Month: December 2014

2014 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year

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2014-2015

– 2014 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year (ZeroHedge, Dec 31, 2014):

A quick glance at the 20 most popular stories of 2014 as determined by you, our readers, shows something troubling: despite the just concluded 6th consecutive year of a rising S&P 500 – the longest such stretch since 1999 of what otherwise would be deemed optimism – despite what should be a steadily improving economy and improving social and economic conditions, what readers founds most fascinating, and troubling, was the increasing preponderance of social disobedience, of covert, proxy or outright wars, and of civil unrest: all phenomena that accompany a world sliding deeper into distress, not as most central banks and their puppet media would have us believe, a global recovery.

But before we get into the details of what has now become an annual tradition for the last day of the year, those who wish to jog down memory lane, can refresh our most popular articles for every year during our brief 6-year existence, starting with 2009 and continuing with 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013: one for every year of the most artificial and fabricated “bull market” in history.

So without further ado, here are the articles that readers found to be the most popular of the past 365 days.

Read more2014 Greatest Hits: Presenting The Most Popular Posts Of The Past Year

Even CIA Admits Torture Doesn’t Work

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CIA-torture

– Even CIA Admits Torture Doesn’t Work (Washington’s Blog, Dec 31, 2014):

Even the Agency Which DID the Torture Says It Doesn’t Work

Seton Hall Law School Professor Jonathan Hafetz made an important point today :

CIA director, John O Brennan, admitted that the agency “has not concluded that it was the use of EITs [“Enhanced Interrogation Techniques aka torture] that allowed us to obtain useful information from detainees”.

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The [CIA]  – unlike its loudest defenders – is not endorsing torture as a means of gaining intelligence or keeping the country safe.

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The flurry of media appearances by Cheney and other torture defenders has created a false sense that there is a genuine divide over whether torture “works”.  But neither the CIA nor professional interrogators actually say that.

Indeed, the CIA has consistently said for many decades that torture doesn’t work:

Read moreEven CIA Admits Torture Doesn’t Work

Why Is The Fed Hiring An “Emergency Preparedness Specialist Familiar With DHS Directives”

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DHS1-Homeland Security

– Why Is The Fed Hiring An “Emergency Preparedness Specialist Familiar With DHS Directives” (ZeroHedge, Dec 31, 2014):

A few weeks ago, we reported that for some still unexplained reason, the US Treasury is ordering “survival kits” to its employees overseeing the federal banking system. To wit:

The Department of Treasury is spending $200,000 on survival kits for all of its employees who oversee the federal banking system, according to a new solicitation. As FreeBeacon reports, survival kits will be delivered to every major bank in the United States and includes a solar blanket, food bar, water-purification tablets, and dust mask (among other things). The question, obviously, is just what do they know that the rest of us don’t?

We still don’t know why. But what makes things even more surprising, and confusing, is that two days before the survival kit RFP soliciation became public on December 4, 2014, a just as curious notice was blasted by the Fed’s recruiting Twitter account:

So the Fed is hiring not just any “emergency preparedness specialist” but one familiar with DHS directives?

Here are the details of the position located in Washington, DC:

Read moreWhy Is The Fed Hiring An “Emergency Preparedness Specialist Familiar With DHS Directives”

Big Banks Conspire with Giant Oil Company to Manipulate Currency Markets

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– Big Banks Conspire with Giant Oil Company to Manipulate Currency Markets (Washington’s Blog, Dec 31, 2014):

Banks and Energy Companies Rig Currency Markets

It has long been known that currency markets are massively rigged. And see this, this, and this.

But the banks not only shared confidential information with each other … they also shared it with a giant oil company.

Bloomberg reports this week:

With revenue of almost $400 billion last year and operations in about 80 countries, BP trades large quantities of currency each day. Traders at the company regularly received valuable information from counterparts at some of the world’s biggest banks — including tips about forthcoming trades, details of confidential client business and discussions of stop-losses, the trigger points for a flurry of buying or selling — according to four traders with direct knowledge of the practice.

