The heinous and serious crimes of the Obama regime - the utter failure to uphold the Rule of Law updated 06/30

The crime that the Obama regime has committed is the absolute and utter failure to uphold the RULE OF LAW.

The PRIMARY purpose of any government is to uphold the Rule of Law to protect it's citizens from those that would otherwise do them harm.

Obama is actually encouraging the banks to ride rough shod over the people by not punishing the endemic criminal and fraudulent behavior of the banks.

Instead of sending the criminals to jail, Obama is actually rewarding the big banks by giving them nearly $1tn a year of continuing bail outs and by facilitating rulings like foreclosure trials being ruled in favor of the big banks and against law abiding citizens on blatently forged documents produced by the banks.

Obama has even publicly stated that the senior bankers will NEVER be prosecuted whatever white collar crimes they choose to commit in the future.

The big banks will only ever occasionally get tiny slaps on the wrists for any crimes they commit.
Like a share holder fine of 5 weeks of revenues for $8bn of drugs money laundering stretching back for a decade. (That was the charge brought - the reality is that the money laundering stretched back over a century.)

Obama has given the big banks carte blanche to rape and pillage the population as they see fit.

I don't know about you, but I call that a most heinous and serious crime by the government.

And an utter dereliction of the first and foremost duty of any non criminal government.

There are lots of other and more serious ways the Obama regime has utterly failed in it's primary and foremost duty of protecting the people.

The rescinding of the right to a speedy and fair trial by a jury of your peers.
A natural right that has existed in Anglo Saxon law since 1214.
The government now has the right the incarcerate any person that upsets them (that most definitely now includes US citizens), indefinitely and without access to a lawyer, without having to produce any evidence whatsoever.

The failure to uphold the right of privacy and ensuring there is probable cause for any searches of property or persons.
The government now routinely spies on EVERY American citizen without any form of warrant or just cause.
They collect as much electronically transmitted data as they can, such as online bank account transactions, mobile phone calls, emails and lots of internet traffic. They are even eavesdropping on your conversation on the bus.
You had better not have had an illicit affair or similar indiscretion in the past and upset the government in the future.
The government intend to use the information they are now storing away to blackmail anyone that upsets them in the future.
Let us say you might wanted to demonstrate against the Keystone Pipeline or join the Occupy protest on Wall Street ........
Let us say the government wanted to confiscate your property to build the Keystone Pipeline and you did not think the government were offering you enough compensation ..........
Or any other dissent or dispute against the government.
Warrantless and abusive searches without just cause was a primary motivation for the American Revolution of 1776.
This government is FAR more abusive than the Brits EVER WERE.

The government now deems itself to have the right to kill any American citizen (and anybody else) anywhere in the world, including on US soil, with no justification whatsoever.
Armed drones will be coming to US skies soon.
Make sure you don't get too close to a terrorist "suspect" or anyone else that might of displeased the government.
It will be hard luck if you or your family get killed. You will just be "collateral damage".

The failure to protect it's citizens from the abuses of other large Corporations (not just the banks).
E.G. the far from deterrent penalty imposed on BP for the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Or the routine and endemic abuses of the large pharmaceutical companies lying about their products (and over charging to boot).

The failure to follow the basic rules of good governance.
Obama will sign any Executive Order he sees fit - he pays no heed of Congress.
Congress is now entirely complicit in destroying the Rule of Law anyway.

The utter failure to protect the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, which have been utterly shredded using the so called "War on Terror" as the publicly stated reason.
The real reason is to control the domestic population, to control anybody who speaks out or dissents against the government policy of allowing the large Corporations to steal the people's wealth and otherwise abuse them.

When was the last time you heard about a rich elite being jailed?
When was the last time you heard about a senior banker or large Corporate executive getting jail time?
"Justice" is now according to your ability to pay, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Rule of Law.

NONE of the 3 branches of government now uphold the Rule of Law.
Congress has totally ignored the Constitution for a very long time.
Increasingly the Supreme Court makes unconstitutional rulings - like throwing out the recent legal challenge to FISA.

This government does not uphold the Rule of Law.
This government does not uphold the basic fundamentals of civilization - that the citizens have rights which it is the duty of the government to protect.

This government is a government of tyranny and oppression, ruled by large Corporations and rich elites.
It is most definitely NOT ruled by and for the people.
This government fulfils the very definition of despotism and Fascism.
 
