (unwinding leases) the central bank of Austria claims to have completed the audits of its 224 tonnes of gold stored at the BOE.

However, it refuses to publish the audit reports and the gold bar list. What could possibly be so sensitive to hide from public eyes?"

***Central Bank Austria Claims To Have Audited Gold at BOE. Refuses To Release Audit Reports & Gold Bar List

***Italexit? L’imminente crisi bancaria

"Europe is screwed. You guys are still screwed...In the Italian system, the banks say they are worth 45-50 cents in the dollar. But the bid price is 20 cents. If they were to mark them down, they would be insolvent..."

***Why Italy?

"...The EU and the ECB have been badly affected by the Trump surprise. Suddenly, Brexit looks like a prescient move, with the UK likely to get a better trade deal with an Anglo-Saxon partner, than originally thought. Other nations could well have their own serf-driven rebellions, with many elections and referendums due in the next year. Furthermore, Trump is likely to reduce America’s NATO commitment in a new policy of détente with Russia. The political situation has suddenly become very dicey, and the economic situation has just become worse as well.
The ECB has for the last eight years successfully contained a systemic banking crisis, involving variously Ireland, Cyprus, Greece and Portugal, with real threats from Italy, Spain and even Germany. To maintain the value of the collateral and investments held on bank balance sheets, the ECB has reduced interest rates and elevated bond prices by buying large quantities of debt in the market. It is a policy that has worked so far, because exogenous threats were also contained. This is no longer the case, and Eurozone bond prices have been exposed as considerably more overvalued than US Treasuries, given prices that imparted negative yields to German bunds. The effect of further bond price falls on bank balance sheets could well be catastrophic.
Today, the obvious weak point in the financial system is Italy. Italy faces a constitutional referendum on December 4th, which has been postponed from October. The vote is an attempt by Matteo Renzi, Italy’s Prime Minister, to reduce the Senate’s power. In effect, the power lost to the Senate will be transferred to the executive. Originally, Renzi pledged to resign if the referendum went against him, but recently he appears to have backed away from this commitment as the chance of failure has increased. Italy matters, because it is on the verge of a major banking and economic crisis and the serfs smell a constitutional rat.
The weakness of Italy’s banking system is no secret, but commentators miss the underlying point, that the fundamental problem is with the economy. Non-performing loans in the banking system are officially recognised at 18% of GDP. But the public sector is 52% of GDP, which means that NPLs are over 40% of private sector GDP, bearing in mind that this is where NPLs are confined. And it is a fair bet that the NPL problem is worse than officially recognised. So even if the banks are successfully restructured or bailed out, it is unlikely to resolve the underlying economic malaise.
Trumpenomics has just made the ECB’s bailouts considerably more difficult, because as well as non-performing loans, the banks have massive mark-to-market bond losses to absorb as well. Furthermore, the ECB will almost certainly have to raise interest rates more than the Fed, particularly if the euro continues to weaken against the dollar, as seems likely. That is where the crisis will hit, and probably not before long.
In conclusion, Trumpenomics as proposed (though it is obviously not yet in its final form) will lead to accelerating price inflation, accompanied not by better conditions for the “basket of deplorables” as Hillary Clinton described Trump’s supporters, but their further impoverishment through the realisation of the wealth-transfer mechanism of price inflation. Stagflationary conditions are already on the cards, but as a matter of simple economics it is being accelerated further by Trump’s intended plans. The black swan event, the unforeseen consequence, is likely to bring forward the political and economic disintegration of Europe and the euro area, through a falling currency and collapsing bond prices..."

"...Now, I got involved in this -- I was actually in business. I had a proper job before politics. How about that? It seems pretty amazing, doesn't it? You know, certainly Westminster is full of a group of college kids who go straight into the Houses of Parliament in their early 20s who have never had a job in their lives, who don't really believe in very much, and they are professional career politicians. What they worry about is getting reelected. What they worry about is playing safe, and because of that, and because of the direction of the media, we have suffered now from decades of political correctness where no one dares stand up and speak their mind. They're frightened of being criticized..."

