THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTER SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012 03/17/12 (5) IF E-MAIL ADDRESSES For subscription and renewal;

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WEALTH PROTECTION CONFERENCE 2012 WAKE UP AMERICA April 27th & 28th, 2012 EMBASSY SUITES RESORT AND CONFRENCE CENTER TEMPE, ARIZONA Pat and Linda Gorman of Resource Consultants, Inc. are pleased to be bringing you the 15th Annual Wealth Protection Conference! Get to know all the speakers Call 800-494-4149 or locally at 480-8205877 At 6:30PM, Mr. Bob Chapman, the editor of The International Forecaster will join us for a presentation via audio-video hookup. There will be some extra time for questions and answers with Bob. The entire conference, Friday afternoon and evening, the wine and cheese reception, the entire day Saturday with more speakers and break-out sessions, with water, coffee and juice, and a deli buffet lunch, and the breakout rooms for only $229 per person. Compared to other conferences of this magnitude, this is one great value. If you sign up with your spouse or anyone else and pay at the same time, we have a discounted price for you just $200 per person. Call us and we can discuss this. And dont forget, the opportunity to get close to some of the brightest economic minds in the world. You will also receive a conference booklet with every speakers biographies and outline of their speech. Call Resource Consultants NOW and reserve your spot. We will fill up early this year. Some people plan their vacations around it. We cant think of a better place to be in the spring than the Valley of the Sun. We hope that many of you can see yourself with us for, what may be, the most important information we might need for the rest of the decade. Please join us on Friday, April 27th and Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at the Embassy Suites Resort and Conference Hotel. Call us today at 800-494-4149 or locally at 480-820-5877 to make your reservations. We accept MasterCard or Visa only. If you prefer, you can send a check or money order for $229 per person or $400 per couple to: Resource Consultants Inc., 6139 S. Rural Road, Suite #103, Tempe, AZ 85283. 1

We have just a few rooms blocked off for this conference at the Embassy Suites. Call them, at 480-897-7444 and mention Pat Gormans Wealth Protection Conference 2012 and you will receive a discounted room rate. This is peak tourist season in the Valley, so dont delay. With the caliber of speakers at this years conference we will fill up early. If you would like to check alternative accommodations call the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-283-6734 and they can help. The Embassy Suites has a complimentary shuttle to the hotel and back to the airport. When you register for the conference we will send you a map of the area and exact address of the hotel. Act Now!! We only have room for about 200 people. Call and reserve your seat(s) today. Call 800-494-4149 or locally at 480-820-5877. We are looking forward to seeing you there. Hope to see you all there. Thanks for all your support. God Bless you all. Patrick and Linda Gorman Resource Consultants Inc.
Bob Chapman - Financial Survival 1/2 - March 14, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjnU4C8ssGY Bob Chapman - Financial Survival 2/2 - March 14, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBCSINTcI&src_vid=hjnU4C8ssGY&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_615901 Bob Chapman with Kerry Lutz March 14, 2012 http://hw.libsyn.com/p/1/8/1/181b3fffaf9403b0/Bob_Chapman_03-14-2012.mp3? sid=382714111d2a33e8626bb9b043309b97&l_sid=34778&l_eid=&l_mid=2940234&expiration=133 1827302&hwt=a4e33d4022006feec75c76d29598e779 Bob Chapman - Gold Radio Cafe March 16 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaTzCnA-TwY&feature=email Bob Chapman - the financial survival - 16 March 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMu5S2UxbVg&feature=email

US MARKETS A report by the London-based Lombard Street Research, which says the Netherlands is badly handicapped by euro membership, and as a result the Dutch Freedom Party has called for a return to the Guilder. Leader Geert Wilders has become the first political movement in the euro zone with a large popular base to opt for withdrawal from the single currency. The Freedom Party is a conservative populist party. We do not read Dutch, but the very fact that this information was only picked up by a few sources outside of the Netherlands shows you what managed news is all about. Needless to say, the Hague disagrees with the report, which puts the cost for subsidizing and bailing out of the six nations in trouble at $3.2 trillion. We set the costs months ago at $4 to $6 trillion. Mr. Wilders answer is if they disagree with the report, why dont they have the guts to hold a referendum? Let the Dutch people decide. The report says as we have said so often, that the euro zone cannot survive in its current form. Dealing this year with Ireland, Portugal and Greece should be relatively easy by letting them slide away. Spain and Italy have partially been shunted aside and by the time they are dealt with they will be even weaker than they are now. The socialist mind set is to push problems into the future, which only worsens the problems. The big

question is will Europe strive for world government and allow it to thoroughly destroy the EU financially and economically? The stark costs in Holland have been easy to appreciate. Over the past ten years its growth rate fell from 3% over the preceding 20 years to 1.25% under the euro, versus 2.25% in Sweden and 1.75% in Switzerland. Their inflation has been lower and prosperity greater. They also created more jobs then Holland and Germany. Of course, the bought and paid for one-worlders in The Hague, and Berlin ignore all that. All they can think of is the 4th Reich. The EU and the euro zone were set up to accomplish this and to subsidize the six sovereigns who were living lives far beyond their means. The exercise we just saw in Greece was another holding action to buying more time as the conditions in all of the weak sovereigns continues to deteriorate. We see Greece, Portugal and Ireland probably leaving the euro zone, exiting the euro, defaulting and leaving a trail of financial rubble behind. That is good and bad. The good part is they have been dispensed with and are no longer an official liability, on the other part the solvent nations, such as Holland, are left holding massive worthless debt. Our answer is they should have thought about that years ago. As we stated so often over the years one interest rate can never serve all. The south was allowed to borrow too cheaply and too much. That is the main reason for the euro zones failure. It was apparent a few years ago trouble was on the way when a number of nations citizens voted against a European Constitution, but their bought and paid for representatives, who serve the ruling class not the people, overrode them. Patience of the electorate has worn thin and we can only see radical change ahead. This has forced Dutch PM Mark Rutte to demand budget cuts in southern Europe, which do little good, because few are listening. He has to cut the Dutch budget about $12 billion, which is equal to 1.5% of GDP to hold up the ratings of all of the participants, except Germany and Finland. Public sentiment to all this is negative and there is now the probability Ruttes government will collapse. If that happens it could quickly lead to the fall of the euro. Holland is in its second recession in three years and unemployment has risen to 5%. Consumer confidence is a minus 37, the lowest since 2003. For the 5th year Holland has missed its mandated goal of public debt at 3% of GDP. It is currently about 4.5% in great part the result of bailouts and subsidies to those who are unable to play by the rules. Dutch debt is rising to 73% of GDP from 69.7%. The EU limit is 60% of GDP. By comparison German debt to GDP is 81.8% and it is 47.2% in Finland. The solvent countries are paying a terrible personal price to subsidize the southern tier. How can Greece be better off receiving $25 billion and with more debt and less sovereignty? The citizens are still demonstrating and revenue collections have fallen off a cliff. Greece is still competing on euro terms, which still makes them uncompetitive. In spite of the CDS market opting for a partial default to save their business we expect the NYC banks to experience much less business. Participation in sovereign debt will simply fall apart and interest rates will not return to lower levels. Taking up the rear is the IMF, which plans to contribute $30 billion in this second Greek bailout, which is 14% of the total, of which about 19% comes from American taxpayers. That is down from 27% in the first package. Of that $30 billion, $12.7 billion comes from funds left over and not used in the first bailout. Approval may come on March 15th. The ECB and solvent euro zone countries want excess liquidity drained from the system ASAP. Their finance ministers want to revive debate on a stronger firewall, but

that doesnt seem probable after the German court said that the ESM was unconstitutional. Complicating matters every couple of weeks a new corruption scandal is uncovered. Not just among Greeks in government, but the German company Siemens was convicted of bribes and paid a fine of $170 million and will have to create 700 new jobs in Greece. In fact the current finance minister Venezelos has been deeply involved in corruption as well, and that goes back many years. We believe the control freaks in northern Europe have finally figured out that there is no way to deal with the Greek culture from a mid-European cultural aspect, or from accepted law. To a more or lesser degree the same thing exists in the other four troubled countries. As we pointed out earlier Hollands austerity measures in behalf of bailouts for Greece and others are putting tremendous pressure on their economy. In 2011 Germany failed to reach its austerity goals and they are behind schedule this year as well. Only 42% of spending cuts named by Mrs. Merkels coalition government were implemented. There were $6.16 billion in cuts and that is from a total of $14.7 billion. Its do as I say not as I do. Of $25.4 billion in savings less than half has become reality. The goal is to eliminate all borrowing by 2020. These rules should have a heavy impact on all EU economies and probably will bring about the purge that is necessary to save what is left of the world financial system. Just to show you how out of touch with reality euro zone finance ministers are they want to again revive debate on raising the EU firewall backup funds for bailouts. In order to do that Germany would have to amend its constitution. We dont think the voters will allow them to do that. At the same time German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants a Europe wide tax on financial transactions. He joins nine other ministers from other countries who want to foist another tax on the citizens of Europe. The US press gave little or no coverage of a 500,000 person peaceful march in Spain over labor reform, that switches more power to employers and makes it cheaper to fire workers. They marched in 60 cities. Over in Italy the appointed president Mario Monti is trying to do the same thing as Spain to fatten corporate profits. All is not always what it seems to be. The CFTC announced that the CME Clearing Europe LTD has vacated the registration of CMECEL, as a derivatives clearing operation. This has been a very lucrative market for the CME in CDS alone, which is a $50 trillion market. Is that why CMEs CEO Craig Donohue, who is a flamboyant liar has resigned? The Greek bailout has to stink to high heaven and this move by the CME could be the beginnings of trouble or perhaps even a scandal. At the last minute somehow miraculously the quota was completed at 95% of private participants to get the deal done. Could it be extortion, blackmail and payoffs were employed? If we had to guess wed say yes. Eventually losses of 74% were taken. On the other hand the real depth of the CDS losses by six NYC money center legacy banks we predict could be close to $30 billion. If that becomes fact, that means those banks, which own the Fed, would have to again be bailed out by the Fed. This could be TARP all over again, but this time the public would have no knowledge of such a bailout until someone goes poking around, like Bloomberg did and finally won their appeal exposing what liars the Fed and its owners are. The Greek debt crisis is not fine and all the top people in the EU are well aware of that. A little bird also tells us some of the private bondholders are taking legal action. It has to be serious when the German Finance minister says, We must be preparing now, any day, for a third bailout. The bottom line is Greece has not been saved and the euro is in serious trouble. As we said years ago this unnatural association 4

