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Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites And Blogs

by Electronic Frontier Foundation •  • Comments Off on Russia Blocks Access to Major Independent News Sites And Blogs

Russia has escalated its use of its Internet censorship law to target news sites, bloggers, and politicians under the slimmest excuse of preventing unauthorized protests and enforcing house arrest regulations.

Bay Area Home Sales Plunge To 2008 Levels, Prices Soar

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Bay Area Home Sales Plunge To 2008 Levels, Prices Soar

It starts here: evictions in San Francisco hit the highest level since 2001, when the dotcom bubble was disintegrating. Everything these days gets benchmarked against the last bubbles: the dotcom bubble that blew up in 2000, the housing bubble that blew up in 2007.

German Exporters Fire Warning Shot About Russia “Sanction-Spiral,” Banks At Risk

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on German Exporters Fire Warning Shot About Russia “Sanction-Spiral,” Banks At Risk

It took a while. But it had to come, the public warning shot – after some ferocious lobbying behind closed doors. No one in Germany is allowed to get in the way of the sacrosanct exporters. The German economy, to the chagrin of neighboring countries, is based on them.

Coffee – The Craziest Chart Of The Year Already

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Coffee – The Craziest Chart Of The Year Already

I’m a coffee lover, and this is getting personal: our latte, espresso, or just plain good coffee is going to bite fiercely into our already mauled pocket book. In one crazy chart.

Round Two of the Global Financial Sector’s Takeover of Spain

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Round Two of the Global Financial Sector’s Takeover of Spain

By Don Quijones: When it comes to dodgy landlords, few have it quite as bad as the tenants of a number of housing projects in Spain who were notified that the government had sold their units to an innocent-sounding investment fund called Cibeles.

What Caused The Glorious Jump In Household Wealth (In One Insanely Good Chart) And Who Will Blow It Up Again?

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on What Caused The Glorious Jump In Household Wealth (In One Insanely Good Chart) And Who Will Blow It Up Again?

The stock market has soared for five years, risks have ballooned, home prices have jumped. Gains built on the quicksand of endless liquidity and a lackluster economy. “Irrational exuberance” is back in the Fed’s vocabulary. As the Fed’s Fisher said, it may end “in tears.”

From Now On, No Compromises Are Possible For Russia

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on From Now On, No Compromises Are Possible For Russia

By Valentin Mândrăşescu: Washington’s defaulting on an agreement with Russia about Ukraine’s future, and the prospect of NATO troops in Ukraine, convinced Putin and much of the Russian elite that there’s no point in negotiating with the US. Big risks lie ahead.

Christine Lagarde, The Most Powerful “Yes-Woman”

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on Christine Lagarde, The Most Powerful “Yes-Woman”

By Don Quijones: Christine Lagarde, former economy minister of France, now Managing Director of the IMF, by pledging her undivided allegiance to the dark interests of those she serves, has inflicted untold devastation on families and communities across the globe even as she’s tangled up in a sordid corruption affair in France.

They Actually Don’t Have A Clue About Employment And Jobs, Not In California

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on They Actually Don’t Have A Clue About Employment And Jobs, Not In California

California is at it again. It released its employment and jobs reports today, in parallel with the national reports released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What a doozie. Is the California boom already over?

Loophole Makes Hilarious Mockery Of US Crude Oil Export Ban

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Loophole Makes Hilarious Mockery Of US Crude Oil Export Ban

Washington is tangled up in spirited bouts of mudwrestling over exporting US crude oil, prohibited since the Arab oil embargo. Big Oil, environmentalists, consumer groups, lobbyists, lawmakers – they’re all at it. Yet, exports of “petroleum products” are soaring.