EU buffoonery is completely out of hand        

"There is an endless stream of commentators who are so utterly clueless that it’s a struggle keeping up. In fact, I cannot keep up. The best I can do is occasionally highlight the most serious offenders..."

US sends largest ammo shipment in 20yrs to Germany amid ongoing European buildup

'No way': US military bar RT’s video agency from media event in letter likely revealing too much

Totally Out of Touch: Nicolas Sarkozy Seeks “Marshall Plan” for Africa

***What Did Draghi Know About Potential Loss and Abuses at Italy's Largest Bank

Where is the gold, mr. Bean-draghi?
The European Central Bank (ECB), creator of the Euro, currently claims to hold 504.8 tonnes of gold reserves. These gold holdings are reflected on the ECB balance sheet and arose from transfers made to the ECB by Euro member national central banks, mainly in January 1999 at the birth of the Euro. As of the end of December 2015, these ECB gold reserves were valued on the ECB balance sheet at market prices and amounted to €15.79 billion...
The ECB very recently confirmed to BullionStar that its gold reserves are stored across 5 international locations. However, the ECB also confirmed that it does not physically audit its gold, not will it divulge a bar list / weight list of these gold bar holdings.
Questions and Answers...
...Question 2: “Could you clarify as to how, if at all, this gold is audited, and whether it physical audited by the ECB or by a 3rd party?”
ECB Response: “The ECB has no physical audit of its gold bars. The gold bars that the ECB owns are individually identified and each year the ECB receives a detailed statement of these gold deposits. The central banks where the gold is stored are totally reliable.“...
Conclusion
...Instead of being fixated with the ECB’s continual disastrous and extended QE policy, perhaps some financial journalists could bring themselves to asking Mario Draghi some questions about the ECB gold reserves at the next ECB press briefing, questions such as the percentage split in storage distribution between the 5 ECB gold storage locations, why ECB gold is being held in New York, why is there no physical audit of the gold by the ECB, why does the ECB not publish a weight list of gold bar holdings, and do the ECB or its national central bank agents intervene into the gold market using ECB gold reserves..."
...The lackadaisical attitude of the ECB to its gold reserves by never physically auditing them is also a poor example to set for all 28 of the central bank members of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), and doesn’t bode well for any ESCB member central bank in being any less secretive than the ECB headquarters mothership....
...If gold does re-emerge at the core of a revitalised international monetary system and takes on a currency backing role in the future, the haphazard and non-disclosed distribution of the ECB’s current gold reserves over 5 locations, the lack of physical gold audits, and the lack of public details of any of the ECB gold holdings won’t really inspire market confidence, and is proving to be even less transparent than similar metrics from that other secretive large gold holding bloc, i.e the USA."

***European Central Bank gold reserves held across 5 locations. ECB will not disclose Gold Bar List

H/T Tom, our gold researcher from Florida!
At Fred & EntendanceInvestors Beach we predicted both the BREXIT and the Trump win. Both were relatively obvious to anyone who actually did real research. This does not mean all here supported either items. I’m talking strictly about performing real research with the goal of finding the most likely outcome.   E.

Unsurprisingly, in Brussels people are not thrilled with Donald Trump’s election as new American President...

Trump's victory should be a wake-up calls to the European establishment

***How Trump will impact the European Union

Meanwhile...in Athens...

Greece’s Public Health Services on the brink of collapse

“So, my friend, you did a good job with Greece.”

Protesters are rallying against US policy that is “creating tensions” with various countries around the world, starting with China and Russia, as well as against the US attempts to “overthrow the government in Ukraine,” Greek journalist Aris Chatzistefanou told RT. Apart from that, protesters are blaming the US for supporting“Islamic extremists”which led to“well-known consequences.”
“While the Greek government is trying to present the visit of Obama as a visit of a peacemaker, thousands of demonstrators came onto the streets to protest US policy in [such] parts of the world from Latin America to Middle East, Afghanistan and Syria,” Chatzistefanou said.