is doomed to failure. The only question is when does Greece fail? It could be in May or perhaps by the end of the year. Young people 18 to 25 years old fight wars. Their unemployment across Europe is staggering. That is 49.5% in Spain along with 22% among others. In Greece youth unemployment is 51.1%; otherwise it is 21%. In Greece that is more than 1 million young people and that is up 41% yoy. Only about 4 million people have jobs, or 36.1% of the population of about 11 million. Greece is in depression and they cannot service debt nor roll over existing debt. That means soon they will need more money. In regard to future bailout funds the French expect a merger of the EFSF when the ESM is approved. The German Federal Court says it is unconstitutional for the German parliament to approve such a measure. Yet, Europes one-worlders proceed as if they had never heard of the German Court decision. These people live in a psychotic fantasy world believing only they have the answers. MBF Clearing Corp. was sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and accused of failing to properly segregate customer accounts from its own funds and of violating the Commodity Exchange Act. MBF employees from September 2008 to March 2010 deposited $30 million to $60 million in customer funds into a U.S. government money market fund at JPMorgan Chase & Co. without properly segregating them, the CFTC said today in a complaint in federal court in New York. The funds werent properly titled, and redemption provisions didnt comply with CFTC regulations, the agency said. Nor was there proper documentation for the account, it said. MBF also allegedly failed to obtain customer segregation acknowledgement letters on two accounts holding funds for foreign customers from February 2007 to April 2010. MBF failed to diligently supervise its employees and agents, the CFTC said in the complaint. MBF did not have any written policies or procedures governing the opening and maintenance of customer segregated accounts. Strongest Bank The New York-based firm was accused of failing to maintain sufficient funds in segregation on about 322 business days from Oct. 3, 2008, to March 26, 2010. MBF describes itself on its website as a buyer and seller of commodities futures contracts and says it was founded in 1987. The CFTC asked for a court order barring MBFs unlawful acts and practices and unspecified civil penalties. As of Feb. 10, MBF held $57.2 million in customer funds, according to the CFTC. On March 5, MBFs customer account contained no cash, according to the CFTC. Mark B. Fisher, MBFs president and founder, said in an interview that the firm invested customer segregated money in a U.S. government money market fund in the strongest bank in the world, JPMorgan. The CFTCs complaint acknowledges that MBF was informed by JPMorgan on actual account statements that the account was described as a Commodity Customer Segregated Bank Account, Fisher said. Lehman Bankruptcy What the complaint fails to say is that MBF Clearing Corp. had placed its customer funds into the JPMorgan government money market account two days after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy for the sole purpose of protecting its customers funds by depositing them in the safest bank in the world and in the most secure investments, namely U.S. government securities, Fisher said.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Sept. 15, 2008. As soon as MBF was notified the JPMorgan account might not qualify for segregation, the firm moved all of the customer funds out of this account and reported what had occurred to its designated self-regulatory agency, the CME Group Inc., Fisher said. Not a nickel of customer money was lost, Fisher said. We are disappointed that the CFTC has chosen to address this matter through an enforcement proceeding. Protecting Its Customers Fisher said that MBF and its customers also were victims of the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. Consistent with its approach of protecting its customers, however, MBF took the MF Global losses onto itself and made all of its customers whole, Fisher said. MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31 after getting margin calls and bank demands for money at its operating unit, MF Global Inc. The case is CFTC v. MBF Clearing Corp., 12-cv-1830, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The current-account deficit in the U.S. widened more than forecast in the fourth quarter to $124.1 billion, the biggest in three years. The gap, the broadest measure of international trade because it includes income payments and government transfers, grew 15 percent from a revised $107.6 billion shortfall in the prior quarter that was smaller than initially estimated, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a $115 billion fourth-quarter deficit. Imports of goods may keep rising as an improving job market underpins consumer spending, and businesses replace outdated equipment. The overall balance of payments deficit is also a reminder of U.S. dependence on foreign investors for funding. A widening of the balance just tells you about the relative growth rate of the U.S. compared with other economies, said Jeremy Lawson, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York. Theres a fairly good chance that the deficit will widen again because imports are on track to outpace exports. The gap for all of 2011 widened to $473.4 billion, or 3.1 percent of gross domestic product, from $470.9 billion a year earlier. Estimates of the 43 economists in a Bloomberg survey ranged from deficits of $103 billion to $126 billion. The third-quarter shortfall was revised from a previously reported $110.3 billion. Import Prices Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose less than forecast in February, reflecting the biggest drop in food costs in three years, another report today showed. The 0.4 percent gain in the import-price index follows little change in January, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected the gauge would increase 0.6 percent, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The gap represented 3.2 percent of GDP last quarter, compared with 2.8 percent in the third quarter. The trade deficit, which accounted for most of the current- account gap, widened 4.7 percent to $141.1 billion in the fourth quarter, todays report showed.

Rising oil costs are contributing to the shortfall. Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $94.06 last quarter, up from $89.54 the prior three months. January Deficit More recent figures indicate the current-account balance may widen this quarter. The trade gap grew to $52.6 billion in January, the biggest deficit since October 2008, from $50.4 billion in December. Imports rose to a record in January, as did exports of autos and capital goods. For many products, demand has been above our ability to produce, Mike DeWalt, director of investor relations at Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the worlds biggest maker of trucks, said on a Jan. 26 conference call with analysts. We have invested in Caterpillar factories in the United States and around the world to increase production. U.S. income on overseas assets fell by $5.7 billion to $180.7 billion in the fourth quarter, todays report showed. Foreign earnings on U.S. assets, including wages and compensation, increased by $4.6 billion to $130.5 billion. That left a $50.3 billion surplus on income payments, down from $60.6 billion surplus in the prior quarter. U.S. investments overseas generally yield more than the Treasury securities that foreign investors prefer to buy, helping maintain the income surplus. Payments by the U.S. government to foreigners and other private transfers abroad exceeded inflows from overseas by $33.3 billion last quarter, compared with $33.5 billion in the previous period. Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose less than forecast in February, reflecting the biggest drop in food costs in three years. The 0.4 percent gain in the import-price index follows little change in January, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected the gauge would increase 0.6 percent, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices excluding fuel fell 0.1 percent. A slowing global economy may restrain demand for commodities, limiting inflation pressures in the U.S. even as energy costs rise. Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday projected theyll keep interest rates low at least until late 2014, predicting the jump in fuel prices will be temporary. Demand for home purchases picked up for the third week in a row last week, though applications for refinancing sagged, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of overall mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 2.4 percent in the week ended March 9. The MBA'S gauge of loan requests for home purchases gained 4.4 percent. The rise in demand coincided with data released last week that showed employers hired more than 200,000 workers for the third month in a row in February . Even so, the level of applications was essentially unchanged compared with the same time last year, Michael Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. "Purchase activity remains subdued and within the narrow range we have seen since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit in 2010," said Fratantoni. Purchase application volume for February jumped 18.0 percent from the previous month, but was still down 2.0 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications slumped 4.1 percent, while the refinance share of total mortgage activity eased to 75.1 percent of applications from 77.0 percent the week before. Fixed 30-year mortgage rates held steady at an average 4.06 percent. The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA. Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in March at the fastest pace in almost a year as factory employment picked up. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphias general economic index increased to 12.5 this month, in line with projections, from 10.2 in February. Economists forecast the gauge would rise to 12, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings greater than zero signal expansion in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Manufacturers are positioned to keep expanding as companies rebuild stockpiles and invest in new equipment. Whats more, labor market gains may help bolster consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, and further propel the industry. Fox Business News on bank stress test results: Theres still good news, though: 15 of the 19 banks passed the tests, meaning they might start being more aggressive in how they use their money. The bad news is, the big banks have been hitting their profit numbers by using all sorts of accounting moves to paper over losses. Without these moves, and with real estate and European debt still hamstringing their balance sheets, banks like Citigroup and Bank of America will have a tough time trying to raise their dividends or do stock repurchases. Bank shares trade well below asset values, some at 40% of tangible book value, like Bank of America, meaning investors may expect big writedowns in the future. The accounting moves include wonky sounding things like debt valuation adjustments, sluicing loan loss reserves back into income, and relying heavily on tax losses to lower tax bills to the IRS and thus boost reported profits. Two-thirds of Citigroups $21.9 billion in total net income for the last two years came from accounting moves Companies including Citi get to book these losses as assets, called deferred tax assets, on their balance sheet. They then can use these losses to lower their taxes in the future, meaning, when they start making taxable profits again. But normally, companies that go bankrupt cant use those assets to reduce their tax bills. However Citi, as did Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, got a pass here when Congress rescued these companies and essentially kept them bankruptcy, allowing the use of these DTAs for insolvent companies. But whats funky here too is that Citi and other companies get to include these DTAs in their tier one regulatory capital, a highly questionable practice. Capital should be solid capital, not paper gains. Moreover, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods notes theres another game here for banks on the brink with their DTAs. Banks often book reserves against their DTAs, in case they cant use them. When they cant use them, then they get to sluice right back into earnings those reserves, too. Again, not solid, organic earnings growth. The Real Problem At Goldman Sachs? You, The Muppet Client (Forbes) How many times does Goldman have to show us that its not into putting the clients interest before its own before we stop expecting them to do otherwise? As my colleague Steve Schaefer points out it was less than two years ago that Goldman paid $550 million to settle claims that it allowed hedge fund manager John Paulson to 8

help set up a mortgage-backed security designed to fail, then failed to disclose the fact to the other investors to whom it sold the deal Josh Brown puts it best with this: The culture of Goldman Sachs was, is and always will be about making money, often at the expense of a clientTHAT is your firms culture, going back a hundred and fifty years. from Citi to Goldman (which itself is trading at just 0.92 times book value), is locked into a vicious cycle of short-term greed, where everybody from traders to shareholders is trying to get their money out as quickly as possible, and regulators are fighting a rear-guard action trying to prevent them from doing so. Its fundamentally dysfunctional and adversarial, with bankers pitted against both regulators and their own clients What regulators should be doing, I think, is encouraging the likes of Citi to give back capital to shareholders just so long as the banks capital ratios go up at the same time. In a word, deleveraging. The lesson of the 2008 bailouts is very much that no matter how much capital you inject into banks, they wont lend it out in the real economy. So lets allow that capital to leave the banks, return to shareholders, and get invested in the economy some other way. Just so long as when that happens, the big banks shrink commensurately California Tax Revenue Plunges by 22%. Compared to last year, State tax collections for February shriveled by $1.2 billion or 22%. The deterioration is more than double the shocking $535 million reported decline for last month. The cumulative fiscal year decline is $6.1 billion or down 11% versus this period in 2011 Given that 2012 has an extra day in February for leap year, there might have been one day more of tax refunds sent out. But the Controllers report shows personal income tax collections fell by $325 million, or 16% versus last year. Furthermore, leap year would have added another day for retail sales and use tax collection, but those revenues also fell during February-by an even larger $813 million, 25% decline from 2011. The more likely reason tax collections continue falling is that businesses and successful people are leaving California for the better tax rates available in more pro-business states. We need to end the orgy of rule making in America (John Stossel) If you have 10,000 regulations, Winston Churchill said, you destroy all respect for law. But Churchill never imagined a government that would add 10,000 year after year. Thats what we have in America. We have 160,000 pages of rules from the feds alone. States and localities have probably doubled that. We have so many rules that legal specialists cant keep up Congress has created so many criminal offenses that the American Bar Association says it would be futile to even attempt to estimate the total. .. It is precisely because society is unfathomably complex that laws must be kept simple. No legislature can possibly prescribe rules for the complex network of uncountable transactions and acts of cooperation that take place every day F.A. Hayek wisely said, The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. Another Nobel laureate, James M. Buchanan, put it this way: Economics is the art of putting parameters on our utopias. The Philly Fed Survey increased to 12.5; 12 was expected. But there are significant declines in New Orders (3.3 from 11.7) and Shipments (3.5 from 15). The big story is the enormous decline in prices paid. 9

Somehow, the Philly Fed got price paid to decline 20 points, to 18.7 from 38.7. Not only is this bizarre reading contradicted by the NY Manufacturings 25 point surge, it is also contradicted by reality. The Philly Fed Survey increased to 12.5; 12 was expected. But there are significant declines in New Orders (3.3 from 11.7) and Shipments (3.5 from 15). The big story is the enormous decline in prices paid. Somehow, the Philly Fed got price paid to decline 20 points, to 18.7 from 38.7. Not only is this bizarre reading contradicted by the NY Manufacturings 25 point surge, it is also contradicted by reality. The Philly Fed Survey also shows the persistent gap between hope (expectations) and reality. Please note that the significant discount commenced after the Great US Stock Bubble burst. SHORT NOTES Four of the 19 largest U.S. banks have not passed the stress test, the Fed said on Tuesday, as the organizations do not have sufficient capital to withstand a possible worsening of the current economic situation. Among those who failed the test were Citigroup, the third largest bank in the country. In addition, poor result were shown by SunTrust, MetLife, and Ally Financial. Wholesale prices in the U.S. climbed in February by the most in five months, reflecting a jump in fuel costs that Federal Reserve officials project will be temporary. The producer price index rose 0.4 percent following a 0.1 percent increase the prior month, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.5 percent gain, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The core measure excluding volatile food and energy rose 0.2 percent, less than in the prior month. Claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to match a four-year low and U.S. consumer confidence rose to the highest since 2008, signaling an improving labor market may boost household spending. Applications for unemployment insurance payments fell by 14,000 to 351,000 in the period ended March 10, Labor Department figures showed today. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 33.7 from minus 36.7 in the week ended March 11. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage hovered near historic lows this week, making home-buying and refinancing more attractive to those who can qualify. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.92 percent. That's up from 3.88 percent the previous week. The rate touched 3.87 percent four weeks ago, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.16 percent, up from a record low of 3.13 percent last week.

