The 75 Trillion Dollar Shadow Banking System Is in Danger of Collapsing

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Keep an eye on the shadow banking system – it is about to be shaken to the core. According to the Financial Stability Board, the size of the global shadow banking system has reached an astounding 75 trillion dollars. It has approximately tripled in size since 2002. In the U.S. alone, the size of the shadow banking system is approximately 24 trillion dollars. At this point, shadow banking assets in the United States are even greater than those of conventional banks. These shadow banks are largely unregulated, but governments around the world have been extremely hesitant to crack down on them because these nonbank lenders have helped fuel economic growth. But in the end, we will all likely pay a very great price for allowing these exceedingly reckless financial institutions to run wild.

If you are not familiar with the “shadow banking system”, the following is a pretty good definition from investing answers.com . . .

The shadow banking system (or shadow financial system) is a network of financial institutions comprised of non-depository banks — e.g., investment banks, structured investment vehicles (SIVs), conduits, hedge funds, non-bank financial institutions and money market funds . . .

Shadow banking institutions generally serve as intermediaries between investors and borrowers, providing credit and capital for investors, institutional investors, and corporations, and profiting from fees and/or from the arbitrage in interest rates.

Because shadow banking institutions don’t receive traditional deposits like a depository bank, they have escaped most regulatory limits and laws imposed on the traditional banking system. Members are able to operate without being subject to regulatory oversight for unregulated activities. An example of an unregulated activity is a credit default swap (CDS).

These institutions are extremely dangerous because they are highly leveraged and they are behaving very recklessly. They played a major role during the financial crisis of 2008, and even the New York Fed admits that shadow banking has “increased the fragility of the entire financial system” . . .

So let’s hope that the financial devastation that we have seen so far this week is not a preview of things to come. The global financial system has been transformed into a delicately balanced pyramid of glass that is not designed to handle turbulent times. We should have never allowed the shadow banks to run wild like this, but we did, and now in just a short while we are going to get to witness a financial implosion unlike anything the world has ever seen before.

(Read more from “The 75 Trillion Dollar Shadow Banking System Is in Danger of Collapsing” HERE)

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No Truce With the Left

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There comes a time when every conservative thinker tries to find some common ground with the left in some area. Today it’s criminal rights and the headlines have Rand Paul denouncing the racist justice system while Grover Norquist and the Koch Brothers join with the left to back their reforms. As usually happens, the conservatives or libertarians turn out to be the useful idiots of the left.

Liberals have a long history of being the left’s useful idiots. It’s only fair that libertarians get a turn.

Republicans are still trying to figure out a truce on gay marriage. They retreated to civil unions, then accepted a full defeat on gay marriage and then acted baffled when Christian bakery owners were dragged into court for refusing to participate in gay weddings. When the left insisted that gay marriage was a civil rights issue, they refused to take them as their word.

Now they’re wondering how an accommodation can be made with tranny rights. A brief look back at gay rights will show that the only possible accommodation is one in which men in dresses have a legal right to use the ladies room and every single closed female space and event. And yes, that means your business will be shut down if you object to Steve using the female locker room.

After a few skirmishes, some fundraising and angry letters, the accommodationists will find ways to accommodate that and we can look forward to conservative activists eagerly crowing about the first gay Republican presidential candidate around say, 2024, and the first Republican man in a dress in the Senate around the same time. (Read more from “No Truce With the Left” HERE)

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New York Times Forced to Report How Dismemberment Abortions “Slice and Crush” an Unborn Baby

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You didn’t need a degree in nuclear physics to know that the New York Times would go apoplectic because Kansas became the first in the nation to pass The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. Before I talk about “Kansas Tries to Stamp Out Abortion,” let me offer some examples of the Times’ hot-button verbiage.

Kansas as “ground zero in the war to criminalize all abortions”; “hard-line conservative”; “medically inaccurate lectures”; “duplicitous restrictions on abortion”; language that “aims for maximum shock value”; lawmakers who “have imposed their own moral judgments,” etc., etc., und zu weiter, and und zu weiter.

Just a couple of responses. The first is one we often talk about: the shoe-on-the-other-foot test. When pro-abortion states were busy not only dismantling every protective pro-life law, but also finding a “right” to abortion in the state constitution and coercing taxpayers into paying for abortions, does anyone recall the Times using “Ground zero”?

