Baltic Dry Index. 960 +77 Brent Crude 47.84
LIR Gold Target in 2019: $30,000. Revised due to QE programs.
Madness: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.
Albert Einstein.
To no one’s great surprise, Greece re-voted Sunday for essentially no change. Germany’s Greek serfs must now fully implement Germany’s plan for Greece, now including taking in some German set quota of “migrants,” now that Germany has got cold feet over inviting all the world to come and live in Germany. Germany now wants to dictate to the rest of the EUSSR how many migrants they must take. Europe as we know it is disintegrating fast. When Germany now screams “jump,” Tsipras can only ask “how high.” How long before the poor wretched Greeks must speak in German, and drive only unwanted Volkswagen pollution machines?
Tsipras Wins Big Again in Greece as Voters Ignore Euro Showdown
September 20, 2015 — 5:04 PM BST Updated on September 20, 2015 — 8:50 PM
BST
Alexis Tsipras will return to power in Greece following another emphatic
election victory, securing a new mandate after he yielded to the demands of
European leaders for more austerity in the crisis-hit country.
The former prime minister’s Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza,
received 35.5 percent of the vote, according to an official projection by the
Interior Ministry based on more than half of votes counted. The center-right
New Democracy, whose leader Evangelos Meimarakis conceded defeat, was expected
to get 28 percent.
With Syriza set to fall short of a majority in the 300-seat parliament,
Tsipras, 41, will enter negotiations to build a viable government with the same
coalition partner as before, scotching expectations he might do a deal with a
more moderate party. In a year marked by the standoff between Greece and its
European creditors, the difference now is that the new government will have
little room to maneuver after Tsipras acceded to more spending cuts and tax
increases in exchange for a new bailout.
Morehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-20/syriza-is-headed-for-victory-in-greek-election-exit-poll-shows
Up next, belatedly Mrs Merkel sees the error of her chaotic migrant folly. Everyone else in the EUSSR must pay.
Merkel tells Europe: Germany can't cope with migrants alone
Europe must share responsibility for coping with mass migration,
Germany's chancellor said on Sunday, cautioning that her country could not
shelter those who moved solely for economic reasons.
"Germany is willing to help. But it is not just a German challenge,
but one for all of Europe," Angela Merkel told a gathering of trade
unionists. "Europe must act together and take on responsibility. Germany
can't shoulder this task alone."
Striking a more skeptical tone on migration
than in previous weeks, Merkel also warned that Germany could not shelter those
who were moving for economic reasons rather than to flee war or persecution.
than in previous weeks, Merkel also warned that Germany could not shelter those
who were moving for economic reasons rather than to flee war or persecution.
"We are a big country. We are a strong country. But to make out as if
we alone can solve all the social problems of the world would not be
realistic," she told a gathering of the Verdi trade union.
Morehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/20/us-europe-migrants-merkel-idUSKCN0RK0UW20150920
Eastern bloc to stand firm against EU migrant quotas
Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia insist they are neither financially nor 'culturally' equipped to take in new arrivals
By Dan Nolan in Tovarnik, Croatia, Alice Philipson in Maribor, Slovenia,
and Colin Freeman
9:56PM BST 20 Sep 2015
Bitter divisions within Europe over the migrant crisis will be aired on
Monday when former Communist countries meet in Prague to state their opposition
to Brussels-imposed quotas.
The so-called Visegrad Group of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and
Hungary will underline stark differences in approach when they meet with
representatives from Luxembourg, the current holder of the EU presidency.
Luxembourg is also the home of Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European
Commission and architect of the migrant quota plan.
As well as repeating their opposition to Mr Juncker’s idea of compulsory
quotas, the Visegrad group will demand the EU makes more effort to weed out
economic migrants. They also intend to point out that Eastern Europe is neither
financially or culturally suited to large migrant influxes.
"We will talk tomorrow about how Europe should protect its borders, and how to distinguish refugees from economic migrants," said Grzegorz Schetyna, Poland's foreign minister. "Each country must be able to decide how many migrants it can receive. Sweden, Germany and Austria have experience receiving migrants while our countries and the Baltic states do not."
More
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/11878769/Eastern-bloc-to-stand-firm-against-EU-migrant-quotas.html
Below America lends a tiny, tiny hand, perhaps, maybe. Payback time for Volkswagen, perhaps?
“Give me 10,000 of your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: But not too fast
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
John Kerry, with apologies to
Emma Lazarus
U.S. to Take More Syrian Refugees as Kerry Cites Huge Obligation
September 20, 2015 — 8:23 PM BST
Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. will take in thousands more
refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria, stressing that President Bashar
al-Assad must go for there to be a lasting settlement to the country’s
four-year civil war.
