Michael Krieger

My name is Michael Krieger, and I am the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. I'm originally from New York City.

As far as my academic and professional background, I attended college at Duke University where I earned a double major in Economics and Spanish. After completing my studies in 2000, I took a job at Lehman Brothers where I worked with the Oil analyst in the Equity Research Department.  In 2005, I joined Sanford C. Bernstein where I served as the Commodities Analyst on the trading floor. About halfway through my time there, I started to branch out and write opinions on bigger picture "macro" topics that no one else at the firm was covering. These opinion pieces were extremely popular throughout the global investment community, and I traveled around providing advice to some of the largest mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds in the world.

I loved my job, but as time passed I started to educate myself about how the monetary and financial system functions and what I discovered disgusted me. I no longer felt satisfied working within the industry, and I resigned in January 2010.  At that point, I started a family investment office and continued to write macro pieces on economic, social and geopolitical topics. That summer, I drove cross country for six weeks and ultimately decided to leave the crowded streets of Manhattan for the open spaces of Boulder, Colorado, where I currently reside.

In the years that followed, I gradually recognized that my true passion centers upon writing on issues of significant societal importance given the extremely challenging times we live in. This realization culminated with me losing interest in financial markets and eventually launching this website in early 2012.

If you are interested in a more detailed description, replete with colorful anecdotes, of how I ended up making this bizarre professional transition, take the time to watch the video below.

https//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/DcqMN-FXCIE?rel=0

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

Indian Government Fails to Get Citizens’ Gold, So it Shifts Focus to Temple Stash

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The scheme has only attracted about one kilogram in a month, prompting the government to nudge temples through banks to hand over their treasures, the sources said, but at least one temple said it was still unconvinced by the plan.

“Convincing retail consumers is not an easy task, it takes time,” said a senior official with a state bank, who declined to be named. “We’re planning now to focus on institutions like temples.”

A finance ministry official said if banks fail to win over temples, the government could intervene directly by talking to the temples as it is looking for a big boost to the scheme to keep both imports and the current account deficit under control.

– From the Reuters article: India Targets Temple Gold Hoard to Rescue Monetization Plan

The Indian government has been trying to get its citizenry to relinquish its gold to the bankers for a very long time. I’ve covered this saga periodically over the past several years, most recently in last month’s post, A Warning to Indian Citizens – Your Government Wants Your Gold. Here’s an excerpt:

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U.S. Military “Task Force” Wasted $150 Million on Luxury Hotels, Private Guards and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

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The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is asking why a small Department of Defense task force charged with developing the Afghan economy spent nearly $150 million on private villas, security guards and luxury meals while operating in the country between 2010 and 2014.

In its letter, SIGAR said that task force employees had solicited military contractor Triple Canopy to provide rooming for them that included “Western-style hotel accommodations,” such as flat-screen televisions, mini-refrigerators and DVD players. Contractors were also hired to provide food service that was “at least 3 stars,” specifying that each meal contain “at least two entree choices and three side order choices.” Triple Canopy was also instructed to ensure that three-course meals were available for “special events.”

Triple Canopy is one of the firms that have financially benefited the most from post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning roughly $2.2 billion in government contracts since 2003, according to the Project on Government Oversight. The company has continued to receive lucrative government contracts despite being at the center of several controversies related to the killing of civilians in Iraq by its employees and providing falsified documents for its private security guards.

– From the Intercept article: Pentagon Task Force Spent Nearly $150M on Villas and 3-Star Meals in Afghanistan

For all its failings, one thing the U.S. government has achieved in Afghanistan is a tremendous enrichment of military contractors and warlords on behalf of the American taxpayer.

Of course, today’s story is only the latest in a series of stories related to taxpayer fraud and theft which have been unveiled in the past year alone. Let’s revisit some prior examples.

First, the following is from July’s post, How the U.S. Government Squandered $1 Billion in Taxpayer Funds on “Ghost Schools” and Warlords in Afghanistan:

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Trump to Sheldon Adelson Conference – “You’re Not Going to Support Me Because I Don’t Want Your Money”

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You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money.

That’s why you don’t want to give me money, OK, but that’s OK, you want to control your own politician. That’s fine, good.

– Donald Trump at the Sheldon Adelson-funded Republican Jewish Coalition

Earlier today, I highlighted an article in the Liberty Links section, detailing how all the Republican candidates for President had made it a point to attend today’s conference held by the Republican Jewish Coalition in order to grovel before supporters of one of the most dangerous American oligarchs, Sheldon Adelson. A man who earlier in this year proudly stated: “I don’t like journalism.”

Here are a few excerpts from the Haaretz piece, titled, Casino Magnate Sheldon Adelson Draws GOP Hopefuls to Jewish Conference:

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Liberty Links – 12/3/15

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

Bill Gross on Central Banks: They’re ‘Casinos’ (More like criminal cartels, Wall Street Journal)

Service Industries in U.S. Grew at Slower Pace in November (Bloomberg)

What to Watch as Court Weighs Fate of Net Neutrality (National Journal)

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German Intelligence Warns – Saudi Arabia to Play “Destabilizing Role” in the Middle East

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Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilizing influence in the Arab world, German intelligence has warned. 

Internal power struggles and the desire to emerge as the leading Arab power threaten to make the key Western ally a source of instability, according to the BND intelligence service. 

“The current cautious diplomatic stance of senior members of the Saudi royal family will be replaced by an impulsive intervention policy,” a BND memo widely distributed to the German press reads. 

