After all, it is a holiday....

Disclaimer: I haven't even read all of the OP yet, Demeter.

But when I first read Holy Blood, Holy Grail I picked up a lot of related material, some of which debunked the actual Lincoln-Baigent-Leigh "research" an dsome of which just debunked traditional Christianity and the traditional history of The Church (meaning, the Roman Catholic orthodoxy).

One of the ideas put forth in HBHG, and apparently also in this book you're discussing, is that the establishment of The Church had as much to do with imperial politics as with anything else, and that sentiment was also, iirc, echoed in Hugh Schonfeld's The Passover Plot/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passover_Plot

Should make for an interesting week-end, if you know what I mean. (wink, wink)

Knowing the dangerous path I tread...

http://www.viewzone.com/ventriloquest.html

Crucial new understandings of the "Jesus Puzzle" made possible by present historical and scientific methods and knowledge.

Ogden: "We now not only know that none of the writings of the OT is prophetic witness to Christ, we also know that none of the writings of the NT is apostolic witness to Jesus." This is a historical judgment based on historical evidence determined by an insider of the Guild of NT Studies. Eric Zuesse : "The religion of the NT actually has nothing to do with the person of the historical Jesus." This is a scientific judgment based on scientific evidence determined by an outsider. Hence we now have conclusive evidence, both from the methodologies of historicity and science, that the writings of the NT, Paul's letters, the Gospels, as well as the later writings of the NT, are not sources for knowledge of Jesus.

Our most certain historical evidence can only come from within the Guild of NT Studies, even as our best scientific evidence can only come from outside. No evidence, historical or scientific, is presented to question that we have NT source of apostolic witness to Jesus. Only from within the Guild of NT Studies might a scholar have acquired sufficient competence in its areas of special knowledge, which necessarily applies if one is equipped to fully access the historical evidence necessary to identify this NT source of apostolic witness to Jesus.

As Eric Zuesse's probe demonstrates, full historical details of origins of Jesus traditions during the years 30-65, can only be accessed by historical scholars from within the Guild. E.g., Eric's probe fails to recognize that there were two distinctly different movements of earliest Jesus traditions, each with its own understanding of the significance of Jesus, marked by "an extraordinarily intimate, more precisely adversarial, relationship" (Betz). Both were pre Christian, pre Gospel, partly pre Pauline.

Paul was never a member of the first, the Jerusalem Jesus movement from which is derived our sole source of apostolic witness to Jesus. Paul was persecutor of the second movement, which soon followed the first, a pre Pauline Hellenist movement which introduced the notion that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah whose significance was the salvific effects of his death and resurrection, which abrogated the Torah. This in effect was treason for Temple authorities.

Paul is introduced as a participant in an apparent put down by Temple authorities of some kind or anti Torah demonstration, holding the garment of those casting the stones in the Acts story of the stoning of Stephen, a leader in this Hellenist group. Next we find Paul as persecutor of this group, having his "vision" on the road to Damascus to where the Hellenist group fled, resulting in his conversion to this group from which he received his Christ myth gospel. In taking his Christ myth gospel to the Gentile world first to Antioch, meeting with much success, this had the effect of severing Jesus from his teaching and his Jewish roots. The Gospels were written by followers of Paul's Christ Myth gospel. All of these developments are sufficiently documented in the NT.

Zuesse appears to be a kind of left-wing gadfly, writing for a lot of the "progressive" websites like alternet, commondreams, nakedcapitalism, opednews, and so on. He bills himself as an "investigative historian" and he seems to have a lot of kind of muckraking books and articles out there, going back at least to 1981 when he wrote an article for Reason magazine about Love Canal. http://reason.com/archives/1981/02/01/love-canal

But what I can't find are Zuesse's credentials, and that makes me very suspicious, too. (He claims to have received a Mencken award for investigative journalism, but I can't find any record of it. Maybe it's in the Vatican Library?) Unless I've missed something, he doesn't have a bio anywhere, lists no degrees or professional affiliations.

It may be his lack of credentials -- and connections -- that is making this book relatively unknown. Given the controversial subject, you'd think it would have drawn a following. But it has only three reviews on GoodReads.com, and only 25 on Amazon.com, so I'm guess pretty much no one has read it.

http://vridar.org/2012/11/10/comments-on-eric-zuesses-christs-ventriloquists-the-event-that-created-christianity/




THIS WEBSITE THEN GOES INTO DEBUNK MODE...UNCONVINCINGLY, IN MY OPINION

(And I will keep this relatively short, and not go into too much detail for fear of rousing certain censors)

Vridar (alias of the debunker) spends a lot of time and words but his basic point is: Why does Zuesse accept Paul's Epistle to the Galatians as (forgive me this horrible pun) gospel? What is the independent physical and/or historical evidence that says Galatians was written by some dude name Paul?

Zuesse also refers repeatedly to "the historical Jesus." Excuse me? What's the evidence? Paul's epistles? Where's the independent physical/historical evidence for Paul's existence that would lend any credence to a concept of "historical Jesus"?

I can handle a philosophical discussion that starts with "Let's suppose, just as a starting point, that Paul existed, that he wrote the letter to the Galatians, and that what's presented in that epistle is true and accurate. We'll keep in mind that we don't have any solid proof of that, so everything we base on it will be speculation. But let's, for the sake of discussion, make those speculations." But it doesn't appear Zuesse does that. He just takes Galatians as The Unvarnished Truth.

Vridar just said, "We don't know that for sure."


Zuesse may indeed have an interesting theory, but I for one would want to see much more convincing evidence than what has been posted so far.

You can bet a million bucks it's all in the Vatican's hoards, and if it were as presented by the Church, they would publish it. Ergo, the generally accepted version is a lie concocted for purposes of acquiring, maintaining, and exerting power.

I refuse to believe that the Romans, who invented red tape in the West, didn't keep records. I suspect it's all been suppressed, just as the gospels have been judiciously picked over for political propagandistic purposes at all these Diets and conferences.

The Vatican --- or anyone else who had it --- would have published it. If they're sitting on anything, it's evidence to the contrary that they don't want out there because it would upset their very comfortable apple cart. And whatever else it might have, the Vatican didn't have the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi codices.

And things get lost over time, especially when there are no "modern" means of preserving them. Look at how much was lost when the Baghdad Museum was looted in 2003. What will scholars say a thousand years from now when they go looking for the writings of T. E. Lawrence and there are references to them being in the Museum but, hey, they aren't there any more?

We have no way of knowing what records, even from the Roman bureaucracy, may have been lost.


I guess my scamdar goes on alert any time I see someone claiming they've done an analysis that's totally unique and never ever ever done before.

I've already cited Schonfeld; The Passover Plot was published in 1965.

Irving Wallace's 1972 novel [I[The Word, though clearly fiction, contains some of the same concepts and addresses some of the same issues, including the lack of historical evidence, the conflict between conservative orthodoxy and radical populism in the church, what "Christianity" really means, etc.

So I just don't find Zuesse's claims of exclusive analysis very convincing.


What I find amusing, however, is that Zuesse presents his "facts" in a manner that calls to mind the "facts" that Lincoln, Baigent, and Leigh presented in Holy Blood, Holy Grail. When Dan Brown "borrowed" those "facts" and wove The DaVinci Code from them, Baigent and Leigh sued for copyright infringement. Brown won (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail) because the court said, basically, you can't copyright "facts." Baigent and Leigh weren't prepared to admit much of HBHG was, ahem, fiction.

