ClubOrlov:
[I am still in recovery from the book tour (which went well), so here is a timely rerun. Trump just banned entry to migrants from a list of “terrorist” countries that had been concocted by the Obama administration. Missing from that list is terrorist country number one: Saudi Arabia. It would be too much to hope that Trump will amend Obama's list, however; no matter who happens to be president, the US and the Saudis are pretty much joined at the hip.]
[Just nine days after I pointed out that Obama's latest “humanitarian” bombing puts American lives in danger, we have the video of the journalist James Foley's beheading at the hands of Daash, a.k.a. Islamic Caliphate, a.k.a. ISIS/ISIL. Well, that didn't take long! But there is more to the story: what stands behind this event, and others, such as 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing, the Benghazi massacre and numerous other acts of terror is none other than America's best friend, the House of Saud. Here is a post by my friend Idris to explain this vital connection.]
The recent rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, along with its bedfellow Jahbat Al-Nusra (JN) is being viewed with alarm worldwide. It is the latest in a series of problems related to Islamic extremism for which Al Qaeda is the poster child. From Somalia to Yemen to Nigeria to the Levant to Afghanistan and Pakistan, to Chechnya to Xinjiang, China and even raising its head among the populations of western countries, both Muslim and non-Muslim are facing the ravages of the Salafi/Takfiri Nexus of Jihad.
Cont....
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
The -other- “ban” that was quietly announced last week
Sovereign Man
Most of the world is in an uproar right now over the travel ban that Donald Trump hastily imposed late last week on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.
But there was another ban that was quietly proposed last week, and this one has far wider implications: a ban on cash.
The European Union’s primary executive authority, known as the European Commission, issued a “Road Map” last week to initiate continent-wide legislation against cash.
A Better Solution Than Trump’s Border Wall
The Daily Sheeple
Just one week in office, President Trump is already following through on his pledge to address illegal immigration. His January 25th executive order called for the construction of a wall along the entire length of the US-Mexico border. While he is right to focus on the issue, there are several reasons why his proposed solution will unfortunately not lead us anywhere closer to solving the problem.
First, the wall will not work. Texas already started building a border fence about ten years ago. It divided people from their own property across the border, it deprived people of their land through the use of eminent domain, and in the end the problem of drug and human smuggling was not solved.
Trump Drives a Wedge in the EU
MishTalk
Trump has made it clear he does not like the EU. He prefers bilateral negotiations. And like it or not, Trump is succeeding in his efforts to split. the EU.
How Trump is Dividing the EU
The Justice System Is Criminal
Paul Craig Roberts
On January 23, 2017, I asked, “Are Americans Racists?” I pointed out examples where racist explanations prevail over empirical fact. I did not write that there is no racism in America. I said that racism is not the be-all and end-all explanation of American history and institutions. The point I made is that racist explanations are often inadequate and both work against racial harmony and blind us to more general and more serious problems.
Perhaps the worst of America’s failed institutions is the criminal justice system. The US has the largest prison population in the world, not only as a percentage of the population but also in absolute numbers. “Freedom and democracy” America has an absolute larger number of incarcerated citizens than “authoritarian” China, a country with four times the US population.
EU Declares USA is new Enemy
Armstrong Economics
The European Union’s chief BREXIT negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, told Reuters that Donald Trump is part of a three-pronged attempt to undermine the European Union. His comments reflect just how deranged the EU politicians really are for they will accept no blame whatsoever for any of their own policies that are dictatorial in nature and have sought from the start to federalize Europe while denying that was their goal all along.
Verhofstadt told Reuters that the other two threats were radicalized Islam, which they themselves opened their own borders to accept with open-arms, and from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who just said that Europe should stay together. Putin even warned that the EU would not be a global player as is.
"Islam Strengthening in Europe with the Blessing of the Church"
Gatestone Institute
- There are now many Catholic commentators who are questioning the Church's blindness about the danger Europe is facing.
