Mike Whitney

Bulletins From Clunkerville By Mike Whitney Toxic assets, falling home prices, widespread malaise in the credit markets are just part of the problem. The deeper issue is the dismal condition of the US consumer who has seen his home equity dissipate, his retirement funds sawed in half,his access to credit curtailed, and his job put at risk. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23272.htm

THINK IT'S NOT A POLICE STATE?

http://www.azfamily.com/video/index.html?nvid=388316 And they charged him with 'disorderly conduct'. Who's conduct was the most disorderly?

PROSECUTE THEM ALL

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 Eric Holder’s Cover-Up by Jacob G. Hornberger http://www.fff.org/blog/index.asp Attorney General Eric Holder is considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate whether crimes relating to torture were committed by federal personnel during the Bush administration. There’s one big problem, however, with what Holder is proposing: His mandate to the special prosecutor would limit the investigation to underlings who committed acts outside the parameters set forth in the so-called torture memos and prohibit any investigation and prosecution of the higher-ups who designed the overall scheme or participated in its implementation. It also would prohibit prosecution of people who broke the law by committing acts that fell within the authorized parameters. In principle, Holder’s plan would be no different from the many investigations into the torture at Abu Ghraib conducted by the Army, in that it would have the effect of making it look like the U.S. government stands against torture by going after underlings while, at the same time, protecting the higher-ups who are ultimately responsible for what their underlings have done. What if conduct within the authorized parameters violated the law? Under Holder’s plan, that will not be investigated and will just have to be excused. The notion is that the underlings who committed those acts were just following orders. What about the president, vice president, and other higher ups who designed and implemented the interrogation program? Undoubtedly, Holder would say that they should be immune from investigation and prosecution because they were just complying with the legal opinions of the lawyers in the Justice Department. What about the attorneys themselves who issued the torture memos? Are they subject to criminal prosecution? Holder would say no, under the assumption they were just innocently issuing good-faith legal opinions in response to a request from the president. How can we prosecute lawyers for doing nothing more than issuing flawed legal opinions? What a crock, and Holder knows it, because there is another distinct possibility that deserves investigation and, if confirmed, criminal prosecution: a conspiracy to violate laws on torture, one in which the torture-memo attorneys were actively involved by conspiring to issue bogus legal opinions to provide cover for the president and the vice president and other higher-ups who were designing and implementing the torture program. For those who think that lawyers would never conspire to violate the law, don’t forget the occupation of the main co-conspirators in the Watergate conspiracy: lawyers. Richard Nixon, John Mitchell, John Dean, and John Erlichman. Did such a conspiracy exist? Were the torture memo attorneys truly issuing good-faith legal opinions or were they knowingly issuing false legal opinions for the purpose of providing requested cover for the White House? We don’t know the answers to those questions. That’s what a special prosecutor should be free to ferret out in a full investigation. By limiting the scope of the inquiry to underlings who went outside the authorized parameters, Eric Holder is ensuring that the American people never find out. Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. FFF.ORG

