Heartland Coin Gallery - Economic & Financial News Headlines

HEADLINE Economic, Financial & Global News...
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Wednesday 08.01.2012

Gold to rise to $1,700/oz in a month: UBS
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) raised its one month gold forecast to $1,700 an ounce from $1,550/oz and its three-month forecast to $1,750 an ounce from $1,600.
According to the Zurich based bank, a greater chance for monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve should support gold prices, with the yellow metal seen rising to $1,700 an ounce in a month.

Gold hasn't lost its lustre at all
By Chirag Mehta - CommodityOnline.com
Gold suddenly looks lacking in luster and is moving in tandem with risk assets. Is gold that generally rises when there's risk aversion not the case anymore? Has gold lost its luster? We do not think so. We should not generalize based on something that we see in the short term and ignore the long term characteristics of an asset.
Markets are currently working on a perverse logic where bad is construed as good. Markets have been reacting positively to poor economic data as deterioration in economic data reflects a higher probability of more easing measures from the Central Banks. In the past too there have been similar instances where Central Banks had suggested that they would undertake more monetary interventions as a solution for all fiscal problems.

Gold at ECB: Accident or Strategy?
BY AXEL G MERK - FinancialSense.com
When the euro was launched, the European Central Bank (ECB) held approximately 15% of its assets in gold. That ratio has remained reasonably stable, giving rise to a variety of chatter, including suggestions that it may displace the U.S. dollar. We pursue the question on whether the ECB's gold holdings are an accident or strategy.
Let's look at the numbers. Below is a chart depicting the percentage of gold relative to the ECB's total assets. As one can see, the percentage has remained reasonably stable despite a significant growth in total assets.

John Williams: The US Is Essentially Bankrupt
Perpetual QE needed to service massive debt load and $5 trillion per year in unfunded liabilities
James J Puplava CFP with John Williams - FinancialSense.com
Jim welcomes back John Williams from Shadow Government Statistics. John believes there is no way the system can be brought back into balance, and we are facing the reality of perpetual QE (money printing) to service the massive debt load and fund 5 trillion in new liabilities every year. John stresses you need to find ways to protect yourself against a depreciating dollar.

Just Open Up Your Eyes And Look - 65 Signs That The Economic Collapse Is Already Happening
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Do you want to know when the "economic collapse" is going to happen? Just open up your eyes and take a look. The "economic collapse" is already happening all around us. So many people talk about the coming economic collapse as if it is some massively hyped event that they will be able to point to on the calendar, and a lot of writers spend a lot of time speculating about exactly when it will happen. But as I have written about before, the economic collapse is not a single event. The economic collapse has been happening, it is happening right now, and it will be getting a lot worse. Yes, there will be moments of great crisis. We saw one of those "waves" back in 2008 and another "wave" is rapidly approaching. But all of the waves are part of a process that is continually unfolding. Over the past 40 years, the United States and Europe have piled up the greatest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and now a tremendous amount of pain is heading our way. Economic conditions in the United States and Europe have already deteriorated badly and they are going to continue to deteriorate. Nothing is going to stop what is coming.

Fed Considers Pre-emptive Stimulus
by Raven Clabough - TheNewAmerican.com
Some at the Federal Reserve are encouraging action in order to pre-empt an economic downturn, an idea first advanced by former Fed Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. Though the Federal Reserve's touted role is to set policy based on the nation's economic conditions, Greenspan believed that it was the role of the central bank to act in advance of potential risks, saying it was similar to "taking out insurance."
In 2004, Chairman Greenspan said that central banks must manage risks, and that sometimes entails "insurance against especially adverse outcomes." Several current members of the Federal Reserve are adhering to a similar philosophy. The New York Times reports:
On the eve of the Fed's policy-making committee meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, members who favor additional action argued that the likely path of the economy was itself sufficient reason for action.

