Infinite Unknown

- How the C.I.A. Enriches Warlords, Drug Dealers and the Taliban in Afghanistan (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 30, 2013):

This article from the New York Times further solidifies the notion that we clearly have no idea what we are doing anywhere, whether it relates to the domestic economy or foreign policy. While the American citizenry remains unemployed and increasingly on food stamps, we are paying tens of millions of dollars to Afghan warlords and drug dealers so that they can build their “dream homes.”  My favorite line is: “the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.” Makes sense.  We are simply exporting our domestic economic model abroad.

From the New York Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

Kind of like Corzine at MF Global!

Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.

Continue reading »

Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, Corruption, Drugs, Global News, Government, Hamid Karzai, Mike Krieger, Obama administration, Politics, Taliban, U.S.

- How Hospitals Profit from Making Mistakes (Liberty Blitzkrieg, April 18, 2013):

One of the many things holding the nation back at the moment is the complete lack of incentive to be a creative, productive and honest member of society versus the tremendous incentive to be a corrupt, thieving, lackey for the establishment.  In a free market system, with a strict set of rules governing the game that is applied to everyone equally, market signals and incentives exist for companies to create a great product and to meet customer needs with great service.  In contrast, within a crony capitalist system, the primary incentive is to get as close as possible to political and corporate power in order to financially benefit from their oligarchical ownership of the controlled economy.

It is only within a completely disconnected from reality, crony, fraudulent economy where you could have a situation in which hospitals actually earn much larger profit margins from making mistakes and harming their patients, than from providing excellent care.  We learn from the New York Times that:

Hospitals make money from their own mistakes because insurers pay them for the longer stays and extra care that patients need to treat surgical complications that could have been prevented, a new study finds.

Changing the payment system, to stop rewarding poor care, may help to bring down surgical complication rates, the researchers say. If the system does not change, hospitals have little incentive to improve: in fact, some will wind up losing money if they take better care of patients.

Continue reading »

Tags: Corruption, Global News, Health, Mike Krieger, Society, U.S.

- The New “Nazis” of Spain (Testosterone Pit, April 16, 2013):

On Saturday, Popular Party Secretary-General María Dolores de Cospedal, number two of the governing party in Spain, said that she knew she was going to get criticized, “but this is pure Nazism.” On Sunday, rather than resigning, she repeated it. For more precision, she added that going to someone’s house to “harass” him “is a totalitarian attitude comparable to what occurred in the thirties in a European country.” A reference to Nazis marking the homes of Jews.

But these “Nazis” are folks who are standing up to the banks and draconian mortgage laws that the government is hell-bent on protecting. And they have a special word for their action: escrache. It had become popular in Argentina in 1995 after President Carlos Menem pardoned collaborators of the Junta. Activists with banners would gather in front of the home or office of a pardoned perpetrator. They’d chant and play music to let neighbors know. While Junta members were beyond the law, they could still be publicly humiliated.

Continue reading »

Tags: Corruption, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Politics, Society, Spain, Unemployment

- Berlusconi: “Bribes Are Necessary – They Are Not Crimes” (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):

With a week to go until the Italian elections, things are getting a little odd to say the least. The somewhat scandal prone Berlusconi, who self-declared himself leading in the polls just recently, has come out swinging in defense of his fellow business leaders’ ethical egressions. The Bunga party banner-man defends bribery, “These are not crimes,” he notes, as The FT reports, “bribes are a phenomenon that exists and it’s useless to deny the existence of these necessary situations…” This apparently on the heels of the Finmeccanica CEO’s Indian helicopter deal bribes and Monte Paschi’s derivative debacle. It would appear his argument lies somewhere betweeen, ‘if everyone’s doing it – then it’s ok’, and ‘everyone’s been doing it forever so why stop now?’ One Italian paper, though, disgusted at the state of their nation, describes the entire political and elite establishment of ‘guilty inertia’ - calling for an end to what Berlusconi appears to be saying is corrupt business-as-usual. And yet we are to trust these technocrats when they say ‘crisis over’, all is well, recovery is here? Continue reading »

Tags: Corruption, Crime, EU, Europe, Global News, Silvio Berlusconi, Society

- Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Police Hunt for Suspected Cop Killer With Door-to-Door Search (ABC News, Feb 8, 2013):

More than 100 police officers were going door-to-door and searching for new tracks in the snow in hopes of catching suspected cop-killer Christopher Dorner overnight in Big Bear Lake, Calif., before he strikes again, as laid out in his rambling online manifesto.

