Robert Fisk: Bankers Are The Dictators Of The West

A blistering must read.
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UK Independent
Writing from the very region that produces more clichés per square foot than any other "story" – the Middle East – I should perhaps pause before I say I have never read so much garbage, so much utter drivel, as I have about the world financial crisis.
But I will not hold my fire. It seems to me that the reporting of the collapse of capitalism has reached a new low which even the Middle East cannot surpass for sheer unadulterated obedience to the very institutions and Harvard "experts" who have helped to bring about the whole criminal disaster.
The protest movements are indeed against Big Business – a perfectly justified cause – and against "governments". What they have really divined, however, albeit a bit late in the day, is that they have for decades bought into a fraudulent democracy: they dutifully vote for political parties – which then hand their democratic mandate and people's power to the banks and the derivative traders and the rating agencies, all three backed up by the slovenly and dishonest coterie of "experts" from America's top universities and "think tanks", who maintain the fiction that this is a crisis of globalisation rather than a massive financial con trick foisted on the voters.
The banks and the rating agencies have become the dictators of the West.  Like the Mubaraks and Ben Alis, the banks believed – and still believe – they are owners of their countries. The elections which give them power have – through the gutlessness and collusion of governments – become as false as the polls to which the Arabs were forced to troop decade after decade to anoint their own national property owners. Goldman Sachs and the Royal Bank of Scotland became the Mubaraks and Ben Alis of the US and the UK, each gobbling up the people's wealth in bogus rewards and bonuses for their vicious bosses on a scale infinitely more rapacious than their greedy Arab dictator-brothers could imagine.
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a veteran speak out about iraq and ron paul - youtube.flv.mp4

Total Collapse - The Build up to World War III

http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=17131

NH Paper Rips Paul And His Supporters

(CNN) -- New Hampshire's most influential newspaper took the knives out for Ron Paul Friday, calling the GOP hopeful "dangerous" and labeling his supporters the "lunatic fringe."
Joseph McQuaid, publisher of the Union Leader, lamented that reporters more interested in chasing the latest political developments have largely ignored Paul's views on foreign policy."Those views have been largely overlooked by a news media more interested in the presidential 'horse race' than in the candidates' positions on issues. But we expect New Hampshire primary voters will examine the facts and act accordingly," McQuaid wrote.The column ticked off several of Paul's views, starting with the stance that suspected terrorists be tried in civilian courts."This is nothing short of nuts," McQuaid wrote. "What is needed to competently fight a war, and al-Qaida is indeed at war with us, is the ability to gather information. Telling the enemy that it has a 'right to remain silent' is absurd."Other positions at issue: Paul's controversial stance on Iran, which has recently come under fire from other candidates on the campaign trail."He has repeatedly said that we should allow Iran to continue to develop a nuclear weapon," McQuaid wrote. "This is the same country whose leadership vows death to America, the 'Satanic power,' and who wants Israel wiped from the map."McQuaid also directed his wrath at Paul's supporters, who he said were far from mainstream."Never mind Paul being the favored candidate of the lunatic fringe (see white supremacists, anti-Semites, truthers, etc.)."Paul's press secretary Jesse Benton released a statement saying the editorial reflected establishment thinking."Dr. Paul is fighting for real change and taking on the entire establishment - the neo-conservative foreign policy establishment, the monetary establishment and the big spending establishment in Washington," Benton wrote. "He is bound to take a lot of arrows from supporters of the status quo, but he has broad shoulders and will never stop fighting for what is right."

Copyright CNN 2011

Read more: http://www.wmtw.com/politics/30105153/detail.html#ixzz1iByUkBZ7

New Asian Union Means The Fall Of The Dollar

One of the most frustrating issues to haunt the halls of alternative economic analysis is the threat of misrepresentative terminology. For instance, when the U.S. government decided to back the private Federal Reserve in lowering the interest rates on lending windows to European banks last month, they did not call this a bailout, even though that’s exactly what it was. They did not call it quantitative easing, or fiat printing, or a hyperinflationary landmine; rarely does bureaucracy ever apply honest terminology to their subversive activities. False terminology is the bane of every honest analyst, because in order for them to educate and awaken those who are unaware of the truth, they must first battle through the daunting muck of the general public’s horrifically improper perceptions and vocabulary.
The chain of financial events taking place over the past decade in Asia have been correspondingly mislabeled and misunderstood. What some economists see as total collapse is actually a new and decidedly prophetic (or engineered) transition. What some naively see as the “natural” progression of globalism, is actually a distinctly deliberate program of centralization meant to further the goals of world economic and political totalitarianism. Asia, and most especially China, is a Petri dish for elitist psychopaths. What we see as suffocating collectivism in this region of the world today is the exact social schematic intended for the West tomorrow. Call it whatever you will, but on the other side of the Pacific, like the eerie smile of a sinister clown, sits fabricated fate.
The genius of globalization is not in how it “works”, but in how it DOESN’T work. Globalization chains mismatched cultures together through circumstance and throws us into the deep end of the pool. If one sinks, we all sink, enslaving us with interdependency. The question one must ask, then, is if all sovereign economies are currently tied together in the same way? The answer is no, not anymore. Certain countries have moved to insulate themselves from the domino effect of debt implosion, one of the primary examples being China.
Since at least 2005, China has been taking the exact steps required to counter the brunt of a global debt collapse; not enough to make it untouchable, but enough that its infrastructure will survive. One could even surmise that China’s actions indicate a foreknowledge of the events that would eventually escalate in 2008. How they knew is hard to say, but if the available evidence causes you to lean towards collapse as a Hegelian creation (and it should if you are paying any attention), then China’s activity begins to make perfect sense. If a globalist insider told you that in a few short years the two most powerful financial empires in the world were going to topple like bowling pins under the weight of their own liabilities, what would you do? Probably separate yourself as much as possible from the diseased dynamic and construct your own replacement system. This is what China has done…
China started with the circulation of Yuan denominated bonds, like T-Bonds, meant to securitize Chinese debt, creating an outlet for the currency to go global. China’s considerable forex and bond reserves make this move a rather suspicious one. With so much savings at their disposal, why bother to issue bonds at all? Why threaten the traditional export based economy and the uneven trade advantage that the country had been thriving on for decades? The success of Chinese bonds would mean the internationalization of the Yuan, a floating valuation of the currency, and the loss of the desirable trade deficit with the U.S. Back in 2005, this all would surely seem like a novelty that was going nowhere fast. Of course, today China’s actions suggest an unprecedented push to convert to a consumer hub at the center of a massive trading bloc. To put it simply; China knew ahead of schedule that the U.S. was no longer going to be a viable customer, and reliance on such a country would spell disaster. They have been preparing to break away from America’s consumer markets and the dollar for some time.
In 2008, after China announced the use of the Yuan in cross border trade on a limited basis, I began to write about the possibility that China was preparing to break from the Greenback. For the past few years my primary focus in terms of finance has been the East as a kind of warning bell for the state of the global economy. In 2009 and 2010, it became absolutely clear that China (with the help of global corporate entities) was developing the skeleton of a new system; a trade network that that had the capacity to supplant the U.S. and end the dollar’s world reserve status.
Since then, Yuan bonds have spread across the planet, China has dropped the dollar in bilateral trade with Russia, the ASEAN trading bloc has formed into a tight shell of export partners, and that is just the beginning. Two major announcements in 2011 have solidified my belief that a complete dump of the dollar by eastern interests is near…
First was the announcement that China was actively and openly pursuing the establishment of a central bank for the whole of ASEAN, with the Yuan utilized as the reserve currency instead of the dollar:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/us-china-asean-financial-idUST...

