Panic in Ukraine Over Food, Empty Stores and Protests; Strategic Food Reserve Empty Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/02/panic-in-ukraine-over-food-empty-stores.html#R7J3vtuUArQoTVv8.99

 Hello Mish

We have quite a panic over the collapse of currency. People buy any food product that can be stored. Everyone wants to rid of Hryvnia. We haven't seen anything like this since 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Stores are empty.

It is hard to say what exchange rate this days, somewhere between 34 and 42

There were riots in downtown today. A group of protesters was beaten up by police. They marched through downtown and gave a last warning to government officials. Next time they said they will shoot some officials.

Ukraine is on a brink, but the West is not in a hurry to give us money. Perhaps they want something.  Maybe they know the money will end up with corrupt officials who will steal it.

Either way, the few billion dollars they promised in March won't save our economy, not after this panic started.

Best wishes
Ellen

Strategic Food Reserve Empty

A curious thing happened today. To quiet protests over food, president Petro Poroshenko ordered the minister of the food reserve to fill the shelves of stores with flour, sugar, canned meat, and buckwheat from the reserve. 

Well guess what? There was no food in the reserve. It has either been looted (like the vanishing gold), or it was fed to the army. 

Here is a nice translation from Russian by J. Hawk: Ukraine's Strategic Food Reserve...Runs Out Of Food. 

 Ukrainian food prices are rising at a rate faster than in the ‘90s. But the Yatsenyuk government is still blaming the situation on the ignorance of the population and speculation by supermarket chains.

They used to blame currency exchangers, now they are blaming supermarket directors. However, you can’t feed the people with such tales.

The government’s “economy block” hastily summoned the director of the Ukrainian State Reserve Vladimir Zhukov. They demanded that he open the storehouses and fill the shelves with flour, sugar, canned meat, and buckwheat from its stores. In response the keeper of Motherland’s strategic stores revealed a terrible military secret to Yatsenyuk and Poroshenko: the storehouses are empty.

It would seem Ukraine’s Black Hour is here.

J.Hawk's Comment: There indeed were earlier reports that the strategic reserve was being "unsealed" to support military operations on the Donbass. The army has to eat, after all, and maintaining several tens of thousands of soldiers for nearly a year is likely to make a dent. The second factor was the junta's desperate need to earn hard currency to somehow plug up the many budget holes opened up by its adoption of "European Choice" neoliberal economic policies. Therefore anything that could be sold, was sold, including Mariupol's huge grain reserves. Finally, there's the small matter of corruption. One gets the impression Ukraine is a giant organized style "bust-out" operation, whose objective is to stash as much loot in foreign accounts and then leave the mess for someone else to clean up. To say that the Kiev junta has some kind of a strategy would be giving them entirely too much credit. It's a collection of loosely coordinated individuals pursuing their own venal agendas and living hand-to-mouth, without any thought given to Ukraine's long-term prospects.

Here is a link to the original article that J. Hawk translated: Ukraine State Reserve Doesn’t Even Have Buckwheat. Everything was Stolen.

Buckwheat is a Russian staple. I believe, "out of buckwheat" would be the equivalent of Japan being out of rice.

Mish note: One person accused me of bias over the word "junta". I did not choose the word. I quoted someone, just as I quote Colonel Cassad.

In context, it certainly appears J. Hawk went out of his way to not just translate, but to mention the possibility reserves were unsealed to feed the army. 
Read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/02/panic-in-ukraine-over-food-empty-stores.html#R7J3vtuUArQoTVv8.99

What’s brewing behind Israel-US tensions.

This is why an Obama Administration disinformation campaign is trying to punish Bibi and Israel

There is estimation in the Obama Administration that, if a Herzog/Livni government is formed in Israel, it will dance to Obama’s tune. But if Bibi retains control, the entire Obama Middle East policy is in ruins.

Recalling John Kerry’s threat that if Israel doesn’t surrender Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria to a Jew-free PLO/Hamas state Israel will be seen as an apartheid state. This wouldn’t happen if there is a change of government in Israel.

Martin Indyk of the Qatar-sponsored Brookings Institute threatened, at the INSS Annual Conference in Tel Aviv,  that if Bibi stays in office the US would help pass a resolution “against Israel’s will” in the United Nations Security Council that will “lay out the principles of a two-state solution.”

Indyk said Israel could avoid this fate if the Herzog/Livni camp wins the elections. In other words, a two-state solution without punishing Israel.  In other words, heads you lose, tails you lose, if you are Israel.

Indyk also said that Israel should have no concerns over an Iranian nuclear deal. Giving away the promise that Iran would never become a nuclear breakout state under the protection of an Obama Administration, he said at the INSS event that the US would protect Israel should Iran reach that nuclear capability. Which poses the question, which is it? No they won’t because Obama and Kerry have guaranteed it, or yes they will despite the agreement?

