"Our economy doomed lie the Titanic" - James Howard Kunster

A Bad Week and Getting Badder Bigly Fast

James Howard Kunstler

Clusterfuck Nation,

17 March, 2017

Well, of course they bugged Trump Tower. Why wouldn’t they? Trump’s big blunder du jour is that he tweeted “wiretapped,” like some hapless sap out of a 1950s I Was a Spy for the FBI movie. (I know people who still say “ice box,” too.) So he left himself — or rather poor Sean Spicer — open for a week of legalistic pettifogging by reporters acting as litigators for the Deep State’s intel corps.

Anyway, Wikileaks “Vault 7” document release earlier in the month made it clear that US intel has the ability to cover and confuse the tracks of any entity —including especially US intel itself — that ventures to penetrate any supposedly private or secure realm. And, by the way, that probably settles the matter of who “they” are. Whatever statutory restraints once existed against CIA spying on American citizens is long gone by the boards.

You might suppose, too, that the combined forces of Hillary and Obama, along with the still-entrenched Democratic establishment, would have tried through late 2016 to stop The Menace of Trump at all costs. Somebody had done them dirty in funneling the DNC and Podesta emails to Wikileaks, and it was imperative to fight back — especially with FBI director James Comey (a Republican, after all), going all rogue on Mrs. Clinton. Hence, the manufactured Russia-did-it story that has gotten more mileage than any political hallucination since Senator Joe McCarthy, at his height of influence, played the newspapers like a whole orchestra of flugelhorns.

It’s hard to see how Trump might ever established the truth of this matter. One of the strange features of these internecine wars is that the Department of Justice — as far as we know — isn’t deposing scores of operations people from the myriad agencies under the NSA umbrella to establish who’s been doing what. Anyway, there’s enough loose scuttlebutt around Washington that Trump might have a pretty good idea of who at the various agencies hates his guts, and is working against him, and one wonders why he doesn’t just fire a bunch of them. Perhaps that’s yet to come.

But it also looks a bit as though the Golden Golem of Re-Greatification has wandered into a political minefield so dense with booby traps that he’s already out of moves. First there’s the debt ceiling problem — which has so far received almost no attention from the Kardashianized collective news media. As David Stockman has pointed out on his blog, the US Treasury amassed a “war chest” of nearly half a trillion dollars last fall (via various book-keeping shenanigans) in expectation that President Hillary would need it to ride out some fiscal bad weather early in her reign.

Then, the truly inconceivable happened and Hillary won bigly in the wrong states and not bigly enough in the right ones, and, well…. Immediately, with Trump ascendant, the Treasury and its handmaidens at the Federal Reserve engineered a rapid burn-through of the war chest at a rate of about $90-billion a month since November, so that now there remains only about a month’s worth of walking-around money to run the US Government. With the old debt ceiling truce expired, congress would have to resolve to raise it, to legally enable the Treasury to resume its massive borrowing operations, or else the government won’t be able to pay invoices or issue pension checks or meet any obligations. It could even default on its “no risk” bonds.

Those dangers are theoretical for the moment, especially since there is always more accounting fraud to resort to when all else fails. But the longer a debt ceiling stalemate goes on in congress, the more trapped President Trump will be. The cherry on top is the Federal Reserve’s move to raise interest rates the same day the debt ceiling truce expired. That will thunder through the system, making many loans more expensive to repay, dampening the real estate markets (at a time when commercial real estate is already tanking), and draining all kinds of other mojo (however falsely engineered) from the Potemkin economy.

As if being trapped in a political minefield isn’t bad enough, the remaining safe patch Trump is stranded on turns out to be the LaBrea Tar Pit of health care reform. At this point, the crusade is doing worse than going nowhere — it’s getting sucked into the primordial bitumen where the mastodons and camelops sleep.

ALERT: Indications Wells Fargo banking may be collapsing

Wells Fargo is collapsing because of its HUGE exposure to oil & gas companies

Submitted by IWB, on February 3rd, 2016

http://investmentwatchblog.com/wells-fargo-is-collapsing-because-of-its-huge-exposure-to-oil-gas-companies/

3 February, 2016

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) has the largest exposure to loans to energy companies among major U.S. lenders, a report from Raymond James said, amid concerns that banks may have to set aside more money to cover bad loans to the industry.

The bank also topped the list with the biggest exposure to energy companies whose public debt was trading less than 35 percent of par, the brokerage said on Thursday.

