The

Electronic

Police State

2008 National

Rankings

Most of us are aware that our governments monitor nearly every form of electronic communication. We are also aware of private companies doing the same. This strikes most of us as slightly troubling, but very few of us say or do much about it. There are two primary reasons for this:1. We really don’t see how it is going to hurt us. Mass surveillance is certainly a new, odd, and perhaps an ominous thing, but we just don’t see a complete picture or a smoking gun.2. We are constantly surrounded with messages that say, “Only crazy people complain about the government.” However, the biggest obstacle to our understanding is this: The usual image of a “police state” includes secret police dragging people out of their homes at night, with scenes out of Nazi Germany or Stalin’s USSR. The problem with these images is that they are horribly outdated. That’s how things worked during your grandfather’s war – that is not how things work now.An electronic police state is quiet, even unseen. All of its legal actions are supported by abundant evidence. It looks pristine. An electronic police state is characterized by this:

Here are the 52 states and their
rankings:
1. China
2. North Korea
3. Belarus
4. Russia
5. United Kingdom: England & Wales
6. United States of America
7. Singapore
8. Israel
9. France
10.Germany
(read more at https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2008.pdf )

(The Western governments, elites, big business propagandize us in to thinking that our way of life, the home of the free and land of the brave, liberty and freedom for all, and to the republic for which it stands, democracy and the American independence spirit were vastly superior to the socialist or communist police states of the USSR, Communist China, Viet Nam, the Eastern European block, Nazi Germany etcetera, etcetera. While we were fighting and dying in wars against these socialist police states keeping the world safe for our own countries)

The Government is not only after your guns

( I am not a great fan of guns but I know when a government is trying to take control of you weapons while at the same time not willing to give up theirs, you should be very concerned. Remember the government wants to control every aspect of your life while denying the same opportunity to us the real people. The only diffirents between the USA and Japan is that Japan can't maintain a standing Army.)

Anti-gun Land Bill Moving Again Gun Owners Of America Tuesday

February 24, 2009

An alert last week asked you to urge your representative to oppose a massive land bill that was scheduled to come before the full House at any time. The good news is that opposition to the bill grew so loud that the leadership pulled it from the calendar so they would have more time to muster enough votes to pass it.
Well, that also gives you another chance to contact your own representative to tell him to OPPOSE the anti-Second Amendment Omnibus Land Act. The bill, S. 22, is now scheduled to be voted on this week. ( take action, use your ability, use your power )S.22 is a mammoth bill comprised of over 190 separate pieces of legislation and will come to the floor with a rule that will not allow pro-gun representatives to offer amendments. (read more at http://www.prisonplanet.com/anti-gun-land-bill-moving-again.html )

LAPD Implies Owning Guns Is “Illegal”

Meltdown of 40,000lbs of firearms aimed at ‘keeping illegal guns off the streets’ yet most of weapons were legal and handed in by law-abiding citizens who kept guns at home Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Friday, May 22, 2009A CBS News clip out of California that was prominently featured on the front page of Yahoo.com today showed the LAPD melting down 40,000lbs worth of “illegal weapons” to ‘”prevent them ending up on the streets in the hands of criminals” and yet most of the guns shown were perfectly legal and were handed in by law-abiding citizens who had kept them in their own homes.The sheer gall of the propaganda on show here is staggering, because for anyone who doesn’t have a decent knowledge of firearms, the clip leaves the impression that guns are illegal and owned by criminals - despite the fact that the vast majority of the guns shown being melted down, many of them rifles and pistols, are perfectly legal.“We’re taking illegal weapons off the streets and putting them to better use,” states the LAPD officer at the end of the clip, failing to mention the fact that most of the guns being destroyed are perfectly legal and were handed in by law-abiding citizens who had kept them at home.The anchor states, “Weapons that could have ended up in the hands of criminals are melted down,” implying that the LAPD is doing everyone a favor by destroying legal firearms owned by law-abiding citizens. http://www.prisonplanet.com/lapd-implies-owning-guns-is-illegal.html

Federal Agency Says It Can Search Your Home Without A Warrant If you have an unlicensed Wi-Fi router, the Fourth Amendment no longer applies

Steve Watson Infowars.net

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Federal Communications Commission has confirmed that its own guidelines claim the right to enter and search your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night.If you have devices in your home that function using radio frequency energy, such as a Wi-Fi router or a cordless telephone, the FCC claims it can inspect them if it suspects they are being operated on an unlicensed spectrum.“Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference,” FCC spokesman David Fiske has told Wired magazine.The rules stem from the Communications Act of 1934, and have been used in the past to crack down on pirate radio broadcasters. However, critics contend that because almost every house in America now has devices that use radio waves, the guidelines should be altered.“The rules came to attention this month when an FCC agent investigating a pirate radio station in Boulder, Colorado, left a copy of a 2005 FCC inspection policy on the door of a residence hosting the unlicensed 100-watt transmitter,” Wired’s Ryan Singer writes.http://www.prisonplanet.com/federal-agency-says-it-can-search-your-home-without-a-warrant.html

The Electronic Police State 2008 National Rankings

Most of us are aware that our governments monitor nearly every form of electronic communication. We are also aware of private companies doing the same. This strikes most of us as slightly troubling, but very few of us say or do much about it. There are two primary reasons for this:1. We really don’t see how it is going to hurt us. Mass surveillance is certainly a new, odd, and perhaps an ominous thing, but we just don’t see a complete picture or a smoking gun.2. We are constantly surrounded with messages that say, “Only crazy people complain about the government.” However, the biggest obstacle to our understanding is this: The usual image of a “police state” includes secret police dragging people out of their homes at night, with scenes out of Nazi Germany or Stalin’s USSR. The problem with these images is that they are horribly outdated. That’s how things worked during your grandfather’s war – that is not how things work now.An electronic police state is quiet, even unseen. All of its legal actions are supported by abundant evidence. It looks pristine. An electronic police state is characterized by this:

Here are the 52 states and their

rankings:

1. China

2. North Korea

3. Belarus

4. Russia

5. United Kingdom: England & Wales

6. United States of America

7. Singapore

8. Israel

9. France

10.Germany

( This is what we fought against. Isn't this is what the Western Government lead us to believe We don't understand the daily propaganda or the control grid in which we have been living in the home of the free and brave, liberty and freedom for all and the American independence spirit are gone and they're nothing but slogans, PR or patriotic images of a cold war area national brain washing)

(read more at https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2008.pdf )

Government Bailouts...Good for America?

