Saturday, March 21, 2009

US calls on Sweden's "Mr Fix It" Bo Lundgren

"The Swedish financial chief known as "Mr Fix It" has been summoned to Washington to advise on how Sweden's model might avert a global banking meltdown."

US calls on "Mr Fix It" - Telegraph

Translation: $11 trillion of YOUR dollars have been poured onto the corporations that created this mess, and now they admit they don't know what they have been doing all this time, and haven't made any progress toward fixing it.


The Economy is Sooooo Bad That....

Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. So, the guy that made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $750 billion disappear.

The economy is so bad:
CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.

Even people who have nothing to do with the Obama administration aren’t paying their taxes.

Hotwheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

Obama met with small businesses to discuss the Stimulus Package: GE, Pfeizer and Citigroup.

PETA serves chicken wings at their meetings

McDonalds is selling the 1/4- ouncer.

People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s
names.

A truck of Americans got caught sneaking into Mexico ..

The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

People in Africa are donating money to Americans.

Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, “finish your plate, do you know how many kids are starving in the US ?”

Motel Six wont leave the light on.

The Mafia is laying off judges.


THE ECONOMY IS SOOOOOOOOOOO BAD THAT….. « Desertpeace




Kentucky Election Officials Arrested, Charged With 'Changing Votes at E-Voting Machines'

The BRAD BLOG : KY Election Officials Arrested, Charged With 'Changing Votes at E-Voting Machines'

Get rid of the electronic machines. They can be manipulated too easily. There should always be a paper trail.


Who Owns the Rainwater that Falls on Your Property?

"Every time it rains here, Kris Holstrom knowingly breaks the law.

Holstrom's violation is the fancifully painted 55-gallon buckets underneath the gutters of her farmhouse on a mesa 15 miles from the resort town of Telluride. The barrels catch rain and snowmelt, which Holstrom uses to irrigate the small vegetable garden she and her husband maintain."
Who owns Colorado's rainwater? - Los Angeles Times


What Happened in 1980?


Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and, Rehabilitation Act (1980)

Since most (50%+) of people are currently in jail for nonviolent drug offenses, the birth of the "drug war" probably more than doubled the number of "criminals".

Coincidentally, a major piece of antidrug legislation was introduced in 1980: [the] Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and, Rehabilitation Act [of 1980]

Just Say "NO" to Drugs!

Freedom!!!!

A Free-Market Solution to Litter

"A Gloucestershire shopkeeper has cut litter in her village by 40% by writing children's names on their sweet wrappers."

Ananova - Shopkeeper takes on litter louts


Russian planes again fly over U.S. Navy ships

Russian planes again fly over U.S. Navy ships - CNN.com
"Russian military aircraft flew just 500 feet over two U.S. Navy ships this week as the ships participated in a joint military exercise with South Korea in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. military officials."


Many Iraqis held by US to go free

"Thousands of Iraqis held without charge by the United States on suspicion of links to insurgents or militants are being freed by this summer because there is little or no evidence against them."
La Crosse Tribune - 7.0

Leading by example.  If no evidence and no charges, you are free.


Holder rescinds Ashcroft-era FOIA guidelines

"A presumption of openness," is now supposed to guide federal agencies' responses to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Attorney General Eric Holder today sent a memo to agency heads that reverses FOIA guidelines that have been in place since Oct. 12, 2001. The Bush-era presumption, established by then-attorney general John Ashcroft, was that agencies should first assume that information should not be released -- and put most of the burden on the requester to prove otherwise.

Holder rescinds Ashcroft-era FOIA guidelines - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency

What a refreshing concept! An open government! Sunlight disinfects!


Thursday, March 19, 2009

Colin Powell’s former chief of staff: Cheney is ‘evil,’ his fearmongering is ‘assisting’ al Qaeda.

