Testosterone Pit – by Wolf Richter

What an army of rabble-rousers, economists (those banished from the mainstream media), and bloggers, including your humble servant, have been hammering on for years, a study by the San Francisco Fed now finally confessed: Quantitative Easing didn’t do a heck of a lot of good for the real economy.

Whatever it did for Wall Street, and however it shifted wealth to the upper echelon of society, and however it destroyed what little remained of the free markets, and whatever distortions, misallocations, and bubbles it created, QE had “at best,” – emphasis mine – “moderate effects on economic growth,” the study said.   Continue reading “The Fed’s Confession: We Can Avoid A Crash At The End Of QE If Everybody Believes That Everybody Believes In A Mirage….”

Mail.com

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel released 26 Palestinian inmates, including many convicted in grisly killings, on the eve of long-stalled Mideast peace talks, angering families of those slain by the prisoners, who were welcomed as heroes in the West Bank and Gaza.

Buses carrying the inmates departed the Ayalon prison in central Israel late Tuesday, a nighttime release that was aimed at preventing the spectacle of prisoners flashing victory signs as has happened in the past. Relatives of the victims, many with their hands painted red to symbolize what they say is the blood on the hands of the inmates, held protests throughout the day, and some protesters tried briefly to block the buses from leaving.   Continue reading “Israel frees 26 Palestinian prisoners before talks”

Marco RubioMail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that if Congress doesn’t pass immigration overhaul legislation, President Barack Obama may act on his own to legalize the 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. illegally.

Rubio, a potential presidential candidate and an author of the sweeping immigration bill that passed the Senate in June but stalled in the House, noted that the Obama administration took action a year ago to give legal status to many immigrants brought here illegally as children. He said without congressional action, the president might well be tempted to do the same for everyone else here illegally, too.   Continue reading “Rubio warns Obama could act to legalize immigrants”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force unit that operates one-third of the nation’s land-based nuclear missiles has failed a safety and security inspection, marking the second major setback this year for a force charged with the military’s most sensitive mission, the general in charge of the nuclear air force told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. James M. Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said a team of “relatively low-ranking” airmen failed one exercise as part of a broader inspection, which began last week and ended Tuesday. He said that for security reasons he could not be specific about the team or the exercise.   Continue reading “Air Force nuclear unit fails key security test”

After trying to apply for a customer service job at eBay in my area and reading their privacy policy, I have to wonder, which part is private? Needless to say, I didn’t apply to them after reading this and even though I have never done business with them, I will most certainly never do business with them in the future as well.

I urge others to read eBay’s privacy policy and tell me exactly which part is private? My thoughts on each of the subject headings are highlighted in bold underneath the paragraphs.   Continue reading “eBay’s Privacy Policy is actually Public Policy”

New York Times reporter James RisenThe Guardian – by Lindsey Bever

Committing an act of journalism could soon become an imprisonable offence.

New York Times reporter James Risen has been ordered to testify in the criminal trial of former Central Intelligence Agency official Jeffrey Sterling, who has been indicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 – for leaking classified information to Risen for publication in his book, State of War. Last month, the US court of appeals for the fourth circuit in Richmond, Virginia, ruled that Risen could not claim a reporter’s privilege under the first amendment to win exemption from being compelled to testify.   Continue reading “James Risen’s risk of prison means journalism is being criminalised”

benghazi_file_091312.jpgFox News- by Cynthia Farahat

Ahmed Moussa, a prominent Egyptian television personality on the Tahrir TV channel as well as a former officer in Egyptian State Security Intelligence (SSI), went public on July 30 with a remarkable piece of information.

Moussa said, addressing U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson (in absentia) on his show:   Continue reading “Is Muslim Brotherhood working together with Amb. Chris Stevens’ assassin?”

