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Council on Foreign Relations: 'Free-Markets Need Our Help'

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It is always amazing to see how this priority infects almost every aspect of the Western dialogue as conducted by its intelligentsia and has turned mainstream western media into a gigantic echo chamber that repeats the same conclusions over and over again in cleverly-cloaked, seemingly different but all-too-similar ways. The Internet has provided alternative conclusions and "out-of-the-box" thinking on many of these issues. And that's one reason it's being attacked by the powers-that-be.

US Military Theatre Expands Again

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Large political structures that are built without the buy-ins of their populations tend to be fairly fragile entities with short lifespans. Western elites were doing much better in the 20th century than the 21st in terms of this buy-in. More and more, the escalating use of force looks to us more like a weakness than a strength, an admission that as Mao famously said, "power springs from the barrel of a gun." Of course Mao's China lasted precisely as long as he was alive, about 40-50 years.

21st Century Investing NOT Business As Usual

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:00:00 GMT

There are great challenges ahead. Investors who understand how to navigate them - and who also understand the potential price action of gold and silver - may do very well over the next five to ten years. The markets themselves in the narrowest sense of the word may not provide opportunity but there will be plenty of other venues that will offer significant upsides. There will be chaos, yes, and also opportunity.

West Takes Over East

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Initially it took a kind of sleuthing to figure out what was going on as regards Middle Eastern and African turmoil. Rising food prices were part of it. But just as significantly, Western powers-that-be had decided on a wholesale military takeover of the Middle East and the upper portion of Africa. From Syria to Egypt, to Yemen and even the Ivory Coast, Africa is ablaze not with purely internally-inspired violence but with Western fomented revolts designed to prepare nations for a process of

Dollar Replacement Beat Goes On ... and On

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This article from CNN comments on an editorial that just appeared in the Financial Times, which like the Economist magazine, tends to enunciate the positions of the Anglo-American power elite. It confirms our suspicions once again that Western elites have in mind swapping out the dollar, and maybe sooner rather than later. The idea of course is that if Western elites can create something closer to a one-world currency, global government itself becomes a considerably more realistic proposition.

Idea of Turning Africa Into China Unraveling

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The 21st century is not the 20th. It is far more difficult for Western powers-that-be to surreptitiously promote power politics in Africa and elsewhere. Even the policy of "lifting up" states such as Japan and China and industrializing them is beginning to founder. Africa is probably the last hope for the West as regards this sort mercantilist approach. This is no doubt another reason why Western money power seeks a worldwide platform. It has worn out the regional one.

Political Pygmies and Mad Hatters

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The debate in Washington over this year's budget that threatened another (ho hum) government shutdown is a sterling example of how modern day pundits and politicians have shrunk their vision of political affairs down to the momentary, the picayune, the superficial, and the irrelevant. Are there any "big picture thinkers" left in the political arena? Any "men of principle?" Sadly, no. Other than Ron Paul and a few maverick colleagues, there are none. Nothing but pygmies pontificating about the

Pitfalls of Shared Responsibility

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

President Barrack Obama asserted in a recent speech dealing with the country's enormous debt that what the country needs is to live by an ancient principle, namely, "the principle of shared responsibility." He invoked this in his defense of his championing of the increased extortion of the resources of the wealthy, those who earn $250K or more per year. Why this "principle" should be invoked he didn't say - he seemed to think it's obvious. Frankly the details are not what's important here

The BRICS Take Over

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Ultimately perhaps the BRICS will build the New World Order that the Anglosphere seeks. But once it is fully constructed, it will become clear who runs it. And it won't be the BRICS. One might surely believe in Madsen's perspective but we would argue that it does no harm to observe international events from the point of view we have just offered. One needn't be wedded to any approach - just wait and see.

Western Wars Are for Oil?

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The dominant social theme that Anglo-American wars are primarily aimed at exploiting raw materials is being trotted out again. While Britain has been engaged in an extensive post-mortem of the Iraqi war called the Chilcot Inquiry, these secret documents were not released as part of that effort but were gathered by "oil campaigner" Greg Muttitt under Britain's freedom-of-information act.

