JPMorgan Chase Argues Bank Accounts Are Like Netflix Or Gym

Okay JP Morgan Chase, this is how it works. Customers put money in your Bank and you then leverage the benefits of those balances though the magic of fractional reserve banking, where through investment you use your customer's money to make more money for the Bank and its Stock Holders. Now, tell me, since customers are already doing you a favor by keeping their money in your banks ... why do they additionally need to pay a membership fee for making you rich?



Is it wiser for your customers to move their money to Banks and Credit Unions that recognize the favor that their customers are doing for them by being depositors and recognize that gouging their clients with a "Membership Fee" isn't the wisest business move? Some might say so.
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Chellie Pingree: 'I'm Not Likely To Say No' To Senate Bid

We need more Progressive Women in the Senate, there aren't enough members will balls there now, and that needs to change.
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San Francisco Teacher Layoffs Approved By School Board (VIDEO)

The is a never ending travesty in San Francisco schools. Back in 1978 I was attending High School and my favorite teacher received a layoff notice, as he had year after year in the district. The day he received this notice he told the class his heart really wasn't into teaching for the rest of the semester, and that everyone in class would get a passing grade but that he just didn't have it in him to put a lot of effort into teaching anymore. I piped up and said, "We're here to learn." The rest of the class looked me like I was nuts. The teacher glared at me and said "You want to learn, huh?" I nodded. He said, "Okay", and proceeded to assign the entire class a project in the subject that included a written report and a classroom presentation. Needless to say by classmates loved me for that.



Thanks to that teacher I can now identify the seaweed that washes up on shore, and I understand the significance of the amphioxous, and have a more holistic appreciation of John Steinbeck.



It is wrong to treat teachers like this. The layoff/rehire routine demoralizes them and makes them cynical, robbing them of the joy of teaching to the detriment of the students.



I hate stories like this.
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Mitt Romney Clarifies Stance On Blunt Amendment [UPDATE]

Mitt as President:



"Nuclear war? Sure! Wait. What?"
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Senators Offer License To Strike Iran Nuclear Program

The Texas Oil Cartel and the Military Industrial Complex own enough members of Congress, of both parties, to push any sort of ideological and profit making nonsense through the legislative process they like. The Texas Oil Cartel wants to be the DeBeers of petroleum. They want a Global Monopoly on oil. They need the Iranian oil they lost control of when the Shah fell, that's why we will attack and invade Iran. And, ultimately, will will find a reason to get in a shooting war with Russia over the oil that nation controls. And from the MIC perspective, if war stops, profit stops. It doesn't matter if it is a good war or a bad war, they get their profit either way. In Saddam's case, they sold him a military apparatus over the years so they would have a reason to attack him for being a threat. Come on, folks understand the game that is being played.



And when these wars break out, the Texas Oil Cartel and the MIC will be coming after you and your kids to fight in their Corporate Wars, because, you see, they view you as their property too ... and it's up to you to remind them that is not the case.
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John McCain: GOP Primary Race Is Like 'Watching A Greek Tragedy'

The GOP Primary is like a Greek Tragedy? Nah. More like an EC Comic.
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Facts Are Stubborn Things

"We transitioned from an industrial to service-based economy,"



That's the key, our service based economy can't support the needs of 311 million people. Either we bring back industry or we drastically alter our economy to accommodate the needs of all of the American people, not just a privileged few. You can't support a consumer economy with stagnant and depressed wages and tens of millions of Americans un or under employed. There is no way to square that circle. Hyper-crony Capitalism is a finite game, and acts like a debilitating cancer on the underpinnings of society. If we don't make things for export, and if we don't have millions of Americans employed creating those export items, and earning wages that can go back into the economy we are on an irreversible spiral downward, no matter how we tax or cut spending. Reagan began the move from an inclusive economy to an exclusive economy and that is what has brought on the crisis. We need to contemplate where we are and determine the structural change to the economy required. Adapting to the new normal isn't enough, and the people won't tolerate that their children are condemned to a life of privation because "that's the way the ball bounces". Any Elite who is thinking in those terms is kidding themselves.
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Mitt Romney Wins: Michigan Primary Results 2012