ENENews

Title: Fukushima Failure: Admitting to a leak
Source: CBC Radio’s ‘The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti’
Date: August 12, 2013   Continue reading “Japan Reporter: Engineers only have ‘vague idea’ where Fukushima nuclear fuel is after world’s first triple meltdown — “A vast experiment” — Problems are enormous”

Information Clearinghouse – by Ingenious Press

No other government on the face of this Earth wants to make it’s citizens more ill-at-ease, deathly afraid, or made to feel so guilty for stepping outside of it’s national boundaries as the United States of America. Rather than encouraging Americans to embrace overseas travel as one of the most educational, enjoyable, and emotionally and spiritually satisfying endeavors that people can undertake in the course of our painfully short lives, U.S. government departments and institutions are notorious for wanting to make even just the IDEA of pursuing international travel as unpleasant and unsettling as they can possibly muster.   Continue reading “The U.S. Government Does Not Want Americans To Travel Abroad”

File photo Press TV

An underground fuel pipeline goes off in the US state of Illinois, prompting people to flee the region as the flames went up 300 feet into the sky and could be seen from miles away.

The blast took place at around 11:15 p.m. Monday under a cornfield in Whiteside County near the border with Iowa.

No one was killed or injured in the incident.    Continue reading “Scores evacuated as fuel pipeline goes off in Illinois”

Mail.com

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot down a rocket launched toward a Red Sea resort town near the border with Egypt on Tuesday, the army said.

It was the first time Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system successfully intercepted a rocket attack on the resort of Eilat, the military said. The incident came after days of heightened tension along the Egypt-Israel border.   Continue reading “Israel army shoots down rocket near Egypt border”

Mail.com

DETROIT (AP) — Billboards promoting Detroit’s upcoming general election offered up some erroneous information about when to go to the polls.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/14J4HEc ) that many of the 14 billboards gave a September date for the election. The vote will actually take place Nov. 5. City Clerk Janice Winfrey says the billboards were updated Saturday with information about the general election, and she calls the September date “a mistake” by the business that handles the billboards.   Continue reading “Billboards give wrong date for Detroit election”

WhiteclayMail.com

PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — Jobs and confidence are in short supply on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the rugged beauty of South Dakota’s Badlands contrasts sharply with dilapidated houses, rusted-out vehicles on blocks and trash in the streets — symbols of a helplessness fueled largely by an influx of bootlegged alcohol.

Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are voting all day Tuesday on whether to give up the fight against bootlegging by allowing alcohol to be sold on the reservation — the last place in the state’s American Indian territory where it’s not allowed. Profits would be used for education, detoxification and treatment centers, for which there is currently little to no funding.   Continue reading “Last dry SD reservation voting on alcohol sales”

Inmates at Chino State Prison (AFP Photo)RT News

US prisons are operating at 40 percent above capacity, with half of all inmates locked up for drug-related crimes. Attorney General Eric Holder has proposed changes to the criminal justice system that would reduce sentences for non-violent crimes.

In an announcement scheduled for delivery on Monday, Holder outlined a plan to free up prisons and keep non-violent drug offenders from ending up in jail cells. Under a major policy shift, federal prosecutors will no longer push for “mandatory minimum” sentences for low-level drug offenders, and will instead send more people to drug treatment and community service programs. Additionally, Holder wants prisons to release elderly, non-violent offenders.   Continue reading “Facing overcrowded prisons, US wants to cut drug sentences”

Hyperloop passenger capsule version with doors open at the station. (Image from teslamotors.com/blog/hyperloop)RT News

The billionaire inventor and entrepreneur behind PayPal and SpaceX unveiled details on Monday about a new transportation system that might someday shuttle people around the world quicker than an airplane and at a fraction of the cost.

Elon Musk, the South African-born scientist who also oversees operations of the Tesla electric car, revealed on Monday the most information yet about his Hyperloop project, a transportation system that he previously said could move people from Los Angeles, California to San Francisco in half an hour.   Continue reading “Inventor Elon Musk reveals new super-fast ‘Hyperloop’ transport”