          *** Loukanikos Lives!                                

                                                                    ***Troika policies in Greece are recipe for environmental disaster

EU Totally Dysfunctional

"...It's a big club, and you aren't in it..."

The Guys From ‘Government Sachs’

"...Not only is the Cold War over, the post-Cold War is over. We are living in a changed and changing world. Regimes are falling. Old parties are dying, new parties rising. Old allegiances are fraying, and old allies drifting away.
The forces of nationalism and populism have been unleashed all over the West and all over the world.*** There is no going back..."

 ***Europe Will Devalue Or Dissolve (If that’s not paradise for precious metals then it’s hard to imagine what would be.)

Meanwhile...“The end had come, but it was not yet in sight”  

Austria: Juncker Pleads with Hofer...“No Referendums” (Will of People Must be Suppressed)

Berlin Finally Confesses US Using Ramstein for 'Extra-Legal' Drone Killings

Nov 22, 2016 12:21:10 GMT -5 Entendance said:

No room for anti-Americanism at Fred & EntendanceInvestors Beach

◾European criticism of Trump goes far beyond a simple displeasure with the man who will be the next president. The condemnation reveals a deep-seated contempt for the United States, and for American voters who democratically elected a candidate committed to restoring American economic and military strength...

◾European anti-Americanism is certain to escalate in the years ahead, not because of Trump or his policies, but because "globalists" appear desperate to save the failing European Union, an untransparent, unaccountable, anti-democratic, sovereignty-grabbing alternative to the nation state...

European elites have been mostly silent about Obama's foreign policy failures, but are now lashing out at Trump for pledging to restore order by "making America great again."

As during the Bush administration, anti-Americanism in Europe is once again being driven by Germany, a country that was effectively rebuilt by the United States after the Second World War. The Marshall Plan granted West Germany some $1.5 billion ($15 billion in 2016 dollars) in reconstruction aid between 1948 and 1951.
For the past seven decades, the United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars annually to guarantee German security, although Germany steadfastly refuses to honor a NATO pledge to spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on defense spending. Germany spent only 1.16% of GDP on its own defense in 2015 and 1.15% in 2016. German officials are now offended that Trump is asking them to pay their fair share for their own defense.

In Germany
Following is a small sampling of recent European commentary on Donald Trump and the United States

Meanwhile...Mariano Rajoy...(remember? We are all jesuits)

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Calls for Aggressive Push Against Populism

EU unveils new £300m 'Space Egg' HQ – ***the 'Europa' in Brussels

***The EU’s £300m ‘Space Egg’ stinks

December 8, 2016 As Europe’s Financial System Fails, Gold Will Rise
By Egon von Greyerz

“The Die is Cast” for Europe and the EU. This is what Caesar said when he crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC marching towards Rome, leading to a major change in Europe’s history. The Italian referendum which took place on December 4 had a similar significance. The Brexit vote in which Britain decided to divorce from the EU started the breakup of the artificial construction of 500 million people being ruled by an unelected and unaccountable elite in Brussels. Even worse is an artificial paper currency, the €, which is used by 19 out of the 28 EU countries. All paper currencies are of course artificial constructions that eventually become worthless but to have a currency for 19 countries with different cultures, different growth rates and productivity and vastly different inflation rates is a total disaster.
This is why Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and many more EU countries are totally bankrupt. These countries have been forced to use a currency which has made them completely uncompetitive and unable to export or function. At the same time, Germany has benefited from a weak Euro which has made their export industries very successful.

