Fed says plan now to avert inflation
The United States economy will skid more deeply into recession in coming months, Federal Reserve policy-makers warned on Thursday, but it is time to start planning how to wind down spending to avert an inflationary surge.
Sabotage attacks knock out phone service
Vandals cut fiber-optic cable lines belonging to AT&T at two locations early today, knocking out phones and access to 911 emergency services to thousands of residential customers and businesses in southern Santa Clara County, in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and along the Peninsula, authorities said.
Anti-US protests held in Baghdad
Tens of thousands of followers of anti-US Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are protesting in Baghdad against the presence of US troops in Iraq.
Gun buy-back program launched in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday kicked off a gun buy-back program urging Angelenos to turn in their guns to police departments in exchange for gift cards.
Angelenos who turn in their guns -- regardless of whether the firearm has been used in a crime -- will receive a gift certificate, Villaraigosa said.
American Sovereignty in Danger
By Bob Bauman
I happen to hold to the old fashioned notion that America's national
sovereignty is the foundation of our freedom as a people and of our individual liberty.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
Murder Trumps Torture Says Bugliosi
By Michael Collins
The legendary Los Angeles County prosecutor and top selling true crime author, Vincent Bugliosi, continues to make the case that he argued in detail in his New York Times best seller, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. His crime, according to the esteemed former prosecutor: deliberately deceiving the United States into an illegal war that resulted in the deaths of 4,200 U.S. soldiers and more than 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians.
The IMF Rules the World
By Michael Hudson
Debtor countries must borrow a trillion from the IMF not to revive their own faltering economies, not to pursue counter-cyclical policies to restore market demand (that is only for creditor nations), but to pass on the IMF `aid` to the poisonous banks that have made the irresponsible toxic
Darkness Renewed: Terror as a Tool of Empire
By Chris Floyd
Here's a purely hypothetical scenario. Let's say you were a dedicated imperial militarist who believed that your country's security, prestige and financial interests could best be served by war and the ever-present threat of war. Let's say you had some really hot and juicy operations going on, endless deadly conflicts that were pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into your war machine and entrenching national policy even more deeply in the militarist philosophy — the machtpolitik – that you believe in.
Global Financial Collapse - Part 1
n Argentine opinion on the Global Financial Crisis, describing the whole Global Financial System as one vast Ponzi Scheme. Like a pyramid, it has four sides and is a predictable model. The four sides are: (1) Artificially control the supply of public State-issued Currency, (2) Artificially impose Banking Money as the primary source of funding in the economy, (3) Promote doing everything by Debt and (4) Erect complex channels that allow privatizing profits when the Model is in expansion mode and socialize losses when the model goes into contraction mode.
Almost half of French approve of locking up bosses
Almost half of French people believe it is acceptable for workers facing layoffs to lock up their bosses, according to an opinion poll published on Tuesday.
Staff at French plants run by Sony, 3M and Caterpillar have held managers inside the factories overnight, in three separate incidents, to demand better layoff terms -- a new form of labor action dubbed "bossnapping" by the media.
An Asset Bubble for the History Books
By Bob Chapman
Many of you may recall that there was a tulip mania in Holland in the 1630's that has become synonymous with asset bubbles. Just to give you an idea of how over-the-top this mania became, the price for a single tulip bulb at one point during this mania was in the tens of thousands of dollars in terms of today's prices.
Bolivian President on Hunger Strike
Bolivian President Evo Morales declared Monday he is on a hunger strike with leaders of social organizations as a protest of obstacles in Congress to the approval of a temporary electoral law.
Fusion Center Freak Out: ACLU Uneasy With Big Brother's National Listening Party
While there have been a handful of congressional hearings on fusion centers as well as local efforts to ensure the centers comply with Freedom of Information Act requests, specific instances of abuse have been largely glossed over by the government and ignored by the media.
Obama seeks another $83 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan
The Obama administration will ask Congress for another $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September, Democratic congressional sources said Thursday.