Fed expected to take small easing step
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve will take the small easing step of pledging to keep rates low for longer at the end of its two-day meeting this week, analysts said on the eve of the event.
At the moment, the Fed has said it expects to keep rates exceptionally low until late 2014. Economists say the Fed is likely to push this out until mid-2015.
"Extending the forward guidance is the least-costly option, and if their goal is to keep long-term interest rates low, it will do the trick," said Scott Brown, chief economist with Raymond James.

Central Banks' Unorthodox Actions Are Cutting Lending
By Alexander Friedman and Kiran Ganesh - Bloomberg.com
The unintended consequences of financial policy intervention are providing fresh evidence for chaos theory's idea that the flap of a butterfly's wings can spark a tornado on the other side of the world.
Five years into the age of deleveraging, financial markets have become addicted to central bank intervention, from the U.S. Federal Reserve to the European Central Bank and beyond, aimed at stimulating growth. Markets anticipate further action, with the Fed, ECB and Bank ofEngland committees meeting on monetary policy this week.
But no flap of a central banker's wings goes quite as expected.

Fed Seen Forgoing New Bond Buying Program Until September
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will probably forgo announcing a third round of large- scale asset purchases this week, and is more likely to wait until September to unveil plans to buy $600 billion in housing and government debt, according to median estimates of economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Eighty-eight percent of economists say the Federal Open Market Committee will refrain from starting new purchases at a two-day meeting that began today in Washington. Forty-eight percent say the FOMC will announce the buying at its Sept. 12-13 meeting, according to the July 25-27 survey of 58 economists.

Geithner Says Europe Committed To Resolving Crisis
By Ian Katz - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Europe is "absolutely committed to doing what's necessary" to resolve the continent's debt crisis, one day after meeting with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
"This is completely within their financial ability to solve," Geithner said today at an event at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He added that "the politics of doing this are very hard."

How European Central Bank can safeguard the euro
Financial markets want the ECB to put its strong words of support into action when it meets in Frankfurt this week
By Larry Elliott, economics editor - Guardian.co.uk
Mario Draghi's blunt statement that the ECB will do "whatever it takes" to safeguard the euro has raised expectations before the bank's meeting in Frankfurt this week. Europe's policy elite hit the panic button last week when interest rates on Spain's 10-year bonds soared above 7.5%, triggering pledges of support for monetary union in its life-or-death struggle from Angela Merkel and François Hollande as well as Draghi, the Italian who took over as president of the ECB last year.
Financial markets, which rallied strongly following Draghi's comments, now want the central bank to put words into action, and have drawn up a list of possible options for what is seen as a crunch meeting.

Bernanke and Draghi: Bluff and bluster
By J. D. Foster - WashingtonTimes.com
Two of the most powerful men in the world, supposedly, are Ben S. Bernanke and Mario Draghi, the respective chairmen of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB). Central banks, and therefore central bankers, are supposed to be powerful; today, not so much. As they meet this week to discuss next moves, all they have left to support employment is the most exceptional monetary-policy tool of all: the bluff.
Mr. Bernanke is a respected, mild-mannered former academic and, conveniently, an expert on monetary policy during the Great Depression.Mr. Draghi is an Italian member of long standing in Europe's ruling elite, i.e., the monetary union engineers responsible for Europe's sorry plight. Both men can make markets swoon or dive with a word or a phrase.

China prepares vast stimulus as slump threatens Asia
China has ditched its reform strategy and prepared a vast stimulus package as the country's soft-landing turns uncomfortably hard, with recession warnings flashing across East Asia.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The bellwether economies of Taiwan and Singapore both contracted in the second quarter. Korea's industrial output fell in June, while Japan's manufacturing PMI index fell in July to the lowest since the Fukushima disaster, with the export gauge crashing to recession levels.
"Factory output, new orders and exports all decreased at the fastest rates since April 2011. These are worrying developments given the weakness of global demand," said Markit's Alex Hamilton.

