“In his speech, Obama said that what he was opposed to was ‘a dumb war … a rash war.’ He said the war was a ‘cynical attempt’ to shove ‘ideological agendas down our throats’ and would distract from domestic problems such as poverty and health care.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99591469
“The huge declines in U.S. stocks in recent months have revived interest in a BusinessWeek cover story from August 1979 entitled ‘The Death of Equities.’ At the time the story was written, the stock market had sustained serious losses and the long-term health of the U.S. economy was a significant concern. Few, if any, market forecasters were willing to call a recovery at the time, and the story provides a telling look at how inflation had ravaged the market landscape—and investor psychology—at the close of the 1970s. So step back in time with us and read BW’s take on the state of the market in August 1979.”
“Every Sunday, Fortune publishes a favorite story from our archive. As controversy swirls around whether Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is downplaying inflation predictions, we turn back to May 1977 for timely advice from Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha has clashed with Bernanke over inflation time and time again, and here Buffett warns how rising prices can hamper growth ‘not because the market falls, but in spite of the fact that the market rises.'”
“Aired in December 1992 as part of CBC programme the fifth estate. The programme was directed by Martyn Gregory and produced by Neil Docherty. It exposes the Citizens for a Free Kuwait campaign as public relations spin to gain public opinion support for the Gulf War. As well, it reveals that Nurse Nayirah was in fact Nijirah al-Sabah, the daughter of Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, coached by Hill & Knowlton to forge her infamous testimony about Iraqi soldiers removing babies from incubators, which was widely reported and repeated throughout the media.”
“A lawsuit supported by the National Taxpayers Union and two state attorney generals has been filed on behalf of 60 million children, charging that deficit spending benefits today`s adults at the expense of youth who will have to bear the future burden. The novel suit names Treasury Secretary James Baker as the defendant, and it seeks to enjoin Baker from issuing any new instruments of federal debt except in certain instances and to compel the establishment of a schedule to reduce the deficit. It also argued that by forcing children to assume responsibility of debts now incurred by fiscally irresponsible adults, children are being denied equal protection of the laws under the 5th Amendment.”
“Rep. Alan Grayson asks the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent or spent by the Federal Reserve and where it went, and the trillions of off balance sheet obligations. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman responds that the IG does not know and is not tracking where this money is.”
“HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA)’s $1.9 billion agreement with the U.S. to resolve charges it enabled Latin American drug cartels to launder billions of dollars was approved by a federal judge. HSBC was accused of failing to monitor more than $670 billion in wire transfers and more than $9.4 billion in purchases of U.S. currency from HSBC Mexico, allowing for money laundering, prosecutors said. The bank also violated U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba, according to a criminal information filed in the case.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/hsbc-judge-approves-1-9b-drug-money-laundering-accord.html
“US federal prosecutors said Thursday they were moving to seize four mosques and a 36-story New York skyscraper from a non-profit Muslim group suspected of having ties to the Iranian government. Bharara filed a forfeiture action with a New York federal court to seize bank accounts owned by the group and a suspected front company, as well as the office tower and Islamic centers in the states of Maryland, Virginia, Texas and California. The move to seize the Shiite Muslim places of worship is a very rare step for US law enforcement due to freedom of religion rights enshrined in the Constitution.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2009/11/12/feds-nyc-skyscraper-4-mosques/
“FedEx has opened the international portion of its databases, including credit-card details, to government officials. It has created a police force recognized by the state of Tennessee that works alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [..] Moreover, the company is setting up a system designed to send reports of suspicious activities directly to the Department of Homeland Security via a special computer link. At rival United Parcel Service Inc., spokesman David Bolger says the company won’t disclose information about its customers’ shipments unless required to do so by law or regulation. FedEx also has a seat on a regional terrorism task force which has access to sensitive data.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111707300196643763,00.html
“Taped on Nov 2, 1971. Five months before this show, WFB had taken as his text, for a commencement address at West Point, Mr. Kerry’s sensational testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the barbarism of our activities in Vietnam. Neither host nor guest has changed his views since, but there is light as well as heat generated on Vietnam in particular and morality and foreign policy generally.”