Goldman Sachs Backlash Is Picking Up Steam
Goldman Sachs (GS) has been able to stay above the fray more than most of its (former) competitors over the last 6 months. Its share price has stayed above single digit-ville and Buffett’s investment in the company was seen by many as the Omaha Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. 10 years later, the real story behind Columbine
Their rampage put schools on alert for "enemies lists" made by troubled students, but the enemies on their list had graduated from Columbine a year earlier. Contrary to early reports, Harris and Klebold weren't on antidepressant medication and didn't target jocks, blacks or Christians, police now say, citing the killers' journals and witness accounts. That story about a student being shot in the head after she said she believed in God? Never happened, the FBI says now.
The Optimum Population Trust Exposed
Quite how this ‘virus’ in the mind programme works remains a mystery. One thing is for sure, the BBC lies somewhere at the heart of it all, cajoling the population in a direction which is only of their choosing in the sense that reality is created by humans using their own freewill thought energy.
NATO: slaughter of civilians and drugs
On April, 4, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marked its 60th jubilee. In Serbia, my home country, many people are doomed not to celebrate their 60th birthdays- they will die of cancer. In 1999 NATO bombed Serbia with depleted uranium bombs, which caused a cancer outbreak in the region. Serbia's soil, water and air will remain polluted for a few more decades, taking lives of hundreds of Serbs.
There isn't a single word about it in NATO's official reports. One may read there about NATO's contribution to peace in Kosovo.
While NATO exists, there will exist such parallel stories: the one about the alliance's humanitarian mission, the other (which is less frequent) about death and destruction NATO is guilty of.
U.S. may drop key condition for talks with Iran
The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.
Somali pirates hijack 4 ships, take 60 hostages
Undeterred Somali pirates went on a hijacking spree, brazenly capturing four more ships and taking over 60 crew members hostage in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway at the center of the world's fight against piracy.
Ohio wants $57M in stimulus for highway studies
Ohio wants to spend $57 million in federal stimulus money on highway projects that won’t begin for years, an unusual strategy for money that President Barack Obama said should be used to give the economy an immediate job-creating jolt.
Obama Auto Team Considers Swapping GM Loan for Equity
The U.S. government is considering swapping some of the $13.4 billion it lent General Motors Corp for an equity stake in a stripped-down version of the carmaker, people familiar with the matter said.
Immigration Enforcement Coalition Supports Tax Day Tea Party Events
Twenty five immigration enforcement advocacy organizations are announcing plans to support the historic Tax Day Tea Party events held in 1800 cities across America on April 15 by numerous organizations.
Has Cheney been Murdering Americans?
By Jim Fetzer
The stunning revelation from our nation’s premiere investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, that Vice President Dick Cheney was running an “executive assassination ring” directly under his control and outside of the normal chain of command has raised the specter that the Vice President of the United States may have been murdering Americans.
An emerging progressive consensus on Obama's executive power and secrecy abuses
By Glenn Greenwald
In the last week alone, the Obama DOJ (a) attempted to shield Bush's illegal spying programs from judicial review by (yet again) invoking the very "state secrets" argument that Democrats spent years condemning and by inventing a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim that not even the Bush administration espoused, and (b) argued that individuals abducted outside of Afghanistan by the U.S. and then "rendered" to and imprisoned in Bagram have no rights of any kind -- not even to have a hearing to contest the accusations against them -- even if they are not Afghans and were captured far away from any "battlefield."
Enabling Acts - For An Era Of Greed
By Michael Collins
Our financial system looks ruined beyond repair. The credit default swaps crisis is 40 or so times bigger than the real estate meltdown over subprime derivatives. The top 25 banks in the United States are loaded down with $13 trillion in credit default swaps and the deal is coming unraveled. If we accept the highly dubious assumption that the debt from the financial meltdown needs to be repaid by us, were looking at $43,000 a citizen right now. And we're just starting.
Mothers Act Fuels Multibillion Dollar Industry
By Evelyn Pringle
Motherhood has fallen prey to the psycho-pharmaceutical complex. If new legislation known as the Mother's Act becomes law, the drugging of infants through pregnant and nursing mothers will no doubt increase.
Sacramento moving homeless from tent city
Sacramento officials are giving residents of a homeless camp until Wednesday to move and are providing shelter for those who want it.
