Tag Archives: Inflation

Dec 8 2016

Frontrunning: December 8


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 8, 2016 7:21 AM
  • Draghi Expected to Lay Out Plans for More ECB Stimulus (WSJ)
  • Bonds Fall as Investors Turn Wary on ECB Stimulus; Euro Gains (BBG)
  • European Stock Traders Look to Draghi to Break Santa Curse  (BBG)
  • Trump to nominate Pruitt to lead U.S. environmental agency (Reuters)
  • Trump’s choice of China envoy a positive sign for ties, Xinhua says (Reuters)
  • Syrian Rebels Pin Hopes on Trump (WSJ)
  • Trump Pick of EPA Foe to Lead Agency May Spark Senate Fight  (BBG)
  • Russia Sells Stake in Oil Giant Rosneft to Glencore, Qatar (WSJ)
  • The Return of Glencore’s Dealmaking King (Bloomberg)
  • Italian bank Intesa to help fund Rosneft deal for Glencore and Qatar (Reuters)
  • Sovereign-Wealth Funds Buy Stake in U.K. Gas Business (WSJ)
  • Monte Paschi Seeks ECB Reprieve as It Tries to Escape Bailout (BBG)
  • Vietnam dredging on South China Sea reef (Reuters)
  • Deutsche Bank May Have Rigged Index in Paschi Deal, Audit Shows (BBG)
  • Eyeing upswing, more U.S. oilfield service firms restructure (Reuters)
  • Michael Jordan Scores China Legal Victory for His Chinese Name  (BBG)
  • How Trump’s Web of Businesses Obscures Potential Conflicts (WSJ)
  • Facebook’s Investors Criticize Marc Andreessen for Conflict of Interest (BBG)
  • Merkel Sticks to Middle Ground in Risky Pitch for German Votes  (BBG)
  • China’s Banks Are Hiding More Than $2 Trillion in Loans (WSJ)
  • Facebook’s Investors Criticize Marc Andreessen for Conflict of Interest  (BBG)

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

– U.S. stocks posted their biggest rally since the election, sending major indexes to fresh records as investors increasingly conclude President-elect Donald Trump will be good for business and the economy. http://on.wsj.com/2h8mFLj

– The CEOs of AT&T Inc and Time Warner Inc on Wednesday defended their proposed $85 billion merger to lawmakers, trying to navigate a tricky political landscape in which President-elect Donald Trump has expressed hostility to the deal. http://on.wsj.com/2hjV7yR

– President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday chose Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a transition official, turning to a climate-change skeptic and sharp critic of the agency to take its helm. http://on.wsj.com/2gbVAae

– Rampant use of an accounting sleight of hand means Chinese banks don’t have to set aside capital to cover potential losses, sowing fears of a crisis. http://on.wsj.com/2hkJhV0

– President-elect Donald Trump turned to a third retired military officer to help him run the country when he takes office in January, a move that represents an unusual level of military influence in the executive branch. http://on.wsj.com/2hlLn7r

– Passage of legislation aimed at speeding up Food and Drug Administration approvals, combined with an incoming president who has pledged to “cut red tape” at the agency, is expected to usher in a new, more industry-friendly era of drug and device regulation. http://on.wsj.com/2h7fbbb

– Syrian rebels on Wednesday proposed a civilian evacuation and negotiations over the future of Aleppo, a stark admission the opposition is all but defeated in a divided city seen as a bellwether in the country’s nearly six-year war. http://on.wsj.com/2gb850P

 

NYT

– The Russian government announced Wednesday that it will sell nearly 20 percent of its state oil company, Rosneft , to Swiss commodity trading firm Glencore and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. http://nyti.ms/2h8jqDt

– City Council in Portland in Oregon voted on Wednesday to impose a surtax on companies whose chief executives earn more than 100 times the median pay of their rank-and-file workers. The surcharge, which Portland officials said is the first in the nation linked to chief executives’ pay, would be added to the city’s business tax for those companies that exceed the pay threshold. http://nyti.ms/2h8kS90

