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 New Big Brother London Underground Signs Stir Controversy
Upon entering the London underground following a rare trip abroad last week I was hit with a sudden reminder that I was entering back into big brother control central when I encountered rows and rows of advertising boards plastered with the same stark posters reading “I THINK I’M BEING WATCHED”.
Poll: 44% of Americans favor torture for terrorist suspects
A new poll of citizens’ attitudes about torture in 19 nations finds Americans among the most accepting of the practice. Although a slight majority say torture should be universally prohibited, 44 percent think torture of terrorist suspects should be allowed, and more than one in 10 think torture should generally be allowed.
The poll found 53 percent of Americans believed all torture should be prohibited; the average in all 19 countries polled was 57 percent
(WRH: Who were they polling, the criminally insane to get that high a number?!?!?
Apparently, there are a lot of folks in this country who have no concept of the Bill of Rights or the Constitution.
Additionally, many of the folks who have been tortured at Gitmo or at other “black sites” were simply innocent people who got caught at the wrong place and time, and literally got “sold” to the Americans for a bounty.
If we, as a nation, continue to back the use of torture (which, we have known from the time of the Inquisition gets the torturers what they want to hear, rather than the truth), those values of human rights, human dignity, and democracy which used to be the bedrock of our legal system, get thrown under a bus, not just for suspected “terrorists”, but for all of us.)
Lebanese leader: country nearing self-destruction
The Lebanese president warned Tuesday that the country’s divisions have pushed it to the verge of self-destruction — sounding an alarm to the rival factions amid renewed sectarian fighting.
Utilities cut off more customers who are behind on their bills
As skyrocketing food and gasoline prices strain budgets, utilities are disconnecting many more customers who fall behind on their bills, and even moderate-income households are getting zapped.
Electricity and natural gas shutoffs are up at least 15% in several states compared with last year. Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.
“We’re seeing a record number of shutoffs,” says Mark Wolfe, head of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, which represents programs that subsidize energy bills.
An NEADA survey this month shows 8% of four-member households earning $33,500 to $55,500 have had their power turned off for non-payment. “It’s hitting people in the suburbs with two cars and two kids,” Wolfe says.
Two Businessmen Are Charged in Sale of Military Parts to Iran
Two American businessmen were charged Monday with selling military parts to Iran to help prop up its aging air fleet, the latest in a string of cases that American prosecutors say violate longstanding bans on exports to Tehran.Federal prosecutors in Florida said the two men — Hassan Saied Keshari, a naturalized citizen from Iran who runs an aviation parts company in Northern California, and Traian Bujduveanu, a naturalized citizen from Romania who ran an aviation company in the Fort Lauderdale area — shipped parts to the United Arab Emirates for resale to Iran -Eric Lichtblau/NY Times
Congressional Resolution Demands Bush Act on Iran
A non-binding resolution to demand that President Bush impose “stringent inspection requirements” on trade with Iran - language that leaves the door open for a military blockade - will likely come to the House floor this week, according to sources close to Congressional leadership.The legislation, H.Con.Res.362, which is paralleled by a similar Senate bill, has gained bipartisan support rapidly, with more co-sponsors signing on by the day -Maya Schenwar & Matt Renner/TruthOut
A new model for nastiness
Since the late 1990s, bears like myself have been forecasting a major economic downturn in the United States, but wavering as to whether it would be more like the 1930s, with price deflation and really deep economic decline, or the 1970s, with unpleasant inflation but shallower economic decline.The urge to forecast gloom and despondency continues, even intensifies, but we need a new model for the type of depression we are to enter, as neither the 1930s nor the 1970s now seems to fit the bill -Martin Hutchinson/Prudent Bear
U.S. Economy: Consumer Confidence, House Prices Slide
Shobhana Chandra and Timothy R. Homan
Bloomberg News
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
June 24 (Bloomberg) — Confidence among Americans dropped to the lowest level in 16 years and house prices fell the most on record, raising the risk that consumers will cut back on purchases after spending their tax rebates.
Israeli police officer shoots himself in the head yards from French president Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni
Daily Mail
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni and Israeli premier Ehud Olmert were at the centre of a security alert this afternoon after a policemancommitted suicide during an airport farewell ceremony.
