Bob Murphy: Fed May Monetize Entire Deficit in 2013
"Economist Robert P. Murphy explains that JP Morgan predicts the Federal Reserve will monetize (almost) the entire federal budget deficit--a trillion dollars--in 2013." Continue reading →
Anthony Gregory: States Thumb Their Noses at the Drug War
"Since California legalized medical pot in 1996, drug policy developments have put the lie to the federal government’s reputation as a bulwark of civil liberties, humanitarian rights, and rational policy. Whether Colorado and Washington outright defy the federal government—as the medical marijuana states have done—or Obama is forced to concede this ground, it is an embarrassment for national supremacy, the administration, and the DEA, and a triumph for the doctrine of nullification." Continue reading →
Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke
"If you're not an important cog in the global financial system, you can't get away with anything, not even simple possession. You will be jailed and whatever cash they find on you they'll seize on the spot, and convert into new cruisers or toys for your local SWAT team, which will be deployed to kick in the doors of houses where more such inessential economic cogs as you live. If you don't have a systemically important job, your assets may be used to finance your own political disenfranchisement. On the other hand, if you are an important person, and you work for a big international bank, you won't be prosecuted even if you launder nine billion dollars." Continue reading →
Naomi Wolf: The coming drone attack on America
"People often ask me, in terms of my argument about 'ten steps' that mark the descent to a police state or closed society, at what stage we are. I am sorry to say that with the importation of what will be tens of thousands of drones, by both US military and by commercial interests, into US airspace, with a specific mandate to engage in surveillance and with the capacity for weaponization – which is due to begin in earnest at the start of the new year – it means that the police state is now officially here." Continue reading →
D.C. house inspires 168 bids in red-hot real estate market
"Bidding wars have become commonplace along H Street NE, in Trinidad and in Eckington, among other areas. So have multiple cash offers and sales that soar past the asking price. In certain neighborhoods, buyers once again are snapping up unbuilt units based on floor plans. And more are forgoing inspections or appraisals. Homes in Arlington, Fairfax and Montgomery counties — all of whose median sale prices are up more than 4 percent from last year — are reaping battlefield premiums. One Maryland couple beat out the competition by agreeing to adopt the seller’s dog." Continue reading →
U.S. to open military ties soon with Myanmar: official
"Relations between the two countries have undergone a sea change since Myanmar’s ruling military ceded power last year. US President Barack Obama’s historic visit last month to Yangon underscored the transformation, as both Washington and Myanmar see benefits to bolstering diplomatic and security ties. The Obama administration, seeking a strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific to counter Beijing’s role, is keen to expand its influence in a country where China has had almost unchallenged dominance. Officials said in October that the United States was willing to allow Myanmar to participate as an observer in major joint exercises in Thailand in 2013." Continue reading →
FBI vs. Actress Jean Seberg
"The U.S. government showed its totalitarian face by harassing Seberg for years and driving her into nervous despair. A false story planted in the LA Times and Newsweek led to a miscarriage that killed her baby and eventually to her death. The Leadership has a basket of techniques, legal and illegal, to discredit, pressure and chop down people this malicious society considers its enemies in the mass society that it seeks to control. The FBI is a Leadership organization. The FBI hasn't changed one bit since the 1960s and 1970s. It now creates terrorists and terrorist incidents that never occur. This acts to align mass society in support of the FBI and the Leadership." Continue reading →
Ex-police officer pleads guilty in murder-for-hire scheme
"He was the ringleader of an 'elite' Special Operations Section that ransacked homes without warrants and shook down drug dealers for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. On Tuesday, former Chicago Police Officer Jerome Finnigan, wearing an orange jump suit and shackles, admitted to those crimes as well as to the most outrageous charge — that as an officer, he ordered a hit on another cop. But as part of his plea deal made public in federal court on Tuesday, Finnigan pleaded guilty only to the murder-for-hire charge and to a tax charge; an agreement where he would see no more than 13 years in prison for his crimes." Continue reading →
NDAA Lawsuit Brief Filed By Children Of Japanese-Americans Interned During World War II
"The children of Japanese-Americans whose internment during World War II was upheld by the infamous Supreme Court ruling Korematsu v. United States are stepping into a new legal battle over whether the military can indefinitely detain American citizens. Writing that their parents 'experienced first-hand the injustice resulting from a lack of searching judicial scrutiny,' the children of Fred Korematsu and other Japanese-Americans who were interned filed a brief on Monday in support of a lawsuit against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012." Continue reading →
How LA Regulated A Burger Stand Out of Existence
"Located on the corner of Figueroa and 101st Street in South Central Los Angeles, Tam's Burgers has been a part of the neighborhood for almost thirty years. Nick Benetatos took over the restaurant in the late '80s after his father retired. Tam's has withstood multiple recessions and even the 1992 LA riots. The city's zoning board has now ordered him to comply with 22 separate conditions, such as hiring a full-time security guard, fencing in the entire property and installing a security camera that links directly to LAPD's electronic surveillance system. Benetatos says that the cost of compliance would put him out of business." Continue reading →