Read moreBig Banks Conspire with Giant Oil Company to Manipulate Currency Markets

World’s 400 Richest Get Richer, Adding $92 Billion In 2014

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Worlds richest
Image from bloomberg.com

– World’s 400 richest get richer, adding $92bn in 2014 (RT, Dec 31, 2014):

The 400 richest billionaires in the world added another $92 billion to their names in 2014 and now sit on assets worth $4.1 trillion, but Russia’s super-wealthy have been hit by economic problems resulting from the Ukraine crisis.

The biggest winner in 2014 was China’s Jack Ma, who co-founded the Alibaba Group Holding ltd, (BABA), China’s largest e-commerce company, Bloomberg reports.

Ma, who has a personal fortune of $28.7 billion, has added $25.1 billion to his wealth since the September initial public offering saw shares surge by 56 percent.

Other big winners in 2014 were Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg. Buffet increased his net worth by $13.7 billion as dozens of businesses he had brought over the past five decades produced record profits.

Read moreWorld’s 400 Richest Get Richer, Adding $92 Billion In 2014

180 motorists rescued in Southern California snow

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– 180 motorists rescued in Southern California snow (USA Today, Dec 31, 2014):

Firefighters in Southern California completed the rescue early Wednesday of more than 180 motorists who were stranded when a winter storm brought snow to the San Bernardino Mountains.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department said in a news release that 136 people were rescued on State Highway 138 near the communities of Crestline and Mount Baldy, about 50 miles from Los Angeles.

Read more180 motorists rescued in Southern California snow

Scientific Conference: Fukushima a global threat to human health — Radioactivity in food web off Pacific Northwest to “significantly increase” after one year — Salmon forecast to exceed Japan radiation limit — “Major concern for public health of coastal communities” (POSTER)

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FoodWeb_CS137_SETAC

– Scientific Conference: Fukushima a global threat to human health — Radioactivity in food web off Pacific Northwest to “significantly increase” after one year — Salmon forecast to exceed Japan radiation limit — “Major concern for public health of coastal communities” (POSTER) (ENENews, Dec 31, 2014):

Conference Paper for Society for Environmental Toxciology & Chemistry (SETAC), Dr. Juan Jose Alava & Dr. Frank Gobas, Simon Fraser Univ., published Dec 1, 2014 (emphasis added):

  • A Marine Food Web Bioaccumulation model for Cesium 137 in the Pacific Northwest — The Fukushima nuclear accident on 11 March 2011 emerged as a global threat to the conservation of the Pacific Ocean, human health, and marine biodiversity… This accident was defined by the [IAEA] as “a major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures”. Despite the looming threat of radiation, there has been scant attention and inadequate radiation monitoring. This is unfortunate, as the potential radioactive contamination of seafoods through bioaccumulation of radioisotopes (i.e. 137Cs) in marine and coastal food webs are issues of major concern for the public health of coastal communities… [R]eleases of 137Cs into the Pacific after the Fukushima nuclear accident are… prone to concentrate in marine food-webs… [A] simulation time dependent bioaccumulation model… showed that 137Cs can be expected to bioaccumulate gradually over time in the food web… Bioaccumulation of 137Cs was characterized by slow uptake and elimination rates in upper trophic level organisms and dominance of dietary consumption in the uptake of 137CS. This modeling work showed… magnification of this radionuclide takes place in the marine food web over time.
  • Reviewer Comments (Dr. Nikolaus Gantner, Univ. of N. British Columbia): “Excellent abstract and an important contribution to the session in terms of modeling efforts and bioaccumulation. Provides long-term perspective on the issue.”

Dataset for Modeling Work, published Dec 1, 2014:

US creates managed chaos in a country to control it: Analyst

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– US creates managed chaos in a country to control it: Analyst (PressTV, Dec 30, 2014):

The United States “occupation strategy” involves a cycle of invading a country of interest, turning it into a chaotic mess and then using the chaos as “a justification” for longer military presence in that country, says American political commentator and peace activist Brian Becker.

A day after US President Barack Obama declared the end of the war in Afghanistan, the longest conflict in America’s history, Republican Senator John McCain said the White House should abandon its strict schedule for the withdrawal of US troops from the country and replace it with a “plan based on conditions on the ground”.

