Monday, February 21, 2011
CIA & Pentagon Knew Their Methods Were Torture
OpEdNews - Article: CIA & Pentagon Knew Their Methods Were Torture
"The CIA and Pentagon
used "enhanced interrogation techniques"(EIT) on Middle East
prisoners knowing they were illegal and considered to be torture by
the United Nations, according to an article published in the January
issue of the American magazine "Science.""
"The CIA and Pentagon
used "enhanced interrogation techniques"(EIT) on Middle East
prisoners knowing they were illegal and considered to be torture by
the United Nations, according to an article published in the January
issue of the American magazine "Science.""
Banks Win Again: Fed Caves On Debit Card Fees
Banks Win Again: Fed Caves On Debit Card Fees - Home - The Daily Bail
"Maybe the other backdoor bailouts and subsidies aren't enough, but in any case the banks' army of lobbyists has the Fed reconsidering the limits it planned to impose on debit card fees paid by merchants. Remember, the Dodd-Frank Financical Reform bill had authorized the Fed to set such limits and prohibit the banks and credit card companies from gouging retailers and consumers with hidden or exorbitant fees. Notice that Dodd-Frank didn't set any limits in the bill itself, but thanks to the lobbying efforts by the financial industry, Congress passed that responsibility on to the most bank-friendly "regulator" in the history of the United States. That's right, the Fed. This was by design. The banks knew they could fight the battle on fees later on, out of the spotlight."
More bank bailouts. Bet CBSNBCABCCNN didn't cover this story...
New Afghan war plans could cost US taxpayers an extra $125 billion
New Afghan war plans could cost US taxpayers an extra $125 billion - CSMonitor.com
"At the NATO summit, President Obama's push to soften troop withdrawal deadlines could bring remaining war costs to $413 billion, according to one independent analyst."
To put this in perspective, in Washington everyone is griping about how the "evil" Tea Partiers are cutting a painful $60 billion from the budget.
Bernanke Defends Lehman Actions To His 'Deathbed'
Bernanke Defends Lehman Actions To His 'Deathbed' - Home - The Daily Bail
"“I will maintain to my deathbed, that we made every effort to save Lehman, but we were just unable to do so because of a lack of legal authority,” Bernanke said, referring to the 2008 failure that intensified a crisis that Bernanke said was the worst in history, according to an 89-page transcript of the interview by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission."
An Introduction to Austrian Economics
An Introduction to Austrian Economics - informationliberation
"Through our government's economic policies we risk falling back into a world of general poverty, things are that bad."
MIT chart tracking millions of items shows much higher inflation than CPI
Federal Reserve ultimate protector of the banking class – Fed Reserve sends a thank you to American middle class and world for bailing out the banks with a gift of inflation. MIT chart tracking millions of items shows much higher inflation than CPI.
"The Federal Reserve has one clear mandate. That mandate involves protecting the biggest investment and commercial banks on Wall Street at the expense of the American people."
Bringing Home 150 Troops From Afghanistan Would Fix Wisconsin's Budget "Crisis"
Robert Greenwald: Bringing Home 150 Troops From Afghanistan Would Fix Wisconsin's Budget "Crisis"
"Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker is using phony budget projections to manufacture a staged "fiscal emergency" in his state so that he can whack programs and political opponents, but even his fake "emergency" pales in comparison to the cost of the Afghanistan War to his state. In fact, the U.S. would only have to bring home 151 troops from Afghanistan to save more money than Walker's ridiculous union-busting plan. Better yet, ending the Afghanistan War altogether would save taxpayers in Wisconsin $1.7 billion this year alone, more than ten times the amount "saved" in Walker's attack on state employee rights."
This should put into perspective for you how expensive military interventionism is compared with social programs.
Janitors in Helmsley Building Pay Higher Tax Rates Than Millionaire Residents
TaxProf Blog: Janitors in Helmsley Building Pay Higher Tax Rates Than Millionaire Residents
"Martin A. Sullivan looks at IRS Statistics of Income Division data showing that the effective tax rate for filers listing the Helmsley building as their address is less than 15%."
Liberals, listen carefully...the complex tax code, filled with credits and loopholes, disproportionally hurts poor people! Rich people can afford to hire lawyers and accountants to find these loopholes, poor people cannot.
