Something Strange Is Taking Place In The Mediterranean

Dec 4, 2016 11:06 AM—NGOs are smuggling immigrants into Europe on an industrial scale

For two months, using marinetraffic.com, we have been monitoring the movements of ships owned by a couple of NGOs, and, using data from data.unhcr.org. We have kept track of the daily arrivals of African immigrants in Italy. It turned out we were witness of a big scam and an illegal human traffic operation.

NGOs, smugglers, the mafia in cahoots with the European Union have shipped thousands of illegals into Europe under the pretext of rescuing people, assisted by the Italian coast guard which coordinated their activities.

Though it earned him scorn from most liberals and some conservatives, President-elect Donald Trump made good on one of his most unlikely campaign promises last week when he made a deal to keep nearly 1,000 Carrier Air Conditioning jobs in the U.S. But even supporters who praised the deal acknowledged that Trump couldn’t – and shouldn’t – go around giving tax breaks to every company that threatens to move manufacturing operations to Mexico.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump indicated that the Carrier deal was not necessarily an example of how he would keep companies from moving jobs out of the country.

“The U.S. is going to substantially reduce taxes and regulations on businesses,” Trump wrote, “but any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the U.S. without retribution or consequence, is WRONG!”

Trump reiterated his plan to punish companies who send jobs to Mexico.

“There will be a tax on our soon to be strong border of 35% for these companies wanting to sell their product, cars, A.C. units etc., back across the border,” he wrote. “This tax will make leaving financially difficult, but these companies are able to move between all 50 states, with no tax or tariff being charged. Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake! THE UNITED STATES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial board, free market conservatives, and even Sarah Palin herself expressed sharp concerns over the Carrier deal, which used Indiana taxpayer dollars to get the company to stay put. Palin called it “crony capitalism” – strong words from someone who was one of Trump’s earliest and biggest supporters in the primaries.

But it’s obvious that the Carrier deal was meant to give Trump’s presidency a feel-good kickoff, take advantage of VP-elect Mike Pence, and make good to a specific promise made to the company’s workers. It doesn’t mean that this is the way Trump intends to save American jobs, and he clarified that with his Sunday tweets.

The free market – if it includes foreign labor willing to work for pennies on the dollars – is not going to keep the American economy afloat. There’s nothing wrong with expecting American companies to employ workers on American soil, and there’s nothing wrong with solidifying that expectation with monetary policy. If Trump can combine that with tax incentives that make the U.S. competitive again, no one should have any reason to complain.

If I’m right about all the trends, running since 1945, are going into reverse since 2008, then yes, artificially cheap metals should reverse. I remember often buying 4X8 foot sheets of steel, cheaper than 4X8 foot sheets of plywood.

Plywood should be cheaper than metals, because plywood grows on trees. I remember steel at .20 cents/lb delivered. Copper today at $2.65/lb. is unrealistic. Nobody will sell you copper for retail only $2.65. $12.00/lb Copper is more likely. Cheap compared to steak these days, also $12/lb.

Its amusing TPTB’s objectives starting after 1975-8 were artificially cheap materials and labor. After decades of success, THESE days they are trying to avoid a deflation situation. A reversal of the past (1934 to 1971) inflation trying to reverse? There was a long term drop in commodities prices 1980 to 2001. (killed supplies)

Then climbing prices after 2001 for about 12 years. (inflated supplies) I think it would be interesting to see a 35% tax on imports. All the crap we have around the house would be more sellable. The way it is now, imports are so cheap our used stuff is worthless.

I recently heard about a house that got sold, they put a big dumpster in front, and dumped all the nice interior furniture. Perfect stuff. Dining room living room bedroom etc. Imagine your furniture gaining value? Because imports are not affordable?

Well Ipso, I hope this is not just a ploy to get all the thousands of arriving vets to go home, and then they quietly begin arresting the protesters like they did at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and the Oregon Lavoy incident. I’ll believe it when it proves there is no ulterior motive going on. Until then it ain’t over till its over, even if the protesters think it is.

How does this all end? We will realistically EVER see the metals be priced where they should be? I know part of the reason I invested in this sector was insurance for when the *hit hits the fan. But it seems to me that it already has and the PTB will disguise it and cover it up anyway that they can.

