Tin Foil Hat Time:
Folks, bear with me. I've been trying to run down some MSM sources on the below, but tough to find.
Remember, a few months ago, Al Quada announced it would bring down the US with financial terrorism? At the time, I thought it referred to a physical attack on Wall Street and other financial centers, which of course remains a possibility.
The price of gas at the pump has been rising by leaps and bounds ... but the Saudi's increased production ... Venezuela and Nigeria are unstable, but no more unstable than usual ... and while the US needs more refineries, the refineries that do exist have not decreased their capacity.
Most financial analysts point to oil market manipulation by speculators, but nobody can figure out a firm link ... because most of the hedge funds are offshore and not required to open their books, or list their clients.
I'll concede that China has increased demand for oil, but their increase for oil just didn't happen TWO WEEKS before the US election.
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=10109
Also
http://poorandstupid.com
Second, the value of the US dollar has been steadily declining, but it seems to have declined sharply over the weekend.
Now, about George Soros, the billionaire supporter of Kerry. He does indeed operate at least two hedge funds off shore, he has pledged to use his personal fortunes to defeat George Bush, and he is the king of currency manipulation.
http://matthewstinson.com/blog/index.php?p=1543ing Matthew J. Stinson | weblog
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10/1/2004
George Soros, just like any other billionaire?
Filed under: Radical Chic Fear and Loathing— Matthew @ 4:07 pm
George Soros – or someone working for him – is running a blogad for his new website on Instapundit now. (See! It’s proof Glenn Reynolds isn’t a conservative.) The ad’s selling points are a little amusing for anyone who knows anything about Soros.
The ad is largely correct. Soros is a billionaire, but unlike most other famous billionaires he didn’t make his billions through innovation, but through the manipulation of currency. The Quantum Fund, Soros’ hedge fund, earned billions during its 35 years of operation by betting that currencies would rise or fall in value. Betting that a currency will rise isn’t bad in and of itself, but when you are a speculator as well-known as Soros, betting that a currency will lose value often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In 1992, Soros made a cool billion betting the pound sterling would lose value, and in so doing, he nearly strangled the newborn European Monetary Union – the EU entity which gave rise to the euro – in its crib. I’m not a terrific fan of the euro myself, but Soros has long been a booster of postnational and multilateral institutions like the EU, so the fact that he almost destroyed one of the pillars of Maastricht underscores the hypocrisy of his politics.
I can state from watching Chinese television and from teaching economic-related courses here that China still largely despises Soros, and the Chinese are not alone in Asia in their dislike for the man, since the Quantum Fund was a key player in the devaluation of the Thai baht, the event which triggered the 97-98 Asian crisis. Besides causing tremendous economic hardship in Asia proper, the crisis also exacerbated the economic recession in Russia, which undoubtedly undid much of the pro-democracy work Soros is credited for. (Soros is spending a lot of money and giving a lot of speeches to attack Bush now, but he has failed to be equally vigorous while criticizing Putin’s authoritarian turn. This is curious and a little sad, as Soros previously did good work in Russia and the post-Communist Eastern bloc.)
Malaysia’s Dr. Mahathir Mohamed made Soros something of a bogeyman following the crisis (Soros alone was not to blame, though he did his fair share of damage), but rather than respond by simply condemning Mahathir’s anti-democratic record, Soros mostly handled him with kid gloves, going so far as to popularize Mahathir’s rants about “market fundamentalism,” and, more recently, seeming to support some of Mahathir’s anti-semitic statements.
The way Soros made his money was perfectly legal, of course. He merely took advantage of the way international capital markets operate to earn billions, and if Soros did not exist, I daresay the market would have invented him. However, the rank hypocrisy of Democrats taking Soros’ money while accusing Republicans of being supported by greedy CEOs who do nothing to contribute to society is a bit hard to stomach, as is Soros’ own carping about the danger Bush poses to the world. After all, compared to Soros, Bush is a piker in the destabilization business.