Budget Cuts Are Meaningless Without Fed Transparency

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Congress focused on issues surrounding government spending this week as talk of deficits, the national debt, and the debt limit saturated the airwaves. This is a positive development. In years past, there was very little concern over how much was spent here in Washington, how it was spent, or how much of our gross domestic product was being consumed by government. That blissful ignorance naturally resulted in decades of government spending with impunity, bringing us to where we are today

The EU Crack-Up

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Political upheaval has hit Finland, and it's merely a foreshadowing of bigger changes ahead. The core issue is whether Finland ought to be paying for bailouts for other EU states. In reaction to establishment support for the bailout, voters ousted the pro-bailout ruling party and gave an upset victory to the bailout-critical conservative party. Against every expectation, the eternal rule of the social democrats is at an end. But most striking of all are the gains made by a previously invisible

More Nails in EU Coffin?

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

There is yet a hammering sound surrounding the EU. Some say it comes from those who are busy building a box in which to contain the region's endless sovereign debt crisis. Others might be persuaded the box is the EU's coffin. The distinction is important not only to the EU but to the Anglo-American power elite that is running as hard as it can to refine plans for one-world government before the Internet and the rolling worldwide inflationary recession generates a critical mass of opposition to

New Elite Approach In Ivory Coast – the Clenched Fist

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Not long ago, the former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo was forced out of the presidential residence at gunpoint. The new president, Alassane Ouattara is going to take up residence after repairs. That's about all that's clear right now. Most everything else is a muddle. But we would submit, nonetheless, that the Ivory Coast affair signals a turning point in the way the Anglo-American power elite is going about implementing its fear-based dominant social themes.

James Jaeger on SPOILER – His Documentary Based on Nelson Hultberg's New Freedom-Oriented Political Party

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The editors of The Daily Bell are pleased to present an exclusive interview with free-market film producer James Jaeger. Mr. Jaeger is a Telly Award-winning filmmaker (FIAT EMPIRE) with over 25 years experience writing, directing and editing feature motion pictures, documentaries, TV commercials and multiple-camera live events. In late 1981, Mr. Jaeger founded Matrixx Productions to continue goals set forth by Lee Garmes and Academy Artists, Inc. and the Independent

Barack Obama's Internet Kill Switch

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

What are the chances of a US Internet Kill Switch? Could it happen? Is it practical? The Foundation for the Advancement of Free-Market Thinking (FAFMT) and The Daily Bell are pleased to bring you a short video presentation titled, Internet Kill Switch. The video features hard-to-believe yet true events unfolding right now in Washington D.C. to try and suppress the Internet's ability to support the freedom of the press. Will the power elite be victorious in squelching Internet freedom? We surely

US Is Broke, Failing, But Show Goes On

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In his recent speech, US President Barack Obama pledged to pare the projected deficit by $4 trillion in the next 12 years, and to raise taxes on America's wealthiest Americans. His presentation was reported seriously and gravely by the mainstream media that must be aware, nonetheless, that total US obligations are in the area of US$200 trillion. There is no real way that the US federal government can honor what it has already undertaken. These proposals (by both sides of the aisle) take on

France Expects to Wipe Out Oldest Profession

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In a libertarian society, many of the current wars (such as the war on drugs) would be seen as unnecessary. People could do as they pleased so long as they did not hurt others. But despite the literally millions pages of documentary evidence that shows laws that target personal behavior are ineffective and unproductive, such laws persist. Now France, upending a century's older tradition of tolerance, is contemplating making patronizing prostitution a crime.

On Demeaning A Straw Men

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A. C. Grayling, an normally sensible English academic – just check out his book, Liberty in the Age of Terror (Bloomsbury, 2009) – wrote recently in The New York Review of Books: "Of course, people who hold extreme political positions are not troubled by such conflict [as the one between wanting to make everyone economically equal and also making sure everyone is free]. They simply disown the values that they believe cause the conflict. The libertarian can say that only freedom matters and the

John Boehner, A Wide-Eyed Radical ... Not!

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

John Boehner may believe he can temporize now but there is a price. Tomorrow the very fabric of the nation may come under threat. This is what Boehner should really be worrying about instead of the impact of government shutdowns and the ramifications of debt-ceiling expansions.