We Are Change L.A. Kicked Out For Asking Scott McClellan About 9/11
You Tube
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Stewart Howe and Jeremy Rothe-Kushel ask former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan about 9-11 and the Constitution. McClellan pretends to not have heard of PNAC and Building 7.
Unfortunately for McClellan, treason is not that easy to hide.
Russia prepares for future combat in the Arctic
RIA Novosti
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia must be ready to fight wars in the Arctic to protect its national interests in a region that contains large and untapped deposits of natural resources, a high-ranking military official said in an interview published Tuesday.
Mere Exposure to John McCain Can Be Dangerous
Brent Jessop
Knowledge Driven Revolution
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
About a month ago FOX News was caught hiding a smiling John McCain in the animation of one of their shows (see video below). Why would they go to such an effort, and break the law, to hide an imperceptible John McCain? Below is an excerpt from a standard social cognition book which will explain a lot.
Population Control: The Eugenics Connection
Old Thinker News
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Has eugenics faded away with time, or has the pseudo science morphed and cloaked itself under new auspices? Were some of the original founders of population control efforts themselves eugenicists? How and when did eugenicists shift from Galton era ideals to Malthusian population control?
‘Iran conflict could open Pandora’s box’
Press TV
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Jordanian King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein says creating any conflict with the Islamic Republic is like playing with Pandora’s box.
“Iran poses issues to certain countries, although I have noticed over the past month or so that the dynamics have changed quite dramatically. For the first time, I think Iran is less of a threat,” King Abdullah of Jordan said in an interview with Newsweek.
eBay Responds to Privacy Busting Payment Legislation
The global online auction giant eBay has responded to a frightening piece of legislation that will force retailers to report every transaction  to the federal government, warning that it will “negatively impact individual Internet users, the growth of small businesses, and entrepreneurial and economic empowerment.”
Fox Analyst: Iraqis ‘Owe Us’ 100-Year Leases On Their Oil, ‘We Ought To Take It’
Think Progress
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Last week, the New York Times reported that four Western oil companies Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP are in the final stages of negotiating no-bid oil contracts “to service Iraqs largest fields.” These contracts would run for one to two years, and give the oil companies a “foothold” in bidding on future contracts.
Mind-Forged Manacles
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By George Monbiot | Which of these countries has the most prisoners per head of population? Sudan, Syria, China, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe or England and Wales? We win, or rather lose: I have ranked these countries in reverse order(1). On this measure, …
“Blood and Oil” an Important Film to See and Share
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
ADS | “Blood and Oil” is a very, very well made film that will show you something new even if you already know that - as Dubya admits - the United States is addicted to oil, even if you know the deal that …
Blackwater, skirting federal law, using cache of AK-47s
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By Joseph Neff | The private military company Blackwater has found an unusual way to skirt federal laws that prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons. Blackwater bought 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters, gave ownership of the guns to the Camden …
Reporters Say Networks Hide War From US Public
Government Study Criticizes Bush Administration’s Measures of Progress in Iraq
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By JAMES GLANZ, New York Times | Beyond the declines in overall violence in Iraq, several crucial measures the Bush administration uses to demonstrate economic, political and security progress are either incorrect or far more mixed than the administration has acknowledged, according to a …
US to carry on military trials at Gitmo despite ruling
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
Hearings for terrorism suspects before US military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay are going ahead despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the detainees have a right to challenge their detention in a civilian court. Legal experts had described the high court’s decision as the death …
Big Oil’s Big Lie
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By George Monbiot | Of course, it’s not a crime, and it’s hard to see how, in a free society, it could or should become one. But the culpability of the energy firms the climate scientist James Hansen will indict in …
Martial Law: A License to Loot, a Permit to Plunder
William N. Grigg | Many who reside in our flood-ravaged Midwest are learning, as residents of New Orleans did before them, that our paramilitary “protectors” will eagerly exploit disasters in ways that compound the suffering inflicted by a natural disaster.
Pressure mounts to call off Zimbabwe election
African pressure mounted today for President Robert Mugabe to call off a 27 June election after the UN Security Council issued an unprecedented condemnation of violence against opposition supporters.Both Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and South African ruling ANC leader Jacob Zuma said the presidential run-off must be postponed after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the vote and fled to the Dutch embassy in Harare
Bolton: Israel will attack Iran before next President sworn in Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
John Bolton, a former United
Nations ambassador appointed by President George W. Bush, has predicted that the state of Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear sites before the next US president is sworn in.
