The risk of the 30 most systemically important financial institutions (SIFI) in the world has risen over 30% in the last three weeks as the effects of LTRO fade and encumbrance becomes the new reality.
This less-manipulated, government-bank-reacharound-driven bond-market sense of reality has retraced almost 40% of its improvement from its peak last November at 311bps to its best level mid-March at 171bps.
The current 226bps level is extremely elevated and as one would expect is dominated by European and US banks (with US banks on average trading wider than Europeans – which may surprise many but Europeans dominate the worst names – most specifically the Spanish banks).
Robert Kagan’s book, The World America Made, is refocusing the debate on whether the United States is declining as a global power—and speculation about whether other powers will step in to assume the responsibility for sustaining a liberal, rule-based international order. Kagan is known as a brilliant conservative observer, and even President Obama is reported to be reading this tour de force of U.S. foreign policy.Most of the debate about the book is centered on the question of whether the United States is indeed declining and if China is ready to buy into the liberal order. But more attention should be dedicated to the question of whether there is such an order in the first place. Continue reading “Amitai Etzioni: USG Suffering Multiple Realism Deficiency Disorder (MRDD)”
About The Film: The Cure is …. explores the relationship of our emotions to our health and clearly demonstrates how our thoughts not only contribute to disease but may be the most powerful factor in determining whether we succumb to illness and even life threatening disease. So powerful are our thoughts that they can even negate the benefits of even the healthiest of diets.
The Cure Is…. is a film of self-discovery and empowerment which brings forth the most important message to come along in decades, that we, as individuals, control our wellbeing. And, our emotions play a crucial role in how we experience even life itself.
The Cure is… empowers the viewer to alter their belief system, to learn how to enjoy life, to experience happiness and control over their emotions to achieve superior health.
Keeping your finger on the pulse of evolving cyber threats is very difficult as they change so frequently and abruptly. In the following interview, IDGA’s @DefenseInsider explores the current and future landscape of cyber warfare with Scott Borg, CEO of the Cyber Consequences Unit. Chris Archer asks how cyber warfare will affect defense in the future and what’s being done to ensure the military and government remain ahead of the evolving threats. Scott Borg also reveals the current aims and priorities within the US Cyber Consequences Unit.
Scott, in your opinion how will cyber warfare affect defense in the future?
Cyber warfare will require us to rethink every aspect of defense. Our current weapons and defense systems will still be needed, but the way we use them will become very different. A major cyber assault could completely bypass our military forces. It would not require incoming airplanes, missiles, ships, or troops. The attack could suddenly appear inside the computerized equipment of our major industries. The identity of the country or organization that was responsible could be impossible to determine quickly or with complete confidence. The cyber assault could cause almost any kind of damage that could be produced by the human operators of computerized equipment. In fact, a cyber attack could cause many kinds of damage that the human operators of industrial equipment could only achieve by reprogramming their controls. A major cyber assault could physically destroy or sabotage electrical generation stations, refineries, pipelines, banking systems, railroad switches, flight control centers, chemical plants, hospital equipment, and water and sanitation facilities. Thousands of people could be killed immediately by explosions, leaks of toxic chemicals, airplane crashes, train crashes, and wrong medical treatments. Hundreds of thousands could be caused to die over the months to come as a result of famine, disease, loss of heating or cooling, and the general deprivations and social breakdowns resulting from people no longer being supplied with the necessities of life. The total economic damage and fatalities could surpass any other kind of assault, except for a nuclear one.
Our current defense strategy ‐‐ having the government defend our boarders, being ready to annihilate adversary military forces or countries, and letting domestic industries completely ignore defense issues ‐‐ is clearly no longer appropriate in a world where this sort of attack is possible. The entire relationship between our military and our society will need to be redefined.
It is common for analysts in the Middle East and abroad to view most of the conflicts and tensions in our region through the lens of (take your pick) the Iranian-Saudi Arabian regional cold war, the Shiite-Sunni confrontation, conservative Arab monarchies versus Arab populist revolutionary and democratic movements, or pro-American hegemony or anti-American resistance movements. There is some truth in all four conflict frameworks above, but I suspect we are dealing with something much more profound and historical than one basic conflict that hosts many smaller battlefields.
The diversity, intensity and longevity of armed conflicts and political upheaval across the entire Middle East these days are extraordinary and unprecedented. Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan are all in the midst of either chronic political tension or active warfare and violence.
There are seemingly too many articles to count about federal or state abuses of power, but this does not mean there is any lack of vicious, sadistic, utterly cruel, and maniacally vindictive abuse by local government, as is evident is this well-researched, detailed article about a harmless and decent man who legally raised chickens on his 1 acre property. The illegal actions done to this man, and how it was done, by a local government, including the highly active participation of its police, should become well-known national news and the perpetrators (“authorities”) of it prosecuted and tossed/kept in jail for a long time. This article shows severe government oppression can occur not only on a federal or national level in the US, but also within the confines of a small town, and be no less pathological and crime-ridden than any national government entity:
“Wordes had long raised his small poultry friends in the backyard of his one-acre property at 335 Alpine Drive in Roswell, Georgia, sharing eggs, chicks, and friendly words of wisdom and encouragement with his neighbors and with local schoolchildren all along the way. Wordes was very active in his local community, having organized a North Georgia Pet Chicken “Meetup” group, and founded a chicken breeding club. His friends and neighbors described him as a generous, kind, and loving man who was always willing to lend a hand, and who would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it. But Wordes met his unjust fate on March 26, 2012, after roughly four years of enduring illicit and seemingly-endless abuse, bullying, threats, and unsubstantiated legal action taken against him by Roswell city officials with an apparent axe to grind. And after losing his birds, his freedom, his entire life savings, his property, and his livelihood as a result of the City of Roswell's sadistic war against him, Wordes ended up losing his life as a result of an explosion that occurred during the final eviction raid carried out by Fulton County marshals.”
