JUN 3 SIT EC y POL
ZERO HEDGE
It's
Official: The USA Freedom Act Is Just As Destructive As The USA Patriot Act. by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog. Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
Our general rule of thumb when it comes to legislation is
that the more high-sounding the name, the more insidious the law. .. the just-passed
USA FREEDOM Act.
“Freedom”. It sounds
great.
So great, in fact, that they stuck it in the title and built
an absurd acronym around it– the real name of the law is “Uniting and
Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline
Over Monitoring Act of 2015″.
U-S-A-F-R-E-E-D-O-M.
Hooray!
And without fail, the media has bought in to the myth,
praising the government for heralding in a new era of liberty with headlines
like “Congress Reins In NSA’s Spying Powers” and “NSA phone program doomed as
Senate passes USA Freedom Act”.
Unfortunately this is simply not the case. And
shame on the mainstream media for making such thinly-researched, fallacious
assertions:
Secret FISA courts still exist. Lone wolf
surveillance authority and roving wiretaps still exist. They can still grab
oodles of other data like medical and business records.
The US Attorney General has even been awarded new
’emergency powers’ to use in his/her sole discretion… just in case the
secret courts might be uncooperative.
So basically they can’t archive your phone number. But
everything else is fair game. Congratulations on your freedom.
The Inspector General (IG) of
the United States is required to issue a report discussing what civil liberty
violations may have occurred over the last few years.
Like the IG report, a panel of advocates has no teeth… no
power to stop the court or spy agencies.
When I was in the military everyone used to say ‘freedom
isn’t free’. And this is totally true.
Freedom starts with the individual. No one is going
to give it to you. Becoming free means you have to put forth just a little bit
of effort to take some common sense baby steps.
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America's
Discouraged, Underpaid Workforce Turns To Drugs. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
Given the rather depressing plight of the average US
laborer, it’s little wonder that some workers are inclined to “alter their
mood” a bit before punching the clock. Indeed, over the past 24 months, a
decades-old trend towards falling workplace drug usage has reversed itself,
with 4% of workers now testing positive for either legal or illegal drug use.
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Six
Political Issues to Watch This Summer. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015.
The next several weeks are likely to be relatively
eventful in Washington...
1. Trade Promotion Authority looks likely to pass this
month. the Senate finally
passed legislation to reinstate Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as
“fast track,” which is generally viewed as critical to implementing the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) currently being negotiated.
2. The Supreme Court should rule on ACA subsidies in
the next few weeks. This is
related to the Obama Administration's
implementation of insurance subsidies under the ACA. The plaintiffs in the case
contend that because the law states that only insurance purchased on an
exchange "established by the state" is eligible for subsidies,
enrollees in the 34 states with federally run exchanges should not be
subsidized.
3. Senate banking legislation faces a tough road ahead In May the Senate Banking Committee passed wide-ranging legislation that
would make changes to mortgage and bank regulation and some organizational
changes at the Fed.
4. Transportation infrastructure spending looks likely
to be punted… Congress has failed to pass a long-term
transportation infrastructure spending program for several years, and another
temporary patch ahead of the July 31 expiration of spending authority looks
likely.
5. …closing the window of opportunity for tax reform…. The next extension of the highway
spending bill probably marks the end of the road for tax reform until after the
2016 election.
6. …but creating an opening for reauthorization of the
Export-Import Bank. While the
transportation bill looks unlikely to become a vehicle for tax reform, it has
emerged as a potential vehicle for renewing the charter of the Export-Import
Bank.
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Why
Did These Former Fed Members Admit Mathematically, Logically, & In Reality:
"It's Over"?. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
In the ironically titled "Paying For The
Past" presentation, none other than Dick Fisher, Al Greenspan, and
Larry Lindsey appear to have crossed the Rubicon of denial, lies, and deception
to the dark-side of accepting reality. As Bill Holter asks, why exactly
would these former Federal Reservists hint that, mathematically, logically,
intuitively and in real life, IT'S OVER! Do they now realize what the crazy
gold bugs have been saying all along is true and the day of reckoning is
very close at hand. They must be trying to get "out in front"
of what is coming so they're on the record for historical and
"legacy" purposes. Nothing else makes any sense.