Mossad’s Dagan, an omen of Iran war
Press TV
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Mossad director’s tenure has been extended for another year so that he could prepare for an attack on Iran, Israeli military sources say.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has decided to keep Meir Dagan behind his desk at Mossad until the end of 2009 so he could take the necessary measures for a possible unilateral military action against Iran, DEBKA website which is close to Israeli intelligence agency quoted the sources as saying.
Aide: plot to kill Ahmadinejad thwarted at U.N. meet
Reuters
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
An adviser of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said there was a plot to assassinate the Iranian president during a U.N. food crisis summit in Italy earlier this month, an Iranian daily reported on Tuesday.
Terror chief warns of 9/11 style attacks on Britain by bombers in private jets
UK Daily Mail
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Private jets could be hijacked and used as ‘vehicle bombs’ to target the public, the Government’s anti-terror chief has warned.
At Last, Some Truth About Iraq and Afghanistan
Eric Margolis
Lew Rockwell.com
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
PARIS – After a sea of lies and a tsunami of propaganda, the ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally emerged into full view this week.
Dobson accuses Obama of ‘distorting’ Bible
As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement’s biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.The criticism, to be aired Tuesday on Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio program, comes shortly after an Obama aide suggested a meeting at the organization’s headquarters here, said Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family
Killing Farmers with Killer Seed
JOHN ROSS
Counterpunch
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
As the global food crisis escalates, Big Biotech (Monsanto, Novartis, Syngenta, Dupont-Pioneer, Dow et al) are capitalizing on the desperation of the hungry at runaway prices and rapidly diminishing reserves as a wedge to foist genetically modified (GMO) seeds on a reluctant Third World.
Bush/McCain’s gas price scam is an Enron rerun
Harvey Wasserman
Online Journal
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Bush/McCain gas price escalation is an Enron rerun. It is Chapter 2 of the scam Bush crony “Kenny Boy” Lay used in 1999-2001 to steal $100 billion from California ratepayers.
EU ministers agree cancer causing pesticides ban
Euro News
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Cancer causing chemicals in pesticides will be banned under a deal thrashed out by EU agriculture ministers after two years of negotiations. The new rules will totally prohibit the marketing and use of substances proven to be carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproductive systems.
A Major Victory for Texas
I am pleased to report that last week we received  notice that the Texas  Department of Transportation will recommend the I-69 Project be developed using existing highway facilities instead of the proposed massive new Trans Texas Corridor/NAFTA Superhighway. According to the Texas Transportation Commissioner, consideration is no longer being given to new corridors and other proposals for a new highway footprint for this project. A major looming threat to property rights and national sovereignty is removed with this encouraging announcement.
McCain Proposes $300 Million Prize for New Auto Battery
And what if Toyota were to invent such a battery? Should the  government award a foreign firm the prize for something they’re working on already? And even though it would “only” cost one dollar per American, who gave the government the right to confiscate our earnings for ill conceived ideas that are already being tended to by the free market? Finally, the last time I checked, the current national debt was $9,370,288,314,000.78. The interest on that debt alone is running $500 billion per year. So where are they going to get the money to fund the prize? |
MYSTERY: ISRAELI POLICEMAN DEAD AT FAREWELL CEREMONY FOR SARKOZY…
FEAR IT WAS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT…
Calling all Artists - 9/11 Truth Bus Design Contest
WeAreChangeLA confronts Scott McClellan
 Obama and Dobson in…Bible War
Heat Waves: Burning Off the Fog of the FISA Fiasco
Arthur Silber brings the heat in his latest posts on the FISA “compromise.” He cuts through the surface outrage over the Democratic-led, Obama-approved evisceration of the Constitution to expose the even deeper outrages beneath.And he takes on those progressive enablers who denounce critics of Obama’s position for their “freshman dorm cynicism” – i.e., calling a shameful action a shameful action, and decrying the Democratic candidate’s active collusion in undermining freedom -Chris Floyd
Mandatory In-Car Breathalyzers Coming?
If you’re not a convicted drunk driver, should you still be required to have an in-car breathalyzer fitted (at your expense, ‘natch) to your next new vehicle?