Cheney Worried About Obama Expanding Gov't, But Felt That He Was Justified in Ignoring Most of the Constitution

In an interview with CNN, Dick Cheney says,
"I worry a lot," he told King, "that they're using the current set of economic difficulties to try to justify a massive expansion in the government, and much more authority for the government over the private sector. I don't think that's good. I don't think that's going to solve the problem."

Yet...
"According to recently released legal memos from the Bush-Cheney administration, the former vice president believes that the federal government can ignore the First Amendment and suppress free speech and freedom of the press as part of its "war on terror.""

Former Vice President Cheney also believes, according to these same memos, that the federal government can send troops to burst into the homes of American citizens without a search warrant, despite the Fourth Amendment's protection against such unreasonable searches. He believes that the federal government has the right to arrest an American citizen on American soil and hold him in prison without charges. He believes that the federal government can listen in on your phone conversations without a court order.

Cheney believes that the federal government can ignore the Geneva Conventions, binding treaties largely written by the United States, signed by the president and ratified by the Senate. He believes that the federal government can commit torture, despite laws and treaties making torture a crime.

As the Washington Post reported, "Starting in January, 2002, Cheney turned his attention to the practical business of crushing a captive's will to resist. The vice president's office played a central role in shattering limits on coercion of prisoners in U.S. custody, commissioning and defending legal opinions that the Bush administration has since portrayed as the initiatives, months later, of lower-ranking officials."


Commentary: Cheney says U.S. can torture but can't heal - CNN.com



The REAL AIG Conspiracy

"Here’s the problem with all the hoopla over the $135 million in AIG bonuses: This sum is only less than 0.1% – one thousandth – of the $183 BILLION that the U.S. Treasury gave to AIG as a "pass-through" to its counterparties. This sum, over a thousand times the magnitude of the bonuses on which public attention is conveniently being focused by Wall Street promoters, did not stay with AIG. For over six months, the public media and Congressmen have been trying to find out just where this money DID go. Bloomberg brought a lawsuit to find out. Only to be met with a wall of silence."

The Real AIG Conspiracy - Global Research.ca

As usual, Global Research gets it right.

The Illegality of Stealing Depends On Who You Stole From

US Army Confirms Israel Has Nukes

"The Army has let slip one of the worst-kept secrets in the world -- that Israel has the bomb.

Officially, the United States has a policy of "ambiguity" regarding Israel's nuclear capability. Essentially, it has played a game by which it neither acknowledges nor denies that Israel is a nuclear power.

But a Defense Department study completed last year offers what may be the first time in a unclassified report that Israel is a nuclear power. On page 37 of the U.S. Joint Forces Command report, the Army includes Israel within "a growing arc of nuclear powers running from Israel in the west through an emerging Iran to Pakistan, India, and on to China, North Korea, and Russia in the east.""

US Army Confirms Israeli Nukes - Military.com

Why hasn't Israel signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, thus allowing IAEA inspections, like every other country?

U.S. Fed Injecting Billions Into Foreign Central Banks

U.S. Injecting Billions Into Foreign Central Banks
"The Fed program adds up to serious money. The most recent balance sheet released by the Fed shows that $314 billion U.S. dollars are currently doled out to foreign central banks under the foreign exchange program. That's down from a December peak of nearly $600 billion, as central banks have repaid some of the loans."


2007 Breaks Baby Boom Birth Record

"More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than in any other year in American history, according to preliminary data reported Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics.

The 4,317,000 births in 2007 just edged out the figure for 1957, at the height of the baby boom. The increase reflected a slight rise in childbearing by women of all ages, including those in their 30s and 40s, and a record share of births to unmarried women."

’07 U.S. Births Break Baby Boom Record - NYTimes.com


Iraq War Began Six Years Ago Today

Who Killed the Electric Car? (watch the whole movie!)

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar

"A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar."

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar | U.S. | Reuters

Keep spendin', America! Obviously, you're immune to the laws of economics! U!S!A! U!S!A!