Updates 03/06
Eric Holder says that drone bombings of American citizens on American soil are "legal".
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/us-drone-strike_n_2813857.html
Alberto Gonzalez said that the use of torture and kidnapping to deliver into the hands of despots for the purposes of torture were also "legal". That does not make it true.

Drones are now to be designed to identify gun carriers.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/05/Homeland-Security-Drones-Designed-To-Identify-Civilians-Carrying-Guns
These are intended to be used in domestic RIOT control to "knock out" potential threats to the authorities so that the rest of the dissenters can easily be rounded up and incarcerated (presumably indefinitely and without access to any lawyer or trial - NDAA).
Presumably it is intended to round up the dissenters with the army - Posse Comitatus has now been effectively repealed as part of NDAA.
And by the use of the 2,717 armored vehicles now in the possession of the DHS and by the use of the 1.6 billion hollow point bullets already ordered by the DHS.
Obama is fully expecting mass civil dissent and mass rioting due to the expected extremely high levels of unemployment and economic impoverishment of most of America brought about by his policies.

Updates 06/30

The latest examples of the utter failure to uphold the Rule of Law in America

California Man Faces 13 Years in Jail for Writing Anti-Bank Messages in Chalk on the Sidewalk
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/06/26/california-man-faces-13-years-in-jail-for-writing-anti-bank-messages-in-chalk-on-the-sidewalk/

So while thousands of non-violent drugs "offenders" get 20 years plus for putting stuff inside their own bodies, the senior bankers walk away free from wrecking millions of lives in America's racist and class warfare "justice" system which Barack Obama does absolutely nothing to correct.

The big banks  have not even been forced to repay the many billions they received from the taxpayer funded bailout of AIG.
AIG paid out 100c on the dollar when it could only afford to pay out 5c or less.
Goldman Sachs profited the most from this "deal".

The big banks flagrantly breach the terms of the Foreclosure settlement.
It's not the Feds who are prosecuting though - it's New York State
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22428600

Bank Of America Paid Foreclosure Bonuses While Lying To Homeowners
http://thkpr.gs/15cECan

Whistleblower: Wells Fargo Fabricated and Altered Mortgage Documents on a Mass Basis
http://demu.gr/12527449

STUNNING! Wells Fargo launders Mexican drug cartel money, then invests in for-profit prisons
http://demu.gr/1002553981

The massive criminality of the big banks, The rule of Law no longer applies, HSBC money laundering goes unpunished and the failure of government
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-massive-criminality-of-big-banks.html

The catalog of civil rights abuses under the Obama regime
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/obamas-civil-rights-violations.html

Shut the big banks DOWN - stop them holding the country to ransom
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/shut-big-banks-down-stop-them-holding.html

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Why the creation of the Federal Reserve was the absolute WORST thing that ever happened to America

The distortion of free markets, sooner or later, ALWAYS ends in tears.
Markets, sooner or later, ALWAYS revert back to historical norms.

The larger the distortion of the market the more painful the eventual reversion to historical norms will be.

The Federal Reserve private bank is by FAR the WORST example of distorting free markets. 
They control interest rates and money supply around the world. They grossly interfere in free markets. They are by FAR the largest manipulator of markets in the world today. 
And they do it just about every day.

Examples of the Federal Reserve distorting markets and then causing huge amounts of subsequent pain.

The Federal Reserve greatly exacerbated the stock market bubble in the late 1920's with their easy money policies of the time.
The Federal Reserve then greatly exacerbated the great depression by decreasing the money supply.

The Federal Reserve greatly exacerbated the Nasdaq bubble in the run up to 2000 with their easy money policies.
Instead of letting the fall out of the Nasdaq bubble run it's course with a minor recession, the Federal Reserve lowered base rates to 1% into 2003/2004.
This GREATLY exacerbated the housing bubble which had already started and led to near financial armagedon with the housing price crash and banking insolvencies.
If the Federal Reserve hadn't meddled and had left interest rates at about 5% where they were in 2000, we would all be INCREDIBLY MUCH BETTER OFF.

It also GREATLY exacerbated the sovereign debt bubble, government deficits and National Debts.
Governments around the world had no incentives to stop spending and get their collective financial houses in order.
What should of been a mild recession after 2001 has been turned into a total global financial disaster by the policies of the Federal Reserve private bank.

Instead of letting the fall out of the housing market crash run it's course and letting the markets readjust, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to zero and embarked on quantitative easing.

