Ron Paul Supporters Decry Rand’s Endorsement of Romney

Majority accuse Kentucky Senator of selling out to Republican establishment

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Friday, June 8, 2012

Editor’s Note: Alex Jones will be covering this issue on today’s show. He will also release a special message for Ron Paul tonight.

Rand Paul’s decision to endorse Mitt Romney as Republican candidate for President is causing a firestorm of outrage amongst Ron Paul supporters, who are accusing the Kentucky Senator of selling out to the political establishment.

During an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night, Rand Paul threw his weight behind the former Massachusetts Governor.

“My first choice had always been my father. I campaigned for him when I was 11-years-old. He’s still my first pick,” Paul told Hannity. “But now that the nominating process is over, tonight I’m happy to announce that I’m going to be supporting Gov. Mitt Romney.”

The Romney campaign quickly shot back with an official press release welcoming the endorsement.

“I am honored to have earned the endorsement of Rand Paul. Senator Paul has been a leading voice in the effort to scale back the size and reach of government and promote liberty. Over the past three and half years, President Obama has made government more and more of a presence in our lives, and Americans can’t afford four more years of the same failed policies. As President, I will reform the federal government and make it smaller, simpler, and smarter. I am grateful for Senator Paul’s support and look forward to working with him to get America back on the right track.”

When asked about signs that Rand Paul was moving closer to Romney after a series of low-key meetings with the former Governor of Massachusetts, Alex Jones pointed out that Paul would be far wiser to wait four years before trying to have an impact on the presidential election.

“I think Rand will destroy himself if he does that,” said Jones, adding, “I would advise Rand Paul to refuse it,” if he is offered the VP slot by the Romney campaign.

The reaction to Rand Paul’s endorsement of Romney on pro-Ron Paul websites has been nothing short of savage. Listed below are just a handful of the thousands of comments attacking Rand for his apparent decision to jump in bed with the Republican establishment.

“Not another penny for Rand! THAT IDIOT! He got himself infected by the Washington, shifting, turning, spinning, compromising, eye shutting WASHINGTON BUG!”

“Son betrayed the father. Looks are perception. Perception is marketing. No kid does this to his father. Rand could have quietly gone to the polls and voted. I can’t see it as anything except spineless.”

“He was an equivocator from the beginning. He does not have the same commitment to the Constitution. He’s feathering his own bed. Now, let him lie in it!”

“This weakens us by making us have to bend to the establishment and compromise our beliefs. Paulistas, we never compromised one hair during this whole journey. Are you willing to begin compromising now?”

“Rand Paul is a pathetic sellout! I just emailed the Campaign For Liberty to let Rand know exactly how I feel. He is a traitor. He has lost my vote in 2016.”

Read the entire article 

S&P keeps US rating unchanged, outlook 'negative'

Yahoo News
June 9, 2012

• 
  Standard & Poor's held its US sovereign rating steady at AA+ but also kept its negative …

The United States held onto its AA+ rating from Standard & Poor's Friday but the agency said it also kept a negative outlook on the country, citing the political deadlock over fixing the fiscal deficit.

Ten months after delivering a historic rate cut to Washington, removing its top-level AAA rating, S&P warned that the reasons for the downgrade remained in place and that if anything they were deteriorating.

The ideological deadlock between Republicans and Democrats continued to block real solutions for closing the government's deficit and bringing down debt, S&P said.

It reiterated its August 2011 warning that if politicians do not come together to address the gaping fiscal hole and reduce debt over the medium term, the United States could be dealt another downgrade.

"The negative outlook reflects our opinion that US sovereign credit risks, primarily political and fiscal, could build to the point of leading us to lower our 'AA+' long-term rating by 2014."

The US still merits a high grade, S&P said, as the issuer of the world's key reserve currency.

"We see the US economy with an economy as highly diversified and market-oriented, with an adaptable and resilient economic structure, all of which contribute to strong credit quality."

However, it said, the government's ability to implement reforms "has weakened in recent years... particularly with regard to broad fiscal policy direction."

"We think that recent shifts in the ideologies of the two major political parties in the US could raise uncertainties about the government's ability and willingness to sustain public finances consistently over the long term."

