Alfred Woody's Kewl Blog [ 椼森 ]

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Thousands blockade European Central Bank in Frankfurt (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The entrance of the ECB is blocked by over 3,000 'Blockupy' protesters in a march against austerity. 'Blockupy' has announced the coalition has “reached its first goal” of the day.
Anti-capitalist protesters have taken to the streets of the financial heart of Frankfurt a day ahead of Europe-wide gatherings planned for June 1 to protest leaders handling of the three-year euro debt crisis.
"We call up everyone to join our protests."

German riot police scuffle with protestors in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) head quarters during a anti-capitalism "Blockupy" demonstration in Frankfurt, May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach)

The ECB spokesman told The Guardian that the Blockupy protests have not disturbed day to day operations at the bank, but would not specify how many bankers managed to come to work.
Apart from those who amassed outside the ECB, a smaller demonstration took place at the nearby Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) headquarters, where around 50 police vehicles had been deployed. The protesters set off by midday.
The crowd, estimated at 2,500 by local authorities, clutched signs demanding ‘humanity before profit’.
Rain-soaked and dressed in ponchos, the crowd is equipped with a wide array of protest props- vuvuzelas, yellow wigs, pots and pans, and mattresses with the spray-painted slogan 'War Starts Here'.

Image from twitter user@Migs_Bru

‘Blockupy’ has become a top-ten Twitter trend in Frankfurt, and at 10:09am (08:09 GMT), user Enough14 tweeted, “Strong Powerful blockade at Kaiserstr. Not one banker will come through here," in reference to the ECB headquarters.
Police reported some protesters had thrown stones and there were some clashes at the barricades, but so far the protests are being conducted peacefully.

Police stand guard during an anti-capitalist "Blockupy" demonstration near the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach)

The mass of protesters first gathered early Friday morning in the rainy financial center of Frankfurt, in an effort to block roads leading to the ECB and Deutsche Bank headquarters.

The crowd was met by police decked out in riot gear accompanied by large Alsatian dogs. Helicopters hovered above and water cannon trucks were on standby.

Many of Frankfurt’s banks have urged staff to take Friday as a holiday, following a state holiday on Thursday.
Spokesman Martin Sommer said Frankfurt’s financial district could be occupied by as many as 20,000 who believe the Troika – the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund – is imposing an “austerity dictate" on financially troubled countries they have bailed out.
Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, have received bailout loans and Spain has received loans for its banks.
Blockupy spokeswoman Frauke Distelrath said the protest was not aimed at bank employees, but at its role "as an important participant in the policies that are impoverishing people in Europe, in the cutbacks that are costing people their ability to make a living."

Police try to prevent protestors from breaking through barricades near the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters during an anti-capitalist "Blockupy" demonstration in Frankfurt, May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach)

The protesters have been granted permission to demonstrate at the airport by a court on Thursday, even after the airport operator requested the group be kept outside of the terminal.
Blockupy assembled outside of the airport at 1 p.m. local time local time to protest against German immigration policies and what activists have decried as an “inhumane deportation system.” Fraport, the airport operator, has advised passengers to arrive early for their flights.
The court said if the number of protestors in the terminal exceeds 200, police can break up the gathering. Felix Gottwald, a pilot, tweeted that security had been stepped up at Frankfurt airport in anticipation of the arrival of Blockupy protesters. Passengers at the airport have noted the heavy security presence, saying that only those who show a valid boarding pass can enter the building.
Activists are tweeting that anywhere between 200-800 protesters are currently blocking Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1, although those number remain unconfirmed.
In last year’s protests police shut down Frankfurt’s city center in anticipation of the demonstration.

Riot police stand near the euro sign in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters during an anti-capitalist "Blockupy" demonstration in Frankfurt May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Kai Pfaffenbach)

Eurozone employment hits record high to 12.2 percent in April.
The demonstration is taking place almost exactly a year after police detained hundreds in a four-day march against a temporary ban on protests in Frankfurt last June.
Blockupy protesters are also protesting against other issues, including food price.

Barclays, Goldman, Deutsche, Lazard: banks that always attend Bilderberg

If you’re a conspiracy theorist or a person with pretensions to global importance, the annual Bilderberg meeting will be etched upon your mind in indelible ink. If you’re neither of these, you may be interested to know that Bilderberg is holding its ‘secretive’ annual meeting this week.

Incongruously, this year’s Bilderberg meeting is happening in Watford, an unglamorous outer London suburb. Interestingly, it’s being held in the same hotel as Google’s recent invitation-only ‘Zeitgeist’ event.

Although it’s portrayed in some circles as a covert and slightly sinister gathering to decide world affairs, Bilderberg’s agenda is made public on its website. Among other things, attendees this year will be discussing European politics, medical research, cyber warfare and big data.

