Since the recession, persistent unemployment has left middle-class life out of reach for millions of Americans.

But few residents of Morris County, N.J., could have ever imagined they would end up on government assistance.

Morris County is known for its wealth and million-dollar homes. Median household income there is over $91,000. Yet, the number of people receiving food stamps in the area has nearly tripled in the past five years.

Phyllis Tonnesen is on the front lines of the epidemic. She works for the Department of Human Services Office of Temporary Assistance. In her 27 years at the agency, she says this is the worst she's ever seen it. The food stamp caseload has increased 240% since the beginning of the recession.

This cnn.com story was posted on their Internet site about lunchtime yesterday afternoon...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it along. The link is here.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon will tell lawmakers that the bank's recent multibillion-dollar trading loss occurred because poorly managed traders embarked in January on a misguided hedging strategy they did not fully understand.

His written testimony prepared for a hearing on Wednesday gives a few more details about what went wrong, and what the nation's largest bank by assets plans to do about it.

Dimon does not, however, give an update on whether the losses have grown beyond last month's $2 billion estimate.

This Reuters story was picked up by the finance.yahoo.com website yesterday...and I thank Scott Pluschau for sending it our way. The link is here.

Between discussions of gold-backed debt issuance in Europe (from Rick Santelli) and why Europe's problem is not merely a banking crisis but far worse, Michael Pento asks, rhetorically we pre-supposed: "What is wrong with letting the free markets work here? Let's let what is going to happen, happen!"

But Bill Griffeth provides the truth-quote-of-the-day (in a stunning kimono-opening for the CNBC-watching public at large) when he opines on Pento's question that "There is not a single politician who hopes to let the free markets work and be reelected."

Indeed - as Santelli adds: "You Nailed It!"

I had to watch this CNBC video clip right to the end to hear those words come out Griffeth's mouth...and they did. The zerohedge.com piece, complete with the 4:49 minute CNBC 'Closing Bell Exchange', is linked here...and I thank Australian reader Wesley Legrand for bringing it to my attention.

The Asian markets are something of a canary in the coalmine when it comes to foreseeing how the day will unfold for European and US financial markets. And on Tuesday, that canary was looking woozy indeed.

After widespread investor optimism on Monday in the wake of the weekend news that Spain would receive up to €100 billion ($125 billion) in emergency aid for its wobbling banks, Tuesday has brought a return to realism. Black stock-exchange numbers have once again nudged back into the red and worries about the survival of the euro zone have returned despite the Spanish bailout.

The apparent skittishness isn't surprising. Greek voters go to the polls on Sunday in an election that many believe could determine whether the country remains in the euro zone or is forced out. Potentially more ominously, numbers released on Monday indicate that the Italian economy is in disastrous shape, having shrunk in the first quarter faster than it has in three years. It is the third quarter in a row that the Italian economy, the euro zone's third largest, has contracted. Many believe that it is merely a question of time before Italy also has to apply for emergency aid from the euro backstop funds.

Meanwhile, despite official optimism from Madrid -- and even from the oft-dour German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble -- it is doubtful that €100 billion will be enough to save Spain's banking industry and put the euro zone back on the road to recovery. For one, recent history has shown just how quickly banks can run into significant trouble should the economic situation rapidly worsen.

This story, courtesy of Roy Stephens, was posted on the German website spiegel.de yesterday...and it's original title was "Europe Prepares for the Worst Despite Spain Bailout". If you don't want to read the whole story, you should at least skim the four paragraphs that I cut and paste above. The link is here.

Germany's central bank has shot down EU proposals for a European banking union, warning categorically that eurozone liabilities cannot be shared without a fundamental shift towards fiscal and political union.

The Bundesbank's vice-president Sabine Lautenschlaeger hammered home the point in what is a clearly co-ordinated push to check the plan. "The result would be a pooling of the governments' liabilities through the back door," she said.

"Whoever is footing the bill must also have a right of control, particularly when it comes to the large sums that are seen in banking crises," she added, alluding to rulings by German courts that unquantifiable EU liabilities breach Germany's constitution.

This story appeared on The Telegraph's website last evening...and I thank Roy Stephens for digging it up on our behalf. The link is here.

Egypt's presidential runoff election is pitting a former Mubarak associate against an Islamist. For many Egyptians, neither man is worthy of their vote. The country could face new unrest as a result.

Brothers Antar and Amgad used to be looking forward to taking part in a unique experiment. Proud Egypt, the most populous Arab country, was to become a democracy after decades of authoritarian rule.

But now the Farids -- two amiable, slightly overweight gentlemen with moustaches -- are standing in their tiny shop feeling frustrated. It is hot and dry, and the tired-looking ceiling fan barely makes a difference, as flies buzz around the roasting machines.

Like millions of other Egyptians, they feel cheated by their revolution, they were appalled to witness two hardliners turn out to be the frontrunners in the first round of elections on May 23 and 24: Ahmed Shafiq, 70, a former air-force general and member of the former Mubarak regime; and Mohammed Mursi, a 60-year-old engineer and senior official from the conservative core of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

This is another story that was posted at the spiegel.de website yesterday...and another story courtesy of Roy Stephens. The link is here.

India may become the first nation among the BRIC to lose its investment grade, Standard & Poor's said in a report on Monday, resulting in a decline in the country's stock market.