Read the entire article

The U.S. Economy By The Numbers: 70 Facts That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To See

The Economic Collapse
June 9, 2012

Why is the economy going to collapse?  Have you ever been asked that question?  If so, what did you say?  Sometimes it is difficult to communicate dozens of complicated economic and financial concepts in a package that the average person on the street can easily digest.  It can be very frustrating to know that something is true but not be able to explain it clearly to someone else.  Hopefully many of you out there will find the list below useful.  It is a list of 70 numbers that show why we are headed for a national economic nightmare.  So why does the title of the article single out Barack Obama?  Well, it is because right now he is the biggest cheerleader for the economy.  He is attempting to convince all of us that everything is just fine and that the economy is heading in a positive direction.  Well, the truth is that everything is not fine and things are about to get a whole lot worse.  Certainly others should share in the blame as well.  Congress has been steering the economy in the wrong direction for decades, the "too big to fail" banks have turned Wall Street into a pyramid of risk, leverage and debt, and the Federal Reserve has more power over the financial system than anyone else does.  Our economy has been in decline for quite a while now, and soon we are going to smash directly into an economic brick wall.  Unfortunately, a lot of Americans are in denial about this.  A lot of people out there doubt that an economic collapse is coming.  Well, if you know someone that believes that the U.S. economy is going to be "just fine", just show them the list below.

The following are 70 facts that Barack Obama does not want you to see....

$3.59 - When Barack Obama entered the White House, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.85.  Today, it is $3.59.

22 - It is hard to believe, but today the poverty rate for children living in the United States is a whopping 22 percent.

23 - According to U.S. Representative Betty Sutton, an average of 23 manufacturing facilities permanently shut down in the United States every single day during 2010.

30 - Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer.  Today, that number is above 30 percent.

32 - The amount of money that the federal government gives directly to Americans has increased by 32 percent since Barack Obama entered the White House.

35 - U.S. housing prices are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble.

40 - The official U.S. unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 40 months in a row.

42 - According to one survey, 42 percent of all American workers are currently living paycheck to paycheck.

48 - Shockingly, at this point 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.

49 - Today, an astounding 49.1 percent of all Americans live in a home where at least one person receives benefits from the government.

53 - Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

60 - According to a recent Gallup poll, only 60 percent of all Americans say that they have enough money to live comfortably.

61 - At this point the Federal Reserve is essentially monetizing much of the U.S. national debt.  For example, the Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.

63 - One recent survey found that 63 percent of all Americans believe that the U.S. economic model is broken.

71 - Today, 71 percent of all small business owners believe that the U.S. economy is still in a recession.

80 - Americans buy 80 percent of the pain pills sold on the entire globe each year.

81 - Credit card debt among Americans in the 25 to 34 year old age bracket has risen by 81 percent since 1989.

85 - 85 percent of all artificial Christmas trees are made in China.

86 - According to one survey, 86 percent of Americans workers in their sixties say that they will continue working past their 65th birthday.

90 - In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

Read the entire article

10 Signs That The Highways Of America Are Being Transformed Into A High Tech Prison Grid

The American Dream

June 6, 2012

Once upon a time, the open highways of America were one of our greatest symbols of liberty and freedom.  Anyone could hop in a car and set off for a new adventure at any time and even our music encouraged us to "get our kicks on route 66".  But today everything has changed.  Now the highways of America are being steadily transformed into a high tech prison grid.  All over the country, thousands upon thousands of surveillance cameras watch our highways and automated license plate readers are actually being used to track vehicle movements in some of our largest cities.  Many state and local governments have come to view our highways as money machines and our control freak politicians have established a vast network of toll booths, red light cameras and speed traps to keep cash endlessly pouring in.  If all of that wasn't enough, TSA "VIPR teams" are now hitting the interstates and conducting thousands of "unannounced security screenings" each year.  Driving on the highways of America used to be a great joy, but now "Big Brother" is rapidly sucking all of the fun out of it.  Eventually, it may get to the point where Americans simply dread having to go out on the highway.

