Obama's Real Lie: Hiding His Own Bogus Claim Of Kenyan Birth

Erick Erickson at Red State, here:

The point is not that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. The point is that Barack Obama has repeatedly been perfectly okay embellishing and having others embellish his qualifications and biography to make himself someone unique instead of just another Chicago politician. The pattern goes back to his job as a “financial reporter”. A former colleague of his and Obama fan, way back in 2005, claims Barack Obama really embellished his resume describing his financial related reporting. ...

Barack Obama embellishing his biography to make himself look unique? Hardly worthy of press attention. In fact, nothing Barack Obama has done suggesting serious character flaws — and that’s what this is about — is ever worth the media’s collective attention. Why? Because some people think Barack Obama was born in Kenya, but much of the press corps is pretty damn sure he was born in Bethlehem.

One last point — a friend raised this on email. Could this be why the campaign screams bloody murder about racists and birthers every time someone asks about Barack Obama’s college transcripts? This would explain why Obama is so squirrely about the issue and waited until Donald Trump caused him measurable damage in the polls on this issue before responding. He’s not embarrassed that people will find out he lied about being born in Hawaii; he’s embarrassed they’ll find out he lied about being born in Kenya.

Literary Agent's 1991 'Born in Kenya' A 'Mistake' Left Uncorrected Until 2007

Yeah right.

Gov. Mitch Daniels Denies Mourdock Is Tea Party Phenomenon

lefty makes a point

The former Lugar associate might be expected to say something like this, but the fact is, and Rush Limbaugh is right, Sen. Lugar of Indiana represents the Republican establishment, and Mourdock beat him with the help of the Tea Party.

This is also why Mitch Daniels went nowhere this cycle as a possible presidential candidate. Mitch is also the Republican establishment. He might as well be Senator John McCain.

Rush has the full story, and here's Daniel's denial:

DANIELS:  It would be a complete misunderstanding to label this a Tea Party phenomenon when in fact the winner had a very strong majority with rank-and-file Republicans who felt they knew him, have seen a lot of him, he's been elected twice statewide in just the last six years, so he's a Republican regular himself, and that was the decisive factor.

Greek Exit Could Expose Banking Ponzi in Italy

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the UK Telegraph, here:

The IMF said Italian bank exposure to the state is 32pc of GDP, including all forms of lending. ... Almost half of this is owed to foreigners. Italy's central bank owes a further €278bn in 'Target2' claims to peers in Germany, Holland, Finland and Luxembourg, reflecting capital flight.

Italy's former premier Romano Prodi said the EU risks instant contagion to Spain, Italy, and France if Greece leaves. "The whole house of cards will come down", he said. ...

The ECB's emergency lending may have made matters worse, encouraging banks to buy their own states' debt. It has led to an incestous inter-linkange of fragile banking systems and fragile sovereign states, each propping the other up. Many of the banks used ECB money to buy state bonds until they need to roll over their own debt. They are now nursing stiff losses.

Like Much Else, US Electrical Consumption Flat to Declining Since 2000

Euro Zone GDP Flat For Q1 2012 After -0.3 Q4 2011

CNBC.com here has the full story.

For Q1 2012 Germany carried the weight for the whole zone, with growth up 0.5 percent.

But France was flat at zero growth.

Italy was down at -0.8 percent, and down -1.3 year-over-year.

The Netherlands came in at -0.2, and -1.1 year-over-year.

Spain was down at -0.3 percent.

Markets across the pond at this hour are down 1 percent.

Green River Formation Oil Shale Deposits Spell Death of Peak Oil

Mark J. Perry reports here:

Shouldn't it be newsworthy that the U.S. has 1.5 trillion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Formation, an amount even greater than th[e] estimate of 1.392 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves in the entire world? 

Today's Gold to Oil Ratio is a Little High at 16.47

1584 the ounce/96.13 the barrel, almost 10 percent.

A pull-back in gold from here to the 1450 area or a rise in oil to about 105 would move the ratio toward the average of 15.

Since oil is a commodity constantly needed and therefore in constant demand, gold is money, and over-indebtedness is ubiquitous, I'm guessing we'll see continued liquidation of gold to help pay the bills. 

President-Elect Hollande Of France Owns Property Worth $1.5 Million

According to this story, three properties in the French Riviera.

Part-ownership apparently is involved with two of the three properties, which are smaller, say other reports, a few of which also state that the Paris apartment is not owned but rented.  