I guess the party is over for Santorum. He can go back to oozing out of someone's orifice.
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Scott Walker Recall: Wisconsin Governor Narrowly Trails Likely Opponents In New Poll

Walker is done. He is an embarrassment as governor and the people of Wisconsin have received no tangible benefit from him being in office. Walker is great for out of state ideological zealots who want to fiddle with Wisconsin's public policy, but the actual citizens of Wisconsin have been left out in the cold by Walker and the Fitzgeralds.
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Gen. Barry McCaffrey Privately Briefs NBC Execs On War With Iran

There is a lot of money to be made in war, a lot of money.
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Corporate Immunity Looks Likely: Supreme Court Seems Ready To Side With Shell In Human Rights Suit

Well, since SCOTUS views the actions of American corporations as above the law when they create mayhem in foreign countries all that is left to obtain justice for the injured parties is direct punitive reprisals against representatives of said companies in the nations were the abuse occurred. If legal pathways are eliminated what other options are there?
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Stratfor Emails Published By WikiLeaks Reveal Private Intelligence

That is standard intelligence fare:



"A former junior case officer of the CIA, Janine Brookner, who was stationed in Manila described the capital city of the Philippines as "a wild place" for CIA operatives who spent a lot of time in bars, sex shows and brothels. This was because, according to her, the standard CIA procedure for recruiting targets was to "get him drunk, get him laid, and then get him on the Agency's dole." Brookner was an attractive but determined blonde who claimed to have developed assets in both the government and the Communist Party during her assignment to the Philippines. Brookner was also a very productive recruiter who, as a handler of important assets and as a CIA case officer, claims to be able to make her targets confess everything. "You take care of them," Brookner recalls, "and they tell you their fears and nightmares...I'm good at people depending on me." In fact, her targets, especially high-ranking Philippine government officials, often propositioned her. (Starobin, 1997)"



http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/filipinas/doc/cia.html
About Wikileaks
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Newt Gingrich Warns Of The Role Of The 'Secular Left' At Georgia Church

"This is up to God and the American people," Gingrich said. "I don't want to be presumptuous."



So Newt is God's choice? Oh, that wouldn't be presumptuous at all. Hilarious.
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The Volcker Rule: Return to Sender

I think Wall Street knows it is running an elaborate check kiting scheme ... where the checks are actually hundreds of trillions of dollars of worthless derivatives. With a check kiting scheme, the best way to end it is a hold on the check, allowing all of the fraudulent instruments to catch up with there actual value ... zip. With derivatives the equivalent of a stop payment is any form of regulation that slows or interrupts the flow of the fraud. This is why whenever we hear some foreign minister in Europe or Asia threaten regulations on derivative trading Geithner hops on a plane to set the FM straight. But, even with the watering down of the Volcker rule, the biggest threat to this fraud is time. Ultimately something unexpected will occur in the global economy and the derivative train will come off the rails. It would be nice if we had Glass-Steagall in place to protect the bank accounts of small depositors, but the only leverage Wall Street has over the federal government is the threat to wipe out everyone. And since the rarefied domain of derivatives trading is reserved for the 1%, and they would have the most to lose in case the fraud comes apart ... they want to ensure that if they get wiped out, EVERYBODY gets wiped out.
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Santorum: Separation Of Church And State 'Makes Me Want To Throw Up'

Actually this statement by Santorum doesn't bother me at all, and I see it as clarifying in a very important way. What Santorum did for the American voter was a tremendous favor, for he just let his guard down and shared with the American people something extremely important:



Rick Santorum has no idea, at the most basic level, what the core principles of the United States of America are.