The following are 10 signs that the highways of America are being transformed into a high tech prison grid....

Read the entire article

Eyewitnesses: Mitt Romney Attended Bilderberg 2012

Four separate hotel staff report seeing presidential candidate

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Four separate eyewitnesses inside the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly Virginia told London Guardian writer Charlie Skelton that Mitt Romney was in attendance at Bilderberg 2012, suggesting the Republican candidate could be the elite’s pick for the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

“Four eyewitnesses on the hotel staff told me Willard Mitt Romney was here at Bilderberg 2012. My four eyewitnesses place him inside. That’s one more than Woodward and Bernstein used. Romney’s office initially refused to confirm or deny his attendance as Bilderberg is “not public”. They later said it was not him,” writes Skelton.

The London Guardian writer adds that the fact Romney’s name did not appear on the official list of attendees is meaningless. Numerous power brokers, including Bill Gates, were photographed arriving at the event yet were not included on the list of participants, as is routinely the case.

With speculation already raging that Romney’s potential VP – Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels – was already being groomed by Bilderberg cronies, Romney’s appearance at the secretive confab of global power brokers suggests that he is being favored by the elite, who have seemingly lost faith in Barack Obama.

As Skelton noted in a separate report, on Saturday afternoon a limousine arrived at the hotel surrounded by a police motorcade, signaling the arrival of a “heavyweight politician”. Could this have been Mitt Romney? It’s unlikely given the fact that he was appearing at fundraisers on the west coast all weekend, but Romney’s schedule for Thursday, the first day of the Bilderberg meeting, was clear.

An invite to the Bilderberg conference has routinely proven beneficial to future Presidents and Prime Ministers.

Four years ago during a heated battle on the campaign trail, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton gave reporters the slip to attend the 2008 Bilderberg meeting at the same hotel. On precisely the same weekend as the confab was taking place, the Washington Post announced that Hillary was withdrawing from the presidential race and would support Obama.

Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were both groomed by the secretive organization in the early 1990′s before rising to prominence. Portugal’s Pedro Santana Lopes and Jose Socrates attended the 2004 meeting in Stresa, Italy before both going on to become Prime Minster of Portugal.

Bilderberg also played a key role in selecting John Edwards and John Kerry’s running mate in 2004 and Bilderberg luminary James A. Johnson also hand-picked Joe Biden as VP in 2008.

Confirmation that Romney attended Bilderberg 2012 may be hard to come by, but news that the former Governor of Minnesota’s email account was compromised by a hacker could offer proof, although no emails have been leaked thus far.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

Soros Spends $400 Million On 'Open Society' Education, 'Social Action,' Colleges And Universities

CNS News

George Soros

June 6, 2012

School is letting out around the United States, but for George Soros, education never stops. Soros has given more than $400 million to colleges and universities, including money to most prominent institutions in the United States. He also helped establish Central European University (CEU) which, in turn, uses its resources to promote his personal goal of an “open society.”

Imagine that, a whole university funded by one of the most controversial figures in the world. Soros has used that $400 million worldwide to indoctrinate students and teach them to promote liberal, and in some cases extremist, causes. But don’t expect the American news media to make it a big issue, even though they have done so for the Koch brothers.

CEU, which is essentially Soros’s own university, has received $250 million from the liberal billionaire. The Founder and Chairman of the Board is none other than Soros. More than half of CEU’s 20 member board are closely tied to the liberal financier. President of the Soros-funded Bard College Leon Botstein is Chairman of the Board.

While the Left shrivels at the thought of the Koch brother’s donations to universities, Soros gave more than 50 times as much. Bard College was the American institution that received the most from Soros (more than $75 million). Grants to Bard for “community service and social action” included a Palestinian youth group and an initiative to educate prisoners across the country.

All of the Ivy League universities, along with a variety of state schools, private institutions, and even religiously-affiliated institutions, were also funded by Soros.

Read the entire article

Bob Chapman is DEAD !

