Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article21959

In the recent elections on May 6, Greek voters sanctioned the coalition forces which had applied austerity plans and surrendered to the dictates of the Troika (the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission). New Democracy and the PASOK (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) have thus paid the price of their total submission to Greece’s creditors. The far right party, LAOS, a member of the coalition previously in power, has practically disappeared from the political scene.

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002743332

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and the handful of other behemoths of Wall Street that dominate American banking — who needs them? After enduring years of insatiable greed by the slick-fingered hucksters who run these gambling houses; after watching in dismay as their ineptness and avarice drained more than $19 trillion from America's household wealth since 2007 and plunged our real economy into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression; after witnessing their shameful demands for trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts to save their banks and their jobs; and now after seeing them return immediately to business as usual, including paying multimillion-dollar bonuses to themselves — we have to ask: Huh!?!

Link: http://www.dailypaul.com/237019/shtf-no-more-pretense-london-finnancial-times-rockefellers-rothschilds-merge-operations

As if to those of us who have researched into them, it wasn't already a widely known fact that Rockefeller's JP Morgan Chase Bank is merely an American branch of the Rothschilds' operation. Now, they're simply publicly declaring what was already a fact. Guess there's no need for 'secrecy' when they're stealing everything before the coming collapse.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/05/29/the-no-jobs-generation

"MEMBERS OF the Class of 2012: As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you're picking up today. "You're f*cked."

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/loan-m29.shtml

The impoverishment of American students and their families by student loan debt has become a well-known fact. A generation of young people are facing financial desperation in order to make huge monthly payments on their loans. The scale of this collective debt affects all aspects of their lives:

• 39 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds have no health insurance.
• 23 percent say they cannot buy basic necessities.
• 20 percent have credit card debt of more than $10,000.
• 49 percent have taken a job they didn’t want in order to pay bills.
• 24 percent have moved back home with parents to save money.
• 20 percent have postponed marriage.
• 22 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds have postponed having children.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-home-prices-20120530,0,4204709.story

Home prices ended the first quarter at their lowest point since the U.S. housing crisis began, a closely followed index of home values showed, but analysts found indications of growing stability in the turbulent housing market.

Link: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/2012/may/29/us-consumer-confidence-hits-lowest-level-8-months-ar-1949933/

Americans' confidence in the economy fell in May to its lowest level in eight months as consumers fretted about slow hiring, a big stock market drop and the global economy, says a private research group.

Link: http://www.silverdoctors.com/harvey-organ-jpm-unwinding-irswaps-losses-could-bring-down-the-whole-financial-system/

The Doc spoke with financial/metals analyst Harvey Organ this weekend to discuss the escalation of the European debt crisis, JP Morgan’s derivatives crisis, and the gold and silver markets.

Link: http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/japan-and-china-to-start-direct-currency-trading-on-friday

Japan and China will start direct currency trading this week, Tokyo said Tuesday, the first time Beijing has let a major unit other than the dollar swap with the yuan. The move, which will scrap the greenback as an intermediary unit, comes as China introduces measures as part of a long-term goal of internationalizing its currency to rival the dollar.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/euro-m28.shtml

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde vented her class hatred for the workers of Greece, denouncing them as tax scofflaws and ruling out any respite from the austerity measures that have devastated the country.

Link: http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/the-banking-cartels-think-they-are-going-to-take-our-social-security/15493

In 2008 the mortgage derivative fraud/scam was discovered as the bubble burst. The largest central banks were wiped out, literally by their own hand. Congress surrendered its power over allocations to the Treasury Department and Henry Paulson was named Treasury Secretary. Then the American people were told that they were going to have to replace the wealth that had been stolen through the toxic derivatives because these privately owned central banks were too big to fail, thus the failure was dumped onto the people.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/econ-m26.shtml

New economic figures point to a renewed downturn of the world economy amid a growing debt crisis in Europe and the threatened breakup of the euro zone. The economy of the 17-member euro zone contracted sharply in May, according to the currency bloc’s purchasing managers’ index, which fell at its fastest rate since June 2009. Market, the issuer of the survey, said the figures indicate the euro zone economy will likely shrink by about 0.5 per cent in the current quarter.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/gree-m26.shtml

As Greece prepares for elections on June 17 amid an overwhelming popular rejection of austerity, the ruling class is making secret preparations for a military crackdown against the workers. These preparations are taking place in parallel with more public discussions within the European Union on financial mechanisms to penalize Greece, should the Greek population vote to reject EU austerity demands.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/26-1

As every 6 year old learns, there is real and there is make believe. The massive Post Office deficit that is driving its management to commit institutional suicide by ending 6-day mail delivery, closing half of the nations’ 30,000 or so post offices and half it’s 500 mail processing centers, and laying off over 200,000 workers, is make believe.

