Politics

Department of Education Wonders Why Over 40% Of Student Borrowers Don’t Make Payments

by

– Department of Education Wonders “Why 40% of Student Borrowers Don’t Make Payments”; Blame Bush (Seriously)!:

Over 40 percent of those in student loan programs have stopped making payments. Many borrowers have never made any payments.

The department of education (a useless body that I would eliminate in one second if given the chance), cannot figure out why this is happening.

“We obviously have not cracked that nut but we want to keep working on it,” said Ted Mitchell, the Education Department’s under secretary.

The Wall Street Journal reports More Than 40% of Student Borrowers Aren’t Making Payments.

Read moreDepartment of Education Wonders Why Over 40% Of Student Borrowers Don’t Make Payments

Little Known Fact: Police Drug Kits Test Positive With Just About Anything

by

– Little Known Fact: Police Drug Kits Test Positive With Just About Anything:

If you’ve ever found yourself on the wrong side of the law, there’s a good chance that you’ve encountered a field drug test before. It’s what the police use to test any suspicious looking substances you might have in your possession to see if they’re illegal drugs. And they are of course admissible in a court of law. What the cops won’t tell you however, is that these drug test kits are incredibly fallible, and there are plenty of innocent substances that can cause them to produce a false positive.

Several years ago the U.S. Marijuana Policy Project did a demonstration with the kits that the police use to put people in jail. The results were both enlightening and horrifying.

* * *

PayPal: Donate in USD
PayPal: Donate in EUR
PayPal: Donate in GBP

Venezuela Declares Every Friday A Holiday To Conserve Electricity

by

– Venezuela Declares Every Friday A Holiday To Conserve Electricity:

When we last checked in on everyone’s favorite Latin American socialist paradise, Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro’s opponents “had gone crazy.” Or at least that’s how Maduro described the situation in a “thundering” speech to supporters at what he called an “anti-imperialist” rally in Caracas in mid-March.

Maduro

Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators had been holding counter-rallies calling for the President’s ouster. Maduro angered the opposition – which dealt Hugo Chavez’s leftist movement its worst defeat at the ballot box in history in December – the previous month when he used a stacked Supreme Court to give himself emergency powers he says will help him deal with the country’s worsening economic crisis.

Read moreVenezuela Declares Every Friday A Holiday To Conserve Electricity

David Cameron admits he did have a stake in his father’s offshore trust

by

David Cameron deeply concerned.jpg

– David Cameron admits he did have a stake in his father’s offshore trust:

David Cameron and his wife owned shares in the Panamanian trust set up by his late father, before selling them for around £30,000 in 2010, he has exclusively told ITV News.

The prime minister made the revelations about his involvement with the offshore fund set up by his father Ian – exposed in the Panama Papers – in an interview with Political Editor Robert Peston.

Read moreDavid Cameron admits he did have a stake in his father’s offshore trust

Russian UN envoy: Turkey’s Gaziantep is main ISIS trade hub of antiques hauled in Syria & Iraq

by

destruction at the museum of the ancient city of Palmyra

– Turkey’s Gaziantep is main ISIS trade hub of antiques hauled in Syria & Iraq – Russian UN envoy:

The Turkish city of Gaziantep is the trade hub used by Islamic State to sell objects of cultural heritage, stolen from Syria and Iraq. In an official letter to UN Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin outlined how the valuables are being transported and sold.

“Antiquities from Syria and Iraq are exported by the extremists mostly through the territory of Turkey. The main center for the smuggling of cultural heritage items is the Turkish city of Gaziantep, where the stolen goods are sold at illegal auctions and then through a network of antique shops and at the local market, Bak?rc?lar Çar??si (Eski Saray Street, ?ekero?lu district),” states the letter that was made public on Wednesday.

Read moreRussian UN envoy: Turkey’s Gaziantep is main ISIS trade hub of antiques hauled in Syria & Iraq

Donald Trump breaks 50 percent mark in New York; Ted Cruz in third place

by

– Trump breaks 50 percent mark in New York; Cruz in third place:

Donald Trump has a more than two-to-one lead over his closest rival, John Kasich, in the Republican presidential front-runner’s home state of New York, a new poll finds.

A Monmouth University survey released Wednesday shows Trump taking 52 percent support, followed by Kasich at 25 percent. Ted Cruz has 17 percent.

