Mad Statists

Here Come The “National Service” Peddlers

"WaPo's Michael Gerson feels a little edgy about Americans 'criticizing the National Security Agency as though it were enforcing the Alien and Sedition Acts.' You see, the serfs are not supposed to question, let alone have a problem with, having their every move monitored and watched by the State. So Gerson, looking for a panacea to this individualistic disease, suggests that 'National service can heal a divided nation.' Adding to Gerson's plea, there's also HuffPo who says 'That a year of full-time national service should become a civic rite of passage for all young Americans.' One must ask: Are the government schools not enough anymore?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHere Come The “National Service” Peddlers

Obama promises he won’t ‘scramble jets’ to get Snowden

"US President Barack Obama said Thursday he would not 'scramble jets' to intercept any flights carrying fugitive leaker Edward Snowden and scoffed at spending political capital to win him back from Russia. His comments came as Snowden remained in Russia, where he fled from Hong Kong, stuck in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, apparently unable to travel on to possible asylum in Ecuador after Washington cancelled his passport. Obama, who has been embarrassed by the refusal of first China and then Russia to expel Snowden, insisted the real damage to the United States lay not in international humiliation, but in the exposure of key spying programs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama promises he won’t ‘scramble jets’ to get Snowden

Donald Trump: Extradition Process Is Too Slow; Just Kill Edward Snowden

"You know, spies in the old days used to be executed. This guy is becoming a hero in some circles. Now, I will say, with the passage of time, even people that were sort of liking him and were trying to go on his side are maybe dropping out… We have to get him back and we have to get him back fast. It could take months or it could take years, and that would be pathetic. This guy’s a bad guy and, you know, there’s still a thing called execution. You really have to take a strong… You have thousands of people with access to material like this. We’re not going to have a country any longer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDonald Trump: Extradition Process Is Too Slow; Just Kill Edward Snowden

BIS Demands Global Depression?

"There is no avoiding what the Bank for International Settlements has just demanded. The top men at that august institution are demanding a global depression. And just to ensure that people especially in the West are thoroughly confused as they slip into starvation and despair, Austrian economics has been brought back into the argument. Free-market proponents didn't cause this disaster. Central bankers did, with their insistence on price fixing and monetary expansion. Determined to control all the elements of globalism, and keep them in place, they printed tens of trillions to stop a meltdown that must inevitably occur. By stretching it out, they prolong the agony for billions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBIS Demands Global Depression?

McCain: We’ll make border with Mexico look like ‘the Berlin Wall’

"Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Tuesday that the Senate should include an amendment for increased border security in its new bipartisan immigration reform bill. In video featured by Talking Points Memo, McCain said that the amendment, proposed by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) would make the border between Mexico and the U.S. into 'most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain: We’ll make border with Mexico look like ‘the Berlin Wall’

Starbucks Pays $15.4 Million Corporation Tax, Closes Stores Amid British Backlash

"Starbucks Corp., (SBUX) the world’s biggest coffee chain, said it will pay 10 million pounds ($15.4 million) of U.K. corporation tax this year and in 2014 in response to criticism of its money-losing British business. The company has paid 5 million pounds already and will pay the same amount later this year after forgoing unspecified tax deductions, according to an e-mailed statement. Starbucks, based in Seattle, will also pay 10 million pounds of tax next year. Starbucks said it will close or relocate unprofitable stores, and rely more on franchised or licensed stores rather than company-owned locations to become profitable in the U.K." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStarbucks Pays $15.4 Million Corporation Tax, Closes Stores Amid British Backlash

Edward Snowden – A Real American Hero

"When you make a mistake, usually there is a negative feedback loop, which lets you know you're headed in the wrong direction. You borrow too much money, for example, and your creditors begin trailing you with court orders or baseball bats. But in a major public policy disaster, the feedback loop is twisted. The feds spend too much money, for example... and give the bill to the next generation. The poor youngsters can't vote. Many are not even born yet. A police state is a disaster. It has its own ways of bending the feedback loop. Every public policy disaster produces zombies. And armed zombies protect themselves... with arms, naturally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEdward Snowden – A Real American Hero

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Support immigration bill since with it “we’ve practically militarized the border”

"Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday encouraged Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform because a recent amendment 'practically militarized the border.' According to Roll Call, a so-called 'border surge' amendment would double the number of border agents to 40,000, complete 700 miles of new border fencing, deploy drones and other sensors, fully implement E-Verify and increase tracking on visas. 'I’ve been hearing for years, let’s secure the border, let’s regain our sovereignty.' 'This whole border security amendment, I think, is the most aggressive attempt to control the southern border and regain our sovereignty.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSen. Lindsey Graham: Support immigration bill since with it “we’ve practically militarized the border”

Ghana arrests 124 Chinese citizens for illegal Gold mining

"Local police arrested the suspected illegal miners in the country's capital, Accra. Many of them are likely to face deportation. Ghana, the continent's second-largest gold producer, has forbidden foreigners from working in its small-scale mines since the 1980s. Locals have criticised Chinese miners for taking local jobs, polluting lakes and rivers, and wielding weapons such as AK-47 rifles to ward off robbers. More than 50,000 Chinese gold miners have been to Ghana since 2005. Two-thirds of them come from Shanglin, an impoverished county in southern Guangxi province where news of the gold rush spread by word of mouth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGhana arrests 124 Chinese citizens for illegal Gold mining

Bill Bonner: An Important Lesson from Tony Soprano

"Whew! The Fed is number one in central banking. And it's finding out just how tough it can be to meddle with a $16 trillion economy. On Wednesday, Ben Bernanke came out with a public statement. He said that if all went well... and he didn't change his mind... and nothing unexpected came up...and the Fed's Open Market Committee felt like it... the Fed would begin tapering its bond buying sometime soon. That was all it took to send a shiver up investors' spines... and a sell signal to Wall Street. Everything sold off – stocks, bonds, commodities, gold... you name it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: An Important Lesson from Tony Soprano