Daily Archives: August 19, 2013

Ex-CIA official to ask Italy for pardon for illegal U.S. ‘extraordinary rendition’

"Former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady is to ask Italy’s president to pardon him for kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric under the U.S. 'extraordinary rendition' program, his lawyer was quoted as saying on Monday. Lady was among 23 Americans sentenced at an Italian trial in 2009, the first time U.S. nationals had been convicted over the program, operated by the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush during the so-called war on terror. Lady – 59, and now retired – escaped extradition in July from Panama, where he was detained after crossing the border from Costa Rica. He was released and returned to the United States." Continue reading →

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Social Security and Medicare: Twin Disasters Loved by All Age Groups

"The Social Security system, like the Medicare system, is beloved of younger workers, because they think they're going to get a free lunch from the government when they're older, and this enables them to spend less money now for their retirement years. They love it. They figure somebody else is going to pay for their retirement, and they think they're going to dig deep into somebody else's wallet. This is a Ponzi scheme. But Ponzi schemes are incredibly popular with people. Think of Bernie Madoff. People loved to get in. They begged to get in. Madoff realized early that it was this insatiable desire for outsiders to get in that was his sustaining factor." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSocial Security and Medicare: Twin Disasters Loved by All Age Groups

RNC develops a video rebuttal the the CNN “Hillary Documentary” love fest, Part 1

In case you missed it, CNN decided to do a documentary on Hillary Clinton, as it is assumed her crowning is all but assured for President in 2016 (until someone shinier comes along like in 2008): Cable News Network has announced they will produce a documentary film about presumptive 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to […]

Continue ReadingRNC develops a video rebuttal the the CNN “Hillary Documentary” love fest, Part 1

NSA Says It Was All a Series of Mistakes.

"The NSA is having a PR problem with documents provided by Edward Snowden before he arrived in Russia. The Post article indicated that the NSA is spying on Americans inside the USA. Snowden is the source of the NSA’s problems. He provided evidence. Over half of the American public thinks he did wrong. The voters are content with the loss of privacy. They want negative sanctions imposed on Snowden, not the NSA. The NSA will simply hunker down. This will blow over soon enough. Eventually, the media will run out of leaked documents. Then it will be business as usual. Over half the public does not care." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA Says It Was All a Series of Mistakes.

The Real State Secret: Spies Aren’t Very Good At Their Jobs

"It doesn't matter whether you hate the spies and believe they are corroding democracy, or if you think they are the noble guardians of the state. In both cases the assumption is that the secret agents know more than we do. But the strange fact is that often when you look into the history of spies what you discover is something very different. I want to tell some stories about MI5 - and the very strange people who worked there. They are often funny, sometimes rather sad - but always very odd. The stories also show how elites in Britain have used the aura of secret knowledge as a way of maintaining their power." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Real State Secret: Spies Aren’t Very Good At Their Jobs

Andrew Sullivan Change Of Heart: ‘Cameron Proves Greenwald Right’

"I can say this to David Cameron. Thank you for clearing the air on these matters of surveillance. You have now demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that these anti-terror provisions are capable of rank abuse. Unless some other facts emerge, there is really no difference in kind between you and Vladimir Putin. You have used police powers granted for anti-terrorism and deployed them to target and intimidate journalists deemed enemies of the state. You have proven that these laws can be hideously abused. Which means they must be repealed. You have broken the trust that enables any such legislation to survive in a democracy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAndrew Sullivan Change Of Heart: ‘Cameron Proves Greenwald Right’

Illinois governor Pat Quinn signs new ‘background checks’ law

"Private gun sales in Illinois must now be approved by state police under a law signed by Gov. Pat Quinn (D) on Sunday. WGN-TV reported that as of January 1, 2014, the law will require gun sellers to contact a police hotline to confirm that the buyer holds a valid state firearm owners’ identification card (FOID), Authorities vowed to expand their services to meet the demand for the new background checks. Another provision in the law requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to authorities within 72 hours takes effect immediately, making Illinois the eighth state to adopt such a provision." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIllinois governor Pat Quinn signs new ‘background checks’ law

Jack Lew’s “Extraordinary Measures” on Debt Just “Cooking the Books”

"A little known story that got absolutely no coverage from the mainstream media surfaced last week about the reports from the Treasury Department’s Financial Management Service. The FMS reports both the Daily Treasury Statement and the Monthly Treasury Statement. According to these reports the federal deficit rose by $98 billion dollars in July, but somehow the federal government’s debt remained exactly the same at $16,699,396,000,000 for the whole month. It seems that Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew got a bit creative and magically decided to stop the addition of more debt from showing up in the reports. Wow, don’t we all wish we could do that?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJack Lew’s “Extraordinary Measures” on Debt Just “Cooking the Books”

Who Can Best Advise You?

"It is safe to suggest that your reading of this publication has a great deal to do with the possibility that the country in which you live is approaching that critical stage. Therefore, it may be in your interest to seek the counsel of those who, for whatever reason, have made a long-term study of historical patterns. It would also be beneficial to keep a close eye on those countries in the world that (as stated above) are on the same path of self-destruction as our own but happen to be further along in the pattern. For this reason, the woman pictured above, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, may be quite useful to you as an advisor." Continue reading →

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Interest-Rate Market Going Berserk

"It seems the more bond yields surge, the more the bond fund managers say it’s not a 'real' crisis because 'inflation is still anemic.' These are the same guys who are bleeding assets, losing you money, and who have utterly failed to foresee the carnage of the past few months. Bond yields are not rising solely because of higher inflation, the traditional cause of rising rates. Instead, it’s all about the flow of hot money! Too much hot money piled into the bond market over the past four and a half years, encouraged by reckless Fed policy. And now the same investors who dog-piled into bonds to piggyback on the Fed’s policy are getting crushed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInterest-Rate Market Going Berserk