We should recall that the US has failed to detect every global nuclear breakout in history—India, Pakistan and North Korea. They have also failed to keep pace with Iran’s ongoing nuclear program, and it was Israel that had to deal with the Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities. Therefore, it would be mad, and dangerous, for Israel to put its faith in a US ability to stop an Iranian breakout in time. 

Obama delinks terrorism and radical Islam. In fact, he doesn’t recognize radical Islam. Therefore, would he dare claim that the terror-sponsoring Islamic Republic of Iran that maintains Hezbollah and Syria’s Assad, supports Hamas, has usurped Yemen with its Houthi proxy, and devoutly believes in a world-destruction to herald the coming of the Shiite Messiah is a regime “that perverts Islam?”

Obama is incredulously working toward introducing Iran as a regional strategic ally in the war against Islamic State (although you will never hear Obama or Kerry call this terror army by that name). To that end, the plan is in place to have Iran provide Shiite ground forces to drive ISIS out of Anbar Province in north western Iraq while the US will supply covering air strikes.

With a wink and a nod, Obama will not intervene when Iran retains Shia control over this area. This will allow Iran a strategic geopolitical corridor leading from their country through Iraq into Syria and give them access to the Mediterranean Sea.

With Iran now controlling Yemen they have a choke-hold over shipping entering or exiting the Red Sea. This is a strategic danger to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Obama claims that America is to blame for advancing “the forces of extremism.” With his promotion of Iranian interests the US President is doing precisely that.

It is in this light that he sees Benjamin Netanyahu’s timely address to Congress as a frontal assault on his Middle East policies.

Netanyahu’s words to Congress will deal with three of the world’s most significant problems;

The true nature of Iran and the fault lines of a bad nuclear deal that will wipe away the image that Obama and Kerry are trying to project.

The truth about the spread of radical Islamic terrorism, including the Iranian version.

Why the creation of a Palestinian state at this time will not bring peace given the true face of the Palestinian leadership.

Obama is concerned that Israel’s Prime Minister will eloquently spell out the reality of the Middle East in words that have not been heard emanating from the White House or the State Department.

This is why an Obama Administration disinformation campaign is trying to punish Bibi and Israel.

High-tech hotels feature robot baggage handlers, iPhones for room keys

Some people use vacations to disconnect from the world — no checking emails, no watching YouTube videos, no texting.

Others, like me, indulge in technology. When I travel abroad (or anywhere, really), I take my laptop, tablet and mobile phone. If I stay in a hotel, a fat-bandwidth Internet connection (since I work with video and large, hi-res images) is a must. Other amenities are secondary. A global survey from Hotels.com called “Top 10 Hotel Amenities for 2014” found that Wi-Fi is a must for most travelers.

hotels.com

However, Internet access is merely a starting point, and there is an increasing number of hotels that flaunt their tech as much as they do their prices and perks.

Here are five high-tech hotels you may want to check out on your next adventure or business trip:

Yotel, New York City

oyster.com

Yotel is a budget-friendly, futuristic-looking hotel featuring Yobot, a 15-foot automated baggage handler. There’s more: Check-in is done via touch screen, and the hotel’s restaurant, “Dojo,” has motorized tables so the dining area can be turned into a dance floor with the flick of a switch. Yotel offers Wi-Fi access throughout, natch.

oyster.com

In order to make the best use of the small 170-square-foot rooms (to keep prices down), aircraft designers were recruited to create a cabin-like design.

oyster.com

Hotel 1000, Seattle

Hotel 1000

Internet access (even if it’s fiber optic) is all well and good, but this Seattle-based hotel went one step further: Each guest room is entirely network-connected and boasts dual-line, high-resolution IP phones with color touch screens and cordless handsets.

Bozell Blasts IRS Double Standard: ‘Business as Usual’ for ‘Out of Control’ Administration

Appearing on the Fox News Channel’s (FNC) Your World with Neil Cavuto on Wednesday, Media Reserach Center President Brent Bozell reacted to dual news stories surrounding ObamaCare and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as “business as usual” for an “out of control” administration ruling “government by fiat.” The first story came on February 20 that 800,000 ObamaCare enrollees had received incorrect tax information and then followed by news on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has allowed enrollees to keep extra money on their refunds due to the taxing error. -

Commenting further, Bozell and Cavuto were quick to point out the double standard when comparing what had happened to conservative groups years prior: “How could that not be a national news story. It shows for the umpteenth tenth time, this is a program that is a disaster. It’s been nothing but a disaster.”

When asked by Cavuto who pays for ObamaCare beneficiaries being able to keep extra taxpayer dollars, Bozell explained: “You do. There’s been a decision that’s been made by who knows whom. Here we go again that says government by fiat, ‘we declare you don't have to pay it.’”