'Mr. Normal' has claimed to dislike the rich and regards the world of finance as his enemy.

So here:

The 57-year-old Socialist has openly admitted that he "does not like the rich" and declared that "my real enemy is the world of finance". This means taxing the wealthy by up to 75 per cent, curtailing the activities of Paris as a centre for financial dealing, and ploughing millions into creating more civil service jobs.

Norway's Peace Geezer Johan Galtung Erupts With Sustained Anti-Semitism

'Principal Founder of Peace and Conflict Studies'

Blaming the Jews not just for the inspiration, mind you, but for the crime of the Norway shooter, according to this story:

Appearing on the left-wing radio show Democracy Now, Norwegian academic Johan Galtung, whose grand-daughter was nearly killed during the attack, hinted darkly that Breivik drew inspiration from the notorious Irgun bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which occurred on the same date in 1946. In a subsequent speech, Galtung suggested Mossad involvement in the Norwegian massacre, noting for good measure that Jews control the American media.

Here's a transcript of Galtung's remarks on Breivik's choice of 22/7:

JOHAN GALTUNG: Well, she is doing fine. She’s a strong young woman, a wonderful person. Thanks for having me.

Well, the mass murderer is now in court. There’s a lot of talk about his psychology. I find that less interesting. Much more interesting are the deep motivations, always thinking politically. And in order to get into that, you can start with the date he chose. That was 22nd of July. Twenty-second of July, 1099, the Knights Templars liberated Jerusalem for the Christians, later on for the Jews. The 22nd of July, 1946, King David Hotel was exploded by what was at that time Jewish terrorists. Some of them later became prime ministers of Israel. So the day is not quite by chance. He has deep, deep anchorings in Judeo-Christian mythology and the myths of the Knight Templars.


So, I suppose we're supposed to believe that the King David Hotel attack was chosen by Jews, what, to commemorate an attack on Jerusalem by Christians in 1099? What a crackpot.

But there's more, much more.

The Mossad connection to Breivik was asserted in a now infamous speech given by Galtung last September, all of which is neatly summarized with links here by Bruce Bawer:

Last September 30, he gave another lecture entitled “Ten Theses about July 22” – that being the date on which Anders Behring Breivik massacred 77 people in and near Oslo. The lecture, according to NRK, the Norwegian national broadcasting company, “was greeted with a standing ovation by some, while others chose to leave the auditorium.” Good for them. In Dagbladet on October 7, John Færseth neatly summed up the lecture’s message as follows: “Galtung comes dangerously close to the idea that the world is really controlled by Jews and Freemasons.” After Galtung replied to Færseth, the latter followed up by reprinting his Dagbladet article in the Humanist along with a reply to Galtung’s reply. Galtung’s reply to the reply to his reply – are you still with me? – appeared in a later issue of the Humanist, and both items from the Humanist were made available online on April 23. ...

Among the questions Galtung wants to see discussed freely – in order, you understand, to prevent an explosion of anti-Semitism – is whether, as one of his fellow “peace researchers” in Sweden has proposed, Anders Behring Breivik was an operative for the Mossad. (In other words, Galtung expects us to mull over the proposition that the government of Israel masterminded the cold-blooded execution of dozens of Norwegian teenagers attending a summer camp.)

Galtung also suggests that a more open and robust discussion of the contents of a certain book would be yet another healthy way to prevent anti-Semitism from spinning out of control. Which book?  Why, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, of course. “I wonder how many of those who have such definite opinions about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion have actually read them?” Galtung writes. “It’s impossible to do so today without thinking of Goldman-Sachs.”

Norway, to paraphrase Harvey, is a pestilent seminary, the cause of more or less truculent plagues, of the Breivik variety, and of the Galtung.

Must be something in the water.

Money Is Hiding From Obama, Not From The Market

Jeff Cox at CNBC.com here, like most in the financial press, cannot understand that mom and pop no longer invest not because they do not trust the market, but because they do not trust the political leadership which is manipulating it:

[I]f investors are learning more, that education has taught them to flee the market.

Money market mutual funds, where investors typically park their money in times of duress before deciding where to deploy, has shrunk from just short of $4 trillion during the worst days of the financial crisis all the way down to $2.57 trillion, according to the Investment Company Institute.

But the lion's share of that money has gone not to stocks but to bonds. In the most recent week for which data is available, stock funds lost a stunning $5.3 billion while bond funds gained $7.5 billion.

All this, while the stock market has doubled gains off its March 2009 666 number-of-the-best intraday low.