This news, of course, has barely been reported on in the mainstream. As I discussed at the beginning of this article, the terminology surrounding economic developments has been diluted and twisted. When China states that an ASEAN central bank is in the works, we need to point out what this really means; the ASEAN trading bloc is about to become the Asian Union. The only missing piece of the puzzle is something that I have been warning about for at least a couple years, ever since my days at Neithercorp (see “Migration Of The Black Swans” as a recent example). This key catalyst is the inclusion of Japan in ASEAN, something which many said would take five to ten years to unfold. News released this Christmas speaks otherwise:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-25/china-japan-to-promote-direct-trading-of-currencies-to-cut-company-costs.html
Japan has indeed entered into an agreement to drop the dollar in currency exchange with China and has expressed interest in melting into ASEAN. Japan has also struck somewhat similar though slightly more limited deals with India, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines almost simultaneously:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-28/japan-india-seal-15-billion-currency-swap-arrangement-to-shore-up-rupee.html
This means that the two largest foreign holders of U.S. debt and Greenbacks will soon be in a position to tap into an export market far more profitable than that of America, and that all of this trade will be facilitated by currencies OTHER THAN THE DOLLAR. It means the end of the dollar as the world reserve and probably the end of the dollar as we know it.
Japan’s inclusion in this process was inevitable. With its economy already in steep deflationary decline, the Yen skyrocketing in value against the dollar making exports difficult, as well as the ongoing nuclear meltdown problem at Fukushima, the island nation has been on the edge of complete collapse. Its only option, therefore, is to sink into the chaotic sees, or float like a buoy tied to an Asian Union. There can be absolutely no doubt now that Japan will soon implement the latter solution.
The dilemma at this point becomes one of timing. Now that we are certain that two of the largest economies in the world are about the dump the Greenback, what signals can we watch when preparing for the event? My belief is that the trigger will come squarely from the U.S. and the Federal Reserve, either as legislation to heavily tax Asian imports, a renewed threat of further credit downgrades like that which S&P brought down in August, or the announcement of more open quantitative easing. Any and all of these issues could very well arise in the course of the next 6-12 months, QE3 being a basic no-brainer. ASEAN could, certainly, drop the dollar immediately after their central bank apparatus is put in place, resulting in a much more volatile trade war atmosphere (also useful for full global centralization later down the road). The point is, we are truly at a place in our economic life when ANYTHING is possible.
My hope is that as our predictions in the alternative economic community are proven correct with every passing quarter, more Americans will take note, and prepare. I can say quite confidently that we have entered the first stages of the catastrophic phase of the economic implosion. All the fantastic and terrible consequences many once considered theory or science fiction, are about to become reality. Practical solutions have been offered by myself and many others. The only thing left now is to take action, or ride the tidal wave of destruction like so much driftwood. We can help to determine the outcome, or we can be idle spectators. In everything, there is a choice…

Grim Economic Prospects for 2012: How the Federal Reserve Overshadows the European Banking System

What does one write about between Christmas and New Years? Things are usually pretty quiet, especially in Europe. As a result we’ll give you a little about this and a little about that.

Public institutions worldwide are fighting ratings downgrades foremost of which is France, the US and, of course, sovereigns and banks worldwide. Miracles of miracles finally the rating agencies are doing their jobs. The caper they pulled in collusion with Wall Street in rating mortgage securities should have put them all in jail for life. We’ll call these efforts makeup time for their previous sins, which they never were prosecuted for. The complaint is their methodology is unreliable. We can assure you they know exactly what they are doing. The French want them to cease and desist. That is not going to work, because the French government and banks have very serious solvency problems. Central bankers and sovereigns always believe they are above the law. Eventually they all pay the price of greed and corruption.

Early in December the BIS informed the UK’s policy of quantitative easing, the creation of money and credit, was not working. The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has been doing the same thing for 12 years, so we ask why has not the BIS cited them as well? Horrors of horrors just two weeks ago the ECB, European Central Bank, decreed that they were going to implement QE as well. We ask, why no BIS comment regarding the Fed and the ECB? Might it tend to bring both systems down? All of these central banks and sovereigns playing this game know that it won’t work, but they play the game anyway buying time to hope to create an opening to bring about a change in direction, which never comes. That is why we have well planned wars to distract the people from the real economic and financial problems and, of course, to relieve population problems. If you doubt us we refer you to many of the writings and statements regarding population control via Foreign Affairs, the literary organ of the CFR, the Council on Foreign Relations, or the Trilateral Commission, along with their statements as well. We might add Obamacare, which will be implemented in one year, and the “death panels”, which will become part of your life and death. Wait until you are told that your beloved mother and father’s illnesses will cost too much to treat and they will be allowed to die. We are not meandering and you cannot make such stuff up. These are the thoughts and actions of our leadership, which control your lives from behind the scenes.

