George W. Bush's war of naked aggression against Iraq --a war crime --has not only bankrupted the US, it has brought the entire world to the brink of economic ruin. It is also an ignominious defeat and may one day be compared to Valens' loss to barbarians at Adrianople. One wonders: what sound is made by collapsing empires? Do they go boom or 'suck'?
As the most dominant empire since Roman times, America has helped to bring great wealth and prosperity to the world..
--Pat Robertson
Amid Robertson's 'celebration' of American empire, his death threats against Hugo Chavez or Americans daring to oppose his idiocy, Robertson forgot the rest of the story: Rome fell.
The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.
--Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter 2
Rome fell for the same reasons the US will have lost empire and world influence. Like Rome, the US has despoiled the land, waged war upon both the small farmer and the laborer, outsourced it's industry, devalued the dollar and subverted the products of labor --the sole source of 'value' in any economy. That the US 'current account balance' --as officially recorded by the CIA --is the highest in the world proves that US is bankrupt and has been for years. It also proves that GOP economics have made the US less productive vis a vis the rest of the world.
continue reading
12.21.2008
Happy Christmas, Christmas! (Part 1)
(click here for part 2)
Happy Christmas, Christmas!
When the late John Lennon wrote “Happy Xmax” in 1971, I was only 6 years old and still in Shanghai, China. President “Tricky Dick” had not flown over the city of my birth yet. And my uncle had not been arrested falsely in conjunction with the president’s visit and locked away for more than 30 days for nothing (the local communists and brown shirts decided to round up all the “undesirables” in anticipation of the president’s historic visit to China, and my intellectual uncle just happened to be one of those undesirables).
“Happy Xmas” and its message was the Christmas gift of John Lennon and Yoko Ono to the turbulent world back in 1971:
War is over, if you want it.
Words of tremendous yet profound wisdom that everyone, even children, can understand--unless one is a dyed-in-the-wool neocon (Dick Cheney) or neolib (Rahm Emanuel).
Lennon wrote this pro-peace anthem because he realized that if the people really wanted peace, they can really have it--that is if they got off their collective lazy chairs and made an effort. Even if that effort was only a personal wish for peace to prevail. (Imagine millions of people of goodwill everywhere praying and desiring for peace on earth this Christmas.)
Fast forward 37 years later and nothing much has changed, has it?
continue reading
Happy Christmas, Christmas!
When the late John Lennon wrote “Happy Xmax” in 1971, I was only 6 years old and still in Shanghai, China. President “Tricky Dick” had not flown over the city of my birth yet. And my uncle had not been arrested falsely in conjunction with the president’s visit and locked away for more than 30 days for nothing (the local communists and brown shirts decided to round up all the “undesirables” in anticipation of the president’s historic visit to China, and my intellectual uncle just happened to be one of those undesirables).
“Happy Xmas” and its message was the Christmas gift of John Lennon and Yoko Ono to the turbulent world back in 1971:
War is over, if you want it.
Words of tremendous yet profound wisdom that everyone, even children, can understand--unless one is a dyed-in-the-wool neocon (Dick Cheney) or neolib (Rahm Emanuel).
Lennon wrote this pro-peace anthem because he realized that if the people really wanted peace, they can really have it--that is if they got off their collective lazy chairs and made an effort. Even if that effort was only a personal wish for peace to prevail. (Imagine millions of people of goodwill everywhere praying and desiring for peace on earth this Christmas.)
Fast forward 37 years later and nothing much has changed, has it?
continue reading
12.20.2008
Hold the phone
Who is getting conned here? Are we sure we know?
We have sob story after sob story about the people who were conned by the big con artist, Bernie Madoff. Wha wha wha!!! They fill many, many tissues.
Mmm hmm. Are some of these people con artists too? Is that possible? Is their money actually safe in Israel right now?
Will they be compensated by the US taxpayer for money supposedly lost to fraud, but which is not lost at all?
Who is the real victim of fraud here? The wealthy investors of Bernie Madoff or, once again, the American people?
Will we ever find out the truth? Who can we depend on to expose the corruption?
Who indeed? Nobody!!!! Who would ever confirm such a thing for us? Even if they wanted to, they'd be likely to get whacked or suicided for their trouble. So it's just another wacky conspiracy theory from all those wacky conspiracy theorists who perceive corruption everywhere but can never "prove" it. Right? It's not enough that corruption is obviously everywhere. We must have actual proof, like documents or something. You know, Proof! Which we will not get because there is corruption everywhere. Oh ha ha ha. It must be so fun to be corrupt.