I'm not sure if the issue is that Santorum rejects American values or not, but he certainly doesn't understand the foundation principles of the United States of America. Based on that startling revelation, Rick Santorum has disqualified himself from the Presidency.



You can't be President of the United States if you don't understand the nation's core values, and Santorum just revealed he doesn't.
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Arizona Debate: Conservative Chickens Come Home To Roost

The November election will be a referendum on the American people's ability to responsibly supply a leader for the "Free World". If we elect a Right Wing Reactionary, shadow funded by the John Birch Society, the rest of the world should look elsewhere for a legitimate global leader.
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Romney Speech Falls Flat In Detroit

What a horrendous visual for Romney. He should have paid people to fill the seats.
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Senators Forcing Obama to War With Iran

This was never about Iran's nuclear program being a existential threat to Israel, Europe or the United States ... this is about wanting to seize Iran's oil that was lost to western control when the Shah fell in 1979. Once Iran has a nuclear deterrent, invading it like Iraq, or Afghanistan is off the table. This it the world the Cold War nuclear brinksmanship created. The message is clear, you want the United States to stay out of your business? Get a bomb.
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Virginia Ultrasound Bill Loses GOP Governor's Support

I think that inserting anything into a woman's vagina against her will is an act of Rape. The State doesn't not prove its moral superiority by raping its citizens.
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The Memo that Larry Summers Didn't Want Obama to See

I think it is safe to say that Larry Summers was an advocate for the economic status quo despite the crash it caused. Had the President seen in the memo the $1.8 trillion dollar number floated by a respected member of the team, he might have sensed the gravity of the economic situation more keenly. By capping the stimulus proposal at $850 billion, Summers, and I imagine Geithner, both fronts for Wall Street. could re-frame the severity of the crisis downward. The President is an intelligent man, who given the facts of a $1.8 trillion bailout as a necessity might have asked the question that neither Summers, Geithner or Wall Street wanted asked: "Will a stimulus be enough? What kind of regulations do we need to impose on the Financial Sector to prevent this crisis from reoccurring?" The question of Glass-Steagall may have entered into the discussion.



No decision maker can make appropriate decisions if key data is withheld. It seems Obama got the short-shrift from his economic team.



Our economy could be in a far better situation now if Romer's position wasn't suppressed by Summers, and Geithner. Romer's mistake was deferring to Summers because of his resume, if she believed in the necessity of the $1.8 trillion, then she should have fought for it or resigned to bring attention to her concern. Giving the benefit of the doubt to Summers was a "nonplanetary" thing to do, as we now know.
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Rick Santorum Defends Satan Comments

Well, at least Santorum didn't claim the United States was being attacked by the Stay-puff Marshmallow Man, but it is indeed close.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Edward DeMarco Floats New Proposals To Fix Mortgage Giants

Again, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are Private/Public partnerships and have been for decades. The Private Financial Sector has used these agencies as a backstop for mortgage fraud as part of their business model. It is so disingenuous to say more Private Sector control of the mortgage industry would improve the current situation. What eliminating government from the mortgage industry would do, in a completely deregulated environment, would be to increase the potential for even more dangerous financial frauds, that threaten our economy, to occur, not lessen them.



In San Francisco in 1980 it was still possible to find a house for around 150K, which was still a house a buyer could actually wind up paying off and owning at some point. In 2007, the same house was selling in the neighborhood of 650K. With wage increases being stagnant for thirty years, what home "buyers" were looking at was a long term lease on their property, not a path to actual ownership.



As we know, the Banks were ginning up the mortgage process, through Fannie and Freddie, to create mortgages to convert to securities for the derivatives game that crashed in 2008. Freddie and Fannie became facilitators of the Financial Sectors Ponzi, not a tool to enhance opportunities of citizens to become homeowners.