Wells Fargo was followed by Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), Comerica Inc (CMA.N) and BB&T Corp (BBT.N).

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usbanks-research-idUSKCN0RO29220150924

West Virginia Woman Sues Wells Fargo Over Alleged Home Loan Modification Misrepresentations

In early 2015, she contacted the company about modifying her loan. At that point, a rep for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage instructed her not to make payments while the modification was being processed.

Relying on the information from the rep, the woman stopped payment, while providing all necessary paperwork for the modification.

In June 2015, Wells Fargo re-sent the woman a packet requesting duplicate documents. The following month, the woman says she began receiving debt collection calls.

When the woman called Wells Fargo about the collection calls, she was told that her account was mistakenly removed from the modification program and placed in foreclosure.

West Virginia Woman Sues Wells Fargo Over Alleged Home Loan Modification Misrepresentations

Wells Fargo & Co, No.3 U.S. bank by assets

* “At current price levels, we would expect to have a higher oil and gas losses in 2016.”

Morgan Stanley, No.6 U.S. bank by assets

* “We’ve seen an increase in negative marks within corporate loan book, focus is around energy.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-21/what-big-banks-say-about-their-energy-exposure

Wells Fargo to pay $1.2 billion for bad mortgages

Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday that it has agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle a long-running suit that accused the company of “reckless” lending and leaving a federal insurance program to pick up the tab.

The agreement settles civil charges with the U.S. Justice Department, two U.S. attorneys and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

The government sued Wells Fargo in 2012, accusing the U.S. mortgage lender of engaging in “regular practice of reckless origination and underwriting” of government-backed loans. The action was one of several brought under the Federal False Claims Act against a lender accused of bilking the Federal Housing Administration, which has historically backed loans to first-time buyers and those with low incomes.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wells-fargo-to-pay-12-billion-for-bad-mortgages-2016-02-03?link=MW_home_latest_news

Wells Fargo Insider Says Bank Is Preparing For Emergency Scenario

Submitted by IWB, on February 4th, 2016

by Sean Adl-Tabatabai

http://investmentwatchblog.com/wells-fargo-insider-says-bank-is-preparing-for-emergency-scenario/

A Wells Fargo bank insider, who claims to be a teller, has said that the bank are training their staff to deal with an imminent “emergency scenario”.

The insider reports:

I am a teller at Wells Fargo here in the US this is also my first time using this proxy.

They started training us today for a bank holiday. They didnt mention the word bank holiday, but they did train us for an “emergency scenario”. They told us it’s just a drill. Ive been working here for 3 years, and we never had a drill before..

They said that during an emergency, they would close the doors and only allow 3 people at a time inside of the branch. Also, my branch manager said that we would have armed guards during the emergency.

The last thing they mentioned is that they wont store alot of cash in the vault, since it will be a safety issue….

just wanted to share this with you guys.

Superstation95.com reports:

A call by SuperStation95 to Wells Fargo Corporate Headquarters in San Francisco to verify these claims was met with a terse “no comment.”

Interpretation

If taken at face value and believed, why would Wells Fargo be doing this?  What “emergency” could take place that might cause people to swarm to a bank in such numbers that they would have to lock the bank and only allow three customers in at a time?

A bank collapse?   An economic collapse?  a Currency collapse?

None of these things would be good and if the claims above are true, it is a dangerous signal to the rest of us to get some money out to tie-us-over for a month or so in the event everything shuts down.

In a banking emergency, CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS WILL NOT WORK.  


ATM’s will not work.  Banks will be closed so that you cannot even enter your own safe deposit box.

Do you have enough cash money on-hand to get through for a couple weeks operating solely on cash?  If not, you’d better get that taken care of — fast.

We’re not even talking about making payments on your debts during that time, but rather only using the cash to get food, fuel and such to live!  Could you make-it for a month without access to any financial tools or bank cash?

Do you have spare food in the house if stores stop taking credit cards- or the cards don’t work?  How will you eat if everything remains cash-only for a month?

These are legitimate questions you should be asking yourself right now.  Time may be very short.  An economic collapse would take place with lightning speed and by the time you realize what’s happening, people will already be storming the banks and supermarkets trying to stock-up.  Waiting until it actually happens is waiting too long; you’ll be too late.

A word to the wise: Prepare.

