Bullshit Artists

N.S.A. Calls Violations of Privacy ‘Minuscule’

"The top National Security Agency official charged with making sure analysts comply with rules protecting the privacy of Americans pushed back on Friday against reports that the N.S.A. had frequently violated privacy rules, after the publication of a leaked internal audit showing that there had been 2,776 such 'incidents' in a one-year period. Mr. DeLong, speaking to reporters on a conference call, also argued that the overwhelming majority of the violations were unintentional human or technical errors and that the existence of the report showed that the agency’s efforts to detect and correct violations of the rules were robust." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingN.S.A. Calls Violations of Privacy ‘Minuscule’

Nearly Every Major Federal Agency Has Reduced Projected Furloughs

"When sequestration was about to kick in, the Obama administration began a nearly across-the-board campaign to discuss the devastating impact the automatic cuts would have on agency operations. Furloughs, combined with hiring freezes, would disrupt the proper functioning of government, agency chiefs said, as fewer employees working fewer hours could not accomplish the same amount as a fully staffed workforce. While many federal agencies have in fact moved forward with furloughs, most major departments have reduced furlough days, or eliminated them altogether." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNearly Every Major Federal Agency Has Reduced Projected Furloughs

Obama has not delivered on May’s promise of transparency on drones

"When the president acknowledges four deaths of US citizens, but not 4,000 deaths of non-Americans, he signals to the world a callous and discriminatory disregard for human life. Perhaps only a fraction of these 4,000 deaths were unlawful. But acknowledging and investigating these deaths is a matter of dignity and justice – for the survivors of strikes, their communities and their countrymen. When deaths are found to be unlawful, victims’ families and survivors have a right to reparation. Refusing to investigate deaths is a matter of disrespect both for international law and for the public’s right to know the full truth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama has not delivered on May’s promise of transparency on drones

With the Central Subway Project, the Only Way Out is Through

"At times, it's difficult to remember that voters approved the Central Subway. That's because the project, a 1.7-mile extension of the T-line running from SoMa to Chinatown, as described in Proposition K of 2003, hardly resembles its current iteration. A $647 million budget has swelled to some $1.6 billion. An estimated daily ridership exceeding 100,000 is now pegged at 35,100. But if misery loves company, we've got both. A recent U.S. Department of Transportation study of 10 major rail projects revealed an average cost-per-passenger 500 percent higher than the initial figures used to sell the idea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith the Central Subway Project, the Only Way Out is Through

The Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama’s Presidency

"Why, he used to think just like us when he was younger, and promises to consider our arguments. But some decisions just have to be made by the grownups. Do we know how much he loves us? Can we even imagine how awful he would feel if anything bad ever happened while it was still his job to ensure our safety? By observing Obama's condescension, I don't mean to suggest tone was the most objectionable part of the speech. The disinformation should bother the American people most. The weasel words. The impossible-to-believe protestations. The factually inaccurate assertions. They're all there." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama’s Presidency

DOJ, FBI admit they inflated claims about mortgage fraud crackdown last year

"The Justice Department and FBI have quietly acknowledged they grossly overstated the scope of a mortgage fraud crackdown, which the administration heralded with much fanfare a few weeks before last year's presidential election. The DOJ and FBI had long been dogged by claims that their numbers were inflated. Bloomberg has been reporting since October that the cases cited by Holder included charges filed during the George W. Bush administration. Bloomberg continued to press for clarification. The administration went dark on the issue until Friday, when the FBI acknowledged in a memo that it had conducted an 'extensive review' and found problems." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDOJ, FBI admit they inflated claims about mortgage fraud crackdown last year

Obama’s surveillance revisions omit limits on warrantless email searches

"In pledging to make changes that could curtail the federal government’s ability to spy on Americans, President Barack Obama failed to address calls by lawmakers and experts to overhaul a law that allows the National Security Agency to search vast databases of individual Americans’ emails without court warrants. Instead, Obama called on Congress to change the USA Patriot Act, which increased the government’s ability to gather intelligence after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the secret court that oversees NSA surveillance programs. Obama said he still backed the surveillance programs but was trying to strike a balance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s surveillance revisions omit limits on warrantless email searches

Bernanke’s Bubble: A Counterfeit Boom Based on Counterfeit Money

"A lot of people on Wall Street think this stock market is a bubble. And a lot of people don’t. A lot of people think this market will fall sharply if the FED stops inflating. And a lot of people don’t. I think the people who blame the FED are right. I also think the FOMC thinks so, too. That is why it has no intention of tapering. Nothing it has said in print since last December indicates otherwise." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBernanke’s Bubble: A Counterfeit Boom Based on Counterfeit Money

Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology

"Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated. Originally the Justice Department said 530 people were charged criminally as part of a year-long initiative by the multi-agency Mortgage Fraud Working Group. It now says the actual figure was 107 -- or 80 percent less. Holder originally said the defendants had victimized more than 73,000 American homeowners. That number was revised to 17,185, while estimates of homeowner losses associated with the frauds dropped to $95 million from $1 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Holder Owes the American People an Apology

Fed links leveraged ETFs to 1987 crash

"Federal Reserve economist Tugkan Tuzun has warned leveraged exchange-traded funds could be the next problem for the stock market and could trigger a crash similar to that in 1987. Leveraged ETFs set out to generate multiples of daily index returns by gearing their portfolios twice or three times over. Turzun points to portfolio insurance, generally blamed for triggering the 1987 crash. Thanks to their trades, and their gearing, leveraged ETFs can have an outsized impact on the market. Tuzun argues that a 1% move in broadly-based market indices can produced rebalancing flows totaling $1 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed links leveraged ETFs to 1987 crash