Hope2012

OECD warning of sharper slowdown - BBC 6/4/08

Second Great Depression in Detroit - Depression2.TV (great site!)

Central bank body warns of Great Depression - Banking Times, UK 6/9/08

“The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the organisation that fosters cooperation between central banks, has warned that the credit crisis could lead world economies into a crash on a scale not seen since the 1930s.”

Advanced Imperialism: A Phase of Capitalism - Global Research 6/25/08

We just accelerated a little more: IMF knocks on Uncle Sam’s door - Age, Australia 6/30/08

Think the Economy Is Bad? Wait Till the States Cut Back - NYTimes 6/1/08

Russia blames U.S. for global financial crisis - Reuters/Yahoo 6/7/08

Failing Infrastructure and Fantastic Military Budgets - WUFYS 6/23/08

AIG’s Connelly: “Crisis of Capitalism is upon us” - Naked Capitalism 6/16/08

The Shrinking Influence of the US Federal Reserve - Der Spiegel, Germany 6/26/08

Bush administration wants to give Federal Reserve more power - AP/Yahoo 6/19/08

Just linking to this AP headline may violate the AP’s incredibly aggressive assertion of usage rights

Barclays warns of a financial storm as Federal Reserve’s credibility crumbles - Telegraph, UK 6/28/08

EXCERPTS: “Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall “below zero”…Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. “This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that’s possible. It has lost all credibility,” said Mr Bond.”

Stage Two of the Mortgage Collapse: $500 Billion in Pay Option ARMs Meet the Piper in 2008 with 60 Percent Being in California. - DoctorHousing Bubble 6/14/08

Very straightforward reading with incredible graphs

The de facto nationalization of the housing bust - Economic Populist 6/13/08

Why Fair Trade May Be Our Only Hope - Alternet 6/12/08

Credit crunch forcing US middle classes to live in their cars - Guardian, UK 6/26/08

Alternatives to Free Trade: Fair Trade and Beyond - Global Research 6/22/08

Bringing Down Bear Stearns - Vanity Fair August ‘08 edition

Video of Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy Phillip Swagel sweating bullets over his spin job assignment - Washington Post 7/4/08

EXCERPT: “Swagel came out for his monthly economic briefing yesterday, 90 minutes after the Labor Department reported that the country had shed jobs in June for the sixth straight month.

Does this mean the economy is worse than the Bush administration expected?

“We shouldn’t, in a sense, be surprised when the data are, are, soft,” Swagel managed to say.

Does the economy need another stimulus package?

“I-it seems, you know, it seems like that’s, that’s enough, uh, enough.”

What might trigger another round of economic stimulus?

“I don’t, I guess I don’t have an answer, I mean, you know, beyond saying we look at all the data and, um — so, my usual line.”

Behind the falsification of US economic data - Global Research 6/5/08

The Sham of our Current Unemployment Rate Numbers: Lessons from the Great Depression: Part X. Data Mining. - Doctor Housing Bubble 5/30/08

The Pentagon Strangles Our Economy: Why the US has gone broke - Alternet 4/26/08

EXCERPT: “There are three broad aspects to the U.S. debt crisis. First, in the current fiscal year - 2008 we are spending insane amounts of money on “defense” projects that bear no relation to the national security of the U.S. We are also keeping the income tax burdens on the richest segment of the population at strikingly low levels.”

“Second, we continue to believe that we can compensate for the accelerating erosion of our base and our loss of jobs to foreign countries through massive military expenditures — “military Keynesianism” - which I discuss in detail in my book Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic. By that, I mean the mistaken belief that public policies focused on frequent wars, huge expenditures on weapons and munitions, and large standing armies can indefinitely sustain a wealthy capitalist economy. The opposite is actually true.”

“Third, in our devotion to militarism - despite our limited resources, we are failing to invest in our social infrastructure and other requirements for the long-term health of the U.S. These are what economists call opportunity costs, things not done because we spent our money on something else. Our public education system has deteriorated alarmingly. We have failed to provide health care to all our citizens and neglected our responsibilities as the world’s number one polluter. Most important, we have lost our competitiveness as a manufacturer for civilian needs, an infinitely more efficient use of scarce resources than arms manufacturing.”

