Author Archives: Yves Smith
The Greek Resistance
This Aljazeera video seeks to understand how Germans and Greeks view each other in light of the way the Trokia is breaking Greece as an example to other periphery countries (yes, Greece would have had adjustment problems regardless, but they are being made far worse by the measures taken to avoid exposing the insolvency of French and German banks). It covers how the crisis has rekindled lingering hostilities. It also sheds new light on the pre-crisis economic relationship between Germany and Greece, including corrupt deals between the Greek government and German arms-makers. It also treats austerian thinking with more dignity than it deserves, but that is a secondary theme of this show.
Read more...Stop Using “Obama for America” Against the People!
Yves here. Team Obama is fast out of the box with its plan to redeploy its campaign ops to sell Americans on why they should lie back and think of England why they should embrace a future with more income disparity and more catfood for old people. The media got wind of the plan the evening before the messaging barrage started. Joe Firestone does a able job of taking it apart.
A Foreign Supply Chain Threat Opening on Walmart Labor Protests?
It’s too early to tell how effective the Black Friday against Walmart’s low pay and abusive working conditions were. The early reports from management and the organizers are wildly at odds with each other.
However, a new front may open up in the Walmart disputes: that of disruption to its international shipments.
Read more...Links 11/23/12
EPA Testing Dangerous Pollutants on Human Beings
By Jen Alic, a geopolitical analyst, co-founder of ISA Intel (www.isaintel.com) in Sarajevo and the former editor-in-chief of ISN Security Watch in Zurich. Cross posted from OilPrice
Want to know how dangerous pollutants are to your health? For $12 an hour, you can find out directly.
Read more...Obama to Deploy Campaign Apparatus to Persuade Americans to Look Forward to More and Better Catfood
Our Fearless Great Betrayer is about to repurpose his campaign sales machine to persuasion of the American public of the necessity of making do with less to appease the Bond Gods. The bizarre part, as many have noted, is the Bond Gods actually don’t seem to want the human sacrifice involved (old people dying faster) but their Wall Street soothsayers would have you believe otherwise.
Read more...Ceasefire: Egypt Manages the Crisis; More US Arms for Israel
This Real News Network video looks at the ceasefire just announced between Israel and the Palestinians and argues that despite the deaths and damage incurred in Gaza, that the Israelis did not come out terribly well in the terms of the deal.
Read more...Links Thanksgiving
Yes, Virginia, the IRS Does Not Treat the Connected Like the Rest of Us (REMIC Edition)
We’ve written at some length about the failure of the IRS to go after what look like slam-dunk violations of the rules governing the tax treatment of mortgage-backed securities. Apparently the noise has been made about the failure to pursue REMIC violations, the latest by two law professors in a journal article, has roused the IRS from its official somnolence.
Read more...An Inconvenient Truth About Lincoln (That You Won’t Hear from Hollywood)
By Lynn Parramore, a contributing editor at Alternet. Cross posted from Alternet
There’s a side of Lincoln that no Hollywood film shows clearly: He was extremely close to the railway barons, the most powerful corporate titans of the era.
Read more...Links 11/21/12
Justice in America: Systematic Document Forgery and Fabrication Yield One Criminal Plea Bargain
This admission of guilt by Lorraine Brown of Lender Processing Services subsidiary DocX for wire and mail fraud on the federal level and fraudulent and forged document filings in Missouri now allows the Obama Administration to claim it has sent another “executive” to jail.
Read more...Why Greece is a Model of Economic Mismanagement
By Delusional Economics, who is determined to cleanse the daily flow of vested interests propaganda to produce a balanced counterpoint. Cross posted from MacroBusiness.
Today I thought it was timely to have another look at the Greek economy from a sectoral balance perspective which will hopefully provide some clarity on exactly what we are seeing in Greece, but just as importantly also provide some broader context to the likely outcomes for other Eurozone periphery nations with similar economic dynamics.
Read more...The Giant Lie Trotted Out by Fiscal Conservatives Trying to Shred Social Security
By Lynn Parramore, a contributing editor at Alternet. Cross posted from Alternet
Trying to convince the public to cut America’s best-loved and most successful program requires a lot of creativity and persistence.
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