Too big to fail? 5 biggest banks are 'dead men walking'
America's five largest banks, which already have received $145 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars, still face potentially catastrophic losses from exotic investments if economic conditions substantially worsen, their latest financial reports show.
Monsanto’s Dream Bill, HR 875
To begin reversing GM contamination will require ending the power biotech companies such as Monsanto exert over our government and through that, over our food.
Heh Mr. President; How 'Ya Like This?
Confidence is gone Mr. President; the assumption in the market is now that everyone is a liar, everyone is a thief, everyone is embezzling and everyone is bankrupt.
Imagine
By Ron Paul
Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”
No Political or Judicial Support for 2A
By Michael Gaddy
I fear there are a large number of gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment (2A) who believe there still remains in the Congress some support (fear of not being reelected if they vote for gun control) for 2A. They are also of the belief, especially among the National Rifle Association (NRA) crowd, that the recent Heller decision was a major victory for gun owners. Both beliefs are highly suspect.
'I was in agony, crying, trying desperately to suppress myself, but I was screaming. They must have done this 20 to 30 times in maybe two hours.'
Attorneys angered over lack of IRS aid
At the start of the new year, the Internal Revenue Service announced steps to help struggling taxpayers buffeted by the deepening recession. But two of its most effective tools have become virtually "dead letter" programs because of agency roadblocks that too few taxpayers can navigate.
AIG Told U.S. Failure May Cripple Banks, Money Funds
American International Group Inc. appealed for its fourth U.S. rescue by telling regulators the company’s collapse could cripple money-market funds, force European banks to raise capital, cause competing life insurers to fail and wipe out the taxpayers’ stake in the firm.
'The collapse of America is unavoidable'
America must work on starting a new economy and not restarting the old one or it will resemble the former Soviet Union, says author and blogger Dmitry Orlov.
Smart Grid: Government spying targets Rural America
Smart Grid will allow the government to collect information about you, your habits, and possessions. All they need are a few sensors to know what is in your refrigerator; how long you spend in the bathroom; if you smoke in your home; if you drink alcohol in your home; and how many people are in your home or business at any one time.
Global Financial Assets Lost $50 Trillion Last Year, ADB Says
The value of global financial assets including stocks, bonds and currencies probably fell by more than $50 trillion in 2008, equivalent to a year of world gross domestic product, according to an Asian Development Bank report.
Military readies reservists for threats to 'domestic front'
The Canadian military has embarked on a wide-ranging plan to turn its reserve soldiers into focused units trained and equipped to respond to a nightmarish array of domestic threats, including terrorist "dirty bomb" attacks, biological agent containment, Arctic catastrophes and natural disasters.
Chavez warns Colombia against military action
President Hugo Chavez warns he would not hesitate to immediately respond to any Colombian military move violating Venezuelan sovereignty.
Officials Seek Way to Fill a Gas Tax Gap
With gas tax revenue declining and fuel efficiency the holy grail of car manufacturers, officials across the country are testing systems that could move Americans from paying a per-gallon tax at the pump to some form of fee based on road usage.
Your Hard-Earned Money is Being Shipped to France, Germany and China
In addition, your money is probably being given directly to sovereign wealth funds (that is, the investment arms of foreign monarchies and tyrannical governments such as Saudi Arabia), since they were some of the biggest counterparties who bought credit default swaps from AIG.
More Private Risk Transferred to Public; GE to Issue FDIC Backed Bonds
In the latest of public subsidies handed out to private corporations, GE Capital will sell debt this week under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s (FDIC) Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. GE will enjoy a very low cost of borrowing as it issues bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
Obama says US is losing war in Afghanistan and hints at Taleban talks
President Obama conceded yesterday that America was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the way for negotiations with moderate elements of the Taleban, much as the US did with Sunni tribes in Iraq.
World Bank offers dire forecast for world economy
In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank predicted Sunday that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since World War II.
Where are the unvaccinated people with autism?
Dan Olmsted did the research the vaccine industry and media refused to do and found little or no autism in the unvaccinated Amish and Homefirst Medical Services children.
Finacial Crisis Racks Up $50 Trillion in Worldwide Losses in 2008
This is the price we pay for chronic malinvestment, unsustainable imbalances, a bubble in the world's reserve currency, and a blind eye to protracted fraud and misrepresentation of the economic reality by the financiers and their partners in government.