GT COMMENTS

In recent days the economic situation has finally triggered the populace to voice its anger, at one of the few venues (townhall meetings) afforded to them for such purpose, over what our 'leaders' have done to us all. The sad part is that those who are blessed to have access to our TV media don't have a clue why the people are mad and becoming violent. Chris Matthews, yesterday, interviewed the fellow who carried a legally licensed, loaded side arm (legal in his state) outside O'bomba's town meeting. He grilled the man in such a rude and authoritarian manner, with the implication that the man was a nut, that I would have thought Chris was our 'National Prosecutor' of all things unAmerican. The man held his ground, despite the unfamiliar territory before the lights and cameras, and was informed enough to counter all Matthew's prosecutorial thrusts, with his limp sword of indignation, at a citizen who dared to own his Constitutional, legal right to have, carry, and use a weapon as well as voice his complaint of how our country is being pushed into the ditch by people who have the real weapons that they use to keep the population in line, seat belted up, driving the correct speed and eating the right foods and disciplining their children properly. None of our TV commentators realizes that the problem is that the MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE is being destroyed, which destroys the populace's ability to conduct TRANSACTIONS among themselves, which is what our commerce really is, the accumulation of all our transactions. When you destroy the medium of exchange (the blood system of an economy) you kill the economy (patient) and drive the system into anarchy. Those in power only care about retaining that power and the benefits that come with it. They will use the weapons they have accumulated with the money they have stolen from the populace through taxation, fines, and inflation to keep that very population under control, or they will eliminate those who they can't control, and that DOESN'T mean locking them up in prison cells, as California has recently found out they can't afford to do. IT MEANS KILLING THEM! They will eventually use the youngsters in the military that they have trained to be killers and who they have mentally crippled in our phony wars and brought back home to go nuts on us. These kids could care less about shooting a stranger...they've already done it many times. The change of clothing won't matter to them. They just like seeing bodies explode. Be very aware that you are now walking in Human Country (like the warning signs that warn you when you're in Bear Country) and you won't know which ones are on their last nerve and could explode on you in a fit of insanity brought about by desperation and their inability to do anything about it while those who 'should' be able to help try ineffectually to calm them with soothing words that 'everything will be okay'. Yeah? Bullshit! Stay on your toes and keep your eyes doing a 360 degree swivel at all times and when you think you are safe, be doubly on guard, because that's when you are the most vulnerable.

This is No Recession It's a Planned Demolition

This is No Recession It's a Planned Demolition By Mike Whitney Those days are over. The world is changing and the US role is getting smaller. As US markets become less attractive to foreign exporters, the dollar will lose its position as the world's reserve currency. As goes the dollar, so goes the empire. Want some advice: Learn Mandarin. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23231.htm

EXCELLENT ARTICLE AND CHARTS ON GOLD...A MUST TO READ AND STUDY CAREFULLY

CREDIT TO FASTGT FOR THE LINK: http://news.goldseek.com/CliveMaund/1249844182.php Every year for the past five years I have been ABSOLUTELY convinced that gold was going much higher about this time of year, only to get hammered badly hanging on to my long positions thinking I had enough in my trading account to weather any dip in price. I was wrong EVERY TIME! Don't let this happen to you! I was greatly influenced by Jim Sinclair's commitment to gold. But remember ALWAYS... Sinclair is a proponent of CASH GOLD, not trading gold. He adamantly has ALWAYS chastised gold traders warning them that the commodity markets are a ZERO SUM GAME, in which one side wins and the other loses. And almost always it's the little guy that loses. You can't get hurt holding CASH GOLD! You only lose opportunities to buy it at lower prices, but in the long run you will at least have the gold. By far, most people don't have a clue how to trade anything, but think they're smarter than those around them after learning the basics...Those people almost always lose everything, but usually blame it on everything but themselves. Don't be one of them. Practice good money management and AVOID GREED! I think there will be a FINAL planned wipeout of the gold market so the BIG BOYS can scoop up all the gold they can accumulate before THE END occurs. Take your profits quickly from your long positions while you have them as you trade. A small profit is far better than having to wait out a losing trade, or worse yet, taking the loss. BUILD UP YOUR TRADING ACCOUNT so you can position yourself to buy in at the bottom of the wipeout. It will be deeper than you think it could ever go...if it happens. Look at annual charts of the past five years to see the pattern and how deep the sell offs were. Then notice that the turn arounds went to the moon clear into Feb/March of the following year in some cases. This next big rally after the wipeout will be the start of the bigget rally in gold in history...BE ON IT! or be decimated by the economic collapse that goes with it. And whatever you do...DON'T EVER CHASE THE GOLD MARKET HIGHER! There will always be a pull back as it ascends higher to enter the market. The swings in the gold price on a tick by tick basis are going to blow your minds when they start moving $50-$100 per tick in the not so far off future. The exchanges will be raising margin requirements to ridiculous levels to squeeze out the little traders too, so be prepared for that.