Selling off America's manufacturing might, a factory at a time
Any given week, the guts of a whole factory are auctioned off. Its contents are sold piece by piece and taken away for scrap or antiques or resale to foreign companies. Men with blowtorches and trucks haul off tool-and-die machines, aluminum siding, hoists, drinking fountains, salt and pepper shakers, anything that might be of some value. It is the removal of the country's mechanical heart right before your eyes. It is breathtaking.
CIA says shuttering detention "black sites"
The CIA will decommission the infamous "black sites" where terrorism suspects were interrogated with harsh techniques that included waterboarding, agency director Leon Panetta said on Thursday.
Red Cross says doctors helped CIA "torture"
Health workers violated medical ethics when they helped interrogate terrorism suspects who were tortured at secret CIA prisons overseas, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
Obama's obscene remarks in Iraq
By Christopher Dowd
It is hard to know where to begin on Obama's remarks in Iraq yesterday during a visit described unnecessarily by our press as a "surprise" since that is the only sort of visit a US President can make to Iraq. What is more appalling? The casual obscenity of a US President calling upon a nation that the US has been beating, brutalizing, and raping (that is when not using like a pawn in geo political games) for decades to "take responsibility for itself" or the fact that he has absolutely no idea of how much like a criminal sociopath he sounds when making such remarks?
Georgia rubbishes Saakashvili terrorist plot claim
A Georgian presidential spokesman dismissed on Thursday allegations that President Mikheil Saakashvili had planned a terrorist act in which his wife would die to ensure he won January 2008 elections.
The Disappeared
What happened to terror suspects Washington turned over to foreign governments?
Is Leon Panetta Covering Up Torture?
Why doesn’t Leon Panetta want the CIA investigated or prosecuted for torture allegations? Maybe because some of the men implicated, John Sifton reports, are the ones advising him.
Six years on, huge protest marks Baghdad's fall
Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr thronged Baghdad on Thursday to mark the sixth anniversary of the city's fall to U.S. troops, and to demand they leave immediately.
Richard Clarke: Disconnect electrical grid from internet
The Wall Street Journal reported that spies from Russia and China have penetrated the United States power grid. The intruders havent sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war, the report said.
Former Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke told ABCs Diane Sawyer that the U.S. should consider disconnecting the power grid from the internet to decrease the likelihood of attack.
The Global Coup d'Etat
The term "New World Order" refers to the advent of a Totalitarian World Government. The current push towards achieving this nirvana has at it's core, a powerful and secretive group known as the Illuminati, which has been conspiring to take control of the the world for millennia.
Dennis Ross sidelined at State over his foreign agent status with Israel
Former pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) director Dennis Ross, named by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as her special envoy for Iran, has been sidelined at the State Department by Clinton’s special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, according to informed sources at the State Department.
Two more reasons to dump Larry Summers
By Jerry Mazza
Given how my article Eight reasons to dump Larry Summers riled up, chagrined and angered readers at Summers, I thought it only fair to add the last two reasons to dump Summers that have now surfaced and make it an even 10. After all, as per Wall Street’s golden rule, more is more. And more like greed is good. I think.
Daniel McGowan - Another "War on Terrorism" Victim
By Stephen Lendman
Of so-called "eco-terrorism" in his case, a term believed coined by Ron Arnold, executive director of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (CDFE), a radical right wing group established on July 4, 1976 "to continue (the) Revolution of liberty, free enterprise and individual initiative....without hindrance by government."
Can Government Scientists Save the Planet by Nuking Yellowstone National Park to Halt Global Warming?
Of all the hare-brained ideas about climate change I've heard in the last few years, this one takes the grand prize: John Holdren, the new science advisor to President Obama, is actively considering radical geoengineering ideas in order to halt global warming. One such idea now being discussed with the Obama administration involves -- get this -- launching enormous amounts of pollution particles into Earth's upper atmosphere to block the sun's rays and "chill" the planet.
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal (Video)
In 2001, Portugal began a remarkable policy experiment, decriminalizing all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Some predicted disastrous results—that drug addiction rates would soar and the country would become a haven for "drug tourists." Now that several years have passed, policy experts can study the results. In a new paper for the Cato Institute, attorney and author Glenn Greenwald closely examines the Portugal experiment and concludes that the doomsayers were wrong. There is now a widespread consensus in Portugal that decriminalization has been a success. The debate in Portugal has shifted rather dramatically to minor adjustments in the existing arrangement. There is no real debate about whether drugs should once again be criminalized.