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Tspiras
Says "Don't Worry" About IMF Payment After Latest Failure To Clinch
Deal. Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
Following this evening's "private" meeting with
Jean-Claude Juncker and Jeroem Dijsselbloem, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras once
again admits that there is no deal. Both sides issued statements - The EU's
was a 3 sentence boiler-plate; and Tsipras was a brief press conference on
Greek TV. In the interests of clarity we provide the statements (and
their actual translations from "we have nothing to say" to "this
is what we are trying not to say.")
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The
Next Escalation: FBI Launches Probe Of Russia 2018 World Cup Award. Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
With The FBI now reportedly investigating the award of
The Soccer World Cup to Qatar and Russia, it appears, as Mises' Lew
Rockwell exclaimed, "FIFA has got to change its name, it’s going to
have to take out the “I” and put in an “A” for American." This
sudden act of imperialism by The US, putting itself in charge of world soccer,
as Paul Craig Roberts notes, it "is another Washington-British scam against
Russia," adding "law is a weapon that Washington uses to
achieve its agenda." What happens next? As we predicted a week ago
- following some dramatic procedural changes, Russia loses the hosting of
the 2018 World Cup.
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FBI
Uses Surveillance "Air Force" To Monitor US Citizens, AP Finds.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
The revelation that the FBI assisted the Baltimore Police
Department in monitoring April's violent protests prompted a wider
investigation by The Associated Press. "The FBI is operating a
small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying
video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology — all hidden behind
fictitious companies that are fronts for the government," AP
reports.
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A
Much Bigger Threat Than Our National Debt. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
"...the 'Ice Age' of low rates and low growth for
a long time – as predicted by many analysts and economists – won’t happen.
Instead, a crisis will cause a crash on Wall Street. The banks will go broke.
The credit system will seize up. People will line up at ATMs to get cash and
the cash will quickly run out. This will provoke the authorities to go full
central bank retard. They will flood the system with “money” of all sorts. The
ice will melt into a tidal wave of hyperinflation."
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Former
US FIFA Official Admits Taking Bribes In Selection Of French And South African
World Cups. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
[The US manipulation of FIFA scandal with “evidences” full of smiling-
bribones.. pathetic ]
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"Bernanke
& Greenspan Have Destroyed America" Schiff & Maloney Warn
"People Don't Realize What Is Coming".
Submitted by Tyler Durden
on 06/03/2015
"people
like Bernanke are taken seriously still and the people that did predict [the
crisis] are dismissed as lunatics half the time." The wide-reaching
conversation covers everything from gold and stocks to The Fed and The Dollar
- Bernanke "took the coward’s way out because all he did was exacerbate
the problems to postpone the day of reckoning." The air is coming
out of the bubble, they warn, "Bernanke and Greenspan have
absolutely destroyed America. People don’t realize what is coming..."
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Although a slew of
‘experts’ say the darndest things (e.g.Bloomberg ‘Intelligence’s Carl
Riccadonna: “You had equity markets benefit from QE, but eventually QE also
jump-started the broader recovery.. Ultimately everyone’s benefiting.”), we
can’t get rid of this one other nagging question: who needs an expert to
tell them that today’s markets are riddled with bubbles, given that they are
the size of obese gigantosauruses about to pump out quadruplets?
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The
College Commencement Speech Every Graduate Needs To Hear. Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
"In effect,
you are graduating with a mortgage but no house. And what did you get? A
subprime education."
"Graduates,
you have been saddled with debt and bad ideas. Good luck, you're going to need
it."
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Under
Hillary, US Sold $66 Million In Chemical Arms To Clinton Foundation Donors
Gassing Their Citizens. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
"During the roughly two years of Arab Spring protests
that confronted authoritarian governments with popular uprisings, Clinton’s State Department approved $66 million worth of
so-called Category 14 exports -- defined as "toxicological agents,
including chemical agents, biological agents and associated equipment" -- to nine Middle Eastern governments that either
donated to the Clinton Foundation or whose affiliated groups paid Bill Clinton speaking
fees," IBTimes reports.
