Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Elizabeth Warren On What A Presidential Bid Would Mean
HP | Ryan Grim | 06/02/14

Asked whether she would be running for president in 2016, Elizabeth Warren framed the coming debate as one of defining values at a critical moment. She stopped short of committing to or rejecting a White House bid, and her answer will likely further speculation about a Warren candidacy.

In an interview with The Huffington Post that will air in full on Monday evening at 8:30 on HuffPost Live, Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was asked about the promise in her book that she was "fiercely determined to do everything I can to help us once again be the America that creates opportunities for anyone who works hard and plays by the rules." She was also questioned about her warning that "we're running out of time." ... Read more

Adam Smith vs. Keynes and Minsky
Bloomberg | Mohamed A. El-Erian | 06/02/14

Once again, it is Adam Smith versus John Maynard Keynes and Hyman Minsky in the financial marketplace. Smith is winning so far, but his further prospects depend less on his theory of self-enlightened individual behavior in the private sector than on the efficacy of guardrails that governments and central banks put in place.

According to Smith, the collective good is best served by the atomized behavior of rational individuals driven by self-interest. In maximizing their own needs, individuals also maximize the collective objective – a process that has self-reinforcing dynamics. ... ... Read more

One More Crack in the Keystone XL Pipeline
BillMoyers | Michael Winship | 05/30/14

... During one week in September, 72 percent, or almost three-quarters, of the welds on the ‘safest pipeline in the world’ required redoing. ...

... Throughout the Keystone XL fight, TransCanada has maintained that the chance of a spill is remote, and that its pipelines are state-of-the-art. But the implications of TransCanada’s inferior welding on its Southern leg are precisely why the Keystone XL has met with such fierce resistance on the ground in Nebraska. It’s there the planned pipe will pass over the Ogallala aquifer, which irrigates much of the Great Plains, and directly and indirectly supports millions of American jobs—and that’s not counting all the drinking water. ... Read more

Photos: Living in the Shadow of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster
MotherJones | Alex Masi | 06/02/14

Before dawn on December 3, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, exploded and leaked 45 tons of methyl isocyanate. Half a million people came in contact with the toxic gas and other chemicals, and thousands died within days. As many as 25,000 people are thought to have eventually perished after exposure to the gas, which causes nerve and respiratory damage.

Union Carbide, the American company that owned the plant, initially tried to avoid any liability for the disaster, claiming sabotage by an employee. In 1989, it finally agreed to pay out $470 million -- which worked out to about $550 per victim. ... Read more

Gun Activists Flaunting Assault Rifles Get Booted From Chili's and Sonic
MotherJones | Mark Follman | 05/27/14

It would be an understatement to say that the tactics of gun rights activists have been backfiring of late. The showdown has taken place foremost in Texas, where in recent months groups such as Open Carry Texas have conducted provocative demonstrations in which armed men exercise their right under state law to carry semi-automatic rifles in public. No fewer than five national food and beverage chains have now told them to get rid of their guns or get lost, including Starbucks, Wendy’s, Applebees, Jack in the Box, and Chipotle. And now Chili's Grill & Bar and Sonic have effectively joined the list. Read more