Police v citizen: the Orwellian struggle
The death of Ian Tomlinson last week encapsulates many pernicious and alarming trends in policing. It came minutes after a brutally hefty push from a police officer, caught on dramatic video footage from the G20 protests. The officer sported the full Darth Vader regalia to which we have become desensitised, after a quarter of a century in which militaristic riot control has displaced the thin blue line of George Dixons linking arms to pacify the crowds at Grosvenor Square and other 1960s demos.
Politicized Accounting: No End to the Scams
The accounting profession might seem like the last place that you’d find serious political hanky-panky going on, and it’s probably not on very many people’s A-list of fun subjects to read about, but the Financial Accounting Standards Board, a quasi-governmental body that has statutory authority to regulate and establish the rules by which public companies, including banks, do their books, has just caved in to pressure from those banks and from the large number of members of Congress who pocket huge piles of campaign swag and perks from those banks and other public companies, and gravely undermined the integrity of corporate balance sheets.
Also on Obama's plate: an immigration bill
While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Barack Obama plans to begin addressing America's immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Pentagon preps for economic warfare
The Pentagon sponsored a first-of-its-kind war game last month focused not on bullets and bombs but on how hostile nations might seek to cripple the U.S. economy, a scenario made all the more real by the global financial crisis.
More States Look to Raise Taxes
A free fall in tax revenue is driving more state lawmakers to turn to broad-based tax increases in a bid to close widening budget gaps.
US to join nuclear talks with Tehran
The Obama administration yesterday agreed to join regular, direct talks with Iran concerning its nuclear program along with five other countries, a major policy shift from previous administrations that have rejected face-to-face negotiations with Iranians.
US outlines secretive international piracy deal
The world's major economic powers are considering whether to involve internet service providers (ISPs) in fighting copyright infringement and how to stop pirated material crossing borders, according to documents released by the US Government.
French lawmakers reject Internet piracy bill
French lawmakers on Thursday rejected a tough new Internet piracy bill that would cut off illegal downloaders, in a surprise setback for President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
SEC debates restricting short sellers
U.S. securities regulators were considering proposed curbs on short selling at a meeting on Wednesday, weighing steps that could restrict a type of investing blamed by some lawmakers and executives for worsening the financial crisis and driving down share prices.
The Hijacking of Our Movement and the Next Wave of Patriots
Like many of you I get the sense that our movement is being hijacked. Over the last couple of years, as our numbers grew and our influence increased, I’ve often wondered how the establishment would try to take down our movement.
Stopping Common Citizens From Having Guns
By Vin Suprynowicz
John Browning’s Model 1911 pistol, an engineering wonder for its day, still serves as a design platform for much modern pistolsmithing. Old examples, especially with military markings, are now highly prized on the collector market, where they can bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars each.
Military Whistleblower Claims She Witnessed Flight 93 Shootdown Order
Earlier this year we recorded an audio interview with a young woman who was present, on military duty, in the room where the decision was made to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93 over Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 11 September, 2001.
Georgian protesters demand Saakashvili resign
At least 60,000 Georgians rallied on Thursday at the start of a campaign to try to force President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign, an effort led by opponents emboldened by last year's disastrous war with Russia.
End The Fed
The Fed is an outrageous scam! Congress must end the Fed Reserve.
Real-Estate Industry Pushes Fed to Lengthen TALF Terms
The real-estate industry is lobbying the Federal Reserve for modifications to a bailout program that the industry said may avert a wave of commercial-property defaults.
'US behind recent Iraq bomb attacks'
An Iraqi lawmaker alleges that 'the occupiers' are behind the recent bomb blasts in Iraq basing his claims on the fact that the US has access to Iraq's security and intelligence files.