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U.S. factories stepped up production in February for the third straight month, helping the economy recover and driving the best job growth since the recession ended. The Federal Reserve said Friday that the output of the nation's factories rose 0.3 percent last month. That followed even stronger increases in January and December, which combined for the best two month stretch since 1998. Overall industrial production, which includes output by mines and utilities, was unchanged. Mining activity declined sharply and utilities were flat. The CFTC complaint alleges that Joseph Welsh, while working for the firm, used a manipulative scheme commonly known as "banging the close" between at least June 2006 through May 2008 on no fewer than 12 separate occasions to alter prices. BN: Goldmans Hatzius Sees Sterilized QE3 Launched in April or June [Hes a commodity bull.] Reasons for stimulus are that improving economic data may not last, faster growth desirable to push unemployment down more quickly, and not easing might be equivalent to tightening [Say what?!] Energy costs were 9.5 percent higher in February than the same month a year ago, breaking a fall in euro zone inflation and pushing consumer prices up to 2.7 percent in the month AAA: Last Wednesdays weekly Department of Energy report measured demand for the week prior at just 8.262 million barrels per day approximately 930,000 barrels or more than 11% below the same week in 2011Despite this anemic demand, gasoline prices continue to rise The thing about inflation is that it comes out of nowhere and hits youThe reason that markets havent jumped yet is that the last great inflation and correction happened in the late 1970s and early 1980s, just long enough ago that most adults in the financial markets dont remember it GOLD, SILVER, PLATINUM AND PALADIUM Wednesday was bad from the get go. Spot gold fell $51.20 to $1,642.50, as April fell $52.90 to $1,641.30. Spot silver fell $1.84 to $31.87, as May fell $1.47 to $32.10. Gold open interest rose 1,771 contracts to 442,319, as silver OI fell 92 to 111,730. The HUI fell 19.30 to 479.17 and the XAU fell 6.29 to 177.24. The Dow rose 16 to 13,194, S&P fell 16 and Nasdaq rose 1 Dow point. The 10year T-note yielded 2.18%. The yen fell .0123; the euro fell .0044 to $1.3029; the pound fell .0009 to $1.5579; the Swiss franc fell .0080 to $.9297 and the Canadian dollar fell . 0021 to $1.0065. The USDX rose .35 to 80.54. Oil fell $1.10 to $105.60, gas fell $0.02 to $3.34 and natural gas rose $0.01 to $2.41. Copper fell $0.05 to $3.85, platinum fell $35.40 to $1,666.40 and palladium fell $11.40 to $696.15. The CRB Index fell 2.90 to 315.17.

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Early Thursday gold and silver started up firmly in the plus column. Spot gold rose $16.60 to $1,659.10, as April gained $15.50 to $1,658.20. Spot silver rose $0.78 to $32.69, as May rose $0.28 to $32.46. The leap by the 10-year T-note to 2.3% was quite startling and is probably the result of the end of QE 2 and the payback on loans. Gold open interest fell 4,726 contracts to 437,593, as silver OI fell 2.134 to 109,596. The XAU rose .45 to 177.68 and the HUI fell .20 to 479.03. Britain and the US have agreed to release strategic oil stocks in an effort to prevent higher fuel prices in the US election year. Chinas holdings of US Treasurys rose $8 billion to $1.160 trillion, as Japan added $21 billion to $1.079 trillion. The Bloomberg consumer comfort index was minus 33.7 versus 36.7 the prior week. The Dow rose 57 to 13,251, S&P rose 74 and Nasdaq rose 245 Dow points. The yen rose .0034 to $.8338; the euro rose .0063 to $1.3092; the pound rose .0043 to $1.5708; the Swiss franc rose .0091 to $.9215 and the Canadian dollar rose .0019 to $1.0065. The USDX fell .36 to 80.20. Oil fell $0.12 to $105.30, gas fell $0.06 to $3.28 and natural gas fell $0.02 to $2.40. Copper rose $0.05 to $3.90, platinum rose $9.40 to $1,684.70 and palladium rose $12.45 to $708.60. The CRB Index rose .73 to 315.90. Friday started out well but it was not to last for long. By 4:00 AM EST gold was off $12.40 and silver $0.41. It was obvious the cartel wanted yesterdays gains back and for gold and silver to end the week down. Again, the government is your enemy. Spot gold fell $3.60 to $1,655.50, as April fell $2.20 to $1,657.30. Spot silver fell $0.12 to $32.57, as May fell $0.11 to $32.60. Gold open interest rose 4,057 contracts to 441,650, as silver OI fell 2,873 to 106,723. In silver the COT report for commercials decreased net shorts by 165 contracts. On the gold side the net reduction was 11,588. The XAU fell .28 to 177.40 and the HUI fell 2.09 to 476.94. AEM rose $1.02%, or $0.34 to $33.81; GG fell 0.76%, or $0.34 to $44.14; SSRI rose 0.34%, or $0.05 to $14.67; PVG fell 1.96%, or $0.34 to $17.05; AXU fell 2.09%, or $0.15 to $7.01 and HLLXF rose 0.90%, or $0.01 to $0.81. Morgan Stanley had the country of Italy on the hook for $3.4 billion in derivatives. Those trades were set in the 1990s and have been closed out and paid for. Is it any wonder Italy is broke. The cost was about half of Italys tax revenue for the year. Italy has a record debt of $2.5 trillion. They have lost $31 billion in total in derivatives. The early March Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment fell to 74.3 from 75.3 two weeks ago. We hear India is laying a new tax of 10% on gold imports, which means nothing. Almost all gold enters India as smuggled contraband. As a result it is disinformation.
Discount Gold & Silver Trading For the best in pricing and service for gold and silver coins, call Melody at 1-800-375-4188. Be sure to listen to DGSTC live on Short-wave 7.490Mhz M-F 4:00PM ET, and 9.880 MHz . Online listen to archives at dgscoins.com and American Voice Radio Call 1-800-375-4188 or visit the Web site at dgscoins.com or email us at: discountgoldandsilver@yahoo.com Discount Gold & Silver Trading Co. provides all forms of precious metals including gold, silver platinum and palladium whether you are buying or selling. Our inventory includes but

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not limited to the American Gold, Silver, Platinum Eagle and numismatic products including rare, investment and circulated coins. Silver dollars, silver bars, rounds are on hand for the silver investor. Foreign gold is also available. Call for information regarding your precious metal gold and silver IRA. 1 800 375 4188

Inflation or Deflation? I had a life-changing event this week. I went grocery shopping. As a result, I've decided to give up writing and hosting radios shows for a living. I'm getting' into the big time: cattle rustling. The price of food is rising, but here at Dallas, Texas, the price of beef is exploding. Two weeks ago, I bought four steaks on sale for $25. Yesterday, I saw an equivalent bundle of four steaks on sale at the same grocery store for $35. To heck with that. I went to Walmart. They're always cheap. But, lo and behold, Walmart beef was just as expensive as the first grocery storesso I decided to curb my appetite for beef and buy some chicken thighs. They're always cheap. I walked over to the Walmart chicken thighs and was shocked (shocked, I tell you, shocked!) to see they were priced at $3.47 per pound. I looked at that price, squinted, walked away shaking my head in disbelief. Then I thought, No, I must've made a mistake, so I walked back to take a second, deliberate look and, sure enough; the chicken thighs were still $3.47 per pound! Who knows? Maybe the Walmart computer screwed up. Maybe there was a data entry error. If I went over there today, chicken thighs might be priced at 85 cents per pound. But yesterday, I saw $3.47 per pound. I saw it twice and it only confirmed what you and I have seen for at least three years. The price of food is rising. Its rising quickly and not showing any sign of falling any time soon. That's evidence of inflation. Anyone who drives knows that the price of gasoline is also rising dramatically. That's more evidence of inflation. Inflation is usually characteristic of increasing demand and a strengthening economy. So, is the economy strengthening? If not, why are we seeing inflation? Despite obvious increases in the prices of food and gasoline, government assures us that inflation is a modest 2.93%. Others claim the real inflation rate is closer to 10%. Judging from the price increases Ive seen in steak, salmon, bell pepper and even chicken thighs, Id bet on 10% before I bet on 3%. Still, there's evidence to support the government's inflation estimates: falling housing prices. During the past 18 years, the average price for homes rose 124% from $127,000 (1994) to $285,000 (2006) and then fell 30% to today's price of $197,000. Even after the recent 30% fall, since '94, the actual price of homes is still up 55% almost 2% per year. Thats not so bad. Homeowners can remember the euphoria they felt from 1995 through 2006 as their homes' prices rose higher and everyone seemed to be getting richer. But were homeowners really getting richer? When you adjust for monetary inflation, today's average home price is only $128,000 as compared to $127,000 in '94that's less than 1% up in 27 years. (Takes all the fun out of home ownership, doesnt it?) When we compare the price of homes adjusted for inflation to the actual price of homes, and recall the euphoria of homeownership from 1995 to 2006, we can begin to see that we were deceived into thinking American homes were increasingly valuable, when in fact, they weren't. Our homeowner euphoria was as artificial as a crack addicts dream. How was that deception achieved? Gov-co made easy credit available to all (even subprime borrowers). Where'd they get the easy credit? They spun it out of thin air. In order to stimulate the economy in the late 1990s, gov-co specifically stimulated the housing markets by

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inflating the credit available to homebuyers and thereby creating a demand for homes where there was none. This "better-living-by-stimulation" strategy seemed to work pretty well for about a decade, and then the illusory "bubble" popped, reality reasserted itself, and the economy nearly crashed. We were artificially stimulated by monetary inflation to buy houses we didnt need, couldnt afford and didnt deserve. In retrospect, we can see that monetary inflation did not create an economic reality so much as stimulate an economic illusion. But, however you figure the price of homes, its clear that those prices have fallen for the past 6 years. Falling prices are evidence of deflation. Deflation is usually a symptom of falling demand and an economy in recession or even depression. Employment and wages are also falling. A friend of mine installed the electrical system in small factory at Dallas. Earlier this week, we visited the factory. There were about 40 employees. Some White, some Mexican, mostly Asian. Most were being paid less than minimum wage. I was surprised that any employer could get by with employing people at less than minimum wage. I was amazed that employees would accept a job that paid less than minimum wage. According to government, the US unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of over 10% in A.D. 2009 to about 8.3%. According to Gallup, unemployment measured without seasonal adjustment, is currently 9.1% and rising. Gallup also claims than another10.0% are working part time but want full-time work. As a result, Gallup's U.S. underemployment measure (which combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed and the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work) rose from 18.7% in January to 19.1% in February. John Williams (ShadowStats.com) calculates the unemployment figures without the modern gimmicks that are used by government to create false or misleading results. He claims the true unemployment rate is actually about 22%. For American youth, 18 to 25, the unemployment rate runs nearer to 40%. Unemployment rates below 10% are consistent with a recession. Unemployment rates over 20% can be symptomatic of a depression. So, where are we? In recession or depression? Are we headed for inflation or deflation? Falling employment and falling wages are evidence of deflation and at least recession and probably depression. My point is that were seeing mixed evidence of both inflation and deflation. This isn't unusual. There was probably never a time when any economy was purely deflationary or purely inflationary. Theres always a mix of rising and falling prices in any economy. The question of whether were in inflationary times or deflationary times depend on predominance and degree. If most prices are rising, we're in an era of inflation. If most prices are falling, we're in an era of deflation. If the price increases (inflation) are mild, the economy is probably doing well. If the price decreases (deflation) are predominant but mild, the economy is probably in a recession. If price decreases are both predominant and significant, the economy is probably in a depression. Knowing whether the economy is in recovery, recession or depression is vital to making investment decisions. Soin an economy where the prices of food and gasoline are rising . . . but the prices of housing and labor are fallingwhere the' heck are we? Inflation or deflation? Recovery, recession or depression? The answer as to which trendinflation or deflationpredominates, might be found in the government's attempt to "stimulate" the economy by pumping additional trillions of fiat dollars into the US and global economies.

