Fascism

Why Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year?

"Banks have a powerful incentive to get big and unwieldy. The larger they are, the more disastrous their failure would be and the more certain they can be of a government bailout in an emergency. The result is an implicit subsidy: The banks that are potentially the most dangerous can borrow at lower rates, because creditors perceive them as too big to fail. Economists have tried to pin down exactly how much the subsidy lowers big banks’ borrowing costs. In one relatively thorough effort, researchers put the number at about 0.8%. Multiplied by the total liabilities of the 10 largest U.S. banks by assets, it amounts to a taxpayer subsidy of $83 billion a year." Continue reading →

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Lobbyist: Use Drones to ‘Zap’ Americans on U.S. Soil

"Testifying against a bill that would put limits on the use of unmanned drones in Washington state, industry lobbyist Paul Applewhite shocked a House Committee hearing when he said that drones had been used for 'indiscriminate killings,' while arguing that the technology should be approved for 'lethal force' within the United States." Continue reading →

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Upstate New York bids to become federal drone testing site

"A coalition of upstate New York universities and defense contractors has submitted a bid to become a federally designated testing and research site for the integration of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, into domestic airspace. Drones are expected to be used for everything from search and rescue, to crop dusting, to newsgathering. One of the key issues the FAA will have to assess is the ability of drones to communicate with air traffic controllers, manned aircraft and other drones. The massive growth of drone use is expected to create an economic boom in the U.S." Continue reading →

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Defense industry consultants advise Arab nations on crowd control products

"Defence experts who say many lives could have been saved during Arab uprisings if states used proper crowd control measures sought to tap into a growing market at an Abu Dhabi arms fair. Anti-riot vehicles with sophisticated acoustic repellents have boldly taken their place alongside the likes of Eurofighter’s Typhoon warplane and the bristling firepower of rocket launchers at the arms industry’s biennial quest for petrodollars in the Gulf emirate." Continue reading →

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Another ‘War is Peace’ Award (This Time Hollande Wins!)

"In this case it may be more appropriate than one might first imagine. The prize, awarded by UNESCO, is known as the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize in honor of the authoritarian president of of the Ivory Coast from 1960-1993. Could it be, as suggested in this very provocative article in the journal of the Strategic Culture Foundation, that France was over-eager to show its new Rafale fighter jets in action in hopes of scoring the "deal of the century" -- a $12 billion sale of these thus far tepidly received fighters to India?" Continue reading →

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16 Ways to Cut Defense Spending

"Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that 'the greatest threat to our national security is our debt.' Senator Coburn said on 'Morning Joe' on Feb 13 that '$100 billion could be cut.' Ron Paul says that only about half the defense budget is for defense, the other half is for militarism abroad. So here are 16 ways to cut its waste, fraud, and abuse of American taxpayers. They don’t include the largest benefit of all: the value many of the highly skilled and motivated men and women in the military could bring to the civilian workforce. The mostly wasted talent pool is incredible. All American strategy should be re-examined." Continue reading →

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F-35 Stealth Fighter Is Too Heavy and Slow, So the Pentagon Made Its Performance Tests Easier

"The Pentagon's pursuit of the Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jet has been a heartbreaking one. If you're a taxpayer, the program's estimated $1 trillion price tag probably breaks your heart a little bit. If you're an aviation enthusiast, the constant whittling away of the do-it-all aircraft's features, which in many cases actually amounts to adding weight and taking away maneuverability, must hurt a little bit too. If you're just an everyday American, though, you should be downright shattered that after a decade and a fortune spent, the F-35 will actually be more vulnerable than the aircraft it's replacing." Continue reading →

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How Fascism Grows? Prison Company Buys Boca Stadium Naming Rights

"The GEO Group (GEO) is a for-profit prison company based in Boca Raton, Fla., that calls itself 'the world's leading provider of correctional and detention management and community reentry services to federal, state and local government agencies.' It can also call itself the world's leading provider of Florida Atlantic University Owls football, having paid $6 million to put its name on the school's stadium." Continue reading →

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White House vows to aggressively combat trade secrets theft in new cybersecurity strategy document

"The US government vowed to aggressively combat a rise in the foreign theft of trade secrets amid mounting concerns over recent hacking attacks allegedly emanating from China. 'We will continue to act vigorously to combat the theft of US trade secrets that could be used by foreign companies or foreign governments to gain an unfair economic edge,' the strategy document says. Such 'theft threatens American businesses, undermines national security, and places the security of the US economy in jeopardy,' it said, putting 'American jobs at risk.'" Continue reading →

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Ecuadorean Tribal Leaders Fight Government, Gold-Hungry Chinese

"The most famous case of Shuar 'insolence' occurred in 1599, when the Spanish governor of Maca demanded a gold tax from local Indians to fund a celebration of the coronation of Philip III. The night before the tax was due, Shuar armies slaughtered every adult male in the Spanish hamlets and surrounded the governor’s home. They tied the governor to his bed and used a bone to push freshly melted gold down his throat, laughing and demanding to know if he had finally sated his thirst. For the next 250 years, the Spanish mostly stayed away. Occasional attempts by Jesuit missionaries to reestablish contact were met with a welcome basket of skulls." Continue reading →

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