- "Islam has every chance massively to strengthen its presence in Europe with the blessing of the Church.... the Church is not only leading Europe to an impasse, it is also shooting itself in the foot." — Laurent Dandrieu, cultural editor of the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles.
- "It is clear that Muslims have an ultimate goal: conquering the world...Islam, through the sharia, their law...allows violence against the infidels, such as Christians....And what is the most important achievement? Rome." — Cardinal Raymond Burke, interview, Il Giornale.
- "[T]hey are not refugees, this is an invasion, they come here with cries of 'Allahu Akbar', they want to take over." — Laszlo Kiss Rigo, head of the Catholic Hungarian southern community.
- François Fillon published a book entitled, Vanquishing Islamic Totalitarianism, and he rose in the polls by vowing to control Islam and immigration: "We've got to reduce immigration to its strict minimum," Fillon said. "Our country is not a sum of communities, it is an identity!"
Everyone in Italy and the rest of Europe will "soon be Muslim" because of our "stupidity", warned Monsignor Carlo Liberati, Archbishop Emeritus of Pompei. Liberati claimed that, thanks to the huge number of Muslim migrants alongside the increasing secularism of native Europeans, Islam will soon become the main religion of Europe. "All of this moral and religious decadence favours Islam", Archbishop Liberati explained.
Décadence is also the title of a new book by the French philosopher Michel Onfray, in which he suggests that the Judeo-Christian era may have come to an end. He compares the West and Islam: "We have nihilism, they have fervor; we are exhausted, they have a great health; we have the past for us; they have the future for them".
Cont....
Décadence is also the title of a new book by the French philosopher Michel Onfray, in which he suggests that the Judeo-Christian era may have come to an end. He compares the West and Islam: "We have nihilism, they have fervor; we are exhausted, they have a great health; we have the past for us; they have the future for them".
Cont....
The Fix-Nothing Farce of Symbolic Politics
oftwominds - Charles Hugh Smith:
Solutions gut the rackets by breaking down the status quo's regulatory walls protecting the privileged elites who are stripmining the bottom 95%.
Much of what passes for politics these days is symbolic. Anyone who studies the issue of illegal immigration concludes that the solution lies not in building $10 billion walls but in changing the incentive structure of citizenship, legal and illegal immigration. As long as successfully crossing the border enables access to free healthcare, education and sanctuary and the potential for cash work--the equivalent of winning the lottery for those with none of these benefits--walls will be tunneled under, overflown or bypassed by sea.
The Trump Administration's proposed policies on tariffs, walls to stop illegal immigration, etc. are defended as symbolic gestures--in other words, their value is in communicating "things have changed", not actually solving the problems facing the nation.
The United States Is On The Precipice Of Widespread Civil Unrest
The Economic Collapse
It doesn’t take much of a trigger to push extremely large crowds of very angry protesters into committing acts of rioting and violence. And rioting and violence can ultimately lead to widespread civil unrest and calls for “revolution”. The election of Donald Trump was perhaps the single most galvanizing moment for the radical left in modern American history, and we have already seen that a single move by Trump can literally cause protests to erupt from coast to coast within 48 hours. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order that banned refugees from Syria indefinitely and that placed a 90 day ban on travel to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Within hours, protesters began to storm major airports, and by Sunday very large crowds were taking to the streets all over the country…
Cont....
It doesn’t take much of a trigger to push extremely large crowds of very angry protesters into committing acts of rioting and violence. And rioting and violence can ultimately lead to widespread civil unrest and calls for “revolution”. The election of Donald Trump was perhaps the single most galvanizing moment for the radical left in modern American history, and we have already seen that a single move by Trump can literally cause protests to erupt from coast to coast within 48 hours. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order that banned refugees from Syria indefinitely and that placed a 90 day ban on travel to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Within hours, protesters began to storm major airports, and by Sunday very large crowds were taking to the streets all over the country…
Cont....
