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Prison Planet.com » 5 Reasons Why Ron Paul Is The National Security Candidate
The wars in the Middle East have been sold to the American people as “national security” wars, but this is a big lie. The wars have nothing to do with America’s national security interests. So, the anti-war position is the same as the pro-national security position.
Chile hit by violent anti-government protests | World news | guardian.co.uk
The latest in a wave of demonstrations against Chile's President Sebastián Pinera's education policies has been marred by violence Link to this video Protesters have clashed violently with police in Chile 's capital to decry President Sebastián Pinera's policies, as a poll showed him to be the least popular leader in the two decades since the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Demonstrators led by students demanding cheaper and better state education blocked roads and lit fires as police used water cannons and tear gas to quell the latest outcry against the conservative billionaire. Some protesters in Santiago and as far afield as Copiapo in the far north started banging pots and pans in a "cacerolazo", a popular form of protest in Latin America reminiscent of Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship.
"The great depression is underway" – Celente — RT
Although Washington has avoided defaulting on its debt, US analyst Gerald Celente says the US economy, as well as much of the global economy, is heading into another great depression. " The great depression is underway, and all they are doing is trying to make it look as though they have a plan to stave it off,” Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute, told RT. “Everything they are doing is not going to salvage it.” While US lawmakers did eventually reach a last-minute deal on managing the country’s debt, all the political wrangling involved has already destroyed the US’s reputation with investors, says Celente.
After months of political squabbling in the shadow of a looming default, the US can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as President Barack Obama has signed a bill to raise the country's borrowing limit soon after an 11th-hour deal passed the Senate. This debt bill, which has been waited for with baited breath around the world, is really just a political game that the US did not necessarily have to go through, argues RT correspondent Lucy Kafanov. Raising the debt limit is a relatively routine thing for the US, which has been done more than 100 times since 1940. But the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party has turned this routine legislation act into a proxy battle over ideological differences. The Republicans think that the US has gotten itself into this fiscal pickle because of spending on social programs and keeping taxes too high, a view with which the Democrats completely disagree.
The US is kicking the debt problem down the road — RT
Lawmakers in DC continue to work towards a last minute solution to the debt ceiling crisis — or at least say they are — but to RT contributor Max Keiser, the outcome is already certain. “The rating on US debt is definitely going to be downgraded,” the host of Keiser Report tells RT. “Rating agencies and other places around the world are flashing that they are going to be downgrading American debt, so that is baked into the cake.” Keiser adds that, as the US dollar is crumbling, it is the “savers” — those invested in gold and silver — that will come out on time. In a game where the global bankers are the biggest players, Keiser predicts that the dollar will lose its status as the world reserve currency as the changes are made worldwide. Keiser echoes the words of new IMF Chairwoman Christine Lagarde and says that the “extraordinary privilege” the US dollar has had of being the global currency for so many decades is now at risk.
Max Keiser - 'America will lose its sovereignty' — RT
Wall Street making money on debt-ceiling bickering – Keiser — RT
No matter what debt-ceiling decision American lawmakers make on Monday, American credit ratings will be downgraded and this is exactly what bankers on Wall Street crave, financial analyst Max Keiser told RT. “The US Treasury bond market will be downgraded and will no longer carry the triple-A rating, no matter what they decide and this is exactly what Wall Street banks want,” Keiser said. “You do not make much money trading triple-A-rated US government debt, the spreads are very tight and there is not much money to be made.” According to Max Keiser, the ongoing fuss about the debt-ceiling debate serves the best interests of Wall Street traders. “Most of the economy in America, over 50 per cent of the economy, is tied to investment banking and Wall Street trading, so they control the GDP,” he said. “For them to continue to make money, they need to look for new business, new revenues.
Emergency legislation to avoid an economy-rattling government default sped through the US House of Representatives on Monday night after weeks of fierce struggle and just a day before the deadline for action. Financial writer Peter Bild told RT that despite the compromise being reached in Washington, no one seems to be calling the deal a victory. “It is not a victory for anybody.
“US debt deal is not a victory” — RT
US has to cut $20 trillion or face the crisis — RT
“We need to do something much more massive than this,” says Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor from Boston University. Increasing the United States’ borrowing limit by only a few trillion won’t be enough to get the US back to business, says Kotlikoff, who adds that it is going to take an adjustment more in the ballpark of $20 trillion to save America. Kotlikoff says that, in order to fully balance the budget, lawmaker need to be looking to achieve a generational balance by eliminating a fiscal gap.
US must make cuts or risk economic failure — RT
The US economy continues to stagnate and slide, many European nations are showing increased growth and Chinese manufacturing is picking up. The US dollar is flat, America’s credit is in question and all signs point to more trouble. So, now what – what comes next in solving America’s economic woes and fixing the global economic system? Author and well known international investor Jim Rogers said the US is in terrible trouble.Among the chic bars along Thessaloniki's historic waterfront, one restaurant stands out. "We want our money!" reads a banner dangling from the terrace of an American-themed diner and grill. Inside, 12 staff have changed the locks, are serving cans of supermarket beer to supporters and taking it in turns to sleep nights on the restaurant floor in protest at months of unpaid wages and the restaurant's sudden closure. This is the new symbol of Greece 's spiralling debt crisis: a waiters' squat.
Greece debt crisis: The 'we won't pay' anti-austerity revolt | World news | The Guardian
Government alarm at citizens' revolt as tent protests spread | World news | guardian.co.uk
A tent camp in Tel Aviv: the protests over high rents and house prices have the support of 87% of the population, according to a poll. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images Israel 's tent city protests over housing are growing by the day, and the mood of civil activism is spreading to other issues.European policymakers struggle for united front to save Greece | Business | The Guardian
Leaders of the 17 eurozone countries, plus European central bankers and commissioners, will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday in the latest, probably the biggest, effort to settle Europe 's sovereign debt crisis. The stakes are huge, with the leaders under enormous pressure from the markets, the Americans and the vulnerable parties in the eurozone to agree a new rescue package for Greece and more broadly to ringfence the euro . After 15 months of ad hoc measures, muddling through, and playing for time, Europe's leaders may be facing a date with destiny. But with deep divisions over how to resolve the long running crisis, it is not clear that they can summon the political will to supply persuasive answers to the big questions they are being asked. Frantic efforts were under way on Monday to try to reach a deal that will be blessed by the leaders on Thursday.Afghanistan government under threat after second assassination in a week | World news | The Guardian
Hamid Karzai's authority under threat after the assassinations of two close allies. Photograph: EPA The assassination of a close ally and mentor of Hamid Karzai a week after the killing of the president's powerful half-brother has raised new questions over whether Afghanistan 's precarious power structure could collapse even before the departure of western combat troops in 2014.Ed Miliband has demanded the breakup of Rupert Murdoch 's UK media empire in a dramatic intervention in the row over phone hacking. In an exclusive interview with the Observer , the Labour leader calls for cross-party agreement on new media ownership laws that would cut Murdoch's current market share, arguing that he has "too much power over British public life". Miliband says that the abandonment by News International of its bid for BSkyB, the resignation of its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, and the closure of the News of the World are insufficient to restore trust and reassure the public. The Labour leader argues that current media ownership rules are outdated, describing them as "analogue rules for a digital age" that do not take into account the advent of mass digital and satellite broadcasting.