Fascism

Bulgarian protesters: ‘Even if we are smiling, we are angry’

"The spark that ignited this latest crisis in the EU’s poorest country was the Socialist-backed government’s decision earlier this month to appoint a 32-year-old media mogul to head a powerful state security authority. For the protesters, this showed that the new administration was in cahoots with the same old powerful business interests and that its promises of a new era of transparency and accountability were lies. Even though the government quickly reversed the security chief decision, between 7,000 and 10,000 people have taken part in daily demonstrations since June 14 – marching and dancing, shouting and singing along Sofia’s boulevards every evening." Continue reading →

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Israel Names Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International the New Central Bank Chief

"Jacob Frenkel, 70, also serves as Chairman and CEO of the Group of Thirty (G-30). He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission, a member of the board of the Council for the United States and Italy, a member of the Investment Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of Turkey, and a member of the International Advisory Council of the China Development Bank. Between 1973 and 1987 he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago where he held the position of the David Rockefeller Professor of International Economics. Frenkel served from 2004 to 2009 as vice chairman of US bailed out American International Group (AIG)." Continue reading →

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Official: Water quality complaints could be ‘act of terrorism’

"A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an 'act of terrorism.' 'We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,' said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC's Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. 'But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there's no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.' Smith went on in the recording to repeat the claim almost verbatim." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Water quality complaints could be ‘act of terrorism’

Three States Dump Major Private Prison Company In One Month

"Corrections Corporation of America, the largest and most powerful private prison company in the nation, lost four prison contracts in the past month after extensive reports of abuse, neglect, and even fraud within their operations. Idaho cut ties with the corporation on Wednesday, which turned the state’s largest prison into a violent hellhole inmates called 'Gladiator School.' Earlier this year, CCA was caught understaffing the prison and using prison gangs to control the population. The company admitted to falsifying nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records to squeeze more money out of the state for nonexistent security work." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: How to Disappear Without a Trace

"Twelve years ago – when the 'homeland' was first invented (a smooth adaptation of Hitler's 'fatherland') and TSA agents began frisking grandmothers – the whole thing seemed like a joke. It looked as though America's leaders had gotten themselves into a hysterical panic. They thought al-Qaida really existed... that there were terrorist sleeper cells in every hamlet and burg... and that these infiltrators were about to wreak havoc on the nation. It was a preposterous lie, but we figured they'd come to their senses soon. Instead of coming to their senses, America's leaders began to see the advantage of a war that could neither be won nor lost." Continue reading →

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Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders

"Although Silicon Valley has sold equipment to the N.S.A. and other intelligence agencies for a generation, the interests of the two began to converge in new ways in the last few years as advances in computer storage technology drastically reduced the costs of storing enormous amounts of data. The sums the N.S.A. spends in Silicon Valley are classified, as is the agency’s total budget, which independent analysts say is $8 billion to $10 billion a year. Current and former industry officials say the companies sometimes secretly put together teams of in-house experts to find ways to cooperate more completely with the N.S.A." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWeb’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders

New Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

"Reread that Skype denial from last July, knowing that at the time the company knew that they were giving the NSA access to customer communications. Notice how it is precisely worded to be technically accurate, yet leave the reader with the wrong conclusion. This is where we are with all the tech companies right now; we can't trust their denials, just as we can't trust the NSA -- or the FBI -- when it denies programs, capabilities, or practices. Back in January, we wondered whom Skype lets spy on their users. Now we know." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

Throwing children in prison turns out to be a really bad idea

"The United States still puts more children and teenagers in juvenile detention than any other developed nations in the world, with about 70,000 detained on any given day in 2010. And as it turns out, this is very likely a bad idea. A new paper by economists Anna Aizer and Joseph J. Doyle, Jr. offers strong evidence that juvenile detention is a really counterproductive strategy for many youths under the age of 19. Not only does throwing a kid in detention often reduce the chance that he or she will graduate high school, but it also raises the chance that the youth will commit more crimes later on in life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThrowing children in prison turns out to be a really bad idea

Thousands Of Firms Trade Confidential Data With The US Government In Exchange For Classified Intelligence

"In other words, what is going on behind the scenes is nothing more than one vast, very selective, extremely secretive, symbiotic and perfectly 'legal' giant information exchange network, which allows corporations to profit off classified government information either in kind or in cash, and which allows the government to have all the information at its disposal, collected using public and private venues, in order to protect itself, to take out those it designates as targets, or simply said - to get ever bigger. The loser in all of this? You." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThousands Of Firms Trade Confidential Data With The US Government In Exchange For Classified Intelligence

Louisiana: Cops Used Red Light Cameras For Personal Profit

"Police officers in New Orleans, Louisiana filled their own pockets with red light camera cash by setting up a private company to 'review' photo citations off the official clock. The city's inspector general, E. R. Quatrevaux, on Friday released a report documenting how Edwin Hosli, the New Orleans Police Department's (NOPD) 8th District commander, formed his own limited liability company called Anytime Solutions to take advantage of the lucrative business opportunity. Hosli pulled down $7420 from the arrangement for himself. Hosli and several other officers overbilled ACS by $9075. Hosli's share of that was $2055, according to the documents." Continue reading →

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