Now to give the thread a kiss and send it back down the road followed...hehehe!

http://dailyreckoning.com/unsolvable-insolvency/

Newest Debt clock update:

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

World Leaders Work to Avoid Global Freeze-up
Sunday, 22 Jan 2012 05:04 PM


More ways to share...  Mixx  Stumbled  LinkedIn  Vine  Buzzflash  Reddit  Delicious  Newstrust  Technocrati Share:    More . . . A    A   |    Email Us   |    Print   |    Forward Article
0
inShare inShare0 Five years after the credit crisis began, Western economies are confronting the prospect of a lost decade of growth, and international diplomats are warning the damage could get even worse if Europe allows its sovereign debt crisis to fester much longer.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is heading to Berlin on Monday to urge action after the IMF called for member countries to provide the fund with $500 billion for new loans to help out troubled countries.

G20 officials also say Europe must double the size of its rescue fund to $1 trillion as a crucial step to stabilize financial markets and prevent the euro-zone crisis from spreading. Europe finance ministers meet on their debt plan on Tuesday.

The World Bank already sees the damage taking hold as European banks pull back their lending to emerging economies. Last week it slashed its growth forecast more than one percentage point to 2.5 percent for 2012, a pace not seen since 2008 when the world was last in a global recession.

"The risk of a global freezing-up of the markets and as well as a global crisis similar to what happened in September 2008 are real," Justin Lin, the chief economist for the World Bank, said.

The IMF also is set to cut its growth forecasts this week.

Although the United States has shown encouraging signs in recent weeks, the economy remains far too feeble for any upturn to be either strong or sustained. Europe is no better off and already appears to have fallen back into a mild recession.

Goldman Sachs calculates that per capita GDP growth in the United States has shrunk by 0.7 percent each year between 2007 and 2011, compared with 2.0 percent growth in the decade prior to the recession. In the euro area, the decline has been similar, 0.6 percent drop against a 1.8 percent pre-recession rate.

The concern is that the destruction of skills and capital investment caused by recession and slow growth rates will lead to a structurally lower rate of growth and higher rate of unemployment for a protracted period. If left unchecked, it would make it even harder to handle huge government debt loads, making the growth outlook even less stable.

Jerome Levy Forecasting sees the United States trapped in a low growth cycle throughout the rest of this decade, at least until household debt levels are paid down, businesses have restructured to regain competitiveness and wage growth returned.

"We are not holding our breath for a rapid turnaround. In fact for this year, we are investing in scuba gear in case it worsens," said economist Robert King.

 

FED PREPARES

It is against this backdrop that the Federal Reserve is preparing to unveil an overhaul of its long-run goals and strategy for conducting monetary policy on Wednesday, a move that could lay the groundwork for further steps to support the U.S. economy if needed.

The Fed on Wednesday will begin publishing the interest rate forecasts from its individual members. While seemingly a technical step, it can help shape investor expectations on the outlook and possibly will be used to signal an even longer time period that the Federal Open Market Committee plans on keeping interest rates at extremely low levels.

"The immediate benefit is that it will allow the FOMC to replace the implicit commitment of keeping rates near zero until mid-2013 with more flexible guidance," said Troy Davig, economist at Barclays Capital.

The Fed also may spell out for the first time a specific inflation target and an employment goal. An inflation target would reassure investors the Fed remains firmly committed to keeping inflation under control, even if it does decide to inject more money into the economy to stimulate growth through asset purchases. It already has bought $2.3 trillion in bonds, making its balance sheet so large that critics say it is sowing the seeds of runaway inflation.

Any further Fed action, however, is probably months away. Fourth quarter GDP data for the United States due out on Friday is expected to show the fastest growth in 18 months, at 3.1 percent up from 1.8 percent in the prior quarter. But analysts doubt that the quickened pace can last.

The bulk of the Q4 gain is expected to come from a rebuilding of inventories and unless final demand for goods and services also has accelerated notably - unlikely when wage growth is flat to declining, consumer debt levels high and export demand weakened - the improvement will prove short lived.

In Europe, the picture looks much worse.

The United Kingdom may be sliding into recession. It releases its Q4 GDP data on Thursday, and it is expected to show the economy shrank by 0.1 percent after growing 0.6 percent in Q3. The Royal Bank of Canada expects the Bank of England to expand its asset purchases by 50 billion pounds sterling in February to give the economy further help.

