Monthly Archives: March 2009

Confusion helps the powerful

“Boris Fyodorov, the late Russian Minister of Finance who struggled for many years against corruption and the abuse of authority, could be blunt. Confusion helps the powerful, he argued. When there are complicated government bailout schemes, multiple exchange rates, or high inflation, it is very hard to keep track of market prices and to protect the value of firms. The result, if taken to an extreme, is looting: the collapse of banks, industrial firms, and other entities because the insiders take the money (or other valuables) and run. This is the prospect now faced by the United States.” (Read more from tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com)

The last act of any government is to loot the treasury.

Israel Lobby Losing it’s Grip? UPDATE: Hell no! UPDATE2: Freeman dares speak out

“Retired Amb. Chas Freeman, who said today that he no longer accepts an offer to chair the National Intelligence Council, has just sent this message:

You will by now have seen the statement by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair reporting that I have withdrawn my previous acceptance of his invitation to chair the National Intelligence Council. . . . I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country. . . .

I am saddened by what the controversy and the manner in which the public vitriol of those who devoted themselves to sustaining it have revealed about the state of our civil society. It is apparent that we Americans cannot any longer conduct a serious public discussion or exercise independent judgment about matters of great importance to our country . . . The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired. . . .

The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors. . . . it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.

” (Read more from thecable.foreignpolicy.com)

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“Charles (Chas) Freeman, who was slated to be picked as the new chairman of the National Intelligence Council, withdrew his candidacy for the post on Tuesday.

The move was announced in Washington by Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence. Since news of Freeman’s nomination, Jewish organizations have leveled criticism at the pick due to his history of opposition to Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories.” (Read more from haaretz.com)

This is dangerous. If the Israel Lobby can influence who joins the National Intelligence Council, they can further influence our perception of Iran. Here lies the road to (more) war.

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I’ll believe it when the Palestinians get their land back. I’ll believe it when we stop giving them billions a year in taxpayer money. Nevertheless, here are two headlines which caught my eye. I suspect the first one is just lip service.

Clinton: U.S. firm on commitment to two-state solution
(Read more from Haaretz.com)

Israel lobby fails to block key Obama intelligence appointment
“On Friday, Muckety reported: ‘Despite intense, behind-the-scenes lobbying by some Jewish groups, the Obama administration yesterday tapped veteran diplomat Chas W Freeman Jr to head the National Intelligence Council in what may be its most controversial appointment yet. As chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Freeman will be responsible for producing the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) – the classified document given to the president and senior intelligence officials that analyses threats to US security.’

In The National, Tony Karon observed: ‘If Israel and its backers are to persuade the Obama administration to accept their views on Iran, it is a less than helpful for the NIE be the province of a sceptical, independent thinker who believes that Israel’s interests are not necessarily those of the US. Renowned as a brilliant diplomat and analyst, even-handed in his assessments of the Middle East and not bound by the Israel-first consensus that the Israel lobby has fought so hard to establish in US Middle East policy, Mr Freeman was denounced by Steve Rosen, a former top American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) official, as ‘a profoundly disturbing appointment’.” (Read more from thenational.ae)

America’s biggest industry: Government

A couple graphics at newgeography.com caught my eye:

National employment peaked in Dec 2007 at 138.2 million. As of Jan 2009, it’s 134.6 million.


The number of people employed by the government is 22.6 million.


Here’s a little trick I call math: 134.6 &#247 22.6 = 5.96

More than one out of six employed Americans working for the government. The economic activity of five Americans pays the salary (and benefits) of the sixth. We cannot afford so much government.

The bailouts didn’t work. The stimulus didn’t worked. Lets try lying.

“Stocks Could Skyrocket After March 12th. On CNBC’s “Closing Bell” FM contributor Jon Najarian told Dylan Ratigan he sees a catalyst out there that could lift banks as much as 100% – and as soon as next week.” (from tradingstockindicies.com)

CNBC has been wrong about everything for YEARS. Why should anyone listen to them now?