The International Forecaster
June 4, 2012

Bob Chapman Passes Away : Robert “Bob” John Chapman, age 76, of Winter Haven, FL (formally of Mexico) died Monday, June 4, 2012 due to pancreatic cancer. He was born October 16, 1935 in Boston, MA the son of John Chapman and Ruth Donley Chapman. Bob was a veteran of the US Army, a writer of a news letter discussing finances and economics and a regular radio commentator discussing politics as well as economics and finances. Most of his working life he served as a stock broker. Bob is survived by his wife, of 47 years, Judith “Judy” Dabrowski Chapman, son: Robert Michael Chapman, daughter: Jenifer Gillotti and her husband Matt, sisters: Dorothy Trecker and Joan Lotz and 4 grandchildren. Committal services are Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 1:00pm at Glen Abbey Memorial Gardens, Auburndale, FL.

Secret mission accomplished: America's mysterious space plane to land after a YEAR in orbit - and no one knows what it did up there

MailOnline
June 5, 2012

The U.S Air Force’s highly secret unmanned space plane will land in June - ending a year-long mission in orbit.

The experimental Boeing X37-B has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December. It is now expected  to land in mid to late June.

At launch, the space plane was accompanied by staff in biohazard suits, leading to speculation that there were radioactive components on board. 

Mystery tour: The mission of the X-37B space plane was extended after it spent nine months orbiting the Earth

The men and women of Team Vandenberg are ready to execute safe landing operations anytime and at a moment's notice,' said Colonel Nina Armagno of the U.S. Air Force's Space Wing.

The plane resembles a mini space shuttle and is the second to fly in space. 

It was meant to land in March, but the mission of the X-37B orbital test vehicle was extended – for unknown reasons.

The first one landed last December at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after more than seven months in orbit.

Read the entire article

Russia turns east to embrace looming China

Reuters
June 5, 2012

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his address at a parenting awards ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin June 2, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin

(Reuters) - When Russia opens a "billion-dollar bridge" on its Pacific coast this summer, Vladimir Putin can expect an enthusiastic audience among the 5,000 islanders whom it will connect to the mainland, at an eye-popping cost per head.

But the president will be looking, too, for attention from a few miles further off, in China, whose rise as a trading and diplomatic partner but also as a potential rival for control of thinly populated Siberia's resources has brought a new focus in Moscow on both business and military investment in the far east.

Putin, who meets Chinese leaders in Beijing on Tuesday as he settles back into his role in the Kremlin, has poured money into the Vladivostok area since it was chosen five years ago to host this September's Asia-Pacific APEC summit.

The bridge, which with a central span of 1.l km (1,200 yards) can claim to be the longest of its type in the world, is a sweeping statement of intent. It connects Russia's main Pacific port to Russky Island, where just 20 years ago, as Soviet Communism collapsed, soldiers starved to death for want of rations being dispatched to this remotest of outposts.

Today, though some question the efficacy of bureaucrats pouring taxpayers' roubles into the region, it shows a will in the Kremlin to engage in the east, where Putin must balance the opportunities and risks presented by the rapid growth of China.

"If Peter the Great were alive today he would relocate the capital to Vladivostok not St Petersburg," said Dmitry Trenin of the think-tank Carnegie Moscow Center, referring to the 18th-century tsar's drive to push Russians into the heart of Europe.

"The Pacific is the equivalent of the Baltic Sea in the 18th century. It's where the action is," Trenin said. "But Russia needs to divert far more attention to the Far East than it has been devoting recently ... It will remain a challenge."

Read the entire article

UK over the barrel with Greece bailout

Editor's Note: I believe Greece will remain in the EU. The leaders in Athens will more than likely come up with an agreement with their creditors, as is suggested in the article below.


Mail&Guardian
June 5, 2012


Britain could be asked to underwrite up to 4.8-billion towards a bailout of Greece if the country exits the euro.

David Cameron may also face calls for concessions including a referendum on EU membership if a Greek exit prompts a full treaty change, a report by Open Europe said on Monday.

There are growing concerns about the consequences should Athens leave the euro in a so-called “Grexit”, which have escalated in the run-up to the Greek general election on June 17.