Again, though Wikipedia isn't the most unassailable source, the basics are there, along with a lot of links to a lot of related material, some of it fiction, some of it non-fiction.

FROM MY FUNDIE AUNT...

WELL, THERE'S SOME TRUTH TO THE PANIC...BUT AS USUAL, THE FUNDIE RIGHT SEES THINGS THROUGH A PRISM OF THEIR OWN DELUSIONS.

IT ISN'T LIKELY THAT FATCA WILL DESTROY AMERICA, IT IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MIGHT OF THE PETRODOLLAR BY OBAMA'S HAM-HANDED IMPERIALIST FOREIGN POLICY, WHICH HE GETS FORCE-FED BY THE BANKSTERS.

GETTING CORPORATE TAX MONIES INCENSES THE CORPORATIONS, TO BE SURE, WHO PAY FOR THIS KIND OF CAMPAIGN....SO THEY CAN KEEP THAT "tiny bit of tax money that corporations are now holding overseas" WHICH IS ESTIMATED AT "more than 40% of the companies' annual profits" OR $166 BILLION. AND THAT IS THE TOP 60 CORPORATIONS, ONLY.

AS THE NYT REPORTED LAST MAY:



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/business/for-us-companies-money-offshore-means-manhattan.html?_r=0

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act---https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a United States statute that requires United States persons, including individuals who live outside the United States, to report their financial accounts held outside of the United States, and requires foreign financial institutions to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about their American clients. Congress enacted FATCA to make it more difficult for U.S. taxpayers to conceal assets held in offshore accounts and shell corporations and to recoup federal tax revenues. The FATCA is a portion of the 2010 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.

FATCA is designed to increase compliance by U.S. taxpayers rather than to enforce collection from foreigners. FATCA requires foreign financial institutions to report information related to the ownership by U.S. persons of assets held overseas. Unlike many other developed countries, the United States levies income taxes on its citizens, regardless of residency, and therefore requires Americans living abroad to pay U.S. taxes on foreign income. Under U.S. tax law, U.S. persons are generally required to report and pay taxes on income from all sources. The term U.S. persons, in this case, includes U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents residing within the United States. Taxpayer identification numbers and source withholding are used to enforce foreign tax compliance. For example, mandatory withholding is often required when a U.S. payor cannot confirm the U.S. status of a foreign payee.

The IRS previously instituted a Qualified Intermediary (QI) program under Internal Revenue Code §1441, which required participating foreign financial institutions to maintain records of the U.S. or foreign status of their account holders and to report income and withhold taxes.[10] One report found that participation in the QI program was too low to have a substantive impact as an enforcement measure and was prone to abuse. An illustration of the weakness in the QI program was that UBS, a Swiss bank, had registered as a QI with the IRS in 2001 and was later forced to settle with the U.S. Government for $780 million in 2009 over claims that it fraudulently concealed information on its American account holders. Self-reporting of foreign financial assets was also found to be relatively ineffective.

It has been estimated that the U.S. Treasury loses as much as $100 billion annually to offshore tax non-compliance. Therefore, supplementing the reporting regimes already in place was deemed to be an effective means of increasing compliance and raising government revenue. After committee deliberation, Sen. Max Baucus and Rep. Charles Rangel introduced the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 to Congress on October 27, 2009. It was later added to an appropriations bill as an amendment, sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, which also renamed the bill the HIRE Act. The bill was signed into law on March 18, 2010.

FATCA has three main provisions:

It requires foreign financial institutions, such as banks, to enter into an agreement with the IRS to identify their U.S. person account holders and to disclose the account holders' names, TINs, addresses, and the transactions of most types of accounts. Some types of accounts, notably retirement savings and other tax-favored products, may be excluded from reporting on a country by country basis. U.S. payors making payments to non-compliant foreign financial institutions are required to withhold 30% of the gross payments. Foreign financial institutions which are themselves the beneficial owners of such payments are not permitted a credit or refund on withheld taxes absent a treaty override.

U.S. persons owning these foreign accounts or other specified financial assets must report them on a new Form 8938 which is filed with the person's U.S. tax returns if the accounts are generally worth more than US$50,000; a higher reporting threshold applies to US persons who are overseas residents and others. Account holders would be subject to a 40% penalty on understatements of income in an undisclosed foreign financial asset. Understatements of greater than 25% of gross income are subject to an extended statute of limitations period of 6 years. It also requires taxpayers to report financial assets that are not held in a custodial account, i.e. physical stock or bond certificates.

It closes a tax loophole that foreign investors had used to avoid paying taxes on U.S. dividends by converting them into "dividend equivalents" through the use of swap contracts.

These reporting requirements are in addition to the requirement for reporting of foreign financial accounts to the U.S. Treasury; this most notably includes Form TD F 90-22.1 "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR) for foreign financial accounts exceeding US$10,000 required under Bank Secrecy Act regulations issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

http://ourfuture.org/20140418/bundy-ranch-and-right-wing-lawlessness?utm_source=pmupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20140418

Does the right get a free pass to ignore laws? Is armed intimidation the way we decide which laws should be followed? Is conservative media whipping up the conditions for another Oklahoma City bombing? These questions are popping up with more and more frequency in light of recent events.

Armed Militia At Bundy Ranch

Flag-waving Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy refuses to pay cattle-grazing fees like other ranchers do, or even get a grazing permit, because he “doesn’t recognize the federal government.” The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), following years of federal court rulings, finally starts removing Bundy’s cattle from public land. The state’s Republican governor and Republican senator accuse the government of “intimidation” for enforcing the court’s rulings.

Think Progress has a good take on what happened next:



Whipped up by conservative media and politicians claiming “tyranny” and “intimidation”, the armed militia members arrived and began to make threats. Camouflaged militia snipers were photographed aiming at federal officers (a federal crime). The BLM decided to back off for the safety of its employees and the public. Conservative media declared a victory over the “tyranny” of the government.

Just as this conservative-media and conservative-politician frenzy of support for these armed militias reached a crescendo, a deranged white-supremacist opened fire at two Jewish-affiliated facilities in Kansas, killing three people. Coincidence?






AND FDR WAS IN A POSITION TO KNOW!


SEE RACHEL MADDOW'S NEWS REPORT, ALSO AT THIS LINK...IT'S DEVASTATING!

http://ourfuture.org/20140418/wingnut-week-in-review-none-dare-call-it-terrorism?utm_source=pmupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20140418

What do you call it when an anti-Semite and white supremacist goes on a shooting spree at not one, but two Jewish community facilities, killing three people? If you’re the U.S. media you call it anything, but terrorism....

And Obama let these slimy weasels win the battle.

He sure the fuck would have responded like that if the Occupy protesters started aiming guns at law enforcement.

and apparently, all his support staff are equally clueless.