Baghdad's water still undrinkable 6 years after invasion

"Everybody complains about the water in Baghdad , and few are willing to risk drinking it from the tap. Six years after the U.S. invaded Iraq , 36 percent of Baghdad's drinking water is unsafe, according to the Iraqi Environment Ministry — in a good month. In a bad month, it's 90 percent. Cholera broke out last summer, and officials fear another outbreak this year."

Baghdad's water still undrinkable 6 years after invasion


Soldier suicides skyrocket

Ex-Bush admin official: Many at Gitmo are innocent

"Many detainees locked up at Guantanamo were innocent men swept up by U.S. forces unable to distinguish enemies from noncombatants, a former Bush administration official said Thursday. "There are still innocent people there," Lawrence B. Wilkerson, a Republican who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, told The Associated Press. "Some have been there six or seven years.""

Ex-Bush admin official: Many at Gitmo are innocent

The U.S. has admitted to torturing innocent people.  We're not the shining beacon on the hill anymore, are we?


Sunday, March 15, 2009

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Finally, Someone Else Besides Ron Paul Gets It's the Federal Reserve's Fault

Ex-Bush Economist: Blame The Federal Reserve For The Crash | - CBS News
"As you might guess from the title, Taylor concludes that blame lies primarily with the Federal Reserve's unreasonably low interest rates for much of the last decade. He also points an accusatory finger at "the failure to rein in Fannie and Freddie" (meaning Rep. Barney Frank and other Democratic congressional enablers) and "the lack of clarity in the operation" of last fall's financial bailout plan (meaning the Bush administration, plus congressional leaders who drafted the legislation)."


Sunday, February 22, 2009

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration spent more than $123,000 to charter a private jet to fly to Bogota, Colombia, last fall instead of taking one of the agency's 106 planes.

Obama Sides With Bush, Detainees Can't Challenge Detention in U.S. Courts

Obama: No rights for Bagram prisoners - White House- msnbc.com
"The Obama administration, siding with the Bush White House, contended Friday that detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights

In a two-sentence court filing, the Justice Department said it agreed that detainees at Bagram Airfield cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detention. The filing shocked human rights attorneys."



U.K. government is criminalising legitimate dissent under the guise of fighting 'extremism', a word for which it has no definition

Seumas Milne: According to the UK government, we are all extremists now | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

What about extreme sports? Are they criminal? What about that "extreme" new flavor of Mountain Dew?


The American Form of Government

Soros sees no bottom for world financial "collapse"

"Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.

Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union."

Soros sees no bottom for world financial collapse | U.S. | Reuters


Debt is what killed the Soviet Union, yet the U.S. just piles more and more on.


Big Pharma Quietly Hikes Drug Prices 100 Percent or More

Big Pharma Quietly Hikes Drug Prices 100 Percent or More
"Without any fanfare, pharmaceutical companies have been raising the prices of many of their drugs by 100 percent or more, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota."


Hey, gotta get ready for the gov't paying for it...


Bush Had Used Accouting Gimmicks to Show Smaller Budget Deficit, Obama to Get Rid of Them

"For his first annual budget next week, President Obama has banned four accounting gimmicks that President George W. Bush used to make deficit projections look smaller. The price of more honest bookkeeping: A budget that is $2.7 trillion deeper in the red over the next decade than it would otherwise appear, according to administration officials."

Obama Bans Gimmicks, and Deficit Will Rise - NYTimes.com


Civilians Continue to Be Killed En Masse in Afghanistan

"An airstrike by the United States-led military coalition killed 13 civilians and 3 militants last Tuesday in western Afghanistan, not “up to 15 militants” as was initially claimed by American forces, military officials here said Saturday."

U.S. Concedes Afghan Attack Mainly Killed Civilians - NYTimes.com


Monsanto's Tactics in India Lead to Farmer Suicides

There is a great documentary available on Netlfix called, The Future of Food, which describes Monsanto and the whole notion of patenting bioforms. I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Former Head of MI5 Says Fear of Terrorism Is Being Exploited by Gov't

"Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state."

Spy chief: We risk a police state - Telegraph