Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin
spiegel.de | Spiegel Staff | 10/27/13

Among the politically decisive questions is whether the spying was authorized from the top: from the US president. If the data is accurate, the operation was authorized under former President George W. Bush and his NSA chief, Michael Hayden. But it would have had to be repeatedly approved, including after Obama took office and up to the present time. Is it conceivable that the NSA made the German chancellor a surveillance target without the president's knowledge?

The White House and the US intelligence agencies periodically put together a list of priorities. Listed by country and theme, the result is a matrix of global surveillance: What are the intelligence targets in various countries? How important is this reconnaissance? The list is called the "National Intelligence Priorities Framework" and is "presidentially approved."

One category in this list is "Leadership Intentions," the goals and objectives of a country's political leadership. The intentions of China's leadership are of high interest to the US government. They are marked with a "1" on a scale of 1 to 5. Mexico and Brazil each receive a "3" in this category. ... Read more

The Lies That Will Kill America
AlterNet | Bill Moyers | 10/25/13

Ideology and self-interest trump the facts or even caring about the facts, whether it's banking, Obamacare or global warming.

Here in Manhattan the other day, you couldn't miss it -- the big bold headline across the front page of the tabloid New York Post, screaming one of those sick, slick lies that are a trademark of Rupert Murdoch's right-wing media empire. There was Uncle Sam, brandishing a revolver and wearing a burglar's mask. "UNCLE SCAM," the headline shouted. "US robs bank of $13 billion."

Say what? Pure whitewash, and Murdoch's minions know it. That $13 billion dollars is the settlement JPMorgan Chase, the country's biggest bank, is negotiating with the government to settle its own rip-off of American homeowners and investors -- those shady practices that five years ago helped trigger the financial meltdown, including manipulating mortgages and sending millions of Americans into bankruptcy or foreclosure. ... Read more

Spain summons US ambassador over claim NSA tracked 60m calls a month
TheGuardian | Paul Hamilos | 10/28/13

The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has summoned the US ambassador to explain the latest revelations to emerge from the files leaked by Edward Snowden, which suggest the National Security Agency tracked more than 60m phone calls in Spain in the space of a month. ... Read more

Santelli Stunned As Nobel Winner Fama Explains Fed Unwind "Is No Big Deal"
ZeroHedge | author | 10/29/13

If ever there was a few minutes of television to confirm the deep-seated disconnect between reality and the ivory-tower academics pulling the levers behind the curtain, CNBC's Rick Santelli just exposed it. For once, simple questions were enough to allow none other than Nobel-Prize-winning economist Eugene Fama to show Santelli (who did his best not to explode in incredulity) that the "smartest people in the room" just don't get it (just as they didn't get it in 2007). Santelli was gracious and polite as he asked what the great professor's thoughts were on QE... (and the entire brief clip is worth watching in its entirety) but his conclusion is perhaps the most stunning (and left Santelli almost silent)... when asked the impact of the Fed 'Tapering' or even selling down its $4 trillion in assets, Fama calmly says "it's basically a neutral event... It's No Big Deal!" ... "What the Fed is doing now... is kind of a nothing activity." [4:29]