I am eternally grateful to the generals who vetoed the bombing of Syria. I just wish they'd spoken up about the earlier misadventures...but of course, Betrayus was in charge....

http://www.alternet.org/labor/nebraska-joins-states-banning-employers-asking-job-applicants-about-criminal-history?akid=11731.227380.hwSp29&rd=1&src=newsletter983258&t=11

Gov. Dave Heineman signed a bill Wednesday making Nebraska the 11th state that bars employers from asking prospective employees if they have a criminal record. The prohibition is a provision in a law designed to reduce prison overcrowding. It removes a box that asks job applicants whether they have been arrested or convicted of a crime. Checking that box instantly keeps many job seekers from getting hired for the lowest-paid jobs.

In fact, unemployment among ex-convicts, studies indicate, can be as high as 75 percent. A study in New York City found applicants admitting they have a criminal record were 50 percent less likely to be offered a job. Not surprisingly, in one more impact of the racist nature of the criminal-justice system, black applicants with records were far less likely than white applicants with the same background to get job offers.

Besides banning the box, the Nebraska law also includes provisions for job training, mental health and transitional programs, reports Annie-Rose Strasser:


Keeping ex-offenders out of the workforce is a guarantee of a high recidivism rate. That's something Nebraska can't afford. A report released last month found the state's prisons are collectively at 154 percent of maximum capacity and admissions are at their highest in 10 years.

The "ban the box" effort began in 2003 through the efforts of Linda Evans and the group All Of Us Or None:



In addition to 11 states, some 56 local jurisdictions have enacted ban-the-box provisions.

http://prospect.org/article/karl-polanyi-explains-it-all

Want to understand our market-crazed era? Rediscover the 20th century’s most prophetic critic of capitalism...

In November 1933, less than a year after Hitler assumed power in Berlin, a 47-year-old socialist writer on Vienna’s leading economics weekly was advised by his publisher that it was too risky to keep him on the staff. It would be best both for the Österreichische Volkswirt and his own safety if Karl Polanyi left the magazine. Thus began a circuitous odyssey via London, Oxford, and Bennington, Vermont, that led to the publication in 1944 of what many consider the 20th century’s most prophetic work of political economy, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Polanyi, with no academic base, was already a blend of journalist and public intellectual, a major critic of the Austrian School of free-market economics and its cultish leaders, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. Polanyi and Hayek would cross swords for four decades—Hayek becoming more influential as an icon of the free-market right but history increasingly vindicating Polanyi.

Reluctantly, Polanyi left Vienna for London. Two of his British admirers, the Fabian socialist intellectuals G.D.H. Cole and Richard Tawney, found him a post at an Oxford—sponsored extension school for workers. Polanyi’s assignment was to teach English social and economic history. His research for the course informed the core thesis of his great book; his lecture notes became the working draft. This month marks the 70th anniversary of the book’s publication and also the 50th anniversary of Polanyi’s death in 1964. Looking backward from 1944 to the 18th century, Polanyi saw the catastrophe of the interwar period, the Great Depression, fascism, and World War II as the logical culmination of laissez-faire taken to an extreme. “The origins of the cataclysm,” he wrote, “lay in the Utopian endeavor of economic liberalism to set up a self-regulating market system.” Others, such as John Maynard Keynes, had linked the policy mistakes of the interwar period to fascism and a second war. No one had connected the dots all the way back to the industrial revolution.

The more famous critic of capitalism is of course Karl Marx, who predicted its collapse from internal contradictions. But a century after Marx wrote, at the apex of the post–World War II boom in both Europe and the United States, a contented bourgeoisie was huge and growing. The proletariat enjoyed steady income gains. The political energy of aroused workers that Marx had imagined as revolutionary instead went to support progressive parliamentary parties that built a welfare state, to housebreak but not supplant capitalism. Nations that celebrated Marx, meanwhile, were economic failures that repressed their working classes...Half a century later, the world looks more Marxian. The middle class is beleaguered. A global reserve army of the unemployed batters wages and marginalizes labor’s political power. Even elite professions are becoming proletarianized. Ideologically, the view that markets are good and states are bad is close to hegemonic. With finance still supreme despite the 2008 collapse, it is no longer risible to use “capital” as a collective noun. The two leading treasury secretaries during the run-up to the 2008 financial crash, Democrat Robert Rubin and Republican Henry Paulson, were both former CEOs of Goldman Sachs. If the state is not quite the executive committee of the ruling class, it is doing a pretty fair imitation.

Yet Marx, for all of his stubbornly apt insights about capitalism, is an unreliable guide to its remediation. Polanyi, with the benefit of nearly a century’s worth more evidence, has a surer sense of how markets interact with society. More humanist than materialist, Polanyi did not believe in iron laws. His hope was that democratic leaders might learn from history and not repeat the calamitous mistakes of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Polanyi lived long enough to see his wish fulfilled for a few decades. In hindsight, however, the brief period between the book’s publication and Polanyi’s demise is looking like a respite in the socially destructive tendencies of rampant markets. In seeking to understand the dynamics of our own time, we can do no better than to revisit Polanyi.


MORE


Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, as well as a distinguished senior fellow of the think tank Demos. He was a longtime columnist for Business Week and continues to write columns in The Boston Globe. He is the author of Obama's Challenge and other books.

Free PDF of The Great Transformation

http://www.ess.inpe.br/courses/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wiki:user:andre.zopelari:the-great-transformation-karl-polanyi.pdf

Year Easter

2012 April 8

2013 March 31

2014 April 20

2015 April 5

2016 March 27

2017 April 16

2018 April 1

2019 April 21

2020 April 12

2021 April 4

2022 April 17

From his investigation for Channel 4 Television in the newly released film, Vultures and Vote Rustlers.

"There was CIA involvement through a company called Mega Oil. They were shipping in arms under the cover of oil tools."

The BP executive was explaining to me how the CIA, MI6 and British Petroleum engineered a coup d’état, overthrowing an elected president of a nation who was “not favorable to BP.” The corporation’s former Vice-President, Leslie Abrahams, is pictured here, holding an AK-47 in front of BP headquarters in Baku, Azerbaijan. Like most of the other BP executives I spoke with, he proudly added that while he was working for BP, he was also an operative for MI6, British intelligence.



The conversation was far from the weirdest I had in my four-continent investigation of the real story of the Deepwater Horizon....


Earlier this month, the Obama Administration officially OK’d BP’s right to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. And two weeks ago, just to assure the company that all is forgiven, the U.S. Department of the Interior gave BP a new contract to drill in the Gulf of Mexico––right next to where the Deepwater Horizon went down. At the same time, the forgive-and-forget U.S. Justice Department has put the trial of David Rainey, the only BP big-shot charged with a felony crime in the disaster, on indefinite hold.

The Deepwater Horizon blow-out incinerated eleven men on the rig and poisoned 600 miles of Gulf coastline. What political fairy dust does BP keep in its pocket to receive virtual immunity from the consequences?

To understand what really happened in the Gulf of Mexico, and how BP became a corporate creature beyond the reach of the law, British television network Channel 4 sent me on a four-continent investigation through a labyrinthine funhouse of bribery, lap-dancing, beatings, Wikileaks, a coup d’état, arrests and oil-state terror.

I found the cause of the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon seven thousand miles from the Gulf in the ancient city of Baku, the Central Asian caravan stop on the Silk Road...

will try to use Quicktime..

