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.

Total Cost Of Wars Exceeds $2.5 Trillion - No Worries! US Media 'Fluff' Numbing Nation, Robbing Next Generation

Lemonaid - The Essence of Bailouts

Chris Whalen With Dylan Ratigan: Which Banks & How Much - Surprises From Bernanke's Forced Disclosure

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hamilton & Jefferson Discuss The Founding Of The United States Treasury (Video From HBO Series John Adams)

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?..."

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."

The Rise of Ron Paul

Fed Critics Go Mainstream

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."

The Purpose of Wikileaks

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."

Daniel Ellsberg of The Pentagon Papers Praising Ron Paul

Ron Paul on Wikileaks

Clinton aide's idea: Let Iraq shoot down U.S. plane...A new book says a cabinet member proposed letting Saddam kill an American airman as a pretext for war

Clinton aide's idea: Let Iraq shoot down U.S. plane - War Room - Salon.com

At one of my very first breakfasts, while Berger and Cohen were engaged in a sidebar discussion down at one end of the table and Tenet and Richardson were preoccupied in another, one of the Cabinet members present leaned over to me and said, “Hugh, I know I shouldn’t even be asking you this, but what we really need in order to go in and take out Saddam is a precipitous event — something that would make us look good in the eyes of the world. Could you have one of our U-2s fly low enough — and slow enough — so as to guarantee that Saddam could shoot it down?”

The hair on the back of my neck bristled, my teeth clenched, and my fists tightened. I was so mad I was about to explode. I looked across the table, thinking about the pilot in the U-2 and responded, “Of course we can ...” which prompted a big smile on the official’s face.

What this cabinet member suggested to Gen. Shelton is called a "false flag" attack. It is not a conspiracy theory, it is a commonly-used tactic to emotionally move an electorate in a direction you want to move them.  There is a long list of documented cases of these being used, if you want to do a Google search for "false flag."  In this instance, notice the off-the-cuff suggestion to kill Americans. Notice the casual use of scheming to manipulate the American public, and the lengths he was willing to go to make it happen.

Doesn't knowledge of this change the way you read news stories and events?  Understanding how these people think, and the lengths they are willing to go, aren't you forced to look through a more skeptical lens at events as they are reported?

The Fed's Magic Money-Printing Machine, Act 2 - Matt Taibbi

The Fed's Magic Money-Printing Machine, Act 2 -- RollingStone.com

It’s amazing, given the attention the Tea Party allegedly is paying to
government waste and government spending, that there hasn’t been more
controversy about the now-seemingly-inevitable arrival of “QE2” – a
second massive round of money-printing cooked up by the Fed to prop up
both the government and certain sectors of the economy. A more overtly
anticapitalist and oligarchical pattern of behavior than the Fed’s
“Quantitative Easing” program could not possibly be imagined, but the
country is strangely silent on the issue. (bold and underline mine)

The Fed is the problem.  Matt Taibbi sums it up perfectly.

Google Plans Alternative Inflation Index Using Web Data

Economy - Google Plans Alternative Inflation Index Using Web Data - CNBC

chief economist, Hal Varian, highlights how economic data can be gathered far more rapidly using online sources. The official Consumer Price Index data are collected by hand from shops, and only published monthly with a time lag of several weeks.

Private enterprise doing something we've all been told only the government can provide.

U.S. apologizes for Guatemala STD experiments

U.S. apologizes for STD experiments in Guatemala - relationships - TODAYshow.com

U.S. government medical researchers intentionally infected hundreds of people in Guatemala, including institutionalized mental patients, with gonorrhea and syphilis without their knowledge or permission more than 60 years ago.

Again, if I had suggested that the U.S. government was medically-experimenting on people, you would have called me a conspiracy theorist.  Don't stories like this make you read stories about U.S. policy with more skepticism?  I don't see how it wouldn't have that effect, but so many people still seem to think, "Well, they would never do something like that!"

U.N. Report finds Israel "summarily executed" U.S. citizen on flotilla

U.N. Report finds Israel "summarily executed" U.S. citizen on flotilla - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Last week, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a comprehensive report detailing its findings regarding the May, 2010, Israeli attack on the six-ship flotilla attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Israel-blockaded Gaza. The report has been largely ignored in the American media despite the fact (or, more accurately: because) it found that much of the Israeli force used "was unnecessary, disproportionate, excessive and inappropriate and resulted in the wholly avoidable killing and maiming of a large number of civilian passengers"; that "at least six of the killings can be characterized as extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions"; and that Israel violated numerous international human rights conventions, including the Fourth Geneva Conventions (see p. 38, para. 172).

Let me suggest that if this same report had come out about Iran, it would be running 24 hours a day on Fox News, and demands of an immediate trillion-dollar war would be thrust upon Washington.

Google's CEO: 'The Laws Are Written by Lobbyists'

Google's CEO: 'The Laws Are Written by Lobbyists' - Derek Thompson - Technology - The Atlantic

"The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists" to protect incumbent interests, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Atlantic editor James Bennet at the Washington Ideas Forum. "It's shocking how the system actually works."

The image you have in your mind of Washington politicians as dutiful servants of their electorate is a fantasy.  When are you going to realize that?

Walter Cronkite: Conspracy Theorist!

Cronkite: Osama bin Laden c/o Karl Rove?

