TSA agent steals $200K worth of gear, resells it on eBay

The TSA reached a mind-boggling new low in customer service this week when it was revealed that one agent had single-handedly absconded with over $200,000 worth of travelers’ belongings, primarily cameras and laptops, and proceeded to unload his booty on eBay. His latest haul: A near-$50,000 camera that an HBO employee had been traveling with.
The [...]

Read Full Post »

Wall Street’s ‘Disaster Capitalism for Dummies’

PAUL B. FARRELL
14 reasons Main Street loses big while Wall Street sabotages democracy

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:10 p.m. EDT Oct. 20, 2008

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, we’re dummies. You. Me. All 300 million of us. Clueless. We should be ashamed. We’re obsessed about the slogans and rituals of “democracy,” distracted by the [...]

Read Full Post »

The federal reserve caused the 700 billion dollar bailout and economic crash

Read Full Post »

The never was and the never will be’s

by Kathy Fisher, Unknown NewsJan. 14, 2004Bush and his lot have the general public hooked on credit cards, low interest rates, no money down, buy now, pay later. It reminds me of what Gore Vidal referred to as the appearance of wealth — no-one really owns anything, it just looks that way.
 

The majority of Americans [...]

Read Full Post »

Banks braced for Lehman Brother’s debt insurers’ deadline

Tom Bawden and Catherine Boyle

Financiers enjoying a respite from the panic of the past few weeks should brace themselves for further mayhem tomorrow, the deadline for insurers of Lehman Brothers’ debt to pay up on billions of dollars of policies.
Last week, these borrowings were deemed to be worth only 9.75 cents on the dollar. [...]

Read Full Post »

Where Does the US Import Oil and Other Petroleum Products From?

Posted by Gail the Actuary on October 20, 2008 – 9:50am

We all know that the United States is an importer of petroleum products. The United States is also an exporter of petroleum products, primarily to Mexico and Canada. Both of these countries send us crude oil, and we export refined products back to them. We [...]

Read Full Post »

The Dark Cartoon

Published by cyrano2 at 12:43 pm 

By John Steppling  Print This Post
10/16/08
Two recent articles suggest some of the paradoxes of the current Presidential election:
http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs10152008.html
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/15-10
Now, I will add a third, the very fine piece on the Nobel Peace (sic) Prize, by the always very fine Greg Elich:
http://www.counterpunch.org/elich10142008.html
The race issue has become considerably intensified of late due to [...]

Read Full Post »

The One Hundred Items To Disappear Off The Shelves First

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy…target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 – 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, [...]

Read Full Post »

The Panic of 2008 and Financial Socialization

by Michael S. Rozeff
by Michael S. Rozeff
The Panic of 2008 parallels the Panic of 1873 in important ways. It differs in others. The comparison is instructive.
Considering the resemblance of 2008 to 1873, we may experience a serious depression of 3–5 years. The most important difference is the response of government. President Grant vetoed a Congressional [...]

Read Full Post »

HHS Declares ‘Health Emergencies’ to Limit Legal Liability for Anti-terrorism Vaccines, Drugs

By Lori Price
www.legitgov.org
October Surprises: The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Michael Leavitt, has declared a series of ‘public health emergencies’ — due to risk of a bioterrorism attack — that continue through 2015.

Oct. 1, 2008: U.S. declares a ‘public health emergency’ due to the risk of a bioterrorism attack. HHS Secretary, Michael Leavitt, [...]

Read Full Post »