Speaking in Berlin on Sunday, Kerry said the U.S. will admit at least
10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, with the total number of refugees
allowed to resettle rising to 100,000 in the 2017 fiscal year from 70,000 last
year.
Kerry made the announcement after holding talks with German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on a collective response to the mass movement
of people across the Middle East and into Europe. Kerry didn’t rule out an
interim solution to the Syrian conflict involving Russian influence, while
saying that any resolution will take time.
Morehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-20/u-s-to-take-more-syrian-refugees-as-kerry-cites-huge-obligation?module=TopNews&position=2_headline
In more serious news, China is back trying to inflate a new housing bubble. Disgraced fallen former guru, “bubbles” Greenspan would be proud. Forget stocks, get houses, is the new, old mantra from the China Communist Party. Remind me again how all bubbles end. China’s Beijing apparatchiks seem to have lost the plot and playbook.
China house sales rocket in September on stimulus, but doubts remain
Beijing has lurched from tough love to feverish salesmanship to drive up home sales, reminiscent of the stock market fiasco.
House sales are rising at an explosive pace in China across most regions
of the country as stimulus measures kick in and the Communist authorities
launch yet another cycle of credit growth.
Fresh data collected by JL Warren Capital show that sales of existing
homes surged by 115pc from a year earlier in the second week of September,
rising to 135pc for the so-called 'tier two' group of mid-to-large size cities.
It is the second week of vertiginous growth rates and suggests that
buyers may be switching to hard assets after losing confidence in the Shanghai
and Shenzhen stock markets. The Chinese media has reported the first signs of a
buyers' panic in some cities.
Central banks appear to be having great trouble reading events in China,
where data is mistrusted and the instruments used to regulate the economy are
unfamiliar and often misunderstood.
The US Federal Reserve held fire last week on the first rate rise in
nine years because of fears that China may be in deeper trouble than admitted
so far. In a rare departure from central banking etiquette, Fed chief Janet
Yellen hinted that the Chinese authorities no longer know what they are doing.
----The data is collected directly from the government's real estate centres around the country and offers an immediate snapshot of the market.
It follows the release of figures from the National Bureau of Statistics
last week showing that house prices rose 1.7pc in August from a year earlier,
and have now been recovering for several months. Prices rose 32pc in Shenzhen.
The Chinese central bank (PBOC) has cut interest rates four times since
the loosening cycle began in November, when monetary policy was ferociously
tight. Average mortgage rates have dropped to near 5pc from 7pc in mid-2014.
"Those entrapped by the herd instinct are drowned in the deluges of history. But there are always the few who observe, reason, and take precautions, and thus escape the flood. For these few gold has been the asset of last resort."
Antony C. Sutton
At the Comex silver depositories Friday
final figures were: Registered 46.86 Moz, Eligible 121.69 Moz, Total 168.55
Moz.
Crooks and Scoundrels Corner
The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally
doubled over.
Today, Volkswagen,
in the truly unbelievable category. I can’t wait for the class action lawsuit
from owners duped into buying a car that could harm them and their family’s
health, whilst for six years deliberately polluting America’s cities towns and
air. I can’t wait for the CEO’s perp walk into the US criminal courts. Why
would any company be so recklessly criminal? What about their cars in Europe and China? Is
VW cheating in any other ways?
BP only polluted
America via a disastrous, if avoidable accident. Vw deliberately set out to
criminally pollute America and the Muppets it duped into buying its cars under
false figures.
Volkswagen could face $18bn fine over secret device that 'intentionally cut emissions' - but only when cars were being tested
US charges Volkswagen with making vehicles designed to evade government pollution controls
By AFP 9:50PM BST 18 Sep 2015
US regulators have charged Volkswagen
with manufacturing vehicles designed to evade government pollution controls,
and said the German auto giant should urgently fix nearly 500,000 cars. Volkswagen could face an $18bn penalty over the software made to meet clean-air standards during official emissions testing but which would intentionally turn off during normal operations, US and California regulators said.
As a result, the diesel cars emit greater-than-allowed quantities of
pollution linked to smog and various health ills.
"Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean-air standards is
illegal and a threat to public health," said Cynthia Giles, assistant
administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Both the EPA and the California Air Resources Board have launched
investigations into the matter. The EPA also referred the case to the US
Department of Justice.
Potential civil penalties under the Clean Air Act could be as much as
$37,500 per car, or more than $18bn.
The origin of the case was a report last year by the International Council for Clean Transportation
and West Virginia University that documented elevated emissions from some
Volkswagen cars. The cars in question could emit as much as 40 times the legal standard of nitrogen oxide, the EPA said.
When regulators initially raised the issue with Volkswagen, the automaker blamed the elevated pollution on "various technical issues and unexpected in-use conditions," EPA said in the violation order.