Obama to tap Fannie Mae CEO to head TARP
The Obama administration is expected to name Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison to head the U.S. government's $700 billion financial rescue program, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.
North Korea quits nuclear talks, vows to resume nuclear program
North Korea on Tuesday announced that it was walking out on six-party talks to end its nuclear program, and vowed to resume operating its nuclear facilities. The decision comes a day after the 15-member United Nations Security Council condemned North Korea's April 5 rocket launch, which critics argue was a long-range missile test.
Thai protest ends as leaders surrender
Thai anti-government protesters in Bangkok abandoned their three-week siege of Government House as soldiers closed in on them a day after chaotic violence gripped the city.
Somali Pirates Take 22 Filipino Crewmen Hostage
Somali pirates Tuesday took 22 crewmen from the Philippines hostage when they hijacked a Greek cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said.
Forget Star Wars. It’s Back To Colonial Warfare
By Eric Margolis
There are a lot of unhappy campers at the Pentagon right now. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates chose last week to present a controversial new budget that will affect the course of US foreign and military policy for decades to come.
The Daily Beast: The Bush Six to Be Indicted
Spanish prosecutors have decided to press forward with a criminal investigation targeting former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and five top associates over their role in the torture of five Spanish citizens held at Guantánamo, several reliable sources close to the investigation have told The Daily Beast.
CPAs MIA
By Ralph Nader
Where were the giant accounting firms, the CPAs, and the rest of the accounting profession while the Wall Street towers of fraud, deception and cover-ups were fracturing our economy, looting and draining trillions of dollars of other peoples' money?
Guns, Drugs Seized From Homeland Security Officer
A Homeland Security employee at Orlando International Airport is in the Brevard County Detention Center on numerous drug trafficking and gun charges.
Celente Calls for "Revolution" as the Only Solution
Taxed to death, angry at government bailouts, outraged by Wall Street greed, and bitterly resentful of a system that rewards the undeserving rich, the American public is ready to revolt.
Obama vows to fight piracy
President Barack Obama pledged on Monday that the United States would seek to halt the increasing threat of piracy off the Horn of Africa.
Tainted Chinese drywall shows up in Katrina homes
homas Stone and his wife rebuilt after their home was flooded by six feet of water during Hurricane Katrina, never dreaming they would face the agony of tearing it apart all over again.
More Americans wary of U.S. tax man this year
As a deep recession strips Americans of their jobs, homes and investments, the 2009 U.S. tax season promises to see a large uptick in first-time delinquent income taxpayers.
Green Stimulus Money Costs More Jobs Than It Creates, Study Shows
Every “green job” created with government money in Spain over the last eight years came at the cost of 2.2 regular jobs, and only one in 10 of the newly created green jobs became a permanent job, says a new study released this month. The study draws parallels with the green jobs programs of the Obama administration.
Captain’s Rescue Revives Debate Over Arming Crews
A spate of attacks on ships off Somalia and the rescue Sunday of an American captain held hostage by pirates have reinvigorated a long-simmering debate over whether the crews of commercial vessels should be armed.
A Guide to the Bohemian Grove
What really goes on inside the secluded Bohemian Grove, the site of the ultra-exclusive Bohemian Club’s yearly bacchanalia among the California redwoods?
China Slows Purchases of U.S. and Other Bonds
Reversing its role as the world’s fastest-growing buyer of United States Treasuries and other foreign bonds, the Chinese government actually sold bonds heavily in January and February before resuming purchases in March, according to data released during the weekend by China’s central bank.
Taxpayers more frugal with refunds
Most people say they plan to use this year's tax refund to pay bills, deciding in this sour economy to be more frugal with their annual windfall.
Iraq sues to shut newspaper, TV station in Baghdad
Iraq's Shiite-led government criticized foreign and Iraqi media Monday for reports about recent arrests of U.S.-backed Sunni paramilitaries, accusing news organizations of stoking religious tension and threatening national unity
The Myth of the "Conscience Clause"
By Trevor Bothwell
As long as the liberal has the power to achieve his ends everything he does is by definition "moral." As long as the conservative has the power to achieve his ends everything he does is by definition "moral."
Obama to ease some family, business limits with Cuba
President Barack Obama on Monday will ease limits on family travel and cash gifts from the United States to Cuba and allow U.S. telecommunications firms to bid for licenses on the communist-ruled island, a U.S. official said.
