Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Big Banks Claim Reform Will Hurt the Economy. Here's Why That's Bullsh*t.
AlterNet | Lynn Stuart Parramore | 04/29/15

Anat Admati, who teaches finance and economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is co-author of The Bankers' New Clothes, a classic account of the problem of Too Big to Fail banks. On May 6th she will address the "Finance and Society" conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, featuring influential women who have challenged the status quo, like Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, IMF Managing Director Christine LaGarde, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Admati will join Brooksley Born, former chair of Chair of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, to discuss how effective financial regulation can make the system work better for society. Seven years after financial hell broke loose, Admati warns that we are far from fixing a bloated and dangerous financial system -- and that the system can't fix itself. Why should you care? This gigantic house of cards could fall on you. ... Read more
PBS Frontline | The Warning with Brookley Born (10/20/09) [56:07]

The One-State Conundrum
tomdispatch.com | Sandy Tolan | 04/30/15

America's closest allies, Israel and the Saudis, have been expressing something close to loathing for President Obama and his policies. In fact, you could think of the Saudi rulers as the John McCains of the Arabian Peninsula. Appalled to find Washington in something approaching a tacit alliance with their Iranian enemies in Iraq and actively negotiating a no-sanctions-for-nuclear-restrictions deal with that country, the Saudis launched a war of their own in Yemen and essentially forced the Obama administration into supporting it. Then they visibly ignored Washington's pressure to end their bombing campaign -- or rather claimed they were cutting back on it without evidently doing so -- which has been devastating to Yemeni civilians and ineffective in stopping the advances of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. ... Read more

Tomorrow's Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa

You won't see segments about it on the nightly news or read about it on the front page of America's newspapers, but the Pentagon is fighting a new shadow war in Africa, helping to destabilize whole countries and preparing the ground for future blowback. Behind closed doors, U.S. officers now claim that "Africa is the battlefield of tomorrow, today." In Tomorrow's Battlefield, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Nick Turse exposes the shocking true story of the U.S. military's spreading secret wars in Africa.
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Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single Superpower World

In 1964, a book entitled The Invisible Government shocked Americans with its revelations of a growing world of intelligence agencies playing fast and loose around the planet, a secret government lodged inside the one they knew that even the president didn't fully control. Almost half a century later, everything about that "invisible government" has grown vastly larger, more disturbing, and far more visible. In his new book, Tom Engelhardt takes in something new under the sun: what is no longer, as in the 1960s, a national security state, but a global security one, fighting secret wars that have turned the president into an assassin-in-chief. Shadow Government offers a powerful survey of a democracy of the wealthy that your grandparents wouldn't have recognized.
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Bernie Sanders To Launch Presidential Campaign
HP | Sam Levine | 04/28/15

Sanders, who first entered the Senate in 2007, has criticized Clinton for being too soft on Wall Street and has doubted whether Clinton can address income inequality.

Sanders has been an outspoken critic of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal the Obama administration is negotiating with 11 Pacific countries. Sanders is also a critic of the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which struck down corporate campaign contribution limits. Sanders has tried to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision. ... Read more

The Financial Markets Now Control Everything
ZeroHedge | author | 04/29/15

The entire economic and political structure is now dependent in one way or another on the continued expansion of financial markets.

The financial markets don't just dominate the economy--they now control everything. In 1999, the BBC broadcast a 4-part documentary by Adam Curtis, The Mayfair Set ( Episode 1: "Who Pays Wins" 58 minutes), that explored the way financial markets have come to dominate not just the economy but the political process and society.

In effect, politicians now look to the markets for policy guidance, and any market turbulence now causes governments to quickly amend their policies to "rescue" the all-important markets from instability.

This is a global trend that has gathered momentum since the program was broadcast in 1999, as The Global Financial Meltdown of 2008-09 greatly reinforced the dominance of markets. ... Read more

The Mayfair Set: Who Pays Wins, Part 1 (1999) [58:45], Part 2 [58:54], Part 3 [], Part 4 [58:59]
or go here

Bruce Jenner: 'I'm a Woman'
ABC News | Diane Sewyer | date

Bruce Jenner was once hailed as the greatest athlete in the world and later became a reality television star with one of the world's most famous families. Now, the former Olympian is revealing a secret that has caused him turmoil for decades.

"For all intents and purposes, I'm a woman," Jenner told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview that aired Friday in a special two-hour edition of ABC News' "20/20." ... Read more
ABC | Buce Jenner on 20/20 with Diane Sawyer () [11:31]

Clear Waters of Lake Michigan Reveal Shipwrecks (PICTURES)
mentalfloss.com | author | 04/28/15

The last bit of ice has finally disappeared from Lake Michigan, revealing, to those in the air, what lies beneath the crystal clear waves: Shipwrecks. Lots of shipwrecks. On a patrol last Friday, a crew from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City in Michigan snapped some gorgeous photos of just a few of the wrecks along the shoreline, then posted them to Facebook. ... Read more

Baltimore Smolders After Riot Over Freddie Gray's Death
HP & Reuters | Ian Simpson | 04/28/15

Firefighters on Tuesday battled building fires in Baltimore sparked by rioting that erupted after the funeral Monday of a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody.

Acrid smoke hung over streets where fire crews raced to contain damage from violence that broke out just blocks from the funeral of Freddie Gray and spread through much of West Baltimore. ... Read more

88 Days to Kandahar: A CIA Diary

The First American-Afghan War, a CIA war, was approved by President George W. Bush and directed by the author, Robert Grenier, the CIA station chief in Islamabad. Forging separate alliances with warlords, Taliban dissidents, and Pakistani intelligence, Grenier launched the "southern campaign," orchestrating the final defeat of the Taliban and Hamid Karzai's rise to power in 88 chaotic days.

In his gripping narrative, we meet: General Tommy Franks, who bridled at CIA control of "his" war; General "Jafar Amin," a gruff Pakistani intelligence officer who saved Grenier from committing career suicide; Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's brilliant ambassador to the US, who tried to warn her government of the al-Qa'ida threat; "Mark," the CIA operator who guided Gul Agha Shirzai to bloody victory over the Taliban; General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani, a cautious man who became the most powerful man in Pakistan, struggling with Grenier's demands while trying to protect his country; and Hamid Karzai, the puzzling anti-Taliban insurgent, a man of courage, petulance, and vacillating moods.

We Won the War in Afghanistan -- And Then Lost It ;A CIA diary '88 Days to Kandahar' (04/01/15) [1:10:03]

How the Fukushima Disaster Crippled Japan's Climate Plans
MotherJones | Tim McDonnell | 04/28/15

Japan used to have a pretty good reputation on climate change. Thanks to its robust industrial economy, it has the fourth-largest carbon footprint in the G20 nations. But it gets a sizable chunk of its power from zero-carbon sources like hydro dams and, at least until the 2011 disaster at Fukushima, nuclear plants. And in 2009, the country agreed, along with the other G8 nations, to reduce its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Back in 1992, Japan played host to the negotiations that led to the Kyoto Protocol, the first time a group of countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Even though the United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, it was a groundbreaking agreement. But today, in the context of a decade and a half of additional scientific research, policy advances, and public pressure, it's woefully insufficient to ward off the worst effects of climate change. That's why the international community is planning to craft a new agreement to replace it in Paris later this year. And this time around, Japan isn't looking so hot. ... Read more

kushima Uni "800,000,000,000,000 Bq of Cs-137 to reach West coast of North America by 2016?
fukushima-diary.com | author | 04/26/15

Prof. Aoyama from Fukushima University Institute of Environmental Radioactivity reported that 800 tera Bq (800,000,000,000,000 Bq) of Cesium-137 is going to reach West Coast of North America by 2016. The amount to reach of other nuclides such as Cs-134 and other nuclides are not officially announced. This is 5% of the total Cs-137 amount discharged to the Pacific. ... Read more

Who Is Really Choosing America's Next President?
ZeroHedge | author | 04/27/15

A growing number of political committees known as super PACs have become instruments of single donors, according to a ProPublica analysis of federal records. During the 2014 election cycle, $113 million -- 16 percent of money raised by all super PACs -- went to committees dominated by one donor. That was quadruple their 2012 share.