Because of slow economic growth and political roadblocks to economic policy making, India's rating could be at risk, the rating agency said in a report titled "Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?"

BRIC nations comprise of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Currently, India's 'BBB-' long-term sovereign rating is one notch above the speculative grade.

This story was posted over at the rttnews.com website early Monday morning...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for sending it along. The link is here.

The Chinese government has indicated it has no plans to change its position on oil purchases from Iran, a day after the United States left Beijing off a list of economies that are exempt from U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil imports.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin Tuesday rejected a question about whether China will reduce its oil imports from Iran and said these purchases are necessary.

China needs to import crude oil from Iran, Liu said, because of its economic development, describing it as “a completely legal” matter. China's purchase channels are normal, open and transparent and do not violate United Nations resolutions or harm the interests of any other party, he added.

This story was posted on the Voice of American website yesterday...and is Washington state reader S.A.'s second offering in a row. It's worth the read...and the link is here.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has warned that the world risks a triple crisis of declining incomes, environmental damage and social unrest unless countries adopt a more sustainable approach to economic growth.

"The idea that different economic, environmental and social objectives can be seen as distinct aspects of a single vision, essential parts of a connected whole."

But she said the current economic crisis in Europe and slowing growth worldwide, coupled with the growing threat from climate change and social tensions could wreck the efforts of leaders to chart a more sustainable future.

"Over the past four years, we have been mired in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. And we are not out of it yet.

"In fact, tensions are on the rise again, and financial stability risks have once more moved front and centre. Great uncertainty hangs over global prospects.

Lagarde is obviously a card-carrying member of the New World Order crowd. This story was posted in The Guardian yesterday afternoon...and I thank Scott Pluschau for his second offering of the day. The link is here.

Senior metals analyst for Casey Research explains why he feels there is almost no limit to how high the yellow can rise, and why a 'Greater Depression' could also be forthcoming.

This interview was done on June 1st...and was only posted on the hardassetinvestor.com Internet site yesterday. It's certainly worth the read...and the link is here.

The fate of the London Metal Exchange is about to be decided and a key board meeting is expected to convene today.

Quite apart from deciding whether a price tag of £1.2bn to £1.3bn is sufficient for shareholders (which for a company that makes no more than £10m profit is presumably a no-brainer) the board must also decide whether to award LME to an American bidder, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), or its rival, Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEx). If the latter then that's a matter of genuine concern.

The LME's role in setting prices for industrial metals and in their trading, including the regulation of a global network of strategic warehouses, means it plays a pivotal role in world trade.

HKEx says it is entirely free of influence from Beijing and operating under the most "scrupulously high" levels of corporate governance. HKEx's chief operating officer, Gerald Greiner, claimed in a letter published by Telegraph Business on Monday that it is "ridiculous" to suggest otherwise. It's a claim aimed at addressing concerns about the LME's metals pricing and trading mechanism coming within the sphere of influence of China – the world's biggest consumer of metals.

It's my opinion that this story from The Telegraph late last night is required reading...and is Roy Stephens final offering in today's column. The link is here.

The first blog features John Embry...and is headlined "Despite Rally, Global Financial Crisis 2.0 is Imminent". The second is with Stephen Leeb...and it bears the title "This Is Exactly What Will Move Key Markets Going Forward". And lastly is this blog with the Godfather of newsletter writers Richard Russell. It's entitled "Financial Knockout, Gold & Zuckerberg"

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has submitted a bill to Congress that would allow debtors to pay U.S. dollar-denominated contracts in pesos.

The bill comes amid a broad government push to wean Argentines off their long-held preference to use dollars for major transactions. It's unclear if the bill will apply retroactively or if it could affect government debt.

In early August the government faces a $2.2 billion payment on the Boden 2012 dollar-denominated bond.

The bill, as currently written, would allow debtors to "free themselves" from paying from the dollar payment requirement by paying "the equivalent amount" in pesos.

This story was in Monday's edition of The Wall Street Journal...and the headline is courtesy of Chris Powell. It's posted in the clear in this GATA release...and the link is here.

Kazakhstan's central bank plans to boost the share of gold in its gold and foreign currency reserves to 20 percent from 14-15 percent, deputy bank chairman Bisengali Tadzhiyakov said on Wednesday.

Tadzhiyakov, who gave no time frame for the move, said last week Kazakhstan planned to buy 22 tonnes of gold from local producers, which at that time he estimated would boost the share of the metal in the reserves to 15 percent from about 12 percent.

"We will buy from Kazzinc Corp. 20 tonnes (of gold) in 2012, and a further 4.5 tonnes from Kazakhmys," he told journalists on Wednesday, reading out updated figures from his report prepared for presentation in parliament. "The total volume is 24.5 tonnes."

I plucked this Reuters story from a GATA release that Chris Powell filed from Hong Kong on Wednesday evening...the wee hours of Wednesday morning in North America...and the link is here.

The chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler, was ambushed by silver investor calling into an interview program this week on the cable television network C-SPAN, the Silver Doctors Internet site reports. Gensler wouldn't do more than shrug about the CFTC's never-ending supposed investigation of manipulation of the silver market. Silver Doctors has posted the full 39-minute interview here.