Weekly News Wrap-Up 7.13.12
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
It looks like things are continuing to heat up in the Middle East. Last week, there was news that the U.S. was sending more military assets to the Persian Gulf. This week, the buildup continues with news the U.S. is sending underwater drones to combat possible Iranian mines and their drones. Meanwhile, in Syria, the Russians are reportedly sending a flotilla of 11 warships to the Syrian coast for maneuvers. NATO already has ships on the Syrian coast, and surveillance flights by the alliance are increasing in the region. This is not how you set the table for peace in the Middle East, even though the U.N. is attempting to put the East and West together to find a peaceful solution.
The Libor rate rigging scandal appears to be the biggest financial fraud in history. Barclays bank paid a $450 million fine last week to regulators, but more than a dozen international banks, and even the U.S. and UK governments, are implicated. $800 trillion in commerce is based on this key rate. Avalanches of lawsuits are reportedly on the way. Another brokerage firm has gone bust (PFGBest), and around $200 million of customer money is missing. The FBI is investigating, but where is the FBI investigation into MF Global? It went bust on Halloween of last year! Former New Jersey Governor and Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine ran the brokerage where $1.6 billion of customer money vanished. What gives?
Another California city has filed for bankruptcy. San Bernardino is the third city in a month to do so in the Golden State. What did banking analyst Meredith Whitney say two years ago? There were 50 to 100 major municipal bond failures coming. It’s looking more and more like she was early but on target. Many more cities are reportedly in financial trouble across the nation. The Federal Reserve is worried about the economy. That was the news that broke this week when minutes of the Fed’s June meeting were released. Where’s the recovery? Now, many analysts say if the Fed prints money to boost the economy, gold is heading higher. One analyst at Merrill Lynch says it should hit $2,000 an ounce sometime next year. Greg Hunter gives his analysis of these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up.
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
Greg,
Did any of the UK Banks loan money to each other at these fraudulent rates? I’d bet not.
I wonder how the probe of Libor is going to work. The weasels investigate the rats; not going to be in depth.
No investigation of MF Global will take place because Corzine is a friend of Obama. The higher up your friends go the less the law applies to you. At this juncture, the law only applies to us little people, the middle class and below.
Penn State’s entire football program should be disbanded and the entire school should be closed and razed to the ground. Anything less is a travesty. The investigation showed, “The most powerful leaders at Penn State University showed “total and consistent disregard” for child sex abuse victims while covering up the attacks of a longtime sexual predator, according to an internal review into how the school handled a scandal involving its former assistant football coach.”. The statue of Joe Paterno should be ground up, mixed with water and the faculty involved in the cover up should be forced to drink it.
George Too,
Bing, bing, bing!!! Correct sir!
Greg
We really enjoy the videos from you and your guests, very informitive!! Thank you so very much!!
Thank you Cathy for your comment and support!
Greg
Eleven is a far cry from the original 2 the russkies first intended, so they (the russkies) are more worried than they let on and the Turks are still mulling as to whether or not they will inflict a bit of pain on the syrians and that is another headache for the russkies. As far as we are concerned,let us just stay covert and watch our back, the turks are a part of NATO and we could get sucked into a conflag over night and get caught unawares….The middle east is fast becoming the training grounds for the next major war and I am wondering who will we have for allies in this upcoming mess?
The cost of fueling that Green Fleet is astounding and how the heck do we keep that floating algae supplied if we do get into to a conflict…?
Good Point On Time.
Greg
Latest news out of Syria is that after the Homa 200 atrocity by Assad, Ban Ki-Moo-Moo is calling for collective action against Syria.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-calls-for-collective-action-against-syria/
After 16 months of this the UN is going to do something ? ho hum
The bad,bad,bad news is that Assad has pulled his chemical weapons out of storage but don’t worry,Miley C. got a tatoo and Jlo is ditching Idol.
Thank you Marcel! Very ominous–we’re not headed for peace.