Silent Coup: UN Takes Over Africa?

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the modern age, with the power elite pressing hard for world government, it is sometimes difficult to note turning points, but the more we see of the tiny Ivory Coast affair the more we tend to believe this is another watershed moment. It is truly a big deal. Though we have covered this unfolding story with regular articles now, we believe it deserves additional coverage.

Atomization & Commodification in Capitalism

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

That free market capitalism, if it existed, would atomize and commodify people is a charge that's been around quite a while. It pops up for sure whenever someone means to disparage the free market economy. Atomization is the idea that people, like the early conception of atoms, are fully self-sufficient, autonomous, in need of nobody, ruggedly individualist through and through. Is this view of people really assumed in a capitalist, free market economy? Remembering first that no such economy

Shrinking Greatness of Congressional Budget Cuts

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

The Wall Street Journal and other mainstream US financial publications are in full cry about the greatness of the recent historical Congressional budget deal that supposedly reverses decades of spending. It's a kind of dominant social theme in fact: Big Government DOES work. "Elections matter," as Barack Obama famously said. This one, repudiating the Democrats' big spending ways, is leading the nation back to the fiscal conservatism of the earlier 20th century that made it great.

Do Iraqis Know Something the Pentagon Doesn't?

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Either the US gets out of Iraq or Iraq goes up in flames. That seems to be the message in this article. What is the larger import? The grim US military-industrial complex meme that the war in Iraq was worthwhile because of the tyrant it toppled may be toppling itself. If so, the US might actually end up in a national debate over the validity of these vicious depredations and their effects on national solvency (not good). In this article we want to examine the possibility of such a debate and the

EU Heart Attacked by Mainstream Press!

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The elite is now in a place where ANY setback is considerable and illustrates to the millions who are awakened that its grip is slipping. Because the secrecy is gone, all the elite has left is an aura of desperately cultivated invincibility. This is the final weapon in its arsenal, but it is a much more difficult one to wield. It demands "immoveable rigor" and a determination not to give in no matter the forces arrayed against it. Yet we would argue on almost every front elite plans are

Ivory Coast Resolution Turns Into Neo-Colonialism

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Now that former president Laurent Gbagbo has been captured by his rival Alassane Ouattara, the mainstream media is predicting a return to normalcy for the Ivory Coast. It is no doubt hoped by many in the West that Hillary Clinton's specific warning shall encourage democracy throughout the continent, as there are supposedly some 30 elections to be held in that vast region in the near future. The question emerges however as to whether Gbagbo's removal was done in such a way as to enforce the

The Nanny State Can't Last

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Last week, Congress and the administration refused to seriously consider the problem of government spending. Despite the fear-mongering, a government shutdown would not have been as bad as claimed. It is encouraging that some in Washington seem to be insisting on reduced spending, which is definitely a step in the right direction, but only one step. We have miles to go before we can even come close to a solution, and it will involve completely redefining the role of government in our lives and

Essential Capitalism

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A while back I got caught up in a fracas about using the term "capitalism" to mean the free market, fully voluntary system of economic relations. It didn't surprise me since I am aware that complicated matters often need to be discussed, well, in complicated ways so when one just refers to some system as "capitalist" or "democratic" or "socialist" or "libertarian," one is likely to start a dispute as to just what the term is to mean in the language in which such issues are to be discussed.

IMF Plots Role as World's Central Bank?

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Can you hear the whispers coming out of the shadows? Over the past months, we have covered the IMF's increasing efforts to position itself as the world's future central bank and one-world currency issuer. We can see from the above article in Reuters – a chief mouthpiece of the power elite along with the Economist magazine – that the campaign is in no sense winding down. Now the IMF casually, oh-so-casually, floats the idea that it might tap global markets for funding.

Little Iceland Panics Big Banks

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Icelanders are at it again, irresponsible and unwilling to take up their burden. The wrath of the modern world shall surely be visited upon them. Yes, reluctantly, the Dutch and British must sue. If the verdict is not appropriately punitive and Iceland's hardy fisherman stock does not learn its lesson in an illustrative fashion, the Pentagon's doomsday weather weapon, HAARP, shall likely be brought to bear; Iceland will be wiped, sadly, from the earth by fire and ice.