The euro zone may have publicly made it clear it is their show and that they need no assistance from, of all places, the Bank of England nor the Federal Reserve, yet they mimic them, now having implemented their own QE, accompanied by $1 trillion in swap assistance from the Fed. We see the words and ideas, but the reality is that behind the scenes the Fed is pulling the strings. You judge them by what they do not by what they say. In view of their newfound responsibilities we still find the rating agencies far behind the curve, due to pressure from banking and the political structure. Keeping that in mind investors have to rely on their own research and not that of an intimidated rating system. Besides rating changes are discounted months in advance by other professionals.

All of the events you have seen in the UK, US and Europe were predicted by us. The revelations of the past year were yesterday’s news. All three entities have committed themselves to the furtherance of hanging paper whenever and wherever they can. We saw the euro crisis before it happened, so it was of no surprise to readers. The specialty media and the financial sector completely missed the boat. All three entities have proven themselves incapable of any plan or initiative of solving their problems. They just keep the game going knowing the result and refuse to purge the system, because it will rob them of their power base. This is why heretofore the PTB have not allowed any attacks verbally on their central banks, with the exception of the US. Over the next three years that will change and the Fed’s monetary work will be passed back to the US Treasury. If Ron Paul is elected it will probably happen in 2013. An end to “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets” will precede it. That will end official market manipulation and kill the control that has been exercised by the owners of the Federal Reserve for the past 100 years. The termination of both entities will be important beyond belief.

The ECB last week began the process of making loans worth $640 billion to 523 banks. For collateral they’ll accept anything including what is known as toxic waste, virtually worthless bonds containing mortgages and the bonds of near bankrupt nations. In essence the ECB is doing what the Fed has been doing and calling it something else. As you can see almost all bankers and politicians are deceivers. This is a long-term financing operation, LTRO, which directly funds, whereas the Fed funds via market intervention. The ECB expects borrowers to bolster their balance sheets and to buy Europe’s version of toxic waste, sovereign debt, out of the market. We do not expect the latter to perform as perceived, even though with little risk a bank can buy Spanish and Italian bonds and net 4%. At the end of February more loans will be offered to repeat the process. What you are seeing is the leveraging of the purchase of foreign toxic waste with each succeeding auction. This is an end run on quantitative easing. It could easily hand banks a net 30% return for doing virtually nothing, at the same time bail the banks out, these very same banks that caused all these problems in the first place. It is called double your money in three years. A gift from euro zone taxpayers. This also shows you how easy it was to end run German taxpayers that wanted all of this stopped. This is an extremely important point. It shows you how little the bureaucrats in the EU and euro zone think of the constituents in any of the member countries.

The real hook in all of this is that it is being sold as a sovereign bailout of six countries in serious financial trouble. That it is, but what it really is, is a bank bailout similar to many other programs of the last three years. These 3-year loans can be terminated in one or two years, but who would want to do that? It is a license to steal; borrowing at 1% and investing in sovereign debt at 4% to 5%. The ECB will have a hard time weaning banks off such a prohibited concoction.

Over three years a bank can make 70% to 90% with the ECB, which is the euro zone taxpayer, taking almost all the risk. This deal from the ECB to the banks is far more blatant than the previous antics of the Fed. This arrangement, of course, leaves enormous leeway for officers of these banks to accumulate massive bonuses. These officers are raking in rigged profits, so why should they not ingratiate themselves at the public’s expense? We figure with the next tranche of funds comes up at the end of February the demand will be giant. It could double to a net $2 trillion and then if that wasn’t enough the banks will leverage the proceeds 9 to 1 to perhaps 35 to 1. How is that for a liquidity boost? Incidentally, the ECB and banks can do this indefinitely. That means a reversal of the recession in Europe and perhaps in other regions as well. For now the liquidity problem in Europe has been solved. The flip side is major inflation. From a banks viewpoint a small price to pay, as they rake in the profits and at the same time solve liquidity problems for the six problem nations.

A solution made in heaven that was prearranged with all the bankers. As we said, $9 trillion or more can be created and unless withdrawn from the system over three years we could see serious inflation. The ECB and the bankers are not going to tell you all this, and 90% of economists will miss these important points. Following this thrust of money we have seen Greek elections thrown ahead into April to give the bankers more time to make a deal to prevent Greek default, although the bankers know whatever deal they make it may be rejected by a new government. While this transpires the European economy will recover and Greece may stick with any deal that has been made. Greece’s not leaving the euro would take off some major stress on the euro. We won’t know what will transpire with Greece until late in April. This creation of money and credit over the next three years, unless money is drained from the system, could in and itself destroy the euro. These funds are far in excess of what the Fed and the Bank of England have created.

What is the answer to this course set by Europe reminds us we have to protect our wealth. It won’t take long for gold and silver to react to this giant monetization. In fact, recognition should begin and be manifest in the market beginning in the New Year. Manipulation, or not, their prices are going higher, especially from these low levels. At current levels investors should be loading up on gold and silver coins, bullion and shares, especially shares, which have been beaten down very hard.

We mention over and over again that the Federal Reserve has been in part bailing out Europe. This is the second time they have done this in concert with other central banks. Last time it was $500 billion in swaps and this time we are told that the swap figure is $1 trillion. We suppose we will find out in time. The Fed, which can lend directly, goes through the ECB, because they will guarantee the return of the funds, not only to the Fed, but also to other supposedly active lenders such as the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank. The lenders are charging .50% to lend the funds. The Fed and other central banks are trying to obscure what they are doing after the revelations pertaining to massive lending by the Fed previously as exposed by the GAO under Dodd-Frank.

The currency swap is not technically a loan and does not show up on the Fed’s books as a loan. By the ECB borrowing dollars from the Fed it keeps the ECB from having to print more euros. This way the ECB lends dollars it has borrowed to its member banks. These banks are under severe pressure by their governments to purchase new and outstanding government debt. There is no doubt this will happen, but in what amounts we cannot say.

Thus, we see $638 billion the ECB has in hand plus perhaps $1 trillion from the Fed and its helpers, which is being served up to 523 banks. We then have to remember that this is a fractional banking system, which historically lending at 9 to 1 is prudent. If used that would be some $15 trillion, certainly enough for Europe to survive on. As you can see, the funds available could be endless.

