Banks/Banking

If “Too-Big-to-Fail’’ Means “Too-Big-to-Jail” It Should Mean “Too-Big-to-Be”

In a couple of days, the so-called US Justice Department will be announcing an “agreement” reached with five large banks, including two of the largest in the US — JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, the holding companies for Chase and Citibank — under which these banks or bank holding companies will plead guilty to felonies involving the manipulation of international currency markets.

Middle Class? What Middle Class?

A complex class system exists in the United States, but the mass media and political rhetoric generally reduces it to three components — one middle class, and two economic generalizations — rich and the poor. Indeed the term “class” itself, as a means of defining the economic and social status of the population, has been fading away. There are, of course, a number of other classes, particularly the all-important capitalist class.

Techno-Financial Capital and Genocide of the Poorest of the Poor

The war and its results have turned Yemen back a hundred years, due to the destruction of infrastructure … especially in the provinces of Oden, Dhalea, and Taiz.
— Izzedine al-Asbali, Yemeni Human Rights Minister

Yemen is devastated. There are no roads, water, or electricity. Nobody’s left but thieves.
— a resident of Sanaa, Yemen

The Banksters War on Cash

Once upon a time, the famous criminal Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, and his response was simple, eloquent, and humorous: “Because that’s where the money is.” Well, soon that adage may be proven untrue. What exactly is the meaning of legal tender?  In order to place money in its proper perspective, examine what the U.S. Treasury says.

Money Matters

It’s very reassuring that more people are slowly learning how our monetary system really works: if you want to fix something, you need to know a bit about it. The indefatigable Ellen Brown has been hugely helpful in this regard with her regular well-informed and easy-to-read articles that relentlessly confront the myths of capitalist monetary theory.

Wealth Destruction for the 99.9 Percent

Blaming the 1% for diminished prosperity avoids the real reasons for designed poverty. In round terms, the seven billion souls that populate this planet translate into seventy million to be part of the 1%. Well, that amount is still a very large number to blame for the systemic transfer of riches into the hands of the few. A far more relevant approach is to examine the .001% or around seven million that fall into the mover or shakers of asset and possessions.

BlackBloccupy! Barbarians Storm the ECB in Frankfurt

In this sedition, a round of the riots that rocked the European Central Bank’s inauguration in Frankfurt, plus a throw back from 1990’s German digital hardcore Atari Teenage Riot and an a double vegan cheeseburger worldwide exclusive interview with “Peter” from …ums Ganze! (which translates to “Crunch Time”) telling us about the coalition that fucked shit up for the EU technocrats this month.