Mad Statists

Here’s Why Bernanke is Clueless…

"The only place to hide last week was in cash – all thanks to the Fed. Last Wednesday, it updated its forecast, saying it expects economic growth to improve. If its forecast is correct, the Fed expects to conclude its bond purchase program, known as QE, by mid-2014. But there’s a big problem with the Fed’s forecast… The Fed basically said it will end its bond purchase program if its economic forecast becomes a reality. The market is reacting as if the Fed will be right this time. That’s a huge assumption to make because the Fed’s forecast is almost always wrong." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHere’s Why Bernanke is Clueless…

Government Trained Killer with 2,746 Confirmed Kills: “They’re just another pencil mark.”

"With 2,746 confirmed kills, Sgt. 1st Class Dillard Johnson is the deadliest American soldier on record[...] 'It’s sort of sad to say, but they’re just another pencil mark,' Johnson told The Post, referring to his journal notations. 'I didn’t think of the numbers . . . That’s not a boast I would make[...] He counted the dead by tallying rifles — and human heads — among the mangled or charred wreckage left behind[...] His past never haunts him. 'I killed when I needed to . . . I was brutal when I needed to be, but I was compassionate when I needed to be,' he said.[...]" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Trained Killer with 2,746 Confirmed Kills: “They’re just another pencil mark.”

U.S. Seemingly Unaware Of Irony In Accusing Snowden Of Spying

"At a press conference to discuss the accusations, an N.S.A. spokesman surprised observers by announcing the spying charges against Mr. Snowden with a totally straight face. 'These charges send a clear message,' the spokesman said. 'In the United States, you can’t spy on people.' Seemingly not kidding, the spokesman went on: 'The American people have the right to assume that their private documents will remain private and won’t be collected by someone in the government for his own purposes.' 'Only by bringing Mr. Snowden to justice can we safeguard the most precious of American rights: privacy,' added the spokesman, apparently serious." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Seemingly Unaware Of Irony In Accusing Snowden Of Spying

IRS sent refunds to 23,994 undocumented immigrants at same Atlanta address

"The Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds to a single Atlanta address for a total of $46,378,040 in 2011 — and each of the refunds averaging over $1,900 went to undocumented immigrants, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Here in South Florida, the IRS sent 1,972 refunds to 'unauthorized' recipients totaling $2,256,302, all going to a single address in Palm Beach Gardens. Other cities hard hit with thousands of refunds going to a single address include Oxnard, Calif., Raleigh, N.C., Phoenix, Ariz., San Jose, Calif. and Alvin, Calif. In each case, millions in improper IRS refunds were sent to one residence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS sent refunds to 23,994 undocumented immigrants at same Atlanta address

GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

"Britain's spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables which carry the world's phone calls and internet traffic and has started to process vast streams of sensitive personal information which it is sharing with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA). The sheer scale of the agency's ambition is reflected in the titles of its two principal components: Mastering the Internet and Global Telecoms Exploitation, aimed at scooping up as much online and telephone traffic as possible. This is all being carried out without any form of public acknowledgement or debate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world’s communications, shares with NSA

Lockdown USA: Congress plans 700-mile ‘surge’ on Mexico border

"If Congressional Republicans get their way, the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border separating the US and Mexico will be equipped observation towers, surveillance drones and one guard every 1,000 feet (300 meters). The legislation would see the Obama administration create a path to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants. The security plan would station another 20,000 Border Patrol agents along the southern border, in addition to the 18,500 already there. The bill would also expand fencing and install a visa entry and exit system at seaports and international airports, among other costly features." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLockdown USA: Congress plans 700-mile ‘surge’ on Mexico border

Bill Bonner: All Hell Breaks Loose!

"The Dow fell -353 points. Gold lost $87 an ounce. What does this tell us? It shouts a warning: Ben Bernanke is losing control. He desperately wants inflation. He's getting deflation instead. He wants low interest rates; yet rates are rising. Bernanke is now getting the worst kind of deflation – sluggish price increases against a backdrop of rising interest rates. This is the exact opposite of what the Fed wants... and needs. Its strategy is to hold interest rates down while it pushes up consumer and asset prices. Instead, the debt gets heavier as yields rise. Backs ache. Legs buckle. Nerves crack." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: All Hell Breaks Loose!

Jacob Hornberger: Replacing The Welfare-Warfare State With A Free Society

"We live under a governmental system in which the president, the military, the CIA, and the NSA now wield powers that the greatest dictators in history have wielded. The powers to assassinate people, to indefinitely detain people without due process or trial by jury, to kidnap and rendition people, to torture people, to subject people to LSD experiments, to invade and occupy foreign countries, to support coups in foreign lands, to install, train, maintain, and support brutal dictatorial regimes, to spy on and monitor the activities of people everywhere. In other words, the dark type of things that Americans used to complain that communist or totalitarian regimes were engaged in." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJacob Hornberger: Replacing The Welfare-Warfare State With A Free Society

Bill Ayers: Obama should be put on trial for war crimes

"Radical anti-war revolutionary turned education advocate Bill Ayers said Tuesday he believed President Barack Obama should be charged with war crimes. Ayers, who co-founded the far left revolutionary Weather Underground group, told Tom Bevan and Charlie Stone of Real Clear Politics that Obama’s use of targeted drone strikes was 'absolutely' a form of terrorism. 'Every president in this century should be put on trial for war crimes,' he said. 'Absolutely. Every one of them goes into an office dripping with blood and then adds to it. And yes, I think these are war crimes. I think they’re acts of terror.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Ayers: Obama should be put on trial for war crimes