Here are the results!
The Total Number of people who voted in this poll: 3719981)

Who is most to blame for America’s current economic crisis?

69% voted: Clinton Administration and the Democrats in Congress

11% voted: The Bush Administration

3% voted: Wall Street

13% voted: Banks and sub-prime lenders

2% voted: Real estate and mortgage professionals

0% voted: Investors

1% voted: Home buyers

2) Do you agree government bailouts are the answer to America’s financial crisis?

7% voted: Yes

88% voted: No

5% voted: Undecided

3) Do you believe the American taxpayers should have to foot the bill for our financial systems mistakes?

7% voted: Yes, we have to or we’ll end up in a prolonged recession or worse a depression.

22% voted: No, America is too far in debt already.

69% voted: Absolutely not, the American people should never be responsible for bailing out the private sector.

2% voted: Undecided

4) Do you believe the government bailouts will ultimately rescue our country's financial system?

8% voted: Yes

86% voted: No

6% voted: Undecided

5) Do you believe Barack Obama was the best choice to handle the country's future economic policy?

12% voted: Yes

85% voted: No

3% voted: Undecided

(This is What is done in your name & you wounder why most of the world hates the USA. )

If They Knew the Truth, They'd Hate Us Even More

by Ciaran Dubhuidhe

Wednesday May 13th, 2009 8:03 PM

Obama doesn't want us to see our soldiers at work.We Americans like to think of ourselves as civilized people. Historically, we have supported our government in war under the belief that our government and our soldiers are honorable and that we do not engage in unjust wars. Ugly things like genocide, torture, naked aggression, raping, pillaging, and scorched earth policies are things that others do, not us. Since we are so good and virginal in every sense, we reason that others hate us only because of our goodness and purity. If they knew the truth about us, we think, they would love us.

Yet, if this is so, why is it that we need to hide from the world the activities of our soldiers and intelligence agents over seas? Why cannot we, the “liberators” of Iraq, show the world the lovely photos of our soldiers at work Abu Ghraib? Why must the CIA consider destroying the records of American conduct in the prisons at Guantanamo? We are so pure, clean, honorable, and all, aren't we? What have we got to worry about?http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/05/13/18594645.php

People in their own country facing a colonial invader with massively superior weapons will try to fight for their liberty with any thing at their disposal. The US Gov. made this situation in Iraq, they should pay for their crimes against humanity.

Internet Threatened by Censorship, Secret Surveillance, and Cybersecurity Laws
by Stephen Lendman
Friday May 22nd, 2009 12:58 PM

At a time of corporate dominated media, a free and open Internet is democracy's last chance to preserve our First Amendment rights without which all others are threatened. Activists call it Net Neutrality. Media scholar Robert McChesney says without it "the Internet would start to look like cable TV (with a) handful of massive companies (controlling) content" enough to have veto power over what's allowed and what it costs. Progressive web sites and writers would be marginalized or suppressed, and content systematically filtered or banned.
Media reform activists have drawn a line in the sand. Net Neutrality must be defended at all costs. Preserving a viable, independent, free and open Internet (and the media overall) is essential to a functioning democracy, but the forces aligned against it are formidable, daunting, relentless, and reprehensible. Some past challenges suggest future ones ahead.
Censorship Attempts to Curtail Free Expression
The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Nonetheless, Congress and state legislatures have repeatedly tried to censor free speech, allegedly regarded as indecent, obscene, hateful, terrorist-related, or harmful to minors. However, the Supreme Court, in a number of decisions, ruled that the government may not regulate free expression, only its manner such as when it violates the right to privacy "in an essentially intolerable manner" - a huge hurtle to overcome, including online, because viewers are protected by simply "averting (one's) eyes (Cohen v. California - 1971)."

Politics

or

(How to ignore the true will of the people & F*** up everything while you are trying to take over the world)

Don't buy into the Left Right he said she said lies.

(Another smoke & mirror show by the rich and evil.)

Obama Debates Cheney in Dueling Speeches on Terrorism Policy Share

By Justin Blum
May 22 (Bloomberg) --

President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney clashed(clashed give me a break more like bit*hed slap) yesterday in back-to-back speeches over past and present policies on terrorism ( policies on a feeling with a -ism added to it ), defending their own decisions and criticizing each other’s (Isn't that what all politicians do??).
Obama, in a speech intended to make the case for closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,( Only to move them some way else, like the american government doesn't have another 20 torture camps in other parts of the world ) rejected the Bush administration’s strategy for waging war against terrorists, saying it was built on “ad hoc” legal approaches ( the Bush adm. legal approach was F*** YOU will do what we want & there is nothing you can do about it. After 8 years of F*** You Obama is trying to put a care bear face on the US Gov.) that were “neither effective nor sustainable.” ( read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a2y2T29L3zGU&refer=politics )

Pelosi Says She Stands by Previous Statement on CIA

(Update4)
By James Rowley
May 22 (Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood by her statement that the Central Intelligence Agency misled Congress (She trusted the CIA ??? It's just her way out a situation by saying I DIDN'T KNOW, Another Washington politician passing the resposbility YET A- F***ING-GAIN ) about harsh ( IT WAS TORTURE you politically correct, gov. ass kissing jackass) interrogations of suspected terrorists and refused to discuss the political controversy triggered by her assertion.
“I stand by my comments,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, said today at a news conference in Washington. “I have made the statement that I’m going to make” and “I won’t have anything more to say about it.”( if she could keep to that comment and shut her mouth, I think we would all be happy, the two faced bitc*) (read more if you want to at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aMmFl4hbK2vE&refer=politics

UNDERSTANDING NEWS SPEAK

or

(HOW TO READ BULLSH*T)

Obama on Guantanamo and terrorism:
the full speech
The full text of US President Barack Obama’s speech (as prepared for delivery) at the National Archives Museum on 21 May, 2009.

