Archive for August, 2009
New Bull, New Bubble, New Meltdown By 2012
Something’s in the air. You can feel it. A new bull. Hype? Maybe, but also a roaring new bull — and eventually another meltdown…
Yes, folks, a new bubble cycle is already in motion. You can feel the energy building, the kind that fueled the meltdowns of 1998, 2000 and 2007. We never resolved the problems fueling the dot-com insanity. We made matters worse feeding the subprime credit-derivatives disaster with cheap money, Reaganomics ideology and two costly wars. Lessons were never learned, nothing was resolved. Today matters continue deteriorating.
Behind the hoopla, the Wall Street conspiracy has dumped $23.7 trillion new bailout debt on taxpayers. The bill will come due. But for now, we’re getting their wish: A new bubble is accelerating, thanks to America’s “too-greedy-to-fail” Wall Street banks.
Folks, you can bet on it, sure as Regis is hosting “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” The bull, a bubble, and another meltdown…
Al Gore’s State Of The Planet Address
Statement from Al Gore, founder of The Climate Project, and Jenny Clad, International Executive Director.
New Imaging Study Reveals Brains of Assholes
Assholes were made to perform certain tasks while their brains were being scanned. In one task, the subjects were asked to imagine lying on a beach on a tropical island. In other tasks, the assholes were asked to imagine something good about a member of their family, any accomplishment they could be proud of, a waitress they were nice to, and something that went wrong that they were willing to accept responsibility for. They failed every task spectacularly. As their brains were thus engaged, a certain part of the posterior corpus rumpus, known as the temporal anal cortex, lit up like a Christmas tree.
Children! (Procreation Propaganda)
“We can’t send abortions and blowjobs to war now can we people?”
Bernie Sanders Joins Brave New Films For ‘Senator Sanders Unfiltered’ Web Video Show
Bernie Sanders, the iconoclastic US senator from Vermont, is launching his own series of weekly “webisodes” where he will answer questions from constituents. Sanders, the only avowed Socialist in Congress, is partnering with Brave New Films in the venture, called “Senator Sanders Unfiltered.”
A trailer shows Sanders railing against greed and economic inequality, arguing that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing too much money, and assailing insurance companies for lobbying Congress to stop healthcare overhaul that provides universal, affordable coverage. The first webisode (below) will be available on his Senate website on Monday, then subsequent ones regularly on Thursdays.
Constituents can submit video questions via Twitter on twitvid.com by using the #sanders tag, and Sanders’ office is encouraging them to share the trailer video via Facebook and other social networking sites.
Beaches in NW France have Toxic Seaweed
Top resort beaches in France are now struggling to dispose of thousands of tons of Ulva lactuca – more commonly known as sea lettuce. Doctors have warned that the algae pose a health risk as they produce hydrogen sulphide when they rot. That can become trapped under a seaweed crust and be as deadly as cyanide if released suddenly.
Humans Lose $21 Billion to Computers on Wall Street
“We are just mice dancing” between the supercomputers of Wall Street giants, complains one trading executive, and an investment manager notes computers are already making 73% of all stock trades on U.S. exchanges. One former NYSE chairman admitted to the New York Times that “This is where all the money is getting made.” (Between April and June, Goldman Sachs earned $100 million in one day — on 46 different days.)
High-speed algorithms use 30-millisecond trades to probe market conditions, and can buy and sell with a nearly omniscient knowledge of every other investor’s price point. The Times notes that already these algorithms “execute millions of orders a second and scan dozens of public and private marketplaces simultaneously…”
History’s Worst Garbage Strikes
A city-wide garbage strike in Toronto just ended after several weeks of Canadians freaking out over piles of trash. However, it really wasn’t so bad compared to the great garbage strikes of history. Here’s a photo tour of a few of the greatest (worst), including Naples 2008, Athens 2005, and, below, New York City 1981.
Squeaky Fromme Paroled, Will Be Released From Prison
After serving 30 years behind bars for the attempted assassination of then President Gerald Ford in 1975, former Charles Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is set to be released from a federal prison in Texas later on this month.
Fromme a former disciple of cult murderer Charles Manson was only 26-years-old when she aimed her semiautomatic 45 caliber pistol at President Ford in September 1975 in Sacramento, California. Ford who was unhurt in the incident became the first sitting President to testify in criminal trial via video tape from the oval office.