Congressman Asks Treasury Sec'y Geithner
to Block Chinese Oil Deal
by Warren Mass - TheNewAmerican.com
Representative Edward Markey (D.-Mass.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on July 30 asking the U.S. government to block the proposed acquisition of Canadian oil company Nexen by CNOOC, China's state-owned oil company. Because Nexen holds leases for oil drilling in U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which represent about 10 percent of the firm's assets, the proposed Chinese-Canadian merger is subject to U.S. approval.
Geithner also serves as chairman of the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companies or operations.

Personal spending flat
Consumer Spending In U.S. Was Unchanged In June
By Shobhana Chandra - Bloomberg
Consumer spending in the U.S. stagnated in June as labor-market weakness prompted Americans to use the biggest gain in incomes in three months to build savings.
Household purchases, which make up 70 percent of the economy, were unchanged last month after a 0.1 percent decline in May, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists called for a 0.1 percent rise. Incomes climbed 0.5 percent, lifting the saving rate to 4.4 percent, the highest in a year.

Keiser Report: Virtual Virtual Economy (E321)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the virtual virtual economy getting hit by a dustbowl and there are no gully washers or toad stranglers on the horizon to bring reliefe; meanwhile out in the virtual real economy it's all the bath-salts and beer you can drink and scalps for sale in California as eminent domain falls into the hands of private bankers. In the second half, Max interviews Teri Buhl about the possibility of San Bernardino county using eminent domain to seize mortgages from one set of rich private investors to give them to another set of rich private investors.

Will the Market's Direction Determine the Presidency?
BY FRANK HOLMES - FinancialSense.com
After the first few months of President Barack Obama's term in office, I wrote about the carnival rollercoaster the market was riding. Looking at the blue line below, that post may have foreshadowed his tenure! The average of four-year presidential cycles from 1953 through 2008 shows that the S&P 500 Index generally remains flat for almost the first two years, before heading higher in the second half.
Despite the S&P's wild ride, the market is significantly higher than when Obama took the oath. Does this ensure a victory for the 2012 election?

States Enact Prescription-drug Limits on Medicaid Patients
by Brian Koenig - TheNewAmerican.com
As President Obama's landmark healthcare law penetrates deeper into implementation, signs of medical rationing are sprouting, as 16 states have enacted a limit on the number prescription drugs they will insure for Medicaid recipients. The latest state to institute a cap under the state-federal health insurance program is Illinois, which is placing its limit at four drugs per month.
Medicaid, a federal health program that works in conjunction with state governments, is a chief component of the Affordable Care Act — also known as ObamaCare — because the law boosts the income cap on eligibility, leading to a spike in the number of people covered by the program. Considering the expanded coverage, along with a federal premium subsidy for Americans earning up to 400 percent of the poverty rate, a significantly larger percentage of the population will be dependent on the government for their healthcare needs.

And You Thought the Housing Crisis Was Over!
The Community Reinvestment Act is back,
as if 2008 never happened.
By WILLIAM TUCKER - The American Spectator.org
Do you remember that thing about how the banks wouldn't lend to blacks and Hispanics because they were racists? And do you remember how they passed the Community Reinvestment Act so that banks were forced to reduce down payments practically to zero and lend to a lot of people they knew were bad credit risks? And do you remember how Wall Street bundled all these risky subprime mortgages and sold them to investors around the world so that when it became clear that those people weren't going to be able to pay their mortgages banks everywhere were left holding the bag and all five of the Wall Street investment houses either went under or had to be bailed out by the federal government?

FHFA Rejects Treasury Request
For Mortgage Debt Writedowns
By Clea Benson - Bloomberg.com
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac won't forgive principal on delinquent mortgages they guarantee even as the U.S. Treasury Department offers them incentive payments for writedowns, the companies' regulator said today.
Months of analysis showed there would be no clear benefit to taxpayers if the Federal Housing Finance Agency changed its policy barring the government-owned mortgage-finance companies from loan modifications including debt writedowns, Edward J. DeMarco, the agency's acting director, said at a briefing with reporters in Washington.