The rise of single-donor groups is a new example of how changes in campaign finance law are giving outsized influence to a handful of funders. ... Read more

HE'S BACK: War Prez Comes Out Against Peace
NYTimesHP | Jason Horowitz | 04/26/15

LAS VEGAS -- Former President George W. Bush said the United States must show that it can follow through on its promises, and argued against the lifting of sanctions against Iran during rare remarks about foreign policy in a meeting with hundreds of Jewish donors here Saturday night.

Mr. Bush told the 700 donors attending a closed-door Republican Jewish Coalition spring meeting that he would not criticize President Obama, whose aim to degrade and ultimately destroy the Islamic State he applauded. But the former president nevertheless offered comments that many in the audience viewed as a tacit critique of his successor. ... Read more

Boston Fed Admits There Is No Exit, Suggests QE Become "Normal Monetary Policy"
ZeroHedge | author | 04/26/15

"Largely missing from these discussions about the Fed's "exit strategy" is a consideration that perhaps it should retain, not discard, the balance sheet tools," the Boston Fed says, in a new paper advocating the retention of QE as a permanent part of the Fed's tool box. QEfinity may yet become a reality and for the most ironic of reasons: because the Fed is now in charge of promoting "financial stability" something which, as last October's Treasury flash crash proves, is exacerbated by asset purchases not ameliorated. ... Read more

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

We're often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the idea of "Christian America" is an invention--and a relatively recent one at that.

As Kruse argues, the belief that America is fundamentally and formally a Christian nation originated in the 1930s when businessmen enlisted religious activists in their fight against FDR's New Deal. Corporations from General Motors to Hilton Hotels bankrolled conservative clergymen, encouraging them to attack the New Deal as a program of "pagan statism" that perverted the central principle of Christianity: the sanctity and salvation of the individual.

How Corporate America Invented Christian America
AlterNet | Kevin Kruse | 04/21/15

In December 1940, as America was emerging from the Great Depression, more than 5,000 industrialists from across the nation made their yearly pilgrimage to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, convening for the annual meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers. The program promised an impressive slate of speakers: titans at General Motors, General Electric, Standard Oil, Mutual Life, and Sears, Roebuck; popular lecturers such as etiquette expert Emily Post and renowned philosopher-historian Will Durant; even FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Tucked away near the end of the program was a name few knew initially, but one everyone would be talking about by the convention's end: Reverend James W. Fifield Jr. ... Read more

100 Years Ago, 1.5 Million Christian Armenians Were Systematically Killed. Today, It's Still Not A 'Genocide'
HP | author | 04/24/15

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman Turkish authorities hauled off Daniel Varoujan, a leading Armenian poet of the time, along with over 200 other intellectuals in the capital Constantinople. To the crumbling Ottoman Empire, the poets, painters, writers, booksellers and politicians at the beating heart of the Armenian community posed too much of a threat.

Soon, much of the empire's Christian Armenian population would be targeted and nearly wiped out, accused of conspiring against the empire with the Russians. Many Armenians say the genocide was collective punishment for the actions of a few. ... Read more

Rubio Favorite in $heldon $weep$take$
HP | Alex Isenstadt | 04/23/15

Before Iowa and New Hampshire, GOP candidates are competing in the Sheldon Adelson primary, and some will travel to his posh Venetian hotel in Las Vegas this weekend in hopes of winning it. But one candidate -- Marco Rubio -- has emerged as the clear front-runner, according to nearly a half-dozen sources close to the multibillionaire casino mogul.

In recent weeks, Adelson, who spent $100 million on the 2012 campaign and could easily match that figure in 2016, has told friends that he views the Florida senator, whose hawkish defense views and unwavering support for Israel align with his own, as a fresh face who is "the future of the Republican Party." He has also said that Rubio's Cuban heritage and youth would give the party a strong opportunity to expand its brand and win the White House. ... Read more or Politico

Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror
magazine | author | date

Long before the waterboarding controversy exploded in the media, one CIA agent had already gone public. In a groundbreaking 2007 interview with ABC News, John Kiriakou defined waterboarding as torture--but still admitted that it probably was effective. This book, at once a confessional, an adventure story, and a chronicle of Kiriakou's life in the CIA, stands as an important, eloquent piece of testimony from a committed American patriot. Kiriakou takes us into the fight against an enemy fueled by fanaticism, chillingly recounting what it was like inside the CIA headquarters on the morning of 9/11, the agency leaders who stepped up and those who protected their careers, and, in what may be the book's most shocking revelation, how the White House made plans to invade Iraq a full year before the CIA knew about it--or could attempt to stop it. Kindle $10:99 ... Read more

Why Nav Sarao Had To Be Destroyed: He Found A Way To Beat The HFTs At Their Own Game
ZeroHedge | author | 04/24/15

Today, we find precisely how and why Sarao was singled out: he not only ratted out the parasitic trading strategies of the real culprits behind the broken market, the massive HFT firms (such as Virtu which just went public just a day before the Sarao charges were filed) which gave the "regulators" no choice: one of them had to be put away for good, but found a way to capitalize on the algos' stupidity, and actually make money by beating them at their own game. As such, regulators and exchanges such as the CFTC and CME had no choice but arrest him and prevent him from trading ever again! ... Read more

"I'm Not Crazy, I'm Scared" - Why For One Trader, This Time It Is Different
ZeroHedge | author | 04/24/15

Over the course of this week we have heard Larry Fink of Blackrock talking about the severe risks of investing in Europe; Bill Gross of Janus saying German bonds are the short trader's dream; Pimco warning that markets have not addressed the potential of a Fed tightening; the incoming CEO of Allianz, that TWO trillion dollar asset manager, saying, "We see generally meager growth prospects, political dangers and risks of a stock market crash." Even Abby Cohen thinks it is a stock pickers world, not a buy anything and kick back world. And yet, the market didn't even blink.

Over the last three days, we have reported that some of the most important investment voices in the world are more than a little scared about the ravenous appetite for risk playing out in the market, and the fact that they have been ignored is beyond unnerving. Central banks are driving all investment decisions, and what this implies is that they are in this trade so deeply that there is no obvious or practical exit. ... Read more

Sex, Drugs, and Dead Soldiers: What U.S. Africa Command Doesn't Want You to Know
AlterNet | Nick Turse / TomDispatch | 04/21/15

Six people lay lifeless in the filthy brown water. It was 5:09 a.m. when their Toyota Land Cruiser plunged off a bridge in the West African country of Mali. For about two seconds, the SUV sailed through the air, pirouetting 180 degrees as it plunged 70 feet, crashing into the Niger River.