Read moreDonald Trump breaks 50 percent mark in New York; Ted Cruz in third place

Greeks Confiscate Largest Amount Of Gold Ever Smuggled

by

– Greeks Confiscate Largest Amount Of Gold Ever Smuggled:

To some gold may not be “money”, but to a group of Greeks it was worth far more than merely pet rocks.

According to Ekathimerini, customs officials at the Greek-Turkish border crossing of Kipoi have confiscated the largest amount of gold that anyone has ever attempted to smuggle out of the country.

kipoi greece

The loot was found hidden in a taxi and consisted of 18 bars of unrefined gold, weighing 33.5 kilos, along with four crosses made of oure gold (11.6 grams). The gold was found last Friday during a police check on cars planing to cross the border.

The suspects hid seven gold bars and the four crosses in the car’s passenger armrest while the other 11 bars were concealed in their luggage.

Read moreGreeks Confiscate Largest Amount Of Gold Ever Smuggled

Germany: People In Hanover Told To Stay Away From Windows And Avoid Waving At President Obama In Case They Don’t Want To Get Shot By US Secret Service Agents

by

– Police warn 2,000 people in Hanover to stay away from windows and avoid waving at President Obama when he visits this month in case they are shot by US secret service agents

Residents of the German city of Hanover have been told to keep away from windows and avoid waving at President Obama when he visits later this month – incase they are shot by trigger-happy American secret service agents.

Police have issued flyers to nearly 2,000 people living near the Congress Centre due to be visited by Obama on April 24.

He will meet there with Chancellor Angela Merkel for the Hanover Messe, an industrial technology fair.

…

* * *

PayPal: Donate in USD
PayPal: Donate in EUR
PayPal: Donate in GBP

Here We Go Again: Obama Pushes Banks To Lower Home Loan Standards

by

– Here We Go Again: Obama Pushes Banks To Lower Home Loan Standards:

The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place. Administration officials say they are working to get banks to lend to a wider range of borrowers by taking advantage of taxpayer-backed programs — including those offered by the Federal Housing Administration — that insure home loans against default.

…

* * *

PayPal: Donate in USD
PayPal: Donate in EUR
PayPal: Donate in GBP

Rothschild Humiliates Obama, Reveals That “America Is The Biggest Tax Haven In The World”

by

– Rothschild Humiliates Obama, Reveals That “America Is The Biggest Tax Haven In The World”:

In his speech yesterday, following the Treasury’s crack down on corporate tax inversions, Obama blamed “poorly designed” laws for allowing illicit money transfers worldwide. Since the speech came at a time when the entire world is still abuzz with the disclosure from the Panama Papers, Obama touched on that as well: “Tax avoidance is a big, global problem” he said on Tuesday, “a lot of it is legal, but that’s exactly the problem” because a lot of it is also illegal.

There is one major problem with that: of all the countries in the world, it is none other than the country of which Obama is president, the United States, that has become the world’s favorite offshore “tax haven” destination.

Read moreRothschild Humiliates Obama, Reveals That “America Is The Biggest Tax Haven In The World”

Wikileaks Accuses Panama Papers’ Leaker Of Being “Soros-Funded, Soft-Power Tax Dodge”

by

wiki icij teaser_0

– Shots Fired: Wikileaks Accuses Panama Papers’ Leaker Of Being “Soros-Funded, Soft-Power Tax Dodge”:

Earlier today, for the first time we got a glimpse into some of the American names allegedly contained in the “Panama Papers”, largest ever leak. “Some”, not all, and “allegedly” because as we said yesterday, “one can’t help but wonder: why not do a Wikileaks type data dump, one which reveals if not all the 2.6 terabytes of data due to security concerns, then at least the identities of these 441 US-based clients. After all, with the rest of the world has already been extensively shamed, it’s only fair to open US books as well.”

The exact same question appeared in an interview conducted between Wired magazine and the director of the organization that released the Panama Papers, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, or ICIJ, Gerard Ryle.

Read moreWikileaks Accuses Panama Papers’ Leaker Of Being “Soros-Funded, Soft-Power Tax Dodge”

Refugees Flooding Italy Surge 80%; Italy Seeks Greek-Style Returns; Proposed Solution in Single Picture

by

– Refugees Flooding Italy Surge 80%; Italy Seeks Greek-Style Returns; Proposed Solution in Single Picture:

Italy’s Interior minister Angelino Alfano warns the refugee “system is at risk of collapse” following an 80 per cent spike in the number of arrivals to Italy across the central Mediterranean Sea in the first quarter of this year compared to 2015.