Hardly. It was the Progressives’ Nirvana where untold numbers of unborn babies would be sliced and diced and mangled and butchered, all to the delight of the august editorial board of the New York Times . . .

The anti-abortion activists in Kansas avoided actual medical terminology in drafting Senate Bill 95, which refers to the banned procedure as a “dismemberment abortion.” The law’s language aims for maximum shock value, describing “clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors” or other instruments that “slice, crush or grasp a portion of the unborn child’s body in order to cut or rip it off.” (Read more from “New York Times Forced to Report How Dismemberment Abortions “Slice and Crush” an Unborn Baby” HERE)

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Ex-CNN Anchor Survives Wild Motel Shootout

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By Shawn Cohen. A road trip down old Route 66 led to a Wild West-style motel shootout for a pioneering CNN anchor and her former-soldier hubby.

Lynne Russell — the first woman to ever solo-anchor a primetime network news show — and Chuck de Caro, 65, had stopped at a Motel 6 for the night in Albuquerque when an intruder slipped into their room as Russell went to grab something from the car around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“I opened the door and he materialized out of nowhere; he was inside,” she told The Post. “And he pushed me into the room and onto the bed and closed the door.”

De Caro, who was in the shower, emerged completely naked and tried talking to the gunman, who was demanding the couple fork over their money and valuables.

“We tried to calm the man, ask him not to point the gun because we really couldn’t think what we could give him,” Russell said. “It felt to me he was used to doing this, that whatever happened wouldn’t bother him.” (Read more from “Ex-CNN Anchor Survives Wild Motel Shootout” HERE)

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Former CNNers Survive New Mexico Motel Gunfight

Here’s how CNN belatedly described the incident:

The gunman wanted money and other valuables, [the ex-CNN anchor] said.

She told the gunman she would look in her purse to see what they had. She reached down and put one of the two handguns the couple had in a side table into the purse. She gave the handbag to her husband.

Russell said the guns were legal, something police are still investigating.

The man’s behavior was increasingly erratic, Russell said. He told them to get a briefcase he saw.

The couple explained there was nothing of value in the bag, but the man lunged at them and “went around the bed and then opened fire on Chuck. There was a firefight inside the room.”

De Caro was shot once in the leg and twice in the abdomen.

He fired all the rounds in the first handgun then picked up the other and shot the man. The man, who police identified in a news release as the “offender in the altercation,” was found in the parking lot. He died at a hospital, CNN affiliate KOAT reported.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Volcanic Activity, Earthquake Fears Increasing Worldwide

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Photo Credit: APBy The Japan Times. Authorities on Tuesday raised the volcano alert for Mount Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture, restricting access to the area after a small eruption at the popular tourist site.

The Meteorological Agency said it confirmed volcanic ash was emitted from the area, which has been venting unusual amounts of steam in recent months.

The agency said the ash deposits indicate that a small eruption occurred between Monday evening and Tuesday.

Mount Hakone, about 80 km south of Tokyo, last erupted between the late 12th century and 13th century, according to experts.

Volcanic activity in the area began intensifying in late April but recently showed signs of subsiding. (Read more from “Volcanic Activity, Earthquake Fears Increasing Worldwide” HERE)

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62: Indonesia Raises Alert as Mt Raung Volcano Erupts

By Channel News Asia. Indonesian authorities on Monday (Jun 29) raised the alert level after Mount Raung in East Java erupted, causing ash to land in surrounding villages.

The eruption at Mount Raung on Sunday evening was heard 20 kilometres away, and ash fall was seen in villages about 10 kilometres away from the summit. Aircraft pilots also reported seeing large amounts of ash at a height of 3,500 metres.

Authorities cordoned off a two-kilometre radius around the volcano, and raised the alert level to “Siaga”, the second highest level. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Fear of Volcano Eruption in Ukhrul, as Fire Gushes From the Ground

By Nagaland Post. A continuous flow of smoke and ashes from a swamp at a place near Old Wahong village of Manipur’s Ukhrul district has left villagers fearing of natural calamity in the form of volcanic eruption any time, a daily reported Tuesday.

Villagers said that smoke radius of about two feet along with ashes have been seen gushing out from the earth’s surface at Shitru area, since last two weeks.

Shitru is located a place border Manipur, Nagaland and Myanmar.

Villagers and onlookers feared volcanic eruption at the area in a short time. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Los Angeles Grows Even More Nervous About the ‘Big One’

By Yahoo News. When hi-tech movies are then replicated in life – we see it as a positive step forwards.