Hidden oil subsidies ‘need to end’ - Raw Story 7/3/08

A direct hurricane hit could push oil to $150 / barrel - AP/Tulsa World 5/30/08

Sounds like they’re planning another direct hit this season….

10 tough questions on oil and gas prices – Nieman Watchdog 5/5/08

An ominous warning that the rapid rise in oil prices has only just begun - Independent, UK 6/12/08

“The chief executive of the world’s largest energy company has issued the most dire warning yet about the soaring the price of oil, predicting that it will hit $250 per barrel “in the foreseeable future”. The forecast from Alexey Miller, the head of the Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom, would herald the arrival of £2-per-litre petrol and send shockwaves through the economy.”

The Militarization and Annexation of North America: The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) unmasked - Global Research 7/19/07

Future of North America: Vancouver 2010, coronation of the North American ‘Community’ – Global Research 3/15/08

French company to open nuclear plant in US - AP/CNN 5/23/08

Chinese firms bargain hunting in the US – LA Times 5/5/08

Previous Economic News

Homeopathic Alternatives to Antibiotics - Natural News 7/9/08

“Creation Care” - A Growing Movement - Treehugger 7/3/08

Earth’s Core, Magnetic Field Changing Fast, Study Says - National Geographic 6/29/08

Will Midwest Floods Be as Toxic as New Orleans? - Alternet 7/3/08

Midwest Flooding Brings to Light the Vulnerability of Corn Ethanol - Treehugger 7/1/08

Radioactive Uranium and other toxic contaminants found in Pinon Canyon, Colorado - Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center 7/1/08

Reconsider EU Biofuel Goal Says Incoming President - Treehugger 6/30/08

EXCERPT: “Can anyone think of the exact moment when the biofuel backlash first reached its tipping point? In any case, it seems like, finally, people are realizing that liquid biofuels aren’t quite the green panacea they were once made out to be. Not to demonize them, it’s just that (like most things) there are plusses and minuses to each feedstock and production method and these need to be carefully considered when formulating policy. It seems like the incoming EU president, France, has gotten the message.”

Why Canada is the best haven from climate change - Independent, UK 7/4/08

350: Global Warming. Global Action. Global Future - 350.org

Groundbreaking Lawsuit Accuses Big Oil of Conspiracy to Deceive Public About Climate Change - Democracy Now! 7/3/08

Richmond, California could be the first US city to decide to stand up to the Chevron oil company and impose a cap on its plans for further expansion. - Alternet 7/8/08

California files suit against Avalon ‘Natural’ Products and Whole Foods - TransWorld News 7/7/08

EXCERPTS: “the Attorney General of California has filed a major lawsuit against body care household-cleaning product companies whose products recently tested highest for the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane….The suit, California v. Avalon Natural Products (manufacturer of the Alba brand), also names Whole Foods Market California (manufacturer of the Whole Foods 365 brand), Beaumont Products (manufacturer of the Citrus Magic brand), and Nutribiotic.”

The Poisoning of America’s Water Supplies - Natural News 7/3/08

VW’s 660 lb, 235mpg car set for limited 2010 production, for approximately $32-48,000 - Wired 7/3/08

Tesla to supply Mercedes-Benz with lithium-ion batteries? - EnGadget 6/30/08

Tesla promises all-electric car for under $30k in under four years - EnGadget 6/30/08

There’s no hope at the ballot box - CounterPunch 6/26/08

Voting Machine Company Salesman Becomes Election Director in Texas - Wired 6/4/08

2004 Election: Mother of all Vote Frauds – WhatReallyHappened

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College on Friday, less than a week after the Democrats settled on how to handle delegates from Florida at their national convention.- The Hill 6/6/08

Election Integrity Watchdog: My Own Vote Was Flipped - BradBlog 6/4/08

Florida’s 2008 Election Landscape Looking More Like 2000 - Alternet 6/20/08

Supreme Court Decision Derails Federal Fraud Suit Against Voting Machine Company - BradBlog 6/27/08