Greg
As if Europe and the middle east problems weren’t bad enough now we have cities here in the states falling, California is becoming our version of Greece and they seem to be moving slowly, if at all, on the “fiscal cliff”. It’s amazing how inactive they are on MFGlobal and gold manipulation. What kind of country is going to be left for my 2 year old?
Thanks for the good reporting Greg, your 5-7 minutes every Friday is worth more than the whole week of my evening local news.
Thank you Russ and Bob.
Greg
As for this Pen- State crime. The creator will take care of these filthy scum bags and it will be WORSE than hell!! Good review Greg. Have a good weekend pal——————
Its going to be interesting to see how the LIBOR scandal plays out. It is starting to look as if the Justice department will do the norm go after fines and no criminal prosecutions or admissions of guilt. This is simply becoming a cost of doing business for these banks or financial operations. Gigantic profits roll in and small percentages go out in fines.
The core problem I have been reading lately is basically if all or even if just the major banks are brought to justice over this they say it will crush our financial system(s), so in order for the financial system (globally) to continue with any sort of stability these blatant criminal wrongdoings will get a pass. It is nothing short of above the law crime.
Problem is it is collapsing already so it is only a matter of time to reach the same conclusion. Seems they still have tons of marrow to suck out of the dying carcass.
Jack,
Libor scandal guarantees a crash the financial system. Thank you for the comment.
Greg
God bless you Greg. You’ll have your own main stream news channel soon once all of this BS blows over AND IT WILL! Corruption never wins long term.
Thank you Al for your support and blessings!
Greg
Balancing Liberty and Democracy
The problem with most contemporary political partisans is that they never developed an ability to perform the heuristic analysis that would allow them to grasp that liberty and democracy are eternal enemies. Democratic states may profess to venerate liberty and even pass laws making it sacred, but in practice democracies simply cannot tolerate it. In order to preserve the perception of adhering to the governmental process, to prevent the anarchy of free thought and action, the democrat must try to suppress the free expression of opinion by derision and criticism and failing that by law. In part, it seeks that end by mere propaganda or by the naked force of authority. In essence by attempting to make contrary doctrines officially unacceptable, politically incorrect as it were. To this end it then resorts to force, i.e., to law. The main purposes of such laws in a democratic society is to put burdens upon free thought and analysis to try and reduce it to impotence.
Ostensibly, their aim is to penalize, to define the contrary opinion as anti-social; actually their aim is to penalize what to the democrat regards as heretical opinions. Unfortunately most Americans believe that such a process is honest or even commendable. It has become practically impossible to convince them that there is anything corrupt or the antithesis of liberty in it. In other words, they simply cannot grasp what the concept of liberty really is.
All to often they condition it with the idea that the state, the transitory majority, has some sort of right over the ideas and acts of individuals, that the state, the democratic majority, is free, whenever it is so inclined, to forbid a man or group of men to say what they honestly believe. Whenever an individual’s notions start becoming “dangerous,” i.e., being heard and considered by others, then the state should be free to exercise that prerogative. And then far to many citizens will support the state in it feigned outrage.
This is especially true of the liberal, who pretends and often honestly believes, that they are promoting liberty. Not really, because deep down they know, as doctrinal democrats, that liberty is anathema to, if not fatal to democracy, that a government based upon transitory majorities and shifting and often irrational opinion must be kept within bounds, bounds that only they are allowed to define. To do otherwise would be, to them at least anarchistic. They only believe in and advocate for certain narrow kinds of liberty, liberty for the persons they happen to be in favor of or who they agree with. The rights of others are of no consequence or interest to them. If a law were passed, as with the GM bailout, that takes away the property of a large group of presumably financially well off individuals (bondholders) without compensation and without even justifiable reasons, they would not, could not oppose it; they would promote it as fair and democratic. The liberty to have and hold property is not one they recognize. The only liberty they believe in is the liberty to envy, to covet and to hate and loot those who have it.
Good stuff Davis!
Greg