– The European Central Bank is expected to say on Thursday that it will buy large quantities of government bonds and other assets for longer than initially planned, an attempt to protect the eurozone economy from an increasingly unpredictable political landscape. http://nyti.ms/2h8brWU

– China’s highest court ruled largely in favor of former basketball star Michael Jordan on Thursday in a closely watched trademark case. The decision held that Jordan owns the legal rights to the Chinese characters of the equivalent of his name, overturning a lower-court ruling. The lawsuit pitted Jordan against Qiaodan Sports Company, which he accused of using the Mandarin transliteration of his name on its goods. http://nyti.ms/2h8kN5j

– President-elect Donald Trump is considering formally turning over the operational responsibility for his real estate company to his two adult sons, but he intends to keep a stake in the business and resist calls to divest, according to several people briefed on the discussions. http://nyti.ms/2h8fgLI

 

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** The civil servant in charge of the government’s spy-watchdog agency says Canada may have to reconsider how it shares intelligence with the United States if president-elect Donald Trump makes good on his promise to torture terrorists to gather intelligence. https://tgam.ca/2h6uqyd

** Chicago-based PrivateBancorp Inc. is postponing the shareholder vote for its $4.9-billion sale to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, raising questions about whether CIBC will have to sweeten its bid next year. https://tgam.ca/2h6tkCy

** Canada is set to overhaul the way financial transactions are processed as changing technology and globalization reshapes the way individuals and businesses move money and access their funds. https://tgam.ca/2h6weYc

NATIONAL POST

** Ontario officials said the province’s own land-use restrictions around its largest city have constrained the supply of detached homes. http://bit.ly/2h6wO88

** A major international union has taken the first step towards unionizing pilots at WestJet Airlines Ltd, taking over the work begun internally last year. http://bit.ly/2h6nJw6

Dec 7 2016

UN Human Rights Council Holds Moment of Silence For Fidel Castro – MILO


Lets hope these fools never bother to vote and they probably would so heir lack of any knowledge will not matter!

Dec 7 2016

Freedom of Movement – Four Aspects Under Assault


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 7, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

movement-free

We tend to assume that the freedom of movement is confined solely to migration and travel. There are four aspects to the freedom of movement, and migration or travel is only one. Yes, we warned that the Schengen Agreement would come to an end and the European refugee crisis has enabled that decline. We warned that this agreement, signed in 1985, was reaching the end and would begin to be “overthrown … come 2016.867 or November 12, 2016,” which was pi – 31.415 years from the signing.

There are four facets to the freedom of movement, which people far too often do not look at or understand their vital role in furthering the development of civilization. What truly made Rome a great enduring Empire was more than just might. Roman imperial history cannot ignore the freedom of movement in all four aspects: 1.) translation of texts, practices, and ideas; 2.) communication or the movement of written documents (i.e. today’s internet, phone calls, and texting); 3.) migration (i.e. officials, merchants, students, etc.); and 4.) the free movement of goods and services. The interrelationships among the four aspects of the freedom of movement are critical to the advancement of civilization.

redit-forecaster-banned

1.) The freedom of movement that enabled the translation of concepts and ideas has often been curtailed. For example, Lenin’s book “What is to be Done?” was first published in Germany during 1902, but it was outlawed for publication and distribution in Russia. For my own movie, “The Forecaster,” the distribution rights were bought in the United States and Switzerland, and then they refused to show it. In London, the film was not blocked, but the night of the debut the Evening Standard ran a story about a local headhunter named Martin Armstrong who said the bankers were worth every penny — but they used my picture. The freedom of translation is denied all the time and governments employ such tactics out of their self-interests.

Today, this would include books, movies, and also the internet. Turkey, for example, blocked Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube throughout Turkey on Friday, November 4, 2016. They also blocked the messaging services WhatsApp, Skype, and Instagram. The United States monitors everything through the NSA. Europe has also been looking at restricting the internet (eu-restrict-internet).