In the euro zone, the flash reading on Markit PMI indices on Wednesday will gave a sense of the severity of its recession. The manufacturing index is forecast to contract for the sixth month in a row though at a slower pace of 47.3 in January, compared with 46.9 in December. The services index also is seen remaining just below the 50 mark, which separates growth from shrinkage, little changed from the prior month.

When world leaders and corporate leaders gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum on Wednesday through Sunday, they will face the most challenging economic conditions the world has seen since the 2008/2009 recession.

© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

I recently talked to a guy who graduated from Annapolis and he follows some translated Iranian sites just as religiously as DoC follows his money sites, and according to him, if Iran ever succeeds in building a nuclear weapon, which they will, the first place on their hitlist will be Tel-Aviv. He told me that the antisemitism in the middle east is worse than it was in Germany seventy-somewhat years ago. Those people practically worship Adolf Hitler. He also said that they are just itching for a fight with the US. What they really want is a small, isolated confrontation on their turf where they sink a ship or two, we get scared, and cut and run. He also knows that it won't go down like that. If they try something stupid, we will take them down. If there is one thing the US is good at, it's a good old-fashioned war. If they want a fight, they'll get that and much more, they will get their asses handed to them in a bowl of oil.

So if I get to joining the military in time, those people are the ones I can look forward to kicking the snot out of. My only worry is that a war with Iran could have serious repercussions that nobody has thought of yet. I heard earlier that the oil that the west isn't buying anymore could be taken up by China. If china becomes as dependant on foreign oil as we are, namely Iranian oil, they might not be so happy with America just barging willy nilly in and taking over the joint. And that's just the speculation of a teenager who only listens to NPR for a few minutes a day and reads what DoC shares. I'd hate to imagine what would really go down.

 Strongest Solar Storm since 2005 Hitting Earth
Monday, 23 Jan 2012 12:44 PM


 WASHINGTON (AP) — Space weather officials say the strongest solar storm in more than six years is bombarding Earth with radiation with more to come.

The radiation is mostly an issue for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes.

The Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado observed the flare Sunday at 11 p.m. EST. Physicist Doug Biesecker (BEE-secker) says the biggest concern is the radiation, which arrived on Earth an hour later. It will likely continue through Wednesday.

Biesecker said the storm's radiation levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. It is the strongest level since May 2005.

Plasma ejected from the sun arrives Tuesday, but is not as strong. It can extend the visibility of auroras and disrupt the electrical grid.

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
More ways to share..

Defiant Iran Claims Major Steps in Nuclear Fuel
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012 03:56 PM


 In defiant swipes at its foes, Iran said Wednesday it is dramatically closer to mastering the production of nuclear fuel even as the United States weighs tougher sanctions and Tehran's suspected shadow war with Israel brings probes far beyond the Middle East.

Iran further struck back at the West by indicating that it is on the verge of imposing a midwinter fuel squeeze on Europe in retaliation for a looming boycott of Iranian oil, but denied reports earlier in the day that six nations had already been cut off.

The uncompromising messages from Iran, however, came with a counterpoint. The official IRNA news agency said Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that Iran is ready to return to talks with the United States and other powers.

The dual strategy — taking nuclear steps while proposing more talks — has become a hallmark of Iran's dealings for years and some critics have dismissed it as a time-buying tactic. The advances claimed Wednesday could likely feed these views.

In a live TV broadcast, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown overseeing what was described as the first Iranian-made fuel rod inserted into a research reactor in northern Tehran. Separately, the semiofficial Fars agency reported that a "new generation" of Iranian centrifuges — used to enrich uranium toward nuclear fuel — had gone into operation at the country's main enrichment facility at Natanz in central Iran.

In Washington, the assistant secretary of state for International Security and Nonproliferation, Tom Countryman, dismissed the Iranian claims of reaching a pivotal moment. "The announcement today by Iran has much more to do with political developments in Iran than it has to do with factual developments," he said.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Iran's "defiant acts" seek to "distract attention" from the damage brought by international sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran is facing major new international complications: Accusations of bringing an apparent covert conflict with Israel to points stretching from Thailand and India to the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Officials in Israel ramped up allegations that Iran was linked to international bomb plots, saying magnetic "sticky" bombs found in a Bangkok house rented by Iranians were similar to devices used against Israeli envoys in a foiled attack in Georgia on Monday and a blast in New Delhi that injured four people, including a diplomat's wife.

