Bullshit Artists

Seattle police pay $20,000 for cover-up involving violence against protesters

"The Seattle Police Department (SPD) paid the Seattle Times $20,000 after admitting to withholding an internal memo criticizing the department’s response against protesters in a May 1, 2012 demonstration. The Times reported on Tuesday that the department confessed to violating the state’s Public Records Act by not making the memo public, which criticized Assistant Chief Mike Sanford for 'contradictory orders, haphazard planning and operational interference' during the 2012 'May Day” demonstration in downtown Seattle. The payout prevents the department from being sued by the Times for violating the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSeattle police pay $20,000 for cover-up involving violence against protesters

Ron Paul: The Real Meaning of President Obama’s National Security Speeches

"This past Thursday and Friday, President Obama delivered two speeches designed to outline his new thinking on national security and counter-terrorism. While much was made in the media of the president’s statements at the National Defense University and the US Naval Academy suggesting that the most active phase of US military action overseas was coming to an end, this 'new' approach is but the same old policy wrapped in new packaging. In these addresses, the president panders to the progressives, while continually expanding and solidifying the 'enabling act' principle." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: The Real Meaning of President Obama’s National Security Speeches

Glenn Greenwald: Andrew Sullivan, terrorism, and the art of distortion

"I used to wonder how people who continuously justify any manner of violence and militarism by their own side could possibly spend so much time pointing to others and depicting them - those people over there - as the embodiment of violence and savage aggression. But at some point I realized that it's precisely because they continuously justify so much violence and aggression from their side that they have such a boundless compulsion to depict others as the Uniquely Primitive and Violent Evil. That's how they absolve themselves. It's how they distract themselves from the reality of what they support and what their governments do in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Andrew Sullivan, terrorism, and the art of distortion

Revisiting the ‘Crack Babies’ Epidemic That Was Not

"Scientific studies in the 1980s led to predictions that a generation of children would be damaged for life. Those predictions turned out to be wrong. This supposed epidemic — one television reporter talks of a 500 percent increase in damaged babies — was kicked off by a study of just 23 infants that the lead researcher now says was blown out of proportion. And the shocking symptoms — like tremors and low birth weight — are not particular to cocaine-exposed babies, pediatric researchers say; they can be seen in many premature newborns. A much more serious problem, it turns out, is infants who are born with fetal alcohol syndrome." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRevisiting the ‘Crack Babies’ Epidemic That Was Not
Read more about the article U.S. drug czar: Marijuana is drug most often linked to crime

U.S. drug czar: Marijuana is drug most often linked to crime

"Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief, has consistently opposed legalization since he became President Barack Obama’s top drug policy adviser in 2009. His position puts him at odds with two states, Washington and Colorado, that voted in November to legalize marijuana, a controlled substance that remains illegal under federal law. With the Obama administration doing nothing so far to try to stop them, both states are proceeding with plans to begin selling marijuana for recreational use next year. A third state, Alaska, might follow soon, with legalization supporters aiming to get the measure on the state’s primary ballot in August of next year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. drug czar: Marijuana is drug most often linked to crime

Showdown With the IRS at the Not-OK Corral

"The terror-inducing IRS is in total defensive mode. It’s employees just can’t seem to remember anything. 'I don’t know.' 'I don’t remember.' 'I’m not familiar with that detail.' 'It’s not my precise area.' 'I’m not familiar with that letter.' This is according to Peggy Noonan in a recent Wall Street Journal article. If you say you don’t recall, the government cannot get you for perjury. Of course, taxpayers cannot tell the IRS 'I don’t recall how much income I made.' The IRS just assesses a tax, and you have to prove otherwise. But now the IRS is on the receiving end of an inquisition. The nation cheers. Are they stonewalling? You bet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingShowdown With the IRS at the Not-OK Corral

Secrets From The Sexist Pitchbook Of One Of Wall Street’s More Notorious Firms

"BuzzFeed has obtained the 'Golden Pitchbook' used by top brokers at John Thomas Financial. In its pages: How cold-calling brokers pressure prospects to buy stocks from the troubled firm. The aggressive pitch tactics in the book and supporting JTF documents, such as what one scenario described by the source as 'Don’t Pitch The Bitch,' have caught the attention of the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecrets From The Sexist Pitchbook Of One Of Wall Street’s More Notorious Firms

The Words That Sent the Stock Market Tumbling

"Stocks closed down nearly 1 percent in a volatile session after the minutes from the last Fed policy setting meeting suggested the Fed is divided on when it may start to pull back on its monetary stimulus. The market had moved higher earlier in the session when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that tapering bond purchases will depend on an improvement in the economic data. But then during the Q & A, Bernanke said that the Fed could decide to scale back the pace of bond purchases at one of the 'next few meetings' if the economic recovery looked set to maintain forward momentum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Words That Sent the Stock Market Tumbling

Yes, Soros Sold Off Gold (But Then Bought Gold Miners)

"The mood on metals has soured and thus one is left with two options: Expect more of the same as gold pursues another leg down or fight the trend, presumably under an assumption that it has run its course. Soros seems to have made up his mind. And in doing so has surprised us. With Soros it's probably a case of watching what he does, not what he says – as the article points out, he loves to mislead the public by giving voice to one opinion while investing in an entirely different way. Also, Soros is about as big an insider as there is. If anyone understands the near-term future of metals prices it might be him. What exactly does he know?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYes, Soros Sold Off Gold (But Then Bought Gold Miners)

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange closes its doors; investors compensated in cash

"HKMEx chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen told the Sunday Morning Post that the decision to surrender the trading licence and not reopen for business tomorrow would have no impact on investors and that client contracts would be honoured. 'There is no question of not getting your money back or anything like that. People absolutely do not have to worry about that and I don't think they are. The only thing they will want to know is what settlement price will be used,' Cheung said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHong Kong Mercantile Exchange closes its doors; investors compensated in cash