However, no-one wants to see disaster movies repeated in real-life, but it looks like LA may be on the verge of getting the ‘San Andreas’ treatment.

Geologists from UC Santa Barbara have found helium leaking from the Newport-Inglewood fault in central Los Angeles increasing the potential damage of an earthquake on the mega city.

This discovery comes after the US Geological Survey warned that the city is building up to a ‘big one’ in the next 30 years with chances of a magnitude 8 earthquake hitting the mega-city increasing from 4.7 to 7 per cent. (Read more from this story HERE)

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7-Foot Shark Pulls Man Under Water Ocracoke Island in NC, Victim Airlifted to Hospital

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Photo Credit: Stephen Lee A 68-year-old man was pulled under the water by a shark Wednesday in the Outer Banks — this time on Ocracoke Island.

The man was swimming outside the first breaker about 25 feet offshore, directly in front of the lifeguard stand, when he encountered a gray shark about 7 feet long, Hyde County officials said. A lifeguard saw the shark pull the man under the water. He suffered several bites to his rib cage, hip, lower leg and both hands . . .

The victim was able to swim out of the water, where a doctor who happened to be in the area was able to stabilize him, said Justin Gibbs with Hyde County EMS. The man, who was visiting from Massachusetts, was then airlifted off the island to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, N.C. The man was stable and alert, officials said . . .

Wednesday’s attack marks the seventh incident on North Carolina beaches in June and July. Last year, there were only four reported in the state through the summer. George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, told FOX8 recently that there are several environmental factors that make North Carolina appear to be a “perfect storm” for shark activity this summer . . .

On Friday, a 47-year-old man was bitten by a shark in the leg and back while trying to get children and another adult out of the water near Avon. (Read more from “7-Foot Shark Pulls Man Under Water Ocracoke Island in NC, Victim Airlifted to Hospital” HERE)

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FBI Investigating 11 Attacks on San Francisco-Area Internet Lines [+video]

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The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California’s San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning.

Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital.

FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday’s attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo . . .

Fiber-optic cables are essentially bundles of slender glass fibers that use light waves to transmit data. They are the interstate highways of the information superhighway, carrying vast amounts of data between decentralized hubs. From there, Internet services are delivered to homes and businesses by lower-capacity cables, including DSL . . .

In April 2009, underground fiber-optic cables in California were cut at four sites, knocking out landlines, cell phones and Internet service for tens of thousands in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. (Read more from “FBI Investigating 11 Attacks on San Francisco-Area Internet Lines” HERE)

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Alabama Chief Justice Issues Massive Order in Defiance of U.S. Supreme Court

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Same-sex couples in Alabama will have to hold on and wait a few weeks before proceeding with their nuptials, thanks to an order issued by the Alabama Supreme Court.

The court issued an order on Monday that essentially prohibits probate judges in the state from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples for 25 days.

This has effectively stalled the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling in Alabama, while providing time for interested parties to file motions and petitions contesting the ruling.

“Basically it states that in the court’s judgment, it (the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Friday) is tabled effective until after the hearing (before the Alabama Supreme Court),” Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore said. “It’s not in effect until after this hearing in this 25 day period” . . .

“I am not real clear what it’s saying .. it’s very unclear,” said Jefferson County Probate Judge Sherri Friday, who is continuing to issue licenses to same-sex couples while attorney’s review the order from Alabama’s highest court. (Read more from “Alabama Chief Justice Issues Massive Order in Defiance of U.S. Supreme Court” HERE)

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World Unhinged: Pedophilia Is Natural and Normal for Males, According to This University

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“Paedophilic interest is natural and normal for human males,” said the presentation. “At least a sizeable minority of normal males would like to have sex with children … Normal males are aroused by children.”

Some yellowing tract from the Seventies or early Eighties, era of abusive celebrities and the infamous PIE, the Paedophile Information Exchange? No. Anonymous commenters on some underground website? No again.

The statement that pedophilia is natural and normal was made not three decades ago but last July. It was made not in private but as one of the central claims of an academic presentation delivered, at the invitation of the organizers, to many of the key experts in the field at a conference held by the University of Cambridge.

Other presentations included “Liberating the paedophile: a discursive analysis,” and “Danger and difference: the stakes of hebephilia” (the sexual preference for children in early puberty, typically 11 to 14-year-olds) . . .

