NCAA Tourney or Cyprus-- what to focus on??

Today's post is going to be a bit 'tough love' so fair warning on that..

So its Friday and boy we at A&G are in a real pickle..  We just don't know what to do..

See by nature, we can see the people out there in America-- coast to coast and heartland in-between.. a vast collection of entertainment-obsessed zombies currently transfixed solely on the NCAA basketball tourney with everything else distant second..

And yet we want to shake them and scream 'Cyprus'!!

But we've been burnt before..

No way do we consciously seek to be part of the 'Peter and the Wolf' game... one continual media cocktease that country X is going to collapse and trigger something bad if 'Y' deadline passes.. and Then..  And Then..

Everything gets magically settled.. or deadlines given the respect of children in an argument among adults i.e.  totally ignored...

Quite frustrating.

See we want to tell you Cyprus and the EU situation is getting Worse not better as of Friday, noon est time; that ATM limits there have been cut from withdrawls of 700 euros/day to 260/day... That the people are hitting the streets on droves and getting worse by the day..

That Cyprus is right now not at plan B or C, but trying to figure out a Plan E because:

Plan A was haircuts to depositors (Cyprus Parliament voted it down once idea became public)

Plan B was to beg Russia for money (on hands and knees and with pink lipstick if necessary) by privatizing whatever little resources of value Cyprus possessed, but Putin had absolutely no interest as of this writing

Plan C was a solidarity fund which is a professional way of saying take money from public pension and social security funds, among other options.

Plan D is restructuring and a Larger bank-deposit levy on accounts of 100k euros or more.. instead of 9% tax, it would be 12.2%-- Germany loves this plan because it really sticks it to the Russians who many wealthy have their money in Cyprus banks, and you know historically that whole Germany-Russia thing...

But we say ultimately there will need to be a plan E because if seizing the personal property of others was so repugnant a few days ago, how is it so attractive now?  If this happened and Then banks reopened, you'd see Mediterranean 'Spring'

Then again, Germany who is the real Master or 'Mistress' of this thumbscrew tightening enterprise will not accept anything less than depositors getting screwed... In a way, we don't know why Germany doesn't simply make the demand instead of this faux-show where Cyprus decides their fate...

Oh, wait.. ok we do..  Germany & Merkel get a bad enough public rap as it is... See what happens when you bail out nations instead of letting them collapse...they just want to bite your paw...

And of course the Cyprus banks are close to collapse which could trigger collapses and bank runs in other nations early next week...

We want to warn people to be cognizant of the situation, but its so hard when those who always assume everything will turn out OK in the end turn out correct, because the powers of economic manipulation are That strong, and the clueless populace roots it on...

So the market goes up instead.. just as an utterly manipulated market is supposed to..  And they go Yay! when Bernanke announces no change to infinite QE4 & 5 dumping $85billion a month into the stock market (That's $118 million dollars per hour-- yes, Hour!)

And they all go double-Yay! when he says no changes to the super-low interest rates to go on forever

And everyone just assumes the US is completely unaffected and we'd never have a bank holiday again, much less money stolen from our private accounts.. no no.. we have due process and well, we're Americans dammit...

Bernanke was asked yesterday by someone in the media whether a Cyprus-style grab of bank deposits is possible in the U.S. :

The specific question was as follows: "If a run on the banks happens in Cyprus, how that might affect U.S. markets. And also is it possible for the U.S. to levy a tax on regular deposits here? Or why not?"

Bernanke answered the first part in a roundabout way... said that due to Cyprus' insignificant size and scope, he didn't see it affecting the Eurozone, much less the US.

More importantly, he never answered or remotely addressed the second part.  Would it have been so difficult for Bernanke to officially say 'We'd Never Ever consider taking from the accounts of depositors Ever no matter what the situation... Ever!!"

Instead-- silence and evasion.

But here's why Bernanke is so wrong about Cyprus....  Let's use us as an example:  Which state is more important--  Texas or Rhode Island?

We know your answer-- bigger is better

And yet which state has more US senators?  Oh...what do you know.. they all have the Same.  And which state would the US government be more accommodating to if it wanted to secede and leave the Union?

Trust us.. the answer is Neither... And why?  Combination of precedent and both states have equal 'seats' at the proverbial table.

Well same applies with Cyprus at the European Union..  tiny island nation but it holds the same amount of votes in policy decisions as France, Germany and Spain..  Its not the inconsequential island some want you to believe..

So in a way, we're hoping nothing gets resolved next week, it triggers a massive bank run and panic throughout Europe and scares the shit out of Americans.

Sincerely so..

Its not we're sadistic or evil or hate Europe...far from it...

We Hate complacency.. We hate everyone so willing to keep their heads in the sand like ostriches and assume all is well because that rigged stock market is expanding..  We hate the blind, stupid trust and faith everyone has in their political leaders; their President

Like lapdogs...woof..

What Should be happening in this country is Congress make all the decisions to fix this economy.  Of course they voted that power away to the Fed in a hush-hush vote in the evening hours of Dec 31, 2008 so the hot potato wouldn't affect re-election chances..

But we're saying that's the biggest problem.  People tend to hold their congressperson's feet to the fire on controversial votes that impact their constituents' lives and livelihoods.  And when their representative blatantly ignores them it generates passion and anger in due time..

But when all the decisions are in the hands of the Fed who really no one has the slightest clue what it does, much less who it really serves...

And it is run by a quiet, mild-mannered, unassuming man who nobody could identify  in a photo if there was a reward attached, its much easier to institute policy to Hurt the bottom 99%...  And as long as that market is going up, well..  things can't be 'that' bad can it?

Ya gotta wake up!!.. Gotta start waking and shaking your friends and family...  Gotta start sincerely spreading word of us and our site to others for them to be informed and make up their minds..

Entertainment is nice..  And blocking out the world-- well you'll make a psychiatrist most proud...  But you gotta get your head into the real 'game'..  Because your personal finances are not as safe as you think.. not in an emergency...

Wheww.. just finished..12:15p.. Time for Basketball tip-off!  Go Team!!

Kidding...   Happy Weekend~