Three of the dead were American commandos. The driver, a captain nicknamed "Whiskey Dan," was the leader of a shadowy team of operatives never profiled in the media and rarely mentioned even in government publications. One of the passengers was from an even more secretive unit whose work is often integral to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which conducts clandestine kill-and-capture missions overseas. Three of the others weren't military personnel at all or even Americans. They were Moroccan women alternately described as barmaids or "prostitutes." ... Read more

Bloomberg & HFT (High Frequency Trading) How 'Spoofing' Might Have Crashed the Market (04/23/15) [1:19]

60 Minutes | Wall Street: The Speed Traders (older, but good) [13:35]

Forget "Grexit", "Grimbo" Has Arrived
ZeroHedge | author | 04/23/15

If you didn't know any better you might think "Grimbo" was a new Sesame Street character. Far from being the name of something that brings smiles to the faces of young children however, it's actually the latest one-word take on the likely outcome of Greece's protracted, painful negotiations with creditors, which will continue tomorrow in Riga where progress is, according to pretty much everyone that will be involved, unlikely. The new term follows in the footsteps of the classic (but now tired) "Grexit" and its underrated predecessor "Graccident," and refers to two of the four outcomes Citi imagines are possible in the unfolding Greek drama. Here, via Citi, are the scenarios that would constitute Grimbo: ... Read more
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World Bank & IMF - Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)
World Health Org - who.int | author | policy

See next column: TRNN | Alnoor Ladha: Investigative Report Finds World Bank Displaced 3.4 Million People, Part 1 (04/23/15) [9:50]

Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) are economic policies for developing countries that have been promoted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the early 1980s by the provision of loans conditional on the adoption of such policies. Structural adjustment loans are loans made by the World Bank. They are designed to encourage the structural adjustment of an economy by, for example, removing "excess" government controls and promoting market competition as part of the neo-liberal agenda followed by the Bank. The Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility is an IMF financing mechanism to support of macroeconomic policies and SAPs in low-income countries through loans or low interest subsidies. ... Read more

Homeless | Tent Cities | Welfare?
RT | Tent City: Making a career out of homelessness (07/08/14) [52:18]

Behold The Patsy: First Photograph Emerges Of The "Criminal Mastermind" Reponsible For The Flash Crash
ZeroHedge | author | 04/22/15

... The reason, of course, is that according to the "regulator" the gullible investing public is expected to believe that one single person, operating out of a non-collocated, latency fortress in Hounslow (despite allegedly making $40 million over 5 years from spoofing) is responsible for the May 2010 flash crash. ...

... So with the Sarao "flash crash" mystery solved, we eagerly look forward to the CFTC exposing the daytrading teenager operating out of a hut in Thailand who was responsible for the October 15, 2014 Treasury flash crash, followed promptly by the Russian grandma in Vladivostok whose trigger happy FXat finger resulted to the US Dollar flash crash from March 18.

Because clearly without "confidence" that the market is fixed, no self-respecting retail investor will buy everything that hedge funds, prop desks, and ultimately central banks are so desperate to sell at these all time high prices. ... Read more
60 Minutes | Wall Street: The Speed Traders (older, but good) [13:35]

What Does Gun Violence in America Really Cost?
MotherJones | Mark Follman | May/June Issue

... The air bag against her was stifling, the inside of the cab hot. She managed to call 911. "Where are you shot on your body?" the dispatcher asked. "I don't know, I cannot move. I can't breathe anymore. Somebody help me," she pleaded. "I'm dying." ... Read more
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What Does Gun Violence in America Really Cost? (04/15/15) [1:59]

The Chamber Of Commerce Is Fighting Fiercely To Stop The Scourge Of Corporate Transparency
HP | Paul Blumenthal | 04/22/15

This spring, shareholders in more than 100 companies will introduce resolutions calling for greater disclosure of corporations' political and lobbying activity. Six major companies -- Dean Foods, Eastman Chemical, H&R Block, Marathon Oil, U.S. Steel and Valero Energy -- have already reached agreement with New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the third largest pension fund in the nation, to adopt political spending disclosure policies in exchange for the comptroller's office withdrawing its resolutions.

But don't consider that a sign that corporate America is learning to live with transparency. Over the past two years, three of the usual suspects -- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers -- have joined together to try to discredit the purpose of disclosure policies and the advocates calling for them. ... Read more

6 Surprising Ways Progressives Are Actually Kicking Butt in Congress
AlterNet | Eric Laursen | 04/17/15

But the mounting blizzard of presidential gossip is masking a shift in the emerging agenda Democrats are presenting to the public. Less than six months after a disastrous federal election for Democrats, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), astonishingly has reemerged as a potent force.

Iowa Reports Worst Case Of Bird Flu In National Outbreak
Reuters & HP | Tom Polansek | 04/20/15

Iowa, the top U.S. egg-producing state, found a lethal strain of bird flu in a flock of millions of hens at an egg-laying facility on Monday, the worst case so far in a national outbreak that has now prompted Wisconsin to declare a state of emergency.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the Iowa flock numbered 5.3 million birds while the company that operates the farm said it was 3.8 million. It was unclear why there was a discrepancy. ... Read more

Ten Things We're Grateful For (Irony Alert)
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog

Being grateful boosts your happiness. Ten wonderful things I'm grateful for.

US Navy Sends Aircraft Carrier, Warships To Intercept Iranian Weapons Shipments In Yemeni Waters
ZeroHedge | author | 04/20/15

Update: Because the report from AP does not play well with "Everyday Americans", US CentCom is denying: U.S. DENIES REPORT SHIP SENT TO INTERCEPT IRAN VESSEL, SAYS SHIP SENT TO KEEP SHIPPING LANES IN REGION OPEN

The 'proxy' war is escalating very rapidly. As AP reports, Navy officials confirm that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is headed to Yemeni waters to intercept an Iranian weapons shipments. Just as we warned 10 days ago, the probability of a major escalation over the latest proxy Middle Eastern civil war escalated substantially when Iran parked two warships off the Yemeni coast. ... Read more

Monsanto Furious At World Health Organization For Claiming Weedkiller Causes Cancer
ZeroHedge | author | 04/20/15

Following Monsanto lobbyist comments recently that he's "not stupid" enough to drink the weedkiller that he also proclaimed was safe enough that "you can drink a whole quart of it and it won't hurt you;" Reuters reports that the maker of the world's most widely used herbicide, Roundup, wants an international health organization to retract a report linking the chief ingredient in the weedkiller to cancer. The company said on Tuesday that a report, issued on Friday by the WHO, was biased: "The WHO has something to explain." However, as one scientist noted, "there are a number of independent, published manuscripts that clearly indicate that glyphosate...can promote cancer and tumor growth." ... Read more

Here's what would really happen if the US bombed Iran
Vox.com | Zack Beauchamp | 04/14/15

Last week, Republican Senator Tom Cotton criticized President Obama's nuclear deal framework with Iran, saying Obama was refusing to admit that airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities would only take "several days" and wouldn't require any longer-term military commitment to be effective. Obama, he said, was offering a "false choice" between the deal and war. ...

... But attacking Iran would end in disaster. Surgical strikes would only set Iran's nuclear program back temporarily; destroying the country's nuclear capacity entirely would require outright war. That would kill thousands of people, destroy whatever vestiges of political stability remain in the Middle East, potentially wreak havoc on the global economy, and -- barring a total, Iraq-style military occupation of the country -- fail to permanently end Iran's nuclear program. ... Read more

Lyme Disease Is Wracking New England. Why Isn't More Being Done?
HP | Beth Daley | 04/19/15

The predawn rumble of pesticide-spraying trucks is a rite of spring in almost 200 Massachusetts communities. Some $11 million is spent in the state each year controlling and counting the pests and educating residents about how to avoid contracting mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

... Ticks and Lyme have spread across Massachusetts in the past 40 years to become one of the region's most commonly reported infectious diseases, yet the state's public health priorities have not kept pace. Two years ago, a special state Lyme commission suggested a modest investment of less than $300,000 for a public education program, yet no money has been set aside, and the commission's other specific recommendations --- from promoting more awareness in the medical community to better disease surveillance --- have not been adopted. ... Read more

The FBI Informant Who Mounted a Sting Operation Against The FBI
firstlook.org/theintercept | Trevor Aaronson | 04/15/15