These are extraordinary times for our country. ( you mean terrible )We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars( Two illegal wars that haven’t been voted on by congress and the American people are paying for and dying for). We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century ( This mean we will have to live with less of everything, work harder for less, and with more governmental control and taxes in our daily lives) . There is no shortage of work to be done ( Only for the average guy and gal, the rich will be relaxing the whole time ), or responsibilities to bear (Who will be bearing the responsibilities, the American people that is who and what responsibilities. Paying off the banker bailout and the stimulus B.S.).

And we have begun to make progress( Who is we???, none of my friends are making progress). Just this week, we have taken steps to protect American consumers and homeowners (In what way that doesn’t turn Americans in to debt slaves), and to reform our system of government contracting so that we better protect our people while spending our money more wisely ( do I need to say anything about this one). The engines of our economy are slowly beginning to turn( what are F**king nuts, turnning to SH*T maybe that is what he means) , and we are working toward historic reform of health care and energy ( A bone for the most poor, give me a break can they put any more BullSH*T on the fire). I welcome the hard work that has been done by the Congress on these and other issues ( the rich and those in power have sidelined the congress almost to nothing).

In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe ( Safe is a word that really means UNDERCONTROL, IN DEBT & Paying for the elites dream of world power) . That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.( because that is what your handlers want you to do)

This responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology ( people in other countries who want to be free from American domination is a radical ideology) threatens our people ( because the American government has put us in harms way), and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm ( the American government bring terror to the American people). We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time ( 1984, WAR IS PEACE, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM), and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it( what is “it” a feeling, terror, you can’t defeat a feeling).

Already, we have taken several steps to achieve that goal( What goal? The complete subjugation of the American people). For the first time since 2002, we are providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan ( For the first time! What the hell have we been doing for 6 years ). We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities ( Yes spending that is all you do, military spending is over 50% of the GDP )that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy ( trillions to stay one step ahead of a bunch of guys living in caves, what eles are they spending it on?). We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the world’s most dangerous people access to the world’s deadliest weapons (OH yeah, the US Government gave the nuclear technology to North Korea ), and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border (illegal immigration has been an all out effort on the behalf of big business to keep profits high and to keep down pressure on the working classes salary) , and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates( Banks and wall street partnerships). And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we once again have the strength and standing to truly lead the world (Lead the world in what, job losses, unemployment,torture, war, death, debt, population control, domestic spying, TAXES, ranked 6th in the world after China, North Korea,Russian and The UK, give me a break START BY TELLING THE TRUTH) .

I COULD GO ON AND ON WITH THIS BUT YOU GET THE PICTURE.

WE HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO READ NEWS SPEAK, ONCE YOU DO YOU CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND THE LIES THEY ARE PUSHING ON YOU.

THE GOVERNEMT AND ELITES THINK YOU ARE STUPID BREADERS AND CONSUMERS, DON'T PROVE THEM RIGHT.

The World Economic Crisis

(NOT FOR THE WEAK HEARTED )


UK's GDP GrowthEconomy contracts by 1.9% in Q1 2009
Real GDP quarterly growthGross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, unrevised from last month’s estimate. GDP is 4.1 per cent lower than the first quarter of 2008. Output of the production industries fell by 5.3 per cent compared with a fall of 4.5 per cent in the previous quarter. This was driven by manufacturing output which fell by 5.5 per cent.Construction output fell by 2.4 per cent over the quarter, unrevised from the previous estimate. (read more at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=192 )

Dollar weakens more on credit fears
Fri 22 May, 2009 20:46
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slid, the dollar dropped to a 2009 low and government bonds fell further on Friday on worries over rising U.S. debt levels after investors questioned the strength of its AAA credit rating.
The U.S. dollar, on track for its biggest weekly fall in two months, took the brunt of growing worries about the U.S. fiscal outlook after Standard & Poor's on Thursday said it might cut Britain's AAA credit rating because of soaring public debt.
The weak dollar helped push up commodities prices, including oil, gold and copper, and buoyed U.S. stocks as investors bought multinationals and the stocks of natural resource companies in anticipation a weaker dollar would underpin profitability from abroad.
The euro broke above $1.40 (88 pence) and sterling hit a 6 1/2-month peak versus the dollar while U.S. stocks, after rising for most of the session, slid before trading ended -- their fourth straight day of declines.
"The general theme today is clearly broad-based U.S. dollar weakness, largely triggered by mounting concerns over the U.S. government debt AAA rating," said Omer Esiner, senior market analyst at Travelex Global Business Payments in Washington .http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=reutersnews&articleid=N22597986&feed=Bus&action=article

Japan's GDP plummets record 15.2% in quarter
BY YUKIO HASHIMOTO
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2009/5/21
Japan's economy shrank by a postwar record 15.2 percent in the January-March period on an annualized basis, government figures showed Wednesday, but some economists say the recession may have bottomed out.
Five economists polled by The Asahi Shimbun said annualized gross domestic product will expand between 0.4 percent and 3.8 percent in the April-June quarter.
"We can say the domestic economy hit the bottom in the January-March period," said Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at Nomura Securities Co.'s Financial and Economic Research Center, who forecast 3.8-percent GDP growth in the next quarter. ( read more at http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905210023.html )