The only effect of quantitative easing has been the lowering of disposable incomes and living standards of ordinary people and a transfer of wealth from middle America to the big banks and financial elites.
It certainly has NOT created any decent paying jobs or wealth creation in America - quite the reverse.

Governments around the world are now struggling with their mountainous debts and huge annual deficits.
These problems have been primarily caused by the policies of the Federal Reserve private bank in encouraging, instead of discouraging, governments around the world to increase their borrowing, their deficits and their debts.

The National Debt of America has tripled in just 12 years.
It has gone from $5tn in 2001 to $16.5tn now.
The government is still running trillion dollar deficits and doing nothing to rein in it's spending.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Federal spending is planned to increase to $6tn in 2023.
The deficits and national debt will more or less rise in line with these spending increases.
The deficit will be about $3tn a year in 2023.
The National Debt will be over $40tn.

The Federal Reserve private bank continues to exacerbate America's economic policies by lowering disposable incomes - in fact they have just made it even worse by announcing in September that they were stepping up the printing of money in QE from $500bn a year to $1tn a year.

The fall out from the current economic and financial crisis is going to be devastating for the entire world.
The primary source of blame lies with the Federal Reserve private bank.

The Federal Reserve should be ended as soon as possible.
The $3tn on it's balance sheet, soon to be $4tn and growing at $1tn a year should be frozen.
The shareholders of the Federal Reserve should lose ALL of that money as a tiny proportion of the damage they have done to America.

The creation of the Federal Reserve private bank is the WORST thing that ever happened to America (including the civil war).
It encouraged the creation of vast amounts of debts by the government.
It made it very easy to borrow huge amounts of money.
It made it very easy for the government to spend recklessly in order to get re-elected.

Until the day of reckoning arrives, interest rates revert back to historical norms of 5% or 6% and America is recognised for what it is. Financially bankrupt.
When that eventually happens it will set off an economic fire storm raging across America and the entire world.

Stop this from happening. Minimise the damage and the fall out.
End the Fed. NOW.

See also :-

The frightening path that the government and the Federal Reserve have set out upon.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/there-is-no-way-out-for-federal-reserve.html


Appendices


Federal Reserve propaganda
  
The Federal Reserve private bank engages in endless propaganda that it somehow acts as some sort of financial safety net or is somehow a force for good.

When the Federal Reserve is THE root cause of America's problems and massively exacerbates every boom and bust cycle.
Just as it is currently doing right now.

The primary purpose of the Federal Reserve private bank is to make money for it's shareholders - just like any other private company.
The major shareholders of the Federal Reserve are other private banks and financial elites.

The principle business model of the Federal Reserve and how it benefits it's shareholders is to ensure that there are huge and increasing debts.
Debts upon which interest is paid to it's major shareholders - principally the big banks.

The principal business model of the Federal Reserve is to extract interest payments from the entire American population who pay that interest mostly to it's shareholders.
It is even written into the Fed's charter.
The Federal Reserve's loans to the government have collateral.
The collateral is the labor of EVERY American citizen and the taxes that can be extracted from that labor.
That is why America has one of the harshest tax regimes in the world.
It does not matter if you go and work some place else.
You are still liable for American taxes (unlike most other countries).
The only way you can escape the Federal Reserve and it's shareholders living off your labor, is to leave America and renounce your citizenship.


The creation of the IRS, also in 1913 was the second worst thing to ever happen to America.
The IRS was principally created to collect the money in taxes to make the interest payments to the Federal Reserve and it's private shareholders (principally the large banks) on the vast amount of debts that were sure to be created, by the creation of the Federal Reserve private bank.


The Effect of the Federal Reserve on America in the last 50 years

Total money supply expanded exponentially until the current financial crises started hitting

The National Debt has also increased exponentially 

The National Debt is now at $16.5tn

Real economic growth vs money supply inflation

When there was REAL economic growth in America in the 1950's and 1960's and there were low government deficits and little money supply expansion, EVERYBODY'S income and standard of living rose dramatically.

When economic growth is fuelled by exponential government debts and money supply inflation (from circa 1980) only the rich benefit.

Congressional Spending plans to 2023

Get government spending and deficits back under control and get interest rates back to the historical norm of about 5% as quickly as possible.

We will get more of the same or worse, until we do.