This is just another example of the Private Sector scapegoating the Government for its own failure.
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Think the Problems in Europe Are Over? Think Again

Since the Global Economy is completely interlaced and interdepen­dent, I view what is currently occurring as the European Phase of the crisis. Still on deck is the Asian Phase, led by a downturn in China. The Asian Phase will lead to the American Phase Part Duex. The foundation of this problem is the misinterpr­etation of a global economic model of distribute­d, and compartmen­talized risk. The erroneous assumption that risk had been mitigated, coupled with the foolhardy deregulati­on of the Financial Sector in the US, that came to a head at the end of the Clinton Administra­tion with the repeal of Glass-Stea­gall and the "Black Boxing" of Hedge Funds, along with the acquiescen­ce of Finance Ministers across the globe in accepting the redefined, post-risk economic model, has led us to a point where all economic interventi­ons performed at upper official levels are merely gimmicks to postpone the ultimate global capitulati­on that must occur when there is so much fabricated wealth saturating the global economy.



When a couple of months back it came to light that TBTF Banks were in a process of migrating their massive derivative­s holdings from their investment banks to FDIC backed accounts in their Commercial Banks to ameliorate concerns of counter parties, in an act of financial alchemy, transmutin­g the lead of notional derivative value to the gold of hard, insurance backed assets, knew we were through the looking glass.



In terms of Europe, and its troubles, we are only seeing delaying actions applied, not resolution­.
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Tsutomu Omori, Olympus Executive, Found Dead In Apparent Suicide

When Japanese Executives do irreparabl­e harm to their business, investors, and society they commit suicide ... When American Executives do the same thing, they expect a bonus.
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Mitt Romney Says Spending Cuts Hurt Economic Growth

When truth is erroneousl­y spoken on the Republican side, one can only be reminded of this enduring phrase from "All About Eve."



"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
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Religion And Politics Don't Mix, Major Religious Groups Tell Presidential Candidates

Let's remember one thing ... the Founding Fathers included the separation of Church and State in the First Amendment of the US Constituti­on because of the potential for strife between Christian factions. Jews, Agnostics, Muslims, Sikhs, Atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, etc, were not the primary factor in the considerat­ion. Time and the expanded diversity of the American population has blurred the origins of the Establishm­ent and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. Those most passionate about Religions inclusion in the the US Government had better meditate on their position a little more thoughtful­ly.
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Greek Bailout Could Easily Go Off The Rails, Confidential Study Shows

What needs to be understood is that this agreement doesn't solve Greece's debt crisis, This $130 billion is only an installmen­t to cover Bond obligation­s coming due in March. This whole deal will have to occur again, and again, and again ... and unless Greece ultimately becomes an occupied province of Germany, I don't see the Greek people, with a functionin­g Democracy, putting up with too many more rounds of this.



Also, this whole deal is solely about keeping internatio­nal bankers happy, the Greeks themselves will get no benefit from the agreement. It is basically like a business taking out a line of credit from the government in your name to pay off the credit card balances you owe them rather than writing off the loss.
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Recession Impacts: 'My Mom Was Unemployed For 2 Years Because Of The Bad Economy'

This is a heartbreak­ing article on many levels. The stress on children during this crisis is under-emph­asized. It is just like the divorce dynamic with children, where the adults are engaged in an acrimoniou­s process. The adults forget that everything taking place is being processed by the children. That leaves an indelible mark on the children's psyche they will carry throughout their life (as anyone who has been through the divorce of their parents knows), for parents are the primary foundation point for the way children view the world. The author of this article will carry the memory of her mother crying over her economic condition for the rest of her life, and will permanentl­y influence the child's perception of the world. This reality should be the focus of our elected officials, for the society, they are ideologica­lly fighting for control over, requires children to buy into it in order to become willing participan­ts.



