Big Lie

In Fight Over Marijuana’s Scheduling, Appeals Court Rules in Favor of DEA and Schedule I

"The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. ruled today in favor of the DEA's decision to keep marijuana a Schedule I drug--a classification for substances that are highly addictive and have no widely accepted medical benefits. 'On the merits, the question before the court is not whether marijuana could have some medical benefits,' reads the court's ruling in Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration. Rather, the court was tasked with deciding whether the DEA was following its own rules in refusing to initiate reschedule proceedings for marijuana." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Fight Over Marijuana’s Scheduling, Appeals Court Rules in Favor of DEA and Schedule I

The cops are a dangerous replacement for private gun ownership

"Even if the cops 'respond within minutes,' it’s too late. They responded within minutes at Sandy Hook. They responded within minutes in Aurora, Colorado. Ten minutes is too long. Two minutes is too long. If you are unarmed, two minutes after you are attacked by a violent criminal, you’re dead. Do the math. If the cops do arrive at your home or place where you are attacked before you’ve been killed, your problems might just be beginning. As Will Grigg reminds us, the first priority for police responding to a 911 call is 'officer safety.' More often than not, the officer attempts to secure his or her own safety at the expense of yours." Continue reading →

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How the System Treats a Good Cop

"As a New York City Police Officer assigned to the 81st Precinct, Adrian Schoolcraft became disillusioned when supervisors talked about manipulating crime statistics and carrying out illegal arrests. Schoolcraft blew the whistle – and immediately paid a steep price. A police strike force raided Schoolcraft’s apartment and forcibly confined him to a mental ward at Jamaica Hospital under the care of Dr. Isak Isakov, supposedly to prevent him from harming himself. He was held there for six days. An internal investigation validated nearly all of Schoolcraft’s claims – yet nobody has ever been punished for his abduction and false imprisonment." Continue reading →

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Libor Scandal to Reveal Metals Manipulation?

"Gold is being sucked directly into the Libor scandal. Of course, we are on record as pointing out that it can hardly be much of a scandal when central banks set the price and volume of money every day. But nonetheless, the mainstream press has been buzzing about the idea that commercial banks were setting LIBOR rates in ways that accommodated their business practices. It is ultimately all about control. Gold and silver prices are apparently not subject to open marketplace competition for a reason. And now the Libor scandal threatens to unearth the seamy side of metals manipulation from the standpoint of the world's biggest banks." Continue reading →

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Not Your Father’s Stock Market Anymore

"Unfortunately, we live in a world where the majority of investors are granting far too much credit to the market data they are being fed. They are making decisions based on faulty premises. They often do not even understand the basics of monetary expansion and how that affects purchasing power. The most important issue, however, is that the powerful artificial forces affecting stock markets cannot hold free-market adjustments at bay forever. That is why it is important to select stocks based not just on 'mainstream' indicators of performance and industry leadership but also on the business cycle, apparent monetary stimulation and other outside forces." Continue reading →

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Treasury chief Jacob Lew not worried about financial bubble

"US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Thursday that he was not worried about a potential financial bubble forming as Wall Street stocks racked up record highs. 'The analysis that I’ve seen doesn’t give me reason to be worried right now,' Lew said in an interview on US business news channel CNBC. Lew nevertheless called for monitoring of the situation in order to avoid another crisis like the 2008 Wall Street crash that led to the Great Recession. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday closed at a record high for the eighth day in a row, though the US economy remains sluggish and massive government spending cuts kicked in on March 1." Continue reading →

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Euro woes not over, says crisis-wary Bundesbank

"A wary German central bank said on Tuesday it had set aside billions more euros against what it deems risky European Central Bank moves, and criticized France directly for "floundering" in its reform drives. Presenting Bundesbank 2012 results, Jens Weidmann, the bank's chief, said the euro zone crisis, which has eased as a result of ECB funding promises, was not over. Weidmann, a member of the ECB's Governing Council, opposed the bank's yet-to-be-used bond-buy plan agreed last September and believeseuro zone governments must shape up their economies to exit the crisis rather than looking to the ECB for help." Continue reading →

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Rep. Walter Jones: Dick Cheney is going to hell for the Iraq war

"Republican Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina said Saturday that former Vice President Dick Cheney would likely end up in hell because of his role in the Iraq war. At a Young Americans for Liberty conference, Jones said it was impossible under current law to prosecute a president for intentionally manipulating intelligence reports to make the case for war. He co-authored a bill to change the law, but the legislation was killed in committee by Lamar Smith of Texas. The conservative Christian turned against the war after witnessing American causalities and once it became clear Iraq was not building any weapons of mass destruction." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Walter Jones: Dick Cheney is going to hell for the Iraq war

Iraq’s pain has only intensified since 2003

"Ten years on from the shock and awe of the 2003 Bush and Blair war – which followed 13 years of murderous sanctions, and 35 years of Saddamist dictatorship – my tormented land, once a cradle of civilisation, is staring into the abyss. Wanton imperialist intervention and dictatorial rule have together been responsible for the deaths of more than a million people since 1991. And yet, according to both Tony Blair and the former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, the 'price is worth it'. The Iraqi people are fully aware that Saddam committed all his major crimes while an ally of western powers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIraq’s pain has only intensified since 2003