A dire destiny for Europe
The referendum in Italy last Sunday changes the destiny not only for Italy but for Europe and also the world. The Brexit vote was the first indication that governments and the elite in the West are totally out of touch with the people. Trump’s win in the US presidential election confirmed the same phenomenon. In Italy, people are fed up with the Renzi government which lost the referendum on the Italian constitution. In itself, the referendum is not that significant but it is seen as a protest vote against the Renzi government. Interestingly, Renzi is the only European leader that officially backed Hilary Clinton and this is likely to cost him dear. Most of the European leaders hated Trump but no one was stupid enough to officially back Clinton.
With Renzi losing the referendum and resigning, it will likely lead to an election which the actor Beppo Grillo would win. His party is anti-globalism, anti-establishment and anti- immigration and anti-EU and Euro. In Austria’s presidential election last Sunday, Norbert Hofer lost by a small margin. Hofer is on the far Right and also anti-immigration and anti-Muslims. Many European countries already have Eurosceptic governments like Hungary, Croatia, Poland and Slovenia. In 2017 there will be elections in France where Marine le Pen’s National France is well placed. In Holland the Party for Freedom which is anti EU is also well placed. And in Germany there will also be elections in 2017. There is strong opposition to Merkel due to the major immigration problems that Germany is now suffering, all of Merkel’s making.

Italy’s insolvent financial system
Italy crossing the Rubicon is yet another confirmation that the trend has changed and that the peoples in Europe are now turning against the establishment and the elite. In addition to the unhappiness in Europe with politicians who are not in touch with the people, there are major problems in the financial system. One of Europe’s biggest banks, Deutsche Bank, is very much looking like Lehman. Both the share price and the derivative position are giving indication of a bank on its way to bankruptcy. And in Italy, the whole banking system is insolvent. It is not just Italy’s oldest bank Monte dei Paschi which is virtually bankrupt but impaired loans for all Italian banks are at least €360 billion which is around 20% of the Italian banking system. Monte dei Paschi is desperately trying to raise €5 billion and UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, needs €13 billion.
So Europe is in major trouble both politically and financially. When the difficulties start unravelling in Europe, the rest of the world should not feel confident that this is an isolated local problem. The global economy and financial system is totally interconnected and a problem in a country like Italy will have repercussions around the world. Take Deutsche Bank’s derivative position of $50 trillion for example which is around 20 times German GDP and 70% of global GDP. This is not just too big for Germany, it is too big for the world. A problem erupting in Deutsche would spread like wildfire throughout the global financial system. The 5 largest US banks have a derivatives’ portfolio of $1/4 quadrillion at least and probably double that. That is 3.5 times global GDP and obviously too big for the global financial system.

$ 1.5 quadrillion of derivatives will implode
There are only two ways to deal with a problem in a financial system which has total derivatives of $1.5 quadrillion on top of already insolvent bank balance sheets.
The cube below shows the amount of global derivatives outstanding. $1.5 quadrillion is an astronomical amount in relation to all the gold ever produced or to the gold supposedly held by central banks. These derivatives are just illusory contracts with no underlying real value. The attributed gross value is assuming that an endless chain of counterparties will all settle their part of the chain. It is sufficient that just a handful of major counterparties fail for the whole daisy chain to collapse. This will result in gross values of 70x global GDP disappearing into a black hole, never to be seen again. When this happens, no financial institution will survive. I would say that the likelihood of such an event is greater than 75%. The catalyst could easily be the European financial system. What happened in Italy last weekend could easily be seen as the shot in Sarajevo, an event that is the trigger for a change in history.

A false and corrupt financial system
In a futile attempt to stop the inevitable collapse, central banks will print unlimited amounts of money. This will lead to a short period of hyperinflation before the financial system, including the currency system, implodes. But since we are talking about a false and corrupt system that manipulates every single market, a collapse of this system will be a godsend and the only way to replace an irretrievably broken system. There is no chance for the world to grow soundly before the current financial system has been wiped off the face of the earth. In my view this must happen and any attempt to save the system will just make the collapse bigger. The fall of the financial system will obviously cause misery and major upheaval for most people on earth but it is guaranteed to happen and is also necessary for the world to start again with real markets and real growth.
To summarise, the changes that will take place in Europe over the next year or so, are likely to be one of the catalysts that will trigger the inevitable fall of the financial system as well as the world economy. Obviously at some point in the future, there will be a Phoenix coming out of the ashes of the present system which will hopefully lead to a better world over time.