Also, as you can see all is not the way it seems to be. 99.9% of Americans do not know what is going on and we’d be surprised if 35% of Europeans understand. In the US there has been a media blackout and in Europe very light coverage. The banks simply do not want anyone to know what they are up too. As we display these numbers it should be kept in mind that all these countries are loaded with unpayable debt, so what they are doing is going further into debt to pay off existing debt. This approach is generally recognized as a Ponzi scheme - we might also add all the derivative exposure these banks and government have.

The privately owned Central Bank of the US, the Federal Reserve, has absolutely no authority to bailout Europe, which they have been doing for three years and no one says a thing about it. Less than a month ago, Fed Chairman Bernanke said he has no authority to bailout Europe and he had no intention of doing so.

This is why the Fed needs to be terminated and its functions returned to the US Treasury. The Fed and other central banks running the world and they shouldn’t be. Mr. Bernanke has promised more transparency and two weeks later we get more subterfuge. There is no question Ron Paul and we have been right for over 50 years. Elect Ron Paul and get rid of the Fed.

This past week the ECB balance sheet soared to $3.55 trillion via new lending. The increase in bank lending by the ECB rose $278 billion to $1.143 trillion. That was at a 1% interest rate.

For those of you who thought Europe was improving, Spanish residential mortgages fell for an 18-month in October.

Home loans fell 43.6% year-on-year. Spain has 700,000 unsold homes sitting empty. Bad loans are at a 17-year high of 7.42%. Spain’s recovery, as that of the US, will be long and arduous.

Bob Chapman is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by Bob Chapman

Architects of Euro Fail lead way to 2012 danger zone

Judge Rules Against Bank Of America For Harassment

WSJ
Bank of America Corp. and a debt collector it hired to go after deceased customers' debts violated state law by repeatedly calling a Florida woman about paying the credit-card bill of her late husband, a Florida state-court judge ruled this month.  Judge Keith R. Kyle in Lee County, Fla., found that collection attempts by West Asset Management, an Omaha, Neb., firm working on behalf of Bank of America, amounted to harassment.
The ruling clears the way for the plaintiff to get punitive damages from the collector, a unit of West Corp., and Bank of America, which is the second largest U.S. bank by deposits. A civil jury will determine the size of the award next year.
The case could set a precedent across the U.S. and discourage lenders from using collectors to get money from surviving relatives on debts left behind by the deceased, according to other state-court judges.
Bank of America and other major U.S. lenders hand over accounts of the deceased to firms specializing in death-debt collection. The collection firms then zero in on family members who they think might agree to pay some of what the dead person owed even though they have no legal obligation to do so.
In a 2010 investigation of the industry, the Federal Trade Commission found that some death-debt collectors flout federal and state laws by duping relatives into thinking that they have to pay the debts of the deceased. Surviving family members typically have no legal obligation to pay unless they co-signed a loan.
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Nader, Ron Paul, Kucinich Speak to Occupy Wall Street - Original

Richard Jeni A Big Steaming Pile Of Me CLIP

10 New Year's Resolutions For Non-violent Activism

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi

Activist Post

As the United States edges closer to becoming a third world country; anger, frustration, and cynicism continue to mount in the minds of the American population.  Americans are no longer optimistic about the direction of their country.  This pessimism seems warranted as authentic political solutions appear to be in short supply in our corporate state.

The democratic political system is now clearly run by crony cartelism.  The multinational banks have hijacked the economy and are openly looting the public. Mounting and impossible-to-pay off debt is crippling local governments. The entire spectrum of our rights continues to degrade as the close of 2011 saw the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which declares America itself to be a war zone, and its citizens potential enemy combatants. Meanwhile, crimes that would land regular citizens in jail are now openly being committed by the elite and their organizations with no justice. Perhaps most telling, the power structure is establishing a control grid to eliminate Internet freedom, and even to use cyberspace in offensive acts of war.  Given the current situation, it can seem impossible to affect real change. However, the exact opposite is the case.

The only reason the system is maintained is because the majority still acquiesce to it. However, change won't come by electing new establishment politicians, because no matter how noble they may be they still must play the corrupt game. Change won't come through violent protests or offensive cyber hacktivism, as that only invites and justifies the creeping police state.  We must stop accepting and supporting the system, individually, in order to change it.

Is the fabric of industrialized society starting to unravel?

(NaturalNews) This is one of the most important trends you'll see in 2012 and beyond: Global supply lines are breaking down. The just-in-time system of deliveries on tap is deteriorating. Have you noticed how often the products or parts you need are backordered or delayed? That's what I'm talking about.

Try to order 3TB hard drives for data storage. You'll discover they're all back-ordered. When you order items from Amazon.com that are shipped by third party companies, they're often delayed due to sourcing problems. Even our own NaturalNews Store has suffered from sourcing challenges, where customer demand is much higher than the available supply, and the suppliers sometimes can't get us products in a timely manner.

This issue is especially notable across the firearms industry, where record firearm sales have pushed gun manufacturers way beyond their normal capacities. Not only was Black Friday the top day for gun sales in the history of the USA, but I spoke with the owner of a local Austin gun shop just a couple of days ago, and he told me that on the Thursday and Friday before Christmas his shop was completely slammed with customers, and many of the products they wanted were simply out of stock or unavailable.

Something is happening across the planet with all this: Supply lines are getting thin and starting to crack. You've probably noticed it when you're trying to buy car parts or appliance parts. Even many service companies are thinly staffed these days. How long does it take now to get a repair man for your furnace? Or a plumber? Remember when it used to be same-day or next-day service? Now it's often 2-3 days (or even more) before somebody can fix the problem, and even then, they often need parts that have to be ordered.

The complexity of modern society is starting to rupture
All this is a worrisome sign to anyone who understands even a little bit about the complexities of modern society. Even to build something as simple as a water bottle, a manufacturer must be able to depend on a very long and highly complex chain of suppliers who individually specialize in metals, plastics or o-ring manufacturing. Then there's the logo printing which requires yet another supply chain of ink specialists and printing equipment. While a stainless steel water bottle may seem simple, it's actually the culmination of thousands of years of specialized knowledge, processes and equipment.

