Photo, above: Ukrainian - Temple Pendant (Kolt) with Two Birds. [unvetted for accuracy:]  With Its Gold "Vaporized", a Furious Ukraine Turns On Its Central Bankers, by Tyler Durden [this report is decidedly not verified]  As reported two weeks ago, following a stunning announcement by the head of Ukraine's central bank, Valeriya Gontareva, on primetime TV we learned that (virtually) all of Ukraine's gold was gone, or - in the parlance of Jon Corzine - had "vaporized." And as we also predicted two weeks ago, it was only a matter of time before Ukraine's people - the vast majority of whom are innocent pawns in a vast game of Realpolitik between the west and east - finally got angry and demanded some answers, if not heads. That time came earlier today when as Interfax.ua reported "a Kyiv-based court has instructed Kyiv prosecutors to bring an action against National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Valeriya Gontareva on charges of abuse of power or misuse of office to obtain illegal profit, the Vesti newspaper reported on Tuesday."

According to Interfax, "This decision was taken by Kyiv's Pechersk district court on December 1 after it had examined case No. 757/33660/14. It ordered the Kyiv prosecutor's office to launch an investigation and include it in the register of pre-trial investigations," the newspaper reported.  Gontareva is charged with abuse of power or misuse of office under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.  The plaintiff is lawyer Rostyslav Kravets, the newspaper said. He confirmed this information in his post on Facebook, saying that the decision was taken by the court at the third attempt, and in November 2014, the prosecutors declined to bring an action to meet his claim.  The charges against the chief banker involve foreign currency interventions by the Central Bank in August 2014: On August 5 the NBU bought U.S. dollars on the interbank forex market for UAH 11.93 per U.S. dollar and sold them for UAH 12.26 per U.S. dollar. During the same week, on August 8, it traded in foreign currency at a higher rate: UAH 12.45-12.6 per U.S. dollar. First it sold $69 million on the interbank forex market at a lower rate, and some days later it bought $35 million at a more favorable price.  As a result of these transactions, the NBU lost 19 kopecks per U.S. dollar, Kravets said.  Kravets claims that by acting so, Gontareva "has intentionally committed an extremely unfavorable transaction for the gold and forex reserves of Ukraine, despite the fact that under Ukraine's Constitution it is the Central Bank that is in charge of maintaining the country's gold reserves."

That, and of course, there is also that as a result of central bank "transactions" the Ukraine central bank is now essentially gold-free, which per Gontareva's recent appearance, has just 1% of total reserves in the form of the yellow metal. And while it remains to be seen if this will be the spark that lights the counter-revolution (after all it took Egypt not less than a year to turn against the puppet regime dumped upon it by the CIA and the US State Department) others are already sensing which way the wind is blowing. As Bloomberg reported moments ago, another central banker, Olena Shcherbakova who is head of the monetary policy department at the Ukrainian central bank, said she is resigning. When reaced by phone she stated that she "has the right to step down," without giving reason for decision. She sure does, although we doubt even a former Goldman Sachs partner would be willing to replace her, as the realization among the Ukraine people finally seeps through that they were thoroughly betrayed by the same people who promised they would fix the country following the February presidential coup.

See also, Ukraine's gold stolen and airshipped to the US. [thoroughly unverified]

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio

Hour One

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 1, Block A:  Gregory Zuckerman, WSJ & author, The Greatest Trade Ever, & The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, in re:  Corporate taxes; Ryan and McConnell in the new year; continuing resolution till early January.  The surrogate effect of a tax cut as oil price drops so quickly toward $60.  The American genius of hydraulic fracturing: everyone who has assorted acreage is focussing on his best; 9 bil Bbl . . .  if you take out transport costs, cd be $35?  People in the field say that we cannot handle $40 in e Bakken, for example – acquisition costs not often factored in.  Lot of bank debt, high-yield/low-rated stuff. Danger.  The very week of the 2008 collapse brought in earliest hydrofracking excellent results.  Can Bakken handle $60 Bbl and without Keystone?  Can mange by truck and rail; but oil is coming from shale a mile down – horizontal drilling.  Bakken is more exp than Permian Basin or Eagleford in Texas, who can survive at $55, while Bakken pretty much needs $65. If the Chinese economy perks up and oil goes to $80, the Bakken will be fine. 

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 1, Block B: Gregory Zuckerman, WSJ & author, The Greatest Trade Ever, & The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, in re:  Almost every biz except some energy companies is benefitting from the lower oil price.  American now is [is about to b?] a ore important producer than Saudi Arabia.  This is the triumph of entrepreneurs.  Has generated 1% of the national 3% growth.  CapX is worth 1% or 2%.  Harold Ham is a rag-to-riches character behind ht Bakken, as responsible as anyone for the growth.  All these oil guys by definition are salesmen; $50 or $60 may be a bit low.  If the Fed increases, that drives up the dollar and so down oil price.  Hedge funds scouring for shorts: people with too much debt, weak players to bet against.  If oil hangs around $60/Bbl & the Fed raises rates one quarter, it's Katy bar the door for oil prices.