Read moreUS creates managed chaos in a country to control it: Analyst

Top MIT Scientist: Roundup Causes Autism

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roundup-the-ultimate-killing-machine

– Roundup Causes Autism says top MIT Scientist (Paul Craig Roberts, Dec 28, 2014):

 Monsanto’s Glyphosate Toxicity Means Half of US Children Will Be Autistic by 2025
http://www.anh-usa.org/half-of-all-children-will-be-autistic-by-2025-warns-senior-research-scientist-at-mit/print/

herbicide-on-crops

– Half of All Children Will Be Autistic by 2025, Warns Senior Research Scientist at MIT (The Alliance for Natural Health USA, Dec 23, 2014):

Why? Evidence points to glyphosate toxicity from the overuse of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide on our food.

For over three decades, Stephanie Seneff, PhD, has researched biology and technology, over the years publishing over 170 scholarly peer-reviewed articles [1]. In recent years she has concentrated on the relationship between nutrition and health, tackling such topics as Alzheimer’s, autism, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as the impact of nutritional deficiencies and environmental toxins on human health.

At a conference last Thursday, in a special panel discussion about GMOs, she took the audience by surprise when she declared, “At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.” She noted that the side effects of autism closely mimic those of glyphosate toxicity, and presented data showing a remarkably consistent correlation [2] between the use of Roundup on crops (and the creation of Roundup-ready GMO crop seeds) with rising rates of autism. Children with autism have biomarkers indicative of excessive glyphosate, including zinc and iron deficiency, low serum sulfate, seizures, and mitochondrial disorder.

Read moreTop MIT Scientist: Roundup Causes Autism

“Emergency shutdown” at one of world’s largest nuke plants — Local Official: “Radiation is 14 times higher than acceptable norm” in area; Warns of Chernobyl-type disaster — Gov’t: Levels are “within acceptable limits”, incident is under investigation — Second accident at plant this month

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– “Emergency shutdown” at one of world’s largest nuke plants — Local Official: “Radiation is 14 times higher than acceptable norm” in area; Warns of Chernobyl-type disaster — Gov’t: Levels are “within acceptable limits”, incident is under investigation — Second accident at plant this month (ENENews, Dec 31, 2014):

AP, Dec 29, 2014 (emphasis added): One unit of Ukraine’s Zaporozhiya nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been taken offline… State nuclear power company Energoatom says the unit was disconnected… to prevent internal damage to the generator. It did not give further details, but said radiation in the area is within acceptable limits. It is the second time this month that a unit at the plant has been taken out of service…

The Independent, Dec 28, 2014: Ukraine turns off reactor at its most powerful nuclear plant after ‘accident’; Prime Minister calls for the truth as electrical fault revives memories of Chernobyl… An official statement said the plant was “operating at 40 per cent power… The reasons for the outage are being investigated”… Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, noted the previous outage… urging ministers to tell the truth about “the accident”… In May, the power station was the backdrop to an armed confrontation… the pro-Ukrainian paramilitary force… said it had come to remove “pro-Russian” agitators who, it claimed, had been operating inside the plant.

Read more“Emergency shutdown” at one of world’s largest nuke plants — Local Official: “Radiation is 14 times higher than acceptable norm” in area; Warns of Chernobyl-type disaster — Gov’t: Levels are “within acceptable limits”, incident is under investigation — Second accident at plant this month

Greece: Snowfall traps dozens of cars in the tunnel of Artemisium

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Greece-Snow

– Greece – Snowfall traps dozens of cars in the tunnel of Artemisium (Ice Age Now, Dec 31, 2014):

Most the country has been dressed in white since early this morning

31 Dec 2014 – Experts estimate that the cold will continue until  the New Year, and snow is expected even in coastal areas.

Due to the intense snowfall in many parts of the country, the use of snow chains has become necessary in many places.