Paper money is dying
In the meantime, as paper money dies, protecting your assets is now more vital than any time in history. All assets within the financial system will implode. Debt and derivatives will implode under their own weight. All the bubble assets that this debt has supported will also collapse. This includes stocks, bonds and property. Anyone who holds anything within the financial system is likely to lose a major part of their assets. And if anything remains of value, it will take a very long time before liquidators have sorted the mess out in order to pay out pennies on the dollar. Unencumbered assets in the system should eventually be released but this could take many years and there is a major risk that a bank under pressure has used these assets as collateral.

To preserve wealth, hold unencumbered real assets
The best way to preserve wealth in coming years is to hold unencumbered real assets outside the financial system such as property, land and mineral rights. The ultimate wealth preservation asset is of course gold. Gold is the only money which has maintained its value throughout history. Since paper money will either be very scarce, especially since most governments will ban it, or worthless, gold will become the only real medium of exchange. Gold will be used as money and for barter. The collapse of paper currencies and the financial system will make gold extremely desirable and valuable.
The current currency restrictions in India have had a major effect on the gold price. Prices as high as $3,000 per ounce have been seen but currently gold in India is $1,600-1,700. This is a premium of 35-45% on the current spot of $1,177. There are of course concerns that import restrictions will slow down demand. But according to my sources, the rampant corruption in India makes it easy to pay the right official to let the gold in. Indians are now likely to buy more gold rather than less as the Modi government has virtually destroyed the paper currency system. Obviously, there is no premium on paper gold in India. The Indians and the Chinese know that paper gold is worth zero since this market will totally collapse.

China’s insatiable demand for gold
Also in China, premiums for physical gold have shot up and are at a three-year high. Gold in China is today traded at $24 above spot. The chart below shows the insatiable demand for gold in China which in recent years have absorbed a major part of world production.

Swiss refiners report strong demand
Goldmine production is today around 3,000 tons annually. By 2025 it will be down to 2,000 tons as we currently have reached peak gold. The refiners in Switzerland who refine most of the gold bars in the world, report strong demand currently. All the gold that is being produced is mainly bought by China, India, Russia and a few other buyers. There are no stockpiles of unsold gold in the world. But there are piles of paper gold that are at least 100 times greater than the physical gold available to settle the paper gold claims. The paper gold market is corrupt and manipulated by central banks and bullion banks. For the time being, this group has managed to keep gold $000s below the real price that physical gold would fetch without the paper gold manipulation.
As the problems in the financial system start unfolding, which could happen at any time, the paper gold market will fail and the real gold price for physical gold will be set by China. Once this happens, gold will climb quickly towards $10,000 in today’s money and then much higher in inflationary money.
Short-term, gold in the paper market can always be pushed down another $100. But with a very limited downside and an upside of many thousand dollars, at current levels of $1,175 physical gold is an absolute bargain. It is also the best way to protect your wealth against the coming destruction of asset prices and paper money.
Egon von Greyerz
Founder and Managing Partner
Matterhorn Asset Management AG
 Gold Switzerland

banksters 0 Credibility: Deutsche Bank Provides Smoking Gun Proof Of Massive Rigging And Fraud In The Silver Market

This is a long story which extends over fifteen years. NATO first attempted to silence those citizens who were trying to discover the truth about the attacks of 11 September 2001. Then it turned on those who contested the oficial version of the «Arab Springs» and the war against Syria. One thing leading to another, it then attacked those who denounced the coup d’état in Ukraine. Now NATO is behind the accusations by a pseudo-NGO that the people who campaigned for Donald Trump are Russian agents...

***The NATO campaign against freedom of expression

Nigel Farage launches astonishing attack on Angela Merkel after burka U-turn

Meanwhile...too funny ... Updated December 8, 2016:*** Mass Insanity

Merkel hopes to pick up votes from anti-immigration party AfD supporters, by tossing them meaningless platitudes...