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As Hillary Clinton’s bid for The White House ramps up,
contributions to The Clinton Foundation charities have come under increased
scrutiny.
First, a Reuters investigation revealed that contributions
from foreign governments had inexplicably
disappeared from tax documents starting in 2010, prompting the charity to
refile five years worth of returns. The ‘omission’ was characterized as a
“mistake” by the foundation’s acting CEO who, in a lengthy blog post, promised
that the organization had been careful to avoid conflicts of interest when
Clinton was Secretary of State. It later turned out that Clinton may
not have kept all of her promises to the Obama administration when it came
to avoiding such conflicts.
Further investigative reports from the IBTimes outlined two
particularly interesting cases where payments to the Clintons and/or their
charities may have influenced policy decisions.
In one case, Goldman Sachs paid Bill Clinton $200,000 for a
speech before lobbying the Clinton-led State Department on Export-Import Bank
legislation and on multiple occasions, foreign government donors to the Clinton
Foundation were awarded
arms deals which, when taken together, were worth more than $150
billion.
Now, the IBTimes is back at it, with a look at the Clinton
State Departments’ chemical arms sales to Middle Eastern governments who gave
to Clinton family charities. Here’s more via IBTimes
Here's a bit more color from the IBTimes report...
Some Clinton Foundation donors
from the Middle East did not see an increase in authorizations for
toxicological agents during the Arab Spring, but did see big increases
earlier, soon after Clinton came into office in 2009.
...and here's a look at the numbers...
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Which
US President Said It: "I'm The Closest Thing To A Jew To Ever Be
President" . Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
Hint... [Aunque la vistan de monja… mona queda ]
In an interview by an Israeli TV
station, former Obama adviser David Axelrod recalled the president venting in a
moment of contemplation about criticisms that he doesn’t support Israel
strongly enough.
“You know, I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in
this office,” the president told Mr. Axelrod. “For people to say
that I am anti-Israel, or, even worse, anti-Semitic,
it hurts.”
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Janet
- We Call Your Bluff On Rates (And This Chart Is The Tell). Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
Dear Janet,
you find yourself in a terrible conundrum. You understand as well as
anyone that managing the trickle-less down recovery and the resulting tenacious
dislocation between the market and the economy is becoming unmanageably
expensive; about $13T to date. And while the hint of a rate hike over the
past year has sent the dollar up some +15%, some suggesting a sign of strength
for the American economy, it really is not helping the situation now is it??
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This
Is How The IMF Just Lost Its Last Shred Of Credibility. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
A new research paper from none other than the IMF has a
unique observation for heavily-indebted countries: "It is better to live with the debt than to pay it down."
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Being
Healthy Is Unprofitable. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
U.S. healthcare is unsustainable. That it will break in
the next decade is predictable. We are collectively wandering the
beach, picking up seashells, while a mighty tsunami wave is approaching that
will wash everyone on the beach away. We can either deal with the lifestyle and
cultural causes of our mounting ill health or be swept away when the system
crashes.
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As
Hope Lifts Athens Stocks, German Vice Chancelleor Warns Of "Gigantic
Consequences" If Greek Talks Fail .Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
Despite all the reassurances by various leaders that any
Grexit or Greek bankruptcy would be 'contained', Sigmar Gabriel -
vice-chancellor and economic minister of Germany's SPD party - unleashed some
uncomfortable truthiness yesterday. With Greek stocks up almost 5% today as
hope springs eternal, Gabriel warned of nothing less than “gigantic
consequences” for Europe in case of a Greek bankruptcy.
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Trade
Deficit Shrinks 19% In April Driven By Drop In Imports. Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015
After March's six-year high disastrous kitchen-sink trade
deficit revised down to -$51.4 billion, April saw a bounce back to just $40.9
billion deficit (considerably lower deficit than the $44 billion expectation).
The imporvment was driven by a big shift in imports - dropping 3.3%
(after a 6.5% jump in March) as exports rose just 1% (which is still the
most in 2015).