Is TARP Investigator on Collision Course With Treasury on Bank Assets?
This could get interesting. The Financial Times tells us that Neil Barofsky, the special investigator general for the TARP, is looking whether banks cooked their books by overvaluing assets to qualify for TARP funding, Remember, bank had to fall into this funny construct of being sick enough to need help, but not so sick as to be terminal.
Ganis: Iran far from what US media say
President of the American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis says Iran is very different from what the US mainstream portrays.
The rEVOLution is ‘hijacking’ Tea Party movement & the 912 Project
Various forums, blogs and social networking sites on the interwebs are frantically communicating to each other about the ‘hijacking’ of Ron Paul’s grassroots movement by neo-liberal and neo-conservative crusaders.
Treasury Directs GM to Prepare for Bankruptcy Filing
The Treasury Department is directing General Motors to lay the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing by a June 1 deadline, despite GM's public contention that it could still reorganize outside court, people with knowledge of the plans said during the weekend.
Fed Buys $7.37 Billion in U.S. Debt Due in Two to Three Years
The Federal Reserve purchased $7.37 billion of Treasuries maturing between two and three years as part of the central bank’s efforts to reduce lending rates and lift the world’s largest economy out of recession.
Is Goldman Sachs Manipulating the Stock Market? - It Sure Looks Like It
There was a very interesting article on Zero Hedge the other day. In the data provided, I noticed that Goldman Sachs traded more for their Principal account than the next 14 firms COMBINED. And the next 14 were no slouches . . . Citi, JP Morgan UBS, Credit Suisse, Merrill, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, etc.
The New American Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan
By General (RTD), Mirza Aslam Bag
The forces pushing their evil agendas should not forget what happened to the former USSR in the recent past. A handful of Mujihideen (Holy Fighters) had turned Russian pride into dust and the same fate will befall America. So the leaders of Pakistan should not commit the mistake of relying on anti-Islamic forces against the passions of their faithful (Muslim) citizens. It should be noted that in the last thirty years, this region has been acting as the base of support for defensive forces of the Islamic world against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, America in Iraq, Israel in Lebanon and Gaza, and now America and its coalition forces in Afghanistan have been defeated by the same forces.
The Crazy Factor
By Nancy Levant
Today’s conquerors have new and improved weapons to add to their current arsenals of whole-earth destroying weapons computer systems, satellite systems, digital and nano technologies, genetic and viral hocus pocus, financial and accounting theft, and exquisite dialectical logic, coupled with ivy league educations in psychological operations, social manipulation and engineering today’s new breed conquerors are, I’m very afraid, insane. Chronic pathological lying and manipulation are, after all, diagnosable deviancies.
Action on AIG unit may cost taxpayers: report
The controversy surrounding American International Group Inc's bonuses to employees could make the process of winding down the insurer's financial products unit more costly for taxpayers, the Wall Street Journal cited the unit head Gerry Pasciucco as saying.
ICRC's Damning Expose of US Torture
By Stephen Lendman
On March 12, Mark Danner, in a New York Times op-ed and The New York Review of Books, wrote about the ICRC's revelations of "US Torture: Voices from the Black Sites." He said George Bush (in 2007) "informed the world that the United States had created a dark and secret universe to hold and interrogate captured 'terrorists,' " - at locations outside America, Guantanamo and elsewhere.
Homeland Security on guard for 'right-wing extremists'
A newly unclassified Department of Homeland Security report warns against the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists" concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singles out returning war veterans as particular threats.
Secret DHS Doc Predicts Violence in Response to New Gun Restrictions
The document is designed primarily to radicalize local law enforcement and convince individual police officers that citizens opposed to violations of the Second Amendment, draconian gun legislation (including registration and ammunition tracking schemes) and illegal immigration are terrorists capable of committing acts of violence against them. It is a cynical effort to increase the tension between police and the community at large, especially members of the community that exercise the Second Amendment and oppose open border policies.
Flashback - The FBI's Pipe-bomb Provocateurs
As he signed the anti-terrorism bill into law on April 24th, President Clinton insisted that "we have to take additional steps. I believe we must do more to help police keep suspected terrorists under surveillance.
The King of America
Inside the secret world of Washington Times publisher Rev. Sun Myung Moon; he arranged for himself to be coronated the "King of Peace" on Capitol Hill. The Republicans love him.
