No matter what you think about political campaigns, most would certainly agree that they are very expensive. The networks and cable broadcasters have reaped huge profits from the carnival cycle of campaigning entertainment. Civility is simply not good for business. Enlightened discourse is boring and the high moral plane is only good for losers. Much like watching the carnage from a war zone or street riots in the hood, the TV cameras focus on the most controversial confrontations and ignore calls of cooperation. Politics is just too good of a blood sport to allow a modifying influence to temper down the mudslinging. Continue reading →
The test run proved that negative interest rates can push savers into minus territory. Public outrage, while registered is not heard by the central bankers. The reasoning that commercial banks will start making loans because of the cost of sitting on deposits is pure fantasy thinking. Continue reading →
Political conservatives with a high degree of business savvy are able to see through the facade which Fox News has become. The recent orchestration of the Republican presidential debate was a huge ratings success hitting a record 24 million viewers. The early debate gained 6.1 million eyeballs. The contrast between the two venues could not be greater. The high level of discourse among the seven second tier candidates far surpassed the P.T. Barnum spectacular, which was scripted as an episode of desperately seeking jumbo. The GOP establishment elephant was center stage, but the RINO’s suffer from myopia as they disrespect grassroots conservatives. Continue reading →
The worst fears of all free speech proponents are upon us. The Verizon suit against the Federal Communications Commission, appellate decision sets the stage for a Supreme Court review. The Wall Street Journal portrays the ruling in financial terms: “A federal court has tossed out the FCC’s “open Internet” rules, and now Internet service providers are free to charge companies like Google and Netflix higher fees to deliver content faster.” Continue reading →
What is more frightening than the loss of your money? Since most people have, some meager amount held in some form of a financial institution, the prospect of the banksters’ cabal placing a charge against your account for the mere privilege of maintaining a deposit, is horrible. The Business Insider warns, In The Future, You May Have To Pay The Bank To Hold Your Money, and raises a very dreadful prospect. Continue reading →
Before you panic that your online purchases will be tagged with the added cost of state sales tax, rely on the complexity of reporting sales to all the jurisdictions as your prime safeguard from forking over a percentage on every purchase. The Senate bill, Summary: S.336 provides a succinct description of the requirements. For a comprehensive resource on all you want to know about Marketplace Fairness Act Information, check out the details. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte in the article, Online sales tax bill may be dead on arrival in House, identifies concern that the practical difficulties remain with implementation. “I do not believe legislation like the Marketplace Equity Act is sufficiently simplified yet. While it attempts to make tax collection simpler, it still has a long way to go.” Continue reading →
What more time-honored practice in the long history of state sponsored servitude than the institutionalization of prisoners? Incarceration for offenses against government laws is a cornerstone for power and survivability of any regime. Prisons may have been hellholes over the centuries, but seldom has the internment of convicted lawbreakers been a growth industry for private profit. It almost makes one wonder exactly who are the crooks. While most hard-pressed citizens want a safe and secure society, few ever give even a passing thought to the insatiable corporatist criminalization of the criminal justice system. Just how many Americans agree with the proposition, if you did the crime, you need to serve the time? Continue reading →
Even the most ardent optimist has to confront the consequences of low interest rates. The macro analysis of ivory tower academics seldom reflects the struggle of ordinary consumers or retirees. One such pinhead is Ben Bernanke. Continue reading →
It is impossible to make up a fantasy tale that rivals the manifestations of the outlandish MF Global scandal. The evaporation of customer’s monies into an intentional off shore stash is tragic enough, but the indignity of allowing “no consequences” for a horrific crime against all investors is inexcusable. Continue reading →
The shadow-banking component that adds to the risk of non-regulatory oversight just deepens the mystery behind the most powerful banking institution that runs roughshod over global finance. In order to gain an insight into the complexity of deception, examine the function of the BIS. The granddaddy of all central banks, the Bank for International Settlement, latest BIS Annual Report 2011/2012, foretells future financial consolidation. Continue reading →
From OSS to CIA ongoing clash with military intelligence
Posted on June 14, 2017 by James Hall
For all those supporters of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s war, many admire the exploits of the OSS in Europe. While historians for the allied legions adopt the account that circumstances dictated the creation and use of the British, Special Operations Executive, which Churchill proclaimed, to ‘set Europe aflame’; the precedent left a heritage of intervention that few ever warned about the nature of counter-offensive missions. Gathering intelligence on adversaries is valid and even necessary to defend your country. However, to establish contingents of lethal assassins is a fundamental departure from intelligence procurement. During World War II the American version of clandestine operations put into motion a competing and dangerous rival to the traditional role of military intelligence. Continue reading →