Economy

(AP) – Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option

President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days. Read More Here

(AP) – Millions face tax increases under Dems budget plan

President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the Senate promise to cut the deficit by almost two-thirds over the next five years, but their budget plan could threaten about 30 million people with tax increases averaging $3,700 in 2012 and after because of the alternative minimum tax. Read More Here

(GlobeAndMail) – Canada rejects IMF bank tax plan

‘Canada will not go down the path of excessive, arbitrary or punitive regulation of the financial sector,’ Finance Minister Flaherty says – Read More Here

(DailyMail) – Cameron in benefits threat to the workshy as he declares: ‘The free ride is over’

The message was carried on the first of a new series of posters, featuring the slogan: ‘Let’s cut benefits for those who refuse work.’ Read More Here

(TheEconomicCollapse) – America’s Crumbling Infrastructure

One of the key signs that we are in the early stages of an economic collapse and that we are heading towards another Great Depression is America’s crumbling infrastructure. The truth is that our infrastructure is literally falling apart all around us. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Forget 10% Unemployment, The Real Job Loss Pain Number Is 54%

A March survey from Pew shows just how broad the unemployment pain has been felt. When you hear of 10% unemployment, you might imagine 1/10th of Americans experiencing extreme financial stress from the recent recession.

Yet given the unemployment rate’s odd methodology whereby it drops people who stop looking for work out of the data, and the fact that American households usually have more than one person, the real ‘pain’ number is 54% — over half of American households felt the direct impact of job losses: Read More Here

Video: Obama’s H1N1 Emergency Declaration – Is Martial Law Unfolding?

Obama has declared a 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency. It is not clear if this declaration falls under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601–1651). The act is not mentioned in media reports.

Recession Is Over; Depression Has Just Begun

For the last few months I have been casting around looking for bullish data points as counterfactuals to my more bearish long-term outlook. I have found some, but not enough. If you recall, early this year, I stated that we are in depression, making the case for the ongoing downturn as a depression with a small ‘d.’

‘E-Bomb’ Doomsday Conference Starts Today

It’ll fry pace makers, destroy iPhones, and turn laptops into useless paperweights.  It’s the scariest thing most people outside the Washington Beltway have never heard of: electromagnetic pulse weapons.

MSM: NM Rothschild pitches motorway privatisation plan

(TimesOnline) – A radical plan to raise £100 billion by privatising the motorway network has been presented to the three main political parties by NM Rothschild, the influential investment bank.

Towards a North American Energy Corridor

As a result of NAFTA, North America is already a well-integrated energy market with Canada and Mexico among the U.S.’s top energy trading partners. Through the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), the North American Energy Working Group has further integrated a continental energy strategy. Other initiatives are also pushing towards a single North American energy policy.

MSM: Newt Gingrich – Sabotage Iran’s Oil Infrastructure

(Aljazeera) – The former speaker of the US House of Representatives has said that the US should “sabotage” Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure as part of its efforts to bring down the government.

Make No Mistake – America Has Been SOLD By The NWO

In 1992, George H.W. Bush signed Executive Order 12803, which gave D.C. the authority to sell America’s infrastructure. They called this authority “Infrastructure Privatization.” E.O. 12803 tells us this power cleared the way for the “disposition or transfer of an infrastructure “asset” such as by sale or by long-term lease from a State or local government to a private party.”

Obama’s Cybersecurity Plan – Bring in the Contractors!

With billions of dollars in federal funds hanging in the balance, President Barack Obama unveiled the Cyberspace Policy Review May 29 at the White House.

Video: Cybersecurity Is Framework For Total Government Regulation & Control Of Our Lives

The Obama administration’s new Cybersecurity system will only make the Internet more vulnerable to attack, while creating the framework for a massively upgraded government surveillance grid that will control and regulate every aspect of our daily lives through the implementation of “smart” technology.

Marines Train “Civilians” to Accept Coming Martial Law

Real-Time News reported on “mock raids at the public park to give civilians a feel for how soldiers operate in battle.”

The Almighty Renminbi? – Nouriel Roubini

The 19th century was dominated by the British Empire, the 20th century by the United States. We may now be entering the Asian century, dominated by a rising China and its currency.

MSM: China has developed its own operating system for cyber war with U.S.

A leading cyber security specialist said last week that China has developed its own ultra-secure operating system for a strategic edge in its cyber warfare with U.S. computer systems.

Let the Numbers Speak

Dear Friends,
I pride myself in being a scientist and a researcher. I built my academic career on theories and numbers. As a teacher, I teach my students that everything is based in science – everything has reason. For this reason, I am always frustrated with myself when I find I am overwhelmed with feelings on specific topics.

MSM: Obama signs $787bn stimulus plan

US President Barack Obama has signed his hard-fought economic stimulus plan in Denver, after Congress approved the $787bn (£548bn) package last week.

MSM: A ‘fraud’ bigger than Madoff

In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn (£88bn) in a US -directed effort to reconstruct Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff’s notorious Ponzi scheme.