Police late Thursday night alerted the residents near Big Bear Lake that Dorner was still on the loose after finding his truck burning earlier in the day.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said authorities can’t say for certain that he’s not in the area. More than half of the 400 homes in the area had been searched by police as of late Thursday. Police traveled in two-man teams.

Bachman urged people in the area not to answer the door, unless they know the person or see a law enforcement officer in uniform.

…

- Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Search For Ex-Cop Suspected Of Killing 3 Covers California (Huffington Post, Feb 8, 2013):

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — A police officer and a pair of soon-to-be newlyweds were dead.

Another officer, riddled with bullets, was in intensive care.

Two more police were shot at but got away, one of them grazed by gunfire. Two innocent and uninvolved women were shot by police who feared a dangerous suspect.

And despite a massive manhunt that touched three states and Mexico, the heavily armed ex-Los Angeles police officer believed behind the rampage, who promised in his rambling writings to bring “warfare” to police and their families, remained free.

…

- Los Angeles Manhunt: Who Is Christopher Dorner? (ABC News)

- Christopher Dorner Manifesto Posted Online (ABC News)

In this handout picture provided by Los Angeles Police Department, the alleged suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner is seen on February 7, 2013 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by LAPD via Getty Images)

- Full Uncensored Manifesto from Retired LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner:

From: Christopher Jordan Dorner /7648

To: America

Subj: Last resort

Regarding CF# 07-004281
Christopher Dorner w/ Chief William Bratton

Christopher Dorner w/ Chief William Bratton

I know most of you who personally know me are in disbelief to hear from media reports that I am suspected of committing such horrendous murders and have taken drastic and shocking actions in the last couple of days. You are saying to yourself that this is completely out of character of the man you knew who always wore a smile wherever he was seen. I know I will be villified by the LAPD and the media.

Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name. The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. The consent decree should never have been lifted. The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions. Continue reading »

Tags: Christopher Dorner, Corruption, Crime, Global News, Government, Guns, LAPD, Police, Police State, Politics, Society

- ALL IS WELL!!! (The Burning Platform, Feb 6, 2013)

Tags: Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Cars, Corruption, Economy, Fannie Mae, Fed, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, GDP, Global News, Government, Mortgage crisis, Mortgages, Obama administration, Politics, Society, U.S., Unemployment

- Bank Of Italy Caught Lying About Imploding Monte Paschi, Counters With Even More Ridiculous Lies (ZeroHedge, Feb 4, 2013):

One half of the reason why the “market” has finally been reacquainted with gravity is its realization that the previously reported Spanish kickback scandal, which incidentally has been known for over two weeks to most if not the algos that push stocks higher, is refusing to go away. As El Pais summarized below, the graft revealed in this ongoing political fiasco threatens to take down everyone in the Spanish ruling PP, from PM Rajoy, who received more than €300,000 over the years, and on to the lowest rungs of political corruption. Continue reading »

Tags: Bank of Italy, Banking, Corruption, ECB, EU, Europe, Global News, Italy

- Shocking 62% rise in police officers being investigated for corruption with eight out of ten accused of illegally disclosing information (Daily Mail Dec 23, 2012)

Tags: Corruption, Global News, Government, Police, Politics, Society, U.K.

- For Greece: “Nothing Is Gonna Be Alright” (ZeroHedge, Nov 19, 2012):

During a week in which Americans are supposed to give thanks, we thought this inside look at the reality on the streets of Greece was worthwhile comprehending. From the May 2011 Syntagma Square uprising to “the ‘firesale’ of their country, their labor rights, and their livelihoods to corrupt domestic elites and foreign financial interests” the brief documentary follows the dramatic portrait of a country veering to the brink of collapse – and the people who choose to struggle to build a new world from the ruins of the old. “For [the elites] Greece is a guinea pig, to find out up to what point they can ‘milk’ [us]” is how one narrator describes the situation, adding that “they are refusing to see the reality [saying] it’s not happening, it’s not happening, it’s not happening, everything is gonna be alright; Nothing is gonna be alright” as “loans enslave people.” Utopia remains on the horizon…

The Greek people are suffering from two contradictory collective feelings: Fear and Rage.

Some disturbing images and deep introspection here…

English subtitles but mostly English spoken…

YouTube

Tags: Collapse, Corruption, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, Politics

YouTube Added: 02.11.2012

Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, Banking, Barack Obama, Central Bank, Collapse, Corruption, Debt, Drones, Economy, EU, Europe, Fascism, G20, Gerald Celente, Germany, Global News, Government, Greece, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Italy, Mexico, Mitt Romney, New World Order, Obama administration, Paul Krugman, Politics, Quantitative Easing, Russia, Society, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Terrorism, U.S., Vladimir Putin, WWW III, Yemen