WHEN DEBT BECOMES A DIRTY WORD
FAMOUS ECONOMIST, JOHN WILLIAMS (shadowstats.com) SAYS WE ARE HEADED FOR A DEPRESSION, AND THE BEST HEDGE IS LIQUID CASH AND GOLD

MAINSTREAM NEWS TALKIN’ ABOUT IT SHAMELESSLY: BANK FAILURES

“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the federal agency that backs bank deposits, last week reported the biggest jump in “problem institutions” it has seen since the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. While the extent of the problem is still low by historic standards, the 76 banks identified as in trouble represents a 52% increase from a year ago.”

THE CRASH IS PAST; NOW COMES THE HAMMERING OF INFLATION

SOME aspects of the crash are past; many more are ahead of us.

IHT: No Rescue in Sight for Battered Dollar Central Bankers in Europe and the U.S. Out of Synch in Current Economic Crisis

Currencies will be in full focus on financial markets this week, following the dollar’s drubbing of recent days, yet anyone hoping for help from policy makers to shore up the ailing U.S. currency is likely to be disappointed.Crucial meetings of European Union finance ministers and those who set interest rates for the European Central Bank are expected to do little to shift the status quo, while the U.S. Federal Reserve Board appears set on cutting rates again this month.In a development less heralded, but by no means less significant, the so-called dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against six major counterparts, hit its lowest level since its inception in 1973.

LEGAL AID Disaster Relief (FLORIDA TIMES UNION)

If this were a natural disaster, the city would be mobilized.In 2007, more than 5,000 foreclosures were filed in Duval County, Jacksonville Legal Aid reports, amounting to 600 families losing their homes every month.Another 2 million homes are expected to foreclose in 2008, reports United for a Fair Economy, a Boston group, in the report, Foreclosed: State of the Dream 2008.