Source – zerohedge.com – Game over, man: the Fed won. As the Economist reports, according to a new paper by authors at liberal bastion UC Berkeley and the LSE, US inequality in wealth is approaching record levels (actually it already surpassed it as reported long ago). “The authors examine the share of total wealth held…
Source – .paulcraigroberts.org – Writing for Americans is not always an enjoyable experience. Many readers want to have their prejudices confirmed, not challenged. Emotions rule their reason, and they are capable of a determined resistance to facts and are not inhibited from displays of rudeness and ignorance. Indeed, some are so proud of their shortcomings…
Source – rutherford.org – We want no Gestapo or secret police. The FBI is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex-life scandals and plain blackmail. J. Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over, and all congressmen and senators are afraid of him.—President Harry S. Truman Secret police. Secret courts. Secret…
Source – oftwominds.com – We’re being hit with a double-whammy: Wages are under deflationary pressure, and almost everything else is exposed to inflationary pressure. As correspondent Mark G. observed in Globalization = Permanent Instability, it’s impossible to understand inflation and deflation now except in a global context. Now that prices for commodities such as oil…
Source – sovereignman.com – When I was growing up, my father was able to support his family of four on a single income. And when he was growing up, his father could do the same. This sort of security simply doesn’t exist anymore. These days, it typically takes two working parents just to be able…
Source – earthlinggb.wordpress.com – Ashley Mote raises an issue in EU Parliament: “Mr. President, I wish to draw your attention to the Global Security Fund, set up in the early 1990s under the auspices of Jacob Rothschild. This is a Brussels-based fund and it is no ordinary fund: it does not trade, it is not…
Source – attn.com – Germany made international news last week when they decided to eliminate college tuition entirely (before this, it was less than €1,000– the equivalent to $1,300– per year). Meanwhile in the United States, the average per-year tuition cost was $8,655 for an in-state 4-year public college, $21,706 for an out-of-state 4 year public college, and $29,056 for…
Source – alternet.org, The business classes are constantly fighting a bitter class war to improve their power and diminish opposition, This is an excerpt from the 2nd edition of Noam Chomsky’s OCCUPY: Class War, Rebellion and Solidarity, edited by Greg Ruggiero and published by Zuccotti Park Press. Chris Steele interviews Chomsky. Journalist Matt Taibbi has suggested that the government is…
Source – libertyblitzkrieg.com – The increased use of eminent domain to transfer property to powerful political interests, the ramifications of the wars on terrorism and drugs, and the violation of the property rights of bondholders in the auto-bailout case have weakened the tradition of strong adherence to the rule of law in United States. We believe these factors have contributed…
Source – whowhatwhy.com – Just when did the United States government start referring to the country as the “homeland?” If you were to answer “after 9/11,” you would be wrong. That’s the surprise. What is not at all surprising is the exponential expansion of what some call the “security-industrial complex” since that day in September thirteen…
Source – globalresearch.ca – The wealthiest 400 people in the United States had their combined net worth grow thirteen percent to $2.29 trillion this year, amidst a surging stock market and record corporate profits. The figures come from the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans, compiled every year since 1982 by the American business…
Source – wsws.org/ – As the Detroit bankruptcy moves into its final stage, it becomes ever more clear that the corporate-financial oligarchy is implementing the wholesale privatization of an entire US city. With the full backing of a federal court acting on behalf of powerful corporate and financial interests, a cabal of capitalist politicians and…
Source – motherboard.vice.com – From the American Occupy movement to the surprise best-seller by the economist Thomas Piketty, income inequality is all the rage—perhaps because it’s raging. According to a newly released study, the last few decades have seen a rise of the biggest income gaps within nations since the Industrial Revolution. The OECD just…
Source – fourwinds10.net – He is Edward “Ed” Mezvinsky, born January 17, 1937. Then you’ll probably say, “Who is Ed Mezvinsky?” Well, he is a former Democrat congressman who represented Iowa’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms, from 1973 to 1977. He sat on the House Judiciary Committee…
Source – brookings.edu – The Brookings Institution just released a list of the 25 US billionaires with the most political power The Brookings Institution think-tank has just released a list of the 25 US billionaires with the most political power. You can access an interactive graphic here. The list is a part of Brookings Institution…
Source – rallyagainstomalley.com – Let the worker beware: in Texas it is now entirely legal to lie to your staff. A recent decision from the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that at-will employees can’t sue their employer for fraud over the loss of their jobs. In his opinion, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht held that “while…