Scalia: Gore to blame for 2000 decision - Raw Story 6/26/08

The Biggest Election Story Not on Your TV - AfterDowningStreet.org 6/16/08

Flashback: Sen. Hagel admits owning voting machine company - Scoop, New Zealand 1/31/03

Failure of ES&S Touch-Screen Voting System ‘Should Not Have Been Possible,’ Says Arkansas Official Where Election Outcome Was Reversed - BradBlog 5/30/08

Ann Coulter’s Felony Voter Fraud Crimes: The Complete Story - BradBlog 6/6/08

New York Times Perpetuates the Myth that George Bush Won the 2000 Election - Alternet

EXCERPT: “”In 2001 painstaking postmortems of the Florida count, one by the New York Times and another by a consortium of newspapers, concluded that Mr. Bush would have come out slightly ahead, even if all the votes counted throughout the state had been retallied.” Alessandra Stanley, New York Times, May 23, 2008, in a review of the HBO television movie, “Recount”.  That’s not true.

The New York Times did not do its own recount. It did participate in a consortium. Here’s what the consortium actually said: “If all the ballots had

been reviewed under any of seven single standards, and combined with the results of an examination of overvotes, Mr. Gore would have won, by a very narrow margin.” Ford Fessenden and John M. Broder, New York Times, Nov. 12, 2001. Why did Ms. Stanley make such an important and fundamental error?  It is not a trivial matter. It is a common piece of misinformation. Many, many people believe it. Now a few more do, as a result of Ms. Stanley’s review. It is not a trivial matter. Because that misinformation was created by one of the most bizarre, and still completely unexplained, journalistic events in modern times.

Here’s what happened: George Bush appeared to have won Florida , and therefore the presidency. The law in Florida was actually quite simple and direct:

ƒ(4) If the returns for any office reflect that a candidate was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office … the board responsible for certifying the results of the vote on such race or measure shall order a recount of the votes cast with respect to such office or measure.

That is one of the simplest and most clearly written bits of legislation I’ve ever seen anywhere. The Florida court thought so too and ordered a recount. Then the United States Supreme Court stepped in and shut the recounts down. Bush was left as the victor and became the president. But, presumably, the whole world wanted to know who actually did get the most votes. It would make a great and important story. But getting the truth was too time-consuming and expensive for any single news organization, so a consortium was formed. It consisted of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Tribune Company, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, the St. Petersburg Times, the Palm Beach Post and CNN. It took almost a year and cost more than a million dollars. All the news organizations had the same information: Al Gore got more legal, countable votes than George Bush. Here are the headlines:

New York Times: “STUDY OF DISPUTED FLORIDA BALLOTS FINDS JUSTICES DID NOT CAST THE DECIDING VOTE”

Wall Street Journal: “IN ELECTION REVIEW, BUSH WINS WITHOUT SUPREME COURT HELP”

Los Angeles Times: “BUSH STILL HAD VOTES TO WIN IN A RECOUNT, STUDY FINDS”

Washington Post: ” FLORIDA RECOUNTS WOULD HAVE FAVORED BUSH”

CNN.com: ” FLORIDA RECOUNT STUDY: BUSH STILL WINS”

St. Petersburg Times: “RECOUNT: BUSH.”

If you were still interested, after the headlines, and bothered to read the stories, it didn’t get much better. I read it in the New York Times. Frankly, I missed the key paragraph, until I saw it pointed out in an article by Gore Vidal. I subsequently went back and read all the stories. The Times was the worst in terms of active misdirection. They spent the first three paragraphs supporting the headline, and they explicitly stated that Bush would have won even with a statewide recount. Finally, in the fourth paragraph — if you got that far — was the statement quoted above:

“If all the ballots had been reviewed under any of seven single standards, and combined with the results of an examination of overvotes, Mr. Gore would have won, by a very narrow margin.”

There it was. A very simple statement. Al Gore got more votes in Florida than George Bush. It is also very well buried.”

Related: 2008 Election Posts