Another Greek WTF Showdown Moment Explained
MishTalk
The IMF has once again threatened to pull out of the Troika following a warning that Eurogroup Loan Measures Not Enough for Greek Debt.
Greek debt yields had already been rising and spiked on the news.
Let’s take a look at what’s happening, culminating with an explanation of seemingly preposterous positions from all involved.
Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick, and Me on Super Bowl Sunday
Tomgram: Robert Lipsyte, | TomDispatch
What a strange moment. Everything, even the Super Bowl, is being Trumpified and is now divisive. Of course, the Super Bowl is always officially divisive with two rival teams and the fervent fans of each. Still, in a normal year, no matter which two teams are playing, the Super Bowl is also the great unifying event of the televised American year (other than, perhaps, the Academy Awards). More or less everyone watches, while consuming oceans of beer and enough chips and guacamole to fill a mid-sized city. It’s pure ritual all the way to the last minute of the fourth quarter. (As for me, when it comes to sports, I’m a New York hometown chauvinist. I lose interest once my city’s teams fall out of contention and yet -- like a zombie -- I still engage in a Super Bowl-watching ritual with friends.)
This year, however, as with everything else in this country, it’s going to be a Trumpian spectacle all the way. Like past presidents, The Donald will evidently not attend, but the New England Patriots are his team. (They play the Atlanta Falcons, if you happen to have been locked away in Guantánamo these last weeks.) Quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick, and owner Robert Kraft have all backed Trump. Brady even had a red “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker. Trump hailed them at his campaign rallies, and he’s wished them well in Sunday’s game. (“‘In the audience, we have somebody that’s under no pressure whatsoever, because he’s got a great quarterback named Tom Brady, and a great coach named Belichick,’ Trump said [at a donor dinner in Washington], pointing to Kraft. ‘Your friend Tom just called, he feels good. He called to congratulate us... Good luck, you’re going to do great.’”)
And of course he bestowed perhaps the greatest honor of all on Brady, implicitly dissing him recently. No one, after all, can be allowed to stand taller than Donald J. Trump, which means that sooner or later even his allies have to be cut down to size and put in their place by him. Consider that a rule of Donaldland. In this case, during a rambling speech at CIA headquarters the day after his inauguration, he interrupted a riff about media “dishonesty,” itself an interruption of assurances that, despite media attempts to misreport his relations with the Intelligence Community, he was with the CIA “one thousand percent,” to take Brady down a notch in his own inimitable fashion: “So a reporter for Time magazine... and I have been on their cover 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time magazine. Like if Tom Brady’s on the cover, it’s like one time because he’s won the Super Bowl or something, right? I’ve been on for 15 times this year. I don’t think that’s a record, Mike [assumedly National Security Adviser Michael Flynn], that can ever be broken. Do you agree with that? What do you think?”
What do you think? Fortunately, in such unnerving times, sportswriter Robert Lipsyte, TomDispatch’s jock culture correspondent, returns after an extended leave to offer us his memories of The Donald (whom he interviewed numerous times back when) and an assessment of how football has, at this curious moment, worked its way deep into the most unsettling parts of the American psyche. So get out those chips and that bowl of guacamole. It’s time to think Super Bowl, but in the context of an American world now being Trumpified. Tom
Cont....Football Is Trumpball Lite
Can Kaepernick Save Us?
By Robert LipsyteThe Super Bowl is superfluous this year. Who needs a reality show about violence, domination, and sexism, not to mention brain damage, now that we have Trumpball, actual reality that not only authenticates football’s authoritarianism but transforms us from bystanders into victims? Before this game is over, the players may swarm the grandstands and beat the hell out of us.Pro football actually helped prepare us for the new president’s upset victory by normalizing a basic tenet of jock culture: anyone not on the team is an enemy, the Other. And it’s open season on opponents, the fans of opponents, critics, and women (unless they’re cheerleaders or moms). Trash talking is the lingua franca of this Trumpian moment, bullying the default tactic.
