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"You want everybody educated to their potential. You want people to reach their potential. That still won't work for some people in a highly developed market system. I mean if this were a sports-based system, you could give me a PhD in football, and I could practice eight hours a day, and I might be able to carry the water from, not onto the field, but from the locker room to the bench. There's just some people don't fit well into a highly skilled market-based economy. They're perfectly decent citizens. We'll send them off to Afghanistan, but they are not...

Based on speculative fiction, the following visualization analyzes 62 'foretold' future events (social, scientific, technological, or political). Many are catastrophic, but, in the end - good news - in 802,701 the world will still exist and everything will be more or less ok... 62 'foretold' future events

The "one-off" adjustment has now reached its 3rd day as The PBOC has now devalued the Yuan fix by 4.65% back to July 2011 lows. The PBOC seeks to reassure... -CHINA PBOC SAYS YUAN REMAINS STRONG CURRENCY IN LONG-TERM -PBOC SAYS THERE IS DEMAND FOR DEVALUATION OF YUAN VS USD -PBOC CHANGE OF YUAN MECHANISM RELATED TO JULY CREDIT: ZHANG -PBOC SAYS YUAN CHANGE IS BENEFICIAL TO LONG TERM STABILITY -PBOC SAYS YUAN EXCHANGE RATE ADJUSTMENT ALMOST COMPLETED *YUAN RATE ADJUSTMENT POSITIVE TO CONFIDENCE IN YUAN: PBOC'S YI *NEW YUAN MECHANISM `POSITIVE' TO INTERNATIONALIZATION: PBOC YI *PBOC SAYS NO BASIS...

Some observers have noticed something rather peculiar about Turkey’s new bombing campaign against Islamic State positions. The curious thing about the airstrikes on ISIS targets, Ankara’s critics say, is that they aren’t really occurring. Instead, Turkey is aggressively hitting PKK targets and although Turkey made it clear in its appeal for NATO support that it doesn’t discriminate between one "terrorist" group and another, commentators say the air raids have been noticeably one-sided. "Opponents [of] President Tayyip Erdogan [have] pointed out the air strikes against the PKK have so far been heavier than those against the Islamist radicals," Reuters notes.As we’ve...

On Friday, we checked in on the Pentagon’s ongoing effort to recruit, vet, and train ambitious "freedom fighters" to join the battle against ISIS in Syria. It goes without saying that covert US efforts to aid the multifarious groups vying for control of the country have met with disastrous consequences so far, but if there’s anything Washington is particularly adept at, it’s making bad foreign policy outcomes worse, which is why we weren’t at all surprised to learn that the commander of the Pentagon's new Syrian "force" was captured, along with his deputy, by al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra last week near...

From the moment an account is created, Microsoft begins watching. The company saves customers' basic information - name, contact details, passwords, demographic data and credit card specifics - but it also digs a bit deeper... and finding answers is not easy, as one privacy expert exclaimed, "there is no world in which 45 pages of policy documents and opt-out settings split across 13 different Settings screens and an external website constitutes 'real transparency'."

With the turmoil in Greece proving once and for all that in the absence of a fiscal union, the EMU simply cannot function or if it does, it will be subject to episodic crises stemming from endemic differences of opinion on fiscal policy, outsiders could be forgiven for looking upon the currency experiment as an abject failure. Indeed, the struggle to secure a bridge loan for Athens last week underscored the degree to which non-euro countries are reluctant to put their taxpayers on the hook for problems which they believe are the result of an ill-fated attempt to unite fundamentally...

After pledging a whopping 10% of China's GDP, or just about $1 trillion, to its various (at last check over 40) discrete measures to prop up its collapsing market, among which such threats as arresting shorters of stock and "malicious sellers", actions which have merely slowed down the bursting of the world's biggest stock bubble in recent years, China has finally reverted to what the communist regime does best to preserve "order" - implement witch hunts in which the population rats out any criminals who dare to go against the protocols of the communist party. In this case, the...

After dozens of separate interventions, manipulations, and central-planning machinations over the past three weeks, China resorted to threats overnight when it called for the arrest of "hostile short sellers." The reason they went full Orwell, this is the great loss of 'wealth' in China's history... China's $2 trillion loss in 17 days is the equivalent of 1 India, or... China has lost 15 Greeces in market cap in three weeks In other words, China has to stop the bleeding before it loses another India... or the socially-unrest citizenry will demand gambling returns elsewhere or, absent hope, demand change...

If Greece continues with austerity, it would be depression without end As the Greek saga continues, many have marveled at Germany’s chutzpah. It received, in real terms, the largest bailout and debt reduction in history and unconditional aid from the U.S. in the Marshall Plan. And yet it refuses even to discuss debt relief. Many, too, have marveled at how Germany has done so well in the propaganda game, selling an image of a long-failed state that refuses to go along with the minimal conditions demanded in return for generous aid.

As we reported yesterday, following the latest European leaders summit, Greece was given until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms in return for loans that will keep the country from crashing out of Europe's currency bloc and into economic ruin. "The stark reality is that we have only five days left ... Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines, but tonight I have to say loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week," European Council President Donald Tusk told a news conference. It did that moments ago when Greece...