Read moreGreece: Snowfall traps dozens of cars in the tunnel of Artemisium

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: The Outlook For The New Year

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Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

–  The Outlook for the New Year (Paul Craig Roberts, Dec 29, 2014):

The Outlook for the New Year

Dear Readers: The conflict that Washington has initiated between the West and Russia/China is reckless and irresponsible. Nuclear war could be the outcome. Indeed, Washington has been preparing for nuclear war since the George W. Bush regime.
Washington has revised US war doctrine in order to initiate conflict with a first strike nuclear attack.
Washington has discarded the ABM treaty in order to build and deploy anti-ballistic missiles that are intended to prevent a retaliatory strike against the US. Washington is engaged in a buildup of military forces on Russia’s borders, and Washington is demonizing Russia’s government with false charges.
As the Bush/Obama regimes dismantled the safeguards put in place in order to minimize the risk of nuclear war, no protests came from the American public or the media. Washington’s European vassal states have also been silent.
Washington’s drive for hegemony has brought nuclear insanity to the world.
Moscow and Beijing understand that they are Washington’s targets. As Larchmonter explains, Russia and China are conjoining their economic and military capabilities in order to protect against Washington’s attack. Read what Larchmonter reports. Open the URL in my column below and run your cursor over the bottom of the page and click “page fit.” Choose 50% and readable text will fill your screen.
Washington’s demonization of Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, and Assad were preludes to military attacks on Iraq, Libya, and Syria. In view of these precedents, it is reasonable to regard Washington’s demonization of Vladimir Putin as a prelude to military action.
Russia is not Iraq, Libya, or Syria. Russian war doctrine states that Russia can use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear or conventional attack on Russia. For the world to sit silent while Washington’s arrogance provokes armageddon telegraphs total political failure. Where are the voices in behalf of humanity?

The Outlook for the New Year

Paul Craig Roberts

Washington has shaped 2015 to be a year of conflict. The conflict could be intense.

Washington is the cause of the conflict, which has been brewing for some time. Russia was too weak to do anything about it when the Clinton regime pushed NATO to Russia’s borders and illegally attacked Yugoslavia, breaking the country into small easily controlled pieces. Russia was also too weak to do anything about it when the George W. Bush regime withdrew from the ABM treaty and undertook to locate anti-ballistic missile bases on Russia’s borders. Washington lied to Moscow that the purpose of the ABM bases is to protect Europe from non-existent Iranian nuclear ICBMs. However, Moscow understood that the purpose of the ABM bases is to degrade Russia’s nuclear deterrent, thereby enhancing Washington’s ability to coerce Russia into agreements that compromise Russian sovereignty.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: The Outlook For The New Year

Federal Court Gives “Early Christmas Present” to War Criminals Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Others, Immunizing Them From Civil Inquiry Regarding Iraq War

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kangaroo_court

– Federal Court Gives “Early Christmas Present” to War Criminals Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Others, Immunizing Them From Civil Inquiry Regarding Iraq War (Global Research; Dec 22, 2014):

Late Friday, a federal judge dismissed a civil claim filed against George W. Bush and other high-ranking officials regarding their conduct in planning and waging the Iraq War, and immunized them from further proceedings.

“This is an early Christmas present to former Bush Administration officials from the federal court,” Inder Comar of Comar Law said. Comar brought the claim on behalf of an Iraqi refugee and single mother, Sundus Shaker Saleh. “This was a serious attempt to hold US leaders accountable under laws set down at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. I am very disappointed at the outcome.”

Read moreFederal Court Gives “Early Christmas Present” to War Criminals Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Others, Immunizing Them From Civil Inquiry Regarding Iraq War

Is Ukraine Hiding A Huge Radiation Leak At The Largest Nuclear Power Plant In Europe?

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20141227_ukr1

– Is Ukraine Hiding A Huge Radiation Leak At The Largest Nuclear Power Plant In Europe? (ZeroHedge, Dec 30, 2014):

Two days ago we reported of the odd coincidence of a 2nd emergency shutdown at Ukraine’s Zaporozhye Nuclear reactor – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – following our earlier fears of disinformation. Today, we get information of a leaked report sourced from three different place – unconfirmed for now (but RT is trying to verify) – that Ukrainian nuclear scioentists misled the public and a radioactive leak has been detected – citing the country’s emergency services claiming that levels of radiation are 16.3 times the legally permitted norm.