Raoul Ruparel, head of economic research at Open Europe, has predicted that the new government in Athens is likely to reach a deal with creditors, allowing the country to remain in the euro temporarily. “As Greece approaches a balanced budget and a more stable banking sector, though still messy, an exit will look increasingly attractive,” he said.

The total cost of supporting Greece if it left the currency could be anything between £55-billion and £211-billion in external and immediate short-term support – in addition to longer-term costs or contagion affecting markets – according to Open Europe.

“This support could potentially be split between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the eurozone and non-euro countries, with the UK possibly underwriting between £3-billion and £5-billion of the entire rescue package,” the think-thank said.

British taxpayers have so far avoided any direct contribution to the temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility and its imminent successor, the European Stability Mechanism.

Cameron has said that he has won assurances from the EU that Britain would not have to contribute to any fresh rescue for Greece.

But Open Europe argues the UK would be likely to take part through the IMF.

Read the entire article

Poland Rises as Investigation Accuses Russia of Plane-Crash Assassination of Government

A.M. Freyed
Infowars.com
June 4, 2012

On June 10, Poles planned to mark the April 10, 2010 plane crash that killed then-President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others in Smolensk, Russia. That event could spark tensions, as many of the marchers blame Russia for orchestrating the crash to get rid of Kaczynski, known as a critic of the Kremlin. –Supersport (6/1/12)

All eyes are on Warsaw for Russia-Poland, 12 June, at the new national stadium. Team Russia has chosen to stay at the Hotel Bristol on Krakowskie Przedmiescie next to the Presidential Palace. It’s one of the nicest, most historic hotels in Warsaw, but also the site of near constant protests from people who believe the Russian government orchestrated the 2010 Smolensk plane crash … It could get ugly … – Firebird@TexasFootball.com (6/1/12)

As reported by an applied scientist, Grzegorz Szuladzinski PhD, an expert of Parliamentary Committee investigating into the Smolensk’s crash, the causes of the crash were explosions at the time of landing approach that started destruction of the aircraft above the ground. – Cleveland Plain Dealer (5/4/12)

“Poland avoided eastern Europe’s worst lending binges. Kaczynski frustrated some of his opponents by being in no rush to head towards the euro party” – Daily Telegraph (12/4/10)

Poland has great ‘fracking’ potential with shale gas reserves … Poland may be sitting on a vast natural resource that could make it energy independent …”Poland is arguably the biggest focus for shale gas in all of Europe,” says Beata Stelmach, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister. – CNN (5/28/2012)

About two years ago, much of the senior government of Poland was wiped out in a Russian plane crash. The consequences linger today, and may prove to be a defining moment in Poland’s modern history.

In fact, the continuing backlash may set the Poles on the trail toward becoming once again a truly independent nation at the heart of Europe. This is something Russians and Eurocrats fear mightily.

Polish culture and Polish self-sufficiency have been discouraged by both of these entities. And both therefore had plenty of reasons to want the previous, independent Polish government “disappeared.”

Though they refuse to give back the plane’s black boxes (and moved quickly and suspiciously to sanitize the plane’s crash site), Russians claim vehemently that the crash was an accident. But Poles believe it wasn’t. Even today, remaining YouTube videos seem to show clearly shadowy characters dressed in black roaming the scene of the crash and shooting survivors.

The Russians had plenty of reasons to dislike (now deceased) President Lech Kaczynski. And he was no European favorite either. He had refused to adopt the euro; as a result, the Polish economy stood up rather well in 2008 and beyond when much of the rest of Europe began to suffer from the sovereign debt crisis.

Since then, things have continued to do well. In fact, according to Bloomberg, Poland’s economy grew 3.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012. Bloomberg adds, “The Eastern European nation of 38 million has witnessed something close to an economic miracle …”

Most recently, with the advent of new recovery techniques it has been estimated that the Poles have enough natural gas and oil to become self-sufficient and even to be an exporting nation. This is strategically most important as the Poles are currently dependent on Russia for energy, and Poles and Russians have been enemies for centuries.

The Polish-Slovak Empire about 1,000 years ago included today’s Poland plus the Ukraine and much of what once was Czechoslovakia. The Poles have a cohesive culture that competes with both Russia and Germany. This also explains why Poland has been repeatedly invaded.