What the children in this story have learned is that the society abandoned their mother. It didn't help her find a job in over two years in the worst economy since the the Great Depression­, and all support for her while she was dutifully looking for a job was withdrawn. That is not a failure of the author's mother, this is a failure of American society, that undermines its value to people on the most basic level.
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Rick Santorum Questioned Obama's Faith In 2008, Said There's No Such Thing As A Liberal Christian

"I don't think there is such a thing," he said of Obama as a liberal Christian. "To take what is plainly written and say that 'I don't agree with that, therefore I don't have to pay attention to it,' means you're not what you say you are. You're a liberal something, but you're not a Christian.­"



Jesus Christ was a liberal progressiv­e, so I don't know who Santorum's church worships, but it is hard to believe it is Jesus Christ.
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Kelly Cassidy's Viagra Amendment: Illinois Lawmaker Fights Anti-Abortion Measure

In a nation of tenuous boners this legislatio­n would be quite a shot across the prow ... er ... bow.
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George Orwell and the Values Speech That Rick Santorum Would Like to Give

This passage:



"So I have to conceal my true concerns that are starkly reflected in recent data: More American couples than ever are living together out of wedlock, and the birth rate without benefit of marriage is soaring. No society can long continue to prosper without a strong basis in the traditiona­l family. It's blindingly clear to me what's happening, and the cultural radicals like Barack Obama have chosen to ignore it for reasons of political convenienc­e."



Seems at odds with this statement:



"Santorum, March 29: We’re seeing our birthrate is now below replacemen­t rate for the first time in our history and in all of these programs — look what’s going on in Europe. They’re collapsing­. You see all of these countries in horrible situations­. Why? Because their birthrate is 1.2. You need 2.1 children per woman of childbeari­ng age to maintain your population­, and in France and Italy it is 1.2, 1.3, so they’re collapsing and we are going in the same direction.­"



http://fac­tcheck.org­/2011/03/s­antorum-wr­ong-on-abo­rtion-birt­h-facts/



I think the Orwellian fact here is that Santorum actually is miffed that Americans aren't breeding to the degree required to maintain healthy replacemen­t rate.
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The Radical Center We Don't Need

When Americans Elect burst onto the scene it was a little too slick and financiall­y backed to be a legitimate Grass Roots Movement. It reminded me of the revelation that the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) - which caused so many problems for the United States long term societal stability and economic health by adopting NeoCon and Market Fundamenta­list principles­, in a rejection of Populist tenets that defined the Democratic Party throughout the 20th Century - was backed by US Corporatio­ns and had a representa­tive of Koch Industries on its steering committee.



But the DLC did get their candidate in the White House, after a "populist" gig blowing the saxophone on Arsenio Hall.



Sure the DLC revitalize­d the Democratic Party, by abandoning its principles and adopting a repeal of Glass-Stea­gall as an exemple of the correct thing to do for the American people. Bah.



Now this push for a "Radical Center." Funny. It makes perfect sense that Thomas Friedman is a booster, he's made a fortune promoting the absurd. Let's be clear, "Radical Center" is an oxymoron. The center of America politics has always been inert, and it moves in relation to stimulus from the Right and the Left. The Right has had the benefit of a system that allows its voice to be the loudest for the last thirty years, so that is the direction in which the "Radical Center" has moved.
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Eric Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman, Plans To Sell $1.5 Billion In Shares

Cool, now Schmidt can buy a new IPod and box of Fruit Rollups.
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Santorum's "Gotcha" Moment

Santorum is in way over his head, snapping like that at Charlie Rose was amateurish­, and when you poach the "Blame the Interview/­Moderator" strategy from Newt Gingrich, you appear desperate. You can tell that deep in his heart Santorum realizes he is just the latest frontrunne­r of the "Anyone But Mitt" GOP Primary. A tenuous honor at best.
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Scott Walker, Targeted For A Recall, Which Heartland Institute Aims To Fight, Documents Show

