American Ruling Class

On Obama’s Plan, a Message Emerges in Israel: Stay Quiet

"Israel has a powerful American lobby with bipartisan strength that could be uniquely positioned to help the White House shore up support in Congress. Yet there were no outward signs on Sunday that Israel would attempt to influence the outcome, and numerous experts on the Israel-American relationship said it would be deeply dangerous to try. 'It would be a mistake to overplay the Israeli interest,' said Itamar Rabinovich, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States and also its chief negotiator with Syria in the 1990s. 'It’s bad for Israel that the average American gets it into his or her mind that boys are again sent to war for Israel. They have to be sent to war for America.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOn Obama’s Plan, a Message Emerges in Israel: Stay Quiet

Former White House ‘intellectual property czar’ jumps to anti-piracy lobby BSA

"Just weeks after leaving the White House, Victoria Espinel will take over as the head of the Business Software Alliance, a group with a shameful past of overaggressive anti-piracy and pro-software patent positions, driven in large part by legacy software companies long past their innovation stage, and well into their 'litigation' against innovators stage. The organization tends to take its orders mainly from Microsoft and Autodesk, two proponents of very strong copyright and patent enforcement, because it helps those legacy companies ward off competitors and disruptive innovators." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer White House ‘intellectual property czar’ jumps to anti-piracy lobby BSA

Former Cheney aide demands Syria ‘exit strategy’ from Obama

"Mary Matalin, a Republican strategist and former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, on Sunday said that Americans had become “war wise” after the Iraq war and demanded that President Barack Obama produce an exit strategy before launching an attack on Syria. President George W. Bush and Matalin’s former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, were criticized for not having a post-war plan after invading Iraq in 2003. Even after Iraq held democratic elections in 2005, Bush said in his State of the Union address that he would 'not set an artificial timetable.' for leaving. That same year, Vice President Dick Cheney argued that the Iraq insurgency was in its 'last throes.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Cheney aide demands Syria ‘exit strategy’ from Obama

Rand Paul reminds Kerry of his famous anti-Vietnam war quote

"Paul pointed to Kerry’s 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he asked: 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?' 'I would ask John Kerry, ‘How can you ask a man to be the first one to die for a mistake?’' Paul quipped. 'What I’ve told them is, I’m not sending my son, your son or anybody else’s son to fight for stalemate. You know, when we fight, we fight when we have to. But I see things in a very personal basis.' 'You know, I see a young John Kerry who went to war and wish he remembered more of how awful war is.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRand Paul reminds Kerry of his famous anti-Vietnam war quote

Brzezinski: ‘Global Political Awakening’ Making Syrian War Difficult

"During a short interview with Germany’s DW News last Monday, former US National Security Adviser and Trilateral Commission co-founder Zbigniew Brzezinski commented on the growing inefficiency of war due to the increased political knowledge of the public. Despite Brzezinski’s noted long-term relationship with Obama which included a top foreign policy adviser position, Brzezinski denied any specific knowledge of his plans regarding Syria, saying that if the administration has a strategy, it’s a 'very well-kept secret.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrzezinski: ‘Global Political Awakening’ Making Syrian War Difficult

Bombshell: Kerry Caught Using Iraq Photos to Fuel Syrian War

"Secretary of State John Kerry opened his speech Friday by describing the horrors victims of the chemical weapon attack suffered, including twitching, spasms and difficulty breathing. Attempting to drive the point home, Kerry referenced a photograph used by the BBC illustrating a child jumping over hundreds of dead bodies covered in white shrouds. The photo was meant to depict victims who allegedly succumbed to the effects of chemical weapons via Assad’s regime. However, it was later exposed the photograph used had been taken in 2003 in Iraq. It was not related to Syrian deaths whatsoever and was later retracted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBombshell: Kerry Caught Using Iraq Photos to Fuel Syrian War

Lawyers’ Heaven: Big Banks’ Legal Bills Total $100 Billion.

"The six biggest U.S. banks, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp., have piled up $103 billion in legal costs since the financial crisis, more than all dividends paid to shareholders in the past five years. Bank of America, led by Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan increased its legal costs by $3.3 billion in the first half to a total of $19.1 billion. That’s the amount allotted to lawyers and litigation, as well as for settling claims about shoddy mortgages and foreclosures, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The sum, equivalent to spending $51 million a day, is enough to erase everything the banks earned for 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLawyers’ Heaven: Big Banks’ Legal Bills Total $100 Billion.

JPMorgan Bribe Probe Said to Expand in Asia as Spreadsheet Is Found

"The Justice Department has joined the SEC in examining whether JPMorgan hired people so that their family members in government and elsewhere would steer business to the firm, possibly violating bribery laws. The scrutiny began in Hong Kong and has now expanded to countries across Asia, looking at interns as well as full-time workers, two people said. The employees include influential politicians’ family members who worked in JPMorgan’s investment bank, as well as relatives of asset-management clients, the people said. Wall Street firms have long enlisted people whose pedigree and connections can win business, a practice that doesn’t necessarily violate the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJPMorgan Bribe Probe Said to Expand in Asia as Spreadsheet Is Found

Defiling the Memory of President Eisenhower

"On a Tuesday night, 52 years ago. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared on TV sets across America. Three days later, he would leave the Oval Office to John F. Kennedy. It all happened very fast. No one was prepared for the grim prophecy Eisenhower would tell that night in his farewell address. In 1961, the words 'military-industrial complex' probably sounded nuts. But writing in 2013, I can say with confidence that an alert and knowledgeable citizenry is far more absurd. Back when Ike made his address, defense spending was about $350 billion in today’s dollars. Today, it’s over half a trillion dollars. What would Eisenhower say today? Probably, 'I told you so you, idiots!'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDefiling the Memory of President Eisenhower

Murray Rothbard: Fighting for Oil? [1990]

"The U.S., by its embargo, blockade, and continuing threats of war, has already managed to raise the price of crude to $40 a barrel! In fact, it would be more plausible to suppose that the aim of the massive Bush intervention has been to raise the price of oil, not to lower it. And considering Mr. Bush's vice presidential visit to Saudi Arabia specifically to urge them to raise prices, his long-time connections with Texas oil and with Big Oil generally, as well as Texas's slump in recent years, this hunch begins to look all too credible." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMurray Rothbard: Fighting for Oil? [1990]