Geithner Says 2-3 Years Of Creative Housing Needed
By Ian Katz and Cheyenne Hopkins - Bloomberg.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said two to three years of "aggressive, creative" programs are needed to help the U.S. recover from its housing crisis.
"We're going to keep at this as long as necessary," Geithner said at an event in Los Angelestoday. "We think there's a very good case for people deeply under water, experiencing hardship, to modify their mortgages by reducing principal."

Big Lies in Politics
The Nazi philosophy of lying to the public
prevails in the current administration.
By THOMAS SOWELL - The American Spectator.org
It was either Adolf Hitler or his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who said that the people will believe any lie, if it is big enough and told often enough, loud enough. Although the Nazis were defeated in World War II, this part of their philosophy survives triumphantly to this day among politicians, and nowhere more so than during election years.
Perhaps the biggest lie of this election year, and the one likely to be repeated the most often, is that the income of "the rich" is going up, while other people's incomes are going down. If you listen to Barack Obama, you are bound to hear this lie repeatedly.

Bernanke, Geithner Response to Libor Scandal Rings Hollow
Reuters - MoneyNews.com
Ben Bernanke heads the most powerful central bank in the world. Yet the Federal Reserve chairman says he was largely powerless to stop what some are calling the biggest financial fraud in history: the systematic manipulation of a key global interest rate.
It's a line of argument that has fallen flat with some lawmakers and investors, who want to know why Bernanke and other key U.S. regulators did not do more to end a potentially criminal rigging of interest rates affecting trillions of dollars in financial contracts.

Will the LIBOR Scandal Help Re-Elect Obama?
It could also give regulators even more power to misuse.
By JAMES SRODES - The American Spectator.org
Will the continuing scandal over LIBOR insure Barack Obama's re-election in November? It's a distinct possibility.
There is considerable irony in the controversy over the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate, which cost Barclays Bank a $450 million fine for rigging between 2005 and 2008.
Not the least of that irony is that regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have just begun to wonder how widespread the practice became after 2008 when international banking plunged into its greatest turmoil and when the Obama presidency began. Not to mention the role that the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England played in abetting the fraud both before and after Mr. Obama took office.

Keiser Report: Hang 'Em High! (E320)
In this episode, Max Keiser presents a double header with co-host, Stacy Herbert, to discuss crime and punishment in the financial sector. In London, JP Morgan banker, Tony Blair, has responded to the Keiser Report with his claim that hanging 20 bankers will not help and that, in fact, he asserts, public anger with the financial crisis is wrong. They also discuss the 'blazer over cuffs look' being the new black this season as Sean Fitzpatrick is arrested in Dublin, while over in Pennsylvania, Joe Paterno's statue is draped in blue tarpaulin and hauled away as bond investors punish the university with higher rates and Moody's threatens a downgrade. Finally, in Los Angeles, victims of vandalism are shocked to discover that it was a senior UBS banker who was smashing windows with a slingshot.

U.S. home prices jump in May: Case-Shiller
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices jumped in May, marking the second month of gains, according to a closely followed index released Tuesday.
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite rose 2.2% on the month to take the 12-month change to 0.7%. All 20 cities in the index saw monthly gains, including a 4.5% surge in Chicago and a 4% gain in hard-hit Atlanta.
On a year-over-year basis, prices are down 0.7%, the smallest fall in 18 months. By this metric, Phoenix prices have climbed 11.5% while Atlanta's have dropped 14.5%.

Rising U.S. Food Prices are About to Eat Away at Your Savings
BY BEN GERSTEN, Associate Editor, Money Morning
As U.S. households prepare for Recession 2013 , they'll have trouble saving as one constant expense is starting to take a sharp climb: food prices.
Higher U.S. food prices are the last thing the country needs as 2013 is set to bring with it a painful bunch of tax increases and the ominous fiscal cliff, but U.S. consumers need to understand that their grocery bills are about take a much bigger chunk out of their wallets.
You see, the United States is in its worst drought since the Dust Bowl. Farmers for months have been grappling with the effects, which are trickling down to your local store shelves.

