Federal deficit on pace to reach record $1T
The federal government ran a record budget deficit in November, putting Uncle Sam on track to post an all-time high annual shortfall of $1 trillion or more.
Whistleblowers sent to mental ward, Chinese paper says
Local officials in Shandong Province have apparently found a cost-effective way to deal with gadflies, whistleblowers and all manner of muckraking citizens who dare to challenge the authorities: dispatch them to the local psychiatric hospital.
Bratislava resident renounces American citizenship, becomes stateless person
Citing US war, human rights abuses, rapacious state capitalism and hypocrisy, Bratislava resident Michael Gogulski announced today that he has renounced his United States citizenship and become a stateless person as a means of “political divorce”.
Gogulski, 36, renounced his citizenship on 8 December 2008 at the American embassy in Bratislava, surrendering his US passport and culminating a two-week process and months of personal preparations. He currently awaits a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States confirming his loss of American citizenship. As Gogulski has no other citizenship, he is now a stateless person.
Global trade routes point towards depression
After the credit crisis and the capital crisis, a downturn in world trade looks like being the next shoe to drop and it could well be the factor that tips the world from a recession to a depression.
World economy could shrink for first time since 1945
Politicians must prepare themselves for the possibility that global economic growth shrinks for the first time since the Second World War, according to the World Bank
Jewish lawyers push for UN criminal indictment of Iranian president
A new grassroots initiative to diplomatically isolate Iran and its leader, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for incitement to genocide was unveiled Tuesday by attorneys in Canada, the United States, England and Israel. The initiative calls for criminal charges and travel bans to be issued against Ahmadinejad and has demanded that the United Nations suspend Iran's membership and levy stiffer economic sanctions against Teheran.
Strict Indian Gun Law Aided Mumbai Terrorists in Attack
India’s strict gun laws are partly to blame for the success of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, according to the head of an Indian gun rights group and a U.S. expert who has examined the impact of gun laws on crime and terrorism.
Researchers Plan to Simulate Movements of 300 Million Americans
Researchers from Virginia Tech are developing a computer simulation that matches the movements of all 300 million people in towns across the US. The team hopes that the model will help them understand the spread of contagious diseases, fads, and traffic flows.
Ex-Fed chairman Volcker touted as car tsar
Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker has been named as a possible candidate to take on the job of America's "car tsar" as the White House and Congressional leaders continue to work towards an agreement to loan $15bn to two of Detroit's "Big Three."
Obama to Borrow China’s Wealth, Clout in Effort to Steady World
Thirty years ago this month, President Jimmy Carter held secret negotiations to establish formal diplomatic ties with a poor, insular communist China. President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a relationship with a China whose wealth and influence are essential to rescuing the world economy.
How Many Americans Died Because of Bush’s Torture Program?
By Scott Horton
According to a special operations intelligence officer, the answer is a number north of three thousand–not counting the tens of thousands maimed or seriously wounded, the destruction of the nation’s reputation as a moral leader, or the damage done to our Constitution.
The Chicago Democrat has faced allegations of misconduct and ethical violations almost since the day he was elected on a promise to clean up Illinois government.
Like the man he replaced in the governor's office — current prison inmate George Ryan — Blagojevich soon found himself under the eye of federal prosecutors. His public support plummeted as his links to corruption grew.
"Candidate 5"
According to the statement from prosecutors, Mr. Blagojevich told an adviser last week that he might "get some (money) upfront, maybe" from one of the candidates hoping to replace Mr. Obama. That person was identified only as "Candidate 5."
In an earlier recorded conversation, prosecutors say, Mr. Blagojevich said he was approached by an associate of "Candidate 5" with an offer of $500,000 in exchange for the Senate seat.
Obama Flat-Out Lied About Not Meeting Blagojevich Over Senate Appointment
Yesterday I noted that Obama had been caught in a bit of a mistruth when he said “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.” According to Jack Tapper at ABC, Obama’s campaign manager David Axelrod told Fox News in Chicago on November 23rd that Obama had met with Blagojevich
8 really, really scary predictions
Dow 4,000. Food shortages. A bubble in Treasury notes. Fortune spoke to eight of the market's sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening.
CIA Drug Trafficking and remembering Gary Webb
Check out this new story by Robert Parry reflecting on journalist Garry Webb's suicide, after being totally blacklisted by the mainstream media because he had the guts to speak the truth about the CIA and other parts of the US government that helped the Contras and their allies import cocaine into the US, during the period that President Reagan was talking about "fighting drugs" and locking up all those drug users in a cage, beefing up the police state and the prison industrial complex. CIA drug trafficking had already been well documented (albeit ignored by the mainstream media) but Webb linked this cocaine to "Freeway" Rick Ross, who was almost single-handedly responsible for the crack epidemic in LA and around the country.