***Merkel’s Burka Ban, Reelection Ploy Hypocrisy

"I said only Syrians!"

(Into the Mind of a Psychopath Chapter I)

On your knees you may live to see another day, but you’ll never live to see better days. You may die on your feet, but liberty offers the only hope for better days. It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth dying for...Understanding The Slave Mentality, Cognitive Dissonance Confirmation Bias & more

Mish: "...When Greece has finally had enough of servitude, I do not know. But I am confident that time will come. Unfortunately, I do not expect Greek politicians to play the crisis correctly. Everyone will lose."

...Eurozone lenders have suspended their recently agreed debt-relief plan for Greece.
The lenders are unhappy that the Greek government plans to spend €617m (£517m) on giving poor state pensioners a pre-Christmas bonus.
The European Stability Mechanism, the body that helps eurozone governments in trouble, said it had not been asked to agree the bonus...

BREAKING: Eurozone suspends Greek debt relief plan

"If we smell precisely the stench of the totality of steps taken in NATO countries in recent months, especially in the United States and the European Union, we can smell the stench of totalitarian rule or some would call it, fascism, being quietly imposed on our basic human freedoms. Some recent examples give pause for reflection as to where we are allowing our world to drift.
Let’s begin with a most ominous, bizarre, Jesuitical interview that the Roman Catholic Pope Francis gave to a Belgian paper December 7, comparing what he calls defamatory news to what he called the “sickness of coprophagia.” He stated:
QUESTION – A final question, Holy Father, regarding the media: a consideration regarding the means of communication…
POPE – The communications media have a very great responsibility…It is obvious that, given that we are all sinners, also the media can…become harmful… They can be tempted by calumny, and therefore used to slander, to sully people, especially in the world of politics. They can be used as a means of defamation: every person has the right to a good reputation, but perhaps in their previous life, or ten years ago, they had a problem with justice, or a problem in their family life, and bringing this to light is serious and harmful… This is a sin and it is harmful. A thing that can do great damage to the information media is disinformation: that is, faced with any situation, saying only a part of the truth, and not the rest. This is disinformation…Disinformation is probably the greatest damage that the media can do, as opinion is guided in one direction, neglecting the other part of the truth. I believe that the media should…not fall prey – without offence, please – to the sickness of coprophilia, which is always wanting to communicate scandal…And since people have a tendency towards the sickness of coprophagia, it can do great harm.

Coprophilia is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “marked interest in excrement, especially the use of feces or filth for sexual excitement.” And coprophagia is eating feces by humans, literally, eating shit.
What people precisely, Holy Father, have a “tendency to towards the sickness of coprophagia”? Is this the dominant sickness of the human race? And if not, why do you make such a disgusting likeness between eating shit and citizens who read about politicians and their misdeeds or media that report on same? And who is to judge if factually true dissemination of facts about political figures from their past is relevant or not to help voters judge their character? I would say the comments are a perfect example of what he pretends to condemn.

Were it only a single, off-the-cuff remark by a religious figure, we could dismiss it along with claims such as the papal infallibility declaration proclaimed by the Vatican I on 18 July 1870. However, precisely because of such dogma and of the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and its Pope, notably in the countries of Western Europe, the United States and Latin America, such vague and dangerous remarks ought to be taken seriously as a signal of what lies ahead for the public freedom of speech.