UBS to sue Nasdaq over Facebook flotation
Swiss bank suing the US hi-tech stock market Nasdaq for 'gross mishandling' of the share sale, in which it lost SFr349m (£240m)
By Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
The Swiss bank UBS lost SFr349m (£240m) on the flotation of Facebook and is suing the US hi-tech stock market Nasdaq for "gross mishandling" of the share sale.
The loss, which drove the UBS investment banking arm to a SF130m loss, was caused when UBS entered too many orders for Facebook shares into the Nasdaq system which crashed under the weight of the record-breaking flotation, or initial public offering (IPO), and was unable to process the orders.

BMW's Electric Scooter Blends Eco Cred
With Combustion Performance
By Alexander George - Wired.com
Know this: A "Bimmer" has four wheels, and a "Beemer" or "Beamer" has two. What we have here is an electric Beemer, BMW's EV scooter called the C evolution. The scooter began as a concept in 2011, and BMW unveiled the production model in London last week.
The C evolution (lower case "e") runs on 11 kW of continuous output, and 35 kW at peak output. Top speed is around 74 mph and acceleration is similar to 600cc scooters, which can typically hit 60 mph in under seven seconds. Redline for the electric motor is around 10,000 rpm, where it'll hit 47 peak horsepower, and continuous output is around 10 horsepower, all without the delay of torque buildup.

Unilateral Free Trade
The Only International Economic Policy That a Country Needs: "Mind Your Own Business and Set a Good Example."
Mises Daily: by Patrick Barron
The international economic scene is dominated by state interventions at all levels. Daily we read of disputes over exchange-rate manipulation, protectionist tariffs followed by retaliatory tariffs, highly regulated free-trade blocs that erect trade barriers to nonbloc nations, bilateral trade agreements, and more. For instance, Great Britain is a member of the European Union (EU) but not of the European Monetary Union (EMU), meaning that it abides by all the regulations and pays all the assessments to remain a member of the EU in order to trade freely with the other members of the 27-country EU. But it does not use the common currency, the euro, which is used by only 17 of the EU members. British industry chafes at the many seemingly meaningless and bizarre regulations that raise the cost of British goods just so Britain can trade freely within the EU. Some regulations are so onerous that some British manufactures will be put out of business. The pro-EU faction in Britain, such as the leadership of the three main parties — the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats — recognizes the damage but proposes to lobby for special exemptions on a case-by-case basis. The anti-EU faction, led by the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP), wants Britain out of the EU entirely, arguing that the cost of membership is too great and that the loss of sovereignty is unconstitutional. The same debate can be seen within every EU nation to some degree.

More than 700 Million Left without Power
after Latest Blackouts in India
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
India has suffered yet more blackouts, this time leaving more than 700 million people without power, and raising serious doubts about the country's failing infrastructure and the government's ability to meet the increasing energy demand as they pursue ambitions to become an Asian superpower.
20 of India's 28 states were left without electricity, including the capital New Delhi, when three out of the nation's five grids went down.
Hundreds of trains ground to a halt, leaving passengers stranded along tracks from Kashmir to Nagaland.

Sen. Moran Discusses Drought and CFTC Failures
With CNBC's Rick Santelli

Historic Drought, Giant Dust Storms
And Massive Power Grid Failures -
A Glimpse Into Our Future
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
This week has provided two very clear examples of why it is so important to keep on prepping. In the United States, the historic drought ravaging the central part of the country is absolutely devastating our crops. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, drought is affecting nearly 90 percent of all corn crops in America at this point. This is pushing the price of corn to levels never seen before. On Tuesday, the price of corn hit another new record high of$8.20 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Over the past six weeks the price of corn has risen more than 50 percent, and it could go a lot higher as the drought continues to absolutely bake America. Meanwhile, the massive power grid failures in India are reminding us all just how incredibly dependent we are on electricity and technology. Power was cut off to nearly a tenth of the entire global population on Tuesday, and there was quite a bit of panic about that even though power is rapidly being restored. So what would happen to them (or to us) someday if the power went off for good?