Czech leader joins meeting of climate change deniers
It is billed as the largest ever gathering of climate change deniers, a convention that kicked off last night with a title suggesting global warming is a thing of the past, and a guest list that includes a hurricane forecaster, a retired astronaut and a sitting European president.
Was Hamas the work of the Israeli Mossad?
By Ramzy Baroud
While various Western governments are struggling to define a possible relationship with the Palestinian movement Hamas, some progressive and leftist circles are also uneasy regarding their own perception of the Islamic movement.
NKorea orders military to be combat ready: state media
North Korea has ordered its military to be combat ready, state media said early Monday, ahead of joint US-South Korean manoeuvres that Pyongyang has repeatedly characterised as a prelude to war.
Russian Scholars: Stalin Planned Ukraine Genocide
Russia has issued the first of three volumes of documents on the Soviet Union's catastrophic famine of the early 1930s. Russian officials claim the widespread starvation was the result misguided Kremlin policies, but in Ukraine the famine is considered an act of genocide.
Barack Obama 'too tired' to give proper welcome to Gordon Brown
Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president was facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs.
The War on the Border
By L. Neil Smith
Staggering under the crushing burden of two shooting wars in the Middle East, America now finds herself increasingly involved in a third deadly conflict, this one directly south of her border with Mexico. Nearly eight thousand individuals—goodguys (however you define the term), badguys, innocent bystanders—have been killed so far.
OBAMAVILLES IN AMERICA
By Webster G. Tarpley
In the depression of the 1890s, the term for a breadline was a Cleveland Cafe, named after the Wall Street puppet who turned the government over to JP Morgan, London, and their cross of gold.
In the 1930s, a shanty town was a Hooverville.
In this depression, the wretched victims of foreclosure by Obama’s pals at Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and JP Morgan live and die in OBAMAVILLES. The arrogant elitist in the White House does not care.
From 9/11 Widows: An Open Letter to Senator Patrick Leahy
A "Truth Commission" will not fix the real problems that our country faces, nor will it guarantee that we will get to the truth. The 9/11 Commission, which you want to model your commission after, is a perfect example of that flawed process.
Tobacco users will see big tax hit soon
Starting April 1, large cigars will be taxed at 40 cents apiece, up from 5 cents. Federal cigarette taxes will increase from 39 cents per pack to $1.01. And the tax on roll-your-own tobacco will jump from $1.10 per pound to $24.78.
Battlechips: Darpa's Next-Gen Micromachines
The Pentagon's premiere research shop is working to shrink all kinds of devices from cryogenic coolers to vacuum pumps to radar to infra-red video cameras down to the size of a chip. If it works, it could mean whole new classes of weapons and sensors for the American military and new gadgets for the rest of us.
Dodd laughs at Constitution - Refuses to uphold oath of office.
It is clear that Senator Dodd has no interest in upholding his own oath to defend the Constitution in response to Senator Kennedy’s violation of his oath of office and the Constitution.
Pentagon's Unwanted Projects in Earmarks
When President Obama promised Wednesday to attack defense spending that he considers wasteful and inefficient, he opened a fight with key lawmakers from his own party.
It was Democrats who stuffed an estimated $524 million in defense earmarks that the Pentagon did not request into the 2008 appropriations bill, about $220 million more than Republicans did, according to an independent estimate. Of the 44 senators who implored Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in January to build more F-22 Raptors -- a fighter conceived during the Cold War that senior Pentagon officials say is not suited to probable 21st-century conflicts -- most were Democrats.
Exposed: the banks’ cosy ties to watchdog
A WHISTLEBLOWER has exposed how Britain’s financial watchdog allowed banks to influence the bonuses and career prospects of its staff.
Iraq police academy bomb kills 28
A suicide bomber killed 28 people and wounded 57 on Sunday at the main police academy in Baghdad, the first major attack in almost a month in the Iraqi capital.
Bailout for The Mainstream Media May be Next
One of the silver linings of this economic depression is the collapse of mainstream media companies and the creation of internet blogs along with citizen journalism. While this media shift is ongoing and certain, a question arises - Will the government, in further effort to keep their political-financial-media power in tact, bailout big media?