The American Oil Boom Won't Last Long at $65 Per Barrel  With international oil prices below $70 for the first time since 2010, most OPEC member ...

OPEC's War on Fracking Is Good News for the Rest of UsTSoros Puts His Money on Gross  George Soros’s investment firm is placing $500 million with Bill Gross, a stamp of approval for his new venture at Janus Capital.

U.S. Oil Shares Hit by OPEC Decision  Shares of U.S. oil producers tumbled Friday as crude prices droppedi in the wake of a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep pumping oil.    Heard on the Street: Oil Investors’ Twist of Faith

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Joseph Rago, WSJ editorial board & Pulitzer Prizewinner, in re: Chuck Schumer says Democrats shouldn't have bothered with health care reform.  Charles Schumer's Obamacare mea culpa.  JB: Has he been reading Joe Rago?  JR: He said, What Dems needed to do was raise middle-class incomes & Obamacare has [interfered badly].  Remarks are notable in respect of the liberal wall of defense of the ACA. He's a purely political animal, loves govt.  . . . Start of 2016 presidential campaign: debate on the right, What's a good alternative to ACA?  Also, a debate on the left. LK: Don’t forget the Sandinista wing. JR: Will need a center right/center left coalition. The DeBlasio wing will cry betrayal.  . . .  Mrs Clinton will generate a lot of interest. So far she's taken no position on any positi0n Someone will put a mic in her face and she'll have to say something.  In 1993 and '94 – she was one of the architects of Obamacare. If she repudiates it, that'd be an amazing turnabout.  Probably two-thirds of Obamacare could be put into a budget bill. 

Obamacare is not only a disaster of  big government, it’s a disaster for big government. – Joe Rago 

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 1, Block D: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution & blog, "A Day at the Races," & NYT; in re: Carly Fiorina intends to run for president. At the least, she might become Commerce Secretary. She can claim the entrepreneurial corner, discuss commercial Immigration access.  Yikes – Jerry Brown for president?  Sources may be people who want to see Hillary Clinton twist in the wind.  Nah, they want an Elizabeth Warren, a fire-breather.  His only function is to nag Hillary.  He'll talk about the California "economic miracle"! He'll be 78 years old.  . . .  California's Patty Hearst Democrats. 

In 1992, Jerry Brown ran on a flat tax designed by Art Laffer.

Goodbye Columbus . . . Or Philly, Or Brooklyn?     Turmoil over Immigration Status? California Has Lived It for Decades    California Republican Evolution, the Next Step     Nancy with the Laughing Denies  

Hour Two

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 2, Block A:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re: . . . after Yanukovich fled in fear for his life, he was accused of having stolen a great deal of gold, which now turns out to be exactly where it was supposed to be. The narrative is inaccurate – from an extremely corrupt (continuingly corrupt) system. 

Sensational news today from the widely followed blog ZeroHedge: it looks as though the Great Bank Robbery was last spring after Yanukovych fled . . . this picks up an item in Interfax Ukraine site:  Court orders Kyiv prosecutors to bring action against NBU Governor Gontareva – media reports    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-02/its-gold-vaporized-furious-ukra...

In a speech, Poroshenko struck a victorious note – "."  Of course, Ukraine as a state was deeply divided when the crisis began; only way to claim unity now is to give up the whole eastern part, about 25% of the country's industry.  Seems that Kiev has cut off all financial and social service: can’t get pensions or go to hospitals, and anyone who has savings in a national bank has just lost all his funds. An immense humanitarian disaster, which Kiev disavows.  That's why we see white truck lowing across the border from Russia.  Poroshenko announces that his new govt will pursue NATO membership, despite a law declaring Ukraine to be nonaligned. Further, NATO prohibits an entrant who doesn't control over all its territory; so Kiev may be jettisoning the eastern part in order to be eligible.  . . . heavy artillery withdrawal – orders from OSCE because Europe wants this to end?  http://en.interfax.com.ua   http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/poroshenko-the-worst-situation-...

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; in re: German Foreign Minister Steinmeier on Ukraine/Russia conflict: "To provoke a conflict you may need 14 days. To solve one, you need 14 years."   He's important in Europe and Russia because he represents the nonconfrontational wing, wants to use only diplomacy.   The amateurism of European diplomacy – "Fault of unwise EU behavior out of fear of Washington" – Der Speigel. In Germany a divided electorate and divided political class, resulting in real reporting which we don’t now see in the US. " Former state premier Matthias Platzeck, chairman of the German-Russian Forum business lobby and erstwhile Social Democrat (SPD) chief, is the first high-ranking German to say the West should endorse the annexation as a way to help resolve the Ukraine crisis. Platzeck, 60, told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper: "A wise man changes his mind - a fool never will. (Platzeck's career was nurtured by Gerhard Schroeder.)