The Mexican Economy Plunged in Q1 2009, What is Next?
Outlook:May 14th: Considering that the initial impact of the flu outbreak turned out to be less damaging than feared and that there are longer-terms effects over tourism-related activities in terms of forgone earnings, the estimated cost of the flu outbreak is around 0.3% of GDP with 2009 forecast revised to - 5.2%. (Citigroup) April: Economic activity will likely experience a sharp contraction in 2009, driven by a deep recession in the US and weakened domestic demand. In RGE Monitor’s view, the expected sharp contraction of the US economy of 3.5% y/y in 2009, which will likely reach bottom in the H1 2009, should drag Mexico’s GDP to a swift plunge of 4.7% y/y in 2009 from a sluggish expansion of 1.3% y/y in 2008. (RGE Monitor)
Economic Growth Dynamics and Indicators: May 21st: The economy shrank by 8.2% y/y or by 5.88% q/q sa in the first quarter of the year. The secondary (industrial) sector experienced the largest decline (down 9.9% y/y), with the brunt coming from the manufacturing sector which declined 13.8% y/y. Also in the secondary sector, construction declined 7.7% y/y while utilities and mining declined 3.0% y/y and 1.1% y/y, respectively. The tertiary (services) sector declined by 7.8% y/y. Meanwhile, the primary (agricultural) sector expanded 1.4% y/y during the first quarter. (BNP Paribas)

I LOVE THIS ONE BY THE FINANCIAL TIMES
(Before you read this beaware that in January 2008 the weekly jobless claims was around 250,000 for a four week period. This months figures are more than double that number. The FT is implying that at 632,ooo jobless claims are easing and Santa is riding an unicorn good work FT HA HA HA HA AAAH that hurts so good)

New US weekly jobless claims ease
By Alan Rappeport in New York
Published: May 21 2009 14:31 Last updated: May 21 2009 14:31
The number of US workers claiming unemployment benefits for the first time eased last week, official figures showed on Thursday, but those continuing to claim climbed to a fresh record high.
New jobless claims declined by 12,000 to 631,000 in the week ending May 16, the labour department said on Thursday. The drop was less than economists expected and much of the reversal was the result of the spike in auto-related job cuts the week before due to the idling of Chrysler plants.

THE ECONOMIC NEWS

OR

(more real news)

Speak Out - Audit the Fed, Then End It!
Now that the love affair with Obama is starting to wear off, it is time to Speak Out!
Voters in California have just spoken out against Propositions 1A-1E (see California Voters Immediately Rewarded For Voting Down Propositions 1A Thru 1E) and now it's your turn.
It's time to take action on many issues, and the way to do that is to let Congress know how you feel.
The first order of business is Ron Paul's Campaign Audit the Fed, Then End It!Audit the Fed, Then End It!
I have been very pleased with the progress of my legislation, HR 1207, which calls for a complete audit of the Federal Reserve and removes many significant barriers towards transparency of our monetary system. This bill now has nearly 170 cosponsors, with support from both Republicans and Democrats. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a companion bill in the Senate S 604, which will hopefully begin to gain momentum as well. I am very encouraged to see so many of my colleagues in Congress stand with me for greater transparency in government. (read more at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/ )

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FIRST QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE)
Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and propertylocated in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, (thatis, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to advance estimates released by the Bureau ofEconomic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP decreased 6.3 percent.
The Bureau emphasized that the first-quarter “advance” estimates are based on source data thatare incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (see the box on page 4). The first-quarter “preliminary” estimates, based on more comprehensive data, will be released on May 29, 2009.
The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions fromexports, private inventory investment, equipment and software, nonresidential structures, and residentialfixed investment that were partly offset by a positive contribution from personal consumptionexpenditures (PCE). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
The slightly smaller decrease in real GDP in the first quarter than in the fourth reflected an upturnin PCE for durable and nondurable goods and a larger decrease in imports that were mostly offset bylarger decreases in private inventory investment and in nonresidential structures and a downturn infederal government spending.
Motor vehicle output subtracted 1.36 percentage points from the first-quarter change in real GDPafter subtracting 2.01 percentage points from the fourth-quarter change. Final sales of computers added0.05 percentage point to the first-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 0.02 percentage pointfrom the fourth-quarter change

PERSONAL INCOME AND OUTLAYS March 2009

Personal income decreased $34.4 billion, or 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI)decreased $1.8 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, in March, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $24.2 billion, or 0.2 percent. In February,personal income decreased $24.3 billion, or 0.2 percent, DPI increased $0.2 billion, or less than 0.1percent, and PCE increased $39.1 billion, or 0.4 percent, based on revised estimates.
Real disposable income increased less than 0.1 percent in March, in contrast to a decrease of 0.3percent in February. Real PCE decreased 0.2 percent, in contrast to an increase of 0.1 percent.
2008 2009

Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar.

(percent change from preceding month)

Personal income, current dollars -0.5 -0.3 0.1 -0.2 -0.3

Disposable personal income: Current dollars -0.4 -0.3 1.6 0.0 0.0

Chained (2000) dollars 0.7 0.2 1.4 -0.3 0.0

Personal consumption expenditures: Current dollars -0.7 -1.1 1.1 0.4 -0.2

Chained (2000) dollars 0.4 -0.6 0.9 0.1 -0.2
Wages and salaries
Private wage and salary disbursements decreased $32.9 billion in March, compared with a decreaseof $28.8 billion in February. Goods-producing industries' payrolls decreased $15.3 billion,compared with a decrease of $14.2 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $7.8 billion, comparedwith a decrease of $7.4 billion. Services-producing industries' payrolls decreased $17.6 billion,compared with a decrease of $14.6 billion. Government wage and salary disbursements increased$2.9 billion compared with an increase of $1.9 billion.
Other personal income
Supplements to wages and salaries increased $2.1 billion in March, compared with an increase of $2.5 billion in February.
Proprietors' income decreased $5.9 billion in March, in contrast to an increase of $1.9 billion in February.Farm proprietors' income increased $0.2 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $1.2 billion. Nonfarm proprietors'income decreased $5.9 billion, in contrast to an increase of $3.0 billion.
Rental income of persons decreased $3.3 billion in March, compared with a decrease of $2.6 billion in February.Personal income receipts on assets (personal interest income plus personal dividend income) decreased $20.7 billion,compared with a decrease of $20.6 billion. Personal current transfer receipts increased $18.8 billion,compared with an increase of $17.2 billion.
Contributions for government social insurance -- a subtraction in calculating personal income -- decreased$4.4 billion in March, compared with a decrease of $4.3 billion in February.