It certainly explains why many Poles believe that the Russians engineered the crash.

Now those who believe it have additional ammunition. The Polish American Congress Council of National Directors just adopted a resolution requiring Prime Minister Donald Tusk create an international commission to look into the crash.

The resolution was taken after a hearing that included a report by scientist, Grzegorz Szuladzinski PhD, positing that the causes of the crash were explosions at the time of landing.

In other words, someone blew up the plane. And investigations must continue. Poland is co-hosting the prestigious UEFA Euro 2012 soccer tournament – and dueling protests between Poles and Russians are expected. The putative cause may be the games, but the underlying issue is the larger one of a cold-blooded killing.

In the past, such an event – assuming it was assassination – would already be ancient history. But the Internet has made such violence increasingly difficult to obscure. Whether it is 9/11, various US and NATO wars, or this tragic incident, the information not only remains available, it is regularly updated and expanded.

Never have elite manipulations – if that is what they are – been exposed in such a manner. Global elites surely seek world government, but their strategies are subject to constant scrutiny on the ‘Net.

In the Internet era, elite strategies are increasingly difficult to realize. Intimidation and manipulation are increasingly being countered by an informed and resistant populace.

The idea was to keep the Poles divided and helpless. Instead, perhaps on many fronts, the Poles seem to be rising.

For additional links see www.AmericanFreed.com.

EXCLUSIVE - THE VETTING - SENATOR BARACK OBAMA ATTENDED BILL AYERS BARBECUE, JULY 4, 2005

Breitbart

June 4, 2012

Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn

As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama disavowed any connection with former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground radical who was one of Obama's early backers and his colleague on the board of the Woods Fund in Chicago. We now have proof that Obama's association with Ayers continued even after Obama had been elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate--in the form of a now-scrubbed blog post placing Obama at the home of Ayers and his wife, fellow radical Bernardine Dohrn, on July 4, 2005.

Dr. Tom Perrin, Assistant Professor of English at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, was a graduate student at the University of Chicago at the time, and maintained a blog called "Rambling Thomas." He lived next door to Ayers and Dohrn in Hyde Park. He wrote at 8:44 a.m. on July 6, 2005:

Guess what? I spent the 4th of July evening with star Democrat Barack Obama! Actually, that's a lie. Obama was at a barbecue at the house next door (given by a law professor who is a former member of the Weather Underground) and we saw him over the fence at our barbecue. Well, the others did. It had started raining and he had gone inside be the time I got there. Nevertheless.

Dohrn is a Clinical Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern University, and Chicago did, in fact, record rainfall on the Fourth of July holiday in 2005.

Breitbart News attempted to contact Dr. Perrin for further comment: 

Dear Dr. Perrin,

My name is Joel Pollak, and I am the Editor-in-Chief of Breitbart News.

We came across your blog entry from July 2005 in which you mentioned that then-Senator Obama had been a guest at the Ayers/Dohrn house next door. 

http://ramblingthomas.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

I was wondering if you could provide more detail. 

Many thanks,

Joel Pollak

Dr. Perrin did not respond. He did, however, delete his entire blog from the Internet.

Of course, Breitbart News had saved a screen grab of the blog beforehand:

Obama's presence--as a U.S. Senator--at the Ayers barbecue has been confirmed by another source, who told Breitbart News: "I too saw Obama at a picnic table in the Ayers/Dohrn backyard, munching away--on the 4th of July."

The fact that Obama socialized with Ayers and Dorn contradicts the statement that Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt gave the New York Times in 2008: 

Mr. LaBolt said the men first met in 1995 through the education project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and have encountered each other occasionally in public life or in the neighborhood. He said they have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Mr. Obama began serving in the United States Senate in January 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they bumped into each other on the street in Hyde Park.

That statement now appears to be "Clintonian" in its dance around the truth. Obama and Ayers may not have emailed or spoken by phone, but they had, we now know, spoken face to face--at least on July 4, 2005, and perhaps at other times as well.

