Politics ~ Progressive

Robert Greenwald's important new documentary, Rethink Afghanistan

Treasury lied to public about health of big banks last October + may have unfairly distributed TARP funds, says Report from Neil M. Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program: http://bit.ly/JeUBZ (NYTimes.com)

A report casts doubts on federal officials' candor regarding their use of TARP funds.

The G-7 abandons the dollar. The greenback fell further after the G-7 would not come to the rescue.

10/05/09 Stockholm, Sweden Even with the US dollar's deterioration over the past six months, the G7 has decided to let it continue to fall. Forbes reports today that the G7 "abandons the dollar." This is despite problems, such as economic instability, that a weakening dollar can cause central bankers around the world. From the US perspective, there are some benefits associated with a weaker dollar, in terms of increased exports and the possibility of inflating away the massive debt the government is building up so quickly.

"The true inflation rate in America? It's certainly at least 6 or 7 percent, the US government lies about it, as you know, everybody who shops knows that prices are up, everybody except the US government. Rogers repeated his view that the Fed's quantitative easing program is "debasing the currency" and said he was "extremely worried" about the fate of the dollar over the long term. Asia is the region where investors should go, as countries in that region have strong reserves while once-strong economies such as the US and the UK are now in debt, he said.

Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Blackwater...their fraud has been rewarded with continuing contracts in the billions, despite fraudulent billing, armed forces endangerment, defective parts in military equipment, overcharges, double-billing, murder, etc.

Travelers arriving at U.S. borders may soon be confronted with their laptops, PDAs, and other digital devices being searched, copied and even held by customs agents -- all without need to show suspicion for cause. A 51-page Privacy Impact Assessment also supported the right of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to copy, download, retain or seize any content from these devices, or the devices themselves, without assigning any specific reason for doing so.

The Obama administration will largely preserve Bush-era procedures allowing the government to search (and copy) -- without suspicion of wrongdoing -- the contents of a traveler's laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device, although officials said new policies would expand oversight of such inspections.\n\nThe policy, disclosed Thursday in a pair of Department of Homeland Security directives, describes more fully than did the Bush administration the procedures by which travelers' laptops, iPods, cameras and other digital devices can be searched and seized when they cross a U.S. border. And it sets time limits for completing searches.\n\nBut representatives of civil liberties and travelers groups say they see little substantive difference between the Bush-era policy, which prompted controversy, and this one.\n\n"It's a disappointing ratification of the suspicionless search policy put in place by the Bush administration," said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "It provides a lot of procedural safeguards, but it doesn't deal with the fundamental problem, which is that under the policy, government officials are free to search people's laptops and cellphones for any reason whatsoever."

Travelers arriving at U.S. borders may soon be confronted with their laptops, PDAs, and other digital devices being searched , COPIED and even HELD by customs agents -- all WITHOUT NEED to SHOW SUSPICION for CAUSE! .

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expanding beyond its traditional fingerprint-focused collection practices to develop a new biometrics system that will include DNA records, 3-D facial imaging, palm prints and voice scans, blended to create what's known as "multi-modal biometrics." "The FBI today is announcing a rapid DNA initiative," said Louis Grever, executive assistant director of the FBI's science and technology branch, during his keynote presentation at the Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa.

"Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for collapse than the US"