Big Brother is already here - End The Lie

By End the Lie Guest Writer: “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of power.” – Daniel Webster, United States Senator and Secretary of State (1782-1817)
I see a lot of articles about the massive growth of surveillance and loss of privacy. The authors of the articles often say they’re concerned that a “big brother” society might be the result of it.
Might?  You can absolutely count on it!  If you’re a betting person you can bet big and win big, if you can find anyone gullible enough to take your bet, that is.
Technology gives authorities more power and I think we all know authorities love power.  That’s why they’re authorities.  People in positions of authority have more privileges and perks than the rest of us.  From some Barney Fife-type right up to the president, people who get power like it. They want to keep it, and they want more of it.  And that is precisely what technology does.
Take the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents for example.  One day they are unemployed, then they answer an ad on a pizza box and almost overnight they have real authority, real power, and they can instantly turn your life into a nightmare.
If one of those minimally trained rookies singles you out as suspicious because of something they thought they felt when they groped you, or a shadow they thought they saw in your x-ray, the full weight of the legal system can come down on you immediately – including handcuffs, strip searches, and detention.
So in essence, everyone in the chain of authority is your master, no matter how low their official rank may be, because they can cause armed police to appear and take you away.  People with very little training, no knowledge of the law, and no actual police experience now have enormous power over all of us.  
To make matters worse, the TSA is expanding its operations.
George Orwell, author of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, wasn’t clairvoyant, he was just wide awake.  He could see technology advancing, and being keenly aware of human nature, he knew what was coming.  And it is.

The Mask Of Sanity

David Icke: Quantitative Easing Depression

Alex welcomes British Author and renowned New World Order investigator David Icke to expose the large strides towards bringing about total financial collapse and public enslavement.  Source

Citizen Caned: Cameron flunks UK 'citizenship test' on US TV show

Appearing on American TV has proved to be a hard test for British Prime Minister David Cameron. He failed to answer some key questions in a mock UK citizen exam set by the chat show host. Source

Taxes Without Borders World Health Organization mulling global cigarette tax - The death of fiscal sovereignty and bureaucratic mission creep

By CJ Ciaramella: September 27, 2012 5:00 am
The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering a global excise tax of up to 70 percent on cigarettes at an upcoming November conference, raising concerns among free market tax policy analysts about fiscal sovereignty and bureaucratic mission creep.
In draft guidelines published this September, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control indicated it may put a cigarette tax on the table at its November conference in Seoul, Korea.
“First we had doctors without borders,” said David Williams, president of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance. “Now you could have taxes without borders. … This is a new frontier in taxes. If they’re successful with this, consumers and taxpayers should be concerned about what’s coming down the pipe.”
Although WHO does not have any power to mandate taxes on sovereign nations, it is considering two proposals on cigarette taxes to present to member countries. The first would be an excise tax of up to 70 percent.
“The concept was initially proposed by a working group set up by World Bank to explore innovative sources of financing health care and envisions a voluntary action by interested governments to adopt an additional tax levy as part of their regular tobacco excise on each pack of cigarettes consumed,” the WHO said in a January statement. “This would increase the effective excise tax rate on cigarettes towards the WHO recommended level of 70 percent of the retail price and, by generating substantial revenues, could ensure a sustainable revenue stream for financing international health.”

What Happened to Virtue? - the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada

By James E. Miller: In the midst of the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon famously advised President Hoover to “liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers, liquidate real estate” instead of propping each industry up with tax dollars.  This liquidation doctrine would “purge the rottenness out of the system” and make certain that “people will work harder” and “live a more moral life.”  Contrary to popular belief, Hoover did not take Mellon’s advice and went forth with his own version of the New Deal that gave relief to farmers and supported wage rates in certain industries.  These efforts, which were exacerbated under the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, effectively prevented the market from clearing.  The boom of the late 1920s that was driven by the Federal Reserve’s monetary inflation was not allowed to bust.  Instead of liquidating the debt and allowing the economy to reach a sound footing, both the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations attempted to manage it back to health.  The result was the longest period of unemployment ever recorded in American history.
Today, Mellon’s advice is still spurned by most of the economic profession.  The media establishment, not to be outdone, is also on the side of intervention.  Government is looked to as a savior while markets are seen as inadequate in providing for a satisfactory standard of living.  With their incessant need to fix what isn’t broke, the political class is praised for their courage to take the reins of society and direct it toward a meaningful and just way of life.  Liberty is seen as barbaric in comparison to state-sanctioned redistribution.  Fighters of war are looked to as glorious warriors who make a great sacrifice to their countrymen.  Public office itself is seen as an occupation of the righteous who give up the opportunity for profit.  Most notably, spending is regarded as the necessary elixir of economic growth.

Forget Your Free Phone, Obama Has Screwed The Poor + TSA Goon Caught Stealing iPad and Simon says "freeze" obedience training

Protester outside of Romney rally explains how Obama gives all minorities free phones and that is why they should vote for him. Did she say "fool stamps"?

How Crony Capitalism Corrupts the Free Market - David Stockman

By misesmedia: Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by David Stockman was presented at the Mises Circle in Manhattan: "Central Banking, Deposit Insurance, and Economic Decline." Includes a welcome and introduction by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

A Chinese Mega City Is On The Verge Of Bankruptcy

Submitted by Tyler Durden: While most "developed world" people have heard of Hong Kong and Macau, far fewer have heard of China's province of Guangdong, which is somewhat surprising. With over 100 million people, a GDP of nearly $1 trillion - the biggest of all Chinese provinces, this South China Sea adjacent territory is perhaps China's most important economic dynamo. One of the key cities of Guangdong is Dongguan, which as the map below shows is a stone's throw from Hong Kong, has a population of nearly 10 million, and has long been considered Guangdong's boomtown and one of China's richest cities.

One notable feature about Dongguan is that it is home to the New South China Mall, which is the world's largest. It also happens to be mostly empty ever since it opened in 2005. Which perhaps is a good segue into this story. Because while for the most part the city of Dongguan has been a story of prosperity, a wrinkle has appeared. According to the South China Morning Post, which cites researchers at Sun Yat-sen University, this city is now on the brink of bankruptcy.

Is Europe Burning? Gladio to the rescue as flames engulf Barcelona, Athens

By Richard Cottrell: Some eighty-five years ago a man whose books would change our perspective of the world forever was struck by a sniper while serving as a volunteer infantryman on the Catalonian front at the peak of the Spanish Civil War. His name was George Orwell.
He wrote a famous diary called Homage to Catalonia describing his experiences fighting alongside partisan government forces resisting the fascist takeover of the country. That seminal work would eventually flower into Animal Farm and 1984, which today we can easily read as documentaries of our current plight beneath the heel of the new world orderista.
The war stripped away many illusions that led Orwell to this personal crusade against Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Orwell quickly discovered that hard-line communists Stalin sent to stiffen the ranks of the resistance were in reality no better than the fascists in both their methods and ideology. Were he alive today, Orwell would wring his hands at the plight of Catalonians, finding themselves once again crushed by ruthless foreign invaders and looters.
I am speaking of the EU imposed austerity measures which have wrenched the entire Spanish economy to a shuddering standstill. Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s total GDP, has responded by rekindling the spirit of independence. The province is already semi-detached but its unfortunate destiny marks it as the Spanish Tibet – lashed to Madrid, tossed some morsels of quasi-self determination but its people denied the sovereign freedom to make their own choices.

David Greenberg on how Electronic & High-Frequency Trading are Driving Oil Prices Higher!

An EU parliament committee voted unanimously to back tighter restrictions on banks' trading activities, including a proposed curb on high frequency trading. We talk to our guest David Greenberg, former NYMEX board member, about where the United States stands on high frequency trading.