Cameron announces 'The War on Africa' and everyone else

The artist taxi driver

Shamanic Bullshit Economics: The True Story Of How One Economist Fraud Conned Other Economist Frauds... And Everyone Else

Submitted by Tyler Durden: We have long argued that when it comes to the deplorable and insolvent state of modern "developed" societies, the fault lies as much at the bottom, as at the top: the bottom, in this case, being the economic establishment in both academia and 'practice' that peddles a voodoo pseudoscience as a legitimate explanation for the unpredictable happenings in irrational world, meant to give people an illusory sense of control, and which works until it doesn't and fails spectacularly, at which point "the top", or the central banks conceived to smooth reality when it does not conform to economist models (and to facilitate wealth transfer from the poor to the rich of course), have to step in and fill gaping holes some $20+ trillion wide - see: 2008/2009 (all the while, the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, by way of that invisible tax known as inflation continues). And while it has proven easy for the shamans of this voodoo class to fool the general population time and again (use big words, speak loudly and with confidence, mock any opposing voices as not having a Ph.D. or a Nobel prize in economics... "act as if") in their infallibility and superiority or that they have even the faintest clue what it is they are talking about, the reverse has also turned out to be true. And as the case of one Mr. Baptista da Silva from Portugal has shown, there is nothing easier than for an economist to con other economists. Or, rather, one fraud to con a whole lot of other frauds... From The Independent:

As an ex-presidential consultant, a former adviser to the World Bank, a financial researcher for the United Nations and a professor in the US, Artur Baptista da Silva's outspoken attacks on Portugal's austerity cuts made the bespectacled 61-year-old one of the country's leading media pundits last year.

The only problem was that Mr Baptista da Silva is none of the above. He turned out to be a convicted forger with fake credentials and, following his spectacular hoodwinking of Portuguese society, he could soon face fraud charges.

Institutionalised Assassination: 'US drone strikes, indubitable war crime'

Europe Banned - Press TV: A political analyst tells Press TV that the US assassination drone attacks amount to a "war crime" against civilians by a government that claims moral leadership of the world. As the number of casualties by US drone attacks in several countries increases, Washington claims the targets of the drone attacks are al-Qaeda militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of the attacks over the past few years.
To further discuss the issue, Press TV's News Analysis program has conducted an interview with Mike Harris, financial editor of Veterans Today (Arizona), Lawrence J. Korb, senior fellow of American Progress (Washington), and Toby Blome, CodePink peace activist (Washington).

The Coming US Debt Limit Drama: Government Wins, The People Lose

By Ron Paul: Last week President Obama bluntly warned Congress that he will not negotiate when it comes to raising the statutory debt limit.  If Republicans attempt to use a debt ceiling vote to win concessions on spending from the White House, Mr. Obama threatens simply to raise the limit by executive order or other unilateral action. 
This is business as usual in Washington.  Democrats literally do not believe we have a deficit and debt problem, and reliably propose greater borrowing and spending.  Republicans talk a good game when it comes to government debt, but have no credibility to argue against deficits or abuses of executive power.  Brinksmanship ensues, and ugly compromises are reached at the 11th hour.  We all lose as the endless borrowing and money printing further erode our dollar and our economy.
Keep in mind that the federal government relentlessly spends about $100 billion more each month than it collects in taxes. This means roughly 40% of every dollar Washington spends is borrowed, to be “paid back” only in highly devalued, newly created money. Ultimately this can only lead to the destruction of the US dollar, as history plainly teaches.  But in the face of this reality Obama just shrugs, turning to demagoguery and talk of little old ladies’ Social Security checks . Like Obama, far too many Americans view federal debt as a nonissue.  Consider Paul Krugman, America’s most reliable Keynesian economist and a beloved figure among mainstream journalists.  He recently wrote an article about the debt limit issue, in which he discussed a controversial proposal to have the federal government simply create a platinum coin with a face value of $1 trillion:

Obamas Inauguration Roadshow Hoax

Morris: A lot of the info we are given is designed to humiliate us. The foreign aid to Israel. That Obama has only produced a questionable birth certificate. And to top it all off we have the inauguration roadshow about a person who does nothing more than read auto prompt messages. They are zombifying us. Source

The Fulcrum Economic Concept Of 2013-2017

By Jim Sinclair: My Dear Friends,

I have been under the weather with the flu for over a week. That actually gave me more time to work on various matters. One is my consideration of whether I should outline the potentials for 2013 in one essay or give you the various specific circumstances/alternatives/decisions that will be the foundation of the market from 2013 to 2017.
I have decided one great tome is a waste of your time because the various concepts given all at once might lead to confusion rather than a clear conclusion. Therefore today I will present to you the fulcrum concept that everything balances on for the economy of 2013 to 2017.
In a technical sense, the Fed can finance 100% of whatever is required via QE under every possible circumstance. The result of meeting every seller of US treasuries with non-economic buying (QE) on a continuous basis would be an ever lower dollar. Any opinion the t Fed cannot do QE to infinity if they determine the need to maintain modest interest rates is simply and utterly wrong.
So what this entire equation for 2013 to 2017 stands on is a simple decision by the Fed: Will they? It is a political question, not an economic question. If it was a purely an economic decision QE would never have been utilized in 2008.
Respectfully, Jim Source

#FiascoGate: US rapper pulled off stage over inauguration anti-Obama "diatribe" - X art vs the NWO + Lupe Fiasco and Friends 'Obama-Nation 3'

RT: American rapper Lupe Fiasco was thrown off stage by security guards as he performed a 40-minute anti-Obama song during a pre-inauguration event at a Washington, DC, concert hall Sunday night.
­“Lupe Fiasco just got thrown off stage here at the Hamilton Live after he went on an anti-Obama diatribe mid set,” Josh Rogin, a reporter with Foreign Policy magazine, posted on Twitter.
During the concert, the singer played a lengthy anti-war song and told the audience he didn’t vote for Barack Obama, according to witnesses. When he was told to move on to the next song, he refused, and “a team of security guards came on stage and told him to go.”