Even manufacturing a pencil is a modern miracle. Try it yourself sometime and you'll discover just how complex a pencil really is. You need sources of metals, rubber, graphite, paint, wood, and all the specialized manufacturing equipment and expertise that goes with it.

Why does this matter? Understand this hugely important point:

The more complex a society becomes, the more the loss of efficiency in just one small area of service or manufacturing ripples across the entire economy, magnifying its negative impact.

You can't build a car, for example, without the microchips manufactured in China. Sure, you can put together the entire car -- minus the microchips -- but all you have is a 3,000-pound piece of junk sitting on the assembly line. Without the microchips, the car is useless, and increasingly those microchips all come from China or Japan. This is even true across the military, where red alerts have been issued recently about the strategic vulnerability of military gear that relies on microchips from China. (http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=321477)

Suppose the microchips you need happen to show up, but then you then have a problem with rubber from Sri Lanka. Most Americans have absolutely no clue how much rubber they need to survive in modern society. The average vehicle contains over 500 pounds of rubber parts, all of which are 100% dependant on international rubber producers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natura...).

Without rubber, in fact, modern society grinds to a halt. It's one of the most important strategic natural resources in the world, yet barely anyone thinks about it. Without rubber, you would have no transportation (not even bicycles). No trains, no trucks, no cars and no airplanes. A loss of rubber would also hit medical supplies and agricultural equipment in a huge way. Goodbye mechanized farming...

So even a tiny disruption in this crucial global resource could be devastating to the global economy. Rest assured, folks, that if you could read all the secret military documents at the Pentagon, and you could find a report on the world's "most important strategic resources," right underneath OIL, you would find RUBBER. (And no, the synthetic stuff isn't a viable replacement...)

The collapse ripple
The point is that a highly complex society has many points of failure that individually impact the entire web of complexity. Lose rubber and you've lost your entire transportation sector. Lose oil and much the same happens. Lose your source of microchips and you have to revert back to pre-1980's technology. Lose your manufacturing base -- which has already happened in America -- and you have no capability to start building the stuff you need in your own country anymore.

In World War II, America turned its car factories into tank factories and cranked out Armored Personnel Carriers, B-17 bombers, tracked vehicles and Jeep transport vehicles. Today, America's automobile manufacturing has been gutted to the core. All the machine shops have been offshored to Asia. A new generation of Americans has grown up with little or no knowledge of how to actually build anything other than Legos. The entire culture of innovative machining and metals fabrication has been all but lost (not to mention textiles).

What's behind these supply line failures? Criminal banks
There's a reason why supply lines are getting dangerously thin in America: Easy credit is disappearing. The failure of the global banking system is causing a trickle-down effect of decreased capital across the business sector. This, in turn, causes businesses to decrease their inventories and wait for orders to come in before manufacturing anything. So instead of excess supply sitting around, waiting to be delivered, more and more companies are operating on a "you order first, and then we'll make it" basis.

Capital is hard to come by for honest businesses, you see. Sure, if you're a criminal bankster like Jon Corzine, scamming the taxpayers out of billions (or trillions!) of dollars, you get free bailout money from the corrupt criminal enablers known as "members of Congress." But if you're an honest, hardworking American trying to run an honest business supplying real goods to business customers, you get royally screwed with high taxes, heavy banking fees, and a routine denial of operating credit. So you scratch by, doing the best you can with what you've got, even as the government is eroding the value of the Federal Reserve notes (dollars) you've worked so hard to earn.

Everywhere across the economy, honest businesses are getting hammered while the big money goes out to military contractors, weapons manufacturers, anti-terrorism security companies and others who have the right buddies in the right hallways in Washington. An economy that used to be based on manufacturing productivity and abundance is now based on false terrorism driving what is essentially a war economy.

That war economy, by the way, is just a few short years away from total default. It's the oldest story in history: Empire invades foreign nations, empire conquers foreign nations, then the empire goes broke trying to pay for its ever-expanding military to control those foreign nations. Empire collapses into the dark corners of history and becomes a lesson for the next generation which will usually make the same mistake anyway, because humans have a short memory and don't really understand what history means.

Do not fool yourself into thinking America isn't headed down this path right now. With the coming banking failures, the currency devaluation and the ever-expanding costs of running a false war (complete with home-grown false flag terror attacks to keep everybody scared into blind obedience), America's economy is headed for its own inevitable catastrophe, at which point you can fully expect supply line disruptions to be frequent and large-scale.

If you truly understand complex societies, you will prepare now
For a while after the collapse, it will be impossible to buy many items, including many food staples and possibly even fuel. Those who do not prepare for supply line disruptions will probably be weeded out of the human gene pool, earning their own place in history as examples of a failed genetic experiment that was ultimately incapable of adapting to a rapidly-changing environment.

In nature, when the climate rapidly changes, the only animals that survive are those with adaptive skills, mobility and backup resources (squirrels store food for a reason). In human society, when the mechanized production climate of readily-available foods, goods and services suddenly disappears -- even for a short while -- you will observe a sudden and shocking shift in the human gene pool towards those who have the foresight to plan and prepare rather than those who live day by day, partying, consuming, copulating and laughing it up.

As usual, I urge NaturalNews to be adaptive and be prepared. When the day comes that you actually need this wisdom, it will be too late to try to prepare. This is a test of survival that must be won in advance.

Why does the U.S. government stockpile food, medical supplies and weapons?
Remember: The U.S. government stockpiles massive quantities of food, weapons, ammunition, communications equipment and medical supplies. These are held in huge underground storage facilities (caves) carved out of pure granite. Watch the video to see for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24L...

By the way, I have firsthand knowledge of these caves. Being from Kansas City, I used to drive by these caves quite frequently, witnessing 18-wheeler rigs pulling in and out of these cave entrances, right off the highway. This has been going on for decades. They have underground cities for the storage of supplies. It's not a conspiracy theory, it's an admitted historical fact.

Ever wonder why the government bothers to do this? For what purpose does the government feel it needs to be prepared with years of supplies while, at the same time, telling the American citizens they only need enough supplies to last a few days?

That's not a flippant question. If you answer it honestly, you will be ahead of 99% of the rest of the population which now faces a precarious future in a highly complex society that's already starting to tear apart at the seams.

