Welfare-Warfare State

Police Cited Homeless Veteran For Dumpster Diving In Search For Food

"They’ve traveled many different roads with all of them leading to the same destination – a place called homelessness. James Kelly, 44, is no exception. 'James Kelly is a nine-year veteran of the Navy, who has fallen on hard times,' said Randall Kallinen, a civil rights attorney. Those hard times recently got even harder, when Kelly was issued a citation as he foraged for food in a trash bin on Bagby Street. 'The mayor is shutting down feeding the homeless,' said Deborah Girton, who is also homeless. Critics point to a city ordinance passed last summer that places restrictions on good Samaritans and how many people they can feed." Continue reading →

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More Entrepreneurs Say “Au Revoir”, Escape France’s Confiscatory Tax Regime

"New evidence of top French executives leaving the country has emerged as President Francois Hollande battles a stalling economy and tumbling approval ratings. Two senior executives at Moet Hennessy, the champagne and cognac arm of the LVMH luxury group, are moving to London from Paris and the head of Dassault Systemes, the software arm of Dassault Aviation, said some senior managers of his company had left and he was considering following suit. …The news follows Mr Arnault’s own application for Belgian citizenship, leaked last September, which poured fuel on a fiery debate in France about entrepreneurship, patriotism and high taxes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore Entrepreneurs Say “Au Revoir”, Escape France’s Confiscatory Tax Regime

Popularity of French President Francois Hollande in Steep Decline

"Since taking office 10 months ago, Hollande has experienced the fastest drop in popularity ever seen in French presidential politics. In June of last year, those who said they had confidence in him numbered between 51 and 63 percent, depending on the polling institute. That number is now 30 to 37 percent, nearing the lowest approval rating of any French president on record: Nicolas Sarkozy in May 2011, at 20 percent. Hollande is struggling to find convicing counterarguments as unemployment has risen to 11 percent, economic data looks more dismal by the week, industrial output is taking a nosedive and a recovery is nowhere to be seen." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPopularity of French President Francois Hollande in Steep Decline

How Americans were swindled by the hidden cost of the Iraq war

"When the US invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration estimated that it would cost $50-60bn to overthrow Saddam Hussein and establish a functioning government. This estimate was catastrophically wrong: the war in Iraq has cost $823.2bn between 2003 and 2011. Some estimates suggesting that it may eventually cost as much as $3.7tn when factoring in the long-term costs of caring for the wounded and the families of those killed. The most striking fact about the cost of the war in Iraq has been the extent to which it has been kept 'off the books' of the government’s ledgers and hidden from the American people. This was done by design." Continue reading →

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Will Grigg: Put Not Your Trust In Federalized Sheriffs

"'I will not enforce an unconstitutional law against any citizen of Smith County,' insisted Sheriff Larry Smith. The sheriff wants his constituents to believe that he would refuse to participate in a federally mandated gun grab, or permit one to be carried out by federal officials within his jurisdiction. Yet ten days before Smith offered that assurance, his office had taken part in an early-morning SWAT rampage throughout East Texas in which 73 warrants were served as part of the federal government’s patently unconstitutional war on drugs. There isn’t a single county sheriff’s office in the country that hasn’t compromised itself by accepting federal funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Grigg: Put Not Your Trust In Federalized Sheriffs

The Dorm Boom: Higher Education’s Fellow Traveler

"It’s a curious time for a campus construction boom. Alternatives to a traditional college education are growing every day. Amid the change and uncertainty, real estate developers are rushing to build student housing. Major homebuilding companies like Lennar and Toll Brothers that ramped their businesses up in the single-family housing boom have now shifted their focus to another boom: student housing. While Freddie Mac, a large purchaser of student housing loans, is a bit cautious after purchasing $1.7 billion in loans last year, the private sector is ready to build. Bricks-and-mortar higher education is a bubble searching for a pin. Student housing is going along for the ride." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Dorm Boom: Higher Education’s Fellow Traveler

Why Bond Market Bulls Are About to Get Crushed

"We have the lowest interest rates in 250 years – lower than at any time since the founding of the country – created by the Federal Reserve forcing interest rates to zero in the short term. In addition, we have the Fed encouraging banks to help lower rates through buying Treasuries. On top of this, we also have some $350 trillion of swaps derivatives of interest rates – more than half of all the derivatives out there are interest-rate derivatives. Banks use these swaps to transmit lower rates to other debt instruments based on what can they can get from the Fed. This drives all rates down. We've seen 30 years of declining interest rates." Continue reading →

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Statist, Warmongering Retired Generals

"Three retired generals from Nebraska are calling on state lawmakers to support an increase of $10 million per year for the Early Childhood Education Endowment Cash Fund as a necessary step to ensure that more young adults meet the basic qualifications for military service. 'Our military remains the strongest in the world, but I am very concerned about the reduced number of young men and women who can meet all of the qualifications required to serve in our Armed Forces,' said a General Cohen." Continue reading →

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Budget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out of The War on Drugs

"Currently the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates USS Gary (FFG-51) and Thach (FFG-43) patrol the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific looking for drug runners using either high-speed 'go-fast,' boats or slow-moving, hard-to-detect drug submarine-like craft to smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs from South America into the United States. With the frigates out of the picture, the amount of drugs entering the country will increase, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp told USNI News following Tuesday’s State of the Coast Guard address." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBudget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out of The War on Drugs

Pentagon: Cuts Could Hamper Ability To Invade Countries For No Reason

"The spending cuts mandated by the sequester may hamper the United States’s ability to invade countries for absolutely no reason, a Pentagon spokesman warned today. The Pentagon made this gloomy assessment amid widespread fears that the nation’s ability to wage totally optional wars based on bogus pretexts may be in peril." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon: Cuts Could Hamper Ability To Invade Countries For No Reason