http://anonnewsnet.blogspot.com/ →

You’ve gotta check this resource out. I must admit, it’s where I go for much of my own news. 

Genetically Modified Showdown: Monsanto Sued by Organic Farmers →

Go farmers! A collective of organic farmers is suing Monsanto because, not only are their genetic modifications not useful, they’re actually harmful. I don’t have high hopes for this case but I still stand behind them 100%!

The Top Ten Reasons America is Broke →

Hoo boy! Can you say tax loopholes you can drive a tank through? Having the highest corporate tax rate in the world is meaningless if the corporations can just legally dodge the taxes.

19 Reasons Why The Federal Reserve Is At The Heart Of U.S. Economic Problems →

A very strong argument against the Federal Reserve. I’ve been told it’s flawed, as it doesn’t regard debt as a part of GDP, but that seems negligible considering the context.

American Thought Police →

A clear image of the American gestapo. I hope you don’t think this is a purely political issue, because I can prove (with no great effort) that the “left” is just as guilty as the “right.”

The 11 layers of citizen journalism. →

In the interest of supporting citizen journalism, here is a breakdown of c.j into 11 levels.

Full Employment, Inflation Control, And The Fed

letterstomycountry:

Some great commentary by Lane Kenworthy on the relationship between Inflation and the Employment rate:

Sweden succeeded in keeping unemployment below 4%  [from 1960 to 1989] by coupling employment-oriented monetary and fiscal policy with wage restraint. But Sweden’s central bank at that time was subordinate to the government. Ours, the Federal Reserve, is independent. Since the late 1970s, independent central banks such as the Fed almost always have prioritized low inflation, rendering low unemployment difficult to achieve. If the Fed isn’t on board, even a workable plan for full employment supported by the American public and our elected officials probably won’t be enough.

What about Pollin’s second precedent, the United States in the late 1990s? During those years the Fed, under Alan Greenspan, did keep interest rates low enough for the unemployment rate to drop below 4%. But Greenspan held rates low despite opposition from other Fed board members, who were concerned about potential inflationary consequences — particularly given the internet-driven stock market bubble. Greenspan took this stance in part because his belief in the self-correcting nature of markets led him to worry less than others about the bubble. In light of the painful consequences of the 2000s real estate bubble, I doubt we’ll see the Fed take that approach again for some time.

The trouble with arming Libyan rebels

fareastlibertarianmovement:

“The most common outcome of U.S.-funded rebellions has been to create instability and violence that, whether in the form of intractable insurgencies or low-level sectarian fighting, tends to last far longer than whatever political conflict they were meant to resolve. The flood of arms — particularly the easy-to-use, impossible-to-destroy, grimly effective Kalashnikov rifle variants — make weapons so prolific and so cheap that terrorism, criminal gangs better armed than the police, and militias of every political and religious stripe are all but impossible to stamp out. By the time that CIA funding dries up, young men who have made their living for years fighting on the American dime have no other way to support their family than killing for hire. Wealthy, extremist sheikhs and would-be sheikhs on the Arabian Peninsula are always happy to write checks in pursuit of their Islamist dreams, as they have done in support of Afghan and Pakistani militants for decades. Violence begets violence, instability begets instability, and the U.S. tactic of arming rebels has been incredibly successful at fomenting both, but has done little to end either, often creating problems far outsizing those we originally meant to solve.”

— In Arming Libyan Rebels, U.S. Would Follow an Old, Dark Path