Morality and Freedom Again

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Quite a few people, among them some who are pretty bright and thoughtful, hold that people have moral responsibilities, that these aren't mere preferences, and that a society that fails to accommodate this is flawed. For some who take morality seriously these responsibilities concern conduct that people ought to carry out for various ends or goals, such as fulfilling God's will, helping others, promoting the public interest, creating beauty, advancing world peace, eliminating poverty, and so for

Jesse Ventura on Government Cover-Ups . . . 9/11, the Reality of HAARP and Making Government Better

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Daily Bell is pleased to present an exclusive interview with Jesse Ventura. Ventura is the former Independent Governor of Minnesota. He is also a former U.S. Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, movie actor, a visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the New York Times bestselling author of five books. He is currently the host and executive producer of TruTV's Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. He has a reputation as the ultimate non-partisan

Real Toll of Worldwide Regime Change

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The unrest sweeping the world seems to be growing, and the Internet provides us with global updates cataloguing this powerful phenomenon. An article in All Africa.com "Uprising, Imperialism and Uncertainty," informs us that in addition to uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, "protestors have taken to the streets in Zimbabwe, Senegal, Gabon, Sudan, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Djibouti, Cote d'Ivoire and most recently in Burkina Faso and Swaziland." The protests in some cases

The Story of Entitlement Addiction

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Welfare states rely on a complacent population, like spoiled children on spineless parents. So when finally the jig is up, no more vital fluids to leach, it is impossible to change course without serious pain. What the Republicans are asking for now is that the Democrats and their constituents agree to simple withdrawal and not scream from the pain of it all. With the public philosophy of the Democrats this is hopeless since they have been preaching that all you need to pay for it all is to rip

EU Dominos Tumble Toward Spain?

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The question is whether Spain will proceed down this path. We recently reported on an analysis of a Telegraph article that argued Spain would avoid the fate of the "PIG" (Portugal, Ireland and Greece). The Guardian argues otherwise. First there is the economic comparison: Last year, Spain grew by 0.6% while Portugal grew by 1.2%. And Spain suffers from the same kind of housing crisis that put Ireland under. The insolvency of the country's construction industry has "infected" Spain's financial

NATO and the US Quietly Winding Down Afghanistan?

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This is a startling article as it seems to proclaim that after nearly a decade of irradiating Afghanistan and killing women, children and elders in order to "purge" Afghanistan of its 100 or so Al Qaeda, both NATO and the US Military-Industrial Complex have had enough. The Asian Times reporting this story is no blog either, but the online successor publication to several fairly mainstream Hong Kong journals, so far as we can tell.

The Insidious Effects of Japan's Disaster

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

While the world's attention has been focused on the physical destruction wrought by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the desperate attempts to contain the fallout from the shattered Fukushima Daiichi plant, and the daunting problems that Japan faces in rebuilding its infrastructure, few have truly illustrated how long-lasting and widespread the radiation's effects may be. There has also been little mention of how large radiological events affect economies of countries outside the immediate

Pakistan's Problem Is Britain?

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The UK Telegraph is often a good read. But occasionally you run into stories such as this one by Ed West who is a young columnist for the paper. Just to make sure this column was not an aberration, we checked his archive. Sure enough it was littered with columns like "How will Anglo-American relations fare when America is no longer majority white?" and "Regime change in Syria could mean the extinction of Jesus Christ's language." These are not our concerns, but they are West's and to a lesser

More Global Judicial Activism, As Hague Court Awaits Kenya Killers

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Even as the violence afflicting the Ivory Coast gradually wends its way to the inevitable ouster of former president Laurent Gbagbo, there is yet another international drama being played out in Africa, where Kenya's has just sent mass killing suspects to the Hague's International Criminal Court. Kenya suffered from inter-tribal electoral violence in the past election and now those who run the Hague Courts (a fairly new phenomenon) want to put at least six suspects on trial for the killings.