Although banking and financial services regulation aren’t on the agenda, it seems that plenty of bankers and banks attend Bilderberg meetings on a regular basis. We’ve combed through attendee lists for the past five years and noted that some names and organisations appear repetitively. They are:
1. Josef Ackermann, former chief executive of Deutsche Bank

Japan Prints Money to Buy Foreign Assets

Source: LTN
Japan, the world’s 3rd largest economy that is trapped by its stagnant economy, is venturing into new overseas market to boost its investments so as to revitalize the sluggish economy and seek more international influence.
The East Asian country, now, holds a large international conference from this Saturday to Monday participated by African leaders to discuss the development of the continent, which now maintains a high speed of economic growth rate.
The Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), under the theme of “hand in hand with a more dynamic Africa,” attracted leaders and delegates from over 40 of 54 African countries.
Compared with 13 firms in last fair, more than 70 Japanese companies, covering water purification, transportation, communication, health care and food industry, attended the African Fair 2013, an affiliated event of the TICAD V, showing their ambitions to pioneer the dynamic African market.
African countries as a whole remain a world’s powerhouse with an average 5.8-percent growth rate in gross domestic product since Y 2000, while overseas direct investment in the continent tripled from US$15-B in Y 2002 to about US$50-B in Y 2012, according to official figures.
Since Japan suspended its nuclear power facilities after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in Y 2011, the resource- poor country is eager to discover more energy deposits worldwide to meet its tremendous shortage.

The energy crisis made Japan re-recognized Africa’s role in energy support to Japan as several African countries such as Libya, Nigeria and Angola are oil and natural gas giant exporters in the world. Both on investments in and trade with Africa, Japan is way behind countries like the United States, France, India and China.
The continent preserves a great number of minerals, particularly rare earth that Japan needs badly for its high-tech industries. Japan and South Africa last month agreed to accelerate a joint rare earth program in an effort to diversify its import channel.
Besides economic co-operation, Japan also focuses on enhancing political ties with African countries so as to increase the countries global influence.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a special session under the TICAD V on situation in Somalia Friday and will chair a meeting between leaders of Africa and Japan to address U.N. Security Council reform Monday.
The Japanese government has approved a revision of the SDF law to allow the forces use land vehicles to transport Japanese and other nationals overseas and the government is also planning to revise the country’s constitution to allow the SDF exercise collective self-defense rights.
Not only with the consideration of booming Japan-Africa ties, but also in a more deeply geopolitical thinking, Japan’s “out- going” diplomacy attempts to change its awkward position in neighborhoods as its right-deviation and repeated provocative words, indeed, angered neighboring countries.
Under such circumstances, Japan has to focus on other destinations to blanket its weak performances in Northeast Asia.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh just concluded his 4 day visit to Japan Thursday with about a US$700-M Japanese loan for Mumbai’s subway project and another US$3.48-B for other 8 projects in hand.
New Delhi and Tokyo said they will finish a nuclear co-operation agreement that started in Y 2010 as soon as possible in a move to boost India’s nuclear energy generation, as well as Japan’s economy under Abe’s growth strategy.
“I would like to strengthen relations between Japan and India based on a strategic and global partnership,” Mr. Abe told a joint press conference after met with Singh Wednesday.
Mr. Singh, for his part, said India attaches “particular importance to intensifying political dialogue, strategic consultations and progressively strengthening defense relations including through naval exercises and collaboration on defense technology.”
Following the 2 countries’ 1st joint-naval drills in last June, Messrs Abe and Singh “decided to conduct such exercises on a regular basis with increased frequency,” according to an official statement released after their meeting.
The 2 nations will also discuss ways to cooperate on using Japan’s US-2 amphibious aircraft designed for air-sea rescue operations.
On the back of Abe’s recent trip to Myanmar, the latest talks with Mr. Singh could be interpreted by Japan’s neighbors as “locking down” its maritime security alliances amid a changing environment in the East China Sea, analysts said.
On 26 May, also following his “economic diplomacy,” Abe, who was accompanied by about 40 business leaders, ended his visit to Myanmar, the 1st time for a Japanese prime minister in 36 yrs.
During his meeting with Myanmar President Thein Sein, Abe said Japan will support the Southeast Asian country’s development through both governmental and civil channel by providing official development assistance worth 900 million dollars and further waiving US$1.98-B debt that Myanmar owed to Japan.
Analysts say that although Japan seeks to enhance its economic ties with Myanmar, it is really trying to improve its influence in the country, even in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN, out of geopolitical reasons, as political and security thinking is always behind economic co-operation.