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In A.D. 2009, Congress argued bitterly over whether it should or should not inject $600 billion or even $1 trillion into our economy. Congress eventually enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and settled for the seemingly massive injection of $800 billion in economic stimulus (monetary inflation) into the economy. This $800 billion was the largest economic recovery program in history. Adjusted for inflation, it was nearly five times more expensive than FDR's Works Progress Administration. It was bigger than the Louisiana Purchase, the Manhattan Project, the moon race and the Marshall Plan. However, last year we learned that, about the same time that the federal government openly injected $800 billion into the economy, the Federal Reserve secretly injected $16 trillion to US and foreign banks and corporations to try to inflate prices, inflate profits, and jump-start the US and global economies. $800 billion is an enormous sum of money, but $16 trillion is a lot more. $16 trillion is twenty times greater than the $800 billion our Congress debated vociferously in A.D. 2009. $16 trillion is more than the US annual Gross Domestic Product. In retrospect, the Fed's $16 trillion makes the congressional debate over $800 look trivial, silly, and unimportant. But the $16 trillion injection also demonstrates just how far the gov-co will go to stimulate the economy by means of inflation. (Given the Feds secret dispersal of $16 trillion circa 2009, whos to say that the Fed isnt secretly dispersing another $32 trillion right now?) Distribution of the Fed's $16 trillion and the government's $800 billion (plus additional hundreds of billions) is evidence that the gov-co is absolutely determined to cause enough inflation to save us from imminent deflation and depression. If the gov-cos massive injections fiat currency provides some cause for optimism (the gov-co is struggling hard to stimulate the economy), the results of those injections are cause for pessimism. So far, all that bail-out and stimulus currency has done is prevented (or at least postpone) the US and global economies from falling into a full-blown depression. Thats a good thing. But all that fiat currency has done little or nothing to actually stimulate and improve the economyand thats shocking. The gov-co injected over $18 trillion in fiat currency into the US and global economies, and the net result was no gain. All they did was buy some time. This signals that the forces favoring deflation and economic depression are huge. The US and global economies seem figuratively exhausted by unsustainable debt obligations incurred during the last 40 years of fiat currency "partying". During those 40 years, our economies were "over-stimulated" by continuous injections of fiat currency. Now, those economies need to rest, to sleep, to rebuild. But the gov-co, like a meth dealer, is trying to keep the party going by injecting the economies with ever more stimulants. It's certain that the meth (fiat currency) addicts that comprise our economy must eventually crash. They can't party forever. Sooner or later debts must be paid or openly repudiated. But, will the fiat currency addicts crash this yearor next? Will our friendly local "meth dealer" (the gov-co) distribute enough new "meth" (fiat currency) to keep the "addicts" (consumers) partying for another 2, 3 or even 5 years? Even more importantly, will the partiers lose their appetite for "meth"? That is, will fiat dollars lose their status as the consumers' "drug of choice"? Were going to see monetary inflation. The gov-co wants inflation so it can repay its enormous debts with cheaper dollars. More monetary inflation will cause rising prices and further declines in the purchasing power of the fiat dollar and those paper debt-instruments like stocks, bonds and pension funds denominated in fiat dollars. We might even see hyperinflation. Note that while moderate inflation might be justified as a means to at least temporarily stimulate an economy, hyperinflation is not intended to stimulate the economyit's intended to erase existing debts. If the government causes 5% or even 10% inflation, that level of inflation will wipe out some of the existing debt but, for the most 15

part, may stimulate the economyat least temporarily. But if the government causes inflation of 26% per year for three years or more, that will wipe out 60% of the purchasing power of the fiat dollar and 60% of the value of paper debt-instruments denominated in fiat dollars. Prices will double; savings will be destroyed. That's hyperinflation. The result is ruin for all creditors who saved their wealth in the form of fiat dollars or paper debt instruments. As creditors wealth erodes under the weight of inflation, therell be less collateral available to make loans and extend credit to create new jobs and businesses. This leads to higher unemployment and more sub-prime consumers unable to borrow from private sources. If the unemployed cant borrow, they cant spend. If they cant spend, the economy declines more rapidly towards depression. Solution? More government sub-prime borrower and welfare programs. But where will gov-co get the currency to lend to our sub-prime consumers and welfare recipients? If it cant borrow more currency from foreign sources, itll be forced to spin more currency out of thin air. That means more monetary inflation. More inflation means creditors with savings in the form of fiat dollars or fiat-dollar denominated debt instruments, will continue to lose the purchasing power of their savings. The loss of creditors' assets will tend to collapse rather than stimulate the economy. Given our gov-co's determination to inflate the fiat dollar, how long can inflation persist before the public abandon the fiat dollar and seeks an alternative currency and alternative medium for preserving their wealth? Faced with persistent monetary inflation, creditors who wish to preserve their savings will have no choice but to abandon fiat dollars and paper debt-instruments and move their wealth into something tangible like farmland, gold or silver. Its difficult to see for sure if were in a period of inflation or deflation and whether were merely in recession or already in depression. Our confusion was triggered by our abandonment of gold and silver as our national currency. Weve now had over 40 years of economic madness (fiat currency) and were left in a place where reason seems increasingly tenuous and facts harder to find. But, when I balance the forces of inflation against the forces of deflation, it seems inevitable that we're heading for deflation and an economic depression. We may see significant inflation or even hyperinflation before we see deflation, but were going to see deflation. If deflation is not the predominant trend today, it will be. If deflation predominates, well slide into a depression and cash will once again be kingjust as it was in the Great Depression. But during the Great Depression our paper cash was backed by silver. The real cash that was king was silver dollars. In the next, Greater Depression, its improbable that people will accept any paper or digital currency as king unless its also backed by gold or silver coin. Im convinced that in the event of another Depression, the cash that will be king will be gold and silver coin. If Im right that: 1) were headed for a depression and 2) the next cash to be king will be gold and silver; then those who currently have savings denominated in fiat dollars should: 1) get as far away from fiat dollars as possible; and 2) purchase all the gold and silver they can find. If Im right, those who turn their savings into gold and silver will (at least) preserve their purchasing power. If Im wrong, we continue on into inflation and prices of gold & silver will rise, and those holding gold/silver should profit handsomely. If inflation, gold bugs profit. If deflation, they preserve their wealth. In these uncertain financial times, theres no place left to go but gold and silver.
MAKE SURE YOU CALL MELODY AT DISCOUNT GOLD & SILVER TRADING 1 800 375 4188 Discount Gold & Silver Trading Co. provides all forms of precious metals including gold, silver platinum and palladium whether you are buying or selling. Our inventory includes but

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not limited to the American Gold, Silver, Platinum Eagle and numismatic products including rare, investment and circulated coins. Silver dollars, silver bars, rounds are on hand for the silver investor. Foreign gold is also available. Call for information regarding your precious metal gold and silver IRA. 1 800 375 4188

COMMODITIES CFTC Vacates CME Clearing Europe Limited Registration as a Derivatives Clearing Organization Washington, DC At the request of CME Clearing Europe Limited (CMECEL), pursuant to Section 7 of the Commodity Exchange Act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an Order on March 13, 2012, vacating the registration of CMECEL as a derivatives clearing organization. The Order of Vacation is available on the CFTCs website. A top U.S. regulator said his agency plans to widen day-to-day monitoring of the commodities and futures markets, targeting the high-speed trading firms that are a growing force An estimated 80 to 90 orders are put into futures markets for every trade that actually happens, according to Mr. Gensler, and experts say about 90% of all orders on stock exchanges are canceled. The SEC is weighing whether to put a fee on orders that high-speed firms place and later cancel. For now, the CFTC doesn't have a cancellation fee, but a new group in the commission will consider the issue, which many exchanges and high-frequency firms oppose EUROPE European car sales dropped the most in more than a year, led by Renault SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen as consumers shied away from purchases amid a weak economy. Registrations in February fell 9.2 percent from a year earlier to 923,381 million vehicles, the fifth consecutive monthly decline, Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA, said today in a statement. The decline was the steepest since a 16 percent drop in October 2010. Two-month sales fell 7.8 percent to 1.93 million vehicles. Sales in France, Europes second-biggest market after Germany, plummeted 20 percent, while deliveries in Italy, its third-biggest, plunged 19 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are predicting a contraction of about 5 percent in Europe this year, the fifth straight annual decline, as the sovereign-debt crisis prompts consumers to rein in spending. Former European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said officials must accept that Portugal and Ireland may need further assistance if they want to limit debt restructuring to Greece. It should be recognized right away that Portugal may not be able to return to the markets next year and needs an additional bailout package, Bini Smaghi said in an article published on the Financial Times website today. If it is unable to finance itself until 2016, it will need approximately 100 billion euros. The same could be done for Ireland, which requires an additional 80 billion euros.

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Portugals implied borrowing costs have increased as investors fret about whether the nation will follow Greece in having to restructure its debt, with the yield on its two-year bond having doubled in the past year to 11.3 percent. The International Monetary Fund said on March 2 that Ireland may struggle to regain sufficient access to bond markets in 2013. Both countries have already received bailouts. Damaging claims have emerged about the funding of President Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign and his links with the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The French investigative website Mediapart claims to have seen a confidential note suggesting Gaddafi contributed up to 50 million to Mr. Sarkozy's election fund five years ago. A spokesman for Mr. Sarkozy has denied the reports. The note published by Mediapart says in translation ''methods to finance Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign [were] settled during the Libya visit'' of Mr. Sarkozy and his close friend and aide, Brice Hortefeux, who was also a government minister at the time. Franck Louvrier, a spokesman for Mr. Sarkozy, told Bloomberg News that the allegations were ''ridiculous, deceitful and false''. Mr. Hortefeux also denied them to Mediapart, although he confirmed that he had been in Libya with Mr. Sarkozy in October 2005. At the time Mr. Sarkozy was France's interior minister with well-documented ambitions to succeed Jacques Chirac. Political financing laws ban candidates from receiving cash payments above 7500 but Mediapart claims that 50 million mentioned in the memo was laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland. The Swiss account, it is alleged, was opened in the name of the sister of JeanFrancois Cope, the leader of Mr. Sarkozy's ruling UMP party and one of the most active campaigners for his re-election. The memo claims that ''ZT'', believed to be an arms dealer called Ziad Takieddine, known to have close ties with several of Mr. Sarkozy's most loyal aides, was ''in charge of arrangements''. It also mentions ''several previous meetings'' between Mr. Takieddine and Saif alIslam Gaddafi, Gaddafi's son and heir. Last year Saif al-Islam claimed Libya helped finance the 2007 campaign and demanded the French President, who led the war on the Libyan leader, return the money. In an interview with the Euronews TV channel, Saif al-Islam, who is currently being held in Libya after his father's defeat and death, threatened to make details of the bank transfers public after the French leader threw his weight behind opposition forces. Shortly after Mr Sarkozy's election, Gaddafi was invited to Paris and allowed to pitch his Bedouin tent in the grounds of an official French residence close to the Elysee palace. He was described as the ''Brother Leader'' by the French. Twenty-first century economists, financial actors and regulators blithely talked of the "risk-free debt" of governments, and European bank regulators set a zero-capital requirement on the debt of their governments. The manifold proof of their error is that banks and other investors are now taking huge credit losses on their Greek government bonds. The only question is why anybody would be surprised by this. The governments of country after country defaulted on their debt in the 1980s, a mere generation ago. In a longer view, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff count 250 defaults on government debt from 1800 to the early 2000s. As Max Winkler wrote in his instructive 1933 book,

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"Foreign Bonds: An Autopsy": "The history of government loans is really a history of government defaults." Among the financial history lessons now forgotten is the European sovereign debt crisis of the 1920s. The losers of World War I were flat broke. But the winners, principally the governments of Britain and France, had vast debts they could not pay. Simply put, the theory of the Versailles Peace Treaty at the end of the war was that Germany would be forced to pay reparations, a form of debt, so that France could pay its debt to Britain and the United States, and Britain could pay its debt to the United States The Presidential Election of Vladimir Putin shows a balance and shift in the power on the world stage that could be the difference between World War III and keeping the peace. I have to give credit for Putin throwing out the Oligarchs and Israeli duel citizens out of Russia. These bankers will keep menacing the Russian federation until Putin and his government is overthrown. The bankers want to control Russia. The bankers are a threat to world peace and stability. They will not stop at nothing until they control everything. First things first to start things off. Putin needs to pull out of the United Nations and stop paying the UN dues. Russia will be better off without the United Nations. The UN sanctioned the war in Libya and trying to get the blessing of the UN Security Council to invade Syria. Russia has stood steadfast against such an invasion. The UN is a eugenics world body determined on depopulating the earth while Russia is trying to repopulate their people. Putin, please pull Russia out of the UN if you want to send a severe blow to the Rockefeller clan and the House of Rothschild. For Russia to preserve its borders, culture and national integrity as a sovereign nation for future generations. He needs to pull the Russian Federation out of the United Nations. We can see the UN and the World Army being NATO forces will continue to encircling Russia strangling the nation. The UN being a front organization for the financial oligarchs Putin threw out of Russia, there is no sense being a member nation that will work against Russia's best interest and will undermine her sovereignty. I heard in Putins victory speech being animate about outside influences imposing their will on Russia. Then Russia should be the first nation to pull out of the UN because through NATO, the UN will try to impose its will on Russia trying to start a war. One more thing Putin has to do is put out an international bounty to arrest people like George Soros and all the other oligarchs working to overthrow Russia. It does not matter if they are a Rockefeller or a Rothschild these international criminals the world cannot afford to have linger around and undermine Russia another day. It would be nice if George Soros is captured and sent to Russia for a trial. It would do America well and the rest of the world if he is arrested. Russia must do all it can do to secure its future safety and security by first dealing with it threats. International Bankers are more of threat to the Russian Federation then standing armies are by fraud. These Oligarchs in Western Europe do not play games or nice getting what that want. The have killed leaders who stood up to them like JFK. President Andrew Jackson had many assassination attempts on his life for throwing out the Bankers. If the Bankers try to take out the Russian President, Elect. Putin should show the same ruthless attitude toward them putting the Bankers on notice putting out a letter of marquee and reprisal. That is after they find out who is responsible. It is my hope Putin will be that shift in power the world needs to overt a major war. I am happy Russia made the right choice placing him back in office.