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/fhgl45ghek/young-and-wealthy-2/

32 pictures at link

WHAT MR. CANNON REFUSES TO ADMIT IS THAT THIS IS A FAKE-OUT, NOT A HANDOUT--LOOKS LIKE HE'S A FOX NEWS REGULAR...AS USUAL, THE FUNDIES GET THEIR TEETH IN THE WRONG END OF THE DILEMMA...THE END THAT BREAKS OFF IN THEIR HANDS...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelcannon/2014/04/18/obama-brags-about-obamacare-enrollment-as-if-he-invented-the-handout/

One could spend all day dissecting how yesterday’s presidential press conference distorted the truth about ObamaCare. Happily, the Washington Post did much of the work for us, taking issue with a number of misleading claims President Obama made.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-hails-8-million-enrollees-for-insurance-under-federal-health-care-law/2014/04/17/db1892b2-c670-11e3-bf7a-be01a9b69cf1_story.html

The Post notes it’s not really 8 million enrollees but 8 million people who have “signed up” for a plan. (The president wants credit for people selecting an ObamaCare plan, even if they never pay or stop paying their premiums upon realizing how low-risk a proposition that is.) Obama also misled the public when he claimed 35 percent of enrollees sign-ups are age 35 or younger. The Post notes, ”the key demographic that many policy experts had been focused on — those 18 to 34 — accounted for just 28 percent of enrollees, according to the White House.” The Kaiser Family Foundation has described a 25-percent share by 18-35 year olds “substantially less than their share of the potential market” and “likely a worst-case scenario” that would trigger higher premiums in 2015.

Of course, the Post only has so much ink. They didn’t have space to tackle other important deceptions, like how the president boasted that ObamaCare premiums and overall health care spending came in under projections, even though many Americans are still paying more than they did pre-ObamaCare. And that slowdown in spending growth began years before ObamaCare passed and is occurring in countries that didn’t pass ObamaCare. And much of the reduced spending is because half of the states prevented the federal government from spending money on ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. That last one is an indication of ObamaCare’s unpopularity; the president claims it as a success. Nor was there any mention of how the president was claiming coverage gains juuuuuuust as his administration ok’d a revision of the most-used health-insurance survey that will make it difficult or impossible to evaluate ObamaCare’s actual impact.

What I found most gobsmacking, though, is something that I haven’t seen any media outlet address. Some 80 percent of Exchange enrollees receive premium subsidies. The president thinks it’s a huge success that — he’s actually bragging because, somehow, he convinced people to show up and claim government subsidies. Mr. President, what is your secret?? Since when is that anything other than what always happens when the government offers subsidies? George Bernard Shaw is reputed to have said, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” Don’t tell Obama that. “They said no one would sign up,” he invented. No, Mr. President. Your critics said you might have trouble enrolling enough people to keep ObamaCare from collapsing. So really, kudos on enrolling signing up all those Pauls. Keep talking credit as if you invented concept of the government handout. We still don’t know if you have signed up enough Peters.

All this bleating could backfire on Obama. The more he crows Mission Accomplished over the Exchange enrollment sign-up numbers, the worse he will look if the courts rule that he achieved that number by spending billions of dollars he had no legal authority to spend...http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/04/16/shocking-secret-behind-obamacare-enrollment-numbers/#

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/18/us-rajaratnam-insidertrading-idUSBREA3H0RS20140418?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Rengan Rajaratnam, the younger brother of imprisoned hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, on Friday lost a bid to dismiss some of the insider trading charges leveled against him last year.

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan ruled that the indictment adequately alleged the essential elements of the crimes charged.

Buchwald agreed that four securities fraud counts were "internally inconsistent" with a conspiracy charge contained in the indictment.

But she withheld ruling on whether to dismiss them in order to allow the government to decide whether to proceed on those charges....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/clinton-minimum-wage_n_5174999.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

Democrats in Congress and a clear majority of Americans would like to raise the minimum wage and tie it to an inflation index so that it keeps up with the cost of living. This concept -- known as indexing -- is something of a holy grail for backers of a strong minimum wage, since it would eliminate the need to constantly re-legislate new increases to the wage floor...The idea isn't new. In the late 1990's, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) had championed legislation that would have indexed the minimum wage and kept it from eroding over time. His efforts failed. And according to newly released documents, they appear to have failed at least in part because the economic team under President Bill Clinton didn't want Democrats to lose hold of a winning political issue.

In a January 1998 memo to Clinton, Gene Sperling, then the director of the National Economic Council, laid out all of the reasons why his team couldn't get behind Kennedy's indexing proposal. Part of it, he said, was due to a potential show of hypocrisy, since they'd opposed an indexing proposal related to capital gains in budget negotiations. Another concern was that some Democrats could oppose it on the grounds it would "lock in" a permanently low minimum wage (a concern that still exists today). And they were worried about the logistics of the Labor Department figuring out a new increase each year. But then there was this: "S]ince the minimum wage would automatically rise each year, it would take away a good political issue for those who believe the minimum wage is an important tool to help low-income families." Here's another way to read that: Keeping the minimum wage somewhat low is helpful politically to Democrats who say it should be higher.

Instead, Sperling, who would become head of President Barack Obama's economic council, said the economic team recommended Clinton support a moderate increase in the minimum wage, from $5.85 to $6.15 by 2002. As the memo shows, the Clinton White House had a lot of the same concerns as some Democrats do today with raising the minimum wage. Although they believed it would help put more income in low-wage earners' pockets, they worried it could also persuade employers to cut back on hours. The Kennedy plan would have increased the minimum wage to $7.25 by 2002 through a series of 50-cent increases, then indexed it to inflation. Despite the "pros" of this vision -- that it would help restore real value to the minimum wage and "unify" the "liberal wing of the Democratic party" -- Sperling said the "entire economic team believes that this approach is too aggressive" and would hurt employment. Clinton had signed an increase to the minimum wage in 1996, but he never signed another piece of legislation hiking the wage floor, let alone tying it to an inflation index. The minimum wage wouldn't be raised again until a decade later, in 2007, when Republican President George W. Bush signed a new minimum wage bill.

Had the Clinton White House and Congressional Democrats tied the minimum wage to an index as Kennedy proposed, it would have risen with the cost of living throughout the first years of this century. Instead, the real value of the minimum wage eroded. At least for now, Democrats appear willing to part with the "good political issue" that Clinton's White House was loathe to let go. Obama included indexing in his original minimum wage proposal rolled out last year, while Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), sponsors of the legislation in the Senate and House, have said that indexing isn't something they're willing to give up.

I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON WHY GENE SPERLING WAS A TRAITOR...

The Ukrainian Hryvnia has plunged six consecutive weeks to new record lows.

Since the beginning of the year, the Hryvnia has fallen from 8.26 to the US dollar, to 13.16 to the US dollar, a decline of 37.2%

On Monday, the Ukraine central bank pulled out the bazooka with a massive set of rate hikes.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/04/ukraine-hikes-rate-from-65-to-95.html

A brief explanation of what this means. So far this year, the Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) has gone from an exchange rate of around 8 - $1 to 13 - $1, now settling around 11.25 - $1. This makes it the worst performing currency of 2014 at the 13 - $1 rate at least. This so far has had minimal impacts on domestically sourced goods, since they are not settled internationally via dollars. But anything imported at the 13 - 1 rate means a price increase of 62% in just a couple of months. The main impact on domestic goods, of course, is the price of energy, which is mostly imported, so the price of everything will be impacted sooner or later.

