"In the 1970s, a strange psychological phenomenon was identified: in traumatic abduction situations, a certain percentage of the population is prone to falling in love with their abductors. But if we are living in a societal prison of the mind, then are there those who have fallen in love with their mental jailers? Find out more about societal Stockholm syndrome in this week's edition of The Corbett Report." Continue reading →
"Zero Hedge is publishing information from a tipster who explained how easy it was to get information into traders about the Fed monetary policy statement before it was officially released. This really sounds very similar to what happened at the BLS in the old days (the 1980s). I outlined how that went down, here. We are talking about big time money here, people made millions on the leaked information. They will also be tough to catch, especially if they used throw away phones. If no direct connection can be made between a leaker and a trader, then all a trader has to do is stick to his story that he bought on some kind of technical trading activity and who will be able to prove otherwise?" Continue reading →
"The poll data is clear and cuts across party lines: 92 percent of the public does not think it is right that Congress and their staff are letting the Obama administration exempt them from the costs of Obamacare. Yet it seems many in Congress still want to dismiss these findings in hopes that these sentiments won't translate into actual voter preferences. Incumbents facing reelections shouldn't fool themselves. A recent real-world deployment of the issue shows it can powerfully impact candidates’ prospects." Continue reading →
"Ohio allows thousands of police officers and court employees to access driver’s license images online without oversight, by far the nation’s most permissive system. A recent Cincinnati Enquirer/Gannett Ohio investigation found the state permits 30,000 law enforcement officers and others to search the image database, which Attorney General Mike DeWine admitted last month had been uploaded in June without telling the public or reviewing security protocols. The Republican attorney general said similar technology was used by law enforcement in more than half the U.S., but the Enquirer’s report showed the technology is far more limited elsewhere." Continue reading →
"For foreigners, it used to be that hard work and plenty of patience for bureaucratic red tape would garner access into a coveted country. But, these days, sometimes all it takes to grab that golden ticket is achieving multimillionaire status and promising to make a hefty investment in a new homeland. Countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand are all embroiled in a global tug-of-war for the wealthy, and each has either rolled out or reauthorized what are known as millionaire visas in recent years. These programs, which are aimed squarely at wealthy investors, fast-track these individuals' path to permanent residency—and sometimes even citizenship." Continue reading →
"This is The System Of The World. It lays out in logical frankness how the various layers of the facade we call 'democracy' and 'free markets' interoperate and together create a grotesque caricature of the ideals they purport to serve and keep us all enslaved. Join us on a trip through The System." Continue reading →
"'I will drive on October 26,' activist Nasima al-Sada told AFP on Sunday, saying that some 20 women are going to take part in the campaign in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. 'Many women are enthusiastic about learning to drive, or to teach other' women how to drive, she said, as many Saudi women have obtained abroad the driving licences they are denied in their homeland. 'There is not a single text in the Sharia Islamic law that prevents us (from driving). Any pretexts used to do that are based on inherited customs,' said the online petition. The last day of of defiance against the ban was on June 17, 2011." Continue reading →
"The establishment media and many economists and other social scientists continually bemoan the varying income differences generated by voluntary and ever changing consumer choices on the market. In the U.S., the political class regularly and forcibly extracts a massive amount of income from productive workers, investors, and entrepreneurs via taxation and money creation ('quantitative easing' and 'zero interest-rate policies') and funnels these stolen funds into its own pockets and those of privileged financial institutions, giant agribusiness corporations, government military contractors, construction unions, etc." Continue reading →
"American incomes have tumbled over the last decade. But for many people in Washington, D.C., it’s been something of a party. The income of the typical D.C. household rose 23.3% between 2000 and 2012 to an inflation-adjusted $66,583, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. During this period, median household incomes for the nation as a whole dropped 6.6% — from $55,030 to $51,371. The Washington, D.C. metro area — which includes the surrounding suburbs in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia — has it even better, with a median household income of $88,233 that ranks highest among the U.S.’s 25 most populous metro areas." Continue reading →
"Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) on Thursday held up steak, vodka and caviar during her House floor speech in an effort to shame Republicans who want to slash $40 billion from the food stamp budget, while they continue to go on 'lavish' trips financed by taxpayers and other groups. Earlier this month, House Republicans introduced a bill that caved to conservative members and doubled the amount of cuts the party was proposing to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 'They dine at lavish restaurants, eating steak, vodka and even caviar,' she added, showing food props to members of the House. 'They receive money to do this. That’s right, they don’t pay out of pocket for these meals.'" Continue reading →