Riptide
Robert Gore | STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC
If President Trump is to put America first, he must end its offensive wars.
For most of human history, the costs of waging offensive war have been roughly equivalent to the costs of defending against it. Since World War II, costs have shifted dramatically in favor of defense. Ironically, during this time the US has waged more offensive wars than any other nation. Although members of the military recognize the shift, it is seldom acknowledged by the civilian command structure. Even those who understand generally assume that greater US resources and wealth make up for the cost disparity.
Foolishness and Hypocrisy of #DeleteUber
MishTalk
#DeleteUber is asocial media protest against Uber. The protest surged following a New York City taxi impromptu strike at JFK airport following the Trump order banning air travel from seven nations.
Let’s dissect the stupidity and hypocrisy of the #DeleteUber movement because there is plenty of it going around.
MarketWatch explains: Consumers lash out at Uber and turn to Lyft after Uber’s immigration response.
U.S. Travel Ban Puts Saudi Arabia In An Awkward Position
Zero Hedge
In addition to creating mass chaos in America's airports and general confusion around the world, Trump's immigration ban is putting Saudi Arabia, a key ally in the middle-east, in a fairly awkward position. Per the Wall Street Journal, Trump's immigration ban, which currently does not include Saudi Arabia, has put the country in the awkward position of having to manage a desire to pursue stronger ties with the U.S. at the risk of alienating key allies, like Yemen and Sudan, that will inevitably view such a move as abandoning Muslim neighbors.
Cont...
In addition to creating mass chaos in America's airports and general confusion around the world, Trump's immigration ban is putting Saudi Arabia, a key ally in the middle-east, in a fairly awkward position. Per the Wall Street Journal, Trump's immigration ban, which currently does not include Saudi Arabia, has put the country in the awkward position of having to manage a desire to pursue stronger ties with the U.S. at the risk of alienating key allies, like Yemen and Sudan, that will inevitably view such a move as abandoning Muslim neighbors.
Cont...
Say Hello to China's ICBMs
Sputnik
China's alleged deployment of a DF-41 strategic ballistic missile brigade to Heilongjiang province, bordering Russia, triggered a fascinating spectacle; how to spin – or not to spin - what necessarily represents a milestone in Russia-China's strategic partnership.
Great: Now It Is the Elite Who Are Feverishly 'Prepping' for the Collapse of Society
The Daily Sheeple
Once upon a time, “prepping” was something that was considered to be on “the lunatic fringe” of society. But in 2017, wealthy elitists are actually the most hardcore preppers of all.
This is particularly true in places such as Silicon Valley, where a whole host of young tech moguls are putting a tremendous amount of time, effort and money into preparing for apocalyptic scenarios. So while interest in prepping among the general population has fallen extremely low right now, the election of Donald Trump has given liberal wealthy elitists even more urgency to prepare for what they believe is a very uncertain future.
In the January 30th, 2017 edition of the New Yorker, reporter Evan Osnos has done an extraordinary job of profiling these wealthy elitists that are “getting ready for the crackup of civilization”. One of the people that he interviewed was Steve Huffman, the young co-founder and CEO of Reddit…
The Left Is Self-Destructing
Paul Craig Roberts
The mindlessness is unbearable. Amnesty International tells us that we must “fight the Muslim ban” because Trump’s bigotry is wrecking lives. Anthony Dimaggio at CounterPunch says Trump should be impeached because his Islamophobia is a threat to the Constitution. This is not to single out these two as the mindlessness is everywhere among those whose worldview is defined by Identity Politics.
One might think that Amnesty International should be fighting against the Bush/Cheney/Obama regime wars that have produced the refugees by killing and displacing millions of Muslims. For example, the ongoing war that Obama inflicted on Yemen results in the death of one Yemeni child every 10 minutes, according to UNICEF. Where is Amnesty International?
Which Path to Persia? US Had a Plan to Topple All 7 Countries on Trump’s Refugee Ban List
The Daily Sheeple
by Darius Shahtahmasebi
According to Reuters, Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that would include a temporary refugee ban on and a suspension of visas for citizens of Syria and six other Middle Eastern and African countries.