"In recent days, Iran's terror operations are being laid bare for all," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who convened his security cabinet. It included discussions about "preventive measures" against Iranian threats, said a statement from Netanyahu's office that did not elaborate.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, called the allegations "baseless" and an attempt to push "conspiracy" theories to discredit Iran with its Asian partners, including major oil buyer India.

Iran, in turn, accused Israel of being behind clandestine attacks that have claimed the lives of at least five members of Iran's scientific community in the past two years, including a "sticky" bomb blast that killed a director at the Natanz labs last month.

Framed photos of the five scientists were shown by Iranian TV before a speech by Ahmadinejad, who was flanked by the flags of Iran and the country's nuclear agency.

He repeated Iran's goal of becoming a technological beacon for the Islamic world and insisted that scientific progress is the right of all nations. Here rests one of the biggest dilemmas for the West. Iran has merged the nuclear program with its national identity and is unlikely to make any concessions without huge incentives.

"I hope we reach the point where we will be able to meet all our nuclear needs inside the country so we won't need to extend our hand before others, specifically before the world's dastardly people," Ahmadinejad said. "For a gentleman, for a chivalrous nation, the most difficult moment is when he has a need to ask [for something] from a dastardly person."

Iran also used the announcements as a carefully crafted show of unity.

The families of the slain scientists attended the ceremonies. State TV showed the father of the scientist killed last month, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, clicking on the computer to inaugurate the advanced centrifuges inside the Natanz facility. TV showed tears in the eyes of Roshan's mother and wife when the father opened the project.

Ahmadinejad put the young daughter of slain electronics student Darioush Rezaeinejad on his knee and patted her long hair.

The purported new frontiers for Iran's atomic program showcase what could be significant steps at becoming self-sufficient in creating nuclear fuel — the centerpiece of the dispute with the U.S. and its allies.

In the fuel cycle, mined uranium is processed into gas, then that gas is spun in centrifuges to purify it. Low-enriched uranium — at around 3.5 percent — is used to produce fuel rods that power a reactor. But the same process can be used to produce highly enriched uranium — at around 90 percent purity — that can be used to build a warhead.

Iran claims it seeks reactors only for energy and medical research.

The Tehran facility where IRNA said the new fuel rods were installed is intended to produce isotopes for cancer treatments. It requires fuel enriched to around 20 percent, considered a threshold between low- and high-enriched uranium.

Iran began enriching up to near 20 percent in February 2010 after attempts at a deal with the West to import the fuel rods broke down.

Iranian officials have long spoken of introducing faster, more efficient centrifuges at the Natanz facility. The Fars report did not give further details, but Iran also says it also has sophisticated centrifuges in a new site built into a mountainside south of Tehran and possibly impervious to airstrikes.

A diplomat accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran's known nuclear programs said the "new generation" of centrifuges appeared to be referring to about 65 IR-4 machines that were recently set up at an experimental site at Natanz. The new model can churn out enriched material at a faster rate than the more rudimentary IR-1 centrifuges, thousands of which are at work in Natanz producing low-enriched uranium, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is privileged.

In still another development, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Abbasi, was quoted as saying Iran will open a new facility to produce "yellowcake," which is concentrated natural uranium and is the foundation material in the process to make nuclear fuel. In the past, Iran has purchased most of its yellowcake abroad, including South Africa and China.

The United States and the EU have tried to rein in Iran's nuclear program with new boycotts and banking restrictions targeting Iran's crucial oil exports, which accounts for about 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue.

The Obama administration is now weighing an even harsher blow: possibly seeking Iran's removal from SWIFT, an independent financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country's overseas oil sales. But such a move could push oil prices higher and undercut fragile Western economies.

Iran pushed back at Europe.

State TV quoted Foreign Ministry official Hasan Tajik as saying that six European diplomats were summoned Wednesday and told that Iran has no problem replacing customers — an implied warning that Tehran would carry out plans to cut off EU countries immediately to pre-empt sanctions set to go into effect in July.