President-Elect Hollande Of France Must Be Reading Clive Crook

Here's Clive just days ago:

The question is whether Hollande will row back from his campaign pledges quickly enough to avert disaster.

The mood of jubilation among France’s unreconstructed leftists will make it difficult. And Hollande doesn’t have much time. Mitterrand took from 1981 to 1983 to discover that his policies constituted the alternative that Margaret Thatcher had in mind when she said, “There is no alternative.” Hollande may have just days to come to the same revelation. Looming parliamentary elections complicate the tactical judgment. Hollande needs voters to give him the majority in next month’s vote for the legislature. He can’t betray his supporters before then.

Whether it’s sooner or later, Hollande will be forced to acknowledge reality, and the disillusionment of the French left will be terrible.

But if it’s sooner, some good could come of his election. ...

Wisely, Hollande’s campaign was more about posture than specifics. We know he’s against austerity and for taxing the rich -- but he hasn’t drawn up a budget. That must wait, he says, until auditors have checked the government’s books. This could give the new president cover to rethink his position on longer-term fiscal control and structural reform. If he does that and insists on short-term fiscal moderation, whether this is deemed a renegotiation of the fiscal pact or merely a supplement to it, his election might help Europe.

And now we have President-elect Hollande today here, taking cover and preparing his supporters for the bad news:

Hollande stuck to his own deficit reduction goals despite new European Union figures released Friday that paint a bleak picture for France and the whole eurozone.

"I have known for several weeks that there was a greater degradation than the outgoing government said there was. We conclude that this is a confirmation," Hollande told reporters in the central city of Tulle.

He said the new figures do not necessarily mean he has less room to maneuver after he takes office Tuesday. "No, we had already expected this," he said in remarks shown on French television.

He said he's asked for an audit of France's budget by the Cour des Comptes, budget watchdog. The audit is expected to be completed by late June.

The Rational Thing To Do Is Get Out Of Bonds Now

So Mark Hulbert, here:

Given your belief that bonds in a decade’s time will be lower than where they are today, and the dismal failure of bond market timers to successfully time the market’s gyrations, the rational thing to do is get out of bonds now.

Wikipedia Article 'Continent' Is Someone's Playground Today

Here's a screen-shot:

The EU Ponzi: Drowning Banks and Sovereigns Clinging to Each Other

So Satyajit Das, quoted here:

“As with the sovereigns, the LTRO does not solve the longer term problems of the solvency or funding of the banks, which now remain heavily dependent on the largesse of the central banks,” said Das, who fears deep recession. “It is a government-sponsored Ponzi scheme where weak banks are supporting weak sovereigns, who in turn are standing behind the banks — a process which can be described as two drowning people clinging to each other for mutual support.”

Hillary Clinton Takes A Career Risk

Obama Trounces 'No Preference' 79-21 Percent in NC Primary

Hm. Hm. Hm.

Obama Beats Texas Inmate in Coon Skin Cap in WV Primary 59-41 Percent

Oh wait, that's his hair.

Story here.

Hm.

Unions Fail to Get Falk as Dem. Nominee v. Walker in WI

Politico has the story here:

Despite his late entry into the race, Barrett held a wide lead in the polls, aided in part by higher name recognition. Falk acknowledged that fact while campaigning in Milwaukee on Monday, saying she has always been the underdog.

“I have been all along because Tom [Barrett] just ran for governor a year ago,” she said.

Barrett’s victory came despite organized labor’s best efforts against him. Most of the state’s unions – including the AFL-CIO, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers – endorsed Falk.


The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel shows here the beating the unions' candidate received at the hands of Barrett, who will face  energized Republicans who turned out massively for Walker yesterday in the pro forma Republican primary:

David Stockman Agrees With John Bogle: Everything is Overvalued

In an interview reproduced here, I find myself pleasantly surprised because David Stockman says many agreeable things, especially this:

TGR: Will the mayhem stretch into the private sector?

DS: It will be everywhere. Once the bond market starts unraveling, all the other risk assets will start selling off like mad, too.

TGR: Does every sector collapse?

DS: If the bond market goes into a dislocation, it will spread like a contagion to all of the other asset markets. There will be a massive selloff.

I think everything in the world is overvalued—stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies. Too much money printing and debt expansion drove the prices of all asset classes to artificial, non-economic levels. The danger to the world is not classic inflation or deflation of goods and services; it's a drastic downward re-pricing of inflated financial assets.