   
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About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created NaturalNews.TV, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org

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How the Globalists Have Destroyed Free Markets to Introduce the New World Order

The lies and deception of this imaginative notion that we live and function in a free market is the biggest fallacy ever conceived. What the general public don’t understand is that the decisions they make on a daily basis have been predetermined by two mitigating factors. The trail of deceit, lies and misinformation that the Globalists and Elite have perpetrated is astonishing.

We are all taught that Education will set you free. This statement would be true if the Globalists and Elite hadn’t infiltrated our education institutions by sowing the seeds of deceit when it comes to educating our youth and future leaders about economics and how markets work.

The following are two critical lies the public have been told that influence the decisions they make and how they live their lives.

Lie #1: The Government needs to make decisions for us because we can’t

The first time anyone is ever introduced to the principles of economics is usually via the Keynesian School of Economics. In summary, Keynesian Economics proposes that the private sector does not have the inherent capacity to deliver effective macroeconomic decisions. Because believers of Keynesian Economics do not believe that the decisions the private sector makes will lead to economically viable outcomes, they usually propose that the public sector (Government) should be making policy that would influence market outcomes. So basically, proponents of Keynesian Economics want the government to interfere with the decisions that you make.

This disgusting notion that we need our beloved and glorious Government to make decisions for us has actually convinced people that they themselves can’t make simple economic decisions by themselves.

Lie #2 – The cost money and money supply is determined by the market

This is the most serious and disturbing lie I have ever heard. The general public actually believe that the cost of money is derived naturally by the market and It is the market that determines how much we pay for the items we purchases on a daily basis. WRONG!!!

The cost of money is not determined by the market, but instead it is determined by the Globalists, the Elite and Government. How? Well, it all starts with Central Banks and the decisions these corrupt institutions make. Below, you will find a very simple chart that describes how Central Banks force you to make everyday decisions.

This simple diagram is only one variation of what happens when Central Banks meddle with interest rates. If you are interested in learning how interest rates should be derived (via free market methods), then a simple Google search would be a great start (search for ‘Austrian School of Economics’)
Also, another important note you must take from the workflow above is that by appointing a private individual to somehow workout what the interest rates should be lead’s to people preceding and or not proceeding with decisions they may or may not take. This notion is especially dangerous when interest rates are set at the incorrect level. It is common knowledge that the great depression of the 1930’s was caused by the Federal Reserve incorrectly setting interest rates of which in turn sent the wrong signal to the market.

The first lie, ‘the Government needs to make decisions for us because we can’t’ and second lie ‘the cost money and money supply is determined by the market’ have all been absorbed by the public and believed.

Based on these two simple fallacies, to conclude I would like to propose a very simple new definition of what the New World Order is all about. The New World Order is the establishment of a Global Government that will make decisions based around how the “Market” should function to force you into making everyday decisions that will only benefit the Globalists, Elite and Private International Financiers.

 

Zionists Funded Both Hitler & Churchill

Most of our political leaders are sponsored by the
Illuminati Jewish central banking syndicate.
Their pundits and professors put lipstick on these pigs.








by Henry Makow Ph.D.


When Winston Churchill was visiting Germany, in 1932,  Putzi Hanfstaengl tried to arrange a meeting with Hitler. Hitler apparently declined. It wouldn't do for two Zionist political actors --future "antagonists" -- to be seen rehearsing together before the show began.   

Both Hitler and Churchill were pawns of the Zionist bankers. According to historian Thomas J. O'Keefe,   Churchill said in his Memoirs that ex-German Chancellor (1930-1932) Heinrich Brüning  revealed  the identities of Hitler's backers in a 1937 letter:

 'I didn't, and do not even today for understandable reasons, wish to reveal from October 1928, the two largest regular contributors to the Nazi Party were the general managers of two of the largest Berlin banks, both of Jewish faith and one of them the leader of Zionism in Germany."

Churchill was funded by a different branch of the same Illuminati Jewish banking syndicate. O'Keefe cites a speech by David Irving on the "Focus Group" set up by Bernard Waley Cohen, a prominent Zionist banker.  


   "The Focus was financed by a slush fund set up by some of London's wealthiest businessmen -- principally, businessmen organized by the Board of Jewish Deputies in England, whose Chairman was a man called Sir Bernard Waley Cohen, left. Sir Bernard Waley Cohen held a private dinner party at his apartment on July 29, 1936. This is in Waley Cohen's memoirs.

 ... The 29th of July, 1936, Waley Cohen set up a slush fund of 50,000 pounds for The Focus, the Churchill pressure group. Now, 50,000 pounds in 1936, multiply that by ten, at least, to get today's figures. By another three or four to multiply that into US dollars. So, 40 times 50,000 pounds -- about $2 million in US terms -- was given by Bernard Waley Cohen to this secret pressure group of Churchill in July 1936. The purpose was -- the tune that Churchill had to play was -- fight Germany. Start warning the world about Germany, about Nazi Germany. Churchill, of course, one of our most brilliant orators, a magnificent writer, did precisely that.

    For two years, The Focus continued to militate, in fact, right through until 1939. And I managed to find the secret files of The Focus, I know the names of all the members. I know all their secrets. I know how much money they were getting, not just from The Focus, but from other governments. I use the word "other governments" advisedly because one of my sources of information for my Churchill biography is, in fact, the Chaim Weizmann Papers in the State of Israel.
Irving then revealed further details of Churchill's financing by the Czechs, as well as the facts of Churchill's financial rescue by a wealthy banker of Austro-Jewish origins, Sir Henry Strakosch, left, who, in Irving's words, emerged "out of the woodwork of the City of London, that great pure international financial institution." When Churchill was bankrupted overnight in the American stock market crash of 1937-1938, it was Strakosch who was instrumental in setting up the central banks of South Africa and India, who bought up all Churchill's debts. When Strakosch died in 1943, the details of his will, published in the London Times, included a bequest of £20,000 to the then Prime Minister, eliminating the entire debt.