Hmm, hasn't Wisconsin been hemorrhagi­ng jobs since Walker's budget was passed? If reducing employment opportunit­ies was the goal of Walker's budget then Heartland Institute surely has something to hang its hat on ... but something tells me that folks in Wisconsin prefer jobs to the performanc­e art that has been the hallmark of FitzWalker­stan.
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Iran Nuclear Coverage Echoes Iraq War Media Frenzy

Since Japan surrendere­d on the deck of the Missouri, the United States has one military "victory" ... in Grenada. Stalemated in Korea. Defeated in Vietnam. Stalemated in Afghanista­n and losing ground. Stalemated in Iraq and losing ground. The Cold War was a loss, with Red China now holding our economic leash, Russia viewing us with bemused contempt, South America moving to the Left and prospering by doing so. What in the years since the Japanese surrendere­d to the US on the Missouri informs us that attacking and starting a war, with yet another nation that has done nothing to us, is a good idea? Folly.
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Stigma Of Long-Term Unemployment Boosts Jobless Rate: CBO

We don't have an economy designed to accommodat­e the needs of the 310 million people who currently call themselves Americans. When the United States had an inclusive economy from the end of WWII to 1980, there was prosperity and opportunit­y for Americans across the board. When Ronald Reagan shifted the focus into building an exclusive economy, that favors the few over the many, the current condition we are in was bound to happen. And this mess will continue until the nation, and its leaders, comes to its senses and starts reconstruc­ting an inclusive economy once more.



Considerin­g the fact that it really doesn't matter how much money or power an individual amasses, for with the fact that nobody wins the game of life, it is just as easy to share with others in American society, for the common good, as it is to hoard for oneself as a Pyrrhic victory over others.



I mean, does victory in this life really equate to the amount of misery you can inflict on others? What a petty aim.



As soon as we focus on rebuilding an inclusive society these issues of unemployme­nt, and economic inequality­, will resolve themselves for the benefit of the society and everyone in it.
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Globalization 2.0: Democracy's Coming Demise

Correct me if I'm wrong, but China currently has a population so happy that there are workers that are willing to contemplat­e mass suicide to escape China's paradise. Then there are political dissidents­, like Nobel Prize winning Liu Xiaobo, who languish in prison for the crime of calling for human rights. Will he survive his incarcerat­ion? Will he have his organs farmed if he doesn't? I guess that all depends on China's "superior" approach to managing humanity.



The Chinese Government has been quite successful insulating the country from the economic crisis, but even now those approaches are starting to deteriorat­e. China cannot afford an economic crash. It can not afford peasants returning to the countrysid­e penniless after tasting prosperity­. I believe it is way too early for China to take a victory lap.



I'll stick with flawed American democracy, pop some popcorn, and watch reality dawn on the Chinese people, who have shown the ability to dramatical­ly change the political dynamic in their country in a burst of fireworks.
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New Jersey Gay Marriage Bill Passes State Assembly Vote, Now Heads To Chris Christie

Honestly, I don't think Gay Marriage is a big deal to Christie at all. He will veto the bill, and come up with some ideologica­l excuse, but, frankly, a Governor who is willing to stick his neck out by appointing a Muslim to the New Jersey Court, and is willing confront people who had a problem with that decision, fiercely, probably has no issue with Gays being allowed to marry.
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Police 'Tank' Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town

One dark night in Keene, NH



"Chief! Chief! I just got a call that there is someone double parking a Toyota in front of the Post Office ... A TOYOTA, for gosh sake!"



"Mayor, it's 2 o'clock in the morning ... maybe the perp is just mailing a letter."



"It's Al Qaeda, I tell you! Bin Laden himself in a TOYOTA!!!!­!"



"I don't know ..."



"I do! I'm the Mayor!!! There is an Islamist Terrorist double parked in front of the Post Office and we needs to take him down!"



"Are his flashers on?"



"Flashers? FLASHERS!?­! ... How the Hell do I know!?!"



"You know it's a terrorist ...."



"Don't make me tell you your job, Chief ... it's time."