Being Anonymous Online is Now a Crime
In today's world of spyware, social networking services, and numerous other technological threats to privacy, it's hard not to leave tracks on the Internet. But now, trying to use the Internet anonymously may be a crime
Card Check
By Mike Whitney
Even though the Federal Reserve is now the biggest single participant in the financial system, the myth of a "free market" still lingers on. It's mind boggling.
Whitney: Banks On Life Support Next 18 Months
Influential bank analyst Meredith Whitney remains bearish about the economy, and her outlook for the banks that "lubricate the economy" is grim.
Torture and murder at a Florida reform school
"There was blood all over the walls. I tried to climb the wall and there was nowhere to climb," Roger Kiser says as he lowers his head.
Kiser was just a child when he spent from 1958 and 1959 in Marianna.
He was beaten so badly that his underwear was buried into his skin. The nurse on campus had to surgically remove it. He says his face was unrecognizable after multiple lashes with a whip.
China’s Exports Decline for First Time in 7 Years
China’s exports fell for the first time in seven years, more evidence that recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan are driving the world’s fourth-largest economy into a slump.
Lockheed Martin’s Multiple kill vehicle
US Missile Defense Agency video of the 2 December 2008 free-flight hover test of Lockheed Martin's Multiple Kill Vehicle
Gold Backwardation Resulting Gold Fever
Here is an update on the backwardation in gold that started on December 2 at an annualized discount rate of 1.98% and 0.14% to spot in the December and February contracts. It continued and worsened on December 8, 9, and 10 as shown by the corresponding rates widening to 3.5% and 0.65%. It is nothing short of awesome. This is a premonition of a coming gold fever of unprecedented dimensions that will overwhelm the world as soon as its significance is fully digested by the doubting Thomases.
Clashes break out as strike shuts down Greece
Angry youths battled police outside Athens' main courthouse Wednesday as a general strike paralyzed Greece, raising the pressure on a fragile government reeling from the country's worst riots in decades.
3 Guantanamo detainees patsies withdraw offer to confess
Three of five Guantanamo Bay detainees who said they wanted to confess to charges relating to the September 11 terrorist attacks rescinded the offer after a judge required two to undergo competency hearings, according to a military spokesman.
Role of Alleged CIA Asset in Mumbai Attacks Being Downplayed
Recent press reports on developments with regard to last month’s attacks in Mumbai, India indicate the role of Dawood Ibrahim, a wanted crime boss, terrorist, and drug trafficker, is being downplayed, possibly the result of a deal taking place behind the scenes between the governments of the US, Pakistan, and India, to have others involved in the Mumbai attacks turned over while quietly diverting attention from a man who some say could reveal embarrassing secrets about the CIA’s involvement in criminal enterprises.
Krauthammer and Barnes call for ‘indefinite detention’ law for suspected terrorists
Last night on Fox News, war hawks Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes expressed outrage at President-elect Obama’s pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists. As an alternative, Krauthammer called on Democrats to pass an “indefinite detention” law; Barnes wholeheartedly agreed
Civil Liberties Are Cut in this Economic War: Hendry
As the financial crisis deepens, civil liberties are curtailed by governments eager to put an end to falls in share prices and economies, Hugh Hendry, chief investment officer and partner at Eclectica told CNBC.
BIS Warns that Bailouts Could Damage Financial System
Many economists and financial writers warned about the bailouts making the financial crisis worse. But when BIS (the "Central Banks' Central Bank") says it, even the central bankers have to take note.
Fed Weighs Debt Sales of Its Own
The Federal Reserve is considering issuing its own debt for the first time, a move that would give the central bank additional flexibility as it tries to stabilize rocky financial markets.
AIG Says More Managers Get Retention Payouts Topping $4 Million
American International Group Inc., the insurer whose bonuses and perks are under fire from U.S. lawmakers, offered cash awards to another 38 executives in a retention program with payments of as much as $4 million.
American International Group faces $10 bln in losses on speculative trades
Troubled insurer American International Group Inc.is facing $10 billion in losses on trades, reported the Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly owes this money to Wall Street's biggest firms for speculative trades that turned bad. The losses total less than $10 billion of the company's $71.6 billion exposure to derivative contracts on debt pools called collateralized debt obligations as of September 30.
Gore 'rules out' environment job with Obama
The former US vice-president Al Gore met Barack Obama in Chicago yesterday as the President-elect prepares to name the next energy secretary and top environment official.
India releases names, details on Mumbai gunmen
Police in India released the names of nine suspected Islamic militants killed during the three-day siege of Mumbai and said investigators had uncovered new details about them _ including their hometowns in Pakistan.