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Russia has stood up not only for the sovereignty of the nations. Russia stood by the right of every nation to decide what kind of monetary system they want to use. To keep an imposing foreign central bankers out if the countries that does not want them controlling the money supply of a nation. It is a wait and see when Putin takes office how the west will respond to him. I am just glad the world's balance of power has shifted to stop the bankers off balance with Putin back in the Kremlin. Dozens of readers have sent me suggestions about places to go and people to meet in my search for stories behind the headlines in Athens, and I'm following up as many as I can. Others have sent me their own contributions. Tales of solidarity come from Victoria Prekate, an Athens secondary school teacher and psychologist, who relates how her colleagues in schools in the capital have been responding: It has been a common secret among PE teachers for some time now that they don't expect pupils to do PE any more, because many of them are underfed and get dizzy. They need to be discreet, as these underprivileged children don't wish to be exposed to their peers. In my previous school, the teachers arranged among themselves to give the school canteen some money, so that the canteen could give the child a snack, without embarrassing the child. However, this was not enough. In many schools today, it is the parents' associations who come together, gather food and discreetly arrange to allocate it to those families of the school who are suffering. In co-operation with the teachers, they know which children in the school are hungry and in need of help. Again, they try to do it as discreetly as possible. "Many families, suddenly left without work, are in shock and there is nowhere to turn. Social services are collapsing. They are not professional beggars. They are ordinary people like you and me, suddenly left with nothing. I know one area, where schools have specialised in what they gather: 1st primary school gather rice and legumes, 2nd vegetables, 3rd meat and chicken etc. Zenon Panoussis also mentions a whole string of local grassroots and semi-official self-help initiatives: There are direct producer-to-consumer markets, collective bargaining schemes at supermarkets, organised boycotts of motorway tolls, and book fairs. In Rethimno, Crete, regular free markets take place where products and services are exchanged without money and, consequently, without VAT. Some local councils in Athens are helping their citizens avoid paying the new special property tax that was slapped onto electricity bills. The borough of Peristeri specifically has an entire service to collect the bills and file appeals on behalf of its citizens. They are also organising direct producer to consumer markets for staple products. Delaying Greeces debt restructuring by more than a year reduced banks potential losses as firms trimmed their holdings and most of the risk shifted to European taxpayers. When Greece was first rescued by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in May 2010, lenders in other EU nations held $68 billion of its sovereign debt, according to the Bank for International Settlements. If Greece had defaulted, banks would have lost $51 billion at a 25 percent recovery rate.

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Banks holdings of Greek bonds fell by more than half to about $31 billion over the next 15 months, according to BIS, cutting creditors losses at last weeks swap by at least 45 percent. Lenders are protected against further losses thanks to sweeteners from the EU to encourage the exchange. Meanwhile, Greeces debt remains almost unchanged and the risk of future default is now mostly borne by the public. The same playbook is being used with Portugal and Ireland New loans from the U.S. would make Germany's planned payments possible. Americans would lend Germany money, so it could pay France and Britain, so they could pay the U.S. One might imagine that this pattern of making new loans to pay old obligations was not sustainable, and it wasn't In 1934, the German government announced it was no longer paying on Dawes bonds. By 1936, 35% of the sovereign bonds floated in New York in the 1920s were in defaultan experience similar to defaults on subprime mortgages in our own time. The vast majority of the sovereign debt that had been created by World War I also defaulted [Yet in the ensuing decades, riskless sovereign debt was hyped.] Because governments always promote government debt and can induce or pressure banks into buying it, future sovereign debt crises are inevitable. This is why for years we have asserted, despite academia, Street and solon assertions to the contrary, that sovereign debt defaults and restructurings are inevitable. The notion that sovereign debt is not riskless destroys many investing models, theories and propaganda. Marie Le Du writes with news of a thriving, more traditional self-help network in Kifissia, in the northern suburbs of Athens: These are traditionally viewed as the wealthy ones. However, beneath the veneer of apparent wealth, people have been suffering here, too. It is a different picture to downtown Athens in that you do not see the poverty on the streets in the same way. People here are embarrassed to find themselves in reduced circumstances and are doing what they can to camouflage it. They will very reluctantly admit to not having enough to eat, pay bills or heat their houses. With this in mind, our local Orthodox church (Agia Triada) did not organise a soup kitchen, but instead runs a food bank where people can donate food. Volunteers (mostly retired Greek women; my mother is one) then deliver the food to families that they have heard are in need (local news travels through the old-lady-network much more efficiently than any social media). In an attempt to help the needy families preserve their dignity, they work in pairs and visit two or three families that are "their" families, dropping in for a coffee, chat, to catch up and give the food parcel discreetly, as part of the visit (it is traditional in Greek culture to take food/sweets to someone's house when they have you over for coffee). The same old-lady-network (they call themselves Proneia, which literally translates as "providence") meets regularly and exchanges news as to who needs what in the area. This can be anything from clothes, food, money for medications to the fees someone may need to have surgery abroad. They raise the money by phoning to their friends, family, anyone who still has money. A lot of self-help and charity in Greece has always taken place informally and discreetly. A lot of foreign friends are keeping cleaning ladies and nannies employed out of a sense of solidarity even though they are having to make other big cuts in their budget, because they know that these workers will get absolutely no benefits if they are left without work.

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In my mother's block of flats there are tenants who have not paid rent in 10 months, yet the landlord is turning a blind eye. I think the bulk of self-help is happening on a personal level and goes undocumented rather than through any organised activist networks. And I think that actually these informal networks have played a large part in maintaining some social cohesion in these difficult times. The question is, what will happen once the pensioners who run Proneia find themselves in dire straits? The Swiss central bank pledged to keep defending its six-month old franc ceiling and said deflation still threatens the economy even as growth shows signs of stabilizing. The Swiss National Bank, led by interim Chairman Thomas Jordan, maintained the franc ceiling at 1.20 francs per euro, as forecast by all 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Zurich-based central bank said in an e-mailed statement today that it also kept its benchmark interest rate at zero. Jordan, 49, has gained some room to keep the limit unchanged as the economy regains some strength. Swiss gross domestic product unexpectedly rose in the fourth quarter, investor confidence increased in March and the government today raised its 2012 growth forecast, calling the euro-regions debt crisis a considerable risk. The SNB reiterated it will defend the cap with the utmost determination if needed. The SNB stresses risks, said Caesar Lack, an economist at UBS AGs Wealth Management Research in Zurich, who used to work at the SNB. They try not to appear too optimistic in order not to jeopardize the franc ceiling. We think they will keep the cap on hold for the foreseeable future. AUSTRALIA EUROPE'S troubled banks accelerated efforts to pull loans from countries around the world, including Australia, towards the end of last year as the euro zone debt crisis intensified. Figures released by the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland show Europe's banks cut more than $US8 billion ($7.56 billion) worth from the Australian economy as they began feeling the funding squeeze at home. During the second half of last year, most European banks began selling down their international loan portfolio or simply turning off the lending tap, the BIS said. This coincided with a period in which many large Australian companies were attempting to refinance loans they had locked in during the global financial crisis. ''Pressures on European banks to deleverage increased towards the end of 2011 as funding strains intensified and regulators imposed new [capital] targets,'' the BIS said in its March quarterly review, released this morning. However, the report found it was largely an orderly exit by European banks and other global banks and bond markets were able to step in to replace financing. This helped Australian businesses avoid a credit squeeze. Senior Australian bankers told BusinessDay that Asian banks have become more active in terms of financing large corporates in the market. At the same time, US banks have started lending again as they have started to return to financial health. ''Come the second half and with all the problems that were going on, you started to see a lot of European banks pull back and repatriating capital, whether it was to France or other parts of the region,'' one institutional banker with an Australian lender said. ''European names just aren't in the transactions that traditionally they've been in.'' 22

Towards the end of last year, European banks were unable to raise funds on wholesale markets. And for those banks rolling over short-term loans, costs surged to levels last seen at the peak of the financial crisis. While Australian banks were still able to raise funds through the year, it was these same pressures on global money markets that meant financing costs ran up. Still, a massive injection of funds by the European Central Bank into the region's banking system has helped ease strains on financial markets and economic activity. The offer of more than 1 trillion ($1.24 trillion) worth of cheap loans to Europe's banks since December has helped improve funding conditions, the BIS said. The BIS figures, which cover June to the end of September, show French banks pulled more than $4.5 billion worth of loans from the Australian economy. Italian, Irish and Spanish banks each cut their exposure by hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, Australian banks pulled billions of dollars in funds from Belgium, France and Spain. Global banks also sharply reduced their exposure to Europe and the Middle East, the report found. Separate figures from the bank regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, show France's BNP Paribas sliced more than $1.67 billion from its direct lending book here over the past year, or almost a third of its book. The APRA figures do not include syndicated loans. Australian consumer confidence fell the most in three months after the nations four biggest lenders raised mortgage rates even as the central bank left the benchmark borrowing cost unchanged, a private survey showed. The sentiment index for March dropped 5 percent to 96.1, the lowest level since December, Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC) and Melbourne Institute survey taken March 5-9 of 1,200 consumers showed today in Sydney. Sensitivity to interest rates has clearly been one factor responsible for this weak print, Bill Evans, Westpacs chief economist, said in a statement. In addition, our supplementary questions indicate that respondents are particularly concerned about economic conditions and employment, he said. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens lowered the overnight cash rate target by a quarter percentage point on Nov. 1 and Dec. 6, before keeping the rate unchanged for the past two meetings at 4.25 percent. House prices slumped by a record last year and unemployment in Australia rose in February to 5.2 percent. With the two previous rate cuts in November and December being passed on in full by the banks, it is reasonable to assume that many borrowers expected a further cut in the mortgage rate, Evans said, referring to Stevenss unexpected pause in February. Instead, mortgage rates were actually increased in the following week with banks raising mortgage rates by an average of 0.10 percent. It is likely that this reversal has impacted confidence. Bank Increases Commonwealth Bank of Australia increased the interest on a variable-rate home loan by 10 basis points to 7.41 percent, followed by National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB), which added 9 basis points to 7.31 percent. Westpac boosted the cost by 10 basis points to 7.46 percent on Feb. 10, after Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) added 6 basis points to 7.36 percent. Companies outside Australias booming mining industry are struggling, and the so-called two-speed nature of the nations economy was reflected in the loss of 15,400 jobs in February and the first increase in the jobless rate since August.

