"Government continues to support the growth of student loans, which is a method by which government influences education. At the same time, the debt borrowed is turning students into mini-eurozone type debtors. Many have no chance of paying back what they owe. Donghoon Lee, an economist at the New York Federal Reserve, has put together the horrifying data." Continue reading →
"The United States is shown in the following chart. Central banks have aided the government in managing to keep rates low despite big deficits, by buying the debt. Balance sheets of the world's central banks are growing rapidly to support government deficits while forcing rates to low levels. It is a bubble. When you buy Treasury bonds, you are putting your fate in the hands of the government, expecting it to give back your purchasing power and a reasonable amount of interest to you, in return for the use of your money. I believe we are headed for a serious loss of confidence in the value of the dollar, which will be accompanied by a burst of the Bond Bubble." Continue reading →
"Is Brussels backing away from austerity? If the top Eurocrats that have pushed so hard for it are now finding it impossible to implement, then we begin to ask underlying questions once more: Who pays for European insolvency? The obvious answer is the Germans. And this confirms what we have been arguing for the past several years. The Germans are not so much the 'leaders' of Europe as they are the victims of it. Ms. Merkel may not want a Euro-crisis before German elections but she may get another one after them." Continue reading →
"The U.S. economy should emerge from the doldrums next year if the Federal Reserve sticks to its super-easy monetary policies, a top Fed official said on Thursday, even as he warned that cutting back too early would be a 'big mistake.' The Fed is buying $45 billion in Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage bonds per month, its third round of 'quantitative easing,' and has said it will continue the purchases until it sees substantial improvement in the labor market outlook. 'I don't think we are anywhere near the end of the program,' Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans told reporters after speaking to the CFA Society of Iowa here." Continue reading →
"Michigan Governor Rick Snyder plans to name an emergency manager to handle Detroit’s fiscal crisis, stripping power from local officials. Detroit has a budget deficit of about $327 million and more than $14 billion in long-term obligations, reports Bloomberg. Starting later this month, a manager will have the power to cancel labor contracts, cut spending and sell assets. This all is, of course, an attempt to prevent what could be the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy. Snyder will act to protect Detroit's debt holders. However, the best thing that could happen to Detroit is for the city to declare bankruptcy and start fresh, rather than a Motown version of eurozone-type austerity." Continue reading →
"When asked if they thought it was 'constitutional or unconstitutional for the president of the United States to order the killing of American citizens who are suspected of being terrorists,' 57 percent of respondents said they thought it was unconstitutional, including 65 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of independents, and 44 percent of Democrats." Continue reading →
"At least five of those deprived of their UK nationality by the Coalition were born in Britain, and one man had lived in the country for almost 50 years. Those affected have their passports cancelled, and lose their right to enter the UK – making it very difficult to appeal against the Home Secretary’s decision. Last night the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Simon Hughes said he was writing to Ms May to call for an urgent review into how the law was being implemented. The leading human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce said the present situation 'smacked of mediaeval exile, just as cruel and just as arbitrary'." Continue reading →
"In New Zealand, data-content entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is under attack for copyright violations. In the US, Pfc. Bradley Manning faces 20 years in prison for confessing that he sent archives of military and diplomatic files to WikiLeaks, which subsequently released the information to the world. Now it seems Dotcom is losing his battle and may end up being extradited to the US and Manning may end up with close to a lifetime in prison. But on a deeper level, the suffering of these two individuals (warranted or not) will not diminish the changes being ushered in by the Internet." Continue reading →
"We have in various articles catalogued US programs that allow one to be "pre-approved" and thus avoid the long lines of those who are yet, apparently, to be considered potential terrorists. Eventually, such system will turn into something more difficult, of course – as the emphasis shifts from the approved to the non-approved. In other words, eventually those who are not approved to travel may have trouble taking advantage of modern travel conveniences such as planes, trains, buses and eventually automobiles. Now in a press release, we are informed the EU is taking steps to harmonize its travel program with the US's and other powers." Continue reading →
"In honor of the release of the long-delayed 'Red Dawn' remake, Buck The System is proud to present a new, leaner cut of 'One Man's Terrorist' that presents the film as one complete story instead of 3 episodes. 'One Man's Terrorist' is an anti-war short film written and directed by David Kirk West and loosely inspired by events that changed his beliefs on war and government while he was in the military." Continue reading →