Republicans, RICH PEOPLE THAT YOU ARGUE AS BEING "UNFAIRLY" OVERTAXED IS A FALSE!
Where Are the Handcuffs for Wall Street? The Dylan Ratigan Show
Dylan Ratigan is one of the few that gets what's going on and has the guts to speak up about it.
Iceland Continues to Show America How Capitalism and Democracy Work
Iceland President Blocks $5 Billion Icesave Bailout: "The People Should Decide" - Home - The Daily Bail
"Iceland’s President Olafur R. Grimsson refused to sign a $5 billion accord struck in December with the U.K. and Netherlands to repay foreign depositor losses and said the bill must instead be put to a referendum."
America is NOT a capitalist, free-market democracy. Iceland's example is making this easy to see by sharp contrast. So, what IS America? It's cronism run by bankers and corporations. (Image is protest at Iceland's President's house.)
Fed New Accounting Change Means its Impossible for the Fed to go Bankrupt
Fed New Accounting Change Means its Impossible for the Fed to go Bankrupt! :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website
"Back in early January, the Federal Reserve made an obscure announcement in its weekly report. It appeared to be an inconsequential accounting change in the treatment of earnings, and was sold as a step toward greater transparency.
The change was buried in such jargon that it took weeks for the financial bloggers to fully digest what had happened — the new move made it effectively impossible for the Fed to go bankrupt! In this article I'll explain the rule change and speculate on the Fed's motives."
The system is rigged against you. The 4th Estate (the media) is not informing you of important changes anymore, they are telling you about the Kardashians.
Obama’s $3.7 Trillion Budget Calls for Military Spending Increases and Deep Cuts to Social Service Programs
Obama’s $3.7 Trillion Budget Calls for Military Spending Increases and Deep Cuts to Social Service Programs
"President Obama has unveiled a budget plan seeking to trim the federal deficit by cutting or eliminating some 200 federal programs, many dedicated to social services and education, while increasing military spending and funding for the construction of nuclear power plants."
Liberals, where's your president? This looks more like Bush III, than any liberal ideas you seemingly uphold.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Number of Prisoners Per Capita: 1st place is U S: 715 per 100,000
# 1 United States: 715 per 100,000 people
# 2 Russia: 584 per 100,000 people
# 3 Belarus: 554 per 100,000 people
# 4 Palau: 523 per 100,000 people
# 5 Belize: 459 per 100,000 people
# 6 Suriname: 437 per 100,000 people
# 7 Dominica: 420 per 100,000 people
Prisoners per capita (most recent) by country
"We're spreading freedom around the world!"
# 2 Russia: 584 per 100,000 people
# 3 Belarus: 554 per 100,000 people
# 4 Palau: 523 per 100,000 people
# 5 Belize: 459 per 100,000 people
# 6 Suriname: 437 per 100,000 people
# 7 Dominica: 420 per 100,000 people
Prisoners per capita (most recent) by country
"We're spreading freedom around the world!"
Number of Prisoners: 1st place is America: 2,019,234
# 1 United States: 2,019,234 prisoners
# 2 China: 1,549,000 prisoners
# 3 Russia: 846,967 prisoners
# 4 India: 313,635 prisoners
# 5 Brazil: 308,304 prisoners
# 6 Thailand: 213,815 prisoners
# 7 Ukraine: 198,386 prisoners
Prisoners by country. Definition, graph and map.
"They hate us for our freedoms."
# 2 China: 1,549,000 prisoners
# 3 Russia: 846,967 prisoners
# 4 India: 313,635 prisoners
# 5 Brazil: 308,304 prisoners
# 6 Thailand: 213,815 prisoners
# 7 Ukraine: 198,386 prisoners
Prisoners by country. Definition, graph and map.
"They hate us for our freedoms."
Monday, January 3, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Government Waste: 20 Of The Craziest Things That The U.S. Government Is Spending Money On
Government Waste: 20 Of The Craziest Things That The U.S. Government Is Spending Money On
#6 The National Institutes of Health spent approximately $442,340 to study the behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam.
#7 Approximately $1 million of U.S. taxpayer money was used to create poetry for the Little Rock, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Chicago zoos. The goal of the "poetry" is to help raise awareness on environmental issues.