“Fake News”
The papal comments on coprophagia and journalism come amid an explosion of charges in the USA and EU that Russia is planting “fake news” as it is now being called, about Hillary Clinton in the US media by way of certain alternative media. Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager, said “fake news” was “huge problem” the campaign faced in the recent US election: “I still think we have to investigate what happened with Russia here. We cannot have foreign, and I would say foreign aggressors here, intervening in our elections. The Russian were propagating fake news through Facebook and other outlets, but look, we also had…Breitbart News, which was notorious for peddling stories like this.”
Online stories that claimed a Washington D.C. pizza restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, was used by candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta for child sex, the so-called “Pizzagate” Scandal, is now being used to drum up popular opinion for censorship of the Internet as well as Facebook and other social media. Senior New York Times reporter David Sanger wrote a vague, anonymous “according to senior Administration sources,” article on December 9 under the headline, “Russia Hacked Republican Committee but Kept Data, US Concludes.” What we are seeing is precisely the kind of fake news that Hillary Clinton and the Pope talk about. But it is mainstream establishment media doing the fakery.
The fakery is being orchestrated by the highest levels of the mainstream media in collusion with NATO circles and intelligence agencies such as the CIA, which has saturated the ranks of mainstream media with their disinformation agents according to former CIA head William Colby, who once allegedly said, ““The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media.” The campaign will continue, likely with some horrendous stories about some psychopath taking a gun and bursting into Comet Ping Pong pizza place shooting innocent customers, because it was said he read in alternative media fake news about the pedophile ring. That already took place, but the man fired no shots. The population is being manipulated to accept extreme censorship of internet and other alternative media, something unimaginable just months ago.
Like clockwork, the “fake news” campaign has spread to the European Union. After announcing she will run again in 2017 for Chancellor, Angela Merkel spoke ominous words suggesting government censorship of independent “populist” (sic) media might be necessary: “Today we have fake sites, bots, trolls — things that regenerate themselves, reinforcing opinions with certain algorithms and we have to learn to deal with them.” She declared, “we must confront this phenomenon and if necessary, regulate it…Populism and political extremes are growing in Western democracies..” Her remarks came after Google and Facebook cut off ad revenue to what they declared to be “fake” news sites.
In the EU, especially Germany, populist has an implicit negative or even fascist connotation as in “right-wing populist” parties who oppose Merkel’s open door to war refugees policies, or who these days oppose almost anything her heavy-handed government puts forward.

War on Cash
Now if we begin to see stealth propaganda preparing us to accept severe clampdown on the one remaining free media, the Internet and related social media, we can also see an equally ominous, indeed, totalitarian move to create acceptance for the idea we give up the right to hold paper money, giving private, often corrupt, banks total control over our money, and in turn giving government agencies total control over where we spend for what.
This is the so-called cashless society. Arguments put forward are that elimination of cash will be more convenient to consumers or that it will eliminate or greatly reduce organized crime and shadow economy that evades taxation. In the EU, Sweden has already virtually eliminated cash. Sweden cash purchases today are down to just three per cent of the national economy compared to nine per cent in the Eurozone and seven per cent in the US. Public buses don’t accept cash. Three of Sweden’s four largest banks are phasing out the manual handling of cash in bank branches. Norway is following the same path.
In France today, it’s now illegal to do cash transactions over €1,000 without documenting it properly. France’s finance minister Michel Sapin, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, blamed the attacks on the ability of the attackers to “buy dangerous things with cash.” Shortly after the Hebdo attacks he announced capital controls that included the €1,000 cap on cash payments, down from €3,000, to “fight against the use of cash and anonymity in the French economy.” In high-inflation Eurozone €1,000 is not a huge sum.
Even in conservative Germany, a leading member of the Merkel coalition proposed to eliminate the €500 note and capping all cash transactions at €5,000. Some weeks later the European Central Bank, where negative interest rates are the order of the day, announced it would end issue of €500 notes by December 2018 arguing it made it too easy for criminals and terrorists to act.
And in the United States, as the campaign to sell skeptical citizens on cashless digital bank payments increases, JP Morgan Chase, the largest and one of the most criminal banks in the US, has a policy restricting the use of cash in selected markets. The bank bans cash payments for credit cards, mortgages, and auto loans; and it prohibits storage of “any cash or coins” in safe deposit boxes. So if you have a rare cold coin collection, you better stuff it in the mattress…