P.S. Soros did spend billions to stabilize post-Communist democracies but it’s a lie – and a silly play for the attention of right-of-center Internet junkies – to say he spent billions to fight Communism
Here's a pretty good discussion of Soros from our own Free Republic:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1230916/posts
in the nineties, Soros used currency speculation to influence the economies AND THE GOVERNMENTS of some small eastern Bloc republics. The economies crashed, the governments were replaced by Soros backed candidates and Soros was able to implement his vision of an "Open Society" which served mostly to pave the way for his own businesses.
Check out Soros's connections to the Dem Party at FrontPageMag.com from last week ...
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15392
Finally, Soros has a vacation home next door to TheRAYzuh Kerry's in Sun Valley. And, there was thismeeting of BILLIONAIRES against Bush:
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?041018fa_fact3
Well, you put it all together, and consider that these guys have more money than G_d, and that collectively their funds make Haliburton look like a lemonade stand, and Bush and Cheney look like middle manager .... and, of course, bin LADEN also (probaby) still has wealthy sympathizers among rich Saudi's ...
The price of gas COUPLED with the decline in the US dollar looks suspiciously like a concerted effort of hedge funds and speculators to attack the US economy. Also, the TIMING of this is extremely suspicious.
Again, folks, wish I could track down more main stream sources, but while alot of MSM economic analysts agree that the downturn in the price of oil is "suspicious" nobody can document it.
I also note that the dollar declined just prior to 9/11, I believe. Also ... didn't Soros sell some AA airlines stock prior to 9/11.
What infuriates me is the suspicion that these rich fat cats might think they can run the US public like a bunch of sheep.
What scares me is that a bad economy is precisely what the Democrats have been praying for. And, if Kerry wins ... he will OWE these billionaires big time.
Sorry to have run on so long ...
I've been busy so I haven't had time to check back to see if this was posted or not:
FBI CHASES NEW LEAD ON ELECTION ATTACK PLOT
Posted: 8:15 am EDT October 25, 2004
WASHINGTON -- FBI investigators have made new arrests and developed leads that reinforce concerns that terrorists plan to strike around the presidential election, officials said Saturday, even though the CIA has discredited a person who told its agents of such a plot involving al-Qaida.
A senior FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some of the leads were culled from interviews with thousands of individuals that agents have conducted in the Muslim community.
The official would not be more specific, but said the FBI continues to have misgivings about possible al-Qaida intentions to launch an attack with the goal of affecting the elections.
Several people have been taken into custody recently on charges not related to terrorism, but officials are investigating whether they may have been involved in terror activities, said another law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As for the person who warned the CIA, at least some of that individual's reporting no longer is seen as credible, said a U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official stressed, however, that a number of other sources point to terrorist activity around the election season.
The official also said no concrete plot has been discovered so far with specific mention of time, place, method or identity of would-be attackers.
James Carafano, a homeland security expert with the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, said there's little doubt that al-Qaida wants to send a message with an attack.
"I think they're probably less concerned with affecting the outcome of the election, whether Bush or Kerry wins, but it would be more prestigious, the capability to do something before the election and really undermine the confidence of the United States," he said.
Top government officials have warned since the spring about al-Qaida's desire to attack during the election with the hope of orchestrating something similar to the March commuter train bombings in Madrid. The bombings, which killed more than 190 people, were a factor in the ouster of Spain's former ruling party.
The FBI has partnered with American Muslims and others as part of what the agency describes as a prevention plan aimed at disrupting an attack. Thousands of agents from bureaus across the country are participating in the effort.
FBI agents have interviewed thousands of people considered possible sources of information as well as about 10,000 operators of self-storage facilities, which are considered likely places to hide bomb-making materials or other items that could be used in an attack.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/3846202/detail.html
From my memory, I think the Stock Market always goes crazy for the election time.
I can recall doing a bit of worrying myself, and I don't own stocks, but it also affects the real estate market and even
jobs in factories and casinos.
Calpernia has a good knowledge of Soros.
The KGO Radio station is on (KGO 850.com maybe?), from San Francisco has had a couple reports that are odd.
The electric is shut down, and so is traffic near the Bart Station (I think earlier, the station was called Fruit something?)
A few minutes ago, there was an update, it appears that there is a man UNDER the tracks.
News did not know who, what or why he was there, but the goal appears to be an attempt to get him out.
If I get more, I will send it on.
Thank you Tilly for a good report.