As RT reports,

A radioactive leak has been detected at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, a media report says, citing the country’s emergency services. The report claims that levels of radiation are 16 times the legally permitted norm.

LifeNews published a leaked report by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which denies an earlier assessment by the plant’s authorities that the radiation at the facility is equal to the natural background following an incident on Sunday.

RT is trying to verify the report.

Read moreIs Ukraine Hiding A Huge Radiation Leak At The Largest Nuclear Power Plant In Europe?

The Rigging Triangle Exposed: The JPMorgan-British Petroleum-Bank Of England Cartel Full Frontal

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all seeing eye

To all those wondering if everything is rigged, we have a very simple answer: Yes.

– The Rigging Triangle Exposed: The JPMorgan-British Petroleum-Bank Of England Cartel Full Frontal (ZeroHedge, Dec 30, 2014):

The name Dick Usher is familiar to regular readers: he was the head of spot foreign exchange for JPMorgan, and the bank’s alleged chief FX market manipulator, who was promptly fired after it was revealed that JPM was the bank coordinating the biggest FX rigging scheme in history, as initially revealed in “Another JPMorganite Busted For “Bandits’ Club” Market Manipulation.” Subsequent revelations – which would have been impossible without the tremendous reporting of Bloomberg’s Liam Vaughan – showed that JPM was not alone: as recent legal actions confirmed, virtually every single bank was also a keen FX rigging participant. However, the undisputed ringleader was always America’s largest bank, which would make sense: having a virtually unlimited balance sheet, JPM could outlast practically any margin call, and make money while its far smaller peers were closed out of trades… and existence.

Read moreThe Rigging Triangle Exposed: The JPMorgan-British Petroleum-Bank Of England Cartel Full Frontal

It Wasn’t North Korea Or Russia: Sony Hack ‘Perpetrator’ Said To Be Laid-Off, Disgruntled Employee

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The-interview-Sony-hack

– It Wasn’t North Korea Or Russia: Sony Hack “Perpetrator” Said To Be Laid-Off, Disgruntled Employee (ZeroHedge, Dec 30, 2014):

First it was, with “absolute certainly”, North Korea. Then, out of the blue, an even more ridiculous theory emerged about the origin of the Sony hackers: Russia. Now, we finally get the truth, and as it turns out it was neither of the abovementioned sovereign actors who had nothing better to do than to hack movie scripts and racist emails: it was Sony’s own disgruntled worker who was the source of the hack. According to Politico, FBI agents investigating the Sony Pictures hack were briefed Monday by a security firm that says its research points to laid-off Sony staff, not North Korea, as the perpetrator.”

Researchers from the cyber intelligence company Norse have said their own investigation into the data on the Sony attack doesn’t point to North Korea at all and instead indicates some combination of a disgruntled employee and hackers for piracy groups is at fault.

But… but just a week ago the FBI was so absolutely certain it was North Korea it released the following statement:

Read moreIt Wasn’t North Korea Or Russia: Sony Hack ‘Perpetrator’ Said To Be Laid-Off, Disgruntled Employee

Florida Congressman Alan Grayson Barred From Seeing Classified Sections Of 9/11 Inquiry – Report

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Flashback:

– Congressman Alan Grayson Allowed To Read Secret Treaty Says ‘This … Hands The Sovereignty of Our Country Over to Corporate Interests’ (Video)

– Ben Bernanke, ‘THE HERO’ & ‘PERSON OF THE YEAR’, Destroyed By Alan Grayson (Video)

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)
U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

– Florida congressman barred from seeing classified sections of 9/11 inquiry – report  (RT, Dec 30, 2014):

A request by US Rep. Alan Grayson to access a portion of a 2002 congressional report on the September 11, 2001 attacks was denied by the House Intelligence Committee based on political reasons, the Florida Democrat said.

Grayson’s request pertains to 28 pages of Congress’ Joint Inquiry that were ordered to be redacted by then-President George W. Bush. The congressman said his search stemmed from proposed legislation in the House that seeks to release the classified section to the public.