2.) The aspect of communication in the freedom of movement involves written documents, phone calls, and texting. The two major inventions that made the Roman empire soar were road and mail service. Yes, the Romans were really the inventors of the pony express. Letters have been discovered at Vindolanda in Britain at Hadrian’s Wall. Discoveries include formal letters of military issue, a letter from Octavius about supplies, the oldest letter from a woman, and even an invite to a birthday party back in Rome. Such letters could be delivered in just seven days.

Restricting this aspect of free movement changes the role of the state as well as relations between individuals and states. The implications of the assault on the free movement of communications are expanding under the pretense that they need to track what people are doing for taxes. This direct assault is altering relations in ways of organizing and thinking among individuals while hampering the expansion of global commerce.

3.) The third aspect of the freedom of movement is migrating one’s actual person. The saying, “All roads lead to Rome” was indicative of Rome’s vast road network that facilitated this free movement of people and trade. This restriction is expanding once again insofar as restrictions on carrying anything of value due to taxes. There are already visa requirements for many states that are typically used when there are concerns of migration.

4.) Finally, the fourth aspect of the freedom of movement is goods and services. The Roman Empire facilitated free trade, which was the foundation of the Roman economy. True, Donald Trump soared to the White House on the back of middle class America who were forgotten when they lost their jobs to foreign imports. Yes, you can put up barriers and tariffs to protect local jobs in every political state. However, this is a losing battle and it only looks at labor in the same manner as Karl Marx who took the position that nothing has value except for the labor to produce it. Keeping overvalued jobs may bring cheers from displaced workers, but it also imposes higher costs to the consumer.

Why are jobs leaving the country? It is not due exclusively to cheaper labor. That is total nonsense. It is the huge cost of regulation and taxes. The higher government raises taxes, the more overvalued the cost of labor. When I helped restructure companies looking to set up plants inside Europe, I had to weigh all costs. I placed manufacturing jobs in Britain because 1.) they had the skilled labor force, and 2.) they had 40% less in taxation from the corporate aspect compared to Germany and certainly France. It they needed the best tax deal without the skilled labor for manufacturing, I placed those companies in Ireland. It was not the cost of labor that was the deciding factor, but the taxation.

The United States is the most unstable country when it comes to taxes. You cannot set out a business plan for 25 years because the tax rates may change every four years. Companies leave the U.S., not because of the price of labor, but to have a safe and secure place to do business without the rules changing. Therefore, restricting the free movement of goods and services denies the ability of the economy to grow and adapt. Shall we ban computers because they can do your taxes faster and cheaper than an accountant? How many accountants were denied a job because of TurboTax?

If government restricts the freedom of movement with respect to people, trade, ideas, communication, and good and services, the world economy cannot possibly survive and this places us at risk of a frightening Dark Age all because governments fear losing power and are desperate to hunt money for confiscation. The first thing we must do to save all four aspects of the freedom of movement is to sharply reduce government’s invasion into every possible aspect of our lives.

Dec 7 2016

All Roads Lead to the Dollar


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 7, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

dollar-all-roads

COMMENT: Marty; I have attended every conference since 2011. You have really opened my eyes and you have to be blind to not see that you have called everything trend from the decline in gold, rally in the Dow, collapse of Europe, the rise in the dollar, and the uptick in war/civil unrest not to mention your political forecasting. You should be hailed from every podium and the reason you are not is obvious. The conclusions you force upon the rest to see is against their own self-interest. All roads lead only to the dollar as you have said.

Thanks for a spectacular conference. You have done far more than just made me money. You opened my eyes, saved my future, and saved my marriage. I feel truly enlightened and see the world as never before.

Thank you so very much

CE

REPLY: It is gratifying that you can see the world in a connected manner. We do not stand a chance of taking a step forward to a new economic reality until the majority sees the world for what it really is. The majority believes the conspiracy that government and big banks have the power to manipulate the world economy to force gold down to create the illusion that gold is not a safe-haven to hide your wealth.