But anyway, we all know that things are never as bad as the conspiracy theorists say. Right? Right. They're always much, much worse. When was the last time corruption turned out to be not as bad as initially suspected? Why would this time be any different?
We have sob story after sob story about the people who were conned by the big con artist, Bernie Madoff. Wha wha wha!!! They fill many, many tissues.
Mmm hmm. Are some of these people con artists too? Is that possible? Is their money actually safe in Israel right now?
Will they be compensated by the US taxpayer for money supposedly lost to fraud, but which is not lost at all?
Who is the real victim of fraud here? The wealthy investors of Bernie Madoff or, once again, the American people?
Will we ever find out the truth? Who can we depend on to expose the corruption?
Who indeed? Nobody!!!! Who would ever confirm such a thing for us? Even if they wanted to, they'd be likely to get whacked or suicided for their trouble. So it's just another wacky conspiracy theory from all those wacky conspiracy theorists who perceive corruption everywhere but can never "prove" it. Right? It's not enough that corruption is obviously everywhere. We must have actual proof, like documents or something. You know, Proof! Which we will not get because there is corruption everywhere. Oh ha ha ha. It must be so fun to be corrupt.
But anyway, we all know that things are never as bad as the conspiracy theorists say. Right? Right. They're always much, much worse. When was the last time corruption turned out to be not as bad as initially suspected? Why would this time be any different?
Anatomy of a Con Artist
The Trust Equation describes the components of trustworthiness. The equation is:
T = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-orientation
Of course, any such recipe worth its salt will also serve as a template for reverse engineering--a "how-to" manual for a con man. Measuring Bernie Madoff by the trust equation shows just what an effective job he did at mimicking genuine trust.
Personality - Bernard Madoff
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Two weeks ago, Bernard Madoff stopped by the Everglades Barber Shop off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Florida, for the usual: a $65 haircut, a $40 shave, a $50 pedicure and a $22 manicure.
“For me, he was a gentleman,” said Senio Figliozzi, 72, the owner of the three-seat barber shop who has been cutting Madoff’s hair for the past 17 winters. “What he did outside, it was news to me.”
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“For me, he was a gentleman,” said Senio Figliozzi, 72, the owner of the three-seat barber shop who has been cutting Madoff’s hair for the past 17 winters. “What he did outside, it was news to me.”
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Madoff Assets: Judge signs order protecting Madoff's art, houses, money, jewelry
NEW YORK — Facing a growing chorus of angry investors, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff lost his right to leave his home Friday and was ordered to hire private around-the-clock security guards to protect him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz approved the revised bail conditions after prosecutors sent a letter requesting them earlier in the day. The letter, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc O. Litt, did not explain why the bail conditions needed to be tightened.
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Bernie Madoff, probable sociopath, following in the steps of Charles Ponzi, definite sociopath
Ah, the fruits of an economy that gives corporations sociopathic freedoms. The economy is such a perfect match to sociopathic skills that it is hard to believe it wasn’t designed by sociopaths. If a corporate liars culture is allowed to develop, sociopaths will take it to the limit and beyond. Sociopaths are incapable of self regulation, they need adult supervision (literally, due to their existing in an arrested development state — morally, judgementwise, personality, sexually, etc.).
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Publicizing the threat of personality disorders among those in positions of power
As some of you may know, I often rail about the abundance of sociopaths and people with Narcissistic or Borderline Personality Disorder in positions of power in our culture. There has been ample evidence of this problem in the news recently. Yet rarely do analyses of these cases go beyond charges of corruption to asking the crucial question of whether they involve an actual psychological disorder.