... Torres isn't an all-American guy. He's an FBI informant, one of more than 15,000 domestic spies who make up the largest surveillance network ever created in the United States. During J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO operations, the bureau had just 1,500 informants. The drug war brought that number up to about 6,000. After 9/11, the bureau recruited so many new informants -- many of them crooks and convicts, desperate for money or leniency on previous crimes -- that the government had to develop software to help agents track their spies. ... Read more
MSNBC | (T)ERROR Documentary Is Real-Life 'Homeland' (02/14/15) [7:18]

"We're All Frogs In Boiling Water" Santelli Says After Lacy Hunt Warns "This Is Far From Over"
ZeroHedge | author | 04/17/15

Global debt has expanded by $35 trillion since the credit crisis and as Lacy Hunt exclaims, "that's a net negative, debt is an increase in current consumption in exchange for a decline in future spending and we are not going to solve this problem by taking on more and more debt." "This process is far from over," Hunt concludes, "rates will move irregularly lower and will remain depressed for several years." Santelli sums up perfectly, "we're all frogs in boiling water," as we await the consequences of central planning. ... Read more

Operation Gladio on Wikipedia

House of Saud & Geriatric Porn - Saudi Royal Family () [1:56:15]

Bin Laden is circled in red

When Osama Bin Ladin Was 'Tim Osman'
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Operation Paperclip

In the chaos following World War II, the U.S. government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States.

Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery. They were also directly responsible for major advances in rocketry, medical treatments, and the U.S. space program. Was Operation Paperclip a moral outrage, or did it help America win the Cold War? ...

Annie Jacobsen "Operation Paperclip" (03/15/14) [57:02]

The Lone Gladio

Assassinations. Drug running. False flag ops. A shadow paramilitary global network. Synthetic wars. CIA-NATO: A darker truth. Operation Gladio Plan B: Murder.

OG 68--a k a Greg McPhearson--no longer works for the company. The hunter has now become prey. He knows this beast: what created him and shattered his soul. Until Mai. When he opened the door to her three years ago, he opened what soul he had left. Yet no amount of pride or power, he discovers--too late--can ever replace one precious breath ...

CorbettRepport | Sibel Edmonds on Gladio B - Part 1 () [1:07:50]

C for capitalism
Economist | author | 06/06/03

ON the day Osama bin Laden's men attacked America, Shafiq bin Laden, described as an estranged brother of the terrorist, was at an investment conference in Washington, DC, along with two people who are close to President George Bush: his father, the first President Bush, and James Baker, the former secretary of state who masterminded the legal campaign that secured Dubya's move to the White House. The conference was hosted by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that manages billions of dollars, including, at the time, some bin Laden family wealth. It also employs Messrs Bush and Baker. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, when no one was being allowed in or out of the United States, many members of the bin Laden family in America were spirited home to Saudi Arabia. The revival of defence spending that followed greatly increased the value of the Carlyle Group's investments in defence companies. ... Read more

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April Empire Fed Manufacturing Plunges, New Orders Crash To Jan 2013 Lows
ZeroHedge | author | 04/15/15

But it's April... the weather-bounce is supposed to be here. Empire Fed Manufacturing tumbled to -1.2 in April (missing expectations of a post-weather-bounce to 7.17) from 6.9 in March. Across the board the report was painful as Prices Paid surged, employment plunged, and work hours tumbled. Hope rermains as the business outlook improved (but even there capex and new orders were weak) New Orders stood out as it crashed to its lowest since Jan 2013. It appears there is more afoot than just weather... ... Read more
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"Staggering" Student Loan Defaults On Deck: 27% Of Students Are A Month Behind On Their Payments
ZeroHedge | author | 04/15/15

A new St. Louis Fed study finds that the delinquency rate for student borrowers in repayment is 27.3%, meaning nearly one in three of the Americans laboring under a debt load that has now swelled to $1.3 trillion are more than a month behind on their payments. Ackman says there's "no way they are going to pay it back." We can hear the "cancel the debt" cries now. ... Read more

These Photos From America's Public Lands Will Make You Want To Go On An Adventure
HP | Nick Visser | 04/15/15

The Department of the Interior's rapidly growing Instagram account has been featuring stellar shots of sunrises and sunsets that showcase America's natural beauty. The National Park Service, a division of the DOI, oversees more than 400 sites and the DOI manages 500 million acres of public lands.

The National Park Service is celebrating National Park Week starting Saturday, April 18. All national parks -- including heavyweights like Yosemite, Glacier and Acadia -- are waiving entrance fees for the weekend to encourage everyone to get out there and find their park. ... Read more

Musk's Cousins Battle Utilities to Make Solar Rooftops Cheap
Bloomberg | John Lippert | 04/15/15

In September 2013, Hawaiian Electric Co. told thousands of customers they couldn't connect their new solar panels to its distribution grid. In some neighborhoods, HECO said, its system couldn't absorb any more unused energy from home solar arrays. The moratorium, which lasted 13 months, made Hawaii a central battleground in the effort by utilities to control the rapid growth of independent solar companies across the U.S. And it was a big deal to people such as Robert Gould, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot living near Honolulu. He'd just paid $53,000 to have solar panels installed. ... Read more
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Iranians are Much Talked About on Sunday Morning TV, But Never Heard From
firstlook.org/theintercept | Glenn Greenwald | 04/11/15

Sunday morning news television is where Washington sets its media agenda for the week and, more importantly, defines its narrow range of conventional, acceptable viewpoints. It's where the Serious People go to spout their orthodoxies and, through the illusion of "tough questioning," disseminate DC-approved bipartisan narratives. Other than the New York Times front page, Sunday morning TV was the favorite tool of choice for Bush officials and neocon media stars to propagandize the public about Iraq; Dick Cheney's media aide, Catherine Martin, noted in a memo that the Tim Russert-hosted Meet the Press lets Cheney "control message," and she testified at the Lewis Libby trial that, as a result, "I suggested we put the vice president on Meet the Press, which was a tactic we often used. It's our best format." ... Read more

Seven Things You Didn't Know The U.S. and Its Allies Did To Iran
firstlook.org/theintercept | Jon Schwarz | 04/07/15

It's hard for some Americans to understand why the Obama administration is so determined to come to an agreement with Iran on its nuclear capability, given that huge Iranian rallies are constantly chanting "Death to America!" I know the chanting makes me unhappy, since I'm part of America, and I strongly oppose me dying.

But if you know our actual history with Iran, you can kind of see where they're coming from. They have understandable reasons to be angry at and frightened of us -- things we've done that if, say, Norway had done them to us, would have us out in the streets shouting "Death to Norway!" Unfortunately, not only have the U.S. and our allies done horrendous things to Iran, we're not even polite enough to remember it. ...

The FBI Is Using "Aggressive Deception" To Cover Up Saudi Links To 9/11 Attack
ZeroHedge | author | 04/14/15

Former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham, who in 2002 chaired the congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, maintains the FBI is covering up a Saudi support cell in Sarasota for the hijackers. He says the al-Hijjis' "urgent" pre-9/11 exit suggests "someone may have tipped them off" about the coming attacks.

Graham has been working with a 14-member group in Congress to urge President Obama to declassify 28 pages of the final report of his inquiry which were originally redacted, wholesale, by President George W. Bush. "The 28 pages primarily relate to who financed 9/11, and they point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier," he said, adding, "I am speaking of the kingdom," or government, of Saudi Arabia, not just wealthy individual Saudi donors.

