This will read better at the group page where the graphics are intact. Sorry, Web mail insists at times on making an un-intelligible mess out of some things. Scott ------------------ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyunderground/message/3904
*Need any snake oil? If you live in the U.S., you've come to the right place. Here the stuff flows free and easy, from the White House through the halls of Congress, to the judiciary, all along the campaign trail. Politicians and their enablers lie about the economy, lie about their purported concerns, lie about what's happening right in front of our noses. We can see that the economy isn't getting better; it's getting worse, and it ain't "coming back." For those in a statistical frame of mind, investigative journalist David Cay Johnston crunches the numbers<http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/one_in_five_americans_are_jobless_or_underemployed_20120622/> .* * * ------------------------------ *BRINGING THE WARS HOME* *Apparently it's not enough that the U.S. is sending drones to maim and murder people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and god knows where else, now we discover that the Department of Homeland Security is using them in the Caribbean and Mexico<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018512647_drones24.html>. Can't keep the good stuff for everyone else; gotta bring it closer to home! Plus there's money to be made. Military contractors keep making these things, and the U.S. government -- meaning taxpayers -- have to keep buying them. The excuse, of course, is the so-called "war on drugs," a boondoggle that's now supplemented by the "war on terror."* * * *Meanwhile, police departments all over the country are awash in DHS grant money. So they're spending it, of course, on New and Improved weapons. Such as armored vehicles. Even Berkeley, California<http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/06/liberal-berkeley-poised-to-acquire-armoured-personnel-carrier/>, home of protests and progressive politics. Cause you never know when you have to run down a scary scofflaw in the streets. Better safe than sorry!* * * ------------------------------ *KILLING YOU TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD* *Environmental activists are in increasing danger around the world, including in this country, where some of the harshest prison sentences around are meted out to them to send a message to others about what happens if you go up against big money. But it's even worse in other countries, where people are routinely murdered for trying to protect their local rivers, lakes, and lands. The latest study reveals that more than one person every week is murdered for environmental activism<http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/19-2>. So we've got the war on drugs, the war on terror, and the war on people who get in the way of corporations making profits.* * * ------------------------------ *Need some summer reading? Yeah, me too. Long days at the beach, lazy afternoons on the screened-in porch, breezy nights with the light left on. So what could be better than picking up a new book that lays bare the truth of what's going on in this country? The cover art alone on Charles Ferguson's latest is worth the price of admission. As he says in this interview, white collar criminality now pervades the U.S. And though I disagree with him about Obama being the so-called lesser of two evils and I won't vote for either him or Romney, I think the interview is worth reading for Ferguson's other insights. --Lisa Simeone* * * * * Obama and Corporate Crime<http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/06/12/predator-nation/> Predator Nation <http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/06/12/predator-nation/> *by RUSSELL MOKHIBER* * * * * When Charles Ferguson accepted the Academy Award in 2010 for his documentary film Inside Job, he told 30 million people viewing the award ceremony that three years after a horrific financial crisis caused by massive fraud, not a single senior financial executive has been prosecuted and thats wrong. Two years later, still no prosecution. So, now Ferguson is out with a book Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/030795255X/counterpunchmaga>(Random House, 2012.) It reads like an indictment. Check that. It reads like a number of indictments. And Ferguson is hoping that federal prosecutors will pick up the book and get some ideas. And why exactly have there been no prosecutions of high level Wall Street investment bank executives? Politics? Not exactly, Ferguson says. Its important to bear in mind the direct personal incentive structures of many of the people involved, Ferguson told Corporate Crime Reporter last week. The revolving door phenomenon now affects the Justice Department and federal prosecutors to a very substantial extent. The previous federal prosecutor for the southern district of New York, Mary Jo White, now does white collar criminal defense and makes a great deal more money than she did as a federal prosecutor. I think that phenomenon is very well entrenched, very thoroughly entrenched. Indeed Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division was head of the white collar criminal defense practice at Covington & Burling. They represent most of the major banks and investment banks in the United States. And his boss, Eric Holder, the Attorney General, came from the same firm. Exactly, Ferguson said. So, when you say politics, you sort of think of Republicans, Democrats, ideology, large scale political and policy debates. I dont think thats the only thing going on here. I think you have to consider incentives individual, personal, financial and professional. When Rudy Giuliani was U.S. Attorney, he had no qualms about prosecuting Michael Milken. What has changed? One thing that has changed is that the amount of wealth and political power held by the financial sector has gone up by at least an order of magnitude, Ferguson said. Another thing thats changed is the amount of money that the financial sector spends on politics and acquiring political power and influence has also gone up by at least an order of magnitude. And thirdly, the divergence, the difference between public sector salaries and incomes and private sector salaries and incomes has widened enormously. So again, for those at the level of large scale political behavior and at the level of individual incentive, things have changed dramatically since the 1980s. As an undergrad, Ferguson studied mathematics at the University of California Berkeley and went on to study political science at MIT. He then went on to organize an early software company Vermeer Technologies which was sold in 1996 to Microsoft for a reported $133 million. He was an early fan of President Obama. I donated my legal maximum to his campaign in 2008, Ferguson says. But at a press conference in October 2011, Obama addressed the question of why no high level Wall Street executive has been prosecuted. So, you know, without commenting on particular prosecutions obviously, thats not my job, thats the attorney generals job you know, I think part of peoples frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of practices that should not have been allowed werent necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact, Obama said. Does Ferguson still support Obama? Im now very troubled, Ferguson said. Im going to vote for him because we face only two realistic choices, him and Mitt Romney, and between the two, I still think that, for various reasons, he is by far the better choice. He is the lesser of two evils and I cant say that I will vote with any happiness. Are you going to donate the legal maximum this time? I havent decided what Im going to do, Ferguson said. I certainly would find it emotionally difficult to donate money to his campaign given my feelings about the situation and his conduct. What was Fergusons reaction when he heard Obama say the actions werent necessarily against the law? My reaction was very negative, Ferguson said. First of all the statement is thoroughly inaccurate and incorrect, but secondly its very difficult for me to believe that he doesnt know that. Given what we now know, its very difficult for me to believe that President Obama actually believes that there was no significant criminality in the housing bubble and the financial crisis. *Russell Mokhiber edits the Corporate Crime Reporter.* * * http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/06/12/predator-nation/ ------------------------------ *If you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know* ** *To join the Liberty Underground news service email libertyuv@hotmail.comwith "join" for a subject* ** *You may also join our talk group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertyundergroundtalk/ if you would like to participate* ** *email: libert...@hotmail.com* ** *Tell your friends about LUV News because some people just don't get it* * * [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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