Advocates say the technology under development would be “less intrusive.” Instead of making the driver blow into a little tube like they make you do at those roadside “sobriety checkpoints,” a system of passive alcohol sensors would be fitted to the car that could take a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) reading via a person’s skin — as when your hand touches the shifter or steering wheel. This “quiet” approach is supposed to make us feel better about being pre-convicted and treated like known and duly processed irresponsible drunks every single time we get behind the wheel of a car.
This latest bit of ugliness burbling up from the stinkpot of government-corporate do-gooderism is merely a symptom of the underlying canker that is our ignorance — and acquiescence.
(WRH: This is a really bad example of “Code Napoleon Law” coming to haunt all us all, and that means, no matter if you absolutely would never drive intoxicated, you will be treated like a criminal who would, just the same.
This technology would make everyone guilty until they were proven innocent, and that is the absolute antithesis of American justice.)
“One of the Greatest Intrusions, Potentially, on the Rights of Americans Protected Under the 4th Amendment”–Sen. Feingold Blasts Telecom Spy Bill
It’s being described as the most significant revision of the nation’s surveillance law in three decades. The Senate is preparing to vote on rewriting the nation’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and giving immunity to phone companies involved in President Bush’s secret domestic spy program.We speak with Senator Russ Feingold (D–WI), who has been the leading congressional voice against the Bush administration’s warrantless spy program since it was exposed nearly three years ago -Democracy Now
Martial Law: A License to Loot, a Permit to Plunder
Many who reside in our flood-ravaged Midwest are learning, as residents of New Orleans did before them, that our paramilitary “protectors” will eagerly exploit disasters in ways that compound the suffering inflicted by a natural disaster.Many citizens in such circumstances prefer to stay in their homes, running their own risks in order to protect what is theirs. But it is standard operating procedure for police — aided, at times, by National Guardsmen — to force such people out of their homes, and to use the force of arms to prevent those who have left from returning -William N. Grigg
Subversion of the Rule of Law: Bush’s Torture Attorneys
2.7% Fall in Gasoline Demand last week on record prices
$300 Billion Rescue - Housing Bill clears hurdle
Many Dutch prepare for 2012 Apocolypse
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, June 23 (UPI) — Thousands of people in the Netherlands say they expect the world to end in 2012, and many say they are taking precautions to prepare for the apocalypse.
Consumer Confidence Plunges to Lowest Level in 16 Years
US Home Prices Fall 15% in April - Four Years of Gains, Gone
Housing Slump a Prelude to Recession
Consumer Pain Extends Beyond the Pump
Inflation “Psychology” Troubles Central Banks
Divisions Emerge at the Fed
The Market Created the Money, Not the State
Japan to Cut the Cost of Solar Power by 50%
China, Taiwan to Begin Direct Flights
Report: Iraq social and refugee crisis is worsening
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By Sandy English | According to a report issued last week by the human rights organization Amnesty International, the plight of nearly 5 million Iraqis displaced from their homes since the American invasion of 2003 is worsening in nearly every respect. The report observes …
 
New technique can detect biological, chemical and explosive agents
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By Steve Wampler | LIVERMORE, Calif. — Airplane passengers and baggage might be screened one day by a machine under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that can detect explosive, chemical and biological agents all at the same time. A team of LLNL researchers has …
American Envoy Is Linked to Arms Deal Cover-Up
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
By ERIC SCHMITT | WASHINGTON — An American ambassador helped cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition that a Pentagon contractor bought to …
Networks Putting Wars on Back Burner
The costs of the war, not to mention the tragic loss of life, are not secrets in the true sense. The information is easy enough for anyone with an internet connection to obtain. But is it possible for the country to continue to spend $340 million per day on a war without any tangible payback? CBS News shockingly claims that it is. The war is “relatively affordable — at least in historical terms,” according to this article.
The truth is that it is not. This is the real news, and it is also ignored by the mainstream press.
The Coming Catastrophe?
We are fast approaching the final six months of the Bush administration. The quagmire in Iraq is in its sixth painful year with no real end in sight and the forgotten war in Afghanistan is well into its seventh year. The “dead enders” and other armed factions are still alive and well in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan again controls most of that country. Gas prices have now reached an average of $4.00 a gallon nationally and several analysts predict the price will rise to $5.00-$6.00 dollars per gallon at the pump by Labor Day. This, despite assurances by some major supporters of the decision to invade Iraq that the Iraq war “will pay for itself” (Paul Wolfowitz) or that we will see “$20.00 per barrel” oil prices if we invade Iraq (Rupert Murdoch).