The continued connection between Obama and his radical, domestic terrorist associates until mere months before he launched his presidential campaign is sharply at odds with the way Obama minimized the relationship, as well as the way the media largely sought to portray it as an insignificant part of Obama's past.

Whatever differences may have emerged between Obama and Ayers--and other far-left fellow travelers--since Obama took office and grappled with the realities of governing, Obama's migration towards the mainstream of American politics is very recent, and likely opportunistic. His intellectual and political roots remain extreme.

Euro Zone Is Lurching to a Crossroad

NY Times
June 4, 2012


LONDON — As Spain’s economic crisis deepens and uncertainty swirls over Greece’s future in the euro zone, the guardians of the increasingly fragile European monetary union are near a moment of truth: can they muster the will and resources to keep the euro zone from breaking apart?

The question has grown more urgent since the release of data Friday showing a record-high rate of unemployment in the euro zone, poor job creation in the United States and a slowdown in manufacturing in China. Combined, those signals have fueled fears of a second worldwide recession.

On consecutive days last week, two of the most powerful figures in Europe — Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, and Olli Rehn, the most senior economic official in Brussels — warned that the future of the euro zone was in doubt. In the words of Mr. Rehn, the union might well disintegrate unless policy makers take steps to bind the 17 European Union nations that use the euro closer together.

Coming as they did from two men at the very soul of the European project, the cautions were a stark reminder of just how much the Spanish financial crisis had shaken the confidence of the European brain trust, to say nothing of investors from New York to Beijing.

Over the weekend, leaders of two of Europe’s most vulnerable countries rallied to the cry of more unification. Mario Monti of Italy called for using euro bonds to create a quicker path to common debt for Europe. And Mariano Rajoy of Spain floated the idea of a common fiscal authority in Europe to synchronize budgets and manage debts.

German policy makers have said that kind of deeper budget integration and supervision is a prerequisite before any sort of euro bonds could be issued. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany called last week for a plan to give more power and competencies to the European Commission in Brussels, but through treaty changes as part of a five- or even 10-year process.

Read the entire article

Timeline to Tyranny

By Steve Nolan with M.S. Wall

June 4, 2012

“A dictator enjoys unrestrained power over the people. The legislative and judicial branches voluntarily cede this power or it’s taken by force. Most of the time, it’s given up easily, out of fear in time of war and civil disturbances, and with the support from the people, although the dictator will also accumulate more power with the use of force.”—Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas)

dic-ta-tor

1. a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession

des-pot

1. a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power, autocrat

2. any tyrant or oppressor

tyr-an-ny

1. arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority

2. the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler

3. a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler

President Ronald Reagan once said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”The horrors of 9/11 that took place over a decade ago were a shameful tragedy in American history and should have never been permitted to happen.  Unfortunately, this event forever changed the course of our nation.  Whether the circumstances surrounding these attacks were allowed to happen because ofincompetence, collusion, or downright treasonous acts of orchestration and compliance is not the subject of this article.

This article is about documenting a timeline to tyranny.  Any single event might be dismissed, but when viewed in this manner in total, we think that the evidence is clear.

TIMELINE

On September 11, 2001: The United States was attacked by 19 Saudi terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda who hijacked four passenger jets and crashed them into World Trade Center and the Pentagon while the fourth plane was crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  All told, nearly 3,000 people died in these attack.

On October 7, 2001: President George W. Bush authorized the military’s war on the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces inside Afghanistan. The initial military objectives of “Operation Enduring Freedom—Afghanistan”were the destruction of terrorist training camps and infrastructure within Afghanistan, the capture of al-Qaeda leaders and the cessation of terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

On October 23, 2001: Just weeks after the tragic events of 9/11, the first draft of the PATRIOT ACT (H.R. 3162) was introduced into the House incorporating many provision of H.R. 2975 and S.1510 as well as H.R. 3004 (the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act). No member of Congress was even allowed to read the first PATRIOT ACT. William Safire writing for the New York Times, described the first PATRIOT ACT’s powers by saying that President Bush was “seizing dictatorial control.”

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The day the credit markets awake from a slumber – $1 trillion in consumer debt currently delinquent. Student debt continues to grow adding fuel to the higher education bubble.

