General Electric pays $23 million to settle Iraq bribery charges

(RawStory) – US industrial titan General Electric has agreed to pay over 23 million dollars to settle allegations that it bribed Iraqi officials, a US financial watchdog said on Tuesday.

GE had been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being part of “a 3.6 million dollar kickback scheme with Iraqi government agencies to win contracts to supply medical equipment and water purification equipment.”

Four subsidiaries of the Connecticut-based company were accused of bribing officials at the Iraqi ministries of health and oil, trading cash, computer equipment and medical supplies to win lucrative contracts.

War, Politics and the Economic Crisis: Why We Barely Know What’s Going On – Danny Schechter

(GlobalResearch) – Defending America covertly has become an ongoing theme for one more TV series. Salute the flag and praise NBC (GE) for its latest effort to persuade the population to accept the kind of secret operations that now drive the war in Afghanistan. Their latest show is called “Covert Affairs” and airs on the patriotically named USA Network.

This fiction is based on faction, glamorizing the work of our unaccountable CIA at home and at war with Piper Perabo who has been promoted from dancing barmaid in Coyote Ugly into a CIA trainee “who is suddenly thrust into the inner sanctum of the agency after being promoted to field operative.”

The dumbed down formula is tried and true , showcasing what TV pros call “the three S’s:” Sex, Spies, and Sensationalism.

Feds on GMO Labeling: Don’t Tell, Don’t Ask

(TheAtlantic) – If you were hoping there might be some change in the U.S. government’s official position on genetically modified and genetically engineered (GM/GE) foods under the Obama administration, tough luck.

There Were 88 Media Companies… Now There Are 6

(Rense) – These are the 6 media companies that exist today. There used to be 88. These 6 all get their news from Reuters and the Associated Press. Reuters owns the AP and Rothschilds own Reuters.

The following information is in circulation on the net. The originating source is not known, nor have all the statements below been fully verified. However, the general overview provided appears to be accurate.

Stop Monsanto’s GMO Contamination

(CredoAction) – During the Bush administration, Monsanto illegally won USDA approval for its genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa by convincing regulators to bypass a mandatory environmental review. In response to a lawsuit by consumer groups, the courts then stepped in and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA followed the law. Read More Here

The Bankruptcy of the United States is Now Certain – Porter Stansberry

It’s one of those numbers that’s so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while… Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that’s not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That’s an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP. And we’re the world’s biggest economy. Where will the money come from?

The Bankruptcy of the United States is Now Certain

It’s one of those numbers that’s so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while… Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that’s not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That’s an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP. And we’re the world’s biggest economy. Where will the money come from?

Princeton Economist and Computer Scientists Show that Derivatives Are Inherently Vulnerable to Fraud

(WashingtonsBlog) – As I have previously noted, credit default swaps are destabilizing for the economy. See this. And the models used to evaluate financial instruments – such as the Gaussian copula formula for CDOs – are inherently flawed.

The bankruptcy of the United States is now certain

It’s one of those numbers that’s so unbelievable you have to actually think about it for a while… Within the next 12 months, the U.S. Treasury will have to refinance $2 trillion in short-term debt. And that’s not counting any additional deficit spending, which is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion. Put the two numbers together. Then ask yourself, how in the world can the Treasury borrow $3.5 trillion in only one year? That’s an amount equal to nearly 30% of our entire GDP. And we’re the world’s biggest economy. Where will the money come from?

10,000 apply for 90 factory jobs

In the latest sign of weakness in Louisville-area employment, about 10,000 people applied over three days for 90 jobs building washing machines at General Electric for about $27,000 per year and hefty benefits.

Who Owns The TV Networks

All those hundreds of TV channels may lead you that there’s a true diversity and variety in today’s television … but you’d be wrong. A handful of large companies control what you see, hear, and read every day.

You Tube Pulls Hundreds Of Ron Paul Videos

Popular C-Span Junkie user channel suspended, 6400 videos gone

MSM: Monsanto, Dow stack up the genes

(AsiaTimes) – The most complex genetically engineered corn (maize) yet has been approved for use next year in Canada and the United States without its potential health and environmental risks being investigated, anti-biotech activists claim.

New World Order Rams Through Sham Cap & Trade Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives are nothing more than prostitutes for the international banking cartel. Brothels in Washington D.C. were packed Friday afternoon with eager congressman who sold Americans out 219-212 in favor of The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES).

Iraqi Oil Minister Accused of Mother of All Sell-Outs

(Truthout) – Furious protests threaten to undermine the Iraqi government’s controversial plan to give international oil companies a stake in its giant oilfields in a desperate effort to raise declining oil production and revenues.

MSM: Germany Blasts ‘Powers of the Fed’

(WSJ) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare public rebuke of central banks, suggested the European Central Bank and its counterparts in the U.S. and Britain have gone too far in fighting the financial crisis and may be laying the groundwork for another financial blowup.

Bond Market Blowout – Michael Whitney

Last week’s ructions in the bond market, leave little doubt that the financial crisis has entered a new and more lethal phase. Of particular concern is the spike in long-term Treasuries which are used to set interest rates on mortgages and other loans.

Closures of US auto dealerships will cost tens of thousands of jobs

US auto manufacturers Chrysler and General Motors, encouraged by the Obama administration and top Wall Street circles, announced plans Thursday and Friday to close a combined 1,900 dealerships. These closures will result in the loss of some 100,000 jobs and produce economic devastation in many communities across the country.

Another Financial Times Contributor calls for New Order

Another voice calling for a new world emerging after the economic crisis was featured the day before yesterday on the infamous globalist weekly paper, the Financial Times.

Have Americans Lost All Control Over the Federal Government?

Over the last sixteen months, many Americans have watched with despair as the Federal government has wrested virtually despotic control over the American economy away from both individual Americans and private enterprise. They have observed the Federal government’s frantic (and totally unsuccessful) attempts to prop up banks that have revealed themselves to be completely incompetent and bankrupt.

DHS Document Lists “Alternative Media” As Potential Terrorists

“Domestic Extremism Lexicon” memo says “patriot movement” primarily comprises of “violent” groups

MSM: Obama Proposes $190 Billion Tax Increase on Companies (Update4)

(Bloomberg) – President Barack Obama proposed raising about $190 billion over the next decade by outlawing three offshore tax-avoidance techniques used by U.S. companies such as Caterpillar Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. He also would make it riskier for Americans to stash money in tax-haven banks.

MSM: GE’s Immelt Accepts Responsibility as Shares Fall

“The interaction between government and business will change forever. In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier, and a key partner.

Media Ignore Al Gore’s Financial Ties to Global Warming

As NewsBusters reported here, here, and here, there are huge dollars to be made from global warming alarmism. However, conceivably no one is better positioned to financially benefit from this scam than Dr. Global Warming himself, former Vice President Al Gore, a fact that the media will surely not share with Americans any time soon.

Does the US Make Anything Anymore?

It may seem like the country that used to make everything is on the brink of making nothing.

In January, 207,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs vanished in the largest one-month drop since October 1982. Factory activity is hovering at a 28-year low. Even before the recession, plants were hemorrhaging work to foreign competitors with cheap labor. And some companies were moving production overseas.