Documents

This is an Interesting Read, Remember this was written in 2000

“. . . to insure domestic Tranquility,provide for the common defence . . .”
PAPERS FROM THE CONFERENCE ONHOMELAND PROTECTION Edited by Max G. Manwaring October 2000
CONTENTSForeword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
OverviewMax G. Manwaring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. A Strategic Perspective on U. S. HomelandDefense: Problem and Response John J. Hamre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2. The Army of the Constitution:The Historical Context Gregory J.W. Urwin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. The Public’s Expectations of National Security Peter D. Feaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4. Security Expectations for Transnational Corporations George K. Campbell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5. Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threats Steven A. Cambone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6. Chemical and Biological Terrorism:Political Hype or Bona Fide Post-Cold WarThreat? Russell Howard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7. Infrastructure Warriors: A Threat to the U.S.Homeland by Organized CrimeThomas A. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161iii
8. Threat of Civil Unrest and Insurrection William A. Navas, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9. Missile DefenseJohn Costello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
10. Evolving Roles and Missions for theReserve Components in Responding to Incidents Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction Ellen Embrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
11. In Support of the Civil Authorities Donald A. Haus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
12. Where Domestic Security and Civil Liberties Collide Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
13. A Strategic View of Where the Army Is:Homeland Defense and Issues of Civil-Military Relations Don M. SniderJohn A. NaglTony Pfaff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
14. Toward a National Security Policy and Strategy for Now and the 21st CenturyEdwin G. CorrMax G. Manwaring . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
About the Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
(read more at http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=300 )

LESSON 1
PLAN OPERATIONS TO CONTROL A CIVIL DISTURBANCE
INTRODUCTION
Why have campus disorders and urban economic disturbances created so many control problems for both college administrators and various government agencies? Why have seemingly minor incidents increased into civil disorder and violence before police and other government officials could react? The answer to the above questions and many other problems surrounding confrontations may well be the lack of thorough planning and training. If your personnel are not trained or if adequate plans have not been made, your control forces cannot be relied upon to react properly. We cannot predict the exact time or place disorders will occur but we can determine those planning considerations necessary to manage and effectively control these disorders. ( read more at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/accp/mp1005/lsn1.htm )

Cyberwar, Anyone?January 2008 - By Col. Alan D. Campen, USAF (Ret.)
“One if by land, and two if by sea,” but what if by cyberspace?
Having long relied upon military prowess and diplomatic skills to project and protect its interests on the seas, on land and in aerospace, the United States now is in conflict with stateless entities seeking hearts and minds, not land or treasure. It is a global contest of words and images, waged on a battlefield called cyberspace where rules of engagement that govern traditional conflict don’t apply and plans for a multiagency effort to protect the information infrastructure have not yet been adopted.
Should we call this struggle a war? If so, what laws and rules govern conduct? How serious is the threat of malicious intrusions into—and manipulation of—information systems, and can the vulnerabilities, particularly in the Internet, be sufficiently reduced? Should we respond to these intrusions in kind, and if so, by which agencies and by what means? And what is the role of U.S. armed forces in a battle of words? Recent events have converged to bring the subject of network vulnerability, threats, risks and responses to the fore. ( read more at http://www.afcea.org/signal/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=1452&print=yes

The Economy

Gold visits old relationship with the US dollarFont
Allen Sykora
May 22, 2009 Article from: Dow Jones Newswires
GOLD and the US dollar have moved back to their traditional inverse relationship lately, although some analysts say it remains to be seen how long this will last and how strong it will be.
Historically, gold tended to rise when the US dollar fell as investors turn to the metal as an alternative currency, and vice-versa. But that relationship went by the wayside for much of the last half year as both often moved inversely to the stock market, analysts said. (read more http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25520890-5017999,00.html


Is the US-Dollar headed for a Mighty Crash?
By Gary Dorsch
May 21 2009 4:19PM http://www.sirchartsalot.com/

Each month, the US Treasury publishes its International Capital account, (TIC) which foreign currency traders and bond dealers use to gauge the flows of money from around the world, into and out-of the US-capital markets. The demand for a nation’s bonds and stocks, combined with international trade flows for goods and services, plus behind the scenes intervention by central banks, all act in concert to influence the foreign exchange market which handles $4-trillion per day. . . . .

. . . .The United States is dangerously reliant upon the whims of foreign investors, to help finance its $2-trillion budget deficit this year, and prevent a surge in long-term interest rates, which could have a devastating impact on the US-economy. If bond or currency traders detect that big investors in US-government bonds, - such as China, Japan, OPEC, Russia, and Brazil, have ceased to buy US Treasury debt, or worse yet, are becoming net sellers, it could spark a sharp slide in US-Treasury notes, sending yields sharply higher, and ignite a free-fall in the US-dollar. ( read more http://www.kitco.com/ind/dorsch/may212009.html

GDP plummets record 15.2% in quarter
(Asahi)
Japan's economy shrank by a postwar record 15.2 percent in the January-March period on an annualized basis, government figures showed Wednesday, but some economists say the recession may have bottomed out. (read more http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200905210023.html

May 21 Average summer bonuses to see record 19.39% decline (AP) Summer bonuses at Japan's leading companies will mark a record 19.39 percent dive to 754,009 yen on a weighted average basis amid the global recession, the Japan Business Federation said in a survey report Wednesday. The percentage figure represents the sharpest drop since 1959 when the nation's most influential business lobby it began compiling relevant data, and indicates that faltering private consumption may decelerate further. ( read more http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D989VNI80&show_article=1 )

Japan's crude steel output drops 43.6% in April
Friday 22nd May, 03:22 AM JST
TOKYO —
Crude steel production totaled 5.72 million tons in April, down 43.6% from a year ago and the seventh consecutive monthly fall, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation said Thursday. The dismal figure indicates steelmakers are still curtailing output in the face of weakening demand from automakers, federation officials said.
The drop in April production was the third-largest for any month. By category, steelmakers produced 989,000 tons of specialty steel used in vehicles and other products, down 55.3% from the previous year and the sixth straight monthly contraction, the federation said.