Scare as Sarkozy departs Israel
Australia world’s fattest nation, U.S. 2nd Australia is now the world’s fattest nation, with 26% of adults labeled obese, a new report said Friday. The report, titled ”Australia’s Future Fat Bomb” was undertaken by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, and revealed that some 4 million Australian adults are now classified as obese. The alarming new figures mean the nation has officially overtaken the United States, which has a 25% obesity rate
Greenspan says U.S. economy on brink of recession
I suppose we are supposed to congratulate Mr. Greenspan for his magnificent grasp of the obvious.
Most American families, struggling just to get by, could have told his investment conference audience as much.
YouTube - 1 DAY BEFORE 911 WTC attack! DO u know what happened?
The Bolton-Telegraph Scare
When Don Rumsfeld ruled over the Department of Defense, articles from the Daily Telegraph (and the Jerusalem Post) would often be featured in the Pentagon’s daily “Early Bird” compilation of important news stories that was then distributed throughout the national-security bureaucracy.Since Rumsfeld’s departure, however, the frequency with which Telegraph articles have appeared has diminished sharply.Now, the Telegraph has offered a soapbox to John Bolton who still believes that George W. Bush will not order an attack on Iran before he leaves office, but also now argues that Israel will do so -Jim Lobe/IPS
Home-Price Gains Are Erased, Now Stand at 2004-2005 Levels
Home-price declines continued to get steeper in April, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller indexes and the Ofheo home price index, which showed at least three years of gains erased.Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities have dropped a record 15.3% in the past year and are now back to where they were in 2004, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s -Wall Street Journal
Judge Voices Doubt on Bush’s Immunity Claim for Aides
A U.S. judge voiced doubts about President George W. Bush’s claim that his top advisers are completely immune from being forced to testify before a House panel investigating the firing of federal prosecutors.U.S. District Judge John Bates today repeatedly challenged an administration lawyer to cite legal justification for the refusal of former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to obey subpoenas to appear before the House Judiciary Committee -James Rowley/Bloomberg
The Paul Revolution: Here to Stay
The Paul supporters who attended the convention or who gave  Representative Paul his second place finish in the caucuses are going to remain in the Republican Party and be loyal to it, just as Representative Paul will. But like Representative Paul, they are not going to be supporters of John McCain. And while those who have taken official positions within the party are not going to work for or endorse another candidate, the twenty-two percent of Republican voters who supported Ron Paul in the primary may very well do both. In Montana, the Bob Barr candidacy remains a real threat to John McCain.
An All Out Attack On Ron Paul & His Supporters by Earl Ofari Hutchinson Of The Huffington Post.
In true to form neocon, shill style Earl Ofari Hutchinson displays sophomoric, insulting and outright disgust for the champion of the Constitution and the millions of Americans who support the limited government message of Ron Paul in his article titled:
Stop Waiting For Ron Paul To Endorse Bob Barr Or Chuck Baldwin
For those that don’t already know here is a refresher. If your last name  is Obama or McCain you are anti-liberty and don’t understand the Constitution even though you will swear to defend and uphold it when you take office. If your last name is Barr or Baldwin you are pro-liberty and you understand that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. That is really all you need to know. Ron Paul has De-facto endorsed both Barr and Baldwin. It is unlikely Paul will officially endorse either candidate.
Nevada Ron Paul Supporters Stage Rogue GOP Convention
Paul supporters say that all three of the delegates elected in the 3rd  Congressional District and at least one in the 1st Congressional District were for Rep. Ron Paul, which meant four of the possible nine state congressional delegates were going to Paul and three delegates from the 2nd district still being determined. Paul was seriously in the running to win the state congressional districts, in other words, even though the party’s nominee would almost certainly be Sen. John McCain.
Corporate Media Loathe To Explain Real Outrage Behind Terror Comments
The media circus surrounding McCain advisor Charlie Black’s statement that another terror attack would be a “big advantage” in the election contest has completely failed to explain why such comments are so disturbing.
Obama camp: comments a ‘complete disgrace’
RAW STORY
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Related: McCain Campaign Hopes For Terror Attack To Swing Vote
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton responded to the McCain strategist’s comment with a written statement.
