Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

The High Price of Free Money: Now US Bankers Fear Financial, Social, or Political 'Instability'
ZeroHedge | author | 10/23/14

Something is changing about the perception of the Fed's free-money policies. While we've lambasted them for their nefarious effects on the real economy and the inequality they produce, Wall Street, the prime beneficiary, has been bombastically gung-ho about them. And the mainstream media have praised the Fed's "bold action," as it's called, at every twist and turn.

But now even Wall Street is getting cold feet. The official warning shot came from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who admitted suddenly that "the extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concern me." Then bankers chimed in. FICO, which produces the infamous credit score, found in its latest survey of North American bank risk managers that 62% of them thought "the wealth gap poses a growing risk to the financial system."

Without thriving consumers, the American economy that is so dependent on them will continue to languish. Just adding more consumers to the mix may increase overall consumer spending, and stirring up inflation may cover up the issue. But as the majority of individual consumers falls further behind, the risks of financial, social, or political "instability" might be looking ever more plausible to those bankers. ... Read more

Canada's parliament attacked, soldier fatally shot nearby
Reuters | Randall Palmer | 10/22/14

A gunman attacked Canada's parliament on Wednesday, with gunfire erupting near where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking, and a soldier was fatally shot at a nearby war memorial, stunning the Canadian capital.

The gunman in the parliament building was shot dead, and Harper was safely removed in incidents that may have been linked to Islamic militants. ... Read more

The Science of Fox News: Why Its Viewers Are the Most Misinformed
AlterNet | Chris Mooney | 10/20/14

In June of 2011, Jon Stewart went on air with Fox News' Chris Wallace and started a major media controversy over the channel's misinforming of its viewers. "Who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers?" Stewart asked Wallace. "The most consistently misinformed? Fox, Fox viewers, consistently, every poll."

The author's goal here is to explore the underlying causes for this "Fox News effect"--explaining how this station has brought about a hurricane-like intensification of factual error, misinformation and unsupportable but ideologically charged beliefs on the conservative side of the aisle. ... Read more

Why Conservatives Opt for Propaganda Over Reality
AlterNet | Amanda Marcotte | 10/22/14

Conservatives are consuming a right-wing media full of lies and misinformation, whereas liberals are more interested in media that puts facts before ideology.

Pew Research set out to find what's behind what it considers the increasing political polarization of the United States; why the country is moving away from political moderation and becoming more and more divided between liberals and conservatives. Its first report on the phenomenon, which examines where people are hearing news and opinion in both regular and social media, shows that this is happening for very different reasons among people moving to the right than for people moving to the left.

Or that's the charitable way to put it. The less charitable way is to say Pew discovered that conservatives are consuming a right-wing media full of lies and misinformation, whereas liberals are more interested in media that puts facts before ideology. It's very much not a "both sides do it" situation. Conservatives are becoming more conservative because of propaganda, whereas liberals are becoming more liberal while staying very much checked into reality. ... Read more