WELLS FARGO PREPARING FOR COLLAPSE / CRISIS – Insider Says Bank Is Preparing For Emergency Scenario

Submitted by IWB, on February 7th, 2016

A Wells Fargo bank insider, who claims to be a teller, has said that the bank are training their staff to deal with an imminent “emergency scenario”. The insider reports:

I am a teller at Wells Fargo here in the US this is also my first time using this proxy.

They started training us today for a bank holiday. They didnt mention the word bank holiday, but they did train us for an “emergency scenario”. They told us it’s just a drill. Ive been working here for 3 years, and we never had a drill before..

They said that during an emergency, they would close the doors and only allow 3 people at a time inside of the branch. Also, my branch manager said that we would have armed guards during the emergency. If taken at face value and believed, why would Wells Fargo be doing this? What “emergency” could take place that might cause people to swarm to a bank in such numbers that they would have to lock the bank and only allow three customers in at a time?

A bank collapse? An economic collapse? a Currency collapse?

None of these things would be good and if the claims above are true, it is a dangerous signal to the rest of us to get some money out to tie-us-over for a month or so in the event everything shuts down.

In a banking emergency, CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS WILL NOT WORK. ATM’s will not work. Banks will be closed so that you cannot even enter your own safe deposit box.

Do you have enough cash money on-hand to get through for a couple weeks operating solely on cash? If not, you’d better get that taken care of — fast. “Wells Fargo” bank banking savings warning “Savings Account” emergency training insider u.s. usa america “united states” holiday “bank holiday” survival prepare business people masses “emergency supplies” store storage vault safe safety deposit credit debt “u.s. dollar” dollar usd currency forex “forex trading” “stock market” customer sale shopping collapse europe global “binary trading” gold silver bullion cash wealth wealthy “credit card” loan 2016 2017 payment life lifestyle food “elite nwo agenda” entertainment greece banking crisis false flag alex jones infowars gerald celente jim rogers david icke coast to coast am super bowl illuminati symbolism american prepper

We’re not even talking about making payments on your debts during that time, but rather only using the cash to get food, fuel and such to live! Could you make-it for a month without access to any financial tools or bank cash?

Do you have spare food in the house if stores stop taking credit cards- or the cards don’t work? How will you eat if everything remains cash-only for a month?

These are legitimate questions you should be asking yourself right now. Time may be very short. An economic collapse would take place with lightning speed and by the time you realize what’s happening, people will already be storming the banks and supermarkets trying to stock-up. Waiting until it actually happens is waiting too long; you’ll be too late. A word to the wise: Prepare. Ron Paul

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul is known best in financial circles for his clear 2003 prediction of the housing bubble crisis. Paul joined the Alex Jones Show in late 2014 to once again warn of the country’s slide into economic disaster. A renowned trends forecaster, Gerald Celente, known worldwide for his accuracy on global events, provided tips on surviving hard economic times earlier this year. Royal Bank of Scotland is warning their investors to sell virtually all their investments. strategies for crisis-investing that could position you to thrive as the rest of the world plunges into chaos

China hedging against US default

This probably says more than all the blow-by-blow accounts of political pingpong in the States.

Key creditor China begins acting to hedge against US default

Hong Kong has sent the first sign from Asia that the region is creating extra financial buffers against a possible default in the US. China said some US short – term Treasury bonds appear to be more risky to hold as collateral than previously thought.

RT,

10 October, 2013

The clock is ticking for the US to make a decision on its spending bill and the massive $16.7trln debt. The country’s key foreign lender China has shifted from words to actions and said it has taken two steps to reflect the increased difficulty of valuing certain short-term US Treasuries, the Financial Times reports.

One of the steps includes a so-called “haircut”, or a discount, on the value of US Treasuries held as collateral against futures trades.

The interest rate for bonds held with maturity of less than one year would be raised to 3 percent from 1 percent.

“Participants should make necessary funding arrangements to cover any shortfall to their margin requirements resulting from the increase in the US Treasuries haircut,” HKEx said.

One of the concerns is whether the US Treasuries may be easily replaced or supplemented in case their value slump in case of a default.

Experts say,however, Treasuries make up a relatively low share of the collateral used in Hong Kong and Asia more broadly.

The move comes after the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (Asifma) warned of the possible “chaos” that a default announcement made by the US Treasury before the Asian market opening on October 17 may cause.