“Barack Obama welcomes a debate about terrorism with John McCain, who has fully supported the Bush policies that have taken our eye off of al Qaeda, failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and made us less safe,” he said. “The fact that John McCain’s top advisor says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a ‘big advantage’ for their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change.
Berman Denies AIPAC/Israel Influence On US Policy
Zionist Sarkozy Says ‘Nuclear Iran Unacceptable’
Holders of Ron Paul ‘Liberty’ coins file suit in Idaho court
Twelve people from around the country have filed suit in a federal court  in Idaho to force the government to return their Liberty dollar coins to them.
Last week, some of the people who had purchased the coins filed a motion in U.S. District Court demanding the currency be returned. Federal authorities have said the coins are illegal. But the maker of the coins, Bernard von NotHaus, said his currency — often called “Liberty Dollars” — were seized because the federal government doesn’t want competition from his company.
Bernanke’s Inflation Cure Wanes as Import Costs Rise
The surging oil prices that are raising exporters’ costs to ship everything from steel to sofas to America are encouraging customers to buy more domestically made goods — and giving the producers of those goods more room to raise their prices.If competition from abroad wanes, Fed policy makers may in the future have to rely more on higher interest rates and less on trade to contain inflation -Rich Miller/Bloomberg
The United States Fiat Money & the Federal Reserve System
Fiat money is an oxymoron.Traditionally, money has been both a storehouse of value and a medium of exchange.Fiat money exists by mimicking both; but when its ability to do so ends, fiat money exposed for what it is, reverts to what it is - government issued coupons with expiration dates printed in invisible ink.The longer a fiat money system exists, the greater the odds of economic collapse -Darryl Robert Schoon/Financial sense Online
Federal Reserve expected to leave key rate at 2%
Sue Kirchhoff
USA TODAY
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Worried that rising inflation poses an increasing threat to the economy, the Federal Reserve is expected to end its nearly year-long campaign of steep interest rate cuts when it meets starting today.
Jawboning the dollar may bite Federal Reserve
The unrelenting rise in oil prices has put U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in the precarious position of trying to talk down inflation without raising interest rates.The result may be a blow to the central bank’s credibility, just as Bernanke was finally winning plaudits from many on Wall Street for his handling of the credit crisis.The Fed is expected to keep its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at 2 percent when its policy-setting committee meets this week
Oil prices ‘will not come down’ says OPEC boss
Edmund Conway
London Telegraph
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The cost of a barrel of crude oil has edged closer to its all-time high after OPEC president Chakib Khelil warned that oil prices “will not come down”. Ahead of a meeting with EU officials in Brussels today, he said that the cartel had done all it could to ease prices.
Fuel Costs Could Devastate Airlines
United Airlines to lay off 950 pilots
UAL Corp, parent of United Airlines, said on Monday it plans to lay off 950 pilots as it prepares to cut domestic capacity to offset soaring fuel prices.The latest layoffs involve nearly 15 percent of United’s 6,518 pilots.The carrier has said it plans to cut its staff by 1,400 to 1,600 as it aims to reduce domestic capacity by 14 percent in the fourth quarter.UAL’s downsizing is consistent with recent steps taken by AMR Corp’s American Airline
The war on photographers - you’re all al Qaeda suspects now
John Ozimek
The Register
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
When you hear the phrase “helping police with their inquiries”, does an image of dedicated selfless citizenry instantly spring to mind? Or do you wonder whether the reality is not slightly more sinister?
Call for The Removal of Michael Reagan From Notre Dame High School’s Board Of Directors
The Large Hadron Collider will not eat the world
Brian Angliss
Scholars & Rogues
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
There are a lot of people worried that the world will end soon. This autumn, specifically, when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland and France turns on and starts smashing protons together at velocities that are nearly the speed of light. The main concern is that these collisions will create a miniature black hole that will swallow the Earth and us with it.
Judge Voices Doubt on Bush’s Immunity Claim for Aides
A U.S. judge voiced doubts about President George W. Bush’s claim that his top advisers are completely immune from being forced to testify before a House panel investigating the firing of federal prosecutors.U.S. District Judge John Bates today repeatedly challenged an administration lawyer to cite legal justification for the refusal of former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to obey subpoenas to appear before the House Judiciary Committee -James Rowley/Bloomberg
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