Financial Implosion and Stagnation

By John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff
Global Research, May 20, 2009Monthly Review
But, you may ask, won’t the powers that be step into the breach again and abort the crisis before it gets a chance to run its course? Yes, certainly. That, by now, is standard operating procedure, and it cannot be excluded that it will succeed in the same ambiguous sense that it did after the 1987 stock market crash. If so, we will have the whole process to go through again on a more elevated and more precarious level. But sooner or later, next time or further down the road, it will not succeed… We will then be in a new situation as unprecedented as the conditions from which it will have emerged.—Harry Magdoff and Paul Sweezy (1988) 1
“The first rule of central banking,” economist James K. Galbraith wrote recently, is that “when the ship starts to sink, central bankers must bail like hell.”2 In response to a financial crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression, the Federal Reserve and other central banks, backed by their treasury departments, have been “bailing like hell” for more than a year. Beginning in July 2007 when the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that had speculated heavily in mortgage-backed securities signaled the onset of a major credit crunch, the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Treasury Department have pulled out all the stops as finance has imploded. They have flooded the financial sector with hundreds of billions of dollars and have promised to pour in trillions more if necessary—operating on a scale and with an array of tools that is unprecedented.
In an act of high drama, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson appeared before Congress on the evening of September 18, 2008, during which the stunned lawmakers were told, in the words of Senator Christopher Dodd, “that we’re literally days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.” This was immediately followed by Paulson’s presentation of an emergency plan for a $700 billion bailout of the financial structure, in which government funds would be used to buy up virtually worthless mortgage-backed securities (referred to as “toxic waste”) held by financial institutions. 3
read more press the link in the title

Border troops only awaiting Obama’s OK

By RICHARD S. DUNHAM and STEWART M. POWELL WASHINGTON BUREAUMay 19, 2009, 6:17PM
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security are finalizing plans to station National Guard troops along the Mexican border, most likely as backup support to local law enforcement personnel in Texas and other border states.
Four border-state governors, including Texas’ Rick Perry, have provided input, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters Tuesday.
The final decision on whether to implement the plans is in the hands of White House officials, she said.
Napolitano said that the White House decision-making process “is not by any stretch final” but that “most of the planning process has been done.”
Newly appointed border czar Alan Bersin told the Houston Chronicle that any National Guard troops deployed to the southwestern border, from California to Texas, would be used “in support of law enforcement.”
Duties include helping to staff checkpoints targeting vehicles suspected of ferrying firearms or cash drug proceeds from the United States into Mexico.
“Every time you have (National Guard) support at the border, you’re plussing up law enforcement,” he said.
Guard troops would help “in the support capacity, not doing the searches,” he said.
“The process of consultation, information-gathering and formulation of recommendations is ongoing as we speak,” Bersin said.
“The states have made clear their requests for additional National Guard deployments,” he said. “I am certain that will be taken into account by the White House as it has been by Secretary Napolitano.”
Perry has joined with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the governors of Arizona and New Mexico to request that President Barack Obama send National Guard troops to the Mexican border.
Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, said that she has tried to bring “a real focus on bringing state and local governments in at the get-go” of planning.
The governors, all of whom face significant budget squeezes, are hoping that Obama will decide to deploy the National Guard troops, thus making the added security a federal expense rather than a state cost.

Big changes in store for US credit cardholders

By ANNE FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON – Every American with a credit card will see sweeping changes in the market, with limits on sudden hikes in interest rates that drive consumers deeper into debt. Even cardholders who pay off their balance each month may face new annual fees or lose out on lucrative rewards programs.
Congress wrapped up the legislation Wednesday and sent it to President Barack Obama, who plans to sign it on Friday. The bill will revolutionize the market by restricting when and how a card company can raise an individual's interest rate, who can receive a card and how much time people are given to pay their bill.
In general, the new rules — which go into effect in nine months — will protect debt-ridden consumers from many of the surprise charges common in the industry, such as over-the-limit fees and costs for paying a bill by phone.
"This cements a victory for every American consumer who has ever suffered at the hands of the credit card industry," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee.
But there will be losers too.
Banks, which oppose the legislation, will need to make up the cost somewhere, and cardholders who pay off their balance in full each month could see new annual fees and lucrative rewards programs canceled. Credit could become harder to come by too.
Some of the changes, including a requirement that cardholders receive 45-days notice before their rates are raised, are already on track to take effect in July 2010 under new regulations by the Federal Reserve. The legislation would put these changes into law and go farther in restricting when and how banks charge people and who could get a card.
For example, the bill would require people under 21 to prove first that they can repay the money or that a parent or guardian is willing to pay off their debt if they default.
The House passed the reform bill by a 361-64 vote on Wednesday. The Senate had voted, 90-5, for the measure on Tuesday.
Consumer advocates say it's up to the banks to decide what happens next.
Nick Bourke, manager of the Safe Credit Cards Project at the Pew Health Group, said companies already offering transparent pricing won't have to drastically change how they do business. Lenders could probably cover costs with small annual fees in the $15-$20 range or increase upfront interest rates, he said.
"Nothing requires pricing to go up and benefits to go down," Bourke said. "The only thing that is required is that the price offered actually reflects the cost of using the card."
Regardless of how banks respond to the bill, it's passage this week reflects both America's addiction to debt and easy credit's contribution to the economic downturn.
Last year, the Nilson Report estimated that more than 700 million credit cards were in circulation in the United States. That's more than two cards for every man, woman and child.
What's more is that many cardholders are carrying hefty balances. According to the Federal Reserve, the nation is some $2.5 trillion in debt, excluding home mortgages.
Lawmakers supporting the bill say legislation is necessary to stop a vicious cycle: A cardholder falls behind on one bill and watches helplessly as the rate spikes on their existing balance. Buried in interest fees and other charges, they spend less, which hurts local businesses.
Under the bill, a customer would have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing a rate increase on an existing balance. Even then, the lender would be required to restore the previous, lower rate if the cardholder pays the minimum balance on time for six months.
The practice of charging higher rates and fees to cardholders with risky credit was devised as a means to protect lenders against the risk of default while keeping costs low for consumers who paid their bill on time, said Edward Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, which lobbied against the legislation.
Yingling says the new rules will limit the card companies' ability to price according to risk.
"Less credit will be available generally, which means some consumers and small businesses will not be able to obtain credit cards at all, particularly younger people and start-up small businesses," Yingling said.
Dodd, who championed the bill, said this argument is absurd and "a little like Chicken Little."
Flooded with complaints by constituents who say they are victims of abusive practices by the card companies, the Senate fast-tracked Dodd's bill and only five senators voted against it.
Two of the opposing senators — GOP Sen. John Thune and Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson — were from South Dakota, where thousands of jobs depend on the industry. Thune estimated up to 5,000 workers in the state would lose their jobs as a result of the changes.
Included in the bill is an unrelated measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would allow people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges.
The House approved that provision separately on Wednesday by a 279-147 vote.
___
Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Preventive Detention in the War on Terror: A Plan for a More Moderate and Sustainable Solution