Second Amendment at risk in second term
Obama's pals agitate for gun limitations
By Emily Miller-The Washington Times
Democrats just couldn't hold it together. With less than 100 days to go before the election, the left let slip its vision of a second term for President Obama that will be the end for the Second Amendment.
They're riding on an emotional wave created by James Holmes, the suspected Aurora, Colo., movie-theater shooter who was charged with 24 counts of murder on Monday. As the courtroom proceedings in that case unfolded, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey Democrat, and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, New York Democrat, took to New York's city hall to introduce legislation making it much harder for law-abiding citizens nationwide to purchase ammunition.

When They Come For Your Guns . . . You Will Turn Them Over
by Jim Karger - LewRockwell.com
"When they come for my gun, they will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands," is a common refrain I often hear from the Neo-Cons when there is a threat, credible or otherwise, that the US government is going to take their firearms.
And, when I hear this crazy talk, I agree with them openly. "You are right. They will pry your gun from your cold dead hands," which I often follow with the question, "And where will that leave you except face down in a pool of your own blood the middle of the street, just another dead fool resisting the State?"
This is not a question they are comfortable with, if only because the intent of their saber-rattling was to imply they would fight to keep their weapons, and win.

The world's first 3D-printed gun
By Sebastian Anthony - ExtremeTech.com
An American gunsmith has become the first person to construct and shoot a pistol partly made out of plastic, 3D-printed parts. The creator, user HaveBlue from the AR-15 forum, has reportedly fired 200 rounds with his part-plastic pistol without any sign of wear and tear.
HaveBlue's custom creation is a .22-caliber pistol, formed from a 3D-printed AR-15 (M16) lower receiver, and a normal, commercial upper. In other words, the main body of the gun is plastic, while the chamber — where the bullets are actually struck — is solid metal.

UN Gun Grab Fails
UN Conference Fails to Agree to Arms Transfer Treaty (ATT)
by Thomas R. Eddlem - LewRockwell.com
The month-long United Nations conference to draw up a global Arms Transfer Treaty (ATT) failed to achieve consensus after the United States, Russia, and China requested more time to consider a draft treaty, according to the United Nations. The draft treaty, which would have required national gun registration, required unanimity among the nations assembled in order to advance.
"I am disappointed that the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) concluded its four-week-long session without agreement on a treaty text that would have set common standards to regulate the international trade in conventional arms," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. Ban termed the lack of agreement a "setback." Ban said that the UN's commitment to signing "a robust ATT is steadfast" and that the global body would continue to work toward what he termed "a noble goal."

Obama will 'evaluate' bill to ban online munition sales
By Susan Crabtree - The Washington Times
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday that President Obama will "evaluate" a new bill that would ban online ammunition sales in the wake of the shooting massacre in Aurora, Colo. That left 12 dead and dozens more injured.
During the daily press briefing, Mr. Earnest was asked whether Mr. Obama supports the measure, which aims to end sales of unlimited amounts of ammunition on the Internet and other mail orders. The bill also would force ammunition dealers to report large sales of bullets and other munitions to law enforcement authorities.

The Most Often Forgotten Survival Preparations
By Brandon Smith - Alt-Market.com
I think it's safe to say with some conviction that in the year of 2012 the concept of survival prepping is NOT an alien one to most Americans. When National Geographic decides there is a viable market for a prepper TV show (no matter how misrepresentative of true preppers it may be), when Walmart starts stocking shelves with long term emergency food storage kits, when survivalism in general becomes one of the few growing business markets in the midst of an otherwise disintegrating economy; you know that the methodology has gone "mainstream". There is a noticeable and expanding concern amongst Americans that we are, indeed, on the verge of something new and unfortunate.