Dax futures down a big 20 pts

http://www.investing.com/indices/germany-30-futures-advanced-chart

same tactics as every day….all so obvious.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3999630/Dakota-protesters-WIN-bid-stop-pipeline-built-Standing-Rock.html

Scum may have capped Gold and got SM off it’s worst….but Italian Elections are a very big deal…….the end of the EU could be v close.

Darn. Well I guess it’s no surprise.

Yep. It never ends, the only thing that matters in the financial world is capping gold.

Da boys and their Algo’s

You shoulda known better…….

I shoulda known better ……..

What a rig ……..

Good Evening Friends

Winedoc

That’s about all she wrote. The boyz jumped right on it.

Netdania is about the same. Tomorrow will tell the story I’d expect

Gold opens higher. I’m not sure where this quote is from. China?

spot gold

Ditto Silver

Yeah I sure don’t know way gold will go. There should be a lot of people who would prefer to buy gold rather than dollars … but with the dollar strength …

I’m sure our pals with their thumb on the scale will be busy.

Looks like it will be a rough night for the Euro, which means more USD strength.

Gold is a wait and see I guess.

Also noticed these are only exit polls that are notoriously unreliable in Italy?

Markets seem to believe them though. That old adage about “he who controls the information controls the world”…we’ll see.

Renzi Loses Italian Referendum By Wide Margin; “Northern League” Calls For Early Elections

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-04/renzi-loses-italy-referendum-wide-margin-euro-slides

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjEsxcMO0n8

If to be believed, the banksters sure seem to be in a hurry to get out of their shorts. Funds should stop helping them.

http://www.cftc.gov/dea/futures/deacmxlf.htm

NGOs are smuggling immigrants into Europe on an industrial scale

For two months, using marinetraffic.com, we have been monitoring the movements of ships owned by a couple of NGOs, and, using data from data.unhcr.org. We have kept track of the daily arrivals of African immigrants in Italy. It turned out we were witness of a big scam and an illegal human traffic operation.

NGOs, smugglers, the mafia in cahoots with the European Union have shipped thousands of illegals into Europe under the pretext of rescuing people, assisted by the Italian coast guard which coordinated their activities.

Human traffickers contact the Italian coast guard in advance to receive support and to pick up their dubious cargo. NGO ships are directed to the “rescue spot” even as those to be rescued are still in Libya. The 15 ships that we observed are owned or leased by NGOs have regularly been seen to leave their Italian ports, head south, stop short of reaching the Libyan coast, pick up their human cargo, and take course back 260 miles to Italy even though the port of Zarzis in Tunis is just 60 mile away from the rescue spot.

cont. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-04/something-strange-taking-place-mediterranean

Trump’s Appointments – What Do They Mean?

by Tyler Durden

Dec 3, 2016 10:00 PM

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

Before I give an explanation, let’s be sure we all know what an explanation is. An explanation is not a justification. The collapse of education in the US is so severe that many Americans, especially younger ones, cannot tell the difference between an explanation and a defense, justification, or apology for what they regard as a guilty person or party. If an explanation is not damning or sufficiently damning of what they want damned, the explanation is interpreted as an excuse for the object of their scorn. In America, reason and objective analysis have taken a backseat to emotion.

We do not know what the appointments mean except, as Trump discovered once he confronted the task of forming a government, that there is no one but insiders to appoint. For the most part that is correct. Outsiders are a poor match for insiders who tend to eat them alive. Ronald Reagan’s California crew were a poor match for George H.W. Bush’s insiders. The Reagan part of the government had a hell of a time delivering results that Reagan wanted.

Another limit on a president’s ability to form a government is Senate confirmation of presidential appointees. Whereas Congress is in Republican hands, Congress remains in the hands of special interests who will protect their agendas from hostile potential appointees. Therefore, although Trump does not face partisan opposition from Congress, he faces the power of special interests that fund congressional political campaigns.

When the White House announced my appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Republican Senator Bob Dole put a hold on my appointment. Why? Dole had presidential ambitions, and he saw the rising star of Republican Representative Jack Kemp as a potential obstacle. As I had written the Kemp-Roth bill that had become Reagan’s economic policy, Dole regarded me in the Treasury as a one-up for Kemp. So, you see, all sorts of motives can plague a president’s ability to form a government.