Also keep in mind that these price increases are before any austerity measures kick in.

For the time being. No plans now to go anywhere but that could change.


[url=http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php][img][/img][/url]

Where's a transporter when you need one?

Christie shut down the bridge to Europe.

Last edited Sat Apr 19, 2014, 05:19 AM - Edit history (1)

The potential geopolitical, economic, and asset implications of the tensions between Russia and the West over the crisis in Ukraine are weighing on growth hopes around the world (and not just in Russia). Russia's promising outlook for 2014 is fading fast but a worst-case scenario that includes a disruption in energy flows would likely wreak more economic and asset damage. However, some context at the growth of the Russian 'empire' is worthwhile before extrapolating Putin's demise too soon...



(To view larger, right click and select Open Image in New Tab)

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-16/annotated-history-russian-empire

Bottom line. You say you want to hurt Putin? Then STOP DRIVING! (Yeah, I know. It'll never happen).

It's that the West, sucked bloodless by the Vampire Squid and its cohorts, is so incredibly weak that a couple of good puffs of wind could blow their houses down, for a very long time.

This is what I admire about Putin: he sees the downside, and refuses to go there. He's not going to let Goldman Sachs plunder...that's why the Russians paid off all those Czarist bonds that had been hanging around their necks forever...

They paid their blood money, and they aren't going to do it twice. Would that the US govt. were as nationalistic....

http://www.businessinsider.com/poveglia-island-for-auction-2014-4

The Italian government is auctioning off Poveglia Island, formerly home to medieval plague victims and 20th century asylum patients, as part of a continued effort to raise money to cover the country's national debt.

Italy is offering a 99-year lease on the island in the Venetian Lagoon for a price that will be determined by online bidders next month, according to The Telegraph, citing a state sale's agent who noted that barracks on the island had previously sold for 3.8 million euro ($5.25 million).

The country reportedly hopes Poveglia's buyer will transform the former mental hospital, which operated between 1922 and 1968, into a luxury hotel.

The small island's other structures include a 17th-century fort, a church, a prison and a bell tower. Legend has it a doctor who routinely performed lobotomies at the asylum threw himself from the tower after having been driven mad by ghosts of the plague victims. Estimates allege tens of thousands of people died and were burned or buried on the island.

***photos at link

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/poveglia-island-for-auction-2014-4#ixzz2zKDl6dKK

http://www.businessinsider.com/space-x-to-launch-falcon-9-rocket-on-friday-2014-4

SpaceX made its second attempt on Friday, April 18, to send the Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station on its third resupply mission.
The launch was successful, and the capsule is on its way to the space station. You can rewatch the launch coverage here.

The capsule was supposed to launch on Monday but it was postponed due a helium leak on the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage.

"We have brought the vehicle back to horizontal and are replacing the faulty valve, as well as inspecting the whole system for anything that may have contributed to the valve not working as designed," SpaceX said in a status update on Thursday.

***this is our privatized successor to the shuttle.
as it stands right now -- we pay russia a couple hundred million for rides to the space station.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/space-x-to-launch-falcon-9-rocket-on-friday-2014-4#ixzz2zKEaODPl

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-american-workers-are-slaves-2014-4


David Graeber

Conservative proponents of the guaranteed income want a lump sum payment (Charles Murray suggests about $11,000 to all adults) to replace existing social welfare programs and downsize American bureaucracy.

But some leftists oppose those government welfare agencies, too, London School of Economics professor David Graeber says.

The leftist critique of private and public bureaucracies, Graeber explains, is that they “employ thousands of people to make us feel bad about ourselves.”

Bureaucrats pushing paper decide what we and our work are worth. But somewhat ironically, Graeber suggests, it’s those bureaucrats who perform the most meaningless work of all.

If we gave everyone a lump sum basic income and eliminated those bureaucratic jobs, we’d all be better off, he says.



Read more: http://awww.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/why-americas-favorite-anarchist-thinks-most-american-workers-are-slaves/#ixzz2zKG1pY3x

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/18/uk-italy-politics-idUKBREA3H0PZ20140418

(Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday cut taxes for 10 million low earners to try to boost household spending after a two-year recession, making good on a promise he made after taking office two months ago.

Renzi's cabinet passed a decree to reduce taxes for those earning between 8,000 and 26,000 euros a year by about 80 euros per month, starting next month.

The 6.9 billion euros in tax cuts will be funded by a mix of spending reductions, one-off windfalls and a "review" of spending on Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet, Renzi told reporters.

"We kept our word. Today is the beginning of a general reorganisation of spending and of the relationship between the state and its citizens," Renzi said before outlining the cuts with tweets that were published on the government's Twitter account as he spoke.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/wall-street-wants-to-lend-you-money-to-fight-climate-change/360891/

The latest series of reports from the United Nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in stark terms the catastrophic consequences of the world’s governments’ decades-long foot-dragging on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

But what can you do? For one thing, fix up your damn house. That furnace, from the Reagan era, the inefficient water heater, the drafty windows? They’re directly contributing to climate change. Homes consume 22 percent of the U.S.’s energy and, along with commercial buildings, account for 10 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The chances of the U.S. government enacting a carbon tax, emissions trading scheme or taking other sweeping action to tackle climate change may be next to nil. But thanks to an innovative new initiative from financial conglomerate Citi, the Pennsylvania state treasury and non-profits, homeowners across the country soon will be able to tap a $100 million fund to instantly secure low-cost loans to do everything from installing solar panels on their roof to replacing that roof. Contractors will authorized to offer the loans, meaning no need to deal with state or local bureaucrats who will administer the program.

It’s just another example of how financial innovation has become key to getting the green tech innovations dreamed up in Silicon Valley into the hands of homeowners as well as prompting them to undertake low-tech efforts like insulating their attics.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/more-money-more-life-the-depressing-reality-of-inequality-in-america/360895/

?n48m65

Brookings economist Barry Bosworth crunches the data on income and lifespans for the Wall Street Journal, and the numbers tell three clear stories.

1. Rich people live longer.

2. Richer people's lifespans are growing at a faster rate.

3. The problem is worse for women than for men.

First, let's look at the guys. A rich man (top decile) born in 1940 can expect to live 10 years longer after he turns 55 than a poor man (bottom decile). That longevity gap grew by four years in one generation.



Women live longer than men, overall. But their inequality gap getting worse. A rich woman at 55 can expect to live a decade longer than a poor woman, too. But this gap grew even more between the Silent and early Boomer generations, by six years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27064475


Two former Anglo Irish bank chiefs have been found guilty of making loans designed to illegally prop up the bank's share price.

They are Pat Whelan, 52, former head of lending in Ireland and Willie McAteer, 63, the bank's former finance director.

Both men had denied the charges at Dublin Criminal Court.

On Wednesday, the bank's former chairman was cleared of illegally supporting the bank's share price.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_RUSSIA_GAS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-19-06-15-29

BERLIN (AP) -- A senior European Union official says he opposes cutting back gas ties with Russia in the next few years but the bloc should work on diversifying supplies.

Russia is a major European gas supplier, and mounting tensions over Ukraine have raised concerns about possible disruption.