MyBudget360
June 4, 2012

With much of the attention being diverted to the cascading financial crisis in Europesomething was missed in the United States.  The incredibly important quarterly consumer credit report released by theFederal Reserve highlighted some disturbing trends.  The first overall point is that the American consumer continues to deleverage.  Yet with a system built on massive debt and consumption this can only mean a contraction.  In the report however the total amount of student debt outstanding grew a whopping $30 billion in one quarter bringing the official total to $904 billion.  This should tell you a few things about debt in the US.  The first point is that debt backed by verifiable income is falling based on stagnant wages and debt based on easy financing (i.e., student debt) continues to expand.  The report also showed that total household debt fell by $100 billion in the last quarter highlighting the continued austerity being experienced by many Americans.

The only growth sector – student debt

We’ve been following the higher education bubble for many years now.  It comes as no surprise that people go back to school during economically challenging times to retool.  This is a common trend.  What isn’t common is the amount of debt that is taken on.  This is a new part of our economy since student debt stood around $200 billion in 2000 and now quickly approaches $1 trillion:

“NEW YORK – In its latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York today announced that student loan debt reported on consumer credit reports reached $904 billion in the first quarter of 2012, a $30 billion increase from the previous quarter.  In addition, consumer deleveraging continued to advance as overall indebtedness declined to $11.44 trillion, about $100 billion (0.9 percent) less than in the fourth quarter of 2011.  Since the peak in household debt in the third quarter of 2008, student loan debt has increased by $293 billion, while other forms of debt fell a combined $1.53 trillion.

The New York Fed also released historical student loans figures, by quarter, dating back to the first quarter of 2003as part of this quarter’s report.  These data show that student loan debt has substantially increased since 2003, growing $663 billion.  Outstanding student loan debt surpassed credit card debt as the second highest form of consumer debt in the second quarter of 2010.”

You have to ask how is student debt increasing in the current market?  A large part of it has to do with the cozy relationship of government and banks for student debt.  The less you have the better in many cases.  Many of the for-profits highly target low income neighborhoods with some of the most costly and to be blunt, least useful degrees.  In essence many people are paying tens of thousands of dollars for a piece of paper that has one of the worst returns on investment.  Many students leave worse off than they started.

Yet this isn’t simply a for-profit issue although this is a good place to start.  Many public universities being strained by state finances are facing the need to increase tuition as they move away from being funded from states.  The burden largely falls on those living in the state but more succinctly, on younger Americans.

$1 trillion in consumer debt in default

Deeper in the report we find the problem with giving people too much debt without adequate income:

“About $1.06 trillion of consumer debt is currently delinquent, with $796 billion seriously delinquent (at least 90 days late or “severely derogatory”).”

You can read that again.  Over $1 trillion in consumer debt is simply not being paid.  The credit crisis is still in full force in the US although in the game of cascading dominoes, Europe is in worse shape so attention is focused on their markets currently.  Keep in mind we’ve been in recovery since the summer of 2009 but this is no common “recovery” if we look at this in a historical perspective:

This is the worst recovery in a generation if we can use that term.  Given the data released on Friday we still see cracks in the US economy.  Simply throwing more and more debt at the problem and trusting banks as the gatekeeper for economic growth is naïve and allowing the wolves to guard the henhouse.  These are the same people that actually laid the foundation for this crisis to begin with!  Yet we are giving them the largest bailout support via our central bank in the Federal Reserve?  So what are some easy things to implement?

-1.  Modern day Glass-Steagall to separate retail and investment banking

-2.  Major restrictions on high frequency trading and structures that punish short-term destabilizing trading.  This does not ban short sales but goes against the destructive incentives where the public provides welfare for a few billionaire hedge fund managers to skewer the markets.

-3.  Seriously reform and claw backs on large banks.  JP Morgan Chase’s recent billion dollar loss is just an example how we have learned very little in the crisis.

The focus is on Europe currently and rightfully so but there is distressing things going on here in the US.  I would venture to say that $1 trillion in delinquent consumer debt is not exactly a healthy revelation.