200 years of government bond yields

Interest rates WILL revert back to their historical norms in the future.
Markets ALWAYS revert back to historical norms sooner or later.
The historical norm for US government bond yields is 5 or 6%.
Markets tend to overshoot the historical norm for a while, if they previously got far away from the norm.
Just like they did from 1940 to 1980.
And just like they have done from 1980 to today.


Global future global growth projections

These projections are a little out of date.

The forecast was kind to the US. It is already down to 21.5% of global GDP, as at end 2011, due to poor governance, poor monetary policy, poor economic policies, increased regulations and overspending on the military.

The European Union's economy is just entering a major recession, due to it's mountainous debts.
Europe is America's largest export market.

Global GDP by country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

The Republicans and Democrats are currently shuffling deckchairs on the titanic with their discussions about budgets and the Fiscal Cliff.
Neither party has any proposals to make America more COMPETITIVE again, so that the wealth of ordinary Americans might increase instead of rapidly declining. 

REAL Unemployment - America's lost decade

Real Inflation is now nearly 10% a year

(All governments understate true inflation - it makes their economic performance look better and reduces their costs. America just lies more than most.)

Income Inequality and Stagnation 

Real male median wages are now back to the levels of 1970.
Wealth is being transferred to the top.

The Welfare Society

Cumulative Annual debt 2008 to 2012

The US takes third place - just behind Greece and ahead of Spain.

Before the income tax and the Federal Reserve there were government surpluses
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/before-income-tax-there-were-surpluses.html

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The government is being INCREDIBLY STUPID. It is allowing the Federal Reserve private bank to behave INCREDIBLY STUPIDLY as well.

Why the government is behaving INCREDIBLY stupidly and WRECKING the American economy 

The economy will NEVER recover unless the disposable incomes for ordinary people start to rise again.
Disposable incomes for ordinary people have been falling since 2001, they are now falling at an alarming rate.
The fiscal cliff deal just accelerated this trend by handing the middle class and the working poor a HUGE $200bn a year tax hike.

Government policy should be directed at INCREASING disposable incomes and getting bottom up spending going again.

It is very easy to see how to make a good start on that.

Increase the income tax allowance from $8,700 to $45,000.
That would put $500bn straight back into the pockets of the 99%, almost all of it going to middle earners and below who would spend it.

Completely reform Corporation Tax.
Set a flat rate of 25%. No loopholes or tax breaks whatsoever.
This would slightly increase Corporate Tax revenues.

Then make the first $100,000 of profits tax free.
This would give a huge tax break to small and medium sized businesses.

These two steps together would mean :-

Ordinary people's disposable income would start increasing again.
There would be more demand for all types of goods and services.
There would be more small business start ups - the risk/reward of starting a new business is now so much better.
Existing small and medium sized businesses would start hiring again. Small and medium sized business are the true job and wealth creators.
Unemployment would go down instead of up. Unemployment will undoubtedly rise in 2013 and beyond with current policies.
The cost of poverty and unemployment payments paid out by the government would start going down. They will undoubtedly rise in 2013 and beyond otherwise.

We have the makings of a virtuous circle.
Additional steps can then be taken to reduce both personal and Corporate Tax rates further, with the emphasis being on reducing taxes for the non wealthy and non giant Corporations.
This will bolster and accelerate the virtuous circle.


In order to pay for these tax reductions for ordinary people, Corporate Welfare should be immediately cut by $1.3tn a year.
It is easy to see how to do more than that -see Appendix.


With current policy, America is in an economic death spiral.
Disposable incomes of ordinary people continue to fall at an alarming and accelerating rate, while giant Corporations continue to make record profits.
Current policy needs to be COMPLETELY REVERSED.

Why the Federal Reserve private bank is behaving INCREDIBLY stupidly and WRECKING the American economy 

Currently the Federal Reserve is printing $1tn a year of new money.
This money is going straight into the excess reserves of the big banks. They are not lending it out.
The big banks already have $2tn of excess reserves.
They have to do something with it.
They are using this money for speculation.

Some of this speculative money is being used to bet on food and gas prices.
It is pushing up the prices of both.
Goldman Sachs made $400m last year pushing up food prices.
Gas prices just hit an all time record for February, with $4 gas in California.

Increases to food and gas prices affect poorer people disproportionately.

Current Federal Reserve policy is LOWERING disposable incomes, lowering GDP growth, raising unemployment and deepening the coming recession. 

The Federal Reserve needs to STOP printing money.
It actually needs to take away some of the current $2tn of excess bank reserves.