Sources who have read the censored Saudi section say it cites CIA and FBI case files that directly implicate officials of the Saudi Embassy in Washington and its consulate in Los Angeles in the attacks -- which, if true, would make 9/11 not just an act of terrorism, but an act of war by a foreign government. ... Read more and How the FBI is whitewashing the Saudi connection to 9/11

Exclusive: New Ted Cruz Super-PACs Take in Record Haul
Bloomberg | Mark Halperin | 04/12/15

Ted Cruz's presidential effort is getting into the shock-and-awe fundraising business. An associate of the Texas senator, a recently announced presidential candidate, tells Bloomberg that a cluster of affiliated super-political action committees was formed only this week, and among them they are expected to have $31 million in the bank by Friday.

Even in the context of a presidential campaign cycle in which the major party nominees are expected to raise more than $1.5 billion, Cruz's haul is eye-popping, one that instantly raises the stakes in the Republican fundraising contest. ... Read more

Marco Rubio Pitches Donors as the 'Moneyball' Candidate
Bloomberg | Julie Bykowicz | 04/14/15

Marco Rubio's presidential campaign slogan, a "New American Century," also serves as his message to donors as he makes the pitch that he's a fresh face in a crowded and expensive Republican primary contest.

The 43-year-old Florida senator, son of Cuban immigrants, is making his presidential case to younger money-raisers who are unencumbered by relationships with the Bush family. He'll also try to woo new economy business leaders in technology and the service sector, two industries that have previously supported him. And his advisers hope he'll get a boost from self-made billionaire donors who admire his boot-strapping life story as detailed in his biography, American Dreams. ... Read more

Lawmakers Who Seem To Have Forgotten Iraq Insist They're Right About Iran
HP | Michael McAuliff | 04/13/15

... "I think the president would mislead the American people," McDermott said, sparking a firestorm of criticism back home, where he was labeled "disgraceful" and accused of "slander" by war-supporting pundits.

Of course, in one of history's more humbling lessons, McDermott turned out to be right -- not just about the quality of the case being made for war, but also about the potentially destabilizing impact of a poorly considered military intervention. ... Read more

What Happens When The World's Most 'Liquid' Bond Market Is Taken Hostage By "Malfunctioning Algos"
ZeroHedge | author | 04/13/15

... It took several years, but slowly and surely everyone caught on from the mainstream media, to Jamie Dimon and even the IMF, realizing also that the reason why liquidity in what was formerly the world's deepest and most liquid bond market, that of US Treasurys, has completely collapsed is due to not only central banks "soaking up" collateral from private holders but also algorithmic traders who - as it turns out - not only do not provide liquidity, but consume every last trace of it. ... Read more

Marco Rubio Is Running for President. Read These 7 Stories About Him Now.
MotherJones | Sam Brodey | 04/13/15

... The first-term Florida senator was considered one of his party's brightest rising stars until a doomed immigration reform push in 2013 eroded his support among conservatives. Rubio has since worked his way back to prominence, casting himself as a leading foreign policy hawk. ... Read more, also MJ | 10 Things You Need to Know About Marco Rubio (older, 04/27/12) (article)
Marco Rubio Used to Believe in Climate Science. Now He's Running For President. (current) [2:56]

Ted Cruz Is Tired of the Media Making Him Look Bad by Accurately Quoting His Remarks
mediaite.com | Tina Nguyen | 04/09/15

In an interview with CNBC, GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz expressed anger towards the "left-wing editorial writers" who liked to call him out for making "non-factual statements."

Cruz, speaking to John Harwood during a ten-question interview, dismissed the tendency of people to do things like fact-check his claims supporting his argument that the IRS should be abolished: ... Read more
CNBS | Ted Cruz Is Tired of the Media Making Him Look Bad by Accurately Quoting His Remarks (current) [4:14]

Foodstamp Financiers: Wells Fargo Workers Protest Re-Emergence Of Predatory Practices
ZeroHedge | author | 04/13/15

One of America's biggest banks is going to be protested by an unlikely group today: its employees. As The Guardian reports, Wells Fargo bankers are protesting the bank's alleged predatory practices -- mainly the sales quotas imposed on some of its workers (which have led to at least 30 employees opening duplicate accounts, sometimes without customers' knowledge, in order to inflate their sales numbers). One worker warns, "it is not in Wells Fargo's best interest for customers to purchase products and services they don't use or need." Now where have we seen this kind of activity before? Wells Fargo bank workers are not the only ones struggling to make ends meet without breaking ethical standards as bank tellers have collected as much as $105m in food stamps. ... Read more

The Answer to Homelessness? Reliable Employment.
Catharine Fletcher suns herself in front of one of over a hundred brilliant pink tents set up as a shelter for homeless people in September 2008, in Seattle
BillMoyers | Suzanne Kenney | older, 02/28/15

This week, the city of Boston conducted its annual Homeless Census, during which teams of volunteers spanned the city and counted the number of people living on the streets, in shelters, or transitional housing. Data from the annual count is used to make decisions about where to spend scarce resources to reduce and prevent homelessness among individuals and families. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, April 13 [10:38]

*HBO | John Oliver & Michael Bolton Serenade The IRS (04/13/15) [18:26]

Jon Stewart | Figures Out What's Really Going On In Sarah Palin's Bizarre Iowa Speech (older, but revealing 2015) [8:14]

*TRNN | Daniel Martin Varisco: Proxy Morons: The Demolition of Yemen, Part 1 (04/13/15) [11:44]

TRNN | Michael Ratner say: Bringing the U.S. Torture Team Justice (04/13/15) [15:56]

RT | CrossTalk: War of Failure (04/13/15) [23:48]

RT | Keiser Report: Warren Buffett's Interest Rate Apartheid (E743) (04/11/15) [24:08]

Ayn Rand | Atlas Shrugged - Part III (2015) [1:39:05]

Ayn Rand | Atlas Shrugged Off Taxes by Paul Buchheit
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Rap News: Join Robert Foster as he examines the Eurozone crisis and the causes behind it. (04/11/15) [6:46]

California's New Era of Heat Destroys All Previous Records
Bloomberg | author | 04/10/15

The California heat of the past 12 months is like nothing ever seen in records going back to 1895. The 12 months before that were similarly without precedent. And the 12 months before that? A freakishly hot year, too.

What's happening in California right now is shattering modern temperature measurements--as well as tree-ring records that stretch back more than 1,000 years. It's no longer just a record-hot month or a record-hot year that California faces. It's a stack of broken records leading to the worst drought that's ever beset the Golden State. ... Read more
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Tornadoes in Illinois: Crews search town for missing residents
AP | author | 04/10/15

Emergency crews say they're conducting detailed searches of homes and other structures in a northern Illinois town to ensure nobody is trapped in rubble left by a deadly tornado.

Authorities say 67-year-old Geraldine M. Schultz was killed and roughly a dozen people were injured Thursday after the tornado swept through tiny Fairdale, an unincorporated town of about 150, about 80 miles northwest of Chicago. Read more

19 Signs That American Families Are Being Economically Destroyed
ZeroHedge | author | 04/10/15

The systematic destruction of the American way of life is happening all around us, and yet most people have no idea what is happening. Once upon a time in America, if you were responsible and hard working you could get a good paying job that could support a middle class lifestyle for an entire family even if you only had a high school education. Things weren't perfect, but generally almost everyone in the entire country was able to take care of themselves without government assistance. We worked hard, we played hard, and our seemingly boundless prosperity was the envy of the entire planet. But over the past several decades things have completely changed. We consumed far more wealth than we produced, we shipped millions of good paying jobs overseas, we piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and we kept electing politicians that had absolutely no concern for the long-term future of this nation whatsoever. ...

