statism watch

84 small banks have failed this year, and another 416 are on the death watch – the largest banks are eating the small, centralizing and consolidating economic power.

Flashback: Record quarterly profits and bonuses: Goldman Sachs makes out like a bandit on taxpayer’s dime | 10 U.S. banks fail stress test, but regulators confident | Barclays, Lloyd’s, RBS join Goldman-Sachs in the black | U.S. retail sales fall unexpectedly | Goldman-Sachs to repay TARP loan, resume private operations, bonuses, at “earliest time” possible | Which Banks Will Rule? | Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout | Analyst: One Third Of Banks Could Collapse or Merge In 2009 | IMF may need to “print money”, act as “world’s central bank” as crisis spreads | Morgan Chase Exec Brags Bailout Is for Takeovers, Restructuring, Not Lending | Behind the panic: Financial warfare over the future of global bank power

Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2009

Another lesson that federal guarantees aren’t free

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair

Americans are about to re-learn that bank deposit insurance isn’t free, even as Washington is doing its best to delay the coming bailout. The banking system and the federal fisc would both be better off in the long run if the political class owned up to the reality.

We’re referring to the federal deposit insurance fund, which has been shrinking faster than reservoirs in the California drought. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported late last week that the fund that insures some $4.5 trillion in U.S. bank deposits fell to $10.4 billion at the end of June, as the list of failing banks continues to grow. The fund was $45.2 billion a year ago, when regulators told us all was well and there was no need to take precautions to shore up the fund.

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Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you. Though this may be the sort of thing we’ve come to expect from China, it’s illustrative of how the state has no business propagandizing a generation of children, tracking their responses, selecting them for nationalist sentiment. As we know, that road leads to a dark place, whether it’s destination be the Red Guard or the Hitler Jugend or child soldiers the world over.

Flashback: UK schoolkids trained to inform on ‘extremist’ classmates by police DVD | ‘AmeriCorps’ Domestic Paramilitary Propaganda Ad | Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More | US Congress passes mandatory national service bill | UK Home Secretary unveils civilian anti-terrorism security force | New World Order Crony Gary Hart Calls for “Civic Duty” | Justin Trudeau introduces National Voluntary Service motion | US Democrats Introduce Public National Service Bills | Police presence in high schools makes the grade | Canadian Junior Hockey team gets ‘military training | ‘Our People’ stand up for Putin | Vladimir Putin sets up nationalist Russian Youth brigade

Michael Bristow, BBC News
September 1, 2009

Chinese children are being told that the first lesson they must learn this school year is “love your country”.

The ministry of education has produced a special TV programme to encourage patriotism among the nation’s youngsters.

It is being broadcast as tens of millions of children head back to their classes after the summer holidays.

The show comes just a few weeks before the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 60th anniversary.

National spirit

The education ministry has produced the two-hour special with China Central Television, the country’s main state-run broadcaster.

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Flashback: Global demand for gold investment soars 38% in past year | The search for the mint’s missing gold | Royal Canadian Mint’s ‘lost’ gold worth a mint | Bullion and Bandits: The Improbable Rise and Fall of E-Gold | Has the Mint’s gold vanished? | Bank crisis spawns new kind of gold rush | Gold Tops $1,000, First Time Since March as Recession Deepens | Manipulation Of Gold And Silver Prices Further Exposed | Analysts Predict Hyper-Inflation To Push Gold To $2000, Oil to $300 | Ottawa warns on gold-backed Web trades

John Harvey, Reuters
September 1, 2009

Correlation with base metals strengthens as economic data reflects recovery

Prospects for global economic recovery may increase the call for silver (SI-FT15.030.110.72%) from industrial users, leaving the metal ripe for fresh gains on top of already firm investment interest.

Interest from industrial consumers, which accounted for more than half of silver demand last year, could lead to the metal outperforming gold (GC-FT956.503.000.31%) this year – but only if confidence in the economy continues to grow, analysts said.

“Silver has really taken its lead from gold this year,” said Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet. “But now, with industrial production picking up, you have to favour silver, relative to gold at least – as long as industrial demand keeps growing.”

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Flashback: Flu vaccine plan will be too slow: CMAJ | Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America | Canada to order 50.4 million H1N1 vaccine doses – with adjuvant additive | Genetically modified Swine Flu hybrid may provide vaccine yield solution | Washington Post: Swine Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury | UK Government Swine Flu Advisor On Vaccine Maker Payroll | Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist | Swine flu: How scared should we be? | Top Epidemiologist Slams Swine Flu Fearmongering | Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe

Sarah Boseley, The Guardian
September 1, 2009

Results of poll suggest widespread concern about safety of vaccine, US study showed pregnant women more at risk of swine flu complications

Half of all pregnant women say they will refuse to be vaccinated once the swine flu jab is available, suggesting there is widespread concern about its safety, a new poll has revealed.

Pregnant women are one of the target groups for vaccination identified by experts advising the government. In July, a study in the US showed they are more at risk of complications if they get it and more likely to end up in hospital than other people. Six pregnant women died of swine flu complications there between 15 April and 18 May.

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