Chavez: 'New world order' emerging
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his two-day visit to Beijing this week is part of the creation of a "new world order
Popular Mechanics Refuse To Discuss 9/11 Flight Data, Refusal Recorded Over The Phone
This is a bit of old news which started with a search for debate opponents on Air America Radio, but i never released the recording. I decided to release this recording today due to Meigs crawling out of his cave to "debunk" FEMA Camps with Glenn Beck. It appears Popular Mechanics would rather "debate" without an opponent as we have seen from so many who make excuses for the govt story.
Medieval Warm Period Rediscovered
A recent article in the journal Science has provided a new, detailed climate record for the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), also know as the Medieval Warm Period. It was the most recent pre-industrial warm period, noted in Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
IDF planning largest-ever drill to prepare Israel for war
The Home Front Command is preparing to hold the largest exercise ever in Israeli history, scheduled to take place in about two months, in hopes of priming the populace and raising awareness of the possibility of war breaking out.
Obama science advisor advocates climate engineering
In an interview with the Associated Press, John Holdren, President Obama’s newly confirmed science advisor, discussed the possibility of ‘climate engineering’ to battle global warming. The radical and somewhat controversial technology would require an extraordinary intervention by man in an attempt to purposely influence the climate.
America: a superpower no more
Two American icons, General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway, lost their triple-A credit ratings. Then China, America's largest creditor, called for a new global currency to replace the dollar just weeks after it demanded Washington guarantee the safety of Beijing's nearly $1 trillion debt holdings. And that was just in March.
Author who predicted crisis sees inflation ahead
An author who saw the global financial crisis coming fears the next bubble will come in the form of inflation and has little confidence U.S. President Barack Obama's team is up to the challenge ahead.
Fed judges are fed up
The Bush Justice Department always had its share of critics, particularly on the left.
But now a powerful new group of critics is making its voice heard — federal judges, who have taken a series of extraordinary steps to correct what they see as prosecutorial misconduct in a variety of cases.
Shell in court over alleged role in Nigeria executions
Ken Saro-Wiwa swore that one day Shell, the oil giant, would answer for his death in a court of law. Next month, 14 years after his execution, the Nigerian environmental activist’s dying wish is to be fulfilled.
Secret US-Iran meetings held in Geneva
Academics and specialists from Iran, the United States and Europe have been meeting regularly in the Swiss city of Geneva for high level but informal talks.
Government TARP Losses Reach $100 Billion
The federal government's investments in banks and automotive companies have lost more than $100 billion in value, according to analysis by an economic think tank.
FCC Acting Chairman To Act Boldly On Media Diversity
Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairman Michael Copps said Wednesday he intends to act boldly to help improve the diversity of broadcasters in the U.S.
GM Pensions May Be ‘Garbage’ With $16 Billion at Risk
Den Black, a retired General Motors Corp. engineering executive, says he’s worried and angry. The government-supported automaker is going bankrupt, he says, and he’s sure some of his retirement pay will go down with it.
Crew retakes seized ship, Pentagon says
A U.S. military official said Wednesday the crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship has retaken at least part of the vessel from Somali hijackers.
A sky filled with assassins
By Tom Engelhardt
The Pentagon and the military-industrial complex surrounding it - including mega-arms manufacturers, advanced weapons labs, university science centers, and the official or semi-official think tanks that churned out strategies for future military domination - went right on.
Former FBI chief defends flow of money to Saudi ambassador
Former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh says $2 billion that flowed from a British arms manufacturer to U.S. bank accounts controlled by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then Saudi ambassador to the U.S., was not a bribe, but was instead part of a complex barter involving the exchange of Saudi oil for British fighter jets.
Moody's Downgrades The Whole Country
The Federal government is still AAA, but every municipal debt issuer is now suspect and shaky according to Moody's.
Pentagon: U.S. crew in control of hijacked ship
Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship had retaken control from Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel far off the Horn of Africa.
Somali Pirates hijack ship with 20 Americans onboard
Somali pirates hijacked a U.S.-flagged, Danish-owned container ship on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board in a major escalation in attacks off the lawless Horn of Africa nation, officials said.
Haaretz: Obama team readying for confrontation with Netanyahu
In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration is readying for a possible confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by briefing Democratic congressmen on the peace process and the positions of the new government in Israel regarding a two-state solution.