What needs to be done to reverse America's current economic decline

More details on how incredibly stupid both the government and the Federal Reserve are being and other things that need to be done to reverse America's decline are included in here.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/why-sequester-is-giant-con-trick.html

E.G.
The Corporate cartels that currently operate in each major industry need to be broken up to increase competition.

For banking, Glass Steagal needs to be immediately reinstated as a first step.
The huge amounts of current government and Federal Reserve subsidies to the big banks need to be entirely stopped. They amount to nearly $1tn a year, all of which will eventually be paid for by taxpayers.

Appendices



Corporate Welfare
Some examples of Corporate Welfare, military spending and other grossly wasteful government spending that can easily be stopped altogether or drastically cut.

$105bn a year for 7,000 mercenaries still in Iraq.
$170bn on building new and supplying existing foreign military bases.
$88bn per year on the Afghan war. Get out now.
$100bn+ of Medicare fraud.
Reduce the price of prescription drugs. America pays by far the highest prices in the world.
Stop the $200bn of new Corporate Pork a year.
Stop the futile war on drugs and save $200bn a year.
Fine the big banks $200bn+ for the harm they have done - it is easy to do.

Completely reform Corporation Tax.
Ending the tax avoidance by offshoring US generated profits and other tax breaks given to multinationals, banks and arms companies would bring in $200bn a year.

End the personal tax avoidance schemes like carried interest and hedge fund managers diverting their remuneration through reinsurance schemes would also bring in more revenues.

Make the taxation system FAIR. Don't favor the rich and large multinationals over the little guy and small businesses.

There are many other ways of saving money and making the marketplace fairer.
The above adds up to $1,300bn a year. 
A lot more than that is possible and should also be done.

Further details and examples are listed in here

  http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html


Update 03/26
These $780bn a year government subsidies to the big banks should also be removed to all allow smaller and better managed banks and credit unions to fairly compete.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-780bn-of-annual-subsidies-to-big.html


The Coming Demographic Timebomb
(Added 03/05)

There is a coming demographic time bomb that will massively exacerbate America's debt problems.
The ratio of the number of retirees to the number of workers is increasing all the time. People are living longer than they used to.
This ratio really starts really accelerating upwards from around 2020.
It is already written into the future just by examining the numbers of people in each age group of the current population. The green segment in the chart below will start retiring then.
It won't change very much at all however much future immigration levels are.

N.B. This problem affects the entire developed Western world (and China and the BRIC's too) - not just America.
Don't expect any help from the rest of the world via increasing American exports.

The only way that this problem can be fixed is to gradually start raising the retirement age at some point in the future and raise it very significantly to 70+ by 2050.
Some countries have already made a start on doing that - e.g. the UK, but America hasn't.

N.B. The Social Security Trust Fund does not contain any real money.
It is stuffed full of government IOU's.
Government IOU's that the government will not be able to afford to fulfil.

The way to start fixing Medicare/Medicaid is to start making Healthcare more EFFICIENT, so that these programs cost less for the same services. The cost of prescription drugs, fraud, over prescription and massive overcharging for Healthcare all need to be tackled. Americans pay DOUBLE for Healthcare, with worse Healthcare results, than say France.
The age qualification will need to be raised as per pensions. Benefits will also need to be means tested.

Something else that Americans would benefit from reading.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-fall-of-rome-was-due-to-unfunded.html

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This comment censored by Huffington Post. About Jack Lews confirmation as Treasury Sec

Obama IS a crony capitalist or Corporatist - just LIKE the Republicons have been for some time. 

When he said change - he didn't mean it. 
He meant to say he was keeping right along with the GW Bush agenda, for Bush's 4th term. 

Both domestically and internationally. 

Government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. 

Government of the monopolists, by the monopolists and for the monopolists. 

And to hell with the economy, America and 99.9%+ of Americans. 


In response to this article about Jack Lew's confirmation. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/jack-lew-confirmed_n_2773791.html


Some of my comments do actually get published from time to time. 

Like these :- 

"Another sad day for America. 
Another sad day for Americans. 

Another Wall Street insider goes to Treasury. 
Another Wall Street insider as Treasury Sec who will work for the banks and to the great detriment of the people."

“Contrary to the article, Jack Lew is no budget expert - otherwise he would be proposing something like this. 

Cutting $1.3tn a year of Corporate Welfare.
It's easy to do.