By attributing everything to powerful conspiracies, they are endorsing Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes who advocated that government could manipulate society. If you cannot see that we are on the brink of a collapse because of central planning, exactly as a communist state, then you will continue to look for conspiracies rather than understanding that the system, which is crumbling before our eyes, cannot be manipulated. This is why BREXIT, Trump, and now Hollande in France are stepping out. The cycle has changed and all of this is beyond government or banks to control the outcome. They are not intentionally doing this, for they cannot even understand human behavior no less manipulate it.

The dollar is on the rise after the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. Investors are betting on an economic boom in the U.S. and rising U.S. interest rates that will attract even more capital to the dollar. This also weighs very heavily on emerging market currencies and commodities prices in dollars. As the dollar rises, those commodities will decline unless there is a real shortage in supply that dips below demand. It is all coming together and you better understand the trend or you will not survive. Indeed, all roads lead to the dollar.

Dec 6 2016

Venezuelan women flock to Colombia border town to sell hair — Fellowship of the Minds


To get everything that you deserve you must live in a communist country.

kommonsentsjane's avatarkommonsentsjane

Aint’ socialism grand? From Yahoo: LA PARADA, Colombia (Reuters) – Women from crisis-hit Venezuela are crossing the border in droves and selling their hair in a Colombian border town in order to afford scarce basic necessities such as food, diapers or medicines. The trend, which has taken off in recent weeks, is another sign of […]

via Venezuelan women flock to Colombia border town to sell hair — Fellowship of the Minds

Reblogged on kommonsentsjane/blogkommonsents.

Hope the kids in college absorb some of this socialism and how grand it isn’t.  We don’t have to be rich – we just need jobs and then people can be whatever they want to be.  The problem was –  Obama wanted to make everyone poor but himself – then he could look down his nose and think how smart he was.  Just a little history so that the young-un’s won’t forget how kool and hip…

View original post 4 more words

Dec 6 2016

Burka must be banned in Germany ‘wherever legally possible’ – Merkel


Merkel to be making these statements now after what you have done to Germany and the EU means you care only about your personal power you did give a dam about the people!

Dec 6 2016

Frontrunning: December 6


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 6, 2016 7:48 AM
  • Trump heads back out on road for ‘thank you’ tour (AP)
  • For Europe’s Unity, 2017 Will Be a Year of Reckoning (WSJ)
  • Oil dips as OPEC, Russian output rises ahead of production cut (Reuters)
  • The Pessimist’s Guide to 2017 (BBG)
  • Donald Trump’s Message Sparks Anger in China (WSJ)
  • Brazil’s Reform Plan in Disarray After Senate Chief Removed (BBG)
  • China urges U.S. to block transit by Taiwan president (Reuters)
  • Wooed by Trump, Taiwan Trembles (WSJ)
  • SoftBank’s Son Said to Plan Meeting With Trump in New York (BBG)
  • Syrian government, ally Russia warn rebels in city of Aleppo (AP)
  • Blackstone Going Public on $10 Billion Foreclosures Bet (WSJ)
  • A Cheat Sheet on the Deglobalization of the Financial World (BBG)
  • One Historic Lens Says Trump Stock Market Lovefest Just Starting (BBG)
  • U.S. ‘Disappointed’ by Japan’s Plan to Cut Drug Costs (WSJ)
  • Family’s $29 Billion Fortune Claim Denied Amid India’s Tax Hunt (BBG)
  • Orban allies tighten media grip ahead of Hungary election (Reuters)
  • U.S. seeks to reassure Beijing after Trump call with Taiwan leader (Reuters)
  • Theranos Foresaw Huge Growth in Revenue and Profits (WSJ)
  • Rouhani says Iran will not let Trump rip up nuclear deal (Reuters)
  • Danish police arrest suspect after policeman shot in head (Reuters)

 

Overnight Media Digest

WSJ

– The verbal confrontation between President-elect Donald Trump and the Chinese government escalated on Monday, as China responded harshly to attacks by Trump on its economic and security positions. http://on.wsj.com/2ge4jXO