Another attendee, and enthusiastic participant from the floor, was one Tom O’Carroll, a multiple child sex offender, long-time campaigner for the legalization of sex with children and former head of the Paedophile Information Exchange. “Wonderful!” he wrote on his blog afterwards. “It was a rare few days when I could feel relatively popular!” (Read more from “Pedophilia Is Natural and Normal for Males, According to This University” HERE)

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“Let’s Endorse the First 2016 Candidate to Make ‘Burn it Down’ Their Campaign Theme,” and Other Deep Conservative Thoughts

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I know it’s a little early, but the 2032 election between George P. Bush and Chelsea Clinton looks too close to call.

Watching all these Republicans that Christian conservatives like me helped put into office all these years now run away from the marriage issue makes me unable to stand these feckless hacks.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes his oath of office seriously. Expect the Marxists on the Left, to hit him with a sham indictment or hit-piece in the New York Times any day now. Fascists never tolerate dissent.

Pro tip: don’t refer to lawlessness as “the rule of law” otherwise you’ve defined yourself as lawless for opposing it.

I think I will endorse the first 2016 candidate to make “burn it down” their campaign theme.

The loudest cheering when Chief Justice John Roberts again saved Obamacare via King v. Burwell came from Republican leaders on Capitol

Hill, who were scared to death they might actually have to do their jobs if the verdict had gone the other way.

The next time someone tries to convince you to vote for a GOP progressive over a Democrat progressive “to get good judges,” kindly respond by kicking him in the shin with a steel-toed boot. Spitting on him is also an option.

Does anyone know how many of the 400 homicides that occurred in Obama’s native Chicago last year were caused by the Confederate Flag?

I think they should announce a sequel to the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day, but then just re-release the original.

Never forget that electing bad Republicans now always leads to electing even worse Democrats later.

Remember all those slippery slope arguments against redefining marriage they promised us would never happen? The same people who lied then are arguing for polygamy now.

Everybody is looking for the “next Reagan.” But I’m looking for the next Bush and the next Bush after that. Because, big tent.

Huh? Karl Rove is a liar? Is nothing sacred anymore?

I never understood why John Elway grew his hair out and sang that annoying “Cherry Pie” song.

I think the Republicans should let Mitt Romney play kingmaker in their 2016 primary. Right after the Democrats let Michael Dukakis play kingmaker in theirs.

Nothing says “love wins” like telling people “your Savior is a fraud” and “you’re a hateful bigot who doesn’t deserve free speech.”

I think my favorite liars in politics are the Leftists who claim America wasn’t founded on Judeo-Christian principles, while they fight so hard to rid us of the Judeo-Christian principles we were founded on. After all, if we weren’t founded on Judeo-Christian principles, but as a secular utopia as you claim, how did the Judeo-Christian principles get there in the first place?

Cornel West was on CNN ranting about “white supremacy” the other day. If “white supremacy” indeed exists, why didn’t it stop a raving idiot like West from getting degrees from not one, but two Ivy League universities?

I think we’ve learned the only people the “liberal media” still have power over happen to be running the Republican Party.

Remember when George Lucas had talent? Good times.

I want to be the first to congratulate the first transgendered presidential candidate. Call him Lindsey.

People ask me if I’m ready to form a third party yet, but I’d kind of like to see what a second party looks like first.

Before considering D.C. statehood, I suggest changing its area code to 666.

If the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe only 144,000 go to heaven, yet there are currently over 7 million of them, why do they keep knocking on my door and bugging me every Saturday? Isn’t it already too late for me?

I’ve decided I’m no longer voting for RINOs, Republicrats, “lesser of two evils,” etc. under any circumstances. See, the GOP has finally convinced me that whatever unelected judges decree — no matter how heinous — is the new “law of the land.” Therefore, there’s no need for me to plug my nose to vote for their charlatans anymore, nor sweat out the outcome of elections between a lying progressive and a real progressive. After all, the progressive judges they both appoint and confirm will just tell us what today’s new and exciting laws are regardless, so what’s the point? Why waste all that time, talent, and treasure on an utterly fruitless exercise, when they’re coming out with some really cool stuff for the PS4 and football season is just around the corner? Not to mention another season of Sister Wives is on its way, and I hear that new gal is a real firecracker! (“Deep Conservative Thoughts” originally posted HERE)

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