CLibertyC

Sen. Schumer: ‘Stop and frisk’ Ray Kelly should be new Homeland secretary

"New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) said in a statement on Friday that President Barack Obama should nominate controversial New York Police Department chief Ray Kelly to fill the vacancy left by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. In a statement obtained by the New York Daily News, Schumer said, 'The Department of Homeland Security is one of the most important agencies in the federal government. It’s [sic] leader needs to be someone who knows law enforcement, understands anti-terrorism efforts, and is a top-notch administrator, and at the NYPD, Ray Kelly has proven that he excels in all three.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSen. Schumer: ‘Stop and frisk’ Ray Kelly should be new Homeland secretary

China, India and Pakistan beefing up nuclear arsenals

"China now has 250 nuclear warheads against 240 in 2012, while Pakistan has increased its warheads by about 10 to between 100 and 120 and India has also added roughly 10 for a total of 90 to 110, SIPRI said in its annual report. Only the two old superpowers have cut their warheads, Russia reducing its number from 10,000 to 8,500, and the United States scaling back from 8,000 to 7,700. The warheads controlled by France stayed at 300, while Britain’s remained at 225, and Israel’s at 80. The United States and Russia have not destroyed all their chemical weapons in 2012 as promised, and Syria has said it is prepared to use them in the case of foreign attack." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina, India and Pakistan beefing up nuclear arsenals

Threat from China Is Being Hyped

"China’s sea-denial forces [don't] make up any real threat to the all-in U.S. force of 11 large deck carriers. But of course this threat is to the American Empire, not the United States itself. The U.S. carrier-heavy force is deployed far forward in East Asia to contain China and protect allies, such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia. Those wealthy allies should be doing more to provide their own security but will never do so as long as the United States provides the first line of defense. Japan already has a stronger navy than China and could do much more if it spent more of its large GDP on defense." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThreat from China Is Being Hyped

China remains the place you want to have some of your money invested

"China’s announced plan is to move 400 million rural residents into urban cities over the next decade. That’s 40 million people a year, the equivalent of filling up New York City five times annually. That’s a trend … and a very big trend, at that, when you consider the demands that puts on everything from concrete and steel needed to build the necessary infrastructure (apartments, roads, schools, hospitals, shopping centers), to restaurants, supermarkets, housing – the list is nearly endless. China, as well, is moving toward freer financial markets. That, too, is a trend that will create substantial profits for investors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina remains the place you want to have some of your money invested

South Korean court orders Japanese steel company to pay for forced labor in WWII

"A South Korean court on Wednesday ordered a Japanese steel giant to pay compensation over forced wartime labour in what was described as the first ruling of its kind, a report said. The decision marked the latest chapter in a 16-year legal battle launched by four South Koreans, now aged in their eighties and nineties, who were drafted to work for the predecessor of Nippon Steel before World War II. The forced labour issue and wartime sexual slavery remain key points of contention between Seoul and Tokyo after Japan’s brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouth Korean court orders Japanese steel company to pay for forced labor in WWII

Japan says it faces increasing threats from China, North Korea

"Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, a defense ministry report said on Tuesday, as ruling politicians call for the military to beef up its ability to respond to such threats. The report, the first since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office vowing to boost Japan's defenses, was likely to prompt a sharp response from Beijing, whose ties with Tokyo are strained by a territorial row. China is also upset by remarks from Abe suggesting he wants to cast Tokyo's wartime history in a less apologetic tone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan says it faces increasing threats from China, North Korea

Japanese Troops Storm California Beach as Marine Power Eyed

"A thousand Japanese troops have been learning how to recapture territory in the face of enemy fire. While the shoreline may be California, the skills they are building could one day be used closer to home. The two-week 'Dawn Blitz' joint drills in June saw a Japanese Self-Defense Force ship launching a hovercraft designed to carry troops and heavy weaponry that roared onto the beach. The operations reflect the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s interest in developing a Marine corps to counter what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government says are Chinese attempts to change the status quo in maritime disputes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapanese Troops Storm California Beach as Marine Power Eyed

Japan Resorts To Teenage Girls In Short Skirts To Get Their Stocks Up

"To get an idea of how Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is faring in his quest to lift his country out of two decades of stagnation, look no further than the skirts of the girl group Machikado Keiki Japan. The band, whose name translates roughly as 'street corner economic conditions', became a bellwether for the health of the world's third biggest economy earlier this year when they promised to shorten their skirts every time the country's stock market made significant gains. Their debut single, Abeno Mix – complete with unlikely singalong references to quantitative easing and construction bonds – takes its cue from Abenomics." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan Resorts To Teenage Girls In Short Skirts To Get Their Stocks Up

Monetary Mavens Talk, Talk, Talk

"The thrust of central banking coverage is one that emphasizes high finance, complicated terminology and impressive circumstances. The reality is that the tools are very limited and the choices are, well ... simplistic. Either a central bank prints money or it doesn't. Either it sets interest rates high or low. Officials can choose various targets but essentially, 'targeting' doesn't change the basic mechanism: more money or less, higher interest rates or lower ones. It's very simple and the amount of time, energy and mainstream media coverage lavished on these rudimentary – and primitive – decisions is incredible." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonetary Mavens Talk, Talk, Talk

Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

"Deny a young person work and you deny him a career. Deny him a career and you deny him a way to support a family. Deny him a family life, and who knows what happens? In China, the 'bare branches' – young men who couldn't find wives – started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851 and 1868, cost 100,000 dead and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today's young people accept their lot... and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces... rampage down Wall Street... and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…