The revelations of the so-called Panama Papers that are roiling the world’s political and financial elites this week include important facts about Team Clinton. This unprecedented trove of documents purloined from a shady Panama law firm that arranged tax havens, and perhaps money laundering, for the globe’s super-rich includes juicy insights into how Russia’s elite hides its ill-gotten wealth.
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Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
04/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
What I’ve termed "fake terrorism" is a longstanding Kremlin core competency, and it can only be pulled off with logistical support, including with finances.
Just a hypothetical, but with the able assistance of the Iranian Quds Forces, it is certainly possible that "fake terrorism" could have taken place in cities as distant as Benghazi.
But of course such a hypothetical would surely not escape the scrutiny of our leadership, or would it ?
[Breitbart] Columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that if the Supreme Court fails to overturn President Obama’s executive actions in United States v. Texas and allows the administration to grant government benefits to noncitizens "you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws" on Thursday’s "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.
Krauthammer said, [relevant remarks begin around 3:30] "If the president is allow to do go ahead and to do this, and it’s decided that it’s constitutional, then you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws. I mean, the judge is right. As a policy issue, the Congress decides, it passes the law, it decided that this is not appropriate. The president has a big heart, big heart with your tax money, and the Congress said no, it [government benefits] goes only to citizens. And if the president can unilaterally overturn that, then we have no laws and we have, essentially a single branch of government, that legislates. This is a huge decision. I do not understand how the four liberal justices will, as they will, resist the logic here."
#5
I really think they don't want to reach the point we decide the laws are null and void. And I mean we, not them. The moment that happens, is when you get things like the French revolution
#6
Resisting logic is what liberal judges do. Torturing & twisting reason, logic and language is what everyone pursuing a paramount agenda does. Pursuing a paramount agenda is one way to carry out one's bias. In this case, the "agenda" is unlimited executive power / restoration of tyranny, and the cancellation of centuries of government by consent of the governed.
#7
The moment that happens, is when you get things like the French revolution
The other trigger to the French revolution was, IIRC, severe financial hardship for those French at the low end of the economic spectrum of the time. The USA has been on the edge of financial disaster / widespread deprivation since about 2006, despite the bogus statistics of the gubmint and the boosterism of those supporting the financial oligarchy.
#8
There is only power in a manner of speaking. Politics is the process by which people in a region determine by some type of peaceful/orderly process who gives orders and agree on who takes those orders. Warfare / civil unrest occurs when the process breaks down and force is substituted for agreement.
[Evonomics] The newest Wall Street bestseller by Michael Lewis, Flash Boys, chronicles the unlikely emergence of fairness in the corrupt world of high-frequency trading (HFT). It’s a gripping and enlightening read for anyone who doesn't already know the story, but it becomes especially enlightening when viewed through the lens of evolutionary game theory (EGT).
The EGT story is simpler than the HFT story. It consists of only four actors, who reflect combinations of two binary strategies: whether to cooperate or defect in a social interaction, and whether to punish or ignore defections by others. These actors interact with each other in a social environment defined by the parameters of the game.
In one classic version of the game, each player is given an endowment, which they can keep or contribute to a common fund. The fund is multiplied and distributed equally to the players. This is a social environment that rewards defection, since players that don’t contribute get the highest returns. When actual people play the game, most start off moderately generous, but as soon as they realize that they are being exploited by others, they withhold their own contributions. Cooperation goes down the drain, leaving only defection and the lack of social benefits. There is no way to punish defectors in this version of the game, so the punish vs. ignore option is inoperative. The only way to punish defectors is to withhold one’s own cooperation; that is, to become a defector oneself.
#1
In the actual real-world game, there ARE ways to punish so-called defectors, such as various actual/potential regulations and laws, such as those against fraud & conspiracy in restraint of trade. Potential enforcer / regulators like Eric 'Place' Holder and the US Congress have refused to do that part of the job.
HFT is & has been corrupt from its very beginning, serving no useful business / financial purpose beyond lining the pockets of the insiders. A small fee on placing each & every trade would eliminate HFT rather quickly. Do not discuss this with anyone!
A long piece at the Observer about how the Rooshuns are playing the refugee crisis to their advantage. Of course they are; they're good at the long game.
Special bonus appearance by the Poles, who have figured out that their world class intelligence service can't identify the bad refugees hiding within the good refugees, and as a result are taking no refugees. Boggle, eh?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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#1
Albeit JV by Vlad's standards, our Champ plays a pretty wicked 'long game' as well. A similar playbook no doubt.
And yes, a hat tip must be extended the Poles and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) friends and family for their 'No Vacancy' stance. They evidently received the Kremlin email.
[DAWN] POLITICAL pundits everywhere are having a field day with the Panama Papers, which have brought to light the murky business dealings of a wide cross section of the world’s elites. The usual Pakistani suspects find their names on the list, and are now scrambling to prove their innocence; our sitting prime minister foremost among them. The stakes are high — the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland leaves no room for doubt.
Yet in contrast with countries like Iceland, the land of the pure is tainted with so-called corruption scandals on an almost daily basis. The credibility of mainstream politicians is so poor that another exposé only confirms what we already know, rather than signifying a decisive shift in what passes for public opinion. Chances are, then, that Nawaz Sharif & co will weather this latest storm, even while the chattering classes will heap more scorn on politics and lament the ‘failure’ of democracy.
Of course, the Panama Papers will be frontline news for some days yet, because it is the sort of issue upon which our sensation-seeking corporate media thrives. Meanwhile, other stories will continue to be reported in a much less critical manner, as if it is only politicians and democracy that deserve to be subject to editorial comment.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Yet quite aside from the legitimacy that the establishment draws from external supporters, the absence of critical comment speaks to the lack of independence — and courage — of the Pakistani intelligentsia. I do not wish to dismiss the many brave men and women who do take up issues that are generally considered taboo.
"Considered Taboo" here as well? Retired DIA Director Mike Flynn might enthusiastically agree.
[DAWN] A BROKEN judicial system is always likely to attract novel, even unconstitutional, quasi-fixes.
With the superior judiciary and the legislative seemingly in denial about the need for root-and-branch overhaul of the judicial system, both state and society are finding alternatives that include parallel ’judicial’ forums.
The 21st Amendment-created military courts are an ad hoc -- and constitutionally ugly -- response to the military’s anti-terrorism priorities.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
Jen Rubin at the Right Turn at WaPo. Rubin can be pretty galling at times but on this one she has a solid point: Champ really is trying to give Iran direct access to US and world banks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2016 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
John and Tony Podesta aren’t fooling anyone
What I’ve termed "fake terrorism" is a longstanding Kremlin core competency, and it can only be pulled off with logistical support, including with finances.
[Breitbart] Columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that if the Supreme Court fails to overturn President Obama’s executive actions in United States v. Texas and allows the administration to grant government benefits to noncitizens "you can send Congress home, and can you eliminate Article I from the Constitution, then there are no laws" on Thursday’s "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.
Yet quite aside from the legitimacy that the establishment draws from external supporters, the absence of critical comment speaks to the lack of independence — and courage — of the Pakistani intelligentsia. I do not wish to dismiss the many brave men and women who do take up issues that are generally considered taboo.