Volkswagen in December last year initiated a voluntary recall of about 500,000 cars. Regulators broadened their probe when the cars continued to pump out excess emissions after the recall, despite showing some improvement, the California board said.
At that point, regulators told Volkswagen that they would not approve the automaker's 2016 models "until VW could adequately explain the anomalous emissions and ensure the agencies that the 2016 model year vehicles would not have similar issues", the EPA said.
"Only then did VW admit it had designed and installed a defeat device in these vehicles in the form of a sophisticated software algorithm that detected when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing," the EPA said.
More
VW Orders Investigation Into Cheating on Diesel Emissions
September 20, 2015 — 1:48 PM BST Updated on September 20, 2015 — 9:04 PM
BST
Volkswagen AG has ordered an external investigation into its cheating on
U.S. air pollution tests for years, saying that regaining customer trust is
key.
Investigating the deception, which affects almost a half-million diesel
VW and Audi cars sold between 2009 and this year, is a priority, and the
company will cooperate fully with U.S. regulators, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Winterkorn said in a statement on Sunday.
“I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our
customers and the public,” Winterkorn said. “We will do everything necessary in
order to reverse the damage this has caused.”
The German carmaker admitted to fitting its U.S. diesel vehicles with
software that turns on full pollution controls only when the car is undergoing
official emissions testing, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday,
citing violations that could add up to $18 billion in fines. The company said
it has also heard from the Justice Department, which the EPA said could pursue
criminal prosecution.
More
Solar & Related Update.
With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this new section. Updates as they get reported. Is converting sunlight to usable cheap AC energy mankind’s future from the 21st century onwards? DC? A quantum computer next?Los Angeles gets greener with promise to lease more electric vehicles
September 11, 2015.
Soon, Los Angeles will become even more sustainable with a commitment by
Mayor Eric Garcetti and city departments to lease green energy vehicles.
Garcetti, speaking at a news conference Friday outside Los Angeles
Police Department headquarters, announced a commitment to lease 160 pure
battery EV vehicles, which he said will give L.A. the largest pure EV
fleet in the nation.
Also, 128 plug-in hybrids will be leased, which Garcetti said would save
taxpayers money and advance sustainability goals. Earlier this year, Garcetti
released the Sustainable City pLAn, to help make the city more sustainable
and deliver environmental and economic benefits.
"When we laid out our sustainable city plan ... we promised that
50% of new city fleet vehicles purchased each year would be EV by 2017,"
Garcetti said. "Now we're fulfilling that promise ahead of schedule."
The Los Angeles police, fire and general services departments and the
Department of Water and Power will together lease the 160 battery electric
vehicles, and the DWP and General Services Department will lease the additional
128 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
"EVs make environmental and economic sense to the city of Los
Angeles, and LADWP is pleased to support the mayor’s goal to have EVs become
the majority of our fleet," DWP General Manager Marcie Edwards said in a
statement.
A hundred of the battery electric vehicles will be dedicated to the LAPD
and will be used by detectives, investigators and administrative
employees. The LAPD is also being loaned a Tesla Model S P85D and a
BMW i, which were on display outside police headquarters on Friday.
The vehicles will be used for testing and research by LAPD technical
experts to determine how the techonology can support future needs.
More
Report: Electric Transportation Could Lead to Major Emissions Cuts
by NGT
News on Thursday September 17, 2015
The Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have released an analysis that finds
widespread adoption of electric transportation, including electrification in
the off-road sector, could lead to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and improve air quality.
The report, "Environmental Assessment of a Full Electric Transportation Portfolio," projects GHG emissions through 2050 and air quality impacts in 2030. It finds that GHG emissions from light-duty vehicles could drop as much as 64% below today's levels. The report says widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) - including lawn and garden equipment and heavy industrial equipment such as forklifts - could improve air quality, particularly in densely populated urban areas.
Supported by a number of electric utilities, the report builds on an earlier EPRI-NRDC study released in 2007. The modeling system accounts for the evolution in grid and vehicle technologies, the impact of public policies and the growth in electricity demand.
The report, "Environmental Assessment of a Full Electric Transportation Portfolio," projects GHG emissions through 2050 and air quality impacts in 2030. It finds that GHG emissions from light-duty vehicles could drop as much as 64% below today's levels. The report says widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) - including lawn and garden equipment and heavy industrial equipment such as forklifts - could improve air quality, particularly in densely populated urban areas.
Supported by a number of electric utilities, the report builds on an earlier EPRI-NRDC study released in 2007. The modeling system accounts for the evolution in grid and vehicle technologies, the impact of public policies and the growth in electricity demand.
More
The monthly Coppock Indicators finished August
DJIA: +65 Down. NASDAQ:
+168 Down. SP500: +92 Down.
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