Archive for the 'Elite' Category
U.S. Health Care Open Thread
March 22nd, 2010Let it rip, if you feel the need. Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. House passed the most sweeping health-care legislation in four decades, rewriting the rules governing medical industries and ensuring that tens of millions of uninsured Americans will get medical coverage.
Federal Reserve Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records
March 21st, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest U.S. government bailout ever, a federal appeals court said. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched primarily after the […]
Australia: Electricity Prices to Rise by Up to 64%
March 19th, 2010Via: 9MSN: A NSW government rebate will be expanded to more than one million electricity consumers, to allay fears some families will be left in the dark by the state’s largest-ever electricity price increases. Electricity bills in NSW will soar by up to a total of 64 per cent over the next three years, with […]
South America to Create New EU-Type Bloc to Defy U.S.
March 19th, 2010Via: Deutsche Welle: The 24-strong bloc of Latin American states known as the Rio Group is to join the Caribbean Community to form a new trade body intended to present opposition to US dominance. What can it really hope to achieve? The Rio Group assertively announced the birth of its successor earlier this week, at […]
Bernanke Wants to Eliminate Reserve Requirements Completely
March 19th, 2010Via: The Economic Collapse Blog: Up until now, the United States has operated under a “fractional reserve” banking system. Banks have always been required to keep a small fraction of the money deposited with them for a reserve, but were allowed to loan out the rest. But now it turns out that Federal Reserve Chairman […]
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, UBS Charged With Derivatives Fraud
March 18th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG and Hypo Real Estate Holding AG’s Depfa Bank Plc unit were charged with fraud linked to the sale of derivatives to the City of Milan. Judge Simone Luerti scheduled the trial of the four firms, 11 bankers and two former city officials for May […]
Russia Criticizes U.S., NATO Over Afghan Drugs *wink* *wink*
March 18th, 2010If the squeals out of Russia about drug trafficking are real, and I have serious doubts about that, why not mention this bridge? In August 2007, the presidents of Afghanistan and Tajikistan walked side by side with the U.S. commerce secretary across a new $37 million concrete bridge that the Army Corps of Engineers designed […]
Biden in Israel: A Gift of Broken Glass and More Weirdness
March 17th, 2010* Queue Twilight Zone Music * Via: Reuters: In the region where symbolism may matter most, the signs for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit were inauspicious. First Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak cancelled talks in Cairo and flew to hospital for gallbladder surgery. Then came an Israeli gift of broken glass and an eerie power […]
The Lehman Brothers Swindle
March 15th, 2010Lehman’s $50 Billion Conjuring Trick
March 15th, 2010Via: Times Online: In May 2008, as the world span towards the worst financial crisis in living memory, Matthew Lee, a senior vice-president at Lehman Brothers, the American investment bank, decided to make a stand. After 14 years with the firm, the New York-based Edinburgh University graduate was convinced the bank was heading for disaster. […]