Negative Rates and Cashless Citizens
As long as cash–bills and coins of a national currency–are the basis of the economy, the central banks of the USA and EU as well as Japan, are unable to impose a severe negative interest rate policy much beyond the flirtation today by the ECB and Bank of Japan. If central bank rates were to go very negative, banks would be charging customers the absurd charge to make them pay to keep their cash on deposit or in savings at those banks. Naturally, people would revolt and withdraw in cash to invest in gold or other hard, tangible valuables.
Harvard economist and member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal Reserve, Kenneth Rogoff, an advocate of the “war on cash,” noted that the existence of cash “creates the artifact of the zero bound on the nominal interest rate.” In his 2016 book, The Curse of Cash, Rogoff urged the Federal Reserve to phase out the 100-dollar bill, then the 50-dollar bill, then the 20-dollar bill, leaving only smaller denominations in circulation, much like what the mad Modi has just done in India.
Any serious observer of the world economy, especially of NATO nations in Europe and North America since the financial crisis of September 2008, would have to realize the current status quo of zero or negative central bank interest rates to prop up banks and financial markets is not sustainable. Unless cash is eliminated that is.
On April 5, 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, “forbidding the Hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States.” That was rightly denounced by many as outright theft, confiscation of privately held gold, by the Government.
Radical solutions such as done by President Roosevelt in 1933, yet in a monetary order where gold no longer dominates, is clearly becoming more attractive to the major bankers of Wall Street and the City of London. Rather than confiscate citizens’ gold, today the Gods of Money would have to find a way to steal the cash of citizens. Moving to their “cashless” banking, limiting how much cash can be withdrawn and then eliminating cash entirely as Swedish banks are doing would enable tax authorities to have perfect totalitarian control on every citizen’s use of money. Moreover, governments could decree, as did FDR, that cash above certain levels must be taxed under some or another national declaration of emergency.
As such bold, radical moves advance, they would of course be vociferously attacked not on CNN or The New York Times or Financial Times or other mainstream media tied to those criminal financial institutions, but in alternative media. Keep in mind it was the uncritical New York Times and Washington Post that uncritically retailed the fake news that led to declaration of war on Iraq in 2003, namely that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction aimed at Washington. That war has spread death and destruction of a scale unimaginable. No one complained at the time about that fake news.

The protest over moves to confiscate citizens’ bank holdings would come through alternate, independent media such as Zero Hedge or countless others. Recently, US media uncritically republished a purported list of “fake news” blogs and websites prepared by Assistant Professor of Communications at Merrimack College, Melissa Zimdars. Zero Hedge was on it.
This is not about endorsing or not endorsing any alternative blog or website. It is about the essential freedom of us all to be able to read and decide any and all opinions or analyses and not to have government decide what I am or am not allowed to read. It’s about the freedom to keep privacy about what I choose to buy and not leave a digital trail that my bank could release to the tax authorities or to Homeland Security or the FBI, or sell to profiling consumer operations. Controlling public communication and controlling private money would go a long way to creation of the perfect totalitarian state. Not a good idea, I would say." -F. William Engdahl

"The EU consistently fails to make crucial public investments in infrastructure, education or healthcare, but seems to have no problem finding the money for military upgrades..."

America is aggressively pushing its NATO allies to adopt the heavily-criticised F-35, the world's most expensive fighter plane.

***Euro Bombs: European Investment Bank to be turned into arms bank?

2015

THE ARMS DEALERS PROFITING FROM EUROPE’S REFUGEE TRAGEDY & German arms exports here

How many Muslims now live in Germany?

The official figures provided by the government are suspect. To anyone familiar with the state propaganda of the Bundesrepublik, they are obviously fraudulent. So what are the real numbers?

December 20, 2016: Merkel Government Still in Denial

***Vatican, Bilderberg and a ‘Migration’ Crisis

H/T Tom from Florida

 Germany Threatens to Sue Facebook Because They Aren’t Deleting Posts the Government Dislikes Fast Enough

Viktor Orbán: “2017 Will Be the Year of Revolts”

The Red-Green Alliance and the Perpetual “Asylum” Process

 Let us examine the upcoming election in France to show what we mean...

Toward A New World Order