Link: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/turn-out-the-lights-the-largest-u-s-cities-are-becoming-cesspools-of-filth-decay-and-wretchedness

Once upon a time, the largest U.S. cities were the envy of the entire world. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Sure, there are areas of New York City, Boston, Washington and Los Angeles that are still absolutely beautiful but for the most part our major cities are rapidly rotting and decaying. Cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis and Oakland were all once places where middle class American workers thrived and raised their families. Today, all of those cities are rapidly being transformed into cesspools of filth, decay and wretchedness. Millions of good jobs have left our major cities in recent decades and poverty has absolutely exploded.

Link: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/05/as-an-encore-to-bailing-out-the-big-banks-government-to-backstop-derivativees-clearinghouses-in-the-u-s-and-abroad.html

Little noticed is that on Tuesday Team Obama took its first formal steps toward putting taxpayers behind Wall Street derivatives trading — not behind banks that might make mistakes in derivatives markets, but behind the trading itself. Yes, the same crew that rails against the dangers of derivatives is quietly positioning these financial instruments directly above the taxpayer safety net.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/25/syria-arms-russia-idUSL1E8GPFB820120525

A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible.

Link: http://theintelhub.com/2012/05/24/economic-collapse-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/

As everyone is well aware, Europe is an absolute mess. The gravity of the global debt crisis is getting worse and for sure it’s the end of the world as we have known it. EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht recently said, “The endgame has begun, and how it will finish I do not know.”

Link: http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/05/25/the-euros-parachute-drop-has-no-end-in-sight/?iid=Lead

So much for the euro currency holding up well versus the dollar. The euro has plunged 5% in the past month. That's like a 50% move for a stock. Sleepy currencies don't often move that sharply in such quick fashion.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-spain-bankia-20120525,0,267898.story

Bankia and its parent asked the Spanish government for 19 billion euros in aid on Friday. Bankia was among the five banks downgraded by S&P on Friday. It’s not looking good for the Spanish banking system. Standard & Poor’s just slashed the credit ratings of five banks and said the country is headed into a double-dip recession. One of them, Bankia, just asked the government for 19 billion euros in aid - a roughly $23.8 billion boost.

Link: http://www.rt.com/news/greece-double-suicide-crisis-136/

A 60-year-old Greek musician and his 91-year-old mother jumped to their deaths from their 5th floor apartment, driven to despair by financial woes. This double death is the latest in a rising epidemic of crisis-induced suicides in Greece. Witness accounts vary – some say the mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, jumped first, screaming a prayer as she plummeted to her death. Other neighbors say the mother and her son jumped together, holding hands.

Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/item/11497-the-nato-un-army-perpetual-war-and-bankruptcy-for-us

Pretending to have achieved some kind of victory in Afghanistan, President Obama and the NATO leaders have pushed ahead on the globalist agenda to transform NATO more fully into the global military arm of the United Nations.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/05/23/new-stage-of-resistance-in-greece

New elections have been set for June 17 in Greece, and the far-left SYRIZA alliance is currently favored in opinion polls to take first place. If that happens, it would be a stunning blow to the austerity agenda that the bankers, bosses and political elite of Europe have imposed on Greece, in the form of the so-called “Memorandum.”

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/morg-m23.shtml

The more the crisis from derivatives losses at America’s biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase, expands the more the debacle exposes the criminality of the capitalist financial system and the corruption of its political facilitators. Less than two weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated in a hastily assembled conference call that his bank had lost $2 billion in trades on credit default swaps by its London-based Chief Investment Office, financial analysts are warning that the total loss could rise to $7 billion.

Link: http://piazzadcara.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/market-crash-alert-by-mike-whitney/

As you might have noticed, the stock market is falling like a stone. As of 9 AM PST, the Dow Jones has dropped 172 points while all the other indices are down sharply. German 2-year debt (bund) has dipped below 0% this morning at auction, signalling an acceleration in the bank run taking place in southern Europe. Depositors in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, etc would rather take a loss on their investment, then risk not getting their money back at all. The European Central Bank (ECB) does not guarantee deposits, so people are withdrawing their money en masse and getting out of Dodge pronto. What we’re seeing is a real-time panic.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/23-10

The original debt deal required a bipartisan “supercommittee” to find $4 trillion in deficit savings, or “sequestration” would automatically be triggered — an across-the-board cut of $1.2 trillion in each party’s priority: domestic programs and defense. Even under that self-imposed sword of Damocles, Congress failed to do its job, setting the cuts in motion. But House Republicans argued that the requisite cuts to defense funding would harm national security. Take the money from food stamps and health care for the poor, they cried, as they cradled the defense industry in their arms.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/summ-m21.shtml

An editorial in the British newspaper the Independent called it the most important G8 summit for three decades, as the deepening financial crisis in Europe threatened the entire global economy. The communiqué issued after a day of talks at the US presidential retreat at Camp David, however, revealed there was no plan to meet the crisis, just a decision to put the best face on a worsening situation.