Bozell also noted that the scandal-ridden agency now “is making these unilateral decisions to advance the policies of this administration” instead of doing its job and ensuring that everyone pays both the proper and correct amount of taxes.

Asked what kind of media coverage that the story regarding improper tax information for 800,000 beneficiaries has received, Bozell observed that its “fascinating [that] if you watch NBC, which has just made a mockery of the whole idea of journalism, do you know, NBC hasn't touched anything here?”

He went on to cite fellow networks ABC and CBS as giving brief mentions with only 10 seconds on ABC and one story on CBS, but as for ObamaCare beneficiaries pocketing their extra refunds: 

On the fact that they're now unilaterally giving these refunds by the government with no authority to do so, you’d think that all these networks would be investigating this and trying to get to the bottom. Who did this? Who authorized this on whose authority? Whose behind this? You’d think they’d doing this if it were a Republican. They would be drilling as deeply as they could. Zero coverage. Doesn't exist.

- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb-staff/2015/02/25/bozell-blasts-irs-double-standard-business-usual-out-control#sthash.nThhWVI2.dpuf

TEPCO Admits Delaying Report Of Major Radiation Leak Into The Pacific Ocean For 10 Months

While faith in Japanese 'economics' is starting to falter (borne out by the split in the BoJ and endless macro data disappointments), trust in TEPCO and its governmental operators must be about to hit a new record low. Having promised and given up on the ice-wall strategy to stop radioactive water leaking into the ocean, Bloomberg reports TEPCO officials have admitted that it’s investigating the cause of a spike in radiation levels (23,000 becquerels/liter vs the legal limit of 90) in drainage water that it believes subsequently leaked into the Pacific ocean from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. The bigger problem, as NBC reports, TEPCO failed to report the leak for 10 months!

The radioactivity increase was 'reported' on Sunday, the company said in an e-mail yesterday, and as Bloomberg reports,

No workers were exposed and tests of radiation levels in sea water in the port adjacent to the plant showed no significant increase, the company said.

Ocean water tests will be increased to daily sampling from weekly as it investigates the leak, it added.

Rainwater is believed to have become contaminated through contact with radioactive substances and then flowed into drainage ditches, a spokesperson for the Tokyo-based company said today by phone, asking not to be named because of company policy. The company is unable to estimate the size of the radioactive water leak, the person said.

Tepco, as the company is known, detected 23,000 becquerels per liter of cesium 137, from rainwater accumulated on the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, the utility said yesterday in a statement. The legal limit for releasing cesium 137 is 90 becquerels per liter.

...

Tepco has had repeated failures in stemming radioactive water leaks at the plant since it had three reactor meltdowns almost four years ago following an earthquake and tsunami.

But the fact that a massively radioactive leak occurred is not the worst of it.. As NBC News reports,

The operator of Japan's tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant admitted it failed to report a radioactive rainwater leak from the facility for about 10 months.

The company noticed a spike in radiation levels in the plant's drainage system, particularly after rainfall, in April, according to a Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) official who spoke at a televised press conference on Tuesday.

"This was part of an ongoing investigation in which we discovered a water puddle with high levels of radiation on top of the Reactor No. 2 building, and because this also happens to be one of the sources for this drainage system, we decided to report everything all at once," the unnamed official said to explain why the findings weren't reported immediately.

...

The governor of Fukushima Prefecture Masao Uchibori criticized TEPCO's withholding of information.

"It is extremely regrettable the swift release of information and the importance of that awareness — these basic things were not carried out," he said in comments carried by Nippon TV.

*  *  *

Good luck at The Olympics... though we suspect it will be hard to run in a lead vest?

LaGuardia may allow transcontinental flights

Regulators are considering scrapping a distance restriction on flights from New York's LaGuardia Airport, which could open up transcontinental travel from the airport, The Wall Street Journalreported.

A decades-old provision restricts flights longer than 1,500 miles from LaGuardia. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is evaluating the rule to see how it would affect air traffic and ticket prices, among other factors, according to the Journal.

Read MoreCuomo proposes train link to La Guardia Airport

Flights from LaGuardia currently can't go all the way to cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Lifting the restriction would require approval from the Port Authority's board of 11 commissioners, the Journal wrote.

FCC: You Won’t Know What’s In Net Neutrality Until We Force It Upon You

Behind the 332 pages is the proposal by President Barack Obama to treat the internet like a utility, which would unconstitutionally seize federal power to regulate the Internet like a public utility

The power grab is on, and the Obama Executive Branch will keep it all under wraps until it is too late for you to protest against it.  Such has been the tendency of the Obama White House for six years, but now the brazen tyranny is being pranced in front of us as if the hard left minions of President Obama are daring us to make a peep about it.

Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has revealed in various media interviews that the regulations against Americans through Net Neutrality are provided in a 332 page internet regulation proposal that he has been disallowed to make available to the public.  Pai says the provisions in the regulations being proposed are a “monumental shift toward government control of how the internet works.” According to Pai, the proposed regulations “micromanages virtually every aspect of how the internet operates (through the internet conduct rule), it opens the door in billions of dollars of new taxes (through fees based on the reclassification of the internet as a utility) on broadband that consumers are going to have to pay, it will lead to slower broadband speeds, it opens the door to trial lawyers filing class actions across the country, litigation isn’t usually the best way to ensure innovation, and there are a whole host of harms that are going to happen.”

Tom Wheeler, the Democrat that is the FCC chairman, has not only refused to allow the public to see the 332 pages of proposed regulations, but has now even refused to testify before Congress, claiming the secrecy is necessary because “the future of the Internet is at stake.” The refusal to go before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday comes on the eve of the FCC’s vote on new Internet regulations pertaining to net neutrality that are planned on Thursday.

The lack of transparency exists for simply one reason: because Wheeler, and the minions of the Obama Executive Branch, know that the provisions are unconstitutional, that they are acting in defiance to a court decision, and that the voting public and Republican members of Congress would disapprove of the tyrannical attack against online free speech.  Wheeler, with his refusal to reveal the regulatory control contained in the 332 pages of regulations, is essentially telling us the same thing Nancy Pelosi said about the Affordable Care Act.  “We’ll have to become subject to the new regulations to find out what’s in them.”

With three Democrats and two Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, one would think the passage of the new regulatory rules would be a lock for the liberal left progressives, but commissioner Mignon Clyburn, one of the Democrats on the commission, has requested changes to the new rules that would narrow the FCC’s authority over the internet.  Clyburn’s request may be a sign that the Democrat may be willing to break ranks and vote against the new rules with the two Republicans.

Behind the 332 pages is the proposal by President Barack Obama to treat the internet like a utility, which would unconstitutionally seize federal power to regulate the Internet like a public utility, establishing federal rules of control, restriction, and limits on innovation that have, up until now, allowed online technology to prosper and blossom in ways that only an unfettered free market is capable of.

FCC Chair Refuses to Testify before Congress ahead of Net Neutrality Vote - National Review

What If Obama Refuses to Obey Court Order?

He is a radicalized, terror-enabling, anti-American Marxist! What If Obama Refuses to Obey Court Order? By John Lillpop  February 25, 2015  Comments| Print friendly | Subscribe | Email Us | Beware Patriots! Barack Obama’s promise to “Fundamentally Transform America” may include the newly-minted prerogative of the president (at least this one) to rule by fiat, regardless of what the US Congress or Judiciary branch desires. Sound like a stretch….a normal president would never consider such a lawless action, you say? However, Barack Obama is not a normal anything! He is a radicalized, terror-enabling, anti-American Marxist! Besides, there are reports that Obama is currently defying the injunction issued against his unlawful Executive Action on Immigration.  See reference for story. So what if a higher court, and perhaps the Supreme Court, rules that Obama’s Executive Orders are unlawful and must not be implemented? What then, if this human disaster orders Homeland Security and other federal agencies to continued with the original Executive Orders? What if Obama specifically tells the Border Patrol to “Stand Down” at the Mexican border and to allow anyone who wishes to enter? It may sound far-fetched, but just a couple of years ago it was unthinkable that a sitting president would issue an EO to negate existing law. Or trade enemy leaders for a US soldier suspected of deserting! Fact is, Obama is so fundamentally against America and the rule of law, there is no telling just how far he may stray.

Will American Banks Close Thousands of Branches?

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) will cut roughly 300 branches over the next two years. Some reasons for its decision extend to all banks that support large numbers of locations. Supporting customers via physical locations is a dying business. The J.P. Morgan decision is just the beginning.

Several banks have thousands of branches. Among the largest are America’s national banks: Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Among less well-known banks, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) have about 3,000 locations each.

The costs to maintain branches are about the same as for any retail outlet. These include rent, people, communications systems and logistics. Shuttering a bank branch could mean dozens of employees out of work, but could also save the bank substantial money. Each of the largest banks based on number of branches need tens of thousands of people to support them.

Online banking is available universally, and ATMs are nearly ubiquitous. Many customers do not use branches at all anymore. Forcing others to do the same should not be hard, though a branch closed is a convenient location lost for many people. Even important transactions like mortgage applications do not require a physical visit. Branch services have been cut down to a few services, which include people and businesses who want to watch deposits made and want cash delivered to them in person.

The five largest banks based on retail locations have a total of over 23,000 locations. As with any retail business, some locations are more profitable than others. Some almost certainly lose money. That makes a maintaining a large branch system financially untenable. If anything, banks that continue to struggle to maintain strong earnings have only a few ways to improve margins. That means the least efficient parts of their businesses will continue to be pruned. Bank branches have to be high on those lists.