“It has the potential to cause chaos and people may dump Treasuries because they won’t know whether they can exist the next day. They [Treasury] need to make that call early and not late,” said Mark Austen, chief executive of Asifma.

The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC), the clearing house in Japan, said it was getting ready for “anything that might happen”.

Discounting the collateral by some of the members of clearing houses is a part of the bodies’ routine that allows them to take into account price fluctuations and the fact that some bonds are less secure than others.

YOU CAN FOLLOW THE US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LIVE UPDATES FROM RT HERE 

The West blackmailing Russia

Lavrov: US pressuring Russia into passing UN resolution on Syria allowing military force

The US is pushing Russia into approving a UN resolution that would allow for military intervention in Syria, in exchange for American support of Syria’s accession to OPCW, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

RT,

22 September, 2013

Our American partners are starting to blackmail us: ‘If Russia does not support a resolution under Chapter 7, then we will withdraw our support for Syria’s entry into the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This is a complete departure from what I agreed with Secretary of State John Kerry',” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel 1's Sunday Time program.

Chapter 7 of the UN charter would allow for potential military intervention in Syria.

Western countries blinded by 'Assad must go' attitude

The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry went on to say he was surprised by the West’s “negligent”approach to the conflict.

“Our partners are blinded by an ideological mission for regime change,” said Lavrov. “They cannot admit they have made another mistake.”

Slamming the West’s intervention in Libya and Iraq, the foreign minister stated that military intervention could only lead to a catastrophe in the region. Moreover, he stressed that if the West really was interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict that has raged for over two years, they would now be pushing for Syria’s entry into the OPCW in the first place, not for the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

“I am convinced that the West is doing this to demonstrate that they call the shots in the Middle East. This is a totally politicized approach,” said Lavrov. 

The Russian foreign minister pointed out that in the case of a military scenario, militants would come to power and Syria would no longer be a secular state. Up to three quarters “of these guys are Jihadists,” including the most radical groups such as Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, who want to create an Islamic Caliphate in Syria and in neighboring territories, Lavrov said.

Fighters of the jihadist group Al-Nusra Front (AFP Photo)

“If our western partners think at least two steps ahead, they cannot but understand it,” Lavrov noted.

As to why the West would want that, Moscow has so far received no clear answer, but hears “mantras” on the necessity to promote democracy and protect human rights, said the minister. That is important, but “responsible politicians should be guided not only by that. Not to care about stability in a key world region is absolutely irresponsible,” he added.

According to Lavrov, some experts alleged that “someone is attempting to create a guided chaos” in the region for their own benefits. However, the foreign minister said he personally sees no possible advantages that Western countries would gain if they were behind moves to stir up instability.

“There’s only an attempt to grasp a straw, and turn a blind eye to the fact that the world is changing and becoming multipolar,” Lavrov concluded.

'A repeat of Geneva 2012'

Lavrov harked back to last year’s Geneva accord which was agreed upon by the international community, including Russia and the US. However, when the resolution went to the Security Council the US demanded that Chapter 7 be included. 

“History is repeating itself. Once again in Geneva an agreement has been reached which does not contain any mention of Chapter 7. But the Security Council wants to redo the document in their own way to include it.” 

He called on the West to observe international law and stop writing resolutions motivated by their“geopolitical ambitions.” 

‘Both sides must hand over chemical weapons’

Sergey Lavrov has also insisted that opposition forces take part in the decommissioning of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

“The solutions currently being worked out at the OPCW suggest that all stocks of Syrian chemical weapons must be brought under control and ultimately destroyed.”

Lavrov further charged that the West was “not telling the whole story” by asserting that chemical weapons are only possessed by the regime, and not the opposition.

A picture shows damaged buildings in the Syrian Christian town of Maalula on September 13, 2013. Syria's opposition National Coalition said it was "deeply sceptical" about the government's decision to join a chemical weapons ban and urged a tough UN resolution to enforce the measure (AFP Photo / STR)


He added that the available information provided by the Israelis confirmed that on at least two occasions, the rebels had seized areas in which chemical weapons were stored and those arms might have fallen into their hands.

"According to our estimates, there is a strong probability that in addition to home-grown labs in which militants are trying to cook up harmful and deadly concoctions, the data provided by the Israelis is true,”the Russian FM said.