Fromme now 60-year-old is scheduled for release August 16th from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth.
Iranian Backlash Against Nokia
There are widespread reports of Iranians protesting the Nokia phone company via boycotts, vandalism of ads, and a huge bonfire in Tehran consisting of the company’s cell phones and other products. All of this is happening after Nokia was revealed to have provided the Iranian government with sensitive surveillance technology that aided in the post-election crackdown.
The below poster is circulating, which portrays a “new Nokia product, produced with the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran” that is “capable of identifying, torturing and killing Iranian youth.”
Freak Wave ‘Hot Spots’ Identified
Scientists in the US have made a major advance in their understanding of so-called freak waves. These monster waves present a major risk to ships and offshore platforms.
A computer simulation developed by oceanographers in the US could help locate where and when these “rogue” phenomena are most likely to occur. The theoretical study shows that coastal areas with variations in water depth and strong currents are hot spots for freak waves.
The history of seafaring is littered with tales of rogue waves capable of rending ships asunder. A freak wave is one that measures roughly three times higher than other swells on the sea at any one time. These phenomena can measure up to 18 m (60 ft.) — the height of a six-storey building.
Manson’s Lasting Legacy: ‘Live Freaky, Die Freaky’
Forty years ago, a group of young people led by a charismatic, 5-foot-2-inch ex-con named Charles Manson set out on a murderous spree in Los Angeles, California. They planned to spark an apocalyptic race war that Manson called “Helter Skelter,” after a song by the Beatles.
Over two nights in August 1969, the killers took the lives of seven people, inflicting 169 stab wounds and seven .22-caliber gunshot wounds. They used the blood of their victims to scrawl anti-establishment messages on the walls: “Pig,” “Death to Pigs,” “Rise” and a misspelled “Healter Skelter.”
“The murders were probably the most bizarre and far-out in the recorded annals of American time,” said Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Manson and members of his “Family” and later wrote the best-selling book “Helter Skelter.” “People are fascinated by the strange and the bizarre.”
Crimes linger in our memories when they are especially horrific or when they represent the era…
UK Government Spied On 500,000 People Last Year
The row over using surveillance information to spy on people has intensified after its was revealed that 1,400 requests to snoop on the [UK] public were made every day last year.
Councils, police and the intelligence services asked more than 500,000 times for approval to access private email and phone data.
Each one allows public authorities access to communications data – which includes records of phone, email and text messages – but not their content.
The Home office says the new figures “offer reassurance that the powers are being used appropriately”.
But the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne says the figures “beggared belief” and says the country has “sleepwalked into a surveillance state”.
“It cannot be a justified response to the problems we face in this country that the state is spying on half a million people a year. The Government forgets that George Orwell’s 1984 was a warning, and not a blueprint.”…
FBI Translator’s Testimony Implicates Members of Congress
The State Secret’s Privilege was invoked by the Bush administration to silence Sibel Edmonds. The U.S. Department of Justice was not present at the deposition to bar her testimony. She testified how a Turkish agent blackmailed one congresswomen to change her vote on the 2000 Armenian Genocide Resolution, and she testified in other matters. So far her deposition has not been sealed by the Obama administration.
FBI Translator’s Testimony Implicates Members of Congress
The State Secret’s Privilege was invoked by the Bush administration to silence Sibel Edmonds. The U.S. Department of Justice was not present at the deposition to bar her testimony. She testified how a Turkish agent blackmailed one congresswomen to change her vote on the 2000 Armenian Genocide Resolution, and she testified in other matters. So far her deposition has not been sealed by the Obama administration.
FBI Translator’s Testimony Implicates Members of Congress
The State Secret’s Privilege was invoked by the Bush administration to silence Sibel Edmonds. The U.S. Department of Justice was not present at the deposition to bar her testimony. She testified how a Turkish agent blackmailed one congresswomen to change her vote on the 2000 Armenian Genocide Resolution, and she testified in other matters. So far her deposition has not been sealed by the Obama administration.
FBI Translator’s Testimony Implicates Members of Congress
The State Secret’s Privilege was invoked by the Bush administration to silence Sibel Edmonds. The U.S. Department of Justice was not present at the deposition to bar her testimony. She testified how a Turkish agent blackmailed one congresswomen to change her vote on the 2000 Armenian Genocide Resolution, and she testified in other matters. So far her deposition has not been sealed by the Obama administration.
