Leid Stories – 12.07.15

Obama’s Re-Renewed War on Guns and Terror

Last Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.—in which two shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, killed 14 people and wounded 21 others at a holiday party before being killed in a shootout with police—was the focus of a national address by President Barack Obama last night. It was an act of terrorism, he said, and his administration is dealing resolutely with it, both domestically and in conjunction with U.S. allies. Leid Stories deconstructs the president’s speech.

Koos Jansen – “China is playing the gold game very carefully”

On behalf of Matterhorn Asset Management, Lars Schall talked with one of the prime researchers when it comes to the People’s Republic of China gold policy; Dutch analyst Koos Jansen. They discuss the many tricky details that have to be taken into account; since the Chinese gold buying is pretty much a covert operation. Lars Schall: My first question would …

Dr. Ludwig Watzal – Has The Zionist Lobby Hijacked The US Congress?

When US President Barack Obama and Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu met the other day in Washington they tried to get along fairly well. The fundamental conflict between the US superpower and its political client state was watered down and rhetorically whitewashed. Obama has put up a brave front because he thinks of the day after leaving the White House …

Alternative Visions – TPP Part 2: The New Corporate Government & Other Chapters – 11.20.15

Dr. Jack Rasmus looks in depth at Chapters 27-28 of the TPP and how they set up a new global corporate government. Why the TPP violates Article III of the US Constitution and how its signing on October 4 in Atlanta represents the ‘founding convention’ of a new form of global corporate government. Jack explains the new ‘legislative-executive’ body of the TPP ‘Commission’ and the new tribunal courts system and the danger they represent to existing representative government in the US and the 12 member countries. Jack critiques the claim of TPP supporters that it is a ‘living agreement’, asking if this means every time the TPP is changed as new countries join will the TPP have to be ‘ratified’ each time? If not, then corporations and bureaucrats running the Commission and Courts will change the TPP as they like. Other chapters are reviewed on trade in goods, investment, intellectual property, financial services, labor and environment. Jack challenges Obama’s claim that 18,000 tariff cuts will mean more exports and jobs for US workers, noting TPP provides no control over currency devaluations which will more than offset tariff reductions. TPP is about ensuring money and investment flows by US banks, IT, and services companies without limit. It protects big Pharma companies and removes opposition to US produced GMO products by big US Agribusiness. TPP means: more profit and sales for them and fewer jobs, lower wages, and destruction of representative Democracy for the rest.

Jack announces a new format for future shows: The first half of the show will identify critical global and US economic developments of the preceding week, followed by comments on the economic proposals and programs of US presidential candidates. The second half of the show will focus on interviews or presentations on a major feature of the US or global economy. Next week’s feature: ‘Why the Global Economy is Slowing and why the IMF, World Bank, and Central Banks Keep Under-Forecasting the Trend’.

Paul Craig Roberts – Vladimir Putin Speaks Honestly

Russia’s president is a refreshing contrast to the liars who inhabit Western governments and Western media. The agenda of the Russian government is peace and international cooperation under the rule of law. Washington’s agenda is hegemony. President Putin endeavors to lead the world to peace, while the neoconservatives who control Washington’s foreign policy try to drive the world to war. …

Smart Show (goharrison) with Cary Harrison – 10.26.15

Mehrsa Baradaran is an associate professor at the University of Georgia School of Law where she teaches banking and contracts law. Before teaching, she worked in the banking regulatory group at a Wall Street Law Firm. Her new book, How the Other Half Banks, has just been published by Harvard University Press

Diane Roark (now retired) spent 17 years on the professional staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and prior service on the National Security Council Staff, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in the Intelligence section of the International division of the Department of Energy.

“Healthy Living” Update with Jason Crow

Robert Reich – The Morality of a $15 Minimum

Have you noticed how often conservatives who disagree with a policy proposal call it a “job killer?” They’re especially incensed about proposals to raise the federal minimum wage. They claim it will force employers to lay off workers worth hiring at the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour but not at a higher minimum. But as Princeton University economist …

Stephen Lendman – Is Jordan Switching Sides? Putin Signs Military Cooperation Agreement with King Abdullah

On Friday, Sputnik News, RT International, the Jordan Times and Reuters said Russian and Jordanian officials agreed to establish a “special working mechanism” to share information on counterterrorism operations in Syria. “Under an agreement between His Majesty King Abdullah II and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the militaries of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions, including military aircraft …

Chris Hedges – ‘A Pipeline Straight to Jail’

The defeat of the Harvard University debate team by a team from the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in the Catskills elucidates a truth known intimately by those of us who teach in prisons: that the failure of the American educational system to offer opportunities to the poor and the government’s abandonment of families and children living in blighted communities …

ISIS Fighters Deserting After Russia Nails Them With 60 Sorties in 72 Hours

One question that’s been asked repeatedly over the past thirteen months is why Washington has been unable to achieve the Pentagon’s stated goal of “degrading and defeating” ISIS despite the fact that the “battle” pits the most advanced air force on the planet against what amounts to a ragtag band of militants running around the desert in basketball shoes. Those of …