With Trump under heavy attack prior to his inauguration, he cannot afford drawn out confirmation fights and defeats.

Does Trump’s choice of Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary mean that Goldman Sachs will again be in charge of US economic policy? Possibly, but we do not know. We will have to wait and see. Mnuchin left Goldman Sachs 14 years ago. He has been making movies in Hollywood and started his own investment firm. Many people have worked for Goldman Sachs and the New York Banks who have become devastating critics of the banks. Read Nomi Prins’ books and visit Pam Martens website, Wall Street on Parade. My sometimes coauthor Dave Kranzler is a former Wall Streeter.

Commentators are jumping to conclusions based on appointees past associations. Mnuchin was an early Trump supporter and chairman of Trump’s finance campaign. He has Wall Street and investment experience. He should be an easy confirmation. For a president-elect under attack this is important.

Will Mnuchin suppport Trump’s goal of bringing middle class jobs back to America? Is Trump himself sincere? We do not know.

What we do know is that Trump attacked the fake “free trade” agreements that have stripped America of middle class jobs just as did Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot. We know that the Clintons made their fortune as agents of the One Percent, the only ones who have profited from the offshoring of American jobs. Trump’s fortune is not based on jobs offshoring.

Not every billionaire is an oligarch. Trump’s relation to the financial sector is one as a debtor. No doubt Trump and the banks have had unsatisfactory relationships. And Trump says he is a person who enjoys revenge.

What about the hot-headed generals announced as National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense? Both seem to be death on Iran, which is stupid and unfortunate. However, keep in mind that Gen. Flynn is the one who blew the whistle on the Obama regime for rejecting the advice of the DIA and sending ISIS to overthrow Assad. Flynn said that ISIS was a “willful decision” of the Obama administration, not some unexpected event.

And keep in mind that Gen. Mattis is the one who told Trump that torture does not work, which caused Trump to back off his endorsement of torture.

So both of these generals, as bad as they may be, are an improvement on what came before. Both have shown independence from the neoconservative line that supports ISIS and torture.

Keep in mind also that there are two kinds of insiders. Some represent the agendas of special interests; others go with the flow because they enjoy participating in the affairs of the nation. Those who don’t go with the flow are eliminated from participating.

Goldman Sachs is a good place to get rich. That Mnuchin left 14 years ago could mean that he was not a good match for Goldman Sachs, that they did not like him or he did not like them. That Flynn and Mattis have taken independent positions on ISIS and torture suggests that they are mavericks. All three of these appointees seem to be strong and confident individuals who know the terrain, which is the kind of people a president needs if he is to accomplish anything.

The problem with beating up on an administration before it exists and has a record is that the result can be that the administration becomes deaf to all criticism. It is much better to give the new president a chance and to hold his feet to the fire on the main issues.

Trump alone among all the presidential candidates said that he saw no point in fomenting conflict with Russia. Trump alone questioned NATO’s continued existence 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Trump alone said that he would work to bring middle class jobs back to America.

And Trump said that he would enforce immigration laws. Is this racism or is this a defense of citizenship? How is the US a country if there is no difference between illegal aliens and citizens?

Commentators of all stripes are making a mistake to damn in advance the only government that campaigned on peace with Russia, restoring middle class jobs, and respect for the country’s borders. We should seize on these promises and hold the Trump administration to them. We should also work to make Trump aware of the serious adverse consequences of environmental degradation.

Who is blowing these opportunities? Trump? Mnuchin? Flynn? Mattis?

Or us?

The more Trump is criticized, the easier it is for the neoconservatives to offer their support and enter the administration. To date he has not appointed one, but you can bet your life that Israel is lobbying hard for the neocons. The neocons still reign in the media, the think tanks, university departments of foreign affairs, and the foreign policy community. They are an ever present danger.

Trump’s personality means that he is likely to see more reward in being the president who reverses American decline than in using the presidency to augment his personal fortune. Therefore, there is some hope for change occuring from the top rather than originating in the streets of bloody revolution. By the time Americans reach the revolutionary stage of awareness the police state is likely to be too strong for them.

So let’s give the Trump administration a chance. We can turn on him after he sells us out.

www.halfpasthuman.com

At $15 I consider it cheap entertainment… that is sometimes breathtaking.