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Greece
Admits It Will Not Make IMF Payment On Friday, No Deal Expected Wednesday.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2015
"Greece will not make a June 5 repayment to the International
Monetary Fund if there is no prospect of an aid-for-reforms deal with its
international creditors soon," Reuters reports. PM Alexis Tsipras will
meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Wednesday evening,
but no deal is expected today.
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Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 06/03/2015 - 07:36
- Obama signs bill reforming surveillance program (Reuters)
- Tsipras to meet Juncker in Brussels for talks on agreement (AFP)
- Spot the irony: OECD cuts global growth forecast, says recovery taking hold (Reuters)
- The Secret Money Behind Vladimir Putin's War Machine (BBG)
- Companies' Borrowing Spree Darkens Stock Market Future (BBG)
- How OPEC Hurt Big Oil (WSJ)
- What's OPEC Going to Do With Iran's Million Barrels a Day? (BBG)
- Draghi’s Europe Looks Healthiest for Years Despite Greece (BBG)
- Bund yields inch higher, euro holds ahead of ECB (Reuters)
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Insanity’s
Definition is Sending More U.S. Ground Troops to Iraq
By Michael Scheuer
The current call by most Republicans and many Democrats to return 10,000 or 20,000 U.S. ground troops to Iraq will not change the situation there except to make it worse.
By Michael Scheuer
The current call by most Republicans and many Democrats to return 10,000 or 20,000 U.S. ground troops to Iraq will not change the situation there except to make it worse.
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Never Mind
FIFA, How about a Crackdown on the Banksters?
By Finian Cuningham
The belated focus of American and British authorities on the alleged wrongdoings at FIFA can thus be readily seen as both ludicrous and laughable when we compare that with the absolute dearth of interest by these same authorities in applying law enforcement where it ought to be applied – on the Wall Street and City of London banksters.
By Finian Cuningham
The belated focus of American and British authorities on the alleged wrongdoings at FIFA can thus be readily seen as both ludicrous and laughable when we compare that with the absolute dearth of interest by these same authorities in applying law enforcement where it ought to be applied – on the Wall Street and City of London banksters.
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Why Does
America Really Care About FIFA? Russell Brand
Video
The real story behind the Fifa scandal that has resulted in the resignation of Sepp Blatter.
Video
The real story behind the Fifa scandal that has resulted in the resignation of Sepp Blatter.
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Ponzi Scheme America. You’ve Been
Scammed!
By Tom Engelhardt
You’re going to find yourself living in an ever greyer, grimmer country.
By Tom Engelhardt
You’re going to find yourself living in an ever greyer, grimmer country.
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GLOBAL RESEARCH
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The
War on Yemen, America’s Plans to Use Nuclear Weapons against the Middle East
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky,
Tactical nuclear weapons or so-called “mini-nukes” are bunker buster bombs
equipped with a nuclear warhead. Their explosive capacity (e.g. the B61-11)
varies between one third and six times a Hiroshima bomb.
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Washington’s
“Two Track Policy” to Latin America: Marines to Central America and Diplomats
to Cuba By Prof. James Petras
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Towards
a Militarized Police State in America? Explosive New Revelations over “Jade
Helm 15 Exercise” and Potential False Flags By Joachim Hagopian,
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NEWS IN SPANISH
La multifacética crisis del sistema-mundo (I). Una mirada
crítica-prospectiva de su impacto en Nuestra América Á. Guerra, K. Arkonada, L. Suárez S. y O. González (coord.)
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El gobierno de las grandes empresas. TTIP, una ley para dar
más poder a las corporaciones. Paul Craig Roberts
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Mundo. La economía iraní,
rehén del incierto resultado de las conversaciones nucleares. Ismael Hossein-zadeh
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El neoliberalismo y los recursos naturales. Humberto Trómpiz Valles
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PRESSTV
‘US
becomes totalitarian dictatorship’ .
Thu Jun 4, 2015 The US has devolved into a “soft-core totalitarian
dictatorship” and other nations should disassociate from it, an activist and
radio host says.
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South
Africa denies World Cup bribe. Wed Jun 3, 2015 South Africa denies
bribing FIFA officials to secure the 2010 World Cup.
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