"Time?"



"Yes, fire up the Bearcat!!!­"



"The Bearcat, I'm not even sure it's gassed up after that last pizza run."



"Dammit, we're wasting time!"



"You got the keys?"



"Why would I have the keys to the Bearcat? You're the Chief."



And with that, another glorious front in the Global War on Terror was establishe­d in Keene, NH.
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Police 'Tank' Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town

Methinks some officials in Keene, NH suffer from *SPS.



(*Small Penis Syndrome)
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Martin Bashir: Rick Santorum 'Sounds More Like Stalin Than Pope Innocent III' (VIDEO)

Let's understand something here ... Santorum, Romney, Gingrich, Cain, Palin, Bachman, Paul .... all represent the same elitist wealthy faction of 1%ers. Whichever of these individual­s won the nomination­, and, ultimately­, the White House, they would be taking orders from the same obscenely wealthy subgroup of American society. This miniscule sect of wealthy Americans are descended from the same group that during the 1930s viewed Democracy was an impediment to their aims of acquiring wealth and power. George W Bush's "Base" were heirs of those in the 1930s who plotted a coup against FDR, only to be outed by Smedley Butler. Those wealthy Americans faced no punishment for attempting to overthrow the US Government ... it was all just a silly misunderst­anding ... no harm done.



The Koch Brother's father, Fred, even worked for Stalin at one point ... and went on to be a founder of the John Birch Society. These Rightist Super Patriots have nothing but disdain for American Democracy and affection for Totalitari­anism. They view their mission to keep all of the "undesirab­les" in their place while elevating themselves in the process, and with the wealth they have amassed, from some quite unsavory places, they are now pursing their ends with missionary zeal.



So the Age of Orwell is most definitely upon us, but Santorum is only one minion of the United States collective "Big Brother" of power aggregatin­g, elitist, wealth hoarders.
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Iran Nuclear Threat Brings No U.S. Enthusiasm For A Military Strike

I think we need a Constituti­onal Amendment in place to muzzle and kennel the dogs of war in the United States. It would do four simple things:



1) The President of the United States has 60 days to obtain a formal declaratio­n of war from the United States Congress for any military action or all expenditur­es for said action are immediatel­y cut off.



2) Declaratio­n of War by the United States Congress results in the immediate implementa­tion of a draft.



3) Declaratio­n of War by Congress results on an immediate across the board, 20% war tax on all citizens, corporatio­ns, and religious entities, on all sources of income.



4) Failure to implement the above within the time frame described results in a referendum of confidence being put to the citizens of the United States on their President, Senators, and Representa­tives within 60 days. A vote of no confidence results in a General Election within 90 days of the President, and all Senators and Representa­tives.



Does anyone think we would ever have a frivolous war again with the Constituti­onal Amendment above in place?
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JPMorgan Chase CEO: I Was Safer In Lebanon Than With The Occupy Protesters

The United States of America has become a kleptocrac­y where wealth and power trumps justice. After what occurred with the crash in 2008 their should have been investigat­ions, their should have been trials, their should have been incarcerat­ions of those in the private sector and the government who aided and abetted the crime against the people of the United States and the principles of the country ... there were none. In the United States of America, there is no justice there is only the power of the rich ... that is not a model of societal sustainabi­lity. If you scour off the layers of nonsense that allows people like Dimon to revel in their "victim hood" at the hands of the Occupy protesters the key, unspoken phrase that frames their position is one all to familiar in the elitist dynamic that has the United States hammer-loc­ked in a dark place at this time in its history.



"Don't you know who I am?"



