Mad Statists

CNN previews how war with North Korea would play out

"CNN brought retired General James Marks into their studio on Wednesday afternoon to explain the military strategies North Korea and the United States would likely employ in a conflict. The country would begin firing artillery into South Korea while deploying special operation forces along the coast of the peninsula. Marks also warned North Korea had sleeper agents in South Korea who would spot targets. The United States would respond by destroying North Korea’s artillery with its overwhelming naval and aerial power. The U.S. military would then destroy North Korea’s aerial defenses, communication lines, and transportation routes, paralyzing the North within days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCNN previews how war with North Korea would play out

Rep. Peter King: US could make preemptive strike on North Korea

"Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that the U.S. had the right to take preemptive military action against North Korea if there was 'solid evidence' that Kim Jon Un planned to attack the U.S. or South Korea. 'I don't think we have to wait until Americans are killed or wounded or injured in any way,' he continued. 'I'm not saying we should be rushing into war, don't get me wrong, but if we have solid evidence that North Korea's going to take action, then I think we have a moral obligation and an absolute right to defend ourselves.' North Korea's actions are thought to be driven by additional United Nations sanctions that resulted from its recent nuclear test." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Peter King: US could make preemptive strike on North Korea

Military’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

"Operation Martillo and other military assistance to Central American nations represent one of the most ambitious US efforts against drug cartels since World War II. The United States has trained security forces across the region, deployed 200 Marines in Guatemala and built forward operating bases in Honduras and shared radar intelligence with Honduran authorities. But top US generals warned last month that the effort could be greatly undermined by budget cuts. The cost of international operations and support to nations worldwide to fight drugs went from $2.7 billion in 2001 to $5.7 billion last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

Guatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

"This is often the problem with the war on drugs: shifting the problem from one region to another. The transit nations are now recognised as a distinct set of countries caught in the war on drugs. As they produce and consume few drugs they are among the more innocent victims. But now they have a bullish and vociferous spokesperson in Guatemala’s president, Otto Pérez Molina. A previously hardline director of military intelligence, Pérez Molina became president a year ago. He surprised many when, within weeks, he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the 'taboo' of debating decriminalisation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

QE 3 Moves to Japan

"The Bank of Japan has announced a quantitative easing (mass inflation) QE program that matches Bernanke’s: $75 billion a month in purchases of Japanese government bonds. This is just under $1 trillion a year. But Japan’s GDP is only $6 trillion — 40% the United States’ GDP. This is way beyond Bernanke. For the Bank of Japan, this is QE1. But it is QE3 in the United States. It’s the same policy. The government of Japan has always been Keynesian. Now it has adopted desperation Keynesianism: just like the United States and the eurozone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingQE 3 Moves to Japan

Retroactive California tax terrifies tech

"Entrepreneurs and investors in California can expect to receive a rude shock in the mail if they sold their company in the last four years. Not only did the state's Franchise Tax Board (FTB) eliminate a tax break on capital gains for small business owners and investors, it announced the tax would be reinstated retroactively. This means those who benefitted from the break can expect a bill for unpaid taxes, plus interest, stretching all the way back to 2008. Now, not only will stockholders have to pay the full tax rate on capital gains, which has risen to about 13%, but they'll also be billed retroactively for 50% of the taxes they excluded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRetroactive California tax terrifies tech

State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America – David Stockman

"As the federal government and its central-bank sidekick, the Fed, have groped for one goal after another — smoothing out the business cycle, minimizing inflation and unemployment at the same time, rolling out a giant social insurance blanket, promoting homeownership, subsidizing medical care, propping up old industries (agriculture, automobiles) and fostering new ones ('clean' energy, biotechnology) and, above all, bailing out Wall Street — they have now succumbed to overload, overreach and outside capture by powerful interests. The modern Keynesian state is broke, paralyzed and mired in empty ritual incantations about stimulating 'demand.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingState-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America – David Stockman

Economists Suggest The Federal Reserve Pump Money Directly Into Americans’ Bank Accounts

"Ben Bernanke himself famously argued years ago that a central bank should never run out of tools for fighting deflation and depression because, as a last resort, it could always drop cash out of helicopters. That would be fun to watch, obviously, but mailing checks would be a lot simpler. And even though it sounds a little insane, it becomes a more and more compelling idea the more you think about it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEconomists Suggest The Federal Reserve Pump Money Directly Into Americans’ Bank Accounts

Jim Rogers: ‘Run for the Hills’ Now, I’m Doing It

"The EU/IMF raiding bank accounts in Cyprus to bail out the country's financial system sets a dangerous precedent and investors should 'run for the hills' said investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings. Rogers said that with Cyprus, politicians are saying that this is a special case and urging people not to worry, but that is exactly why investors should be concerned. 'If you're going to listen to government, you're going to go bankrupt very quickly,' he added. 'I, for one, am making sure I don't have too much money in any one specific bank account anywhere in the world, because now there is a precedent,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rogers: ‘Run for the Hills’ Now, I’m Doing It

Another Warning Sign – NY Times Columnist Favors Capital Controls

"Krugman doesn't see irresponsible government spending and the resulting debt as the core cause of recent crises in Europe and around the world. Instead, he blames inflows of money by undefined foreigners. He even says that the US, too, is victimized by inflows of foreign money when he claims, 'It's not just Europe. In the last decade America, too, experienced a huge housing bubble fed by foreign money.' According to Krugman, it's not the fault of the Federal Reserve's artificially low interest rates for blowing up the housing bubble, nor the proliferate spending habits of European welfare states for causing the debt crisis." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnother Warning Sign – NY Times Columnist Favors Capital Controls