BofA Lawyer Gave Iowa AG Tom Miller $15K, IMF Says China Will Surpass U.S. In 2016, Pay Attention To Sarah Damnit!, Taliban Escape Thru Underground Tunnel (LINKS)

• Bank of America Lawyer, Consultant Gave Foreclosure Probe Chief $15,000
• ECB-forced 'run on Irish banks' led to bailout
• Heist of the Century: Confiscating Libya’s Sovereign Wealth Funds
• IMF bombshell: China’s economy will surpass the U.S. in 2016
• Greek Debt Yielding 20%+ at Half Par Value, Euro Banks Are Trapped
• Pay Attention to Sarah Palin, Please! (Hilarious)
• Poll: 70% Of Tea Partiers Oppose Cuts To Medicare, Medicaid
• Geithner Downgrades His Own Credibility to Junk:  Jonathan Weil
• Trump Takes Up 40% Of GOP 2012 Coverage As Sarah Palin Fades Away
• Harvard Law School Faces U.S. Discrimination Probe of Sex Policies
• Iran says it has detected second cyber attack
• Hundreds of Taliban in tunnel jail escape
• Quran-Burning Pastor's Gun Accidentally Goes Off In Michigan
• Are You Okay With a Cop Scanning Your Phone During a Traffic Stop?

---

Click to read more ...

THE TAX MAN: 41 Obama White House aides owe the IRS $831,000 in back taxes -- and they're not alone

All are apparently followers of Tim Geithner.

Click to read more ...

Ron Paul: Day Of Debt Reckoning Is Near

Video - Ron Paul - Texas Straight Talk - April 25, 2011

Brand new.  No transcript is yet available.

In case you missed last week's Texas Straight Talk:

Ron Paul: Spending Cuts Are Meaningless Without Transparency Into The Shadow U.S. Government Run By The Federal Reserve

Click to read more ...

Video: George Carlin On Davos Bankers

Video - Carlin doesn't appreciate the global banking elite

Click to read more ...

Happy Earth Day By George Carlin

Video - George Carlin - Saving the Planet

Click to read more ...

CHART: U.S. Military Spending Vs. The World

Click to read more ...

The U.S. Is Broke But Somehow Finds $1 Trillion To Operate New F-35 Fighter, China Makes A Killing On Gold, Muni Default Chart, Wall Street Pay Watch, Nil Baby Nil (LINKS)

• Chinese Gov't records huge profit on gold holdings
• Government Cash Handouts Now Top Tax Revenues
• Just How Many Muni Defaults Are There? - John Carney
• No Bank Was More Generous With Compensation In 2010 Than UBS
• How to read a national association of realtors press release
• 'Jumbo' Loans Squeeze Looms Over Home Buyers - Reuters
• US approves first offshore wind farm
• Nil, Baby, Nil: Congress Fails To Pass A Single Oil Spill Law
• Obama vows to restore Gulf Coast one year after spill
• Plans for tough European rules on oil spills come under attack
• Oil companies pumped millions of gallons of carcinogens into water supply
• Day after scientists hail recovery of Gulf, new photos show the real damage
• Homeland Security Abandons Color-Coded Terror Alerts
• "The Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe Could Total Trillions"
• Lockheed Martin F-35 Operating Costs May Reach $1 Trillion
• Hidden Tracking Files Found in iPhone, iPad

---

Click to read more ...

Introducing the Utah Sound Money Act - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I carry in my wallet one of the most potent objects that can be used in teaching others the nature and importance of sound money: a 100 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar note—the highest amount ever printed. (Get your own!)

Click to read more ...

Jim Rogers: "We've Had 3 Central Banks In The History Of America, 2 Of Them Failed And This Will One Will Too!"

Slideshow - Time Magazine Looks Inside the Private Offices of Fed Chairman Bernanke - Including Photos of Bernanke Growing Up in South Carolina - These are a Must See

---

Click to read more ...

Life Without The Fed: Examining The Suffolk System

A bit of central banking history.  Jimmy Rogers clip included.

Click to read more ...

CHART: Why The United States Is Doomed To Fail

Click to read more ...

National Debt Gets Too Big For Debt Clock

Video - Brian Williams

Since airing, the national debt has risen $4T to $14.3 trillion, roughly $5 billion per day.  The federal government will borrow 43 cents of every dollar in 2011.

Click to read more ...

Dramatic New Video Of Japan Tsunami

It starts off slow but the absolute horror of the Tsunami wiping away the town is captured in full as the video progresses.  Entitled “South Sanriku - Tsunami seen from Shizugawa High School,” it’s shot from high ground, and toward the end you will see residents running for their lives.

Click to read more ...

Tom Petrie: Go Short Oil, Demand Destruction Is Here

Video - Tom Petrie with Erin Burnett - April 20, 2011

Just back from a trip to the middle east, Tom Petrie, Bank of America Merrill Lynch vice chairman, with his perspective on the future price of oil, and impact of global supply and demand.

Full Disclosure: I worked with Tom Petrie on Wall Street in 1990-91.  Smart and connected, now with over 4 decades of experience, and more time spent on a rig than any other analyst.  Ran his own firm based out of Denver for a long, long time - Petrie Parkman.  If you're long, look to exit on any spike.

$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker

Click to read more ...