Useful Idiots

Young Americans may dodge health law

"Young Americans may have been among the biggest supporters of Obamacare, but they may also be the least likely to comply with the law. In 2014, benefits experts say, the cheapest option for 20-somethings will be to pay the penalty for not buying health insurance, rather than paying for any health insurance at all—that is, provided they don’t get sick. And as more young people do the math, more seem to be deciding the Affordable Care Act isn’t such a good deal for them: Support for a national health-care plan dropped nearly 11% among American college freshmen between 2008 to 2012." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYoung Americans may dodge health law

U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths

"Millions of U.S. flag–related injuries and fatalities have been reported over a 230-year period in locations as far flung as Europe, Cuba, Korea, Gettysburg, PA, the Philippines, and Iraq. In addition, the company found that U.S. flag exports to Vietnam during the late 1960s and early 1970s resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, a clear sign that there was something seriously wrong with its product. Despite fears about the flag's safety—especially when improperly used or manipulated in ways not originally intended—sales continued unabated over the years, potentially putting billions of unsuspecting people in danger." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths

17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

"The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming. They don't understand how our financial system works, they don't understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems. They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008. When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes. Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again. Right now we seem to be living in a 'hope bubble'." Continue reading →

Continue Reading17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

Right-wing bloggers denied entry to UK for rally with anti-Muslim group

"Two prominent US bloggers who were due to speak at a far-right rally in Woolwich on Saturday have been banned from entering the UK, the Home Office has said. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who set up Stop Islamization of America, and run the website Jihad Watch, have been forbidden from entering the country on the grounds their presence would 'not be conducive to the public good'. Matthew Collins, from anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate, which campaigned for Geller and Spencer’s exclusion, said the organisation was 'absolutely delighted' by the decision." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRight-wing bloggers denied entry to UK for rally with anti-Muslim group

Two Thirds of Americans Support Drones for ‘Homeland Security’ Missions

"The survey also canvassed law enforcement officers, 72% of whom supported the use of unmanned drones for surveillance purposes and 66% supported their use for 'emergency response'. Initial testing of robotic spy drones for 'public safety' applications was conducted by the DHS’ Science and Technology directorate at Fort Sill, Oklahoma last year. The DHS has also been giving grants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to police departments across the country enabling them to purchase unmanned surveillance drones such as the Shadowhawk drone, a 50lb mini helicopter that can be fitted with an XREP taser with the ability to fire four barbed electrodes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTwo Thirds of Americans Support Drones for ‘Homeland Security’ Missions

This Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

"Ben Bernanke and the Fed are out with their latest happy talk economic projections. They project the economy will grow by 2.3 to 2.6 percent, in real terms, in the fourth quarter of 2013 relative to the fourth quarter of 2012. That speeds up to 3.0 to 3.5 percent in 2014 and 2.9 to 3.6 percent in 2015. Unemployment also is projected to fall, hitting 5.8 to 6.2 percent in 2015, all while inflation stays below 2 percent. The chart put together by WaPo shows how abysmal the Fed's actual forecasts have been (and this is not counting the Fed missing the housing crash or the overall financial crisis)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThis Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

Diary of WWII German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin

"The 15-year-old Berlin schoolgirl, nicknamed 'Gitti', started keeping a diary in December 1942, when the German capital was being bombed nightly and the Nazi Holocaust was killing thousands. As a trainee secretary, she recorded her daily experiences to improve her stenography skills. Now, some 70 years on, her diary has been published for the first time in Germany and is being hailed as remarkable documentary evidence of how millions of Germans relied on collective indifference to endure the horrors of war and ignore the brutality of the Nazi rule." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDiary of WWII German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin

Glenn Greenwald: On Prism, partisanship and propaganda

"One of the most significant aspects of the Obama legacy has been the transformation of Democrats from pretend-opponents of the Bush War on Terror and National Security State into their biggest proponents: exactly what the CIA presciently and excitedly predicted in 2008 would happen with Obama's election. Some Democrats have tried to distinguish 2006 from 2013 by claiming that the former involved illegal spying while the latter does not. But the claim that current NSA spying is legal is dubious in the extreme. If Democrats are so sure these spying programs are legal, why has the Obama DOJ been so eager to block courts from adjudicating that question?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: On Prism, partisanship and propaganda

New phone app would let you snitch on illegal parkers, get a cut of the fine

"Some entrepreneurial Winnipeggers are set to unleash an army of bounty hunters keen on nabbing people who park in disabled parking spots without a permit or in front of a fire hydrant. All that would be needed is a smartphone and the 'spotsquad' app. The app would allow people to snap a picture of a parking violation and send the photo to police, private parking operators or city wardens. A parking warden could then be dispatched to issue a ticket. If a ticket resulted in a fine, under the plan, informants would get a cut deposited into their bank accounts or could direct the cash to their favourite charities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew phone app would let you snitch on illegal parkers, get a cut of the fine

Most Americans back NSA, prioritize surveillance over privacy

"A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records in an effort to uncover terrorist activity, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll. Fully 45 percent of all Americans say the government should be able to go further than it is, saying that it should be able to monitor everyone’s online activity if doing so would prevent terrorist attacks. A slender majority, 52 percent, say no such broad-based monitoring should occur." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMost Americans back NSA, prioritize surveillance over privacy