Imperial Hubris

Is Japan’s Devaluation an Attack on China?

"In an article yesterday we suggested that the reason Japan was embarking on a massive attempt at Keynesian-style stimulation was to promote the efficacy of Keynesian economic 'cures.' But there is another possibility as well. Perhaps the idea is to start a currency war aimed at least in part at China. Japan is a longtime ally of the US, which defeated it in World War II. It is certainly possible that Japan has allied itself with the US to serve Anglo-American interests in this regard. It is indeed possible to hypothesize that Japan's current policy is intended to confront China and therefore is being used as a monetary 'weapon of war.'" Continue reading →

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Rules Aimed at Tax Evasion Abroad Trip Up Average Americans

"Many middle- and upper-middle-class Americans have found it more and more difficult to comply with requirements on reporting the existence and value of bank accounts overseas and to reconcile the taxes of different countries. At the same time, Americans from immigrant families who have bank accounts in their home countries that they may have overlooked are being swept up by the same laws used to ferret out millionaires and billionaires stashing money in secret Swiss accounts. The Internal Revenue Service has increased its examination of such accounts, lawyers said, with serious penalties for those who have not reported them." Continue reading →

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Is the Boston Bombing the “Moral Equivalent” of Drone Strikes?

"While Obama demands justice in the Boston bombing, he is silent about his own role in setting off bombs in overseas countries. If the U.S. drones have killed about 4,700 people abroad, then we are talking about something that dwarfs the horror of what happened at Boston. I am not speaking of tit-for-tat. However, I am sure that the horror that people in Muslim countries experience at a drone strike is every bit as awful as what people experienced in Boston yesterday. I do not believe that we are free to denounce the evil at Boston and cheer on the evil our government perpetrates overseas. We must denounce both or risk being the worst hypocrites on the planet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs the Boston Bombing the “Moral Equivalent” of Drone Strikes?

North Korea Is Like a Misbehaving Child—Ignore It

"Although at the official level, ignoring North Korean blustering, while taking adequate measures to defend the United States—not South Korea—from the future limited threat that North Korea might pose, the U.S. government should not discourage or have disdain for visits by private citizens, such as Dennis Rodman. These private visits help break the isolation that the Kim regime needs to survive and that U.S. government regularly haplessly provides with economic sanctions and counter bluster. Let’s show the publicity-hungry Kim Jong-un that his words and actions are a lot less important to the United States than he thinks." Continue reading →

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Special Privilege: Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba trip was OK’d by US Treasury Dept

"Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z visited Havana last week on a trip that was fully licensed by the United States Treasury Department, according to a source familiar with the trip, reports Reuters. The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a license granted by the U.S. government." Continue reading →

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Leaked report: Nearly half of US drone strikes in Pakistan not against al-Qaeda

"A trove of leaked classified reports has confirmed what many had suspected – US drone kills in Pakistan are not the precision strikes against top-level al-Qaeda terrorists they are portrayed as by the Obama administration. Instead, many of the attacks are aimed at suspected low-level tribal militants, who may pose no direct danger to the United States – and for many there appears to be little evidence to justify the assassinations. The statistics illustrate the breadth of the US ‘drone doctrine’ – which has never been defined by consecutive US administrations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLeaked report: Nearly half of US drone strikes in Pakistan not against al-Qaeda

Home Prices in Washington, D.C. Hit Record High

"A lot of the money Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is printing is finding its way back to the crony government-private sector operatives in Washington D.C. The median price of a home in the District reached its highest point in history last month, according to the latest data from RealEstate Business Intelligence. D.C.’s median sale price soared to $460,000 from $405,000 in March 2012, an increase of 13.6 percent year over year." Continue reading →

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NATO air strike kills 10 children in Afghanistan

"A NATO air attack in eastern Afghanistan has killed 10 children, officials said Sunday, the latest case of civilian casualties which provoke great anger in the war-torn country. The children were killed during a joint Afghan-NATO operation in the Shigal district of restive Kunar province bordering Pakistan late on Saturday. An Afghan official involved in the operation who did not want to be named said air support was called in after local and coalition forces came under attack, resulting in the death of an American and injuries to several Afghan soldiers. The official said the force did not know there were women and children in the houses that were hit." Continue reading →

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‘Carrying the Future’ in Afghanistan

"The rest of the world does resist. It does not want our propagandistic textbooks, it does not want our drones, it does not want our support of radical Islamists, it does not want our soldiers, and it does not want our diplomats or NGOs engaging in all manner of manipulation of domestic affairs overseas. Sadly, until young Americans like this foreign service officer start to question the mythologies spouted by politicians and duly amplified by the corporate media about the indispensability of the US 'carrying the future,' there will be many more unnecessary deaths -- on all sides." Continue reading →

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