Reducing taxes on middle earners and below. 
I favor raising the tax thresh hold from $8,700 to $45,000 as the simplest way. 
That would cost $500bn a year straight into the pockets of people who would spend it to help the economy - ORDINARY people not fat cats. 

COMPLETELY reform Corporation Tax. 
A flat rate of 25% - no loopholes or tax breaks whatsoever. 
Stop the multinationals tax avoidance schemes. 
Make the first $100,000 of profit tax free to give a huge tax break for SMALL businesses. 

I would stop the Fed pumping $1tn a year to the speculative big banks. 
This is causing inflation in food and gas prices and further eroding ORDINARY people's disposable incomes. 

The Corporate cartels which now operate in each major industry need to be broken up. 
For the banks that means the immediate reinstatement of Glass Steagal as a first step. 

Corporate profits are at record levels - a symptom of a lack of competition in the market. 

Poverty and the number of people on food stamps are also at record levels. 
A symptom of policies that help the 0.1% to the great detriment of the 99%. 

For details see :- 

http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/why-sequester-is-giant-con-trick.html” 

“I agree. 

Jack Lew's "expertise" will be to bail out the big banks again, when next they come running. 

And to drive middle America into the ground.”

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Censored by Huffington Post. One more step on the road to a Fascist Police State

This comment censored by Huffington Post :-

One more step on the road to a Fascist Police State.

In response to this article :- 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/clapper-v-amnesty-international-warrantless-wiretapping-supreme-court_n_2765931.html

Clapper v. Amnesty International, Warrantless Wiretapping Challenge, Struck Down By Supreme Court 

NEW YORK -- Journalists and human rights advocates worried they are being swept up in an electronic dragnet cannot challenge the U.S. government's secretive warrantless wiretapping program in a lawsuit, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on Tuesday. The court's decision, handed down in a case called Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, will complicate civil libertarians' efforts to push back against the post-9/11 expansion of surveillance.

Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union and the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement the ruling was a "disturbing decision" that "insulates the [warrantless wiretapping] statute from meaningful judicial review and leaves Americans’ privacy rights to the mercy of the political branches."

At issue is the government's warrantless wiretapping program, begun in secret and without congressional authorization under the George W. Bush administration. In the wake of a 2008 federal law passed to legalize that program, the National Security Agency and other agencies are supposed to be able to read emails and listen in on phone calls without a warrant -- but only when they are targeting foreign nationals. 

N.B. The wiretapping program was deliberately set up to be able to listen in on all domestic phone calls. 

The eavesdropping could of been set up in the 37 locations where international calls are routed into and out of the United States.  

Instead the eavesdropping was set up in every major domestic telephone hub within the United States.

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Geopolitical power plays in the Middle East and Syria

Russia is back.  President Vladimir Putin wants the world to acknowledge that Russia remains a global power.  He is making his stand in Syria.

The Soviet Union acquired the Tardus Naval Port in Syria in 1971 without any real purpose for it.  With their ships welcomed in Algeria, Cuba or Vietnam, Tardus was too insignificant to be developed.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia lacked the funds to spend on the base and no reason to invest in it.

The Russian return to the Middle East brought them first to where the Soviet Union had had its closest ties.  Libya had been a major buyer of arms and many of the military officers had studied in the Soviet Union.  Russia was no longer a global power, but it could be used by the Libyans as a counter force to block domination by the United States and Europeans.

When Gaddafi fell, Tardus became Russia’s only presence in the region.  That and the discovery of vast gas deposits just offshore have transformed the once insignificant port into a strategic necessity. 

Earlier at the United Nations, Russia had failed to realize that Security Council Resolution 1973 that was to implement a new policy of “responsibility to protect” cloaked a hidden agenda.  It was to be turned from a no-fly zone into a free-fire zone for NATO.  That strategic blunder of not vetoing the resolution led to the destruction of Gaddafi’s regime and cost Russia construction contracts and its investments in Libyan gas and oil to the tune of 10 billion dollars.

That was one more in a series of humiliating defeats; and something that Putin will not allow to happen again while he is president.  Since his time as an officer in the KGB, he has seen the Soviet Empire lose half of its population, a quarter of its land mass, and most of its global influence.  He has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as a “geopolitical catastrophe.”