Preventive Detention in the War on Terror: A Plan for a More Moderate and Sustainable SolutionBlum, Stephanie Cooper (M.A. in Security Studies); Dec 2008 (cohort 0703-0704).After September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration decided to detain certain individuals suspected of being members or agents of al Qaeda or the Taliban as enemy combatants and hold them indefinitely and incommunicado for the duration of the war on terror. The rationale behind this system of preventive detention is to incapacitate suspected terrorists, facilitate interrogation, and hold them when traditional criminal charges are not feasible for a variety of reasons. While the rationale for preventive detention is legitimate and the need for preventive detention real, the current Administration's approach has been reactionary, illogical, and probably unconstitutional. This thesis explores the underlying rationales for preventive detention as a tool in this war on terror; analyzes the legal obstacles to creating a preventive-detention regime; discusses how Israel and Britain have dealt with incapacitation and interrogation of terrorists; and compares several alternative ideas to the Administration's enemy-combatant policy under a nonpartisan methodology that looks at questions of lawfulness, the balance between liberty and security, and institutional efficiency. In the end, this thesis recommends using the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor a narrow regime of preventive detention only to be used under certain prescribed circumstances where interrogation and/or incapacitation are the justifications. Note: This thesis was published as a book by Cambria Press in November 2008. The book is entitled 'The Necessary Evil of Preventive Detention in the War on Terror: a Plan for a More Moderate and Sustainable Solution.' An excerpt of the thesis based on Chapter V was published by 'Homeland Security Affairs' in October 2008 [http://www.hsaj.org/?article=4.3.1]. An excerpt based on Chapters III and IV, entitled 'The Why and How of Preventive Detention in the War on Terror,' will be published by The Thomas M. Cooley Law Review in the Spring of 2009.
(read more at https://www.hsdl.org/homesec/docs/theses/08Dec_Blum.pdf&code=5cdf09e7af69d5d75a1c3520cc6ab27c

Obama Administration Endorses Continued Spying on Americans

By Tom Burghardt
Global Research, April 13, 2009Antifascist Calling...
Since fatuously declaring his to be a "change" administration, President Barack Obama has quickly donned the blood-spattered mantle of state secrecy and executive privilege worn by the Bush regime.
On Friday April 3, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss one of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) landmark lawsuits against illegal spying by the National Security Agency (NSA).
That suit, Jewell v. NSA, was filed last September against the NSA, NSA Director Keith B. Alexander, President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence. But with the departure of the Bush gang, the defendants now include President Barack Obama, NSA Director Keith B. Alexander, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence. (read more http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13155 )

Obama’s Animal Farm: Bigger, Bloodier Wars Equal Peace and Justice

By Prof James Petras
Global Research, May 17, 2009

“The Deltas are psychos…You have to be a certified psychopath to join the Delta Force…”, a US Army colonel from Fort Bragg once told me back in the 1980’s. Now President Obama has elevated the most notorious of the psychopaths, General Stanley McChrystal, to head the US and NATO military command in Afghanistan. McChrystal’s rise to leadership is marked by his central role in directing special operations teams engaged in extrajudicial assassinations, systematic torture, bombing of civilian communities and search and destroy missions. He is the very embodiment of the brutality and gore that accompanies military-driven empire building. Between September 2003 and August 2008, McChrystal directed the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations (JSO) Command which operates special teams in overseas assassinations.
(read more http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13644 )

Todays Read

Howard Davidowitz "This country is going into a 10-year decline. "

Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates.
"We're in a complete mess and the consumer is smart enough to know it," says Davidowitz, whose firm does consulting for the retail industry. "If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool."
Davidowitz, who is nothing if not opinionated (and colorful), paints a very grim picture: "The worst is yet to come with consumers and banks," he says. "This country is going into a 10-year decline. Living standards will never be the same."

"We're now in Barack Obama's world where money goes into the most inefficient parts of the economy and we're bailing everyone out," says Daviowitz, who opposes bailouts for financials and automakers alike. "The bailout money is in the sewer and gone."