In an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger conceded there's a risk of Russia cutting supplies to Ukraine, an important transit country, over unpaid bills.

However, Oettinger was quoted Saturday as saying: "We agree that the gas sector should not be a priority in possible economic sanctions - whether on the European or Russian side."

***shell just had a representative at putin's house for a business meeting in the last 48 hours.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-17/midnight-welding-picks-up-slack-that-imperils-shale-boom.html

How high is demand for welders to work in the shale boom on the U.S. Gulf Coast?

So high that “you can take every citizen in the region of Lake Charles between the ages of 5 and 85 and teach them all how to weld and you’re not going to have enough welders,” said Peter Huntsman, chief executive officer of chemical maker Huntsman Corp.

So high that San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, offers a four-hour welding class in the middle of the night.

So high that local employers say they’re worried there won’t be adequate supply of workers of all kinds. Just for construction, Gulf Coast oil, gas and chemical companies will have to find 36,000 new qualified workers by 2016, according to Industrial Info Resources Inc. in Sugar Land, Texas. Regional estimates call for even more new hires once those projects are built.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-18/putin-gas-splits-eastern-eu-over-russia-sanctions.html

The European Union’s eastern members, once united in their opposition to Soviet rule, are now split over how to respond to Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian incursion.

In one camp, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Baltic allies argue that the EU and NATO need to face up to their historic responsibility and respond to Russian aggression with tougher sanctions. Others argue that such a stance is unrealistic given Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.

At a recent EU summit, conversation turned to energy sanctions, according to a person at the talks. At that point, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban intervened to say he can’t support a clampdown on Russia when Hungary relies on it for 80 percent of his energy, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the debate was private.

The split highlights how Europe’s dependence on Russian energy is hobbling its ability to craft a united response that will deter Putin as he extends Russia’s reach into Ukraine. While the EU targeted individuals in initial rounds of sanctions and is threatening Russia with economic measures, it’s not clear how punitive they will be and will require unanimity to pass.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-17/high-speed-trader-virtu-said-questioned-in-n-y-inquiry.html

Virtu Financial Inc., the high-frequency trader trying to sell shares in an initial public offering, has grabbed the attention of New York’s attorney general as he investigates the industry.

The New York-based trading firm has received a letter of inquiry from Eric Schneiderman’s office requesting information about its business, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because the process hasn’t been made public.

The request comes as Virtu attempts to go public, a process delayed after the March 31 publication of Michael Lewis’s latest book sparked unprecedented scrutiny of high-frequency traders. Schneiderman announced last month that he’s investigating services and technologies used by high-frequency traders, including faster data feeds that may give certain firms a split-second edge over others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun its own industry examination.

A person with knowledge of the matter said this week that six high-frequency trading firms have received subpoenas as part of Schneiderman’s investigation, including Jump Trading LLC, Chopper Trading LLC and Tower Research Capital LLC. Virtu was asked for similar information in a letter of inquiry, according to the person with knowledge of the matter. This could be escalated to a subpoena if the company doesn’t comply voluntarily.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-18/monte-paschi-seeks-5-billion-euros-to-repay-aid-build-buffer.html

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the bailed-out Italian bank, will seek 5 billion euros ($6.9 billion) of capital from investors to repay state aid and build a buffer as regulators review European lenders’ assets.

Monte Paschi’s board agreed to boost the planned rights offering to 5 billion euros from the 3 billion euros it announced in November, the Siena-based company said in a statement today. It increased the size to have a capital buffer to absorb “eventual negative impacts” from the European Central Bank’s asset quality review, the bank said.

Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Viola is seeking to turn around Italy’s No. 3 bank, engulfed in legal probes of alleged misconduct by former managers, by cutting jobs and selling assets to return to profit by 2015. The CEO is asking investors for more capital after he agreed to partly repay 4.1 billion euros in state aid before an EU-imposed deadline of this year.

“The new size, approved unanimously by the board, is good news both for the bank, because it will strengthen capital, and Italy, because it will allow reimbursement of state aid at a time when the government is seeking resources to finance its economic plan,” Viola said in an interview with broadcaster SkyTG24. The offer will start around mid-June, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-18/turkey-s-state-run-ziraat-bank-planning-first-ever-eurobond-1-.html

TC Ziraat Bankasi AS, Turkey’s biggest state-run lender by assets, plans to sell its first ever Eurobond, according to an e-mail from its investor relations department today.

“The Eurobond would be a benchmark size as a first sign of intent” and Ziraat aims to be a “regular player in the international markets from then on,” the bank said. Ziraat will be observing market conditions closely for the most appropriate moment to place the sale and has not yet agreed terms with potential arrangers, it said.

The announcement comes a week after Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (GARAN), Turkey’s largest listed lender, sold $750 million of 5.5-year unsecured senior paper. That was the first large foreign-denominated corporate debt sale from Turkey since December, when the U.S. Federal Reserve said that it would start tapering its monthly bond purchases.

The Fed’s announcement coincided with a corruption investigation into senior members of Turkey’s ruling Ak Party and their business associates that was made public on Dec. 17. The probe rattled markets and sent yields on benchmark two-year bonds to two-year highs.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STATE_UNEMPLOYMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-18-11-14-51

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than two-thirds of the states reported job gains in March, as hiring has improved for much of the country during what has been a sluggish but sustained 4 1/2-year recovery.

The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates dropped in 21 states, rose in 17 and were unchanged in the remaining 12. Meanwhile, hiring increased in 34 states and fell in 16.

The unemployment rate varies from as low as 2.6 percent in North Dakota to as much as 8.7 percent in Rhode Island. South Carolina has experienced the sharpest rate decline over 12 months to 5.5 percent from 8 percent.

The rate nationwide stayed at 6.7 percent in March for the second straight month. That national rate stayed flat because someone was hired for almost every person who entered the job market last month.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FAST_TRADING_LAWSUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-18-20-04-39

Providence, R.I., is suing dozens of Wall Street banks and other financial companies over high-frequency trading.

The federal complaint was filed Friday in New York on behalf of city investment funds that traded stocks in the U.S. since April 18, 2009.

It claims that stock exchanges, investment banks and others defrauded the city, which managed funds on behalf of active and retired city employees, by manipulating market data in favor of split-second stock-trading firms.

The lawsuit comes amid heightened government scrutiny into whether advantages in computer hardware and placement enable some to get millisecond timing advances on trades.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CYPRUS_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-18-12-01-45

FAMAGUSTA, Cyprus (AP) -- Cyprus' largest bank says it has sold off its business in Ukraine and a stake in a Romanian bank to help reduce risk and improve cash flow for the troubled lender.

Bank of Cyprus says it has completed the sale of its loss-making operations in Ukraine to Alfa Group for 202.5 million euros ($280.5 million) - 10 percent less than the original price.

It has also sold a 10-percent stake in Banca Transilvania for 82 million euros ($113.6 million).

Bank CEO John Patrick Hourican said in a statement Friday that the sales will help the bank return to a position of financial strength and stability.

(Blog author gives his permission to repost anywhere, in full)

The Vineyard of the Saker: The thing which everybody seems to be missing

Okay, I decided to squeeze in one more post before taking time off for Holy Paskha, this is well worth it.