The list is expected to include Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. If those countries are starting to sound familiar, there’s a reason for that.
According to four-star General Wesley Clark, shortly after the attacks of 9/11, the Pentagon adopted a plan to topple the governments of seven countries; Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran.
The “Wind and Solar Will Save Us” Delusion
Our Finite World
The “Wind and Solar Will Save Us” story is based on a long list of misunderstandings and apples to oranges comparisons. Somehow, people seem to believe that our economy of 7.5 billion people can get along with a very short list of energy supplies. This short list will not include fossil fuels. Some would exclude nuclear, as well. Without these energy types, we find ourselves with a short list of types of energy — what BP calls Hydroelectric, Geobiomass (geothermal, wood, wood waste, and other miscellaneous types; also liquid fuels from plants), Wind, and Solar.
Unfortunately, a transition to such a short list of fuels can’t really work. These are a few of the problems we encounter:
The First Firestorm
Patrick J. Buchanan
That hysterical reaction to the travel ban announced Friday is a portent of what is to come if President Donald Trump carries out the mandate given to him by those who elected him.
The travel ban bars refugees for 120 days. From Syria, refugees are banned indefinitely. And a 90-day ban has been imposed on travel here from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
Was that weekend-long primal scream really justified?
Drug Prices in the US vs. Canada - The Big Pharma Political Connection of Corporatist Democrats
Jesse's Café Américain
This is a slide used by Bernie Sanders when he proposed making drug imports from Canada to the US legal.
The proposal was voted down in the Senate 52-46, with a few key Democrats helping overturn Bernie's proposed legislation.
Among those voting against it was the recipient of big pharma campaign contributions Democratic rising star Cory Booker.
Booker used the Big Pharma talking point that 'the bill did not include provisions requiring the protections of the FDA.'
Oh really? We think that the Canadian government's regulation of medicine is weaker than in the US? Please, Cory, tell us exactly where they fall down on the job.
And oh by the way, most it not all of those drugs are the same drugs being sold in the US by the same manufacturers, so the point could be moot. Just allow the imports of drugs the FDA has already approved.
But a real solution, which appears to be far too much for our pampered plutocrats, would be to repeal the US law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices as is done by the government health services in Canada. But I would not expect the US political establishment to seriously consider overturning that sweet monopoly deal with the drug companies.
Not as long as Big Pharma can keep holding that SG&A level around 45 percent, compared to 25 percent or less of most other industries. There is a lot of money being spent there to motivate doctors and lawmakers in the drug industry.
And then there is the 'balance billing' racket where hospitals toss in enormous zingers to your medical bills by using doctors and test labs that are not in your network, for which you get little to no insurance coverage, or insanely high deductibles. And you have no knowledge of their choice in advance.
New York state has passed a ban on this. But most other states have not.
The current US healthcare system is like a protection racket. It is dominated by monopolist behemoths, in the providers and the insurers, and sustained by huge amounts of public relations and their paid functionaries in the media and the Congress.
It is the most expensive healthcare system in the developed nations. And that is largely due to corruption and a twisting of the laws due to the influence of Big Money in lawmaking and regulation.
This is a slide used by Bernie Sanders when he proposed making drug imports from Canada to the US legal.
The proposal was voted down in the Senate 52-46, with a few key Democrats helping overturn Bernie's proposed legislation.
Among those voting against it was the recipient of big pharma campaign contributions Democratic rising star Cory Booker.
Booker used the Big Pharma talking point that 'the bill did not include provisions requiring the protections of the FDA.'
Oh really? We think that the Canadian government's regulation of medicine is weaker than in the US? Please, Cory, tell us exactly where they fall down on the job.
And oh by the way, most it not all of those drugs are the same drugs being sold in the US by the same manufacturers, so the point could be moot. Just allow the imports of drugs the FDA has already approved.