GE Announces One Of Largest Buybacks In History, Will Repuchase $50 Bn In Shares After Selling Most Of GE Capital
ZeroHedge | author | 04/10/15

Moments ago, General Electric showed why April is much more likley to be a rerun of February than January or March when it announceed that it would go ahead and repurchase half of the total record stock buybacks announced in February, or some $50 billion in what may be the largest stock buyback announcement in history! How will GE fund this massive distribution to its shareholders, of which the most concentrated one will once again be the biggest winners? Simple: by dumping the division that nearly caused its insolvency during the financial crisis, the hedge fund known as GE Capital. As part of the just announced mega transaction, GE announced an agreement to sell the bulk of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, April 10 [13:34]

Jon Stewart | Jon Stewart: Kansas Is America's 'Welfare Queen' (04/10/15) [8:19]

*TRNN | Activist Gerald Horne: The Summit of the Americas in the Context of US Imperialism (04/10/15) [12:59]

*TRNN | Miguel Tinker Salas say: Summit of the Americas: U.S. Agenda is to Push TPP to Split Latin American Integration (04/10/15) [7:36]

TYT | Boston Marathon Bomber Verdict - Guilty Or Not Guilty?Boston Marathon Bomber Verdict - Guilty Or Not Guilty? (04/09/15) [5:14]

TYT | Congress To Obama: War, Have At It! Peace, We DEMAND Oversight! (04/09/15) [2:51]

John Oliver Just Inadvertently Inspired DickPics4Freedom
AlterNet | Kali Holloway | 04/09/15

It turns out the late night host was right -- dick pics really were the best way to get people talking about NSA spying.

When, on this Sunday's "Last Week Tonight," John Oliver put NSA spying into terms most Americans might care about -- that is, by describing how "dick pics" get passed around by federal employees -- he inadvertently started a freedom movement. ... Read more
*HBO | John Oliver: Ed Snowden tells John Oliver: 'They are still collecting everybody's information, including your dick pics' (04/05/15) [33:14]

*Citizen Four (2014) [2:14:00] be patient, Sound does't start until 45 sec, and the Progressbar doesn't work very well.

If the above link doesn't work try the following:
Citizen Four (2014) [2:14:00]

Stable multi target tracking in real time surveillance video (03/22/15) [1:10]

Woody Harrelson discusses "The Most Dangerous Man in America" [4:17]

The Most Dangerous Man In America, Part 1 [43:25], Part 2 [43:25]

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg on the Vietnam & Afghanistan Wars (2009) [41:15]

Can't Wait To Read Bernanke's Memoirs? Here Are All The Timeless Statements By The Former Fed Chairman
ZeroHedge | author | 04/09/15

Humble, daring, courageous. All words that promptly come to mind upon reading the following excerpt, and we are confident the Goldman Sachs preface will surely add "patriotic" to the trio of adjectives. ... Read more

Timeless Statements By The Former Fed Chairman [5:08]

Fukushima Chiefs: The Technology Needed To Decommission 3 China-Syndromed Reactors Doesn't Exist ... Maybe In 200 Years?
ZeroHedge | author | 04/09/15

The reactors didn't just suffer a melt down, or even a China syndrome type melt-through, but a series of melt OUTS. Scientists have no idea where the cores of the nuclear reactors are. Well actually, maybe they have found them … scattered all over kingdom come.

In response to the Fukushima crisis, Japan banned journalism, and Japan has once again gone fascist. If the heads of Fukushima are publicly telling mainstream media such as NHK that things are bad - and the government is letting them do it - you know things are really bad ... Read more

Decommissioning Chief Speaks Out: "We have no idea" (03/31/15) [4:04]

Impossible City: A Youth-Built Homeless Village
www.indiegogo.com | author | date

The Impossible City is a series of builds for a Seattle homeless encampment by Sawhorse Revolution, non-profit carpentry program for high school students. The six projects we are fundraising for will increase the camp's shelter, light, and sanitation.

As with all Sawhorse Revolution projects, the builds are guided by professionals in their fields - architecture, engineering and construction. Each project is tailored to the needs of the camp and crafted to be of the highest quality, incorporating sustainable materials and building techniques, beautiful design, and a user-centered approach to architecture. Since the Nickelsville Homeless Community moves every 3-18 months, every structure we build will be collapsible or easily transportable. Here are a few key aspects of the Impossible City Builds: ... Read more

Video Shows Officer Michael Slager Shooting Unarmed Black Man In The Back In South Carolina
HP | Andy Campbell | 04/07/15

white South Carolina police officer was arrested and charged with murder Tuesday after video showed him fatally shooting a fleeing, unarmed black man in the back.

North Charleston Police Officer Michael T. Slager, 33, can be seen shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott after a confrontation on Saturday, according to The Post and Courier. Slager chases Scott and shoots at him eight times in the video recorded by a passerby and obtained by The New York Times. ... Read more

The Big Chill: How Big Money Is Buying Off Criticism of Big Money
HP | Robert Reich | 04/06/15

Robert B. Reich's film "Inequality for All" (trailer) [2:00]

Bernanke's True Legacy

In short, Bernanke bankrupted the US and most Americans in the span of ten years. He created the biggest housing bubble in 100 years and also casue the greatest Crash in 100 years.

NRA Holds Annual Convention in a State Where Guns Now Kill More Than Cars Do
MotherJones | Jaeah Lee | 04/08/15

Guns kill more people than cars do in a growing number of states, according to a new analysis of national mortality data from the Violence Policy Center. The report finds that in 2013, firearm-related deaths exceeded those caused by motor vehicles in 17 states and the District of Columbia. This means that four more states have crossed this threshold since 2012, including Louisiana, Missouri, Virginia, and Tennessee. In Nashville this Friday, the National Rifle Association opens the doors to its 144th annual convention. ... Read more
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The Rise of the Working Poor and the Non-Working Rich
BillMoyers & RobertReich | Robert Reich | 04/01/15

Many believe that poor people deserve to be poor because they're lazy. As Speaker John Boehner has said, the poor have a notion that "I really don't have to work. I don't really want to do this. I think I'd rather just sit around."

In reality, a large and growing share of the nation's poor work full time -- sometimes 60 or more hours a week -- yet still don't earn enough to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

It's also commonly believed, especially among Republicans, that the rich deserve their wealth because they work harder than others.

In reality, a large and growing portion of the super-rich have never broken a sweat. Their wealth has been handed to them. ... Read more

Rand Paul Announces He's Running For President In 2016
HP | Paige Lavender | 04/07/15

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that he's running for president in 2016. "I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government," Paul said in a message on his website. Read more

In Iowa, Pastors Hold Major Sway 2016 Presidential Race
AP & HP | Catherine Lucey |04/06/15

Gordon is a well-known evangelical Christian pastor with a church in Sioux City that can draw 600 people on Sundays and a voice that echoes far beyond the pulpit. ...

In some states, big city ward leaders or union bosses are the go-to guys to deliver votes. When it comes to Iowa's Republican caucuses, evangelical pastors are kingmakers, with sway over an important bloc of participants. Long before the campaign heats up, leading ministers are showered with personal attention from likely candidates, and they can negotiate their policy positions on issues such as gay rights and abortion. ... Read more

Mohamed El-Erian Explains Why He Is Now "Mostly In Cash"
ZeroHedge | author | 04/07/15

"I am mostly concentrated in cash... because I think most asset prices have been pushed by central banks to very elevated levels. Central banks look at growth, at employment, at wages. They are too low. They don't have the instruments they need, but they feel obliged to do something; so they artificially lift asset prices... Because they hope that they will trigger what's called the wealth effect, but there is a massive gap right now between asset prices and fundamentals."

Reflecting Julian Robertson's warnings from yesterday that, unless The Fed acts to end this bubble, there will be a "complete explosion," El-Erian points out the difference between what The Fed will do and what The Fed should do ...