Musicians protest use of songs by US jailers
The auditory assault went on for days, then weeks, then months at the U.S. military detention center in Iraq. Twenty hours a day. AC/DC. Queen. Pantera. The prisoner, military contractor Donald Vance of Chicago, told The Associated Press he was soon suicidal.
The tactic has been common in the U.S. war on terror, with forces systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then the U.S. military commander in Iraq, authorized it on Sept. 14, 2003, "to create fear, disorient ... and prolong capture shock."
Deal reached for auto loans; GOP senators pledge to oppose plan
Congressional Democrats and the White House reached agreement Tuesday night on the outlines of a $15-billion rescue of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC even as key Senate Republicans promised a filibuster of the draft proposal for not requiring more sacrifices from the UAW.
House Probe of FCC Finds "Egregious Abuses of Power"
A year-long Congressional investigation of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin found "egregious abuses of power," though it was unclear whether the nation's top telecommunications regulator broke any rules or laws during his leadership.
Bank of America Offers Loans to Republic for Workers
Bank of America Corp. will provide a “limited amount of additional loans” to shuttered Republic Windows & Doors LLC in Chicago to pay employees occupying a building after the bank ended the company’s line of credit.
Fourth night of riots sets stage for Greek general strike
A fourth night of violence pitting angry youths against riot police plunged Greece deeper into a social and political crisis hours ahead of a long-planned general strike Wednesday.
US Treasury 3-month bill yield below zero for first time
The yield on the three-month US Treasury bill Tuesday fell below zero for the first time as worried investors snapped up government bonds in search of shelter from the global financial firestorm.
The Great Sphinx of Giza reborn as a lion in the desert
The Sphinx in Egypt might have originally had the face of a lion, it is claimed. And it could be much older than previously thought, investigations led by a British geologist suggest.
The district chiefs’ authority over borrowing costs has been marginalized in the past two months as Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and the Fed Board of Governors in Washington made their own decisions on emergency measures to flood the economy with cash.
“The Board has usurped authority,” said William Poole, former president of the St. Louis Fed and now a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington. “This dramatic change in policy direction has not been announced or even acknowledged.”
Science paves way for climate lawsuits
People affected by worsening storms, heatwaves and floods could soon be able to sue the oil and power companies they blame for global warming, a leading climate expert has said.
Mexico braces for fallout from Detroit
As Detroit pleads with lawmakers for a bailout package, Mexico is watching closely, keenly aware that failure of the Big Three to stave off bankruptcy could devastate auto workers south of the border – and reenergize the northward flow of illegal migrants.
Vote shifts Israel's Likud Party sharply right
In a blow to party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, members elect a slate of hard-liners for upcoming national elections. The move is a boost for Tzipi Livni's Kadima party.
Plea by Blackwater Guard Helps Indict Others
In the first public airing of an investigation that remains the source of fierce international outrage, the Justice Department on Monday unsealed its case against five private security guards, built largely around the chilling testimony of a sixth guard about the 2007 shootings that left 17 unsuspecting Iraqi civilians dead at a busy Baghdad traffic circle.
World’s Hungry Close to One Billion’
The food prices has pushed the number of hungry people in the world to almost 1bn, in what the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation described on Tuesday as a “serious setback” to global efforts to reduce mass starvation.
Leading U.S. lawyer accused of $100 million hedge fund scam
His legal lineage was impeccable. A Yale man with a law degree from Harvard, he was a litigation powerhouse, a leader at some of the more prominent firms at the New York bar who then started a top-shelf practice of his own.
A crash as historic as the end of communism
Most of us planning for the next few months are building the economic equivalent of bomb shelters: 2009 will be treacherous. We face a formal recession in most developed economies, and the contraction is highly likely to be more severe in the UK than almost anywhere else.
Internal Warnings Sounded on Loans At Fannie, Freddie
Internal Freddie Mac documents show that senior executives at the company were warned years ago that they were offering mortgages that could pose dangers to the firm, hurt borrowers and generate more risky loans throughout the industry.
European leaders call for closer cooperation on economic crisis
Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy and the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, on Monday called for more cooperation between European Union leaders to respond to the economic crisis.
Russia: Iran could not build A-bomb
A senior Russian diplomat says that even if Iran sought to make a nuclear weapon, it does not have the necessary "means" to do so.
Pak 'ready to repulse Indian attack'
Pakistan says it is fully prepared to defend itself should India engage in a military action against the country over the Mumbai attacks.
Plunging shipping costs send grains globetrotting
In some countries, it is now less costly to ship grain thousands of kilometers across the ocean rather than move supplies hundreds of kilometers by barge or railroad cars. But the phenomenon should be short-lived and the United States should remain the world's top exporter of corn, wheat and soybeans, according to specialists in the sector.
