Here's what we're following this morning:

(via Never Yet Melted)

LIBOR manipulation leads to questions regarding gold manipulation - CNBC via GoldCore | The GoldCore commentary can be found here.  For a fuller understanding of the manipulation of the metals markets, check out FOFOA or GATA (GATA's piece from 2008 is all the more relevant as these types of PFGBestMFGlobalLIBORBOEFED issues come into the light of day).

When you have a global financial crisis to worry about, a few trillion dollars of fraud don't seem like a big deal - Dealbreaker | On April 28, 2008, from 230p to 300p, there was even a meeting called "Fixing LIBOR."  One reading of this could be that regulators weren't causing or encouraging the problem -- they were just being careful about when they'd get around to solving it.  ("In 2012" is the answer.)

Spain pressed to inflict losses on small investors - Financial Times | Spanish banks have 67 billion euros of subordinated and hybrid debt outstanding.  These products were sold to retail investors as savings products.  "It was an error to sell the preference shares," says de Guindos, "and we will have to look for solutions."  I'm sure they'll look for solutions about as hard as my kids look for their "lost toys."

System failure - Counterpunch | Home mortgages and HELOCS are one thing; the fact that $750 TRILLION (notional) of swaps is outstanding and is tied to LIBOR is the real kicker.  This $750 trillion was mostly issued AFTER the financial crisis in 2008, so you can see how much things really have been "fixed."

As M2 money supply rolls over, the stock market will follow - Charles Hugh Smith | When M2 money supply rose sharply, the stock market followed.  Now that M2 has peaked and is rolling over, it doesn't bode well for the current cyclical bull market.

A two-fer from Truthdig: how the odds are stacked against today's college grads; and a warning to the next generation of student debtors - Truthdig | Alright...so, we know that the student loan racket is a bad gig and we know that millions of people have been yoked to the (interest) slave trade.  But $200k in student loans for an NYU film school degree?  Seriously?  What did he think was going to happen with that film degree?  Expect more on this as the election in November nears: votes are out there to be bought, and what better way to buy votes than to forgive student debt?

One more on the LIBOR scandal, this time in infographic form - Accounting Degree | "It's the equivalent of robbing a charity or a church fund to pay for lap dances."

Let's index everything for inflation! - Mother Jones | The other take on this has to do with AMT (the Alternative Minimum Tax).  When the present AMT was rolled out in 1982, the thresholds for application were much, MUCH different than they are today.  Think "How much did I earn in 1982?  How much did I pay for a candy bar?  How much did I pay for my house?" type of things.  Isn't it good to know that the AMT has solved SO many of our taxation problems since then? [/sarc]

Florida Keys residents resist release of dengue fever-immune mosquitoes - The Guardian | I mean, really.  What could go wrong with the release into the wild of a genetically-modified mosquito?

Striking miners arrive to heroes' welcome in Madrid - Dangerous Minds | No comment: just look at the pictures.