Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward
HP | Ryan Grim | 10/10/14

With the public in the U.S. and Latin America becoming increasingly skeptical of the war on drugs, key figures in a scandal that once rocked the Central Intelligence Agency are coming forward to tell their stories in a new documentary and in a series of interviews with The Huffington Post.

More than 18 years have passed since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb stunned the world with his "Dark Alliance" newspaper series investigating the connections between the CIA, a crack cocaine explosion in the predominantly African-American neighborhoods of South Los Angeles, and the Nicaraguan Contra fighters -- scandalous implications that outraged LA's black community, severely damaged the intelligence agency's reputation and launched a number of federal investigations.

It did not end well for Webb, however. Major media, led by The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, worked to discredit his story. Under intense pressure, Webb's top editor abandoned him. Webb was drummed out of journalism. One LA Times reporter recently apologized for his leading role in the assault on Webb, but it came too late. Webb died in 2004 from an apparent suicide. Obituaries referred to his investigation as "discredited."

Now, Webb's bombshell expose is being explored anew in a documentary, "Freeway: Crack in the System," directed by Marc Levin, which tells the story of "Freeway" Rick Ross, who created a crack empire in LA during the 1980s and is a key figure in Webb's "Dark Alliance" narrative. The documentary is being released a week after the major motion picture "Kill The Messenger," which features Jeremy Renner in the role of Webb and hits theaters on Friday. ... Read more

"Financial Markets Are Artificially Priced: What Do You Do?" - Bill Gross' First Janus Capital Letter
ZeroHedge | author | 10/10/14

Financial markets are artificially priced.... We have had our Biblical seven years of fat. We must look forward, almost by mathematical necessity, to seven figurative years of leaner: Bonds -- 3% to 4% at best, stocks -- 5% to 6% on the outside. That may not be enough for your retirement or your kid's college education. It certainly isn't for many private and public pension funds that still have a fairy tale belief in an average 7% to 8% return for the next 10 to 20 years! ... Read more

America's Ridiculously Rich: the 2014 Edition
BillMoyers | author | 10/10/14

... And the richest of these 400 hold far more than that average. Take Larry Ellison, the third-ranking deep pocket on this year's Forbes list. Ellison just stepped down as the CEO of the Oracle business software colossus. His net worth: $50 billion.

What does Ellison do with all those billions? He collects homes and estates, for starters, with 15 or so scattered all around the world. Ellison likes yachts, too. He currently has two extremely big ones, each over half as long as a football field.

Ellison also likes to play basketball, even on his yachts. If a ball bounces over the railing, no problem. Ellison has a powerboat following his yacht, the Wall Street Journal noted this past spring, "to retrieve balls that go overboard."

Hiring that ball-retriever qualifies Ellison as a "job creator," right? Maybe not. Ellison has regularly destroyed jobs on his way to grand fortune. He has become, over the years, a master of the merge-and-purge two-step: First you snatch your rival's customers, then you fire its workers.

In 2005, for instance, Ellison shelled out $10.6 billion to buy out PeopleSoft, an 11,000-employee competitor. He then proceeded to put the ax to 5,000 jobs .

Five years later, Ellison bought out Sun Microsystems and indignantly denied that any "massive layoff" would be in the offing. Five months later, Ellison's Oracle quietly acknowledged a major downsizing in an official federal regulatory filing.

Job massacres like these have been hollowing out America's middle class ... Read more

Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten
weather.com | author | current

Maho Beach is located in St Maarten, and famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the it. Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of Runway 10 resulting in aircraft flying over the beach at minimal altitude.

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Friday, October 10 [9:16]

*TRNN | Ms. Deepa Kumar: Islamophobia and a Challenge to Bill Maher (10/10/14) [20:57]

*DN | "Kill the Messenger" Resurrects Gary Webb, Journalist Maligned for Exposing CIA Ties to Crack Trade (10/09/14) [5:24]

How Abola Effects the Body
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