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12.19.2008
The Madoff Double Bluff
Here's Rafeeq's take on the Madoff Swindle:
Excerpt:
So why plead guilty? The answer is simple. Look on the net and you will see that because this case is being labelled a fraud, it would appear that investors are going to be able to claim their investment back under the US government's financial fraud protection scheme. A judge has already given his approval in principle for compensation, without any evidence having been presented and financial fraud being demonstrated in a court of law. And it would appear that there will never be such a demonstration in a court of law. Why? It would appear that all the funds financial records are mostly "missing" (rather like Dov Zakheim's US$1.4tn) and those few records that do survive are in a terrible mess.Fallon chimes in on Iran and Israel
Israel is one of the strongest countries in the Middle East and needs to stop giving in to a "fear factor" with regard to the prospect of a nuclear Iran, Adm. (ret.) William Fallon, the former commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
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The Emperor’s New Clothes
Our strutting, imperial president
paid his farewell visit to Iraq
where he appeared with puppet, Nouri al-Maliki,
not expecting to find himself under attack.
read full article
(photo courtesy of Mickey Z)
paid his farewell visit to Iraq
where he appeared with puppet, Nouri al-Maliki,
not expecting to find himself under attack.
read full article
(photo courtesy of Mickey Z)
George Ure: Global 'news control' starting?
Not to begin your day with a bummer, but I've been expecting this for a long time - and today I'm worried that global/corporate/government news control may have arrived in a subtle way.
Before I get to the specifics, first the 'big picture' stuff: You may be aware that our friends with the predictive linguistics project have been seeing out some ways into the future, perhaps mid 2009, we will all slowly lose our ability to communicate freely and openly at the 'global' (hive?) level as corporations and governments begin to lock down the internet. Might be on a phony 'terror' prevention pretext or a 'copyright' red herring, or whatever.
Laura Bush: George freed 50 million people
US First Lady Laura Bush has hailed President George W. Bush's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan ahead of the White House farewell.
"Fifty million people are free from tyranny because of the United States, because of my husband's policies," Laura Bush said in an interview with USA TODAY on Thursday.
Get a bucket and read more
"Fifty million people are free from tyranny because of the United States, because of my husband's policies," Laura Bush said in an interview with USA TODAY on Thursday.
Get a bucket and read more
Iran, India resume peace pipeline talks
Iran and India have resumed negotiation over the long-awaited 7.4 billion dollars Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project in New Delhi.
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Cerberus leveraging connections
It is agonizing to watch Congress publicly stumbling through its analysis and qualification of the auto industry, providing appearance that it is doing its homework on a bailout. Over 40% of Congress is made up of lawyers, with little grasp of finance, economics or business. Congress should not be negotiating the bailout.
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Israel and Iran scramble in the shadows
December 16, 2008: Israeli intelligence organization Mossad has failed in its campaign to sabotage Iran's nuclear weapons program. So far. Six years ago, Mossad said it would stop the Iranian efforts to build nukes. Mossad admitted that it had devoted a substantial portion of its resources to that effort since then. This included establishing companies that appeared to be willing to supply Iran with essential equipment they needed. This had some success in slipping specially modified gear into Iranian nuclear weapons facilities.
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Former general: Israel can't defeat Iran
Israeli officials have been repeatedly warning that Israel may end up attacking Iran, yet former National Security Council Chairman Giora Eiland says such strike would not eliminate Tehran's nuclear program.
Speaking at a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Eiland says Israel cannot defeat Iran's regime via a military operation.
"To our regret, there is no Israeli military capability that would enable us to reach a situation whereby Iran's nuclear capabilities are destroyed without the possibility of recovery," he said. "The maximal achievement that Israel can accomplish is to disrupt and suspend Iran's nuclear program."
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Speaking at a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Eiland says Israel cannot defeat Iran's regime via a military operation.
"To our regret, there is no Israeli military capability that would enable us to reach a situation whereby Iran's nuclear capabilities are destroyed without the possibility of recovery," he said. "The maximal achievement that Israel can accomplish is to disrupt and suspend Iran's nuclear program."
Read more
Wyoming lawmakers oppose Constitutional Convention
A team of lawmakers in Wyoming, alarmed by WND reports that the U.S. is only two state votes away from having a new Constitutional Convention, has begun work to make certain that if a convention is held, it would have to convene in the face of their opposition.
Wyoming previously called for a Constitutional Convention but rescinded the votes in 1999.
GEAB: Tipping point March 2009
LEAP/E2020 anticipates than the unfolding global systemic crisis will experience in March 2009 a new tipping point of similar magnitude to the September 2008 one. According to our team, at that period of the year, the general public will become aware of three major destabilizing processes at work in the global economy, i.e.:
• the length of the crisis
• the explosion of unemployment worldwide
• the risk of sudden collapse of all capital-based pension systems
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• the length of the crisis
• the explosion of unemployment worldwide
• the risk of sudden collapse of all capital-based pension systems
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