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Dr. Gloom Mellows But Dr. Doom Does Not By Howard Gold June 1, 2012Commentary: Dire warnings on inflation, dollar don’t pan out NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — They are this era’s Dr. Doom and Dr. Gloom, two Cassandras who warned long ago about the housing bust, financial crash and debt explosion that almost wrecked global markets. Marc Faber, the Zurich-born investor and editor of The Gloom Boom & Doom Report, and Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, were lonely voices in the mid-2000s when they predicted the debt-induced party would soon end very badly. Reuters Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul...

When news broke of a 2 billion dollar trading loss by JP Morgan, much of the financial world was absolutely stunned. But the truth is that this is just the beginning. This is just a very small preview of what is going to happen when we see the collapse of the worldwide derivatives market. When most Americans think of Wall Street, they think of a bunch of stuffy bankers trading stocks and bonds. But over the past couple of decades it has evolved into much more than that. Today, Wall Street is the biggest casino in the entire world....

China Investment Corp. has stopped buying European government debt because of an economic crisis on the continent, though it continues to look for new investments there, said CIC President Gao Xiqing. "What is happening in Europe right now is of course of concern," Gao said yesterday in an interview in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the World Economic Forum on Africa. "We still have our people looking at opportunities in Europe, even though we don't want to buy any government bonds." European leaders are struggling to contain a debt crisis that has entered its third year and led to bailouts of...

BERLIN — Leading German politicians warned Greece on Tuesday that the country would not receive a cent more aid unless it fulfills all the conditions of its international bailout. An election on Sunday in Greece failed to deliver a parliamentary majority for the two big pro-bailout parties, plunging the country into political limbo and increasing the risk that another vote may be required to resolve the impasse. On Tuesday, the leader of the Left Coalition party, which benefited from rising anger over austerity to take second place in Sunday’s poll, declared Greece’s policy pledges under its EU/IMF rescue null and...

HUSSMAN: It Is Now One Of The Worst Times To Invest In History Joe Weisenthal March 3,2012In his latest note, John Hussman argues that it's one of the worst times to invest. Period. Based on his proprietary soup of risk indicators for the market, the current exuberant situation puts it on par with some of the great peaks, including 1998-2000. Importantly, the market is again characterized by an extreme set of conditions that we've previously associated with a "Who's Who of Awful Times to Invest." The rare instances we've seen this syndrome historically are reviewed in that previous weekly comment....

The National Center for Public Policy Research is claiming a scalp today after Ford Motor Co. formally withdrew from the liberal U.S. Climate Action Partnership. The conservative non-profit announces today that Ford has withdrawn from the organization, which uses corporate support form management to work against shareholders' interests by promoting a cap-and-trade framework for carbon emissions.

MARINE ON ST. CROIX — Shawn Lawrence Otto thinks many of the world's problems - especially its political problems - can be attributed to a lack of scientific rationale. Potentially harmful myths he identified: global warming is a concocted idea, vaccines cause autism and cell phones cause brain cancer. Such beliefs are what spurred the 48-year-old Marine-based screenwriter and blogger to complete his latest writing project, a nonfiction book published in October called "Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault of Science in America" (Rodale Press Inc.). The tome started last year is targeted toward a general audience. He's now in...

According to the Mayan "long count" calendar, the final day on Earth is less than a year away, on Dec. 21, 2012.??? While we wait to see if that apocalypse occurs, a more reliable prediction includes an end of a different sort. The economic stimulus pipeline from Washington to the states is about to run dry. This means many governors can be expected to ask their legislatures, or voters, to raise taxes for "essential" programs. To government, all programs are "essential." According to the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), Washington state is planning to put a tax-increase proposal on its ballot...

The University of Wisconsin System will have to cut an additional $46.1 million over six months, atop a previously approved $250 million two-year reduction, under a detailed budget-balancing plan Gov. Scott Walker's administration released Friday. The new cut to UW was part of $123.2 million in additional reductions ordered to be made across state government. The amount in cuts was approved under the budget passed in June but not specified until Friday. Walker's Department of Administration ordered agencies to make the cuts without layoffs, if possible.