Irving dealt with Churchill's performance as a wartime leader, first as Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty and then as Prime Minister. The British historian adverted to Churchill's "great military defeat in Norway, which he himself engineered and pioneered," and mentioned the suspicion of Captain Ralph Edwards, who was on Churchill's staff at the time, that Churchill had deliberately caused the fiasco to bring down Neville Chamberlain and replace him as prime minister, which subsequently happened."
The Second World War was orchestrated to fulfill the long term Zionist goal of Illuminati one world government. Irving spoke of Dunkirk:


"In May 1940, Dunkirk, the biggest Churchill defeat of the lot....Letters between Churchill and the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, revealed the ugly truth that Churchill, himself, gave the secret order to Lord Gort, the British General in command of the British expeditionary force at Dunkirk, "Withdraw, fall back," or as Churchill put it, "Advance to the coast." That was Churchill's wording. "And you are forbidden to tell any of your neighboring allies that you are pulling out. The French and the Belgians were left in the dark that we were pulling out."
Of course Hitler quixotically allowed 330,000 British and Allied soldiers to escape at Dunkirk. The Zionist choreographers wanted the Nazis to succeed initially, but not to administer a knockout punch.

The war had to be long and costly both in lucre and in life. Germany had to be completely destroyed and Judeo Communist Russia had to conquer Eastern Europe. Non-Zionist Jews had to be sacrificed so they would dedicate themselves to building the Rothschild fiefdom known as Israel.    



-
Thanks to Peter Myers for his invaluable news list. He sent Moore's article to my inbox.

Thomas Sowell - What Are They (Politicians) Buying?

http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=17120

FTSE loses £90bn over year but eurozone fares worse

The FTSE 100 has ended 2011 down after a turbulent year that has seen around £90bn wiped off the value of the index, but despite the fall shares in London have fared much better than those in Frankfurt and Paris. 

 

The index of leading shares rose 5.5 points - or 0.1pc - on Friday to close at 5572.28 in thin trading - a fall of 327.66 points, or 5.55pc, over the year.

This is its seventh worst annual performance since 1984 and its worst since a 31pc fall in 2008 when the Lehman collapse brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse. The index rose 22pc in 2009 and 9pc last year.

Large market falls in 2011 were driven by a series of dramatic events, including Japan's devastating earthquake; prolonged political stalemate in the US over attempts to raise the nation's debt ceiling; and the ongoing eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

The FTSE clawed back some gains at the end of the year after hitting a year-low of 4944.4 in October when the escalating eurozone debt crisis triggered a global stock market sell-off, but economic uncertainty continues.

Banking shares were the biggest losers of 2011, closing down more than 4pc on the FTSE 100, while the oil and gas sector made the biggest gains, rising almost 2pc.

However, the FTSE 100 has outperformed rival eurozone indices this year, with Germany's DAX dropping 15pc, France's CAC 40 losing 17.6pc, Italy's MIB slumping 26pc, Spain's Ibex shedding 13.7pc and Greece's ASE 20 tumbling 61pc.
"Market movements have been dominated by the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis during a year that has probably seen more summits than anyone can care to remember," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads. "With so much continued uncertainty investors will probably be spending most of 2012 walking a tightrope."
Asian markets also suffered in 2011 as the eurozone crisis damaged global growth, hitting the export-led economies of Japan, China and South Korea.
Japan's Nikkei-225 index ended the year at its lowest year-end level since 1982, despite rising on the day due to upbeat US data on Thursday. The index closed up 0.7pc at 8,455.35 to end 2011 down 17.34pc. In 1982, it finished the year at 8,016.67.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index has dropped 20pc this year, China's Shanghai Composite is down 22pc, South Korea's Kospi has shed 11pc and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 has lost 14.5pc.
India's stock market recorded its first annual fall in three years, with the Sensex index closing down 24.6pc in 2011.
Of the major global stock markets, only America's Dow Jones ended the year up, gaining 5.53pc. The broader S&P 500, which reflects the nation's domestic economy, finished the year almost exactly where it started, losing only 0.04 points.
The technology-rich Nasdaq Composite ended 2011 down 1.8pc.
In London, benchmark 10-year gilt yields finished the year at a record low of 1.97pc, where the lower the yield, the greater the demand for UK Government debt. It was 47pc lower compared with its 2010 close.
The pound ended 2011 down 1.2pc against the dollar at $1.5461, but was up 2.4pc against the euro at €1.1950.
Gold gained for an 11th consecutive year, closing up 10.7pc on the year at $1,569 an ounce. Brent crude oil ended the year up 15.2pc at $106.74 a barrel, while copper closed down for the first time in three years, falling 22.4pc to $7,553 a tonne.
Nationwide reported that house prices rose by 1pc in 2011, following a 0.2pc fall in December. The average price of a home in Britain is now £163,822.

China declares plans for mission to the moon

China has declared its intent to send a man to the moon, aiming to become the first nation to reach the lunar surface since the last American mission in 1972. 

 

The Long March rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou 8 blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre Photo: REUTERS

 

 

A white paper published on Thursday laid out the country's five-year plan for the development on new satellites, spacecraft and a space station and provided the official confirmation of China's lunar ambitions.

The landing is not expected until at least 2020 but under the government's blueprints "new technological breakthroughs" in human space flight will be achieved by 2016.

The country hopes to complete it first space station in the same year, a goal encouraged by the successful mission to dock two unmanned spacecraft in orbit last month.

“Chinese people are the same as people around the world,” Zhang Wei, an official with China's National Space Administration, told the Financial Times.

“When looking up at the starry sky, we are full of longing and yearning for the vast universe.”

Two Chinese flights are expected in the 2012, nine years after Yang Liwei became the first “taikonaut” to reach space.
The scale of China's plans come in stark contrast to those of the United States, the first and only nation to reach the moon in 1969.
George W Bush proposed an American return to the moon but the programme was halted by Barack Obama, citing the enormous cost.
In July, the space shuttle Atlantis made its final landing, ending the 30-year era of the American space shuttle.
No human set foot on the moon since December 1972 when American astronauts landed as part of the Apollo 17 mission.
Although the space programme is being run by the Chinese military, the white paper insists the country has no ambitions for weapons in space.
"China always adheres to the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and opposes weaponisation or any arms race in outer space," it reads.
It also provides a long list of countries working with China on space research including Britain, France, Brazil and Russia.

