CLibertyC

Cash airlift helped avert Greek bank run during debt crisis

"Greece's central bank had billions of euros of banknotes shipped in from other central banks to avert a bank run during the country's debt crisis as depositors withdrew their money. Fears the debt-laden country might ditch the euro and return to the drachma led Greeks to pull out billions of euros of savings in the last three years, stashing their cash under mattresses or in safe deposit boxes. To meet the high demand for cash, the Bank of Greece had loads of banknotes secretly airshipped from abroad, feeding it to banks throughout the country to avoid shortages that could have intensified worries and set off a bank run." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCash airlift helped avert Greek bank run during debt crisis

Let’s Look a Little More Closely at What Bernanke Told Congress

"In Congressional testimony last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke slipped something in that no one much noticed. He said that the Fed might eventually choose to exit from its current monetary expansion binge, not by selling US government securities, but by letting them mature. So what happens if the Fed holds a bond to maturity? In that case, the Fed presumably receives the principal payment from the Treasury and then sends that back to the Treasury too. In effect, the government has simply canceled its own debt. Bernanke has in effect announced an intention to cancel US bonds, and it doesn’t cause a ripple." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLet’s Look a Little More Closely at What Bernanke Told Congress

Sequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany

"Before you head for the bunker or put a down payment on a famous bridge, I’d like to offer some sensible alternatives to sequestration calamity. Here are three that would solve the sequestration problem with billions to spare. These are just a few alternatives to the disaster that will supposedly accompany giving the federal government a smaller raise this year. Tragically, most people would view these proposals as crazy but view borrowing money to give away to others as perfectly sane. That’s when you know the end is nigh." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSequester solved: Sell national parks, stop foreign aid, leave Germany

Nato commander apologises after troops shoot dead Afghan children

"The area, Lowar-e-Dowahom, was often patrolled by international troops, a spokesman said. 'They saw two young children who were apparently listening to a radio and they shot them – it is not yet clear why,' the spokesman said. Australian forces deployed in Uruzgan said earlier there had been an 'operational incident' in the province's northwest but gave no details except that no soldiers were harmed. On 13 February a Nato air strike requested by Afghan forces killed 10 people – including five children and four women – in the eastern province of Kunar, prompting Karzai to ban his troops from requesting foreign air strikes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNato commander apologises after troops shoot dead Afghan children

Homeland Security built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show. The documents provide more details about the surveillance capabilities of the department's unmanned Predator B drones, which are primarily used to patrol the United States' northern and southern borders but have been pressed into service on behalf of a growing number of law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Secret Service, the Texas Rangers, and local police." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomeland Security built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones

Glenn Greenwald: Bradley Manning: the face of heroism

"The combination of extreme government secrecy, a supine media (see the prior two columns), and a disgracefully subservient judiciary means that the only way we really learn about what our government does is when the Daniel Ellsbergs - and Bradley Mannings - of the world risk their own personal interest and liberty to alert us. Daniel Ellberg is now widely viewed as heroic and noble, and Bradley Manning (as Ellsberg himself has repeatedly said) merits that praise and gratitude every bit as much." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Bradley Manning: the face of heroism

Four States Advance Legislation To Block NDAA Indefinite Detention

"In a stunning move last week, four states, Indiana, Colorado, Montana and Arizona, successfully advanced anti-NDAA legislation. The goal for each bill is to protect the people of that state from indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012. The 2012 NDAA applies broad detention power to U.S. soil, allowing the federal government to detain and even execute any person, including an American citizen, on U.S. soil. There has not been such backlash against a federal law since Congress attempted to enforce a mandatory national speed limit, as over 21 states have introduced legislation to counter the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFour States Advance Legislation To Block NDAA Indefinite Detention

GOP Governors Continue Caving In to ObamaCare Mandates

"Republican governors once so ferocious in their fight against ObamaCare now seem content to roll over and play dead. Perhaps their new agreeable attitude is inspired by the fact that President Obama was reelected in November while their own political futures remain in jeopardy. As the Associated Press reported last Sunday, 'nearly two dozen GOP governors elected in 2009 and 2010 could face the voters again.' There's more than just electoral pragmatism at work, however. Governors know better than anyone that they rely on federal largesse for the bulk of their state budgets and would hardly be in their best (read: re-election) interest to bite the hand that feeds them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGOP Governors Continue Caving In to ObamaCare Mandates