Link: http://truth-out.org/news/item/9277-mortgage-and-securitization-fraud-where-is-the-task-force

It was almost four years ago that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paul Paulson and then New York Fed Bank President Timothy Geithner ran to Congress warning that the end of the world was near. They told members of Congress that the banks were drowning in bad debt and without a massive bailout they would soon be forced into bankruptcy. Congress quickly coughed up the money in the form of $700 billion in TARP loans. The Fed contributed trillions more.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/21-7

The head of Greece's leftist party Syriza traveled to Paris on Monday to consolidate support from political allies for rejecting the radical austerity that is driving Greece to the brink of "collective suicide".

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/155519/the_super_%22connected%22_1_ceo%3A_the_incredible_tale_of_billions_of_dollars_of_failure/

Citgroup's outgoing chairman Dick Parsons' career is the perfect example of how 1 percenters reward utter failure at the expense of the rest of us. Last month, shareholders finally rebelled against Citigroup, the worst of the Too Big To Fail bailout disasters, by filing a lawsuit against outgoing chairman Dick Parsons and handful of executives for stuffing their pockets while running the bank into the ground.

Link: http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/05/20/recovery-or-callapse-bet-on-collapse/

In the US the police have proven themselves to be a greater threat to public safety than private sector criminals. I just googled “police brutality” and up came 183,000,000 results. (Here are two recent brutal assaults, one deadly, by police on hapless individuals: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/kelly-thomas-video-dad-they-are-killing-me-.html and http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31364.htm )

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/came-m19.shtml

UK Prime Minister David Cameron used a speech to business leaders in Manchester to set out his government’s prescription for the euro zone on the eve of the G8 summit. Warning that the euro was at a “crossroads,” he said the euro zone would either have to “make up” or “break up.”

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/155424/pharoah_bloomberg%3A_paying_workers_enough_to_live_is_%27communism%27/

New York's billionaire mayor is so opposed to a tiny raise for workers at companies that get public money that he's vowed to sue. What's the deal with living wage laws anyway?

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-crisis-rocks-europe-as-moodys-downgrades-banks-including-santander-7763992.html

The flames of the eurozone crisis leapt higher yesterday, as fears spread about the state of the Continent's most vulnerable banks.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/18-4

“In the past two years, the number of people in the U.S. who are older than 16 (and not in the military or prison) has grown by 5.4 million. The number of people working or looking for work hasn't grown at all.”

Link: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175543/tomgram%3A_barbara_ehrenreich%2C_looting_the_lives_of_the_poor/

Gordon Gekko, the infamously cutthroat capitalist and lead character in Oliver Stone's Wall Street, captured the heady years of the 1980s with a single, indelible line: Greed is good. Today, it is Edward Conard, a friend and former colleague of Mitt Romney's at the private equity firm Bain Capital, who has offered a new mantra for the 1%, a cri de coeur for the Gekkos of the twenty-first century: Inequality is good.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9270754/IIFs-Charles-Dallara-says-Greek-exit-somewhere-between-catastrophic-and-armageddon.html

The damage to the rest of Europe from Greece leaving the euro would be "somewhere between catastrophic and Armageddon", the chief negotiator for the body representing private sector holders of Greek bonds said on Wednesday.

Link: http://theintelhub.com/2012/05/16/the-truth-about-jp-morgans-2-billion-loss/

Before we can understand what’s really going on with JP Morgan’s loss (which will probably end up being a lot more than $2 billion), we need a little background.

Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47446349?__source=mnd|news|&par=mnd

Housing starts were surprisingly strong this week, while there was improving sentiment from home builders. So should we start to breathe a sigh of relief that the housing market is returning to health? The short answer is no. The headlines say that housing is stabilizing and there are signs of life in the real estate sector. This is true but is only part of the story. Signs of life is far different than a return to healthier times.

Link: http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-65-is-available-Global-systemic-crisis-Second-half-of-2012-Convergence-of-four-explosive-factors-Banks-Stock_a10517.html

Whilst waiting for Euroland to equip itself, by the end of 2012, with a medium to long term common political, economic and social project, especially following the election of the new French president Fran?ois Hollande, anticipated many months ago by LEAP/E2020, players will remain prisoners of the short-term reflexes related to the sudden Greek political tremors, the uncertainties over Euroland governance and to the risks in public debts.