Mohamed El-Erian Explains Why He Is Now "Mostly In Cash" (04/07/15) [0:51]

Why Operation Jade Helm 15 is freaking out the Internet
Washington Post | Dan Lamothe | older, 03/31/15

The mission is vast both geographically and strategically: Elite service members from all four branches of the U.S. military will launch an operation this summer in which they will operate covertly among the U.S. public and travel from state to state in military aircraft. Texas, Utah and a section of southern California are labeled as hostile territory, and New Mexico isn't much friendlier.

That's the scheme for Jade Helm 15, a new Special Operations exercise that runs from July 15 to Sept. 15. Army Special Operations Command announced it last week, saying the size and scope of the mission sets it apart from many other training exercises. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Tuesday, April 07 [10:28]

*DN | Are Obama's Record Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt and Iraq Fueling Unrest in Middle East? (01/07/15) [10:57]

PBS Frontline | The Vaccine War (03/24/15) [53:41]

*TRNN | Larry Wilkerson: Republicans and Some Democrats are Seeking a Veto-Proof Bill on the Nuclear Agreement with Iran (04/07/15) [11:08]

TYT | Why Did Jeb Bush Say He's Hispanic On His Voter Registration Form? (04/06/15) [6:53]

TYT | Women In Special Ops Units? Fox News Guest Veterans Weigh In (04/06/15) [6:57]

TYT | Climate Change Survey : Fox News Trusted More Than Obama (04/06/15) [7:25]

**RT | Keiser Report: Rip Up Money, Get More ??? PROFIT! (E741) (04/07/15) [24:05]

Fighting in the Clown Car: A Look at the New Landscape of the Republican Presidential Race (04/06/15) [14:12]

Jade-Helm-15 Operations.pdf

JH is a US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) sponsored exercise to improve interagency (IA) Unconventional Warfare (UW) exercise conducted throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. JH 15 will run from 15 July through 15 September 2015.

Big-Bank Bad Guys Bully Democracy
BillMoyers | Richard Eskow | 03/03/15

For so-called "masters of the universe," Wall Street executives sure seem touchy about criticism. It seems they don't like being painted as the bad guys. But if they don't like being criticized, why do so many of them keep behaving like B-movie villains? That's exactly what executives from Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America looked like after an article appeared last week detailing their coordinated attempt to intimidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and other Democrats who want to fix the mess on Wall Street.

They've cheated customers and defrauded investors. Now they want to use our legalized system of campaign-cash corruption to protect themselves from the very government which rescued them. ... Read more
TYT | Elizabeth Warren Declares War On Wall Street Banks (04/05/15) [5:38]

Ed Snowden tells John Oliver: 'They are still collecting everybody's information, including your dick pics'
RawStory | Tom Boggioni | 03/06/15

Oliver began the segment by noting that Congress is faced with reauthorizing the Patriot Act on June 1 which contains many of the loosely interpreted laws allowing the government to spy on U.S. citizens.

"Over the last couple of years, you've probably heard about strange-sounding programs, such as XKeyscore, Muscular, Prism, and Mystic, which are, coincidentally, also the names of some of Florida's least popular strip clubs, " Oliver explained, before using the voice of a pitchman. "Welcome to XKeyscore -- our dancers are fully unredacted and Tuesdays are wing nights." ... Read more

Why John Oliver Can't Find Americans Who Know Edward Snowden's Name (It's Not About Snowden)
https://firstlook.org/theintercept | Glenn Greenwald | 04/06/15

... Oliver's overall discussion is good (and, naturally, quite funny), but the specific point he wants to make here is misguided. Contrary to what Oliver says, it's actually not surprising at all that a large number of Americans are unaware of who Snowden is, nor does it say much at all about the surveillance debate. That's because a large number of Americans, by choice, are remarkably unaware of virtually all political matters. The befuddled reactions of the Times Square interviewees when asked about Snowden illustrate little about the specific surveillance issue but a great deal about the full-scale political disengagement of a substantial chunk of the American population.

Even more striking is what they do and do not know. An Annenberg Public Policy Center poll from last September found that only 36% of Americans can name the three branches of government, and only 38% know the GOP controls the House. The Center's 2011 poll "found just 15 percent of Americans could correctly identify the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, while 27 percent knew Randy Jackson was a judge on American Idol."

A 2010 Findlaw.com poll found that almost 2/3 of Americans -- 65% -- were incapable of naming even a single member of the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2010 Pew poll discovered that 41% of Americans are unable to name the current Vice President of the U.S; in other words, Oliver could just as easily (if not more easily) compile a video of Times Square visitors looking stumped when asked if they knew who Joe Biden, or Antonin Scalia, is.... Read more

Ted Cruz Isn't an Idiot -- He's Delusional and That's Far More Dangerous
AlterNet | Sophia A. McClennen | 04/01/15

For those who think like Cruz, there is virtually no amount of data, reality checks or facts that can persuade them to give up their false ideas.

Since Ted Cruz first announced his candidacy, much has been made of his chances of winning, his arrogance and his extreme conservative views. But most of the controversy over his candidacy centers on his lying.

It is no surprise to any of us that politicians lie. We generally assume they stretch the truth to get elected, to denigrate their political foes, and to bolster their images. But Cruz may just represent one of the biggest liars in recent history. In fact, he may be a whole new form of political liar.

The Daily Beast reports that, "Cruz's Politifact track record for publicly asserted falsehoods is the second-highest among front-runners, totaling 56 percent of all statements they've looked at." And Matthew Rozsa tell us that "Googling 'Ted Cruz lies' pulls back an astonishing 7,890,000 results, and on Twitter, the two phrases are basically synonymous." ... Read more
Ted Cruz's PolitiFact File

*RT | CrossTalk: Mideast Aflame (04/06/15) [24:11]

RT | Keiser Report: Destroy Capitalism to... Save Capitalism?! (E740) (04/04/15) [23:46]

Iran, Cuba And China: Obama Steadily Builds Diplomatic Legacy
HP | Ryan Grim | 04/03/15

It may be hard to remember today, but Barack Obama became president, more or less, thanks to his foreign policy. His early opposition to the war in Iraq gave him the wedge he needed to differentiate himself from the far-and-away frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

uring the campaign, he used Iran to further drive home the contrast. In a debate in July 2007, Obama said he'd meet with then-Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "without precondition." It was an extension of Obama's diplomacy-first foreign policy, and he came under withering attack not just from the GOP, but also from Clinton. ... Read more

Netanyahu: Israeli Cabinet United In Opposition To Iran Nuclear Deal
AP & HP | author | 04/03/15

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his Cabinet are united in "strongly opposing" an emerging framework agreement on curbing Iran's nuclear program and demanded that any final deal contain Iranian recognition of Israel's right to exist.

Iran and six world powers announced a series of understandings Thursday, with a final agreement to be reached by June 30. A final deal is meant to cut significantly into Iran's bomb-capable technology while giving Tehran quick access to assets and markets blocked by international sanctions. ... Read more

No Country For Young Workers: Only Americans 55 And Older Found Jobs In March
ZeroHedge | author | 04/03/15

We first showed back in October 2012 that in America, courtesy of the Fed's micro-mismanagement of everything, the labor force has been turned upside down, and the only jobs being created are those for aged workers, Americans 55 and over. The reason is two-fold: with savings rates at zero, Americans who were on the verge of retiring found that the fruit of their labor was worth nothing under ZIRP (and may well be punished under the upcoming NIRP) as their savings (and fixed income investments) generate zero interest income, while young Americans would rather stay in college by the millions funded generously by trillions in Uncle Sam student loans. ... Read more
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Informant Provided Bomb-Making Manual To Alleged "ISIS-inspired" Plotters
TheIntercept | Murtaza Hussain | 04/03/14

In what has been widely described in the media as the breakup of an "ISIS-inspired" plot, on April 2 the Department of Justice announced that Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, both of New York, had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. The defendants "plotted to wreak terror by creating explosive devices" for use in New York City and sought "bomb-making instructions and materials" for an attack, the Justice Department statement said.