But a real solution, which appears to be far too much for our pampered plutocrats, would be to repeal the US law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices as is done by the government health services in Canada. But I would not expect the US political establishment to seriously consider overturning that sweet monopoly deal with the drug companies.
Not as long as Big Pharma can keep holding that SG&A level around 45 percent, compared to 25 percent or less of most other industries. There is a lot of money being spent there to motivate doctors and lawmakers in the drug industry.
And then there is the 'balance billing' racket where hospitals toss in enormous zingers to your medical bills by using doctors and test labs that are not in your network, for which you get little to no insurance coverage, or insanely high deductibles. And you have no knowledge of their choice in advance.
New York state has passed a ban on this. But most other states have not.
The current US healthcare system is like a protection racket. It is dominated by monopolist behemoths, in the providers and the insurers, and sustained by huge amounts of public relations and their paid functionaries in the media and the Congress.
It is the most expensive healthcare system in the developed nations. And that is largely due to corruption and a twisting of the laws due to the influence of Big Money in lawmaking and regulation.
The Persuasion Filter Looks at Torture. Does it...
Scott Adams' Blog
If I ever get captured and threatened with torture it will take about five seconds for me to give up every secret I have. That’s because I know I would break eventually, so why put up with unnecessary torture?
I assume the same is true for the lightly-trained ISIS fighters. Some are just teenagers. Once the bravery-inducing drugs in their system wear off, I have to assume that at least some of them – if not most – would become quite flexible under the threat of torture, not to mention the torture itself.
But won’t they lie?
Mexican Official Threatens to Combat President Trump By "Unleashing Drug Cartels"
SHTFplan
There will be war in the streets, or at least there could be.
The strong armed tactics against Mexico are not making officials happy south of the border.
Now, with an executive order facilitating the deportation of illegal immigrants – and especially those who have committed criminal offenses – as well as building a wall on the border, President Trump has many Mexicans up in arms.
Cont....
There will be war in the streets, or at least there could be.
The strong armed tactics against Mexico are not making officials happy south of the border.
Now, with an executive order facilitating the deportation of illegal immigrants – and especially those who have committed criminal offenses – as well as building a wall on the border, President Trump has many Mexicans up in arms.
Cont....
How EU could really hurt Putin: Invite Russia to join the Euro
RT Op-Edge
Sanctions against Russia have failed to alter the Kremlin’s policies and actually increased popular support for Vladimir Putin. Now, there are growing calls for a change of tack.
Like a lake reliant on multiple affluents, the individual headlines eventually morph into a whole. An assemblage dripping with drivel. Russia is apparently attempting to infiltrate – or interfere with – the Baltics, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Scotland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Finland. And all at the same time to boot. Which is pretty impressive for a country that doesn’t even boast the largest economy in Europe (that being Germany).
This follows Moscow’s alleged success in securing the US Presidency for Donald Trump and convincing millions of Brits to opt for Brexit. Not to mention how it seemingly orchestrated recent election successes in Bulgaria and Moldova for its “useful idiots.”
Nevermind the fact that the Kremlin’s soft power can’t convince the majority of Ukrainians to love it, despite practically everyone understanding the Russian language there and a great many citizens boasting direct family ties to their neighbor. We are expected to swallow how Russia is so incredibly influential that it dominates politics practically everywhere. Like an elephantine geopolitical octopus. Something even the US couldn’t manage in the late 1940’s when it controlled around half of global GDP. And was handing out interest free loans to boot.
The reason this nonsense narrative has taken hold is simple. The Western establishment – which thought it had achieved “the end of history” twenty-five years ago – is getting a severe kicking. And sustained by an absolute conviction that it oversees the sole legitimate belief system in the world – an assumption which would survive a trek through the most Byzantine hall of mirrors – it’s looking for somebody else to blame. Indeed, at this stage, Popes from the Middle Ages would be impressed by Eurocrats’ resolute belief in their infallibility.