Stephen Leeb: Expect $5 Gas, $60 Silver & $3,000 Gold in 2012

With 2011 coming to a close and gold and silver stabilizing after the recent smash, today King World News interviewed acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb, Chairman & Chief Investment Officer of Leeb Capital Management.  KWN wanted to get his outlook for 2012 and thoughts on the recent takedown in the metals.  When asked about the action in gold, Leeb responded, “The fact that gold has gone down, in the face of what should be good news, has really spooked people.  But there are a lot of reasons you can have corrections, even the strongest markets have corrections.  This could have started because Paulson sold a big chunk of his GLD.”

</frame>

Stephen Leeb continues:

“Why did he (Paulson) sell GLD?  Because he bet a lot on banks and banks lost 25% or 30% in value.  There may have been other hedge funds in the same position.  To put this correction in perspective, in 2008 gold went down, from top to bottom, by 34%.  Most of that decline followed Bear Stearns.  It reflected a lack of liquidity in the system.

The point I’m making is these kind of corrections are just that, corrections.  This is hard to believe, but gold today, it’s yearly average is 20% higher than the yearly average in 2010.  That’s a remarkable move.  Gold had a great year.

All of the sudden you have an asset that’s been in an eleven year bull market and everybody is bearish on it.  It’s quite remarkable when you think about it.

I just want to add that we are now shutting down refineries in this country because they are no longer profitable....

“That means you could have a floor, not a ceiling, but a floor of $4 per gallon of gasoline this summer. 

If Europe ever does get its act together we could see crude move to $120 to $130 a barrel.  That would mean $5 a gallon gasoline at the pump.  This is going to be a massive tax on consumers for which the government gets no benefit.

It’s going to slow down the economy and at the same time it will juice up inflation.  This means the Fed is not going to risk another depression so they may loosen in the face of inflation going up.  If that happens, not that gold would even need it, but this would take gold’s uptrend and add multiple turbo-boosters to it.

I’ll give you my target for gold at the end of 2012, it’s going to be trading somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000.  This correction, in other words, is a non-event.  The rubber band analogy applies here, for every dollar down on gold, it will mean an extra dollar on the upside when we get the reversal.

It’s so important for investors that are not seasoned, it’s so important not to get shaken out of your position here.  And if you have extra money on the side, this is a great buying opportunity.

Segueing into silver, silver is even better here.  The Chinese have started to stockpile silver, sort of hidden in an announcement they made the other day.  They are not going to export any silver.  China is not going to export, according to their latest announcement, not even one ounce of silver.

So, if I were to target silver for the end of 2012, I’m going to be very, very conservative and say silver will finish 2012 at $60.  It’s going to make new all-time highs.”

US election 2012: Is Detroit America's economic future?

As the first Presidential primaries take place, The Telegraph talks to people in Detroit - America’s first post-industrial city about an issue at the very centre of the race to become the Presidential candidate - the US economy and how to fix it.
As the economy remains sluggish and recession seems likely, all of the candidates are trying to differentiate themselves in how they would revive America’s faltering economy. Mitt Romney wants to cut taxes and retrain unemployed workers for the new industries while Rick Perry believes that cutting back on environmental regulations to allow increased domestic energy production will generate thousands of new jobs.

On the ground in Detroit, Michigan, with a population of nearly two million at its peak dwindling to under 800,000 today, the city is one of the first to have to deal with the very real problem of moving to a state of post-industrialisation which might soon be replicated across the country.

From people living in abandoned car plants to entrepreneurs making furniture out of disused school desks, the city of Detroit is trying to find a way to thrive again in a world that has seen industry move out of the Midwest, taking a large part of the city’s population with it.

“I like living here it gives me a sense of solitude. I can do what I like to do and I don’t have to worry about bills, bills, bills,” says Allan Hill, 67, a long time resident of the former forge room at the abandoned Packard Plant site in the city.

Hill and his partner bought the forge room building a few years ago and brought it back to life, running a small metal fabrication and car repair business from the premises.
Around them the vast car plant lies crumbling. The occasional ‘urban explorer’ comes with camera in hand to snap photographs of the massive site as it sinks slowly back into the earth.

Homes in the area around the factory have also begun sinking inexorably into the soil of the city.

John Carlisle, a local journalist who has spent time chronicling the lives of those still living in the Motor City describes the vast expanses of green fields where neighbourhoods used to exist: “People abandon the houses and after a while they crumble to the ground or get burned down and eventually you get these prairies where whole blocks once stood.”

And the city is struggling.

When Henry Ford began making vehicles in the city in 1903 a long tradition was born that saw General Motors and Chrysler both building huge factories that turned out millions of cars and trucks.

Competition from overseas, petrol crises in 1973 and 1979 and strong unions all put pressure on the car building industry and in 2008 the financial crisis brought things to a head.

The sub-prime mortgage crash coincided with an energy crisis that raised petrol prices and made American consumers think again about the cost of filling up their SUV’s and pickup trucks.

In Detroit, the big three had been focused on building these high profit models while their foreign competitors introduced smaller, more efficient cars and trucks onto the market.

A lot of these cars were made on American soil by American workers but for foreign companies who offered much reduced pay and benefits to their workforce.

Chrysler and General Motors received billions in bail out money from the Bush and Obama governments.

Ford had already begun reorganising its business and only asked for a line of credit from the government to enable it to compete on equal terms with Chrysler and GM.

At Ford’s Dearborn truck manufacturing plant employee Armentha Young explains: “The auto industry has been the backbone to a lot of people’s lives. I hope that my children get a chance to see how vital the industry is.” A single mother, Ms Young supports two children with her job at the factory.

In Midtown you can see the outline of the Renaissance Centre from outside of the Green Garage, an incubation space for small companies with a sustainability component to their business.

Jason Peet is an entreprenuer who decided to set up a business re-purposing unwanted materials in the city.

One of his first commissions was to find desks for the companies who will be based at the building and he soon discovered that the shrinking city had a growing surplus of furniture as the reduced population meant the city had to close schools.

There are two main opinions on what to do about Detroit, those who want to see more investment in the city by the federal government to help bring industry and people back and those, like Mr Peet who feel the city has to accept it has changed and look to the future: “It’s not going to look like the Detroit of 1950. Its not even going to look like Indianapolis which has 500,000 people. It has to be something unique.”