THE 'REAL ID' IS BACK...FROM RON PAUL

August 10, 2009 Dear Friend of Liberty, Unbelievably, Congress and the Obama administration are currently trying to resurrect the failed REAL ID Act, more accurately named “Dangerous ID.” Dangerous ID, which passed in 2005, establishes a de facto National Identification System, and opens the doors for Federal biometric tracking of every American citizen. Fortunately, no state currently complies with the burdensome mandates of the 2005 bill, and twenty-three have passed legislation refusing compliance. So what does the Obama Administration want to do? You guessed it: “Fix it,” and ram it down states’ throats. Well, I say “Repeal it.” What do you say? You see, as Obama Administration Surveillance Czar Janet Napolitano pushes for a revamp of the system to get the invasive federal program up and running, there has never been a better time to for us to push back, and fight for an outright repeal of the original legislation. And although Dangerous ID is a clear attempt to establish a National ID System, the reality might be much worse -- an INTERNATIONAL Identification System. That’s why it is so critical we get that law off the books. You see, Dangerous ID actually requires that driver’s license photographs meet United Nation’s biometric format standards. At this level of sophistication, government software can analyze facial characteristics and generate a unique identification number. Think about that for a moment -- your identity will be reduced to a single number in an international database that can be tracked globally by one-world government surveillance cameras and facial recognition software. Last month, Senator Daniel Akaka introduced The PASS ID Act to tweak the 2005 Dangerous ID legislation and ram this program into action over state opposition. Supporters claim this REAL ID Redux bill softens requirements on states, supposedly making the breach of federalism a little more palatable. But it is merely a transparent attempt to get the Dangerous ID system implemented in any form, only to be augmented later to meet government’s needs. In fact, there is evidence that this reincarnated Dangerous ID bill could wind up being worse than the original. Chief among the bill’s supporters is Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who stands to wield expansive and virtually unchecked power to set standards. Under Dangerous ID, Napolitano can unilaterally expand required information on driver's licenses, potentially to include biometric information such as retinal scans, fingerprints, DNA information, and even Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) radio tracking technology. If international databases, RFID and biometric identification cards, and constant government surveillance are as alarming to you as they are to me, I hope you’ll (GO TO http://www.campaignforliberty.com/campaigns/stop-real-id-lite.php TO SIGN) Campaign for Liberty’s petition to stop REAL ID Redux and repeal Dangerous ID. This is an important battle, and one we CAN win. Just look at all the success stories in states that opted out of the Dangerous ID system. In many cases, local C4L groups were instrumental in passing that legislation. If REAL ID Redux passes, the new federal “concessions” may sucker many states into compliance. That’s why it is so important that we defeat this reincarnation of Dangerous ID at the federal level, and take advantage of this national conversation to repeal the original bill. So please, click here to sign the petition urging your Senators and Representative to stop this so-called “PASS ID” and finally repeal the original Dangerous ID legislation. And please, make a generous contribution to help Campaign for Liberty spread the word about this important fight. In Liberty, John F. Tate President P.S. REAL ID (a.k.a. “Dangerous ID”) is back on the move with a revamped version called PASS ID.

NOT WORRIED ENOUGH YET? THEN READ THIS ONE ALL THE WAY THROUGH

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1261.htm

THIS ARTICLE OUGHT TO WAKE A FEW OF YOU UP TO THE 'VAST CONSPIRACY' GOING ON IN OUR WORLD

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1263.htm Pittsburg Health Club “Massacre Plot” Cover-up... I can believe all of this is possible and true. When you finally discover just how fucking crazy these megalomaniacs truly are, you will no longer be shocked at their evilness.

War Hero Tackles US Over Degrading Prison Conditions

War "Hero" Tackles US Over Degrading Prison Conditions By Rupert Cornwell When it comes to sending people to jail, America is the undisputed world champion. In 1970, a mere 200,000 people were behind bars. Last year, 2.3 million were held in federal, state and county prisons, more than 1 per cent of all adults in the US and five times the international average. Blacks, predictably, bear the brunt of this compulsion to incarcerate, accounting for 40 per cent of the prison population. This punishment industry gives work to more than two million, more even than the 1.7 million employed in higher education. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23229.htm

Entering the Greatest Depression in History

Entering the Greatest Depression in History More Bubbles Waiting to Burst by Andrew Gavin Marshall http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MAR20090807&articleId=14680

What If History Happened To Someone Else

http://wheh.newsvine.com/_news/2009/08/07/3096717-what-if-history-happened-to-someone-else