Animal Farm

Small Banks Disappear. So Do Loans to Small Businesses.

"The number of banks is down to just under 6,900. There were 7,000 a year ago. Banking regulation adds to costs. This wipes out small banks. It subsidizes big banks. Which banks caused the crisis of 2008? Large banks. Which banks got the lion’s share of the bailouts from Congress and the Federal Reserve? The top 6 banks. The crisis made them bigger, more powerful. The bailouts were subsidies for failure. Which banks hold 70% of all bank assets? The top 12 banks. Who loses? Small businesses. They get loans from small banks. Which businesses provide the vast majority of new jobs? Start-up businesses." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmall Banks Disappear. So Do Loans to Small Businesses.

Leaked Docs: Dutch Rabobank Blocked Bitcoin for ‘Ethical Reasons’

"Rabobank, the Netherlands’ third-largest retail bank by market share,blocked its customers’ transfers to bitcoin exchanges for ‘ethical reasons’, according to several first-hand customer reports and bank documents leaked to Dutch news sites. When questioned about the blocks, Rabobank apparently told some customers there were 'technical problems' with the transfer, but told others the bank’s own internal Ethics Commission had ruled to disallow bitcoin trading. The documents went on to recommend customers engaging in bitcoin trading be labeled as having a 'higher risk profile' in general." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLeaked Docs: Dutch Rabobank Blocked Bitcoin for ‘Ethical Reasons’

Ron Paul: Federal Reserve Steals From the Poor and Gives to the Rich

"As recently as five years ago, it would have been unheard of for a Wall Street insider and former Fed official to speak so bluntly about how the Fed acts as a reverse Robin Hood. But a quick glance at the latest unemployment numbers shows that QE is not benefiting the average American. It is increasingly obvious that the Fed's post-2008 policies of bailouts, money printing, and bond buying benefited the big banks and the politically-connected investment firms. It would be a mistake to think that QE is the first time the Fed's policies have benefited the well-to-do at the expense of the average American. The Fed's polices have always benefited crony capitalists and big spending politicians." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Federal Reserve Steals From the Poor and Gives to the Rich

Investment Manager Explains Why 99.5% Of Americans Can Never Win

"The bottom line is this: A highly complex set of laws and exemptions from laws and taxes has been put in place by those in the uppermost reaches of the U.S. financial system. It allows them to protect and increase their wealth and significantly affect the U.S. political and legislative processes. They have real power and real wealth. Ordinary citizens in the bottom 99.9% are largely not aware of these systems, do not understand how they work, are unlikely to participate in them, and have little likelihood of entering the top 0.5%, much less the top 0.1%. Moreover, those at the very top have no incentive whatsoever for revealing or changing the rules. I am not optimistic." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInvestment Manager Explains Why 99.5% Of Americans Can Never Win

U.S. Deal With JPMorgan Followed a Crucial Call To Justice Department

"On Sept. 24, four hours before the Justice Department was planning to hold a news conference to announce civil charges against the bank over its sale of troubled mortgage investments, Mr. Dimon personally called one of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s top lieutenants to reopen settlement talks, people briefed on the talks said. The rare outreach from a Wall Street C.E.O. scuttled the news conference and set in motion weeks of negotiations that have culminated in a tentative $13 billion deal. An account of the negotiations pulls back a curtain on the private wrangling to illuminate how the bank and the government managed to negotiate what would be a record deal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Deal With JPMorgan Followed a Crucial Call To Justice Department

Their Propaganda….Our Propaganda

"The Guardian was able to get a hold of some paintings that were made by a North Korean propaganda artist, for the North Korean people. The paintings depict their 'glorious neighbor' China. Keep in mind, when you see these, that most North Koreans have never been to China. What a glorious place...a Heaven on Earth mixed with The Land of Oz. Fortunately, here in the United States, we have freedom of the press, and it takes hard effort for that press to pull the wool over our eyes! Americans are not so easily fooled..." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTheir Propaganda….Our Propaganda

It Won’t Stay in Vegas: The Metro PD’s Homeland Security Theater

"Las Vegas, like every other city, does face a lethal threat from people who consider themselves emancipated from the law and entitled to kill without accountability. Like the Sovereigns, those people speak in a specialized language that supposedly legitimizes their lawlessness, and that makes no obvious sense to rational people who don’t belong to their clique. The Las Vegas branch of this domestic terrorist movement maintains a fraudulent 'court' where criminal actions, up to and including murder, are ratified. However, the crimes committed by that state-sanctioned terrorist syndicate are neither hypothetical, nor uncommon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt Won’t Stay in Vegas: The Metro PD’s Homeland Security Theater

‘I Was Stop-And-Frisked By The NYPD More Than 100 Times’

"In 2011, the number of stops of young black men exceeded New York City's entire population of young black men. Daniel A Medina followed the story of one, Keeshan, whose teenage years were scarred by the controversial police tactic a court has ruled a violation of minorities' rights." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘I Was Stop-And-Frisked By The NYPD More Than 100 Times’

How Cops Are Vetted For Aggression & Insensitivity, With Capt. Ray Lewis

"Abby Martin remarks on the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, highlighting a recent Reuters poll showing that only 15% of Americans are satisfied with the government's effort to prosecute Wall Street bankers, and speaks with former Philadelphia police captain Ray Lewis about why he chose to protest in-uniform at Occupy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Cops Are Vetted For Aggression & Insensitivity, With Capt. Ray Lewis

NJ Supreme Court Says Judges Can’t Do Stand Up Comedy

"For the humorously challenged, exposing the funny takes several ingredients. First, you need to be in a position to observe everyday occurrences that can be mocked or exposed for ridicule. Then you need the ability to craft a joke about that topic. Finally, you need the ability to deliver that joke. Vince Sicari has those ingredients. He's also a part-time judge in New Jersey, which is the sort of thing I didn't know existed (part-time judges, not the great state of New Jersey). Unfortunately that apparently makes him the bane of the legal system, as the New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered him to step down from the bench if he continues working in comedy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNJ Supreme Court Says Judges Can’t Do Stand Up Comedy