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The local dollar has risen about 3 percent this year and reached a six-month high of $1.0845 last month after the RBA unexpectedly paused at its Feb. 7 meeting. The currency bought $1.0548 at 10:15 a.m. in Sydney today. Driving Australias economy is a A$456 billion ($480 billion) pipeline of investment in resource projects by companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) SHARE MARKET: Falls in the mining sector weighed on local shares through the day to see the market close flat amid high volumes of trade. Investors ignored strong leads from the United States and Europe overnight, with the major US indices hitting new multi-year highs buoyed by more encouraging news about the country's economy. The All Ordinaries Index closed 2 points lower at 4,365 and the ASX 200 index also finished 2 points down at 4,276. BHP Billiton lost 0.6 per cent to $34.97 but Rio Tinto gained 0.3 per cent to $65.12, while Fortescue Metals dropped 2.8 per cent to $5.81. Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum gave up 0.5 per cent. The big banks mostly saw solid growth, with the exception of Commonwealth Bank, which eased 2 cents to $48.96. ANZ, NAB and Westpac all added 1 per cent. Macquarie Group shares finished the day 0.6 per cent higher at $27.53 on the day another ratings agency cut the group's debt rating. Following Fitch's downgrade of the bank earlier this week, Moody's cut Macquarie's senior unsecured debt rating from A2 to A3. Its short-term rating also was cut from Prime-1 to Prime-2. Among the retailers Myer shares continued to drop in the wake of this week's disappointing first-half profit results, finishing 2.6 per cent lower, while rival David Jones gave up 1.8 per cent. Elsewhere, Fairfax shares finished flat, on the day its chief executive Greg Hywood said he was not convinced that the company would need to introduce more online paywalls. The media company is working to slash costs in the next three years after seeing its first-half profit almost halved to $97 million. But Mr Hywood says it would be foolish to limit online advertising revenue by restricting the number of people visiting Fairfax websites. The Australian dollar has seen moderate gains against its US counterpart through the day and at 5:30pm (AEDT) was buying 105.3 US cents, 80.5 euro cents, 87.9 Japanese yen, 67 British pence and $NZ1.28. Spot gold was edging higher, at $US1,662.15 an ounce. And oil prices were steady; West Texas Crude oil was worth $US105.56 a barrel and Tapis crude closed at $US134.49 a barrel. MODIFIED EGGS: Australian researchers are working on developing allergy-free eggs to eat and be used in vaccines. There are 40 proteins in egg whites, four of which are allergenic. The researchers will switch off the allergens in all four, creating a hypoallergenic egg that can produce chickens that lay allergy-free eggs. Associate Professor Cenk Suphioglu, from Deakin's School of Life and Environmental Sciences, says they are not producing genetically-modified chickens as part of this research. He says it is a completely novel approach to the problem."We are simply modifying the proteins within the egg whites to produce chickens which lay allergy-free eggs," he said. "Previous egg allergy research has cloned the egg white allergen genes, but no-one has gone as far as to make the proteins non-allergenic." The research is a joint venture between the CSIRO and Deakin University, and is being led by the CSIRO's Professor Tim Doran, himself the parent of an allergic child. Professor Doran says the research has the potential to help thousands of families who have to monitor exposure to eggs. "The effect of this type of allergy on the whole family is immense," he said. "In many cases all food has to be prepared in the home as you can't guarantee that food purchased outside the home won't have traces of egg white. "We recently did a longhaul flight with the family and had to prepare all meals to take on the plane."

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MINING TAX: The Senate will take the unusual step of sitting on a Friday as it continues to debate the mining tax legislation. The tax is expected to pass the Senate early next week with the support of the Greens, although Christine Milne says her party does want changes. "At an absolute minimum, the gold miners who are garnering windfall profits should be brought under this tax," she said. The Coalition argues the tax is poorly designed and will send jobs and investment offshore. "Australia does not have a global monopoly on coal, it doesn't have a global monopoly on gas, and it doesn't have a global monopoly even on iron ore," Liberal Senator Brett Mason said. But Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says other countries are introducing similar taxes. "I do not agree with assertions that this tax will drive mining companies away from Australia," he said."This legislation is far from perfect, but I would not want us to throw away the potential benefits to Australians by mining companies paying a fairer share of their tax." RETAIL JOB LOSSES: The latest research into the retail sector reveals that 118,000 jobs will be lost across the sector in the next three years. ABC1's 7.30 has obtained the figures from a six-month inquiry led by accounting giant Ernst and Young for the National Retail Association. The research shows many of the sales will be lost to online retailers and 33,000 of the job losses will come from the Federal Government's refusal to close a GST loophole for imported goods bought online. Currently there is a tax-free threshold for imported goods bought online up to the value of $1,000. National Retail Association executive director Gary Black says the job losses will be far greater than those faced by the manufacturing sector. "There's a jobs crisis unfolding in retail that dwarfs the predicament and dilemmas confronted by the Australian manufacturing sector," he said. "All we want is to be able to compete on a level playing field. "We want the Government to move urgently, and if they don't we'll lose 33,000 jobs over the next few years." Be it wholesalers or retailers great and small, the message is echoing across the sector. Clothing wholesaler Andrew Dalgliesh says the retail sector employs a huge number of Australians. "If all of those people we're in one company and it went broke there'd be a national outcry," he said. But there is disagreement over how to deal with the problem and whether or not closing the GST loophole for imported goods is the answer. The Howard government raised the threshold for imported goods from $250 to $1,000, claiming it would cost Customs too much to police piles and piles of incoming parcels bought online. Then late last year the Productivity Commission said though it might be costly, there is a strong case for closing the GST gap again. But the Gillard Government has dug in, claiming if the threshold was lowered to $100 it would cost customs $1.2 billion to collect just $500,000 in tax. It is an increasingly volatile issue for the Government, but surprisingly it has been thrown an unexpected lifeline from the biggest retailer of them all, Woolworths. Its chief executive Grant O'Brien says the GST threshold is not the biggest issue the retail sector is facing. "The thing we can't afford to do as retailers is to be seen to be calling for additional taxes for our customers," he said. "That's not the issue here - the issue is to be providing for customers exactly what they require in terms of flexibility and to shop when they want and have the very best technology to assist them in that." Woolworths is spending heavily to develop online service platforms for its various businesses, but its unexpected outburst has really seen the fur flying in retail. Myer chief executive Bernie Brooks disagrees with the food giant. "Woolworths have said retailers should just lower their prices to restore the trust of their customers. Do you think that's fair?" he said. "It's in their interests to say that because it doesn't impact their business the way it impacts small business." The Ernst and Young report will be released next Friday.

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CHINA Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that home prices remain far from a reasonable level and relaxing curbs could cause chaos in the market, indicating no imminent relaxation of cooling measures. We must not slacken our efforts in regulating the housing sector, Wen said HEALTH Herbalist Wendy Wilson DEPRESSED? SEEK A NATURAL REVERSAL It is understandable why some folks are dealing with feelings of depression. We live in stressful times and unless we take steps to protect ourselves physically and mentally we can windup with anxiety, panic attacks and clinical depression. The definition of mental depression is a condition marked by emotions of hopelessness, self-doubt, lethargy, sorrow, despondency, discouragement and desperation. Depression affects all aspects of your health such as; sleep, mood, relationships, work productivity, problem solving ability etc. With all the medical tests and clinical trials depression is still not fully understood. Depression cant be wished away, ignored or covered up with drugs or alcohol. People suffering with depression have difficulty pulling themselves together or keeping a stiff upper lip. They can fake it for a time but then will crumble and have what is known as a breakdown. Modern medicine is reporting that people are becoming depressed earlier in life and more teenagers and young adults are suicidal. We have roughly 18.8 million adult Americans (10% of the population) depressed. More women (12.4%) than men (6.4%) are depressed. The statistics for teenagers is much worse 20% of our youth are severely depressed. This isnt good. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers- male teenagers are more likely to commit suicide as they are more resistant to intervention compared to female teenagers. What is the common denominator in the development of depression? People with depression have experience a traumatizing event or perceive that no one cares. SYMPTOMS In general the symptoms of classic depression are a loss of interest in activities that once gave the person joy. Examples are; a disinterest in eating favorite foods at a favorite restaurant, sexual relations, lack of interest in appearance, loss of appetite and weight loss or overeating and weight gain. Other symptoms are social withdrawal, low energy or fatigue, sleep disturbances (insomnia) or oversleeping, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, memory problems, restlessness and irritability. A depressed individual also has a depressed immune system and can have frequent headaches, colds, infections, digestive problems, chronic pain all of which do not respond well to medical treatment. Also, a depressed individual usually does not respond well to change and if there is significant change such as a work demotion or relationship change (such as divorce) this can have a devastating affect and the person can lose the ability to show emotional expression known as flat or blunted affect. They have this flat look sort of like a deadpan, blank look almost like they are in a perpetual stupor. In public settings a person suffering with flat affect may exhibit a forced or strained smile or grin when a coworker tells a joke. They know it is appropriate to show some emotion and will muster a fake, manikin-like expression. A person with flat affect needs help and unfortunately the chemical lobotomy medicine prescribes will not get at the cause of the emotional distress and will eventually compound it.

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TYPES There are different types of depression which vary in intensity. A less severe form of depression is where a person isnt functioning 100% and doesnt feel as good as they could, this is called dysthymia (dis-thi-em-a). If you dont get a handle on it you could experience a more severe form of depression called manic-depression or bipolar disorder. Individuals with major depression have difficulty handling stress or pressure. Those in high stress or pressure jobs with depression will take medical leave and mostly likely not be able to return to that job. If you have a family member or friend that seems to have a cycle of highs (mania) and lows (depression) this is known as manicdepression (bi-polar). The mood change can be gradual or quite dramatic and happen rapidly. One minute they could be upbeat and clicking their heels and leaping about like a leprechaun and the next moment prefer to be alone in a dark room. When they are in the manic (high) phase, they can be very talkative, not be able to sleep, have excessive energy, have racing thoughts, be promiscuous, over react to things and exhibit compulsive behavior as the mania affects their judgment and often creates social problems and embarrassment. This manic phase of depression has similar characteristics which parallel narcissistic traits such as arrogance and fantasy of grandeur. Manic depressive types often find themselves making unwise business decisions or engaging in romantic sprees. In recent years The American Psychological Association had determined that there are two types of bipolar disorder; bipolar I and bipolar II. They describe bipolar I as having the manic (high) and depressive (low) moods. In bipolar II there is a fluctuation between hypo-manic (a less severe form of mania) and depressive moods. Psychosis can manifest in bipolar I during the most severe mood states and in the depressive state in bipolar II. If these conditions are left unchecked it can lead to an even worse condition called the psychotic state. PSYCHOTIC STATE In this mental state the individual may experience auditory hallucinations. The voices they hear are often unknown voices which criticize their life and can often engage them in nonsensical conversation. Delusions are also part of the mix and can vary in each person. Some delusions are benign (such as a friend is in financial trouble) to severe (such as someone seeks to kill them). Individuals with psychosis are put on drugs, which offer side effects, which the person doesnt like and there is often a high non-compliance in taking the medication. There can be psychotic episodes similar to the American Airlines fight attendant. I am not saying the flight attendant was psychotic but she admitted that she did not take her medication. In 2011 Medicaid paid $47 million towards antipsychotic and anti-anxiety drugs and $18 million worth went for drugs going to children and adolescents. WHERE TO BEGIN? The prescription mask will not work at getting at the cause of the problem. Perhaps a different approach is what is needed. My herbal professor had a clinic and often said that the problem depressed people have is they have a backlog of toxins. He described it this way, The colon is the cork in your bottle. If you dont cleanse it, the wastes from your head to your lowlands cant get out of you. Many diseases come from bad colon function. He shared a case of a 67-year-old male suffering from chronic depression for 18 months. Although he didnt use the term flat or blunted affect, I believe his patient was just short of the psychotic state because he described him as emotionally dead. He was a retired public school teacher and counselor and a very intelligent person. He was diagnosed with clinical depression and was taking three different mind-altering 27