‘Al-Qaeda threat used by NATO as smoke screen for re-colonization of Northern Africa’

RT: With more western countries getting indirectly involved in the conflict in Mali, there’s increasing speculation about their motives. Journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark told RT, that the new war has ‘only economic reasons’.
Several western countries have already offered France, which is to boost its force to 2,500 soldiers next week, aid in Mali.
The UK is providing logistical air assistance, while the United States is providing surveillance and other intelligence.
Washington also announced it will supply transport planes for French forces and consider sending refueling tankers for French warplanes.
Canada has joined with the (bankster controlled axis of sheeple) allies to support the on-going military intervention by dispatching a heavy-lift military transport. The country is also making an indirect contribution by training counter-terrorism operatives in neighboring Niger.

Federal Reserve was blind to crisis in 2007 Transcript details Fed Reserve's discussions leading up to recession

By Annalyn Kurtz: Federal Reserve officials were largely unaware of the financial crisis brewing in 2007, until they found themselves in the middle of it, transcripts released Friday show.
The more than 1,300 pages offer the most comprehensive look at the Federal Reserve's deliberations, leading up to the start of the Great Recession in December 2007. It's the central bank's policy to release full transcripts with a five year lag. 
January 2007: Calm before the storm
At the beginning of the year, many Fed officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, thought one of the biggest risks was that the economy might grow stronger than expected.
At the time, the Fed's key interest rate was at 5.25%, and the central bank was leaning toward raising it further, rather than easing monetary policy.
"My recommendation also is to take no action and to maintain a bias toward further tightening," Bernanke said at the first meeting of the year, noting that inflation risk had picked up and the housing market had shown some improvement after slumping in 2006.
"The housing market has looked a bit more solid, and the worst outcomes have been made less likely," he said.
At that point, they didn't realize that losses from subprime mortgages would ignite the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Fast forward two months, and still, the Fed thought the worst was over for the housing sector.

Snow could put UK in a triple-dip recession (aka the greatest depression ever), it's not the banksters, honest

Mark Townsend and Josephine Moulds: Unprecedented third slump in four years looms as and shoppers stay at home and vital transport links grind to a halt

Snow blanketing much of the UK could push the economy into an unprecedented triple-dip recession, economists have warned.
With the icy blast of cold weather showing no immediate signs of letting up, and some places not expected to see green grass again until next month, the economic forecast is equally gloomy. A series of economic releases – including weak trade data, downbeat business surveys and dreary retail sales – have fuelled concerns that official figures out this week will show that output fell in the final quarter of last year.
Now analysts fear a cold snap in January could lead to another quarter of contraction, plunging the UK into its third recession in four years. (Angelo: Can't they spell 'depression'?) As transport services ground to a halt, Britons were unable to get to shops and restaurants, companies shut down early, construction work was hit, and supply chains were disrupted. Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said retailers would be particularly hard hit, as the weather disrupted Saturday's shopping hours.
David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas, said: "The scary thing is that, as the snow falls in London and widespread disruption beckons, we could yet get a drop in first-quarter GDP as well. We would then be in triple-dip territory, albeit for erratic reasons." With the Met Office forecasting snow in parts of the country well into next week, the economic hit could be serious. "Clearly, the longer that the snow and ice lasts, the greater will be the negative impact on the economy," said Archer.

The 16th Century Religious Wars And Today’s Copyright Monopoly Wars Have More In Common Than You Think

Rick Falkvinge: People in power have always tried to prevent the common folk from obtaining knowledge that threatens their power. This happened in the 16th century, and it is happening now.

Information advantage has always equaled power.
The group in society that can control what the other groups know and don’t know will rise to power in every other aspect. Therefore, information technology has always been policed and even militarized to some extent, by any group that obtains the ability to control it.
It has been the case since the dawn of civilization that some group has told everybody else what the world looks like, how it works, and what happens in it. (Usually, that group is placed at the center of that particular world view in one way or another.) This continues today, with governments all over the world trying to put their spin of events on the newsflow, putting themselves in a good light to literally get away with murder.
The quest for the net’s liberty is not a fight for some silly right to download free music. It is much larger than that: it breaks a hegemony that has stood for millennia.
This is why the old guard is terrified of the Internet. It’s not that you can copy and spread their propaganda without asking – heck, that’s what they want, and have always wanted. What they fear is that you can fact-check it and publish your findings without asking anybody’s permission. Or worse still, you can start communicating your own view of the world, rather than relating everything you think to their image of the world.
All of this has happened before.

Japan Warns It May Fire On Chinese Aircraft Over Disputed Islands; China Retorts: "There Will Be No Second Shot"

By Tyler Durden: A week ago we reported that following what China said was a response to counter "Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrols of Chinese administrative aircraft" over the East China Sea, the world's most populous country (and one which has the largest, 2.25 million strong, standing army) scrambled several jets and put its military on high alert. Now, it is the turn of Japan, and its brand new militant and nationalistic government, to "retaliate" and escalate tensions by one more notch, in the process crashing any hope that Chinese imports of Japanese goods may resume, and obviating the ongoing temporary plunge in the yen (which while doing nothing to boost exports to this 20% trading partner, has made imports so expensive, inflation in the past two months has already soared well above the 2% target for various key goods as previously reported).

Moments ago, Japan says it may fire warning shots and take other measures to keep foreign aircraft from violating its airspace in the latest verbal blast between Tokyo and Beijing that raises concerns that a dispute over hotly contested islands could spin out of control.