Alfano fears that Syrians headed for Turkey will inetead head for Libya for an even more hazardous Mediterranean Sea crossing to Italy.

“How many tens of thousands of people can you keep, year after year? Without returns, either you organize real prisons, or it’s obvious that the system will collapse,” Mr Alfano said. “It doesn’t take a prophet to glimpse the future”.

Costs are about to soar. Alfano wants to secure new deals with African nations, offering economic aid in exchange for taking back their citizens. Here’s a picture that explains everything.

Refugee Crisis in a Single Picture

refugee-crisis2

Underlying image: Business Insider, September 2015.

Taking into consideration fences and walls, boat lifts, airlifts, increase security, border checks, prisons, crime, retention centers, and bribes to countries for taking back refugees: what’s this going to cost?

Read moreRefugees Flooding Italy Surge 80%; Italy Seeks Greek-Style Returns; Proposed Solution in Single Picture

Donald Trump Reveals How Mexico Will Pay For “The Wall”

by

– Trump Reveals How Mexico Will Pay For “The Wall”:

In what he assures will be “an easy decision,” Donald Trump has released details of his plan to “compel Mexico to pay for the wall.” In a 600 word statement, Trump proposes, in a potentially devastating move for Mexico’s economy, to block billions of dollars in payments immigrants send back home until the nation made “a one-time payment of $5-10 billion” to the U.S.

The Donald cites a section of the USA Patriot Act antiterrorism law that he argues can be changed to enforce his proposal if he is elected president, but as Bloomberg reports, it’s unclear if Trump would be able to carry out the plan without approval from Congress.

Trump’s full statement: COMPELLING MEXICO TO PAY FOR THE WALL

Read moreDonald Trump Reveals How Mexico Will Pay For “The Wall”

Russia Relies On Gold To Push Reserves Back Over $380 Billion

by

– Russia Relies On Gold To Push Reserves Back Over $380 Billion:

Whether you define gold as a barbarous relic, a pet rock, “tradition“, or “doomed“, Russia surely refers to it as a saving grace. As Russia’s foreign reserves dwindled to just under $350 billion in early 2015, many predicted Russia was going to burn through all of their reserves in the not too distant future as they dealt with a depreciating Ruble and plummeting oil revenues.

However, this dire prediction did not pan out mainly due to one thing: Russia’s strategic decision to load up on as much gold over the past few years as it possibly could.

As we have shown in the past, Russia has shown an insatiable desire for Gold, and as Bloomberg points out, has increased their holdings more than 12% since last July.

Russia Gold Holdings

This has paid dividends (figuratively in Russia’s case, literally for those who participate in India’s gold monetization scheme) as Gold’s price has helped push Russia’s foreign reserves back over $380 billion for the first time since January 2015.

Read moreRussia Relies On Gold To Push Reserves Back Over $380 Billion

California Gov. Signs Minimum Wage Hike: Admits It “Doesn’t Make Economic Sense” As Locals Flee For Texas

by

– California Gov. Signs Minimum Wage Hike: Admits It “Doesn’t Make Economic Sense” As Locals Flee For Texas:

As of midnight, both California and New York have signed the new $15 minimum wage into law. The irony of the situation, which will most certainly go under reported, is that even California’s Governor Brown knows that it’s not the right decision to make economically. Regarding the actual economic impact, California’s Governor Brown was quoted as saying that  “economically, minimum wages may not make sense.”

…

* * *

PayPal: Donate in USD
PayPal: Donate in EUR
PayPal: Donate in GBP

The First “Panama Papers” Casualty: Iceland Prime Minister Resigns

by

– The First “Panama Papers” Casualty: Iceland Prime Minister Resigns:

We suspect more than a few ‘prosecuted’ bankers will be smiling wryly today as, following the exposure of his offshore financial dealings – revealed in the Panama Papers – Iceland’s embattled Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunlaugsson has resigned. Despite earlier refusal to step down, the decision, which was reported by national broadcaster RUV, followed street protests that attracted thousands of Icelanders angered by the alleged tax evasion.

…

* * *

PayPal: Donate in USD
PayPal: Donate in EUR
PayPal: Donate in GBP