Regulators preparing rescue of credit unions: report
Federal regulators are preparing a rescue plan to shore up the finances of some large credit unions, using billions of dollars in new government borrowings, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Tortured 9/11 Patsies want to confess
Five detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say they want to confess to conspiracy charges for planning the September 11, 2001, attacks, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Monday.
Google Earth accused of aiding terrorists
An Indian Court has been called to ban Google Earth amid suggestions the online satellite imaging was used to help plan the terror attacks that killed more than 170 people in Mumbai last month.
House Panel to Ask for NSA Spying Probe
A congressional panel will ask the National Security Agency's internal watchdog to investigate whether the super-secret spy agency eavesdropped without warrants on a Muslim scholar and later hid that evidence in a 2005 terror prosecution that got him a life sentence.
State wipes smiles off driver's license
Hoosiers won't be saying "cheese" when they get their driver's license photos from now on. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles has imposed new restrictions on anything -- from smiling to wearing glasses and scarves and hats -- that would hamper facial recognition software from distinguishing one driver's looks from another's.
Pakistan won't hand suspects to India
Pakistan said last night it would not hand over to India any suspects in the Mumbai bombings, after 15 people were arrested, including a suspected ringleader.
Report: Major Cyber Security Overhaul Needed
A new report issued by the Center for Strategic and International Studies urges President-elect Barack Obama to create a new White House department aimed at protecting U.S. cyber interests from hackers and other foreign agents.
How Rahm Emanuel Made Mega-Millions and Bought His Way to Power
Since Rahm Emanuel was appointed the next White House chief of staff last month, ProPublica has been retracing his previous life as an investment banker, which earned him more than $18 million in less than three years.
Taliban in 72 pct of Afghanistan, think-tank says
The Taliban hold a permanent presence in 72 percent of Afghanistan, a think-tank said on Monday, but NATO and the Afghan government rejected the report, saying its figures were not credible.
Obama lines up Gore as environment chief
AL GORE was today in private talks with president-elect Barack Obama amid speculation he could be asked to join the new administration.
America Has No Means to Recover from a Depression
By Dustin Ensinger
Speaking in front of members of Congress on Tuesday, economist Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland, said the job loss experienced in November "was much worse than was expected ... The threat of a widespread depression is now real and present." In case you haven't figured it out yet, the ruling elite don't want us to recover from a depression
US faces deep problems, OECD says
The US economy is still facing "sharp downside risks" to growth, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Mukasey’s ‘Nixon Defense’ of Bush
By Jason Leopold
When it comes to protecting George W. Bush and his administration, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is stretching legal arguments as far as his predecessor Alberto Gonzales ever did -- now even invoking the “Nixon Defense” for justifying presidential wrongdoing.
The Fed’s Exploding Balance Sheet: What It Means and Reviving the Revolution
By Michael S. Rozeff
The main idea behind all this lending is to prevent some large banks (and other financial institutions) from failing, shrinking, or restructuring. Behind this is the goal of maintaining the existing structure of banking and central banking. And behind that is the goal of maintaining government power and the existing political structure intact.
Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, chief of staff, arrested
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning. One day after Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered the state to stop doing business with the Bank of America over its role in closure of a Chicago factory
Complaint hits Rezko land deal
A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.
U.S. Could Take Stakes in Big 3
Congress and the White House inched toward a financial rescue of the Big Three auto makers, negotiating legislation that would give the U.S. government a substantial ownership stake in the industry and a central role in its restructuring.
Greek riots: police brace for more protests
Students protesting at the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy rampaged through central Athens overnight, with their faces masked and wearing motorbike helmets. They hurled petrol bombs and chunks of rock at riot police, in the third night of unrest to hit the capital.
Nobel Winner: Internet Might Have Stopped Hitler
The spread of information on the Internet has given the world a new tool to forestall conflicts, Nobel literature prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio said Sunday.
Israel wants 'a united West' against Iran
Israeli President Shimon Peres urges the West to set aside any divisiveness and work toward a united front against Iran's nuclear drive.
Suspicious letters sent to at least 6 governors
Suspicious letters containing powdery substances addressed to governors were intercepted in at least six states on Monday, but tests indicated the powder in five of them wasn't harmful.
Blackwater guards charged in Iraq shooting
Five Blackwater security guards were charged on Monday with killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 20 others in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that outraged Iraqis and strained U.S.-Iraqi relations.
Financial Times: And now for a world government
By Gideon Rachman
I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible.
Gun Control: Protecting Terrorists and Despots
By Ron Paul
Tragically, over the Thanksgiving holiday, the world was reminded how evil and cruel people can be. According to emerging accounts of the events in India, about a dozen well-armed and devastatingly well-trained terrorists laid siege on the city of Mumbai, killing almost two hundred people, and terrorizing thousands.