Some of you have asked about China's role in all this, in what the real interests of the USA are, how the EU is positioning itself and what Russia does or does not want. And, somehow, bogged down by the minutiae of the unfolding events I managed to never mention something which Putin, Lavrov and many other top Russian politicians have repeatedly said:

What is happening today before our eyes is the end of one international system and the birth of a qualitatively different one.

Interestingly, Putin has declared that for him the point of no return was reached when the USA and its allies at the UNSC and NATO clearly and grossly twisted the intention of the UNSC on Libya and "upgraded" what should have been a "no fly" zone to a free-fire zone to attack and bomb Libya [of course, it was pretty darn clear to Putin that the "all necessary means to protect civilians" of the resolution was an open ended invitation for the AngloZionists to "interpret" it in any way they wanted; now his says that Russia was "lied to" in order to not blame Medvedev for walking into a 10 foot wide hole. But that is irrelevant here]. Putin says that from then on he had acquired the conviction that the West could not be negotiated with and had to be simply stopped. Then Syria happened: for the first time since the end of WWII the USA had decided to do something and was stopped by an outside power in the most humiliating way possible.

The Russian stance on Syria was an overt challenge to US world hegemony. It was clearly understood as such in Washington and now, following the crisis in the Ukraine, the Russians have openly admitted this.

So this is the real stake of the civil war in the Ukraine: for the USA it is to punish Russia for daring to challenge the world hegemon; for Russia it is to unseat this hegemon and replace him by a multi-polar international system in which sovereign countries act within the bounds of international law. You could say that even though most of the Security Council is vehemently opposed to that, Russia is trying to show to the world that the USA does not own the UN and that it only represents 1/5th of the P5 and 1/15th of the UNSC.

The West has slouched into a position of total submission to the USA and its domination tools over Europe: the EU and NATO. The central Europeans have even volunteered to become a US protectorate, a territory to house US missile systems and secret CIA prisons.

With the exception of Iran and Syria, the Arab and Muslim world has sold out, some to the USA, others to Saudi Arabia, most to both at the same time. Latin America tries hard, but is still heavily dependent on the USA while Africa just wants to survive the best it can. As for Asia, some parts are as sold out as Europe (Japan, Korea), others are trying to keep a low profile, while China is clearly quietly standing behind Russia but in an externally undeniable way even though China stands to benefit more than any other country on the planet from a change in the international order.

The Russians would have much preferred to wait, to buy time, but the US determination to punish it for daring to oppose it on Syria literally forced them to fold and surrender or openly accept the US challenge and stand firm.

I will repeat that again and again - Putin had no other choice.

And now that this is all in the open, you can be absolutely sure that Russia is not playing to return to the status quo ante. With an amazing candidness both Putin and Lavrov have openly spelled out their goal on Russian TV (Lavrov on the show "Sunday Evening with Vladimir Soloviev" and Putin on during his 4 hours long Q&A yesterday).

So this is the Russian end-goal: to unseat the USA from its role as a world hegemon. And that goal implies a much longer, bigger and more sustained effort that just force the freaks in Kiev to the negotiating table. Among other things, this goal implies that Russia must:

1) Force the Europeans to fully realize the outrageous price they are paying for being the obedient and silent vassals of the USA and slowly drive a wedge between the USA and Europe.
2) Force the USA to admit that it does not have the military might to punish or, even less so, "regime change" anybody they don't like.
3) Encourage China and other Asian powers to openly stand with Russia in demanding that international law be adhered to by the West.
4) Gradually replace the dollar with other currencies in international trade and thereby slow down the financing of the US debts by the rest of the planet.
5) Create the conditions for Latin America and Africa to be able to make choices about its future and replace the current monopoly enjoyed by the West in setting the terms of North-South relations.
6) Present another civilizational model which openly reject the current Western paradigm of a society run by small and arrogant minorities.
7) Challenge the current liberal and capitalist economic order embodied in the Washington Consensus and replace it by a model of social and international solidarity (call it "21 century socialism" if you want).

All of the above can be summed up in one word: re-sovereignization.

Since he got elected, Putin mentioned many times the need for a re-sovereignization of Russia. The Ukrainian crisis has forced him reveal the real end goal of his agenda: to re-sovereignize the entire planet.

This is a tall order and it will take many years, possibly decades, to achieve this goal, though my personal feeling is that the total incompetence and infinite arrogance of of the 1%ers plutocrats which rules over the western world will continue to accelerate that process.

The big question now is this: can the AngloZionist Empire follow the example of the Soviet Empire and collapse without triggering a massive bloodbath on its way down?

There will be violence, for sure, as has been with the former Soviet Union. But if we can avoid a global conflagration or even a large scale massive war then that would have to be considered as success because it is when they collapse that empires become the most dangerous and unpredictable.

I hope that the above answers many of the questions which have been posted here.

Many thanks and kind regards,

The Saker

http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.ca/2014/04/the-thing-which-everybody-seems-to-be.html

Excellent find, Matt!

Yes, I think a global policy of MYOB would be a refreshing change for all of us, US taxpayers and army grunts, too.

Happy Easter to you and yours!

I've already eaten the sweet cheese pierogi...they were so good, and it's still far too cold here (29F this morning). We started the ham on Thursday because I have enough time to cook on that day. Kielbasa for breakfast tomorrow....with the potato pierogi, I think. The kids don't care for the old foods...but they are only half-Polish.

You can find a whole library and wealth of information at this website.

http://infidels.org/

In historical records, entire libraries were written about that area and region. Not one historical footnote mentions Jesus. The earliest references were the Pauline letters. But, he didn't believe in a physical Jesus but a spiritual Jesus who lived in one of the seven levels of spiritual heaven.

As for books, try "The Gospel Fictions". Available at Infidels.otg

The Jesus story has been handed down for so many years, many people believe it's the truth.



The older I get, I see church as a social gathering place for older people. Many have been in their community all their lives, and continue to see friends every Sunday. Some have lost spouses, and church keeps them in the loop.



and a Happy Easter to everyone!

I'm happy, I guess. I finished the route before 8 AM. That hasn't happened in far too long.

there's frost on the rooftops this morning, but not on the grass. Temperature's now up to 42F, windchill of 38F. Believe it or not, there's still snow in piles in the shade! Will winter never end?

Road reconstruction projects are scheduled to start tomorrow!

and reshaped human progress. To the extent that it worked, I am grateful. The problem is the heavy festoonings of superstition, ritual, bad arguments and worse solutions, abuse of power, and all the other flaws we see in any political/economic/social human endeavor.

All we like sheep have gone astray....most of us humans, anyway.

It's what's required for human beings to exist in viable communities.

Fuddnik's correct; there is virtually no evidence for a historical "Jesus." But that doesn't mean there had to be one single individual who suddenly discovered ethics and morality, whether it was Jesus or Paul, Mohammed or Siddhartha, Haile Selassie or Mary Baker Eddy.

Read Leonard Shlain's "The Alphabet Versus the Goddess" or Anne Baring's "The Myth of the Goddess" or any of the gazillions of books that address the evolution of "god" just in terms of what we refer to as western civilization. The social concepts embodied in the Ten Commandments -- minus all the bullshit about the deity -- are basic commonsense rules for getting along in a community of any size, any complexity: don't lie, don't steal, don't kill. Take care of your elders because they're the ones who will pass down wisdom and experience so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. That sort of thing.