– Amazon.com Inc unveiled Monday its first small-format grocery store, Amazon Go, one of at least three brick-and-mortar formats the online retail giant is exploring as it makes a play for an area of shopping that remains stubbornly in-store. http://on.wsj.com/2haHTIQ

– The euro rallied from early losses following Italian voters’ rejection of government-backed constitutional changes, but the volatile day raises concerns about how the currency survives an era of populist politicians and diverging economies. http://on.wsj.com/2h1qv8W

– A day after the Obama administration put the brakes on a Midwest oil pipeline by denying a permit needed to finish the route, a spokesman for President-elect Donald Trump said the incoming administration supports completing the project. http://on.wsj.com/2gZxrRe

– President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a move that would place a former political adversary with little housing-policy expertise in a key administration post. http://on.wsj.com/2h9PXt5

– Investor materials show Theranos projected revenue of nearly $2 billion and net income of about $505 million this year. http://on.wsj.com/2h1bCmU

– Euroskeptic parties vary in their prescriptions but are putting pressure on mainstream politicians to address perceived flaws in the EU and common currency. Elections next year in several European nations will go far to determine the fate of continental integration. http://on.wsj.com/2h9SPSS

– New Zealand is facing a leadership contest following the surprise resignation of Prime Minister John Key that will pit his deputy, a former party leader, against at least two other prominent members. http://on.wsj.com/2gXlCe2

– The U.S. Senate Monday cleared the final hurdle to passage of broad legislation aimed at boosting federal funds for biomedical research and speeding up government approval of drug and medical-devices, a goal pursued by the pharmaceutical industry over the objections of some consumer advocates. http://on.wsj.com/2gXkjMl

 

FT

Britain’s government is listening closely to the financial services sector’s Brexit concerns, said finance minister Philip Hammond and the minister in charge of the process for the country’s exit from the European Union, David Davis.

British Transport Minister Chris Grayling will say in a speech on Tuesday that he wants Network Rail to share responsibility for running railway tracks with other operators.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Monday on some debt relief for Greece, but were divided on reforms it must undertake to reach fiscal targets, leaving it unclear if the International Monetary Fund will join the Greek bailout programme.

Britain is beginning to prepare its new World Trade Organisation membership terms ahead of its exit from the European Union and will seek to closely replicate the existing EU ones, Trade Minister Liam Fox said on Monday.

Web giants YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft will step up efforts to remove extremist content from their websites by creating a common database.

 

NYT

– Amazon has created a small grocery store in Seattle that will allow customers to take drinks, prepared meals and other items off shelves and walk out without having to wait in a checkout line. It planned to open the store to the public early next year and that it would offer chef-made meal kits with ingredients for quickly preparing dinners at home. http://nyti.ms/2gx5Wxx

– Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft said they have teamed up to fight the spread of terrorist content over the web by sharing technology and information to reduce the flow of terrorist propaganda across their services. The group plans to create a kind of shared digital database, “fingerprinting” all of the terrorist content that is flagged. By collectively tracking that information, the companies said they could make sure a video posted on Twitter, for instance, did not appear later on Facebook. http://nyti.ms/2gxbzvv

– The international oil industry agreed to pay billions of dollars to the Mexican government for rights to drill in the country’s portions of the Gulf of Mexico. The companies made a big bet that oil and natural gas prices would eventually rebound enough to make additional exploration and drilling profitable. The sale was a validation of Mexico’s decision to open its former government-monopoly energy business to foreign investment and expertise. http://nyti.ms/2gxajIO

– Uber acquired artificial intelligence start-up Geometric Intelligence. The new research arm will be called Uber’s A.I. Labs and all 15 people from the start-up will be absorbed by Uber. Uber said it hoped that through the acquisition, the new team could harness the wealth of data it collects from the millions of daily Uber rides. http://nyti.ms/2gxdTTf

 