Impeach Bernanke! – An open letter to Congressman Ron Paul of Texas

Thu, 7 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Most people believe, and the media confirm them in that belief, that the Fed can legally create dollars 'out of the thin air' in any quantity, and can do with them as it pleases. This may well be the pipe dream of Dr. Bernanke who is quoted as saying that the U.S. government has given the Fed a tool, the printing press, to stop deflation – but it hardly corresponds to the truth. The Fed can create new dollars only if some stringent legal conditions are satisfied, and then, it can only dispose

EU Wants Own Bonds?

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Not much of what is going in the EU is being reported in depth by Western mainstream media, especially not in America. Yet thanks to the Internet, the issues involved with the EU have likely never been clearer and the activism more organized. Hannan's increasingly successful petition, for instance, is Internet-based. In our humble view, the centralizing tendencies of Brussels and the challenges the EU faces are bound to collide to collide sooner or later. We don't have any idea of the outcome

Ivory Coast Violence May Not End With Ouster of Gbagbo

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Have the French done it again? French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) has taken France in a new and more bellicose direction recently, and the results may not be positive either for France or the countries it has helped attack. In Libya, France has helped create a war that may not be resolved for months, at least, without a significant campaign that includes NATO "boots on the ground." In the Ivory Coast, the conflict France helped spawn may yet entail additional violence. Economic development

Will a Saudi Collapse Translate Into Soaring Gold and a Falling Dollar?

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In my view, Sheikh Zaki Yamani's oil price prediction would be the least of our American problems resulting from a Saudi government collapse. The most important question facing the United States today is whether the freedom or color revolutions sweeping the Middle East will impact the authoritarian regime of Saudi Arabia and the major oil producers surrounding this nation of major oil reserves?

Statism Vs. Labor & Persons

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Under hard line statism, such as centrally planned socialism and absolute monarchy, everyone belongs to society - there are no individuals, no privacy, no private property, etc. Thus, for instance, in Marxism all vital property is collectively owned and administered by the state/government. Since the most vital of all property is human productive labor, everyone's productive labor belongs to the society and must be administered by the state/government. (The late Robert Heilbroner, the author of

EU's Unraveling Preps Global Currency?

Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The footsteps of a global currency grow louder? That's one way to look at this report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. We don't believe for one moment that after spending trillions on unification, reorienting Europe's entire politics toward support of the project, and dedicating five decades generally to building up the EU, that the Anglo-American elites behind the project are simply going to walk away from it. The intention just as likely is to create more chaos and confusion which will

Buy the 'PITS' for Big Profits!

Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The analysts at Goldman Sachs are always coming up with acronyms that receive worldwide play. (Imagine being introduced at cocktail parties as the person who came up with this or that globally recognized acronym. What an icebreaker.) Anyway, why should they have all the fun? Though we are not in any sense Masters of the Universe, we always figured if given the chance we could come up with an acronym too. Well, now it appears we have that chance, and we are seizing upon it.

The Fed Undermines Foreign Policy

Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Last week I was both surprised and pleased when the Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions requiring the Federal Reserve Bank to comply with requests for information made by Bloomberg under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"). Bloomberg simply wanted to know who received loans from the Fed's discount window in the aftermath of the 2008 financial market crisis, and how much each entity received. Surely this is basic information that should be available to every American taxpayer.

Extortion in the Name of Science

Tue, 5 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

While the country is going into more and more debt by the seconds, and while some even in Washington are beginning to be concerned – after all, their share of the loot taken from citizens year round and culminating on April 15th each year could shrink just as will everyone's who leaches off taxpayers – I admit I have heard nothing at all about cutting funding for science. That science's take is huge can be gleaned just from the fact that, according to Nature magazine, within a small segment

Tax the Rich Before Society Explodes?

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Gee, this is a blunt piece that Paul B. Farrell has written for MarketWatch. It is part of a larger theme on which he's elaborated in several columns, apparently. His perception is that the Super Rich (whoever they are) and the GOP are laboring under what he calls the "Super Rich Delusion" that things are OK in America.

The Psychopathology of Pop Hatred

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

One need only go on Youtube to be educated about the latest Anglo-American eruption of psychopathology, which is the almost insane hatred directed at "tween" pop stars. Of course the mainstream media has its own take. The reaction seems to be, generally, that in the modern day and age "social media" makes frank commentary on successful people and projects inevitable - and that people have always had mixed emotions about others' success. The other popular analysis, especially when it comes to