Slavery By Consent (Full Version)

Slowly, the world awakens from the nightmare of debt slavery and illegitimate authority imposed on us for nearly 6000 years which has violated the natural, universal laws made to govern us and our interaction with each other and all other species on this planet by the Creator of the universe…
01. 00:00:00 Introduction: Does Slavery Still Exist?
02. 00:07:40 Law: The Purpose of Certificates
03. 00:12:31 All ‘Capital’: We Are Merely Assets
04. 00:22:31 Human Chattel: The Money Sold Abroad Is YOU
05. 00:27:53 The Sin: We Were Captured at Birth
06. 00:36:46 Modern Slavery: History of The Human Farm
07. 00:49:16 Usury: In Whose Interest?
08. 00:56:54 Government & The Corporation: Unholy Alliance of Fascism
09. 01:05:45 Phase 3: War and Media Control
10. 01:15:57 True Freedom: The Philosophy of Liberty
11. 01:23:59 Humanity Held Captive: The Story of Your Enslavement
12. 01:37:10 Perception vs. Reality: Plato’s Allegory of The Cave
13. 01:45:03 Be The Change You Want To See: The Love Police (w/ Subtitles)
14: 01:54:47 Reason vs. Superstition: Statism is Dead
15. 01:58:02 Breaking Free: I Do Not Consent
16: 02:08:23 Globalist Agenda: The Scientific Dictatorship & The Future of Humanity
17: 02:14:32 Non-Conformity: The Peaceful Revolution

Speculators’ Bullishness on Gold Sinks, But Prices Rally as World Equities Dive

London Gold Market Report
from Adrian Ash, BullionVault
Mon 3 June, 07:50 EST

Speculators’ Bullishness on Gold Sinks, But Prices Rally as World Equities Dive

LONDON PRICES to buy gold and silver rose in volatile trade Monday morning, recovering Friday evening’s late losses as Asian and European stock markets fell hard.

Far Eastern premiums over and above international prices continued to ease back, according to wholesale dealers.

“Bids [to buy gold] seemed to vanish into thin air,” says one, “as soon as the price got close to $1420 on Friday.”

With Turkey’s stock market losing 6% after a weekend of anti-government protests were broken up by police last night, the MSCI world index of 9,000 equities in 45 countries today reversed the last of May’s rise to 5-year highs.

Last month’s drop in US Treasury debt prices pulled global bonds to their worst monthly loss in 9 years, down 1.5% overall according to the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index.

US Treasury yields rose Monday as prices fell further, pushing 10-year yields up to a new 1-year high of 2.17%.

“Rising yields – albeit at historically low levels – is not a friendly environment for gold,” says Swiss bank and London bullion market maker UBS in a note.

With UBS’s interest-rate analysts saying that “the rise in rates is too much, too fast,” however, the predicted drop in 10-year yields to 1.7% “would be a gold-positive development,” says the precious metals team.

“It may well act as the tailwind gold needs right now to stay northbound.”

Speculative betting on rising gold prices is now “at its lowest ebb for almost a decade,” say analysts at Deutsche Bank today. So “one could argue that the pace of liquidation is likely to slow.

“The past six months,” says Deutsche, “has seen one of the most dramatic reductions in net speculative length in gold on record.”

Latest data show what Standard Bank today calls a “massive addition to short [bearish] positions” in US gold futures and options.

Analysis of the same data by BullionVault shows that less than 60% of all directional betting on gold prices by hedge funds and other speculators is for rising prices, the lowest “bull ratio” since at least 2005.

“While gold prices may temporarily move higher in the next few years,” reckons economist and Stern School of Business professor Nouriel Roubini, “they will be very volatile and will trend lower over time as the global economy mends itself.

“The gold rush is over,” he says, forecasting $1000 gold by 2015.

Roubini called gold “a bubble” in December 2009, saying almost two years and 60% before its all-time high that the bull market would burst thanks to a rising US Dollar.

Last week saw speculative betting on a rising Dollar near record levels, according to analysts at Nomura bank, while ING bank calls it “the largest ‘long’ USD position on record.”

“The bull market is over” for developing-nation currencies, reckons SocGen strategist Kit Juckes, speaking to Bloomberg, calling the South African Rand “the first of what I suspect will be a series of dominoes to fall,” after its worst 1-month drop in two years.

Data from the Bank for International Settlements meantime show international banking flows shrinking fast at the end of 2012, with cross-border loans in the 17-nation Eurozone shrinking at a 20% annual pace.

Domestic lending by UK banks also continued to shrink in the first 3 months of this year, down by £300 million despite the coalition government’s new funding-for-lending scheme.

“Gold continues to be useful as an insurance policy in people’s portfolios to guard against uncertainty and possibly some economic dislocation,” says Michael Cuggino, manager of some $14 billion in assets at the Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds in San Francisco.

“You have a lot of monetary creation going on,” he tells Bloomberg.

“While inflation is not a current threat, that doesn’t mean it’s not a threat at some point.”

Adrian Ash