Fitch Ratings has placed the ratings of all investment grade rated eurozone sovereigns and their debt with Negative Outlook onto Rating Watch Negative (RWN). The euro area country ceiling of 'AAA' is unaffected. The rating actions are as follows: - Belgium 'AA+'/'RWN from 'AA+'/Negative Outlook ('F1+' Unaffected) - Spain 'AA-'/'F1+'/RWN from 'AA-'/'F1+'/Negative Outlook - Slovenia 'AA-'/'F1+'/RWN from 'AA-'/'F1+'/Negative Outlook - Italy 'A+'/'F1'/RWN from 'A+'/'F1'/Negative Outlook - Ireland 'BBB+'/'F2'/RWN from 'BBB+'/'F2'/Negative Outlook - Cyprus 'BBB'/'F3'/RWN from 'BBB'/'F3'/Negative Outlook The RWN indicates that the above ratings are under active review and are subject to a heightened probability of downgrade in the...

Should we act on climate change now or wait? While an international majority of scientists believes climate change is real, a minority of scientists and majority of politicians want you to wait. After all, behavior change should not be mandated or government regulated - especially without proof. UBS Wealth Management, a financial services company working with high/ultra high net worth clients, published a comprehensive report to its investors in January of 2007 titled "Climate Change: Beyond Whether." Its findings suggest we can follow one of three paths: 1) Take a wait-and-see approach 2) Act now and risk investment if nothing...

George Soros: The Global Financial System Is In A 'SELF-REINFORCING PROCESS OF DISINTEGRATION' Simone Foxman Dec. 1, 2011, 4:58 PM Investor George Soros foretold doom in a recent speech in front of the International Senior Lawyers Project, according to the WSJ. The financial system is collapsing, and the developed world is fast falling into a "deflationary debt trap.""The consequences could be quite disastrous," he said. "You have to do what you can to stop it developing in that direction." Soros has been an outspoken advocate of taking more radical action to stem the European debt crisis, endorsing intervention by the...

This is truly a great mystery to me: How can a US President fail so badly after trying so hard to revive the failed ideologies of Keynesian Instant Spending Socialism, or as it is better known: " KISS, " and Socialism itself? It just doesn't make any sense! It must be very discouraging for Dictator Obama to take the very best of the failed ideologies of the past, work so hard, be so arrogant, make so many, many pretty speeches, and sign so many Pork Barrel, no ear-mark, no targeted, ( govspeak in the District of Corruption changes so fast,...

With the very successful bankrupting of America by Dictator Obama, Dodd-Frank bill/law/bill, un-Constitutional Entitlement taxation laws such as Social Security System, MediCare, MediAid, and obabmatrauma"care", does America really need to continue to allow our Labor Unions to exist? Is this not overkill? Look at the record of the Teacher's Union in 2008: they supported a candidate that was totally incompetent, and totally without experience to take over running the world's largest business, which is the US Federal Government. One would think that teachers would be educated enough to distinguish between competent and incompetent, qualified and unqualified. It gives one pause,...

The classic video game was put on an index of controlled titles in 1994 as it was deemed likely to harm youth. Like pornography, sales of the violent shoot 'em up were restricted to adult-only stores. The rules have been relaxed because officials believe that Doom is now only of artistic and scientific interest and will not appeal to youngsters...

One-Hour Special Premieres Sunday, August 28 at 10 PM ET/PT Previous Image 1 / 10 Next They have stock piles of canned goods, gas masks, bomb shelters and even a tilapia pond. They are the families featured on TLC's newest one-hour special LIVIN' FOR THE APOCALYPSE, premiering on Sunday, August 28 at 10 PM ET/PT. Amid the world's latest natural disasters, cultural doomsday predictions and economic collapses, there are those who are convinced that this is the end of civilization, as we know it. LIVIN' FOR THE APOCALYPSE takes a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of families who have spent...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific agency that monitors atmospheric and ocean conditions, has predicted a state of maximum solar activity that may strike Earth, causing total darkness this decade. Forecasters and operators at the agency are keeping a close eye as the sun enters a phase of activity that may cause severe disruption of global power grids, airline communication, military satellites and even GPS applications on mobile phones and cars. Besides this, US Federal Government studies revealed that this extreme solar activity and emissions may result in complete blackouts for years, in several areas of the...

World War II Original Cost: $288 billion Inflation Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion Just two decades after the War to End All Wars, the deadliest war in history began. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US formally joined forces with the Allies and declared war. WWII was the most costly endeavor this country ever has been through in terms of dollars and in terms of lives.

Minn. governor, GOP leaders have deal to end government shutdown; needs legislative approval. Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday morning that he is willing to accept Republicans' June 30 budget offer, which would close a $1.4 billion budget difference by delaying payment of school funds and borrowing against the state's tobacco settlement. "This is the only viable option that's potentially available," Dayton said. Dayton said his acceptance was contingent on Republicans' dropping all controversial policy positions as well as the push to cut 15 percent of the state's work force, and the passage of a $500 million bonding bill. Senate GOP...

Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores across Minnesota are running out of beer and alcohol and others may soon run out of cigarettes -- a subtle and largely unforeseen consequence of a state government shutdown. In the days leading up to the shutdown, thousands of outlets scrambled to renew their state-issued liquor purchasing cards. Many of them did not make it. Now, with no end in sight to the shutdown, they face a summer of fast-dwindling alcohol supplies and a bottom line that looks increasingly bleak. The Ugly Mug doesn't have enough beer to get through the baseball season. "Our...

On the day that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that at least 200 private-sector jobs will be added at the new CIGNA insurance headquarters in Bloomfield, the governor said he is moving forward with laying off as many as 6,500 state employees to balance the state budget.Layoff notices have already gone out to hundreds of employees, but the vast majority will be going out in the coming days to all departments throughout the state. Even the Department of Correction and the state police — two areas that traditionally had been seen as protected from employee reductions — are not exempt....

Jessica and Craig Porter of Somerset, Wis. have their newly adopted baby’s room all ready, but the shutdown is forcing their new son to sleep in a playpen across the river in Minnesota. The family is stuck at a hotel until lawmakers strike a budget deal and the state shutdown passes. “We’re just so happy to be with him. We’ll probably go through anything to bring him home,” said Jessica Porter. Her baby boy, Ezra, is only 5 days old. He and his parents are living in a Stillwater hotel room, because they can’t go home to Wisconsin until his...

While such parks normally are bustling with people - and have facilities to serve them - the relative seclusion appears to have emboldened some to do their business along trails and other areas where no Minnesotan would normally dare to squat. "People are taking it upon themselves to go out in the woods and relieve themselves, and without the presence of employees and others, they're not picking up after themselves," Konrad said. "People are also having a tendency not to pick up after their pets."

As the shutdown entered its second full week Monday, with no end in sight, politicians and public employees traded accusations over who's getting paid, who isn't and why. "None of them should be getting paid," said Mike Lindholt, a Department of Transportation maintenance worker idled by the shutdown. "If you don't do your job, you don't get paid. That's how it is for most people." The political leaders whose budget dispute caused the shutdown are still entitled to collect their pay, and more than half of them are. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican Senate majority leader have both...

Minnesota stands to lose tens of millions of dollars in the nation's only state government shutdown, as lottery tickets go unpurchased, tax cheats go unpursued and 22,000 laid-off state workers collect unemployment and health benefits. The government interruption also threatens to slow an already sluggish economic recovery as the state employees in limbo and others who lose state-dependent jobs - including construction workers and nonprofit staffers - tighten their spending.

Cutting down on pollution from Chinese coal plants could actually make the earth become warmer, according to a new study. Exponents of global warming have struggled to explain why temperatures have declined in recent years instead of rising in line with the significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers now claim that sulphur emissions from power plants in China are blocking sunlight and having a cooling effect on the atmosphere, cancelling out the effect of global warming. The impact of the sulphur emissions has combined with a cooler stage of the sun's cycle and a change from the El Nino...

According to some observers, a terrible catastrophe has just struck the state of Minnesota. Due to an impasse on fiscal and taxation questions, the government of that state has been "shut down." On one side of the divide, you have Governor Mark Dayton, a tranquil (and some would say tranquilized) leftist who has been pushing for higher taxes as a way of solving Minnesota's budgetary deficit. On the other side, there is the Republican-controlled legislature that, to its credit, have taken the rare step of actually displaying a backbone by pushing for spending reductions instead and by standing up to...

"This is a disaster," said Mark Miller, the Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader, in February after Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would curtail the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law -- a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials, and protesters in the streets. Now the bill is law, and we have some very early evidence of how it is working. And for one beleaguered Wisconsin school district, it's a godsend, not a disaster. The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River...

Minnesota state government goes into shutdown as budget talks end without deal on $5B deficit. Talks between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and top Republicans fell apart well before a midnight deadline. Dayton demanded tax increases on top earners, but the GOP refused.

The financially troubled Postal Service is suspending its employer contribution to the Federal Employee Retirement System. The agency said Wednesday it is acting to conserve cash as it continues to lose money. It was $8 billion in the red last year because of the combined effects of the recession and the switch of much mail business to the Internet. It faces the possibility of running short of money by the end of this fiscal year in September. "This move underscores the need for Congress to make bold, quick and substantive reforms to the Postal Service. The USPS is hanging by...