Market bear Roubini sticks to dour forecasts
There's still bad news ahead for the U.S. economy -- and by extension for Canada -- and the bear market for stocks is not over yet, according to a prominent economist who foretold much of the current turmoil.
Zardari: 'Give us the drones and we will take out the militants ourselves'
Pakistan's president has called on America to provide his country with an arsenal of drones and missiles to target militants blamed for a wave of violence rather than carrying out independent operations that violate the nation's sovereignty.
Latinos drive record surge in U.S. naturalizations
Nearly half of the record-setting 1 million new U.S. citizens sworn in last year were Latino immigrants — a 95 percent increase among that ethnic group from the previous year, according to an analysis by an Hispanic advocacy organization.
The Declaration Of Independence Has Been Repealed
On April 2, 2009, the work of July 4, 1776 was nullified at the meeting of the G-20 in London. The joint communiqué essentially announces a global economic union with uniform regulations and bylaws for all nations, including the United States.
Dobbs Concludes U.S. Allows Drugs In
Last night Lou Dobbs agreed with the President of Mexico that drugs are flowing into the United States because our government permits it. President Calderon said U.S. corruption permitted drug imports. "If there is traffic in the United States, it is because there is some corruption in the United States," Calderon said. Dobbs agreed....
Early signs: Netanyahu seeking to shake things up
As the new Netanyahu government gets rolling, the early signs are that there will be significant changes in foreign policy. The Likud leader has strongly signaled that he intends to be more proactive in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat and has withdrawn his predecessor's commitments to a two-state solution with the Palestinians and a pullback from the Golan Heights in return for peace with Syria.
First Amendment will face difficult trials
The freedom of the press clause in our beloved First Amendment is about to undergo perhaps its most serious challenges, because “the press” isn’t as neatly defined as it once was. A fascinating case in Phoenix is headed for court, and it ought to give any practicing journalist pause.
Chinese and Russian cyberspies 'penetrate US electrical grid'
Foreign spies have infiltrated the US electrical grid, leaving behind software programs that could disrupt the system in a time of war, American national security officials have claimed.
Changing the rules of the blame game
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
A cartoon in the Sunday comics shows that mustachioed fellow with monocle and top hat from the Monopoly game -- “Rich Uncle Pennybags,” he used to be called -- standing along the roadside, destitute, holding a sign: “Will blame poor people for food.”
Those Mass Shootings
By Michael Gaddy
For several decades the state and its willing accomplices in the media and talk radio have marginalized and demonized anyone who alleges involvement of the state in illegal activities or conspiracies to provide false information to support its illegal wars and other agendas. Those who do so are referred to as "conspiracy nuts" or in the case of Rush Limbaugh, Keepers of Odd Knowledge Society members. (K.O.O.K.S)
N Korea warns against retaliation
North Korea has warned it will take "strong steps" if the United Nations Security Council takes any action in response to its long-range rocket launch.
Hard Rain Keeps Falling: Talking Peace in Prague, Dropping Bombs in Pakistan
By Chris Floyd
While the usual gaggle of sycophants and media hive-minders -- along with some ordinarily perspicacious analysts -- tell us that Barack Obama literally changed the course of human history by disgorging a great load of thrice-chewed cud about nuclear disarmament in Prague this week, the high-tech drone war the great hero of peace is waging inside the sovereign territory of America's ally, Pakistan, is helping drive tens of thousands of people from their homes and killing civilians almost daily.
World Economy Falling Faster Than in 1929-1930
Barry Eichengreen, an expert on the Great Depression, and Kevin O'Rourke, take issue with the notion that the current downturn is less severe than the Great Depression. While the slump in the US is not as bad, that mis-states the global picture.
Protesters attack Thai PM's car as tensions rise
Anti-government protesters attacked Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's car and trapped him inside a beach hotel Tuesday as the kingdom's political turmoil boiled over into violence.
The Meter Is Running
Ready to pay for your internet by the banner ad? Time Warner thinks you are
Last week, Time Warner Cable announced Phase 2 of its new broadband pricing model, a tiered billing system that would charge internet users based on their monthly consumption.
21st Century Internment Camps: Disaster relief or civil rights disaster?