US journo claims Bhutto was killed on Cheney’s orders

New York, May 18 (ANI): A special death squad assassinated Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the orders of former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, an Arab TV channel has reported.
“Cheney was the chief of the Joint Special Operation Command and he cleared the way for the US by exterminating opponents through the unit and the CIA. General Stanley was the in-charge of the unit,” The Nation quoted US columnist Seymour Hersh, as saying.
The US death unit killed Bhutto because she had told Al-Jazeera TV about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, Hersh said.
The US leadership did not want Osama to be declared dead. It would have raised questions about the US Army’s presence in Afghanistan, he claimed.
According to Hersh, the former Lebanese PM Rafique Al Hariri and the army chief were murdered for not safeguarding US interests and for refusing to set up US military bases in Lebanon.
Ariel Sharon, the then prime minister of Israel, was also a key man in the plot, he said. (ANI)

Multi-modal Biometrics Project
Project Manager: Arun Vemury
Project Overview: The Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate Human Factors/Behavior Sciences Division (HFD) Multi-modal Biometrics Project develops biometric technologies that accurately and rapidly identify individuals. The operational goal is to provide the capability to non-intrusively collect two or more biometrics (fingerprint, face image, and iris recognition) in less than ten seconds at a ninety-five percent acquisition rate without impeding the movement of individuals. The multi-modal technology will allow the Department to compare and match biometric samples from different sources, collected with different sensor technologies, under varying environmental conditions -- a capability that eludes existing technology. This project is part of the Personal Identification Systems Thrust Area and Biometrics Program within HFD

CRS Report on Fusion Centers:

Issues and Options for CongressSummaryAlthough elements of the information and intelligence fusion function wereconducted prior to 9/11, often at state police criminal intelligence bureaus, the eventsof 9/11 provided the primary catalyst for the formal establishment of more than 40state, local, and regional fusion centers across the country.The value proposition for fusion centers is that by integrating various streamsof information and intelligence, including that flowing from the federal government,state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector, a more accuratepicture of risks to people, economic infrastructure, and communities can bedeveloped and translated into protective action. The ultimate goal of fusion is toprevent manmade (terrorist) attacks and to respond to natural disasters and manmadethreats quickly and efficiently should they occur. As recipients of federalgovernment-provided national intelligence, another goal of fusion centers is to modelhow events inimical to U.S. interests overseas may be manifested in theircommunities, and align protective resources accordingly. There are several risks tothe fusion center concept — including potential privacy and civil liberties violations,and the possible inability of fusion centers to demonstrate utility in the absence offuture terrorist attacks, particularly during periods of relative state fiscal austerity.Fusion centers are state-created entities largely financed and staffed by thestates, and there is no one “model” for how a center should be structured. State andlocal law enforcement and criminal intelligence seem to be at the core of many of thecenters. Although many of the centers initially had purely counterterrorism goals, fornumerous reasons, they have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and evenbroader all-hazards approach. While many of the centers have prevention of attacksas a high priority, little “true fusion,” or analysis of disparate data sources,identification of intelligence gaps, and pro-active collection of intelligence againstthose gaps which could contribute to prevention is occurring. Some centers arecollocated with local offices of federal entities, yet in the absence of a functioningintelligence cycle process, collocation alone does not constitute fusion.The federal role in supporting fusion centers consists largely of providingfinancial assistance, the majority of which has flowed through the Homeland SecurityGrant Program; sponsoring security clearances; providing human resources;producing some fusion center guidance and training; and providing congressionalauthorization and appropriation of national foreign intelligence program resources,as well as oversight hearings. This report includes over 30 options for congressionalconsideration to clarify and potentially enhance the federal government’s relationshipwith fusion centers. One of the central options is the potential drafting of a formalnational fusion center strategy that would outline, among other elements, the federalgovernment’s clear expectations of fusion centers, its position on sustainmentfunding, metrics for assessing fusion center performance, and definition of whatconstitutes a “mature” fusion center. This report will be updated.

( read more http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl34070.pdf )

Read Baby, REEEAAAD!!!!

U.S. panel backs FDIC borrowing, credit card reforms .
Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:04pm EDT
By John Poirier
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday backed proposals to reform credit card practices and increase the authority of regulators to borrow from the Treasury Department to deal with a slew of expected bank failures.
By a 12-11 vote, the Senate Banking Committee narrowly approved a bill aimed at cleaning up unfair and deceptive practices by credit card companies criticized for surprising customers with fees and unilaterally changing terms.
The bill, which was introduced by the committee's chairman, Christopher Dodd, also contains two provisions aimed at increasing the borrowing authority of regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the National Credit Union Administration. ( read more )

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE52U6D020090331


JOBS Gone Bye Bye or Friends & Family Benig Hurt .
Market Consensus Before AnnouncementInitial jobless claims for the May 9 week jumped 32,000 to a 637,000. The surge in claims likely reflected auto sector layoffs. But continuing claims were even worse for the May 2 week, soaring 202,000 to 6.560 million, the 17th straight rise and another record high.

The Tower of Basel: Secretive Plans for the Issuing of a Global Currency Do we really want the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issuing our global currency.
By Ellen Brown
Global Research, April 18, 2009

In an April 7 article in The London Telegraph titled “The G20 Moves the World a Step Closer to
a Global Currency,” Ambrose Evans-Pritchard wrote:

“A single clause in Point 19 of the communiqué issued by the G20 leaders amounts to revolution in the global financial order.

“‘We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (£170bn) into the world economy and increase global liquidity,’ it said. SDRs are Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund that has lain dormant for half a century.

“In effect, the G20 leaders have activated the IMF’s power to create money and begin global ‘quantitative easing’. In doing so, they are putting a de facto world currency into play. It is outside the control of any sovereign body. Conspiracy theorists will love it.”

Indeed they will. The article is subtitled, “The world is a step closer to a global currency, backed by a global central bank, running monetary policy for all humanity.” Which naturally raises the question, who or what will serve as this global central bank, cloaked with the power to issue the global currency and police monetary policy for all humanity? When the world’s central bankers met in Washington last September, they discussed what body might be in a position to serve in that awesome and fearful role. A former governor of the Bank of England stated: ( read more at http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13239 )