“The survey, known as the Beige Book, rated the prospects for economic improvement anytime soon as ‘poor, with a significant pickup not expected before late 2009 or early 2010.'” (from news.yahoo.com)

Recovery???? The Fed is either lying or stupid. I’m guessing both.

See also: Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million

Who got AIG’s bailout billions?

“The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that about $50 billion of more than $173 billion that the U.S. government has poured into American International Group Inc since last fall has been paid to at least two dozen U.S. and foreign financial institutions.

The newspaper reported that some of the banks paid by AIG since the insurer started getting taxpayer funds were: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, Calyon, Barclays Plc, Rabobank, Danske, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lloyds Banking Group.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Bank of America, Calyon, and Wells Fargo, which has absorbed Wachovia, could not be reached for comment.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has refused to publicize a list of AIG’s derivative counterparties and what they have been paid since the bailout, riling the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.” (Read more from reuters.com)

If we had just let these criminals go bankrupt, everything would have been so much simpler.

Obama Administration Defying Judiciary

Hmmm. A lot like there predecessors. Why is this so hard for every to see? Obama = more of the same.

“So on Friday, in a move that Al-Haramain’s lawyer called ‘mind-boggling’, the Obama administration told the federal court, once again, that it did not have the authority to order the government to make the critical document in the case available to the organization’s lawyers. The decision to reveal the document, wrote the government, ‘is committed to the discretion of the Executive Branch, and is not subject to judicial review.’ . . . In other words, the government lawyers threatened to physically remove the document from the court files if the Judge insists that he has the right — as he already ruled he has — to allow Al-Haramain’s lawyers to see it.” (Read more from washingtonindependent.com)

Gates: Iran “not close” to nuclear weapon

“Gates’ comments followed a televised interview with Adm. Mike Mullen, head of the U.S. military Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he believed Iran has enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb.” (Read more from reuters.com)

Good! At least one of our leaders reads the National Intelligence Estimate: Iran ‘Halted’ Nuclear Weapons Program In 2003, Unlikely To Develop A Weapon In This Decade.

CIA destroys 9/11 “confession” tapes

These were the tapes on which terror suspects “confessed” to 9/11.

CIA admits ‘terror tapes’ destroyed
“The US Central Intelligence Agency has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of ‘terror’ suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, the agency has said.

The disclosure on Monday came in a letter filed by US government lawyers as part of a lawsuit brought by a US rights group over interrogation programmes operated under the Bush administration following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

‘The large number of videotapes destroyed confirms that the agency engaged in a systematic attempt to hide evidence of its illegal interrogations,’ Amrit Singh of the American Civil Liberities Union (ACLU) said in a statement.

The ACLU, which filed the suit, said the CIA should be held in contempt of court for previously withholding the information.” (Read more from english.aljazeera.net)

Feds probably won’t charge anyone for destroying CIA tapes
“Even though he has yet to complete his investigation, a federal prosecutor has already signaled that he is unlikely to indict any CIA employees for incinerating 92 secret interrogation tapes that purportedly show suspects being waterboarded.” (Read more from rawstory.com)

“[I will] smash the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the wind.” ~John F. Kennedy

9/11 Family member refuses victims compensation, demands answers

by Beverly Eckert

“I’ve chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited. . . .” (Read more from commondreams.org)

The 10 Major Newspapers That Will Either Fold or Go Digital Next

1. The Philadelphia Daily News
2. The Minneapolis Star Tribune
3. The Miami Herald
4. The Detroit News
5. The Boston Globe
6. The San Francisco Chronicle
7. The Chicago Sun Times
8. NY Daily News
9. The Fort Worth Star Telegram
10. The Cleveland Plain Dealer
(Read more from news.yahoo.com)

GOOD! I am a blogger. Hear me roar!

Also, Our society suffers if newspapers fall silent

Hahahahahaha! Right. Without the Big Media, how will we know who to hate, who to fear and where to make war?