The rest of the mythos is just entertainment. And some of it is truly glorious, but it's still just entertainment.

IMHO, and YMMV.

who seemed to be the first source for a lot....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder

in terms of "western" culture, but there is so much that goes further back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule

http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-ukraine-a-symptom-of-something-worse-2014-4

The crisis surrounding Ukraine shows that global governance is in a mess, but events there are merely a symptom of something larger.

My visit to Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank set me wondering whether western democracies are much guiltier than we are prepared to admit.

These meetings took place against the surreal background of the US Congress having failed to pass a bill allowing the IMF to reform in the way that was agreed back in 2010 – a strange decision, as the planned changes to the fund were led by the then-US Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner.

Those proposals were to increase the IMF’s lending capability as well as to boost the voting share and seats of the major so-called “emerging economic powers” at the expense of others, including Europe.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-oneill-ukraine-a-symptom-of-something-worse-2014-4#ixzz2zQdHk2P9

showing that Merkel and US conspiring to overthrow Ukraine's elected govt, but US was going to back-stab Merkel, pretty much proves the case of Western guilt and US is the prime mover.

The only change I'd support would be disbanding the IMF. Send the Economic Hitmen to the unemployment office.

it's all just more of 'top down' problem solving that always benefits those already at the top more than any one else.

YES, ANOTHER ONE...THERE ARE AS MANY THEORIES AS THERE ARE FLAVORS OF JELLY BEANS.

The following article is based on J. R. Terrier's book "History of Easter - Hidden, Secret Origins and Mystery Religion". Additions by Alexander Light

http://humansarefree.com/2014/04/the-truth-about-easter-and-secret.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FYTqom+%28Humans+Are+Free-Blog%29


Easter is an annual celebration observed throughout the Christian world. However, there are absolutely no verses in the Bible that authorize or endorse the keeping of this tradition. Further – the Bible does not mention anything about Easter eggs, Easter baskets, Easter bunnies, or even Lent. The author includes convincing evidence to show that these very items were parts of the pagan rituals of the Mystery Religion of ancient Babylon.

Where did the tradition of celebrating Easter originate?

The author exposes the hidden accounts of the original Easter festival which was initiated several thousand years ago - many years before the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Easter - Anunnaki Connections

The name Easter actually comes from Ishtar / Easter who was worshiped as the moon goddess, the goddess of spring and fertility, and the Queen of Heaven. She is known by so many other names in other countries and cultures that she is often referred to as the goddess of one thousand names.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6LBVumzp9kA/U1Grpfdsx0I/AAAAAAAAMbs/L5JRcYsewos/s1600/Easter+-+Fertility+Goddess.jpg

AND THIS ARTICLE JUST GETS WEIRDER FROM THERE...YOU CAN READ IT AND MARVEL THAT THE AUTHOR ISN'T IN ONE OF THOSE COMFY STRAIGHT JACKETS WITH THE WRAP-AROUND SLEEVES...

are symbols of fertility. As the pre-technology communities watched winter give way to spring, and watched the animals begin to reproduce, they incorporated all of this into their beliefs and rituals. And new clothes? Why not! After months of being wrapped in warm clothes due to cold weather -- when it would have been harder to wash clothing anyway -- who wouldn't be eager to get out of those smelly, smoky, sweaty wools and furs and get into some pretty cottons and linens?

Logic and common sense trump superstition every time.

Whoever wrote the above blog is probably a xtian fundamentalist who sees Satan in everything that isn't just exactly the way he thinks it ought to be -- especially anything Catholic!!!

But there are a lot just like him, and they're walking around sane as you or I. Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, do not celebrate ANY holidays -- except Easter, ironically -- because of their pagan origins. No Christmas, no Thanksgiving, no Labor Day, not even personal birthdays. They only celebrate Easter because it's when Jesus rose from the dead and that event is unique to Christianity which confirms it's the only true religion. Uh, no, it's not.

A sick mind is a terrible thing to waste.


Original recipe makes 4 servings Change Servings

3 pounds rabbit meat, cleaned and cut into pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 pound bacon, diced

1/2 cup finely chopped shallots

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup water

1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules

1 tablespoon currant jelly

10 black peppercorns, crushed

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed



2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed



Directions

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Sprinkle rabbit with salt and coat with 1/3 cup flour, shaking off excess. Brown rabbit in remaining bacon fat. Remove from skillet, along with all but 2 tablespoons of the fat, and reserve.
Saute shallots and garlic in skillet for about 4 minutes, until tender. Stir in wine, 1 cup water and bouillon. Heat to boiling, then stir in jelly, peppercorns, bay leaf, and rosemary. Return rabbit and bacon to skillet. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer about 1 1/2 hours or until rabbit is tender.
Remove bay leaf and discard. Place rabbit on a warm platter and keep warm while preparing gravy.
To Make Gravy: Stir lemon juice into skillet with cooking liquid. Combine 3 tablespoons water with 2 tablespoons flour and mix together; stir mixture into skillet over low heat. Finally, stir in thyme. Pour gravy over stew and serve, or pour into a gravy boat and serve on the side.

4/20/14 BNP Banker, His Wife And Nephew Murdered In Belgium

In the beginning it was banker suicides. Then about two weeks ago, suicides were replaced by outright murders after the execution-style killing of the CEO of a bank in otherwise sleepy (and tax evasive) Lichtenstein by a disgruntled client. Then on Friday news hit of another execution-type murder in just as sleepy, if not so tax evasive, Belgium, where in the city of Vise, a 37-year-old Director at BNP Paribas Fortis was murdered alongside his wife and a 9 year old nephew in a premeditated and orchestrated drive-by shooting.

According to information from the survey and some witnesses, a car waiting outside their house Berneau street near the sports hall Visé. When the victims' car is back in the driveway, shots were fired from the car that waited patiently. The author of the shots is actively sought.

So far neither the shooter nor any motive for the execution have not been found: "Some suggest the presence of a single gunman with an automatic pistol, others are surprised that a bullet hole was noted in one of the windows of the sports hall. "That would mean that the author was already in the driveway of the house and waited for the victims side of the house," says a source close to the case."

Like in the Lichtenstein murder, there is a possibility the murder was the result of a previous argument with a customer

So just like in the Lichtenstein murder, was it truly some atrocious act by bankers that caused their clients to take justice into their own hands, or is it becoming the norm that when dealing with members of the banker class, the population - disenchanted with a legal system that is largely in the pocket of the financial system - is increasingly resorting to not only vigilante justice, but the taking of banker lives with no regard for innocent bystanders?

If indeed so, this could mark a dramatic, and lethal, escalation in the way bankers are treated by the broader public, not only in places where banker revulsion is palpable but in quiet, sleepy backwaters like a small Belgium town.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-20/bnp-banker-his-wife-and-nephew-murdered-belgium


edit
Some of the text must have been oddly translated from the original article...
http://www.lavenir.net/article/detail.aspx?articleid=dmf20140419_00465287

On that note, I'm calling a wrap.

I spent most of the day sleeping. I think I'm trying to catch up with myself from winter. Stay tuned for NEXT Weekend (it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion, isn't it?) and I'll be seeing you on SMW.