In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average1 solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. The underlying flare was so unusual, researchers still aren't sure how to categorize it. The blast peppered Earth with the most energetic protons in half-a-millennium, induced electrical currents that set telegraph offices on fire, and sparked Northern Lights over Cuba and Hawaii. This week, officials have gathered at the National Press Club in Washington DC to ask themselves a simple question: What if it happens again? Modern power grids are vulnerable to solar storms. Photo credit: Martin Stojanovski...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Lawmakers may not reach an agreement to tackle the ballooning federal debt until financial markets indicate they are losing confidence in the United States' ability to pay its obligations, former heads of the Congressional Budget Office warned Tuesday. [...] Borrowing rates for the federal government remain at historically low levels, but confidence could erode quickly, Tuesday's panelists said. Douglas Holtz-Eaken, who headed the CBO during the George W. Bush administration, predicted a crisis of confidence in less than two years unless action is made to reduce long-term deficits. Concerns about market confidence could be constructive, some panelists said....

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation is warning motorists to watch out for roads that might buckle without warning. MnDOT spokesman Kent Barnard said the heat and humidity had caused pavement to heave on some Twin Cities metro highways. Monday afternoon lanes were closed in I-94 in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Barnard said heat damaged roads in more than 20 places. Barnard said he has not heard of accidents associated with buckling pavement. But he'd heard reports of damage to cars. Older concrete highways are more prone to heave up, as debris fills the cracks between the...

<p>Twelve reasons why the AOL – Huffington Post merger is going down in flames.</p> <p>The tragedy here is that not only will the deal ruin AOL, but it will also ruin the Huffington Post.</p> <p>It is the Peter Principle on a grand scale. None of AOL’s senior editors (Huffington, Roy Sekoff, and Nico Pitney) have ever managed more than a few people. Now they have hundreds and lack the experience to manage a team this big. Behind the scenes, long time Huffposters say that Jai Singh’s departure has eliminated the key adult in the room. Now they need to grow HuffPost and save AOL – not possible.</p>

Trend forecaster Gerald Celente gives a preview of his Summer Trends Journal in an interview with King World News. Celente says riots from Iran to Spain are the beginning of another world war, precipitated by food prices, unemployment and inequality. Last year he claimed that 2011 would bring "Off With Their Heads 2.0" and the prediction is going well so far. We transcribed just part of one answer from his breathless interview with Eric King:

It appears that The Rapture leading to the end of the world predicted by a Christian radio broadcaster for this past Saturday, May 21, did not take place. And the failure was covered worldwide. A Google search on Saturday evening yielded over 32,000 articles — in English alone — in the world media. The secular, especially the anti-religious, Left enjoys these spectacles of religious foolishness. They seem to confirm not only how absurd these end-of-days predictions are, but how absurd religion is in general. But the Left should not laugh too loudly. The religious world has far fewer doomsday predictions...

Caught in the sluggish recovery from the last recession, Social Security and Medicare face an increasingly dismal fiscal future, the federal government reported Friday in its annual review of the two mammoth entitlement programs. Medicare, which now provides health insurance to some 47 million elderly and disabled Americans, could begin running a deficit in 2024, five years earlier than projected last year. And Social Security, which last year began paying out more in benefits than it collected in taxes, now faces insolvency in 2036, compared to 2037 in last year’s projections. Over the years, the Social Security and Medicare trustees...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A proposal expanding the right to use deadly force in self-defense continues its advance through the Republican-controlled Legislature. The gun bill from GOP Rep. Tony Cornish goes before a House judiciary panel Wednesday after passing a public safety committee last week. The legislation would grant the right to defend oneself using deadly force in an expanded definition of home, including a garage, car, deck, tent, boat, overnight accommodation or other dwelling. The person wouldn't have to retreat from a threatening situation first.

OUT OF CONTROL: DEFICIT ROCKETS 16% IN FIRST HALF OF YEAR

That's what would happen if Congress pares back appropriations for USAID, says Rajiv Shah: "We estimate, and I believe these are very conservative estimates, that H.R. 1 would lead to 70,000 kids dying," USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah testified before the House Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee. "Of that 70,000, 30,000 would come from malaria control programs that would have to be scaled back specifically. The other 40,000 is broken out as 24,000 would die because of a lack of support for immunizations and other investments and 16,000 would be because of a lack of skilled attendants at birth," he...