Relations at Rock Bottom Cracks Form in Berlin over Russia Stance  A political solution is more distant than ever in the Russia conflict, with the German government and EU having exhausted their diplomatic options. A rift may now be growing between Chancellor Merkel and her foreign minister over Berlin's tough stance against Moscow.  Summit of Failure: How the EU Lost Russia over Ukraine    German Foreign Minister: 'Crimea Will Remain a Source of Conflict'

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 2, Block C: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; in re: New war games announced by NATO; also by Russia in Byelorus. When we read a map, we see points and spatial relations; when Russians read a map, they see history.  These countries are where Hitler's armies came through That's why Finland's nonmembership in NATO has been so important to Russia.  All this brings up again the memory of the Second War.  Germans are pretty much aware of this.  Willy Brandt was pro-détente; Steinmeier is heir to that. France has again frozen delivery of its warship to Russia – having been told by the White House to do this.  Cameron is also seen as a puppet of Washington.  "One hundred soldiers from the  [US] Fourth Infantry Divisi0n will report to duty in Poland in 2015."  Pershing went to Paris in 1917: that's what a large American force looks like – it starts with  a hundred soldiers. "  This is the first time an American soldier has been this close to Russia in wartime.  To come: a 400-man rapid deployment force to be deployed – as a tripwire. 

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 2, Block D: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; in re: 

Hour Three

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 3, Block A:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: A scrambled SLS/Orion flight schedule  It ain’t gonna happen: In trying to figure out what to do with SLS/Orion, NASA has admitted that the earliest any crew mission to an asteroid can occur is now 2024.  I could quote from the article, but then I’d have to quote the entire article and comment on the absurdity of practically every sentence. NASA hasn’t the faintest idea what to do with SLS, it isn’t designed to do much of anything, and it doesn’t have the funding to anything even if they knew what they wanted to do with it. Hence, the constant scheduling rearrangements, all designed to push the actual manned flights farther and farther into the future.

The article does point out how NASA is now planning to fly its first crewed mission on SLS/Orion using an untested upper stage, since the rocket costs so much to launch they can’t afford to spend the money on an unmanned test flight beforehand. Meanwhile, they are demanding that SpaceX and Boeing do all kinds of unmanned test flights with their manned capsules at great cost to these companies, before allowing any astronauts on board.

As I’ve said repeatedly, this rocket is never going to fly anyone anywhere. By 2020 several private companies will be sending humans into space regularly at far less cost and with far greater capabilities. Congress will finally realize that they can spread their pork around more effectively by funding these companies instead, and they will cancel this bloated and wasteful program.

Europe agrees to build Ariane 6  The heat of competition: Faced with a stiff challenge from SpaceX, the European partners in Arianespace have worked out a deal to replace the Ariane 5 rocket with Ariane 6. The official announcement will be made in next few days, but with Germany agreeing to the French proposal, the partnership can now proceed. The result will be a government rocket which will likely only launch government payloads, since it will likely also cost too much to compete with SpaceX and the other new lower cost commercial companies like Stratolaunch, now developing in the U.S

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Coral Davenport, NYT, in re: Obama Builds Environmental Legacy with 1970 Law  Leaning on the Clean Air Act, President Obama has reshaped environmental policy more than any previous occupant of the White House.

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 3, Block C:   Eli Lake, Bloomberg Politics, in re: John McCain, the Republican who'll head the Senate Armed Services Committee in the new Congress, wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder today to demand the Justice Department end its two-year investigation into former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus, one way or the other.     Why the FBI is still targetting Petraeus. 

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 3, Block D: Paul M. Barrett, Bloomberg Businessweek, THE GHOSTS OF BHOPAL On Dec. 3, 1984, the worst industrial accident in history unfolded in India when an enormous 40-ton plume of poisonous gas escaped from a Union Carbide insecticide plant in Bhopal, India. Beyond sullying the reputation of multinational corporations, the episode left a sobering legal legacy: the U.S. judiciary’s unwillingness to grapple with the onerous side effects of under-regulated industrialization. How much have things changed since? Would we react differently to a comparable disaster today?

Hour Four

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 4, Block A: Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance [Kindle Edition], by Julia Angwin (1 of 4)

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 4, Block B: Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance [Kindle Edition], by Julia Angwin (2 of 4)

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 4, Block C: Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance [Kindle Edition], by Julia Angwin (3 of 4)

Tuesday  2 December  2014 / Hour 4, Block D: Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance [Kindle Edition], by Julia Angwin (4 of 4)