Tensions high as China braces for Tibet protests
Chinese authorities have imposed a security lockdown in Tibet as the Himalayan region this week marks the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
World Bank Says Global Economy Will Shrink in ’09
The economic crisis that started with junk mortgages in the United States is causing havoc for poorer countries around the world, not only stifling their growth but choking off their access to credit as well, the World Bank said on Sunday.
Iran test-fires new missile
Iran has test-fired a new air-to-surface missile, Iranian media reported on Sunday, in the Islamic Republic's latest display of its military capability.
Obama hints at talks with Taleban
President Obama has suggested there could be talks with moderate elements of the Taleban in Afghanistan as part of a process of reconciliation.
Climate 'denial' is now a mental disorder
How odd that, last Monday, none of our media global warming groupies should have bothered to report what was billed to be "the largest ever demonstration for civil disobedience over climate change".
Prince Charles: 100 months to save the world
The Prince of Wales is to issue a stark warning that nations have "less than 100 months to act" to save the planet from irreversible damage due to climate change.
Where's global warming?
The United States has shivered through an unusually severe winter, with snow falling in such unlikely destinations as New Orleans, Las Vegas, Alabama, and Georgia.
Obama ends Bush ban on embryo stem cell research
Barack Obama will overturn an important medical research policy of George Bush's presidency on Monday, by ending restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research which scientists consider crucial for the development of new medical treatments.
The 'Summer of Rage' could be Lethal
On 20th Feb 2008 a caucus meeting was held at the German Parliament in Munich to discuss the Lisbon Treaty.
At this meeting a previously unmentioned paragraph was bought to light by Professor Schachtschneider, Humanities Faculty -University of Nuremberg.
Professor Schachtschneider, explained that the undisclosed paragraph means on ratification of the Lisbon Treaty the DEATH PENALTY will be reintroduced to Europe. The Death Penalty will be applicable for the crimes of RIOTING, CIVIL UPHEAVAL and DURING WAR. (When are we not at war and who will define riot and upheaval?)
$5 BILLION IN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS BOUGHT WALL STREET FREEDOM FROM REGULATION, RESTRAINT, REPORT FINDS
The financial sector invested more than $5 billion in political influence purchasing in Washington over the past decade, with as many as 3,000 lobbyists winning deregulation and other policy decisions that led directly to the current financial collapse, according to a 231-page report issued today by Essential Information and the Consumer Education Foundation.
The Reece Committee: Social Science as a Tool for Control
In 1954 the Reece Committee, chaired by Carroll B. Reece, produced its findings regarding the influence of tax-exempt foundations in the field of education.* The report also briefly mentions their influence in politics, propaganda, social sciences and international affairs. The Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Carnegie Foundation and others were discussed during the Committee hearings.
The Reece Committee was smeared by the media and by John D. Rockefeller the 3rd himself as being wholly inaccurate, but historical hindsight gives us a perspective that shows what the Committee found is far closer to the truth than Rockefeller would have you believe.
World's biggest banks to meet in London
Chief executives of leading Japanese, European and U.S. banks will meet in London to discuss the future of the financial system, the Nikkei newspaper reported, as the global financial crisis prompts a barrage of new regulatory proposals for the sector.
Scholes Advises ‘Blow Up’ Over-the-Counter Contracts
Myron Scholes, the Nobel prize- winning economist who helped invent a model for pricing options, said regulators need to “blow up or burn” over-the-counter derivative trading markets to help solve the financial crisis.
The $700 trillion elephant
Derivative contracts total about three-quarters of a quadrillion dollars in "notional" amounts, according to the Bank for International Settlements. These contracts are tallied in notional values because no one really can say how much they are worth.
Congress Approves Bill to Prevent Government Shutdown
The U.S. Congress approved a stopgap funding measure to keep the government from shutting down as lawmakers work to resolve last-minute disputes over a $410 billion “omnibus” spending package.
Japan leads the world into depression
IF THE world's biggest economies were competing in a race towards total financial collapse, Japan would now be in the lead. Having triggered this crisis and effectively set the pace, the United States is falling behind a nation that has already passed the point of recession, and is well on its way to a potentially great depression.
Is it Science or Honesty that NIST Lacks?
By Dwain Deets
Whether at the Confirmation Hearings of Gov. Locke for Secretary of Commerce, or the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings of Sen. Patrick Leahy, these matters of questionable science and matters of dishonesty at NIST need to come out into the light of day. The public needs to know once and for all, what caused the destruction of WTC7.