drugs (Prozac, Valium and benzodiazepine) to supposedly keep him sane. He didnt want to see any doctors or naturopaths but his family insisted. My herb professor said that he had the worst smelling breath and couldnt stand it so he gave him herbal mouth drops. His colon was so congested with fecal matter that his plumbing was like a backed-up toilet. Instead of cleaning out the pipes (colon), most people plug in air freshener instead. Americans would buy less deodorant, toothpaste, mouthwash, cologne and perfume if they just did their organ cleanses. THE REVERSAL So, what happened to the school teacher? His family took the herbs home and made him do the colon cleansing, liver flushing, juicing, massage (combination therapies) the whole nine yards. According to his family they hit the colon cleansing hard and kept cleansing the colon. The guy was practically living in the bathroom with ten bowl movements per day. Because if it he couldnt sit through his psychotherapy appointment going to the bathroom every twenty minutes. Six weeks go by and he goes back to see the herbalist and he is off all his Valium, Prozac all the drugs and was out of depression. The teachers family helped him beat depression with toxin removal (organ cleanses) and nutrition. They didnt even break the seal and use the herbs known to help with depression and mood. This family and the herbalist did in six weeks what the doctors couldnt in a year and a half. The teacher wanted to keep going with the natural therapies and also did eventually use the herbs for depression. On his third visit to the herbalist he drove himself and walked in unassisted. He had a healthy expression and positive attitude. He requested more bowel cleansing herbs because he never wanted to be depressed again. He also came out of retirement. This is a perfect example of what you can accomplish by cleaning the bowel and keeping it cleaned out. So many people walk around thinking that a bowel movement once or twice a week is ok when in fact they are impacted with poop. I often say that the bowel is the bodys most important organ because when the bowel is sick, all disease starts there. If you dont cleanse the bowel, the other organs cant cleanse their wastes. HERBS FOR DEPRESSION ST. JOHNS WORT Can St. Johns wort help with depression? In the 1980s, researchers reported that St. Johns wort exhibited potent antidepressant action comparable to the pharmaceutical drugs. The British Medical Journal reported a 55% success rate for treating depression with St. Johns wort. In 1999 study by the University of Hawaii School of Medicine confirmed the German studies that St. Johns wort reported a 71% success rate but without any side effects. The Hawaii study stated that St. Johns wort was as effective at treating depression as the pharmaceutical tricyclics. .A British study recommended the herb to be used for seasonal effective disorder (SAD). Dont expect St. Johns wort to work miracles overnight. You can expect to see results within 2 or 3 months. The New York Times reported in 1996 that this herb outsells Prozac 4 to 1 in Germany. VALERIAN ROOT American colonial herbalist Samuel Thomson admitted valerian was a nervine herb and thus a superb tranquilizer. Scientists discovered that valerian contains valepotriate compounds, which are sedative properties. This explains why valerian is effective as a sleep aid for insomnia. People with sleep problems prefer using valerian root because they fell asleep faster, rested longer and awoke more refreshed without side effects. When comparing valerian root to other sleep drugs (Valium & Halcion), German researches found that valerian was a much milder and safer sedative. Compared to the 28

sleep drugs, valerian offered no withdrawal effects and was not magnified like drugs are when mixed with alcohol. Europeans after WWII used valerian root to soothe their frazzled nerves after the trauma of artillery bombardments. Later, herbalists recommended valerian root for headaches, insomnia, panic attacks, anxiety and spastic colon. It is more efficient in liquid form and dose can be easily adjusted. GET THE JOB DONE The folks at Apothecary Herbs have the Bowel Cleanse Kit as well as cleanses for the urinary prostate, liver gall bladder and blood system. They also have certified organic Valerian Root Tincture and the Johns wort ingredient in their Emotional Stress formula. Both work well for depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Herbal formulas for pain, digestion (Digestion Kit), nutritional deficiency (Body Foundation Food Mix) and the brain (Brain Concentrate) are also available. Call Apothecary Herbs now to order or for a free product catalog 866-229-3663, International 803-746-0219 online http://www.thepowerherbs.com, where your healthcare options just became endless. Money back guarantee with every purchase. APOTHECARY HERBS VITAMIN VAULT NEW ITEM You already know that you can save on the half and full case discounts in the Vitamin Vault area at http://www.thepowerherbs.com. Apothecary Herbs has added a new item called the Starter Stock-up Package. This package is designed for those preparing for their medical future and contains immune boosting, pain & inflammation, organ cleanses, vitamin, mineral, amino acid and protein products plus a Pandemic Kit and it comes with a savings of $150.00. Visit http://www.thepowerherbs.com or call toll free to order your Starter Stock-up Package 866-229-3663, International 803-746-0219. COMING UP ON HERB TALK LIVE Herbalist Wendy Wilson will interview Ty Bollinger author of Cancer, Step Outside the Box on April 19th at 7:00 pm EST on AVR and also on April 28th at 7:00 am EST on GCN. Go to http://www.thepowerherbs.com home page for direct link access to the live shows or under Herb Talk Live & Radio Archive area for past shows to download and share. PURE ENERGY Pure energy is organic and instantly absorbed transporting nutrition to every cell in your body. It is a super food for the body to repair, build and fortify itself. Where do you get it? Its called Body Foundation Food Mix and is at Apothecary Herbs 866-2293663, International 803-746-0219 http://www.thepowerherbs.com. This pure energy food source is so efficient; you wont feel hungry between meals and can safely lose weight. MALE & FEMALE ORGAN CLEANSES KITS Dont give disease a foothold. You will have the power to cleanse the bowel, urinary, liver, gall bladder and blood system with this cleanse package. For added cleansing, ask about how you can upgrade your order to include the prostate cleanse for men or the Kidney/Bladder cleanse for females. Go to http://www.thepowerherbs.com or call their 24-hour live customer service line 866229-3663, International 803-746-0219. MALE HORMONE FORMULA (use with the Prostate Kit) Apothecary Herbs brand new formula to help balance male hormones Male Hormone Formula. Call 866-229-3663, International 803-746-0219 http://www.thepowerherbs.com

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THE POWER HERBS e-BOOK By popular demand The Power Herbs e-book is available with symptom/herb reference guide, information on organ cleansing and how to make your own herbal tinctures plus a whole lot more. Go to http://www.thepowerherbs.com and click on The Power Herb book cover on the right side of the home page to order. You must have email to order and receive the e-book download version of The Power Herb book for just $14.99. At this time, we do not offer this title in hard copy. MORE PROTECTION from EMF, RADIATION The folks at radmeters are correct that every modern house has EMF hotspots, which are sometimes caused by appliances, electronics, bad grounding just to name a few. You will want to make sure your bed or your childrens beds are not in direct line of these hotspots. How do you find out? You purchase an affordable and accurate meter from Radmeters. Radmeters has a direct link http://www.radmeters.com/tph or you can click their link under links at http://www.thepowerherbs.com. I wouldnt recommend them if I didnt have one of their meters myself Herbalist Wendy Wilson. Extra Strength Pain Relief & Emergency Heart Attack Pack Apothecary Herbs has the only double strength tincture on the market Extra Strength Pain Relief. Most companies wont take the time and expense to make a double tincture, but they enter the system in 60-seconds and work for 12-hours for just $25.95. If you cant get to an emergency room or medical doctor in time you will want the five powerful Formulas in the Heart Attack Pack for just $99.00 Call Apothecary Herbs 866-229-3663, International 803-746-0219 or order online at http://www.thepowerherbs.com. PROSTATE KIT THAT WORKS! Go to Apothecary Herbs http://www.thepowerherbs.com and type in Prostate in the search box or for more information or call 866-229-3663, International 803-746-0219. ONE-YEAR SUPPLY OF HERBAL MEDICNE (shelf life 10 to 15 years) See Apothecary Herbs One Year Supply of Herbal Medicine at http://www.thepowerherbs.com or call 866-229-3663, 803-746-0219. Call for a customized year supply or to set up installment payment for this package. WENDY WILSONS HERB TALK LIVE RADIO SHOW & ARCHIVES - Herb Talk Live is Internet streamed on www.gcnlive.com every Saturday 7-8:00 a.m. EST. Weekly shortwave; Thursday 4:00 p.m. rebroadcasts at 11:00 p.m. on WBCQ 7.415, American Voice Radio (pod cast, DSL, satellite) Tuesday & Thursday 7:00-8:00 p.m. EST. Radio show archives at http://www.thepowerherbs.com. Be well Herbalist, Wendy Wilson OUR VERSION OF THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS Apothecary Herbs is offering 15% off your total order before shipping when you print off your shopping cart order online or fill out the catalog order form and mail in your order with your check or money order. Get prepared, healthy and save what could be better than that? International orders can send an International Money Order and save 15% before shipping. Apothecary Herbs, 1646 West Hwy 160, Ste. 8148, Fort Mill, SC 29708 USA. GOLD- LETTERS From a Subscriber: 30

http://edegrootinsights.blogspot.com/2012/03/false-breakdown-in-gold-shares.html Thursday, March 15, 2012 False Breakdown In Gold Shares

Richard Wyckoff made millions by being able to recognize false breakouts and breakdowns. He recognized that relative volume was the key to this recognition. A breakout from significant resistance (or support) on contracting volume increased the probability that price would return to the previous trading range once short-term momentum broke Wyckoff would classify recent action in gold shares as a false break down. The gold shares generated a climax bottom on October 4th on 29.6 million shares. This bottom has been tested twice. The first test came on December 29th on 12.1 million shares or 59% contraction in volume. The second test and marginal new lows came yesterday on 24.3 million shares or 18% contraction in volume. Wyckoff would have recognized this setup (shrinking volume at critical support) as waning selling pressure. He also recognized that if price couldn't break support (or resistance) with force or what he described as a sign of strength (or weakness) while "jumping the creek" or "breaking the ice", it would likely reverse and attempt to break resistance (or support) with force. A growing number of emails alluding to an imminent blood-bath in the gold shares suggest an emotional trend. Although waning selling pressure at critical support increases the probability of an unexpected price reversal in the near future, it will likely be ignored as random trend noise by emotional driven investors. It's amazing that despite amazing technological achievements in trading how little the markets have changed since the bucket shops of the early 1900's. CANADA LETTERS FROM A SUBSCRIBER: Hi, Bob, As a subscriber I am newsletter. Now this government of British other parts of country very happy that you allow input from your subscribers in your is one for the books. In a sign of the times the provincial Columbia is proposing a plan to fly welfare recipients north to that have a high demand for workers in the resource industry.

On the surface that might seem like a great and noble idea but this leaves out the fact that the northern areas of Canada are some of the most expensive and remote areas of the world to live in. I mean if a person living in this province cannot make enough to survive and has to be welfare then sending them up north will probably mean they will be on welfare for life. I am an American who relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia from Boston, Massachusetts in 2006. I have seen the rise and fall of this city since the economic and spending boom that lead up to the Winter Olympics of 2010. The Winter Olympics boom has now gone bust in Vancouver. Everyday I see more and more restaurants, shops, and small business closing because they cannot bring in enough income to survive. The 31

Winter Olympics in Vancouver created a real estate and speculation frenzy that drove the cost of housing and commercial real estate to astronomical levels. The commercial per square foot retail lease rates of some areas in downtown Vancouver are now as high as those in New York City and Tokyo. This is insane since the downtown Vancouver and greater Vancouver area combined only have a population of about 2 million people. Almost every city block in the downtown area has at least one storefront with a for lease sign on the window. Another shocker is that the ultra chi chi Urban Fare Supermarket in the Coal Harbour area, which is part of the billionaire, Jim Pattison Empire touts that it has the most affordable prices compared to other supermarkets. I walked into the store one day they had they three shopping carts full of products to show how their prices were better than those at competing supermarkets such as Safeway and Marketplace IGA. Only two years ago Urban Fare touted how they stocked loaves of French sourdough bread that were flown in daily from Paris and retailed at $500.00 per loaf. Now they are trying to keep pace with Safeway. I have copied that "B. C. Mulls Flying Welfare Recipients North" article down below and you can also find the article at this website: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/b-c-mulls-flyingwelfare-recipients-north-jobs-010310774.html And more: This is an extended version of the article I sent you yesterday. In this article they have the names and quotes from the governments ministers that are proposing this is idea of sending welfare recipients to northern Canada to find jobs. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/b-c-government-floats-idea-train-relocate-welfare195346310.html Thank you for your great publication, EUROPE LETTERS From a Subscriber: Hi Bob, clean and great. I think the Op in Europe again is the royals in Germany and elsewhere there and their 1% and their 'national champions' in Germany, but also in the other northern European countries are attempting to pull off that consolidation across Europe. Thus in reality not only are the Greek people left out of the equation, but eventually in time many of the others including many of the Germans also will be left out of the equation. Even here in the US the American people are now on target for semi Nazi OP - 'sustainability' i.e. population reduction and that's why GMO and the terrible herbicides and dioxins, etc in our environment have been able to have some traction For now however the Germans are inculcated in that mentality that they're the superior people and come the superior people over there, they deserve to 'win' Thats another reason we have to withdraw support for the EU, the Euro the G20 and urge all countries to restore their tariff regimes to start to improve their fiscal revenues. The ones ridiculing this as 'protectionism' are agents and whores for the 1% and the heads of the 'national champions' and multinationals which make money off of cheap