Exclusive Pics: The Navy's Unmanned, Autonomous 'UFO'
By Spencer Ackerman - Wired.com
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland — If you saw it in person, you'd probably think it was a UFO, too.
That's what happened when the Navy trucked its batwing-shaped drone of the future from California to its new testing bed here in Maryland. Across the country, 911 switchboards lit up with reports thatmysterious trucks were hauling a spaceship. In truth, it was a demonstration model for something the Navy desperately wants: to launch an armed, spying, stealthy drone from an aircraft carrier, one of the hardest maneuvers in aviation, conducted with the click of a mouse. But up close, you can see why people freaked out.

NAVAIR: Initial Flight of X-47B at Patuxent River, MD
The Navy made history July 30 after it conducted the Naval Air Station Patuxent River's initial flight of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D). The tailless, unmanned aircraft launched from Pax River and flew for a planned 35 minutes over the Chesapeake Bay.

Has Mitt given Israel a blank check?
Is Mitt Being Neoconned Into War?
by Patrick J. Buchanan - LewRockwell.com
Has Mitt Romney given Israel a blank check for war?
So it seemed from the declaration in Jerusalem by his adviser Dan Senor, who all but flashed Israel a green light for war, signaling the Israelis that, if you go, Mitt's got your back:
"If Israel has to take action on its own in order to stop Iran from developing that capability, the governor would respect that decision."
"No option would be excluded. Gov. Romney recognizes Israel's right to defend itself and that it is right for America to stand with it."

Iranian nukes and Jerusalem
Attack plans will deter the mullahs more than sanctions
Editorial By THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Despite recent tough talk coming from the White House regarding Iran, the Obama administration and the mullahs agree on one thing: Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel.
On Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Mitt Romney's statement that Jerusalem is the Jewish state's capital was "a different position than this administration holds. It's the view of this administration that the capital should be determined in final status negotiations between parties." Though President Obama now fundamentally disagrees with Mr. Romney on the Jerusalem question, this was not always the case. When running for president in 2008, Mr. Obama declared, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." He quickly wimped out on that bold stand. Now the Obama administration will barely acknowledge Jerusalem exists and only uses the word "capital" in the context of dividing the city to give half to the Palestinians. Sometime between the campaign trail and the Oval Office, Mr. Obama's position "evolved."

Syria's rebels add explosives expertise to guerrilla tactics
Commanders use insurgency methods but rage at being compared to al-Qaida, saying if anyone is a terrorist it is Assad
By Luke Harding in Korkanaya
and Ian Black, Middle East editor - Guardian.co.uk
Syria's opposition fighters are increasingly using Iraqi-style roadside bombs in their war against Bashar al-Assad, most recently blowing up tanks in a large convoy travelling to attack rebels inside Aleppo.
Free Syrian Army (FSA) commanders told the Guardian the use of improvised explosive devices has gone up in recent months, with fighters growing increasingly adept at bomb-making. Iraqi insurgents used roadside bombs extensively in their campaign against the US military.

Mythology and the Coming Great Deception (Rob Skiba)
This new DVD traces the trail of foreign gods that were introduced to the Israelites in Egypt and still remain with us, all the way to the present day. It appears a few of them have even landed in Washington D.C.! Zeus lives! If you liked Apollyon 2012 and Nephilim Stargates by Tom Horn, you will love this DVD. One of the most fascinating DVDs I've seen on this subject.

Steve Quayle "Return of the Nephilim"
Interviewed by Dr. Bill Deagle
Stephen Quayle unveils the New World Order operations from a spiritual and Biblical perspective as few others are able to do. This interview from January 21, 2009 is just as applicable today as the day it was given. For the first time on You Tube in full length learn about how the "secret orders of darkness" are in operation today and what it means for you tomorrow. Learn about the "Longwalkers; The Return of the Nephilim".

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