By Maha Zimmo
The question we must ask ourselves is simple: if NECEA is meant to address natural disasters, then why is the scope of the Act so vague, large and open-ended? The flipside of which is: if NECEA is only meant to address natural disasters, they why isn’t NECEA crystal clear on this point?
Instead, we find that the purpose of these military-based emergency centres may be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.” It is when we attempt to understand the pocket of obscurity created by NECEA’s vagueness, and while factoring in the readying of the U.S. military’s response to the anticipated civil unrest (due to the economic war being waged on all but the ‘haves’), that the potentially insidious nature of the centres becomes evident.
Spain Investigates What America Should
By Marjorie Cohn
A Spanish court has initiated criminal proceedings against six former officials of the Bush administration. John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes and Douglas Feith may face charges in Spain for authorizing torture at Guantánamo Bay.
Israel points Arrow II at Iran, Syria
Israel has test fired its Arrow II ballistic missile system to be prepared to counter what it calls Iranian and Syrian missile threat.
Training children to be spies
The schools launched the "Text-A-Tip" program Tuesday in partnership with the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. The program gives high school students a text number they can use to report bullying, weapons, drugs and even a suicidal classmate.
U.S. to Offer Aid to Life Insurers
The Treasury Department has decided to extend bailout funds to a number of struggling life-insurance companies, helping an industry that is a lynchpin of the U.S. financial system, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. apartment market worsens with economy
The vacancy rate for U.S. apartments hit a three-year high in the first quarter and asking rents dropped the most in at least 10 years as the number of excess apartments on the market ballooned, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.
Obama's economic dilemma: Spend or save?
U.S. President Barack Obama needs to convince Americans to spend now and save later in order to get the U.S. economy back on solid footing. If they really wanted to turn the economy around they would cut the tax rate in half, downsize the federal government, eliminate the Federal Reserve and quit getting us in debt.
President Approves New Spy Satellites
After more than a decade of false starts by the intelligence community, President Barack Obama approved a new constellation of highly capable electro-optical surveillance satellites.
California's anti-tax crusaders talk revolt
Taking inspiration from a landmark 1970s tax revolt, a determined group of activists say the moment is right for another voter uprising in California, where recession-battered residents have been hit with the highest income and sales tax rates in the nation.
Greece Teeters on the Verge of Bankruptcy
Greece is on the brink of bankruptcy despite the fact that the global recession has yet to hit the country with full force. Strikes are paralyzing the country and the EU is putting on the pressure. But the government is still trying to put a positive spin on things.
FOLLOW THE MONEY / MADOFF, MOSSAD, AIG AND 9/11
The Madoff investigation is very similar to the 9-11 investigation in that evidence of a larger conspiracy is being avoided and ignored. It is possible that the billions that Madoff stole, and is still unaccounted for, was being used to finance Israel’s vast global spy and sabotage network Mossad with connections to both AIG and quite possibly 9/11 itself
It's More or Less Official: We're In a Global Depression
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the organization that audits the books of countries world-wide to determine their real financial health. The IMF is also responsible for bailing out countries in trouble, and stabilizing the world's economic systems.
New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ
By Glenn Greenwald
When Congress immunized telecoms last August for their illegal participation in Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program, Senate Democratic apologists for telecom immunity repeatedly justified that action by pointing out that Bush officials who broke the law were not immunized -- only the telecoms. Some so called conservatives say Obama is a fascist, while others say he's a communist or socialist. Their the same people that promoted Bush and his warrrantless spy program. What I'm wondering is, do those same conservatives still think it's such a wonderful idea, now that Obama is president, to have a fascist, communist or socialist, spying on them? Truth is, warrantless spying was never good policy in the first place. Source: Bank 'stress test' results delayed
The U.S. Treasury Department is planning to delay the release of any completed bank "stress test" results until after the first-quarter earnings season to avoid complicating stock market reaction, a source familiar with Treasury's discussions said Tuesday.
Ted Stevens' conviction set aside
A federal judge Tuesday set aside the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens. The judge also initiated criminal contempt proceedings against the government lawyers who prosecuted the 85-year-old Alaska Republican.