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labor and the ability to access that while in developed countries and needed a no tariff hurdle to line their own wallets. US LINKS US Marine Being Investigated For Posting "Obama Is The Domestic Enemy Our Oath Speaks About" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuWuuF0Gv4&feature=email Trauma Recovery International.com http://www.traumarecoveryinternational.com/ Why U.S. tech titans are funding undocumented students http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/tech-titans-fundstudents-050100329.html Goldman Employee Criticizes Firm for Ripping Off Clients http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/goldman-sachs-employee-criticizes-firmfor-ripping-off-clients.html Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html? _r=4&hp Goldman Sachs banker slams rip-off culture as he quits job http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1145875--goldman-banker-slams-rip-off-cultureas-he-quits-job Goldman Sachs director in London quits 'toxic' bank http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17366552 New York City: Prototype of the American Police State? By John W. Whitehead http://lewrockwell.com/whitehead/whitehead40.1.html John Maynard Keynes: Bolshevik, Lavender, Pervert, Pedophile http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-gold-silver-john-maynard-keynes-bolsheviklavender-pervert-pedophile.aspx? article=3836851954G10020&redirect=false&contributor=Charleston+Voice In 'highly unusual' move, Marines asked to disarm before Leon Panetta speech http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/14/10684063-in-highly-unusual-movemarines-asked-to-disarm-before-leon-panetta-speech 'Suicide attack bid' on US Defence Secretary C Car bursts into flames on runway - Fears Leon Panetta's plane was target http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4194498/Suicide-attack-bid-on-USDefence-Secretary.html Bank of America: Too Crooked to Fail http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bank-of-america-too-crooked-to-fail-20120314 33

The Army is not protecting YOU - Officially Working for the World Government http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=18161&title=the-army-isnot-protecting-you---officially-working-for-the-world-government Major US Airport To Evict TSA Screeners http://www.infowars.com/major-us-airport-to-evict-tsa-screeners/ Vanishing Pensions: All Over America Old Age Pensions Are Being Slashed or Eliminated http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29760 The Criminalization of Protest: Say Goodbye To Free Speech in Americ http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29673 This Hoax Affects Everyone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OynCgwmD-HM&feature=youtu.be Kill the Bank http://www.killthebank.net/ Can the Secret Service Tell You To Shut Up? By Andrew P. Napolitano http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano45.1.html R Ron Pauls Hour of DecisionIs Ron Paul running for president in the wrong party? By Justin Raimondo http://lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo163.html Pension Benefit Costs Cut by Record 43 States, Study Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/pension-benefit-costs-cut-by-record-43states-study-says.html It's now official: Mainstream media no longer covering Ron Pauls presidential campaign http://12160.info/profiles/blogs/it-s-now-official-mainstream-media-no-longer-coveringron-paul-s Broken Promises: Pensions All Over America Are Being Savagely Cut Or Are Vanishing Completely http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/03/14/broken-promises-pensions-americasavagely-cut-vanishing-completely-96052/ Israel's Latest Ritual Slaughter by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-latest-ritual-slaughter.html Targeted Killings: US and Israeli Specialties by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/targeted-killings-us-and-israeli.html

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Ron Paul Draws Massive Crowd Of 5000 In Illinois http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-draws-massive-crowd-of-5000-in-illinois/ "The Military Industrial Complex Has Got Us By The Throat!" Jack Cafferty http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L78c8sLQqG4 JP MORGAN WHISTLEBLOWER-Comment for Public Information [we cannot verify the authenticity of this piece of information, but swe hope it is true. Bob] http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/ViewComment.aspx?id=57019&SearchText Brzezinski: Syria is Not Libya http://www.infowars.com/brzezinski-syria-is-not-libya/ Gaddafi 'contributed 50m to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election fund' http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/12/gaddafi-contributed-sarkozy-2007-election Buried Alive Cruel and Unusual Punishment by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/buried-alive-cruel-and-unusual.html Israeli-Style Ceasefires by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/israeli-style-ceasefires.html Panetta orders US marines in Helmand to disarm [That is it Penetta, treat Americas finest like dogs Marines around the world are pissed and they should be, and so should all America servicemen and servicewomen. It was an insult to their honor and total disrespect for our country. The people who represent the US government are a disgrace to our country.] http://www.presstv.ir/detail/231714.html U.S. Election Management, Brought to You by Goldman Sachs http://www.infowars.com/u-s-election-management-brought-to-you-by-goldman-sachs/ Obama, the Human Rights Hypocrite http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/02/15/obama-the-human-rights-hypocrite/ Ongoing Israeli State Terror by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/ongoing-israeli-state-terror.html A Decade of America Ravaging Afghanistan by Stephen Lendman http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/03/decade-of-america-ravaging-afghanistan.html Voting Machine doesnthttp://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php? video_id=18176 Voting Machine doesnt accept Pauls vote http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=18176

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Athens-Clarke County, GA Republican Delegate Fraud http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UDChEDnISOw# More Fun Atrocities: Soldiers Train to Supress Consience, Morality and Empathy http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30816.htm Philadelphia Bans Outdoor Feeding of Homeless http://www.webpronews.com/philadelphia-bans-outdoor-feeding-of-homeless-2012-03 ABC News already making graphics, footage, for upcoming war with Iran http://wakeupfromyourslumber.com/blog/andie531/abc-news-already-making-graphicsfootage-upcoming-war-iran THE SECRET CABAL - Part 1 http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/010/radio-liberty/secret-cabal-1.htm Chronology of the UN - The Revolutionary Steps to Global Tyranny http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/chronologies/un.htm Regime Change Libya: Privatization of their Central Bank and the Theft of their Nationalized Oil Profits http://www.infowars.com/regime-change-libya-privatization-oftheir-central-bank-and-the-theft-of-their-nationalized-oil-profits/ Libya Militia Face Accusations of Ongoing War Crimes http://thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/africa-mainmenu-27/10885-libyanmilitias-face-accusations-of-ongoing-war-crimes No Evidence Iran Building Nukes http://thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/asiamainmenu-33/11001-us-intelligence-no-evidence-iran-building-nukes Facing Sanctions, Iran to Sideline Dollar by Using Gold in Trade http://thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/asia-mainmenu-33/11045-facingsanctions-iran-to-sideline-dollar-by-using-gold-in-trade Are The Middle East Wars Really About Forcing the World Into Dollars and Private Central Banking: http://www.infowars.com/are-the-middle-east-wars-really-about-forcingthe-world-into-dollars-and-private-central-banking/ Kony 2012 Exposed http://www.infowars.com/secrets-kony-2012-is-desperate-to-hide/ Republic Report Sends Letter To 34 Retiring Members of Congress: Stop Backdoor Bribery, Disclose Negotiations With K Street http://www.republicreport.org/2012/stop-backdoor-bribery-lette/ GOLD LINKS CFTC Pulls Public Comments from JP Morgan Whistle-blower: We Are Fearful of a Cascading Credit Event; Wide-Scale Market Collapse

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http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/cftc-pulls-public-comments-from-jp-morganwhistle-blower-we-are-fearful-of-a-cascading-credit-event-wide-scale-marketcollapse_03162012 COMMODITIES LINK B.C. raw log exports double as local mills go without http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/13/bc-raw-logexports.html GOLD LINKS Impalas Hand Forced as Zimbabwe Starts Nationalization [After having lived in Zimbabwe and South Africa for several years you know why we dont invest there. There is a good chance all of Africa will go in this direction. If you want to take the risk of losing your entire investment, invest in Africa. Bob] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/impala-platinum-s-hand-forced-aszimbabwe-starts-nationalization.html The Shining: Kubrick's Gold Story 3/4 film analysis by Rob Ager http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D8bXCR6Epk Fossil fuel production on federal lands at 9 year low [Obama says the US is drilling everywhere.] http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2012/03/15/fossil-fuel-production-on-federallands-at-9-year-low/ The last time Obama announced a SPR oil release, June 2011, the price decline was extremely transitory. Oil Prices Climb Back to Pre-Reserve Release Levels (July 5, 2011) http://www.cnbc.com/id/43645073 Three in 10 young adults live with parents, highest level since 1950s [But housing/econ has bottomed] http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0315/Three-in-10-young-adults-live-withparents-highest-level-since-1950s CANADA LINKS Vancouver home ownership out of middle-class reach http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/13/bc-vancouverfamilies-priced-out.html NDP Fisheries Critic Takes Harper Government to Task Over Leaked Changes to Fisheries Act http://thecanadian.org/item/1373-ndp-critic-fin-donnelly-harper-government-changesfisheries-act What problem? http://howestreet.com/2012/03/what-problem-2/

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Over 150 arrested during Montreal anti-police brutality protest http://www.globaltvbc.com/over+150+arrested+during+montreal+antipolice+brutality+protest/6442602002/story.html EUROPE LINKS Dutch Austerity Demands Risk Backfiring on Premier: Euro Credit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-03-15/dutch-austerity-demands-riskbackfiring-on-premier-euro-credit.html Spain house price up date http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/spanish-home-prices-fall-most-on-recordas-economy-shrinks.html Greek Restructuring Delay Helps Banks http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/greek-restructuring-delay-helps-banks-asrisks-shift.html Smart Defense http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/58286 BANK OF GREECE PRINTING ITS OWN EUROS SAYS BELGIAN ECONOMIST http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/bank-of-greece-printing-its-own-euros-saysbelgian-economist/ Now even the eurozone admits it has condemned Greece to never-ending austerity [We warned of this 2-1/2 years ago. Bob] http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jeremywarner/100015515/now-even-the-eurozoneadmits-it-has-condemned-greece-to-never-ending-austerity/ ENGLAND LINKS Women bear the brunt of unemployment as jobless rate hits 17-year high to 2.7m http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2115265/Women-bear-bruntunemployment-jobless-rate-soars-17-year-high-2-7m-people.html Britain is one of the weakest economies in G20, warns IMF and OECD report http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2115268/Britain-weakest-economiesG20-warns-IMF-OECD-report.html UK could lose coveted AAA rating, warns Fitch http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9144551/UK-could-lose-coveted-AAArating-warns-Fitch.html Critics warn that thousands of Britons could be extradited under plans for EU states to be given access to our DNA bank http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114642/Britons-extradited-EU-states-givenaccess-DNA-bank.html 38

UK could lose coveted AAA rating, warns Fitch Britain's hopes of retaining its prized triple-A credit rating were dealt a blow last night after Fitch said the country was more likely than not to be downgraded. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9144551/UK-could-lose-coveted-AAArating-warns-Fitch.html MIDDLE EAST LINK Egyptian Parliament Votes Anti-Israeli Resolution As Moslem Brotherhood Opens Door To IMF Austerity http://tarpley.net/2012/03/14/moslem-brotherhood-opens-door-to-imf-austerity/ Wag The Dog - Media Caught Faking Syria News Reports http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X-LYWHn6L4Y Israel added Uranium to orange juice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYxmFTZPVOI&feature=player_embedded# AFRICA LINKS Uganda, AFRICOM, and the Kony Boogeyman http://www.corbettreport.com/uganda-africom-and-the-kony-boogeyman/? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed %3A+CorbettReportRSS+%28The+Corbett+Report%29 HEALTH LINKS Monsanto plans massive biotech experiment in the US http://rt.com/usa/news/monsanto-biotech-us-seed-683/ Health department raids community picnic and destroys all food with bleach http://www.adistinctiveworld.net/?p=6091

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