China warned on Sunday that the dollar will be "gradually discarded" by the world, saying that the "gold old days" of lending to the U.S. are over and calling for a new, safer reserve currency. These public lashings by America's biggest creditor came after S&P downgraded the U.S.'s credit rating to an AA+ last week and later warned that the U.S. has a one in three chance of it happening again in the future. Moody's threatened Washington with similar measures if it did solve persisting budget problems. The Chinese agency, Dagong, also let the American's debt slide from an A+ to an A a few days before S&P, a clear indication of Beijing's fear of the engorged spending of the world's large economy. Whether there will be a flight from the American currency on Sunday from the Asian markets has many waiting with baited breath. This is a terrifying predicament, and one that cannot be easily worked out of, if at all. An early indication came from Israel on Sunday, with Tel Aviv stocks closing 7% less, showing that there may be a bloodbath on the American Stock Exchange Monday. World leaders are considering a statement to ease market tensions. However, this did not happen as of early this week, and Japan's Nikkei fell over 2%. Gold broke the $1,700 mark for the first time early Monday morning, showing that the markets are handling the downgrade and instability in Europe uneasily. The Dow fell 600 points on Monday, the worst showing since the crisis began in 2008, but wildly swung up again on Tuesday. However, the dollar tumbled to new lows against the Swiss Franc on the Fed's promise to keep interest rates low. On Wednesday, the Dow fell, erasing gains, and European stocks were down 3.5% on rumors of a French debt downgrade. The Bank of England announced that an interest rate hike was no longer in the foreseeable future on news that the country is considering lowering future quarter predictions. Gold hit $1,800 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The UN has taken this opportunity to start promoting a one world currency which will save the industrial world from the abyss. Is this really that surprising to anyone paying attention?
In the Tottenham district of London, home to one of the city's largest black communities, riots broke out Saturday night after a man was shot dead by a police marksmen. Stores were looted, buildings were burnt, and bricks were thrown across the street as the large anti-police mob fell on the city. 26 police officers were wounded, but have already been released from the hospital. The family of the deceised man, Mark Duggan, condemned the violence, with the man's brother saying, "The family's devastated. We don't want Mark portrayed as some kind of gangster. He was a family man." Twitter feeds reported some calls for people to return to Tottenham, stoking fears of future riots, and by Monday, chaos was spreading to Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, and Liverpool, with flames of burning buildings and vehicles in images across London. The UK responded by putting 16,000 police on duty in attempt to squelch the madness, with London prison cells filling to capacity. Scotland Yard reports that it will start using plastic bullets on rioters and others are calling for water cannons, and one Tory MP, Matrick Mercer is calling for even tougher policing, saying, "‘I find it strange that we are willing to use these sort of measures against the Irish yet when Englishmen step out of line and behave in this atrocious and appalling way, we are happy to mollycoddle them." Some looters have forced others to strip naked to steal their belongings. And on Wednesday, three were murdered trying to defend their homes from looters in Birmingham. As economic conditions get worse, mob mentality will take over--we have already seen it Europe and in Asia. A video shows a man forced to take off his clothes. In the States, Philadelphia enacted a youth curfew to try and halt the mob attacks which have been happening in the city by black youths. The mayor told the perpetrators that "you have damaged your own race" and asked hip hop artists for their support in fighting the random mobs. In Boston, Navy Seals trained overhead, with helicopters weaving in and out between buildings in a joint federal-military exercise. Is the U.S. government preparing for a possible riot scenerio where they will need to crack down on its own citizens?
Disaster struck in Afghanistan over the weekend, with 38 people killed aboard a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in the Wardak province. It was the most deadly attack in the 10-year-old war and proves there is still danger in the insurgent-riddled country, when the U.S. is preparing to pull out--several media outlets have reported that the 19 Navy Seals killed in the incident were part of the team which killed Osama bin Laden; however, none took part in the actual assassination. The destruction of the helicopter was a trap set by the Taliban who knew where it was going to fly, with some officials pondering if the missile which destroyed the aircraft was a higher class of warhead. Could it be from Iran? Obama said that the toll was a "'a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan.'' Next door in Pakistan, Nato tankers were bombed on their way to Afghanistan, with at least 16 now inoperable, but the U.S. is still vowing to "stay the course". WND is reporting that Iran is preparing to wage a cyber war on the U.S., including sabotaging its power grids, for tampering with the country's nuclear program. Wounds are still fresh in the Ayatollah-controlled nation, with Stuxnet destroying the nascent uranium enrichment in 2010, and nuclear scientists consistently being assassinated, the most recent being Dariush Rezai-Nejad on July 23rd.
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