Saudi Arabia has previously been accused of supplying arms and funding to jihadist groups fighting in Syria, including Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

– From the Telegraph article: Saudi Arabia ‘Destabilizing Arab World’, German Intelligence Warns

To understand the enormously dangerous wildcard that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents in modern geopolitics, you must understand what is going on behind the scenes.

While the Saudis were a shady monarchy well before King Abdullah passed away, the disaster that has succeeded him will make the prior rulers look like philosopher kings by comparison. Of course, this is always the risk when it comes to hereditary rule, you never know what kind of psychopath is lurking next in line. In the case of the Saudis, although the current King is Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the guy who really wields power, and who appears to be a ticking time bomb, is his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “Reckless.”

As I noted in September’s post, Regime Change is Coming – Saudi Prince Calls for Coup to Remove King:

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Mark Zuckerberg to Place Facebook “Philanthropic” Shares in a For-Profit LLC – This is Why

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Yesterday, all the media hoopla over Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement to “give away” 99% of his Facebook shares to philanthropic causes, came and went in the expected torrent of internet commentary. However, what you might have missed are the specifics around how he decided to safeguard those shares, and how unusual the for-profit LLC structure is for a charity.

Bloomberg reports:

The decision by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to gradually give away 99 percent of their Facebook fortune is big news not just for the huge sum involved—about $46 billion—but for how the couple chose to achieve their philanthropic goal. Rather than set up a private foundation or charitable trust as Bill and Melinda Gates did, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will be structured as a limited liability corporation. 

It’s a highly unusual step for a massive philanthropy. “I’ve never seen someone set up an LLC exclusively for a philanthropic purpose before,” says Jane Wales, vice president of philanthropy and society at the Aspen Institute. “Normally they set up a foundation for the tax advantages of doing so.” Here are some significant ways that LLC status will shape what Zuckerberg and Chan do with their wealth.

1. There won’t be limits on lobbying

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Hollywood Unplugged – Brad Pitt Says It’s Business as Usual for Wall Street’s Criminal Class

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Hollywood has returned to its cold war role, led by liberals. Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo is the first feature film so integrated into the propaganda system that its subliminal warning of Iran’s “threat” is offered as Obama is preparing, yet again, to attack Iran. That Affleck’s “true story” of good-guys-vbad- Muslims is as much a fabrication as Obama’s justification for his war plans is lost in PR-managed plaudits. As the independent critic Andrew O’Hehir points out, Argo is “a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology”. That is, it debases the art of film-making to reflect an image of the power it serves.

– From the post: How Hollywood Became “Propagandist in Chief” by John Pilger

Hollywood’s refusal to cover issues of national importance, as opposed to largely producing inane nonsense or outright government propaganda, represents a gigantic stain on America’s creative arts scene. Indeed, after reading the story below, you have to wonder just how deeply the CIA has penetrated Tinseltown…

Remember Zero Dark Thirty? Turns Out it was a CIA Propaganda Film After All

Given this backdrop, Brad Pitt certainly deserves credit for making the following comments in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter discussing his role in the screen adaptation of Michael Lewis’ The Big Short:

How did you become involved as a producer?

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Liberty Links – 12/2/15

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail.

This post will be updated with new links throughout the day.

Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held By Mistake for 13 Years (NBC News)

American Journalist Murdered For Exposing Turkey’s ISIS Ties (WeAreChange)

Hedge Funds Brace for Redemptions (Bloomberg)

Spanish Court Rejects Catalan Independence Resolution (AP)

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Epic Foreign Policy Fail – Most Iraqis Think the U.S. Government Supports ISIS

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My belief is, we will, in fact be greeted as liberators.

– Dick Cheney on NBC’s Meet the Press, March 16, 2003

The fighters there insist there have been no strikes by the Americans at all. “We’d be better off without them,” said 1st Lt. Murtada Fadl, who is serving with the Iraqi elite forces in Baiji. He said that the only air support had come from the Iraqi air force and that he wishes the government would ask the Russians to replace the Americans.

“The image of the U.S. was damaged in the region, so they created Daesh in order to fight them and restore their image,” said Mohammed Abdul Khaleq, a journalist for a local TV station who was drinking coffee in a cafe favored by writers, most of whom said they agreed.

– From the Washington Post article: Iraqis Think the U.S. is in Cahoots With the Islamic State, and it is Hurting the War  

The Iraq War will go down as the single greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. It is simply the unmitigated disaster that keeps on giving.

To recap, the people who the U.S. government supposedly “liberated,” now hate Americans so much that most of them are convinced the U.S. is in cahoots with ISIS. Not that you could blame them for coming to this conclusion, considering the indisputable role the U.S. government played in the creation of ISIS.

From the post: Additional Details Emerge on How U.S. Government Policy Created, Armed, Supported and Funded ISIS

Telling Hasan that he had read the document himself, Flynn said that it was among a range of intelligence being circulated throughout the US intelligence community that had led him to attempt to dissuade the White House from supporting these groups, albeit without success.

Despite this, Flynn’s account shows that the US commitment to supporting the Syrian insurgency against Bashir al-Assad led the US to deliberately support the very al-Qaeda affiliated forces it had previously fought in Iraq.

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron Compares Those Against Syrian Airstrikes to “Terrorist Sympathizers”

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How low can a politician go? It seems David Cameron is trying his best to find out.

For those of you not paying attention to politics across the pond, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is desperately trying to secure backing for his enthusiastic push to start bombing Syria. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is proving to be a significant thorn in his side, so this is how Cameron is fighting back.

From the Guardian:

David Cameron has appealed to Conservative MPs to give him an overall parliamentary majority in favour of military action in Syria by warning them against voting alongside “Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathizers”.

“You should not be walking through the lobbies with Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathizers,” the prime minister reportedly told the committee.

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