First United Airlines today now then The Stock Exchange Earlier I noticed this Morning Apple Music was down. Then Zero Hedge was down earlier. Now the Wall Street Journal is down.

On Monday, after Greek PM Alexis Tsipras’ dramatic referendum call sparked a run on Greek ATMs, grocery stores, and gas stations, we did our part to help ameliorate the situation by sending a subtle message to Athens: Dear Greece, if you want to apply for a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, send an email to: information@aiibank.org— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 28, 2015 Indeed, now may be an opportune time to tap Beijing for a few billion given that China officially launched the AIIB this week. As a reminder, the success of China’s AIIB membership drive was a political disaster...

In March, China was “handed a propaganda coup” (to use WSJ’s words), when the UK decided, in the face of loud protestations from Washington, to support Beijing’s efforts to launch a new development bank aimed at filling the gaps left by traditional post-war multilateral institutions such as the IMF and the ADB. The US claims it has concerns about governance and adherence to international norms around corruption and environmental protocol, but as even the most casual observers are well aware, the real concern in Washington (and in Tokyo) is that China will use the bank as an instrument of...

French Finance Minister Says Economy in Dire Straits, Predicts Two Atrocious Years Ahead (TS//SI//NF) (TS//SI//NF) The French economic situation is worse than anyone can imagine and drastic measures will have to be taken in the next 2 years, according to Finance, Economy, and Trade Minister Pierre Moscovici. On 19 July, Moscovici, under pressure to reestablish a preretirement unemployment supplement known as the AER, warned that the situation is dire. Upon learning that there are no funds available for the AER, French Senator Martial Bourquin warned Moscovici that without the AER program the ruling Socialist Party will have a rough time...

The Greek parliament is in session on Saturday evening as lawmakers debate the country's EMU fate and vote on the referendum called by PM Alexis Tsipras just after midnight this morning. TSIPRAS SAYS REFERENDUM WILL BE MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR CREDITORS TSIPRAS: GREEK PROPOSAL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEAL STILL ON TABLE TSIPRAS SAYS REFERENDUM NOT MEANT AS RUPTURE WITH EUROPE TSIPRAS SAYS GAME OF BAILOUT HAS COME TO AN END GREEK PARLIAMENT TO RESUME IN 10 MIN AHEAD OF REFERENDUM VOTE SAMARAS SAYS REFERENDUM DRAGS COUNTRY OUT OF EUROPE SAMARAS SAYS CREDITORS DISCUSSING PLAN B FOR GREECE STATE MINISTER PAPPAS SAYS...

The lack of faith in central bank trustworthiness is spreading. First Germany, then Holland, and Austria, and now - as we noted was possible previously - Texas has enacted a Bill to repatriate $1 billion of gold from The NY Fed's vaults to a newly established state gold bullion depository..."People have this image of Texas as big and powerful … so for a lot of people, this is exactly where they would want to go with their gold," and the Bill includes a section to prevent forced seizure from the Federal Government. From 2011: "The University of Texas Investment Management...

The Front-Runners In Fusion Energy Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/12/2015 15:14 -0400 Reality     inShare1   Submitted by Michael McDonald via OilPrice.com,Fusion power has been something of a holy grail in the energy field for decades. The idea of harnessing the same energy that powers the sun naturally excites many. At the same time, despite decades of research, fusion energy has yet to come close to being a reality. The only significant practical advance in fusion reactions has been the development of thermonuclear weapons like the hydrogen bomb which, for all intents and purposes, serve the same purpose...

Passing this corporate giveaway masquerading as a “free trade deal” is a lengthy process; a process that begins today with a Senate vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as “fast track.” Passing TPA would be Congress agreeing to neuter itself to a yes or no vote on a trade pact and ceding its power to amend it. Even worse, it would give trade deals this expedited process for six years, thus outlasting the current Administration, and applying to other “trade” deals like the TTIP. Mind you, TPA is being voted on while the TPP text remains completely hidden...

https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/609341858045497344 https://twitter.com/TraderStef/status/609355146842275840 https://twitter.com/JAFF3/status/609343992803774464 https://twitter.com/russian_market/status/609341880623591424 The bank runs (and capital controls) begin. Macedonia Central Bank Governor Bogov states: *GREEK BANKS IN MACEDONIA CAN’T WITHDRAW CASH: BOGOV*MACEDONIAN BANKS PROTECTED IN CASE OF GREXIT: BOGOV How long before the rest of Europe follows suit and a bank holiday is declared Monday to "Cyprus" depositors? He further added: *MACEDONIAN CENTRAL BANK SEES MAJOR RISKS FROM POLITICAL CRISIS http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-12/macedonia-central-bank-blocks-greek-bank-withdrawals-case-grexit Macedonia Central Bank blocks Greek bank withdrawals FXStreet (Córdoba) - Macedonian Central Bank's Governor Dimitar Bogov has stated that Greek banks are not able to withdraw cash. According to Bogov, this withdrawal halt is protection against...