CRONKITE: What we just heard. So now the question is basically right now, how will this affect the election? And I have a feeling that it could tilt the election a bit. In fact, I'm a little inclined to think that Karl Rove, the political manager at the White House, who is a very clever man, he probably set up bin Laden to this thing.

Army embeds active-duty PSYOPS soldiers at local TV stations

Army embeds active-duty PSYOPS soldiers at local TV stations | The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

The U.S. Army has used local television stations in the U.S. as training posts for some of its psychological-operations personnel, The Upshot has learned. Since at least 2001, both WRAL, a CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., and WTOC, a CBS affiliate in Savannah, Ga., have regularly hosted active-duty soldiers from the Army's 4th Psychological Operations group as part of the Army's Training With Industry program. Training With Industry is designed to offer career soldiers a chance to pick up skills through internships and fellowships with private businesses. The PSYOPS soldiers used WRAL and WTOC to learn broadcasting and communications expertise that they could apply in their mission, as the Army describes it, of "influenc[ing] the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign audiences."

If I had suggested to you that some of American media is in collusion with spy elements of the U.S., you'd have laughed at me and called me a conspiracy theorist.

Big Pharma Scores Big Win: Medicinal Herbs Will Disappear in EU

A Voice In The Wilderness: Big Pharma Scores Big Win: Medicinal Herbs Will Disappear in EU

It's almost a done deal. We are about to see herbal preparations disappear, and the ability of herbalists to prescribe them will also be lost.

Big Pharma has almost reached the finish line of its decades-long battle to wipe out all competition. As of 1 April 2011—less than eight months from now—virtually all medicinal herbs will become illegal in the European Union.

Regulations, especially now with the corporate-government cronyism in full swing, are nothing more than one industry trying to hurt their competitors. How is making herbs ILLEGAL in the EU helping citizens?  Come on people, wake up.

Killing Each Taliban Soldier Costs $50 Million

poorrichard's blog: Killing Each Taliban Soldier Costs $50 Million

The Pentagon will not tell the public what it costs to locate, target and kill a single Taliban soldier because the price-tag is so scandalously high that it makes the Taliban appear to be Super-Soldiers. As set out in this article, the estimated cost to kill each Taliban is as high as $100 million, with a conservative estimate being $50 million. A public discussion should be taking place in the United States regarding whether the Taliban have become too expensive an enemy to defeat.

Cheng Siwei - US has been Financially Irresponsible

So, you still think China gives a shit about what happens to our economy?

US Nuclear weapons parts missing, Pentagon says

FT.com / UK - US N-weapons parts missing, Pentagon says

The US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components, according to several government officials familiar with a Pentagon report on nuclear safeguards.

What TARP Could Have Paid For...

Dylan Ratigan is one of the few commentators that sees the sheer size of the monies involved in the proper perspective, and the unavoidable conclusion that one must draw when this understanding is reached.

Pentagon Teaches Recruits That a Protest by American Citizens is “Low-Level Terrorism”

Pentagon Rebrands Protest as “Low-Level Terrorism” | Dissident Voice

The American Civil Liberties Union reported June 10 that “Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.”

According to the civil liberties’ watchdog: “Among the multiple-choice questions included in its Level 1 Antiterrorism Awareness training course, the DoD asks the following: ‘Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorist activity?’ To answer correctly, the examinee must select ‘protests’.”

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
You don't think things have gone too far, huh?

VIDEO: FBI Had Spy In MLK's Inner Circle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBEBp9KfIE

So, what are our tax dollars for the FBI really going to? Here is a man who preached and practiced non-violence. What threat did he represent? A security threat? No. His threat was to power. Is this what you want?

Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota

Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver

You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it.

The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments.

CHART OF THE DAY: 43.6 Million Americans Living In Poverty Is The Highest Number Ever Recorded

CHART OF THE DAY: 43.6 Million Americans Living In Poverty Is The Highest Number Ever Recorded

This was expected, but it still hits you in the gut. Poverty in America has hit the highest level the Census has ever recorded, according to a new report out today.

Dealer says load of crab "contaminated with oil" -- STATE TRYING TO COVER IT UP

Whistleblower: Oil 30 miles by 5 miles reported and Feds won't respond, "wanted to run tests"

Are the Feds really protecting us? BP? Themselves? It's hard to tell, isn't it?

The "National Security" Apparatus Has Been Hijacked to Serve the Needs of Big Business

poorrichard's blog: The "National Security" Apparatus Has Been Hijacked to Serve the Needs of Big Business

* Reuters noted in January:

U.S. securities regulators originally treated the New York Federal Reserve's bid to keep secret many of the details of the American International Group bailout like a request to protect matters of national security, according to emails obtained by Reuters.

* And Business Week wrote on May 23, 2006:

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations

More evidence that corporations and U.S. government are too tightly allied.

New York to Ban Smoking Outdoors

New York plans to ban smoking outdoors - Telegraph

City officials said that the new legislation would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas throughout the American city.

That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk.

Blackwater Works to Become Monsanto's "Intel Arm"

Blackwater's Black Ops | The Nation

One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm.

Listen to Why MythBusters Won't Do RFID

Petraeus: Afghan War Could Take Another Decade

Petraeus: Afghan War Could Take Another Decade -- News from Antiwar.com

It could be quite some time, as Petraeus agreed that “success over the insurgency” could be another 9-10 years away.

Is "controlling an insurgency" the same as "war?"