Mad Statists

Could 2 platinum coins solve debt crisis?

"If President Obama wants to avoid an economic calamity next year, he could always show up at a news conference bearing two shiny platinum coins, each worth ... $1 trillion. That sounds wacky, but some economists and legal scholars have suggested that the 'platinum coin option' is one way to defuse a debt ceiling crisis. Under this scenario, the U.S. Mint would make a pair of trillion-dollar platinum coins. The president orders the coins to be deposited at the Federal Reserve. The Fed moves this money into Treasury's accounts. And just like that, Treasury suddenly has an extra $2 trillion to pay off its obligations for the next two years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCould 2 platinum coins solve debt crisis?

Detlev Schlichter: “Watching your money disappear” – Speech to senior representatives of the UK pension fund industry

"I believe disappearing money will be the major event of the present decade, and it will not just have major implications for your business, it will have grave consequences for society at large. The money itself may not in fact disappear (although some of it probably will) but money’s value will disappear, moneys purchasing power. This will not be the result of an act of magic but will simply be the consequence of our monetary arrangements and the established course of policy. Future historians will be surprised that anybody could have seriously contemplated a different and much happier outcome for today’s system of unconstrained fiat money production." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetlev Schlichter: “Watching your money disappear” – Speech to senior representatives of the UK pension fund industry

The Worst Inflation in My Lifetime

"Shortly after we took this family photo in 1951, Dad decided to buy a second home in Brazil, where we experienced the worst inflation of the 20th Century. One day, the president announced an appeal to patriotism — 'gold for Brazil.' All loyal citizens were asked to collect any gold they had in their home and donate it to the government. Later, when inflation surpassed an annual rate of 2,000 percent, the government got so desperate it didn’t bother making public appeals. It summarily announced that everyone’s bank accounts were frozen and everyone’s savings were confiscated." Continue reading →

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Forced sterilization victims still seek justice in US

"Denied the chance of a baby - a decades long program of forced sterilization in America, left tens of thousands of women unable to have children. Once promoted as a way to build a healthy nation, its only recently that the traumatized victims of a eugenics programme, are being considered for compensation. RT's Marina Portnaya went to meet one of those who were left traumatised, by compulsory birth control." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingForced sterilization victims still seek justice in US

US to send missiles, troops to Turkey in bid to deter Syria

"Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey to protect it from rounds crossing the border from Syria. The order includes 400 American personnel to operate the batteries. 'We are deploying two patriot batteries here to Turkey along with the troops that are necessary to man those batteries, so that we can help Turkey have the kind of missile defense it may very well need in dealing with threats that come out of Syria,' Panetta told the troops at Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS to send missiles, troops to Turkey in bid to deter Syria

Pentagon considering Air Force support for intervention in Mali

"The Obama administration hasn't ruled out having the Air Force play a lead role in transporting troops and equipment for an African-led intervention to dislodge militant Islamists in Mali, the Pentagon's top Africa official said Wednesday. The United Nations Security Council is weighing whether to approve a West African force of about 3,300 troops to take over the desert expanses of the country's northern half, which broke away following a March coup. Mali and its neighbors oppose any intervention by non-African troops. The United States, however, is involved in advising the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which is putting the intervention force together." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon considering Air Force support for intervention in Mali

Pentagon prepares military operation in Mali

"United States officials with knowledge of the matter tell the Washington Post that the Department of Defense and the US State Department will assist next year in a mission to overthrow Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaeda who took under control a significant part of Mali. Earlier this year, military officers displaced the administration of then-President Amandou Toumani Toure, claiming that he was reluctant in addressing the extremist issue himself. However since then the military junta failed to improve security in the country and retake control of the northern part of Mali captured by the Islamists. Now the US is claiming that it’s ready to help the military rulers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon prepares military operation in Mali

Obama approved F-16 fighter jets as gift to Egypt

"Despite instability due to the new Islamic government in Egypt, the US is sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt as part of a $1 billion foreign aid package. The first four Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets are set to arrive in Egypt on Jan. 22, an unnamed source told Fox News. The new Islamic president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, has recently made political moves that have fueled anger and criticism both in the West and among secular Egyptians. Mass demonstrations are currently taking place in Cairo and several other Egyptian cities against Morsi’s decision to hold a referendum on a pro-Islamist constitution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama approved F-16 fighter jets as gift to Egypt