crony capitalism

Private surveillance companies flock to Arizona’s annual Border Security Expo

"The Expo began on Tuesday and concludes today. About 185 companies are showcasing everything from gates to guns, drones to portable toilets. A stall offering self-heating meals was next to a table of firearms. Two themes emerged from a day at the Expo: equipment and technology used by the US military is increasingly becoming available to domestic entities. And software is now easy to use and more powerful. Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software potentially gives officials huge surveillance powers whether in a desert or a metropolis." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrivate surveillance companies flock to Arizona’s annual Border Security Expo

Maybe We’ll Reduce the NYPD to Firing Spitballs!

"As a reluctant and endangered resident of New York City, I deeply appreciate those heroes who stand up for my right to defend myself. A number of them work at companies that manufacture or sell guns, and they are boycotting the NYPD! Yes! They have 'pledge[d] not to sell anything to a State or local government agency that can’t be sold to a resident of that state or locality.' Yeehaw! So far, a whopping 95 righteous retailers are onboard! Unfortunately, the three corporations that supply almost all the NYPD's firepower have refused to join their competitors in upholding the Second Amendment: Glock, SIG Sauer, and Smith and Wesson." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaybe We’ll Reduce the NYPD to Firing Spitballs!

Ohio, Maryland Courts Address Speed Camera Due Process Concerns

"A Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas judge put a stop to it on Thursday with a permanent injunction prohibiting photo radar contractor Optotraffic from issuing $105 photo tickets in the village of Elmwood Place. In Baltimore County, Maryland last month, a circuit court judge ruled that the county has been violating state law by paying Xerox a bounty for every ticket the private company drops in the mail. Judge Susan Souder ruled local jurisdictions cannot evade the ban on contingent fees simply by claiming that Xerox and other firms do not 'operate' the cameras." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio, Maryland Courts Address Speed Camera Due Process Concerns

President Obama and his secret executive friends

"'Secret friends' is essentially the arrangement that the president has kept with several corporate executives. Clearly, the president likes them: they include American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, as well as, on a more fitful basis, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt. But before the executives even have time to source Washington DC real estate, their names are taken out of the running. The administration rejects being associated with them, in favor of long-serving veterans who are already in the White House cool kids' club." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPresident Obama and his secret executive friends

Pepe Escobar: El comandante has left the building

"Compare it with US President Barack Obama - in what sounds like a dormant cut and paste by some White House intern - reaffirming US support for 'the Venezuelan people'. Would that be 'the people' who have been electing and re-electing Chavez non-stop since the late 1990s? Or would that be 'the people' who trade Martinis in Miami demonizing him as an evil communist? El Comandante may have left the building - his body defeated by cancer - but the post-mortem demonization will go on forever. One key reason stands out. Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: El comandante has left the building

US Plots Conquest of Venezuela in Wake of Chavez’ Death

"US corporate-financier funded think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), declared in its 'post-Chávez checklist for US policymakers,' that the US must move quickly to reorganize Venezuela according to US interests. In reality, AEI is talking about dismantling entirely the obstacles that have prevented the US and the corporate-financier interests that direct it from installing a client regime and extracting entirely Venezuela's wealth. US military contractors and special forces had been caught operating in and around Venezuela. The US' intentions of provoking bloodshed and regime change in Venezuela stretch back as far as 2002." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Plots Conquest of Venezuela in Wake of Chavez’ Death

“The Government is US?” Not Unless We’re Citigroup

"The supposed 'countervailing power' of Big Government against Big Business turned out to be as genuine as the conflict between 'good cop' and 'bad cop' interrogators. Historian Gabriel Kolko showed that the primary force behind the much-vaunted 'progressive' regulatory agenda at the turn of the 20th century was the regulated industries themselves. Major portions of the New Deal regulatory/welfare state were backed, even drafted, by the most powerful factions of corporate capital. Don’t fall for the line that state functionaries 'work for us.' Take a look at where they worked before they entered 'public service' and watch where they go back to afterward." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“The Government is US?” Not Unless We’re Citigroup

New York Fed Agreed To Testify For Bank Of America In Exchange For $43 Million

"The previously confidential agreement spells out the terms of a deal in which the New York Fed received $43 million from Bank of America’s Countrywide unit. The money changed hands to settle a narrow dispute involving cash flows on several mortgage securities held by an investment vehicle, known as Maiden Lane II. That vehicle was created by the New York Fed as part of the rescue of A.I.G., which had held the Countrywide securities. But in exchange for that $43 million, the New York Fed did something else for Bank of America. It agreed to testify on behalf of the bank in its legal battle against A.I.G. over fraud claims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Fed Agreed To Testify For Bank Of America In Exchange For $43 Million

Economic Fascism and the Power Elite

"The state—the organization of the political means—is the institution that allows an idle, unproductive class of parasites to live at the expense of ordinary, working people, whose means are industrious activity and consensual exchange in the marketplace. We ought not assume, however, that the indigent segment of society, those who receive social welfare aid from the state, are necessarily foremost among the parasites of the political means. Rather, free-market libertarians have demonstrated that in the statist economy of theft and wealth redistribution, it is the elite—powerful, entrenched commercial players—who most benefit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEconomic Fascism and the Power Elite

The Housing Bubble and the Limits of Human Knowledge

"Senior government officials previously denied that the government was on the hook for Fannie and Freddie (presumably thinking that their denial would never be tested by events — a bad theory). What financial shape were Fannie and Freddie in as the crisis proceeded? How bad would the effects of the shriveling bubble be? How much can you trust the word of government officials? How much about the financial future can central bankers or anybody know? Consider the lessons of the following 10 quotations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Housing Bubble and the Limits of Human Knowledge