Conflicting information about the cutoff has been relayed by Iranian media throughout the day: first the full blockade on six countries, then a report carried by the semiofficial Mehr agency saying that exports were cut to France and the Netherlands with four other European countries receiving ultimatums to sign long-term contracts with Iran.

Iranian officials say an immediate cutoff will hit European nations before they can line up new suppliers, and that Tehran has already found buyers for the 18 percent share of its oil that goes to Europe.

In Bangkok, Thai officials held three Iranians rounded up after a cache of explosives detonated accidentally in their home. Bomb disposal teams combed the damaged house while security forces sought an Iranian woman they said had originally rented it.

Thai authorities have not disclosed any potential targets for the explosives.

Israeli defense officials, however, believe the Iranian men were plotting to attack the Israeli ambassador in Thailand, Israel's Channel 10 TV reported. It said the investigation was still ongoing and its conclusions were not final.

In a reflection of how the attacks caught Israel off guard, the Israeli Counter Terrorism Bureau last month lifted a travel warning to Bangkok after Thai authorities arrested a suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah. The warning was issued Jan. 13 and lifted less than two weeks later.

The bureau lifted a similar travel advisory for Israelis going to Georgia in November.



© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 Energy Iran Says It’s Loaded Locally Made Fuel Plates Into Tehran Nuclear Reactor
By Ladane Nasseri - Feb 15, 2012 9:37 AM PT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-15/iran-says-it-s-loaded-locally-made-fuel-plates-into-tehran-nuclear-reactor.html

Only a handful of countries, including France and the U.S., have the technology to build the 20-percent enriched fuel plates needed for the reactor, according to Iranian officials. Ahmadinejad described the step as a “major” nuclear feat.

Iranian scientists achieved the breakthrough in line with a policy of “nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none,” the Islamic Republic News Agency said. It shows that Iran won’t be intimidated and will pursue its technological advancement, the Iranian Students News Agency said.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. was aware of the announcement and “we expect to learn more” from International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors working in Iran.

Carney, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said the U.S. has never objected to peaceful, civilian nuclear activities by Iran and wants to see Iran abide by international obligations and renounce its interest in nuclear weapons.

Carney said reports of the nuclear announcement and threats of cutoff of oil exports reflect “provocative acts” that are “designed to distract attention from the demonstrated impact” of international sanctions against Iran.

Iranian Letter
The European Union said it has received a letter from Iran in response to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s October letter regarding talks on the nation’s nuclear program.

The EU is studying the letter from Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and is consulting with its so-called E3+3 partners over the communication, the EU said today in a statement on its website. The EU didn’t release the letter.

The announcement from Iran comes at a time of increased tension between Iran and western powers over its nuclear activities, with tighter sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union that restrict trade and financial transactions.

Israel, which Iran does not recognize, has said time is running out for sanctions to work as a deterrent to nuclear weapons development in the Islamic republic, and Israeli leaders have said a military strike may be needed.

Israel accused Iran of involvement in car-bomb attacks this week that targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia. Iran rejected the claims as baseless. Iran says Israel is behind a series of killings of Iranian nuclear scientists, and accuses the Jewish state of being the first Middle Eastern country to develop nuclear weapons, which Israel neither confirms nor denies.

Fuel Swap
Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, says its nuclear program is purely civilian and aimed at producing electricity for its growing population.

The Tehran Research Reactor produces medical isotopes for cancer treatment and operates using metal plates constructed with 20 percent enriched uranium. Iran sought to swap raw uranium fuel for the reactor plates in 2009 as part of a confidence-building deal proposed by the IAEA.

UN officials estimated in 2010 that the reactor would run out of its current stock of fuel, made by Argentina and supplied to Iran in 1992, by this year. It’s unclear based on pictures broadcast today from Tehran whether Iran inserted plates into the reactor or tested uranium stocks inside fuel rods.

Ahmadinejad, who was first elected in 2005, has repeatedly dangled the prospect of nuclear leaps to invigorate his followers and intimidate countries that he says threaten Iran. The president said in April 2006 that Iran had joined the “nuclear club” of countries with nuclear technology. In January 2010, he promised to announce nuclear news “so sweet” it would “please all the Iranian people.”

During Ahmadinejad two four-year terms, the Iranian government has sought to turn the country’s nuclear program into a source of pride for the population and a symbol of independence and resistance in the face of pressure from abroad.