Monday, 30 January 2017
Kellyanne Conway Rages Against "Misinformation" Over Trump's Immigration Order
Zero Hedge
After exposed Obama, Bush, and Clinton's previous anti-immigration actions amid the backlash against President Trump's executive orders, administration senior adviser Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNBC this morning and was visibly angry at the "information underload" from the mainstream media and bullhorn-touting, crying politicians.
"The media and politicians have an obligation to calm the public [with facts] about what this policy does, and more importantly does not, do... this is why [Trump] has to tweet, so that the media will cover the tweet [facts]"
It's pretty clear Conway's frustration is growing (and who can blame her)...
Why Our System Is Broken: Cheap Credit Is King
oftwominds - Charles Hugh Smith
You want to fix the economic system, reduce political bribery and reduce rising income inequality? Shut off the cheap unlimited credit spigot to banks, financiers and corporations.
Cheap credit--newly issued money that can be borrowed at low rates of interest--is presented as the savior of our economic system, but in reality, it's why our system is broken. The conventional economic pitch goes like this: cheap credit enables consumers to buy more goods and services (and since the system needs growth or it implodes, that's good).
Cheap credit also enables companies to invest in new productive assets (capital).
Last but not least, low rates of interest enables the government at all levels to borrow money at relatively low cost.
Radical Left Cheers Benoît Hamon’s Victory in French Socialist Primary: Reassessing Le Pen’s Chances
MishTalk
The final slate of candidates for French national elections in April-May is nearly complete.
Today, Benoît Hamon Wins French Socialists’ Presidential Nomination, ousting Manuel Valls.
The radical Left is cheering.
The Great Disconfirmation
The Z Blog
In one of his recent communications with the resistance, John Derbyshire mentioned this Joel Pollak column about the demise of the Obama cult. Pollak does not come right out and say it, but Obama was essentially a totem for the Left. His election was not about him or his polices, but instead it was about returning the Ark to the Temple, so to speak. The long war with the bad whites over racial justice was finally won and the blessings of the void where God used to exist would now descend upon the righteous.
As Derbyshire points out, Pollak is not the first guy to notice this as readers of this site certainly know. The only way to properly understand the American Left is to look at it as a civic religion. Because the American Left adopted European anti-Christianity in the 20thcentury, it is easy to think they are anti-religious. That’s a mistake the Right has made for half a century. The New Religion, what Progressivism is today, evolved out of the Social Gospel Movement, so it carries with it many of the same habits.
Be Careful What You Wish For (especially if it is...
Scott Adams' Blog
As a trained persuader, I’m seeing a dangerous situation forming that I assume is invisible to most of you. The setup is that during the presidential campaign Trump’s critics accused him of being Hitler(ish) and they were sure other citizens would see it too, thus preventing this alleged monster from taking office.
They were wrong. The alleged monster took office.
Now you have literally millions of citizens in the United States who were either right about Trump being the next Hitler, and we will see that behavior emerge from him soon, or they are complete morons. That’s a trigger for cognitive dissonance. The science says these frightened folks will start interpreting all they see as Hitler behavior no matter how ridiculous it might seem to the objective observer. And sure enough, we are seeing that.
Flashback 2006: Senators Clinton and Obama Vote for Secure Fence Act, Bush Signs Bill
MishTalk
Inquiring minds are taking a flashback look at the Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed by president Bush.
The Secure Fence Act of 2006’s goal is to help secure America’s borders to decrease illegal entry, drug trafficking, and security threats by building 700 miles (1,100 km) of physical barriers along the Mexico-United States border. Additionally, the law authorizes more vehicle barriers, checkpoints, and lighting as well as authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to increase the use of advanced technology like cameras, satellites, and unmanned aerial vehicles to reinforce infrastructure at the border. Congress approved $1.2 billion in a separate homeland security spending bill to bankroll the fence, though critics say this is $4.8 billion less than what’s likely needed to get it built.
The final roll call shows both Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton voted for the bill.
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