Big Lie

Don’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

"The bond-market bust was a long time coming, if you’ve read my columns this year and last. But some investors — even big-time mutual fund managers — got caught flat-footed. Why? Just like real estate in the 2000s and tech stocks in the late 1990s, those bull markets were artificially extended for years, and those who got out early lost out on some of the biggest gains. But make no mistake. The real problem is what I’ve been harping on for several months: The bond market is a gigantic bubble, having been wildly inflated by too much cheap, easy money from the world’s central banks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

Michael Hastings’ Final Article Before Car Explosion: ‘Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans’

"For most bigwig Democrats in Washington, D.C., the last 48 hours has delivered news of the worst kind — a flood of new information that has washed away any lingering doubts about where President Obama and his party stand on civil liberties, full stop. Glenn Greenwald’s exposure of the NSA’s massive domestic spy program has revealed the entire caste of current Democratic leaders as a gang of civil liberty opportunists, whose true passion, it seems, was in trolling George W. Bush for eight years on matters of national security. 'Everyone should just calm down,' Senator Harry Reid said yesterday, inhaling slowly. That’s right: don’t panic." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichael Hastings’ Final Article Before Car Explosion: ‘Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans’

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Compares NSA Spying to Soviet Russia

"'When I was brought up my dad taught me, for example, [that when] other countries got prisoners in a war, they tortured them. But we, Americans, didn’t torture them. And now I find out it’s just the opposite. And all these things we talk about in the Constitution, that made us so good as a people, they all dissolved with the Patriot Act. I was taught that communist Russia were the ones that were going to kill us, and bomb our country. Communist Russia was so bad because they followed their people, they snooped on them, they arrested them, they put them in secret prisons, they disappeared them. Nowadays, we’re getting more and more like that.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingApple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Compares NSA Spying to Soviet Russia

The World’s Greatest Investor is Dead Wrong

"Contrary to the wisdom spouted by people like Mr. Buffett, gold’s movements are not about the economy. They’re not about geopolitical tensions. They’re not about inflation (and they’ve never been about inflation— a fact that four decades of correlation statistics handily prove). They’re not about what central banks are or are not buying. They are, instead, entirely about the direction of the U.S. dollar as a reflection of the U.S. fiscal situation. And as the last four decades have proven, the dollar will go down as America’s finances worsen. And that makes gold a buy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe World’s Greatest Investor is Dead Wrong

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants

"The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed this week that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed 'simply based on an analyst deciding that.' If the NSA wants 'to listen to the phone,' an analyst's decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. The same legal standards that apply to phone calls also apply to e-mail messages, text messages, and instant messages." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants

Japan to adopt ‘bail-ins,’ force bank losses on investors if needed, Nikkei says

"Japan's Financial Services Agency will enact new rules that will forced failed bank losses on investors, if needed, via a mechanism known as a 'bail-in,' according to The Nikkei. Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU), Mizuho Financial (MFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui (SMFG) are among those proposing amendments to allow them to issue the types of preferred shares or subordinated bonds that would be used in such cases, the report noted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan to adopt ‘bail-ins,’ force bank losses on investors if needed, Nikkei says

3 Reasons the ‘Nothing to Hide’ Crowd Should Be Worried About Government Surveillance

"There are many, many reasons to be concerned about the rise of the surveillance state, even if you have nothing to hide. Or rather, even if you think you have nothing to hide. For those confronted by such simplistic arguments, here are a three counterarguments that perhaps might get these people thinking about what they’re actually giving up." Continue reading →

Continue Reading3 Reasons the ‘Nothing to Hide’ Crowd Should Be Worried About Government Surveillance

Eric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

"The United States is confident it will bring Edward Snowden to justice for 'extremely damaging' leaks about secret internet surveillance programmes, US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday. 'The national security of the United States has been damaged by those leaks. The safety of the American people and safety of people in allied nations is at risk,' he said. Holder also said that he had agreed to share details with the European Union about the so-called PRISM programme, which was exposed after Snowden spoke to British and American newspapers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

David Galland: Scenarios

"No one can predict the future – the world is too complex, and a big part of that complexity comes from the human species in which all traits, good and bad, are present. (Is there such a thing as an armadillo with bad character? A bunny rabbit?) When people with bad character, or even good character but suffering from delusions, backed by the full power of the state make it their business to protect you against an unforeseeable future, and approach their task with the idea that individual rights should play a distant second fiddle to the greater good, it's time to be cautious." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: Scenarios

Study links genetically modified grain to stomach inflammation in pigs

"Pigs fed a diet of only genetically modified grain showed markedly higher stomach inflammation than pigs who dined on conventional feed, according to a new study by a team of Australian scientists and U.S. researchers. those pigs that ate the GM diet had a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation – 32 percent of GM-fed pigs compared to 12 percent of non-GM-fed pigs. The inflammation was worse in GM-fed males compared to non-GM fed males by a factor of 4.0. Critics have argued for years that the DNA changes made to the transgenic plants engineer novel proteins that can be causing the digestive problems in animals and possibly in humans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudy links genetically modified grain to stomach inflammation in pigs