As Japan scrambles to cope with a nuclear reactor damaged in the quake, Josh Dzieza talks to Ron Ballinger, a nuclear expert at MIT about how the plants work, worst-case scenarios, and more. Plus, full coverage of Japan's catastrophe. Shortly after Japan was hit with the double disaster of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a possible third reared its head: nuclear meltdown. The quake caused 11 of Japan's nuclear reactors to shut down automatically, including three at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, 170 miles northeast of Tokyo. But the quake also cut Fukushima off from the power grid,...

Japan’s turbulent history of war and natural catastrophe has already given the world a terrifying vocabulary of death: tsunami, kamikaze, Hiroshima. But the country now stands on the brink of unleashing its most chilling phrase yet: genpatsu-shinsai – the combination of an earthquake and nuclear meltdown capable of destroying millions of lives and bringing a nation to its knees. The phrase, derived from the Japanese words for “nuclear power” and “quake disaster”, is the creation of Katsuhiko Ishibashi, Japan’s leading seismologist and one of the Government’s top advisers on nuclear-quake safety. He said that the world may never know how...

If Bill Gross of Pimco dumps all U.S. bonds in his portfolio and Carl Icahn returns $1.6 billion to his investors, one might be a little concerned that the proverbial sh*t is going to hit the proverbial fan soon...any thoughts?

Some cities probably won't ever recover. That's the conclusion of a new study on vacancy rates, demographics, and market patterns by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Namely, Detroit. Wayne County, Mich. had an incredible 27.6 percent housing vacancy rate in Q2 2010. The next worst was a 17.3 percent vacancy rate around Cleveland. Wayne County also registered an incredible 62.2 percent business vacancy rate. Business vacancies around the country tended to be 50 percent worse than housing vacancies. Again the next worst was a distant 35.1 percent around Cleveland. Deterioration is a risk in any city with massive price declines, like...

ABC's Amy Walter reports: And you thought coordinating your holiday vacation with co-workers was tough. In New Jersey, where a post-Christmas blizzard dumped as much as 30 inches of snow in some parts of the state, the website PolitickerNJ reports that “some lawmakers Monday were grumbling” that Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, as well as Lt. Gov Kim Guadagno, also a Republican, “were on vacation at the same time,” leaving state Senate President Steve Sweeney – a Democrat – as the state’s Acting Governor.

Minnesota led the nation for having the most tornadoes in 2010. According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, the state had 145 tornadoes. The state with the second highest total was Texas, which had 105 tornadoes. The Albert Lea Tribune reports that the figures aren't official until they are reviewed next year by the National Climate Data Center, but they aren't likely to change enough to bump Minnesota. Wisconsin tied for sixth place with 68 twisters. Forty-eight tornadoes were spotted in the state June 17, making it the day with the most tornadoes in Minnesota history.

The 111th Congress, the most unpopular Congress in the recorded history if the United States, ended last week with a flurry of legislative activity that set a record for lawmaking done by a Congress that had just been rebuked by the American people. Some in the media are eager to make the case that last week’s events portend a new era of bipartisan accomplishment led by the White House that will extend into the 112th Congress. They are half right. Last week’s events in Washington were a preview of lawmaking in 2011, but Congress was not where the real action...

The new Congressional reapportionment numbers are out. States gaining Congressional seats: Arizona (1), Florida (2), Georgia (1), Nevada (1), South Carolina (1), Texas (4), Utah (1), Washington (1). States losing Congressional seats: Illinois (1), Iowa (1), Louisiana (1), Massachusetts (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (1), New York (2), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1). You’ll notice John McCain won six of the eight states gaining seats. You’ll notice Barack Obama won eight of the ten states losing seats.

Food bank use across Canada is at the highest level since 1997, with nearly 900,000 people turning to them in March 2010, says a survey released Tuesday. Food bank use across Canada is at its highest level since 1997. (CBC) The HungerCount 2010 survey found that 867,948 people used food banks in March 2010, an increase of 9.2 per cent or more than 73,000 people compared with the previous year. The figure was 28 per cent higher than in 2008. "This is a reality check. Food banks are seeing first-hand that the recession is not over for a large number...

...It is my opinion that the US has long wanted to engineer a manageable decline in the currency on account of the now mathematically-impossible-to-ever-pay-back debt load that our nation has been saddled with. They will get their wish but at a terrible cost to the rest of us and to the nation at large as it watches its economic supremacy gradually fade. That will be the legacy of the Federal Reserve system and the contemptible monetary authorities who sold out our nation’s birthright for a bowl of stew.