Britain

The Times

Tata Steel Ltd says it has made significant commitments to more than 4,000 workers at the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales, which has spent the past eight months under threat of closure. Rather than close one of the two blast furnaces at the steelworks, which many believe Tata has been considering as part of a merger of its European operations with ThyssenKrupp, of Germany, it is believed that the Indian-owned industrial group plans to keep staff employed into the next decade. http://bit.ly/2gZTM14

Shareholders at Independent News & Media Plc have voted overwhelmingly in support of restructuring measures despite protests from current and former staff whose pensions will be cut as a result. http://bit.ly/2gZSAL6

The Guardian

Amazon.com Inc has opened a corner store where customers can pick up their groceries and just walk out without having to queue up and pay at the checkout. The company said shoppers at its Amazon Go store will have the cost of their purchases automatically billed to their Amazon Prime account. Sensors will track customers as they go about the store and record items they pick up. http://bit.ly/2gvgI7u

A top U.S. investment bank resigned as a key adviser to Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International Plc because of concerns that the retail company had manipulated its share price, according to claims made in a high court document. Bank of America Merrill Lynch had concerns about Sport Direct’s corporate governance and the “propriety” of share transactions in 2012 around its employee bonus scheme, according to allegations in legal filings by Jeff Blue, previously one of Ashley’s key allies. http://bit.ly/2gJPRaC

The Telegraph

GW Pharmaceuticals Plc plans to expand manufacturing in the United Kingdom and boost cultivation of the cannabis plants it uses to make a treatment for severe epilepsy, its chief executive has said. http://bit.ly/2hbxM6u

Blackcurrant drinks should be exempt from the government’s sugar tax, drinks makers including Ribena have suggested, as Treasury documents reveal a number have asked for special treatment by the Treasury. http://bit.ly/2gWyy46

Sky News

An executive who left BG Group months before a takeover approach from Royal Dutch Shell is being lined up to take the helm of Genel Energy Plc , the oil company founded by former BP boss Tony Hayward. Chris Finlayson is the leading candidate to replace Hayward as Genel’s chairman. http://bit.ly/2g3mkEU

A planned 24-hour strike by London Underground drivers has been suspended, the RMT union has said. Drivers on the Piccadilly and Hammersmith and City lines were due to walk out from 9.30 pm on Tuesday, amid claims of a breakdown in industrial relations, breaches of procedures and bullying and harassment of staff. http://bit.ly/2gvyuaD

Dec 6 2016

Euro, BTPs Hit On Local Reports Italy May Hold Early Elections


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 6, 2016 7:24 AM

Update: it appears that early elections are indeed coming to Italy, which could be another major calendar event for Italy, and one which would have far more significant consequences for the political make up of the country should M5S win as many expect. From Reuters:

ITALY INTERIOR MINISTER, SPEAKING AFTER CONVERSATION WITH RENZI, SEES NEW ELECTIONS LIKELY IN FEBRUARY – CORRIERE DELLA SERA 

* * *

The Euro has been hit this morning, losing some 50 pips following reports in both La Repubblica and Corriere, that Matteo Renzi may stay in power for several weeks before potential early elections in January-February of 2017. According to La Repubblica, Renzi may ask that early elections are held in near future in return for staying in power until then. As previously reported, the next Italian general election must be held no later than 23rd May 2018.

The move has pressured other Italian assets, with BTP futures retreating from highs and the Italian bank index paring gains as investors focus on potential for Italian elections to be held early next year.

However, there has been some confusion about the date of the snap elections, because President Mattarella reportedly doesn’t see elections in February technically feasible because changes are needed to the country’s election law known as Italicum.

There is another consideration: should snap elections be hald soon, they would likely lead to a victory for Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which as noted on Sunday has already called for immediate elections after the outgoing prime minister Matteo Renzi’s defeat in a constitutional referendum, saying it was prepared to put forward a new government that could immediately assume power.

While it appears unlikely that Beppe Grillo, a former comedian and co-founder of the populist party, will get his general election wish, the bold demand showed his Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S) now has its sights on an even greater electoral victory: one that would eventually land it in the prime minster’s residence in Palazzo Chigi.