Like other recent sensational "terror plots," however, the criminal complaint unsealed yesterday demonstrates the key role of an undercover law enforcement informant in both formulating and facilitating the alleged plot. It doesn't appear that Velentzas or Siddiqui actually planned or attempted to bomb any target, nor is there any evidence of discussions about how to create a bomb before the introduction of the informant into their lives. ... Read more

Karl Rove tells Iraq veteran: 'Sorry for what you went through,' but I won't apologize for the war
RawStory & AlterNet | Arturo Garcia | 04/02/15

Bush's brain stands his ground when confronted by anti-war veteran.

During a speech at the University of Connecticut in Storrson Tuesday, former Bush White House staffer Karl Rove -- known as "Bush's Brain" for his closeness to the former president -- was asked by an Iraq war veteran whether he would apologize for his role in the Iraq war.

"I have taken responsibility for my actions and dealt with my demons while advocating for a peaceful resolution of a war that was an act of aggression with no clear goal," explained the former veteran, Ryan Henowitz. "Can you take responsibility and apologize for your decision in sending a generation to lose their humanity and deal with the horrors of war, which you have never had the courage to face? Will you apologize to the millions of fathers and mothers who lost their children on both sides of this useless war?" ... Read more

5 Truly Crazy Assertions From Jamie Dimon's Barron's Cover Story
ZeroHedge | author |04/01/15

The nation's largest bank is operating under a deferred prosecution agreement until at least next January for two felony counts it received in the Madoff swindle, the largest Ponzi scheme in history. It's under a current criminal investigation over potential rigging of the foreign exchange markets with the New York Times reporting on February 10. ... Read more

In the past four years alone, JPMorgan Chase has paid out $28,902,150,000 in fines and settlements for fraudulent and illegal practices. ... Read more






JPMorgan Chase Whale Trades: A Case History of Derivatives Risks and Abuses (03/15/13) [6:16:17]

For First Time In History, California Governor Orders Mandatory Water Cuts Amid "Unprecedented, Dangerous Situation"
ZeroHedge | author | 04/01/15

For the first time in the state's history, Governor Jerry Brown has directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions across California, in an effort to reduce water usage by 25 percent.

Read more
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5 Charts Which Show That The Next Economic Crash Is Dead Ahead
ZeroHedge | author | 04/01/15

When an economic crisis is coming, there are usually certain indicators that appear in advance. For example, commodity prices usually start to plunge before a recession begins. And as you can see from the Bloomberg Commodity Index, this has already been happening. In addition, I have previously written about how the U.S. dollar went on a great run just before the financial collapse of 2008. This is something that has also been happening over the past few months ... Read more
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The Committee To Destroy The World
ZeroHedge | author | 04/01/15

Negative interest rates on $3 trillion of European debt are an obvious sign of policy failure, yet the policy elite stands mute. Actually that's not correct -- the cognoscenti is cheering on Mario Draghi as he destroys the European bond markets just as they celebrated Janet Yellen's demolition of the Treasury market. Negative interest rates are not some curiosity; they represent a symptom of policy failure and a violation of the very tenets of capitalist economics. The same is true of persistent near-zero interest rates in the United States and Japan. ... Read more

Jeb Bush Seems to Shift Tone in His Praise of Indiana Law
NYTimes | Maggie Haberman | 04/01/15

Jeb Bush appeared to modify his public comments about Indiana's "religious freedom" law on Wednesday in a closed-door Silicon Valley fund-raiser, telling a small group of potential supporters that a "consensus-oriented" approach would have been better at the outset.

Mr. Bush's comments were strikingly different in tone and in scope from what he said on Monday night in an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. In that interview he praised Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana for doing the "right thing" and said that the new law was similar to one in Florida and to a law signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. ... Read more

4 Dead In Pemex Oil Platform Explosion, Hundreds Evacuated
ZeroHedge | author | 04/01/15

Mexico's state-owned PEMEX says an oil platform has exploded in Campeche Bay. 300 workers have been evacuated and the company says 8 boats are attempting to bring the blaze under control. ... Read more
4 Dead In Pemex Oil Platform Explosion, Hundreds Evacuated [0:29]

The Orwellian Re-branding Of "Mass Surveillance" As Merely "Bulk Collection"
firstlook.org/theintercept | Glenn Greenwald | 03/13/15

This re-definition game goes as follows: yes, we vacuum up and store literally as much of the internet as we possibly can. Then we analyze all the data about what you're doing, with whom you're speaking, and who your network of associates is. Based on that analysis of all of you and your activities, we then read the communications that we want (with virtually no checks and concealing from you what percentage of it we're reading), and store as much of the rest of it as technology permits for future trolling. But don't worry: we're only reading the Bad People's emails. So run along then: no mass surveillance here. Just bulk collection! It's not mass surveillance, but "enhanced collection techniques."

Read more
BBC | Glenn Greenwald & Former GCHQ Director David Omand on ISC Surveillance Report - Newsnight (03/12/15) [12:20]

NSA Locations
offnow.org | author | date

The NSA spies on the world. To accomplish this, the agency needs a network of facilities across the Unite States. In all likelihood, the NSA has operations close to your own back yard. ... Read more

Fracking Town's Desperate Laid-off Workers: 'They Don't Tell You It's All a Lie'
AlterNet | Evelyn Nieves | 03/28/15

From the looks of it, the nation's boomtown is still booming. Big rigs, cement mixers and oil tankers still clog streets built for lighter loads. The air still smells like diesel fuel and looks like a dust bowl -- all that traffic -- and natural gas flares, wasted byproducts of the oil wells, still glare out at the night sky like bonfires. Not to mention that Walmart, still the main game in town, can't seem to get a handle on its very long lines and half­ empty shelves.

But life at the center of the country's largest hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, boom has definitely changed. The jobs that brought thousands of recession­-weary employment­-seekers to this once peaceful corner of western North Dakota over the last five years have been drying up, even as the unemployed keep coming.

Downtown, clutches of men pass their time at the Salvation Army, watching movies or trolling Craigslist ads on desktop computers. The main branch of the public library is full, all day, every day, with unemployed men in cubbyholes. And when the Command Center, a private temporary jobs agency, opens every morning at 6am, between two and three dozen people are waiting to get in the door. ... Read more

The National Security Agency -- which is primarily responsible for "signals intelligence," the collection and analysis of various forms of communication -- to house trillions of phone calls, e-mail messages, and data trails: Web searches, parking receipts, bookstore visits, and other digital "pocket litter." Lacking adequate space and power at its city-sized Fort Meade, Maryland, headquarters, the NSA is also completing work on another data archive, this one in San Antonio, Texas, which will be nearly the size of the Alamodome.

Just how much information will be stored in these windowless cybertemples? A clue comes from a recent report prepared by the MITRE Corporation, a Pentagon think tank. "As the sensors associated with the various surveillance missions improve," says the report, referring to a variety of technical collection methods, "the data volumes are increasing with a projection that sensor data volume could potentially increase to the level of Yottabytes (1024 Bytes) by 2015."1 Roughly equal to about a septillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) pages of text, numbers beyond Yottabytes haven't yet been named. Once vacuumed up and stored in these near-infinite "libraries," the data are then analyzed by powerful infoweapons, supercomputers running complex algorithmic programs, to determine who among us may be -- or may one day become -- a terrorist. In the NSA's world of automated surveillance on steroids, every bit has a history and every keystroke tells a story. DOES this seem ripe for Blackmail???? Wikipedia | Utah Data Center (article)