Read moreFlorida Congressman Alan Grayson Barred From Seeing Classified Sections Of 9/11 Inquiry – Report

Outgoing senator urged to release full CIA torture report

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Sen. Mark Udall

– Outgoing senator urged to release full CIA torture report (RT, Dec 29/30, 2014):

Calls for Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) to reveal the entire, unredacted CIA torture report have increased, with a group of former intelligence analysts issuing a memo that urges the outgoing legislator to read the report on the Senate floor.

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) released the letter, asking Udall to use his constitutional protection as a still-sitting member of Congress to introduce the full 6,000-plus-page report by the Senate Intelligence Committee into the congressional record by reading it on the Senate floor. The current versionis heavily redacted.

“We, the undersigned are veteran intelligence officers with a combined total of over 300 years of experience in intelligence work,” the letter begins. “We send you this open letter at what seems to be the last minute simply because we had been hoping we would not have to.”

“You seem on the verge of leaving the Senate without letting your fellow Americans know all they need to know about CIA torture,” the memo continues. “In the eight weeks since you lost your Senate seat you gave off signs that, during your last days in office, you would provide us with a fuller account of this sordid chapter in our country’s history, exercising your right to immunity under the “Speech or Debate” clause in Article 1 of the Constitution.”

Read moreOutgoing senator urged to release full CIA torture report

Court Filing Illuminates Morgan Stanley Role in Lending

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H/t reader M.G.:

“Looking at the destruction Morgan Stanley wrought on the mortgage market, and the crooked judges are looking for a “settlement” early next year. No word about the millions who suffered as a result of their policies, not just those who bought the homes, but all of us who suffered from radical drop in property values as a result of mass foreclosures around us.”

Morgan-Stanley

– Court Filing Illuminates Morgan Stanley Role in Lending (CNBC/New York Times, Dec 30, 2014):

Since the financial crisis, Wall Street firms have argued that they were victims, just like everybody else, of the bad mortgages that were churned out by subprime lenders like Countrywide and New Century.

Now, though, a trove of emails and confidential documents, filed in court, reveal the extent to which one of Wall Street’s leading banks, Morgan Stanley, actively influenced New Century’s push into riskier and more onerous mortgages, and brushed aside questions about the ability of homeowners to make the payments.

Read moreCourt Filing Illuminates Morgan Stanley Role in Lending

The American People Are Utterly Clueless About What Is Going To Happen As We Enter 2015

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Wrong-Way

– The American People Are Utterly Clueless About What Is Going To Happen As We Enter 2015 (The Economic Collapse, Dec 29, 2014):

The American people are feeling really good right about now.  For example, Gallup’s economic confidence index has hit the highest level that we have seen since the last recession.  In addition, nearly half of all Americans believe that 2015 will be a better year than 2014 was, and only about 10 percent believe that it will be a worse year.  And a lot of people are generally feeling quite good about the people that have been leading our nation.  According to Gallup, once again this year Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America and Barack Obama is the most admired man in America.  I don’t know what that says about our nation, but it can’t be good.  Unfortunately, when things seem to be going well common sense tends to go out the window.  A couple days ago, the Guardian ran an article entitled “Goodbye to one of the best years in history“, and a whole lot of people out there are feeling really optimistic these days.  But should they be?

Read moreThe American People Are Utterly Clueless About What Is Going To Happen As We Enter 2015

White House, Congress poised to address commercial drone use

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– White House, Congress poised to address commercial drone use (Al Jazeera, Dec 28, 2014):

Federal Aviation Administration expected to issue rules soon; private, commercial pilots worry about possible collisions

The Obama administration is on the verge of proposing long-awaited rules for commercial drone operations in U.S. skies, but key decisions on how much access to grant drones are likely to come from Congress next year.

Federal Aviation Administration officials have said they want to release proposed rules for drones before the end of this month, but other government and industry officials say they are likely to be delayed until January. Meanwhile, except for a small number of companies that have received FAA exemptions, a ban on commercial drone flights remains in place. Even after rules are proposed, it is likely to be two or three years before regulations become final.

Read moreWhite House, Congress poised to address commercial drone use