Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

American Empire in Chaos: Is Trump the Ultimate Blowback From Our Never Ending Wars?
AlterNet | Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch | 11/13/16

The one thing you could say about empires is that, at or near their height, they have always represented a principle of order as well as domination. So here's the confounding thing about the American version of empire in the years when this country was often referred to as "the sole superpower," when it was putting more money into its military than the next 10 nations combined: it's been an empire of chaos.

Back in September 2002, Amr Moussa, then head of the Arab League, offered a warning I've never forgotten. The Bush administration's intention to invade Iraq and topple its ruler, Saddam Hussein, was already obvious. Were they to take such a step, Moussa insisted, it would "open the gates of hell." His prediction turned out to be anything but hyperbole -- and those gates have never again closed.

From the moment of the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, in fact, everything the U.S. military touched in these years has turned to dust. Nations across the Greater Middle East and Africa collapsed under the weight of American interventions or those of its allies, and terror movements, one grimmer than the next, spread in a remarkably unchecked fashion. Afghanistan is now a disaster zone; Yemen, wracked by civil war ... Read more

Lucian Read Video: Mni Wiconi ("Water is Life" in the Sioux language) (11/15/16) [8:26]

This Gorgeous Short Film Takes Us to the Heart of the Dakota Access Pipeline Standoff
MotherJones | Wes Enzinna | 11/15/16

... Premiering here, Read's latest short film, Mni Wiconi: The Standing at Standing Rock, turns a camera on the plight of Native Americans, a group that has been neglected and wronged perhaps more than any other in this nation. "We were thinking of ways to continue the America Divided project with groups that weren't included in that series," Read says. "And I'd especially been thinking about poverty and inequality in Indian country." ... Read more

Chomsky: Trump's Win Puts Govt in the Hands of the 'Most Dangerous Organization in World History'
AlterNet | Tom Boggioni / Raw Story | 11/14/16

Chomsky warns of a president who "could exploit the fear and anger that has long been boiling in much of the society, and who could direct it away from the actual agents of malaise to vulnerable targets."

In an interview with TruthOut, political theorist Noam Chomsky warned the choice of Donald Trump will put the world at risk, saying the policy-adverse president-elect may let the Republican party run amok.

"On November 8, the most powerful country in world history, which will set its stamp on what comes next, had an election," Chomsky said. "The outcome placed total control of the government -- executive, Congress, the Supreme Court -- in the hands of the Republican Party, which has become the most dangerous organization in world history." ... Read more

Breitbart's Greatest Hit (Pieces): Some Of The Website's Most Disgusting Headlines
HP | Willa Frej | 11/14/16

The VIX Is Dead: According To The BIS, This Is The New "Fear Indicator"
ZeroHedge | author | 11/15/16

Over the past few years, one of the recurring themes on this website has been an ongoing discussion of how the VIX has lost its predictive value as a market risk indicator. This culminated recently with a note by Russel Clark who explained in clear term why the "VIX is now broken." Today, in a fascinating note Hyun Song Shin, head of research at the Bank for International Settlements, the "central banks' central bank" has agreed with the increasingly prevailing conventional wisdom that the VIX is no longer the world's fear barometer. Instead, Shin believes that the world's most traded currency is now the true fear gauge: the US Dollar. ... Read more