“Preparatory work for OPCW inspectors to assume control of chemical weapons storage sites requires that those who fund and sponsor opposition groups –  including extremists –  demand that they hand over the [arms] which have been seized so that they can be destroyed, pursuant to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.”

Lavrov added that Russia was not a guarantor for the disarmament of Syria’s chemical weapons, as Syria’s commitments fell under the auspices of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is internationally administered by the OPCW.

Lavrov said Russia and the US were working out a draft resolution to be submitted to the OPCW, although several points were yet to be agreed upon. 

Earlier in September, Moscow said it would submit data to the UNSC proving that the chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb were used by the rebels.  These “purely technical” documents were handed over to Russia by the Bashar Assad government and are being examined by Russian specialists. This data “is an addition to what we already know and to what is known to…independent experts who give their assessments and confirm that the opposition regularly resort to provocations, attempting to accuse the regime of using chemical weapons” and this way get foreign military support, Lavrov said. 

A UN experts team, who investigated the August 21 attack in Syria, presented a report on their findings, in which they described the ammunition and substances they discovered on the scene, but made no conclusions regarding who was behind the incident.

However, the US, along with Britain and France, moved quickly to repeat their accusations against the Syrian government.  “Such an approach is neither scientific, nor professional but rather politicized and ideology-driven,” the Russian foreign minister stressed. 

According to Lavrov, it was no secret that they did not need any report. Long before the document was prepared, they stated that they already knew everything from their intelligence findings – which have never been presented to the public in full, the Russian minister noted.

“What they did show to us does not convince that the [Syrian] regime is linked to the episode with the use of chemical weapons,” Lavrov said.

He reiterated that there is also evidence by eyewitnesses, including nuns from the Christian monastery close to the scene of the deadly attack, and journalists who visited the area. Reporters, Lavrov said, talked to militants who told them that they “received from abroad munitions that they had never seen before and did not know how to use them, but they used them in the end.” There was also an open letter by the Pentagon and CIA veterans to President Obama, where they say that the rebels could have used chemical weapons.

Moscow expects the UN experts to go back to Syria to finish their investigation there, which should include three other incidents later in August when the Syrian army was attacked with poisonous gas, Lavrov said.

Logistics of destruction

Sergey Lavrov said that the time frame for the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons was not unrealistic. 

"The overwhelming majority of the figures as per timing, term, beginning, finishing of the mission have been suggested by the American side," he added.

Even if the time frame is feasible, there remains disagreement on the cost of the venture.

Earlier this week, President Assad said the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal would be a costly venture.

“It needs a lot of money, it needs about one billion [US dollars]. It’s very detrimental to the environment. If the American administration is ready to pay the money, and to take responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don’t they do it?” Assad told Fox News

Lavrov said he had heard of the cost estimate, although during his negotiations with his US counterpart in Geneva last week, the figure was much lower. Lavrov said the discrepancy stemmed from the fact that a professional estimate was in order.

“When OPCW experts visit Syria and view the storage sites for chemical weapons, they will understand what can be destroyed on the spot (and this is also possible) with the use of mobile equipment which a number of states have, and those where special factories need to be built, as we did when destroying Soviet chemical weapons stockpiles. But for those which need to be taken out of the country – toxic substances – will require a special decision, because the convention considers it essential that the destruction takes place on the territory of that country which possesses the chemical weapons,” he said.

Lavrov said legal grounds would need to be found to move forward in this case, but if all sides could agree in principle, then drawing up a legally binding document will not be hard. 

Reuters / Muhammad Qadour


He further noted the difficulties that would be faced in assuring the security of both the Syrian and international experts tasked with bringing the chemical weapons under control and laying the groundwork for their ultimate destruction.

“We’ve considered that an international presence will be demanded in those areas where experts are working. We are prepared to allocate our own servicemen or military police to take part in those efforts. I do not believe it is necessary to send in a strong [military] contingency.] It seems to me that it will be sufficient to send in military observers. It will be necessary to do it in such a way that the observers will come from all permanent members of the UN Security Council, Arab states and Turkey, so that all conflicting sides in Syria understand that this contingent represents all external forces who are collaborating with one or the other conflicting sides in Syria…so that they don’t resort to provocations,” he said.

Lavrov reiterated previous statements made during his negotiations with Secretary of State John Kerry following their talks in Geneva last week that the opposition was equally responsible for providing for the safety of OPCW and UN experts in the country and not allowing for any “provocations.”