Why do the police need masks?
IT'S A balaclava, apparently. No doubt it will be described as essential protective dress. But looking at the video film and photographs of the "territorial support group officer" who has just taken his baton to Ian Tomlinson minutes before the newspaper vendor's death, I'm wondering: why does a British policeman in pursuance of his duties feel the need to be masked?
Peres: Possible strike on Iran
President Shimon Peres had some unusually aggressive words for Iran Sunday, seemingly threatening military action if US President Barack Obama's overtures to the Islamic republic fail to bear fruit.
Compulsory voluntary work for young
Gordon Brown has vowed to make every young person do 50 hours of voluntary work by the time they reach the age of 19.
EU trains a new diplomatic corps - without waiting for Lisbon Treaty
The European Union was accused of "contempt for democracy" on Sunday after it emerged that hundreds of members of a new diplomatic service are being trained - even though the Lisbon Treaty that creates it has not come into effect.
Leading Credit Default Swap Trader: Justifications for CDS are Phony
Leading derivatives trader and expert Satiyajit Das wrote a must-read article today pointing out the falsity of the justifications used by both buyers and sellers of credit default swaps and other complex forms of "financial innovation".
Britain has bloody hands in Zimbabwe
Donald Trelford exposed Robert Mugabe's murderous methods 25 years ago, but couldn't persuade Whitehall to intervene
ADBUSTERS Win Legal Victory Against Canada's Media Giants - Legal Action in the US Next
After 15 years of legal tussling to bring democracy to the public airwaves, Adbusters has finally scored a great victory. The Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted us an appeal in our landmark case against Canada's CBC and Canwest Global, giving us the go-ahead to set a precedent and establish some public rights over the airwaves.
Lavrov says Georgia conflict proves dangers of NATO expansion
The August conflict with Georgia demonstrated just how dangerous NATO's eastward expansion could be, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a session of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council on Saturday.
Science unlocks secrets of our deepest love
THE secrets of unconditional love, one of the most mysterious emotions, are being uncovered by scientists tracing the unique brain activity it creates. They have found that the emotion, experienced as a desire to care for another person without any thought of reward, emerges from a complex interplay between seven separate areas of the brain. Such brain activity has only limited overlap with the cerebral impulses seen in romantic or sexual love, suggesting it should be seen as an entirely separate emotion.
Israel calls for assassination of Nasrallah
Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz calls for the assassination of the chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Lloyds bank staff ‘puts frighteners’ on debtors
LLOYDS Banking Group staff are intimidating victims of the recession who have fallen behind on loan payments, an investigation by The Sunday Times has found.
Israeli Scholar Disputes Founding Myth
Sand argues, many of today’s Israelis who emigrated from Europe after World War II have little or no genealogical connection to the land. According to Sand’s historical analysis, they are descendents of European converts, principally from the Kingdom of the Khazars in eastern Russia, who embraced Judaism in the Eighth Century, A.D.
Former PM describes Jerusalem as 'home'
Tony Blair has always tried to present himself as a visionary leader when he talks about his twin passions: politics and religion.
Somali pirates vow revenge over comrades' killings
Somali pirates threatened revenge on Sunday after two separate hostage-rescue raids by foreign forces killed at least five comrades, raising fears of future bloodshed on the high seas.
Thai troops move against protesters
Troops in Thailand have begun cracking down on anti-government protesters, with shooting heard in the capital, Bangkok.
Iran accuses Netherlands of overthrow plot: report
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has accused the Netherlands of plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime by supporting the opposition through the media and the Internet, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Summit of the Americas: Anti-corruption accord was a first
It was a bright Saturday in December 1994 when hemispheric leaders who gathered for the First Summit of the Americas stood for a photo in the Vizcaya gardens in Miami with stiff smiles and a formal wave.
AIG in spotlight over derivatives
The unit that all but destroyed AIG has failed to sign up for the overhaul of the global derivatives market which was given added impetus by the troubles at the US insurance group.
AIG confirmed that its financial products unit, whose soured bets on credit default swaps forced the company into government hands last year, did not adopt the “Big Bang” protocol that has been signed by more than 2,000 market participants.
Contractors Cash in on HUD Program, Not Poor
A federal program designed to help poor families buy affordable homes has actually been lining the pockets of investors and contractors.
