SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - The Human Costs of a Corrupt System

According to investigative reports that appeared in Der Spiegel, the New York Times, BBC, and Bloomberg News from 2010 through 2012, Blankfein, now Goldman Sachs CEO, Cohn, now President and COO, and Loudiadis, a Managing Director, all played a role in structuring complex derivative deals with Greece which accomplished two things: they allowed Greece to hide the true extent of its debt and they ended up almost doubling the amount of debt Greece owed under the dubious derivative deals.

Wall Street On Parade, Goldman Sachs Doesn't Have Clean Hands In the Greece Crisis

“Antidemocracy, executive predominance, and elite rule are basic elements of inverted totalitarianism. Antidemocracy does not take the form of overt attacks upon the idea of government by the people. Instead, politically it means encouraging what I have earlier dubbed “civic demobilization,” conditioning an electorate to being aroused for a brief spell, controlling its attention span, and then encouraging distraction or apathy. The intense pace of work and the extended working day, combined with job insecurity, is a formula for political demobilization, for privatizing the citizenry. It works indirectly.

Citizens are encouraged to distrust their government and politicians; to concentrate upon their own interests; to begrudge their taxes; and to exchange active involvement for symbolic gratifications of patriotism, collective self-righteousness, and military prowess. Above all, depoliticization is promoted through society’s being enveloped in an atmosphere of collective fear and of individual powerlessness: fear of terrorists, loss of jobs, the uncertainties of pension plans, soaring health costs, and rising educational expenses.”

Sheldon Wolin

The ECB and the Fed stand ready to bail out any financial institutions affected by a Greek default.

Anyone, that is, except for the general public, commonly known as the 99%.

 

They no longer have a voice, or a choice.

Today was the end of the 2nd quarter. 

 

Fed Vice-Chairman Stanley Fischer celebrated The Recovery™ today at a conference in England for African Central Bankers, saying that the US is 'almost at full employment.'

 

Morals matter.  People matter.  Justice matters.  Truth matters.

Time has a way of balancing accounts.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

 

 

 

Chris Hedges: A Prayer For Democracy - Town Hall Seattle

"Empires communicate in two languages. One language is expressed in imperatives. It is the language of command and force. This militarized language disdains human life and celebrates harshness and brutality. It demands. It makes no attempt to justify the flagrant theft of natural resources and wealth or the use of indiscriminate violence.

The other language of empire is softer. It employs the vocabulary of ideals and lofty goals and insists that the power of empire is noble and benevolent. The language of beneficence is used to speak to those outside the centers of death and pillage, those who have not yet been totally broken, those who still must be seduced to hand over power to predators.

The road traveled to total disempowerment, however, ends at the same place. It is the language used to get there that is different."

Chris Hedges

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Capped - The Fog of Currency War

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
          whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the center and refuge of my life;
           of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

With the VIX soaring and the US equity markets seeing their first 2% correction in many moons, the capping on the precious metals was determined and obvious.

So much for 'Greek capitulation.'

I think Syriza realized they were being presented an untenable solution, the 'generous offer' of extend and pretend by Merkel and the Eurocrats, with the IMF playing heavy.

This bailing out of private creditors while extracting a pound of flesh from the Greek people, facilitated by corporate friendly governments, was exactly how Greece came into this situation in the first place.

I thought fomenting a bank closure on Greece by the EU was a bit tough, and probably senseless. Showing them the lash to get them to fall to heel and all that.

Most economic commentators in the US are completely clueless about money these days, and global economics as well.

More surprises will therefore be coming I am sure.

Have a pleasant evening.