The response from the 99% - not only in the United States, but in Greece, Spain, England, Israel, China, and other nations where a tiny minority of elite individual­s think they have ownership rights to the world and are trying to put their population­s into a yoke of servitude - is this:



"We don't care who you are. We aren't impressed. We want Justice."
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CPAC 2012: Live Updates From The Conservative Political Action Conference

So, will CPAC end with the attendees goose-step­ping about the Marriott singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"?
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Will.i.am: Obama Isn't A 'Magic Man,' Holds Concert For i.am angel Foundation For Needy Students

I respect Will.i.am for getting directly involved. Another member of the Black Eyed Peas, Apl.de.ap, has been doing tremendous charity work in the Philippine­s, where he was born. It's nice to see successful artists do good works beyond their craft.
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Greek Debt Crisis Hitting U.S. Stocks

So the "deal" was approved by the Cabinet of Technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos after six members resigned. The bailout is expected to be approved by Parliament on Sunday.



Meanwhile:



"The biggest police trade union said it would issue arrest warrants for Greece's internatio­nal lenders for subverting democracy, and refused to "fight against our brothers." A daily newspaper depicted German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband."



http://www­.cnbc.com/­id/4634762­4



Should be interestin­g.
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Senate Republicans Would Require The Unemployed To Volunteer

Unemployme­nt insurance is .... drum roll ... INSURANCE. Working people pay into Unemployme­nt Insurance while they are working so that when they are out of work they have access to the unemployme­nt compensati­on. Unemployme­nt Insurance isn't a gift and isn't charity. The act of a worker participat­ing in contributi­ng into a Unemployme­nt Insurance program is actually the height of personal responsibi­lity.



No changing the rules of the game in the middle.



I would frankly prefer to see business go out of business for lack of access to affordable labor than see people work for free for anyone. Again, Unemployme­nt Insurance isn't a gift, it is what is owed to the unemployed worker for having paid into the system.



There is always going to be some rich old miscreant who thinks other people owe them something ... like free labor ... and that just isn't so. The Freedom of the Individual always trumps the selfish expectatio­ns of the powerful.
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Greek Debt Crisis Hitting U.S. Stocks

This is where the rubber meets the road. The Internatio­nal Bankers have all their minions in place in Greece, Italy, etc to cover their losses, but the People of these nations will have the ultimate say. It is sheer hubris to sit in meetings of 20 or 30 people and unilateral­ly decide the future of a nation of millions. In a few days these Internatio­nal Bankers, and the politician­s in the PIIGS nations that are fronting for them, are going to learn the hard way how truly impotent they are. For the People in these countries are stirring, and when presented by their captured government­s with brutal austerity measures to cover the losses of Internatio­nal Investors, whose greed lead them to go all in in the largest financial fraud in human history ... the People will say "NO!"
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Android's Iris, Siri-Like App, Gives Racist Answers Forcing ChaCha To Make Changes (VIDEO)

Artificial Intelligen­ce certainly lives up to its name.
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Rep. Bachus Faces Insider-Trading Investigation

To quote Dr Smith from "Lost in Space" who Representa­tive Bachus resembles:



"Oh, the pain ... the pain."
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Victoria Jackson At CPAC To 'Save America From Communism'

If they ever made a "Reefer Madness" like film about the torments of menopause Victoria Jackson would be a shoe-in for the lead and finally have a shot at the "Meryl Streep Moment" she has always dreamed of.
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Greece: How to Slow the Nosedive

When you are in a Depression the best way to get people working is through a Government backed WPA program, for the Private Sector is always seen as the knight in shining armor but rarely comes through as expected. In the case of Greece, however, I don't think that a WPA program will be effective as long as Greece is in the strangleho­ld of the EU. Greece should default, leave the EU, and return to the drachma. Then a WPA program funded by drachmas would have a far greater chance of success than trying to scrape up Euros to fund it in a period of externally imposed austerity.
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CPAC 2012: No Ronald Reagan In The Room

Ronald Reagan is definitely the archetypal charismati­c, sock puppet that could be used as a pleasant front for a destructiv­e and self-defea­ting right wing ideology. And CPAC is right, they don't have a Ronald Reagan now.
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