#8 The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.
#9 $1.8 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars went for a "museum of neon signs" in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
41 Facts On The History Of U.S. Central Banking
41 Facts On The History Of U.S. Central Banking - Home - The Daily Bail
#16 In 1816, another central bank was created. The Second Bank of the United States was established and was given a 20 year charter.
#17 Andrew Jackson, who became president in 1828, was determined to end the power of the central bankers over the United States.
#18 In fact, in 1832, Andrew Jackson's re-election slogan was "JACKSON and NO BANK!"
#19 On July 10th, 1832 President Jackson said the following about the danger of a central bank....
"It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners... is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? ... Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence... would be more formidable and dangerous than a military power of the enemy."
#20 In 1835, President Jackson completely paid off the U.S. national debt. He is the only U.S. president that has ever been able to accomplish this.
#21 President Jackson vetoed the attempt to renew the charter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1836.
Ask Yourself This About the Fed...
From the Cato Institute:
"...If you are skeptical about abolishing the Fed, just consider the following question: "Would those who voted for the Fed in 1913 have done so if they had known that:
1. After having a 125-year period of relatively stable money when the dollar was still close to its value in 1790, the dollar would be worth less than 5 cents at the end of the century?
2. The longest and severest depression the country had ever experienced would occur a mere 20 years after the creation of the Fed and that the Fed had a major responsibility for the disaster?
3. And the number of bank failures would increase and not decrease?
The answer clearly would have been "no." Why are we keeping a failed institution?..."
"...If you are skeptical about abolishing the Fed, just consider the following question: "Would those who voted for the Fed in 1913 have done so if they had known that:
1. After having a 125-year period of relatively stable money when the dollar was still close to its value in 1790, the dollar would be worth less than 5 cents at the end of the century?
2. The longest and severest depression the country had ever experienced would occur a mere 20 years after the creation of the Fed and that the Fed had a major responsibility for the disaster?
3. And the number of bank failures would increase and not decrease?
The answer clearly would have been "no." Why are we keeping a failed institution?..."
NY Times: Rep. Ron Paul, G.O.P. Loner, Comes In From Cold
Rep. Ron Paul, G.O.P. Loner, Comes In From Cold - NYTimes.com
"If there is vindication here, Mr. Paul says, it is for Austrian economic theory — an anti-Keynesian model that many mainstream economists consider radical and dismiss as magical thinking.
The theory argues that markets operate properly only when they are unfettered by government regulation and intervention. It holds that the government should not have a central bank or dictate economic or monetary policy. Once the government begins any economic planning, such thinking goes, it ends up making all the economic decisions for its citizens, essentially enslaving them."
He's being let in from the cold because he's been right, and everyone else has been wrong. "Wow, a non-corrupt, principled politician! What a novelty!"
The Left Hopping on Board the Ron Paul Bandwagon? NPR & The Nation Shower Down Praise
The Nation: Ron Paul's Fight For Transparency : NPR
The congressman is right to make that point, as he is when he argues that:
"State secrecy is anathema to a free society. Why exactly should Americans be prevented from knowing what their government is doing in their name? In a free society we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, however, we are in big trouble. The truth is that our foreign spying, meddling and outright military intervention in the post–World War II era has made us less secure, not more, and we have lost countless lives and spent trillions of dollars for our trouble. Too often it's the official government lies that have given us endless and illegal wars resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and casualties."
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Watch Jon Stewart's Takedown Of Ben Bernanke's 'Not Printing Money' Claims
Watch Jon Stewart's Takedown Of Ben Bernanke's 'Not Printing Money' Claims
"There's nothing funnier to 99% of America than Ben Bernanke's claim that he's not printing money.
Especially when, thanks to the Jon Stewart, you see Ben's latest 60 Minutes interview juxtaposed against another 60 Minutes interview when the Chairman said he was printing money -- the difference between now and then being that the Fed was buying corporate assets and now it's buying government bonds."
Majority of Americans Say Fed Should Be Reined In or Abolished, Poll Shows
Majority of Americans Say Fed Should Be Reined In or Abolished, Poll Shows - Bloomberg
"A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation’s independent central bank, saying the U.S. Federal Reserve should either be brought under tighter political control or abolished outright, a poll shows."
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