As the Guardian reported, many analysts pointed out that M5S still faces considerable obstacles, including probable reforms of electoral law that will make it difficult for the party to get a majority. “But even if such manoeuvres keep it at bay temporarily, one thing is clear: the party is now the second most powerful force in Italy behind Renzi’s diminished Democratic party.”

Vincenzo Scarpetta, a senior policy analyst at the thinktank Open Europe, said M5S would have a fair chance of winning the next general election under current electoral rules, but those rules are likely to change in coming months under the current Democratic-controlled parliament, which may be the impetus behind delaying elections as much as possible, and why today’s report of early snap elections has led to Euro weakness.

The decision to call immediate elections ultimately falls with Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella.

Dec 6 2016

Austrian Elections – Still the Anti-Socialist Vote


Armstrong Economics Blog

Re-Posted Dec 6, 2016 by Martin Armstrong

 

alexander_van_der_bellen

QUESTION: Marty, at the cocktail party you said you did not see the far-right in Austria winning for it was not the same. Then you got pulled off. Just wondering what was different in Austria?

Thank you for the conference. Don’y know where you get the energy from.

RP

NorbertHoferANSWER: Cyclically, Austria was not ready for the extreme far-right. They, nonetheless, threw out the socialists. Norbert Hofer is extreme far-right. He often carries a Glock pistol. Austria was where the Great Depression banking crisis really began. Hofer hoped to capitalize on the anti-establishment wave credited with delivering BREXIT and Donald Trump. Alexander Van der Bellen won for the nominally independent Green Party.  Van der Bellen finished second out of six in the first round of elections before winning the second round against Hofer who was the Freedom Party candidate.

The current president if Heinz Fischer, who was of the Socialist Democratic Party. So the election was still against the Socialists. Hofer was too far-right at this point in time. So the change from socialists is still underway. We do not need to go extreme far-right in the political wave of change.

Dec 5 2016

“Fake News” Site Threatens Washington Post With Defamation Suit, Demands Retraction


Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge Dec 5, 2016 9:11 AM

As the “fake news” narrative grows, and The House quietly passes a bill to “counter Russian propoganda” websites, one alleged ‘fake’ news wesbite – as defined by the farcical PropOrNot organization – has struck back. Naked Capitalism’s Yves Smith has threatened The Washington Post with a defamation suit and demanded a retraction.

 As the lawyers like to say, res ipsa loquitur. Please tweet and circulate this letter widely. You will notice that our attorney Jim Moody is a seasoned litigator who has won cases before the Supreme Court. He has considerable experience in First Amendment and defamation actions. Past high profile representations include Westomoreland v. CBS and defending Linda Tripp.

I also hope, particularly for those of you who don’t regularly visit Naked Capitalism, that you’ll check out our related pieces that give more color to how the fact the Washington Post was taken for a ride by inept propagandists, particularly our introduction to our spoof PropOrNot.org site, which uses the PropOrNot project as an example of sorely deficient propaganda and shows where it went wrong, or the humor site itself. Be sure not to miss its FAQ.

We have another post today that describes how the few things that are verifiable on the PropOrNot site don’t pan out, as in the organization is not simply a group of inept propagandists but also appears to deal solely in fabrications.

If the site is flagrantly false with respect to things that can be checked, why pray tell did the Washington Post and its fellow useful idiots in the mainstream media validate and amplify its message? Strong claims demand strong proofs, yet the Post appeared content to give a megaphone to people who make stuff up with abandon. No wonder the members of PropOrNot hide as much as they can about what they are up to; more transparency would expose their work to be a tissue of lies.

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/333282597/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-SFsTOjb47eR1AYqNP4gj&show_recommendations=true

 We fully endorse Yves Smith’s efforts.

Additionally, we note that the only reason we haven’t followed up with a similar action is because i) the allegations were beyond laughable – we have rejected all of them on the record, and ii) there are simply too much other events taking place in what should otherwise be a quiet end to the year taking place to focus on what may be a lenghty, if gratifying, legal process.