In spite of all of the pressure from Washington and elsewhere to have him persuade Bashar Al-Assad to relinquish power, Putin is staying loyal to the isolated regime.  He is calculating that Russia can afford to lose among the Arabs what little prestige that it has remaining and gain a major political and economic advantage in Southern Europe and in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Continued at :- 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-26/guest-post-be-careful-russia-back-stay-middle-east

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Why the sequester is a giant con trick. Why the government and the Federal Reserve are on the wrong path. Updated 02/28

The sequester is a giant con trick perpetrated by BOTH parties.

BOTH parties are scaremongering about a mere $85bn of cuts when there are well over $1tn of cuts to Corporate Welfare and other government waste that can be easily made.
Taxes on the middle class just got hiked by $200bn in the fiscal cliff deal.

BOTH parties are talking about cutting things that almost no one wants to see cut, so that eventually it is agreed that almost no cuts to government spending are made.

$85bn is a trivial amount when the government is spending $3.6tn a year.
It is less than 2.4%.

BOTH parties are scamming you in the worst possible way.

You could not make it up if you tried.

Examples of Corporate Welfare that can easily be cut.

$105bn a year for 7,000 mercenaries still in Iraq.
$170bn on building new and supplying existing foreign military bases.
$88bn per year on the Afghan war. Get out now.
$100bn+ of Medicare fraud.
Reduce the price of prescription drugs. America pays by far the highest prices in the world.
Stop the $200bn of new Corporate Pork a year.
Stop the futile war on drugs and save $200bn a year.
Fine the big banks $200bn+ for the harm they have done - it is easy to do.

Completely reform Corporation Tax.
Ending the tax avoidance by offshoring US generated profits and other tax breaks given to multinationals, banks and arms companies would bring in $200bn a year.

End the personal tax avoidance schemes like carried interest and hedge fund managers diverting their remuneration through reinsurance schemes would also bring in more revenues.

Make the taxation system FAIR. Don't favor the rich and large multinationals over the little guy and small businesses.

There are many other ways of saving money and making the marketplace fairer.
The above adds up to $1,300bn a year. 
A lot more than that is possible.
Details in here :-
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html

The sequester is a giant con trick in other ways too.
Congressional spending plans state that Federal spending will rise by nearly 50% in just 8 short years, to over $5tn in 2020.
The sequester makes a negligible difference - just $100bn of government spending in 2020 out of over $5tn.

The sequester is a mechanism for the large Corporations to keep all of their government subsidies, by distracting the public from what should really be being done.
ALL current policy by both parties is transferring the wealth of the middle class to large Corporations and a few selected rich elites.
Corporate profits are at record levels and so is poverty and the number of people on food stamps.

Current policy ensures there will be hundreds of millions of poor people in America and a handful of rich elites.
Current policy needs to be COMPLETELY REVERSED.

Cut well over $1tn a year from Corporate Welfare.
Use that money to reduce taxes on middle earners and below to raise disposable incomes and get bottom up spending going again.

Give a huge tax break to middle earners and below.
I favor increasing the tax thresh hold from $8,700 to $45,000 as the simplest way.
That would cost $500bn a year.

Give small businesses tax breaks and completely reform Corporation Tax.
Make Corporation Tax a 25% flat rate. No loopholes or tax breaks whatsoever.
This would slightly increase Corporate Tax revenues.

Make the first $100,000 of profits tax free.
That would give a huge tax break to small businesses.
It would also dramatically change for the better the risk/reward ratio of starting up a small business in the first place. There would be more small business start ups.

Simplifying the 7,200 page tax code would also reduce business overheads.
It would put a few accountants and tax lawyers out of a job. That is no bad thing - they are paper pushers and are an overhead to the productive economy.

Appendices     



Details of what should be being done to avoid a deep and prolonged recession and the demise of the Middle Class as a demographic in America.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-us-government-and-federal-reserve_22.html

Why the Federal Reserve is making things WORSE with more printing and increasing it's balance sheet.
The speculative banks already have $2tn of excess reserves.
They are using that money to speculate on things like food and gas.
They are pushing up food and gas prices and reducing disposable incomes that can be spent on everything else .
Goldman Sachs made $400m in 2012 pushing up food prices.
The price of gas just hit an all time record for February.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-2tn-of-excess-bank-reserves-is.html

Why the Federal Reserve is making a sure fire losing bet and is going to hand taxpayers a HUGE multi trillion bill for their losses.
The frightening path that the Federal Reserve and the government have set out upon.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/there-is-no-way-out-for-federal-reserve.html

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