Source – 1776channel.com – UPDATE August 20th 9:20 pm E.D.T. 1776 Channel spoke to a staff member with Asymmetric Solutions this afternoon who made the following statement: “It’s sad to see what’s happening to a great city. Our duty was very simple. We provide bodyguard service all over the country and overseas. A private citizen…
Source – washingtonsblog.com – Congress Is For Sale to the Highest Bidder: Americans of all stripes oppose the militarization of U.S. police forces. For example: A December 2013 Reason-Rupe poll found that 58% of Americans thought that police militarization has gone too far A new Pew research poll shows that a plurality of people think…
Source – paulcraigroberts.org – On January 6, 2004, Paul Craig Roberts and US Senator Charles Schumer published a jointly written article on the op-ed page of the New York Times titled “Second Thoughts on Free Trade.” The article pointed out that the US had entered a new economic era in which American workers face “direct…
Source – libertyblitzkrieg.com – ames Risen is not just a phenomenal reporter, he is also an extremely courageous and honorable American patriot. His case is a very disturbing one, and it has justifiably received a great deal of national attention. In a nutshell, the Obama Administration is threatening the pulitzer prize winning journalist with prison…
Source – nakedcapitalism.com – Yves here. Bad enough having to worry about offshoring eating into your employment prospects and compensation level. Alan Blinder, in Senate testimony in 2007, had argued that up to 29% of US jobs were “offshorable,” including many service industry positions. And now this…. From Unconventional Economist, who has previously worked at…
Source – equedia.com – At times, it may seem as if my Letters only show the ugly side of the world. From the increasing tensions headlined by world super powers, to the economic distress within our own borders, there are much bigger forces at work. While instilling confidence may appear to be a good strategy…
Source – washingtonsblog.com – The U.S. Department of State reports that only 17 U.S. citizens were killed worldwide as a result of terrorism in 2011.* That figure includes deaths in Afghanistan, Iraq and all other theaters of war. In contrast, the American agency which tracks health-related issues – the U.S. Centers for Disease Control –…
Source – globalresearch.ca – This presentation focuses on the myriad ways in which the powers-that-be in the United States have been systematically dumbing down Americans as a society for a very long time – all by meticulously calculated design. Originally the term dumbing down was used as a slang expression in 1933 by film screenwriters…
Source – breitbart.com – A startling new political science study concludes that corporate interests and mega wealthy individuals control U.S. policy to such a degree that “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” The startling study, titled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites,…
Source – govtslaves.info – Saving the environment is usually looked at as a positive thing, but a new report from Senate Republicans alleges a shady underbelly in the quest to save the forest (and other environmental causes). The report – “How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA”…
Source – bloomberg.com – The 1 percent is literally rich beyond measure, depriving nations of billions in tax revenue and obscuring shifts in global inequality. Research conducted separately by European Central Bank economist Philip Vermeulen and London School of Economics’ Gabriel Zucman show the wealth of the super-affluent — hidden by tax shelters and nonresponse…
Source – constantinereport.com – If you only manage to read one big book of political history this year, make it Rick Perlstein’s The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan. The third in a series of phonebook-sized tomes tracing the ascendency of the conservative movement since the early 1960s, The Invisible…
Source – nytimes.com – Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too. The inflation-adjusted net worth for the typical household was $87,992 in 2003. Ten years later, it was only…
Source – firstlook.org – The Obama administration has quietly approved a substantial expansion of the terrorist watchlist system, authorizing a secret process that requires neither “concrete facts” nor “irrefutable evidence” to designate an American or foreigner as a terrorist, according to a key government document obtained by The Intercept. The “March 2013 Watchlisting Guidance,” a…
Source – globalresearch.ca – For over 65 years, the United States war machine has been on auto pilot. Since World War II, the world has believed that US foreign policy means well, and that America’s motives in spreading democracy are honorable, even noble. America’s Deadliest Export: DemocracyIn this startling and provocative book from William Blum,…
Source – thenation.com – Thanks to the militarization and expansion of the “border” region, 197 million Americans now live within the jurisdiction of US Customs and Border Patrol.- Shena Gutierrez was already cuffed and in an inspection room in Nogales, Arizona, when the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent grabbed her purse, opened it, and…
Source – washingtontimes.com – A militia has set up a command center south of San Antonio to prepare for what they say is a mission to protect the United States from the influx of illegal immigrants. The militia, operating via the website PatriotsInformationHotline.com, founded by Barbie Rogers, said members at the command center in Von…
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