Category: Aggregated

The headlines have been full of reports of the ship lost at sea off the coast of Libya, filled with as many as 900 people seeking to reach Europe. Nearly all are feared drowned. It turns out that this is just a sample of thousands of refugees who have set out to cross the Mediterranean in the past year alone. Some have been rescued, mainly by the Italian navy, most have been lost at sea. The migrants come from as far away as Syria, now wracked by a civil war abetted by the United States and the Saudis, who aim … Continue reading →

If the scene in Baltimore, Maryland this week gives you a sense of deja vu, flashing back to the fall when Ferguson, Missouri was under siege, then this should be telling you something. There’s a distinct pattern when society breaks down, and as our society becomes more desperate, poverty-stricken, and lacking of moral compass, this trend will become more obvious. Note that the “lacking of moral compass” part doesn’t just refer to the thugs rioting and looting, but also to the cops who think that their badges give them permission to behave like street thugs, too. Here’s the pattern: An … Continue reading →

When asked what he thought the future might look like, George Orwell said “imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.” Not exactly a cheery thought, and one I don’t agree with. While the forces pushing for centralization of power have been prevailing for decades, they haven’t won a total victory yet. Technologies that empower the individual and that tend toward decentralization—including the Internet, encryption, 3D printing, and cryptocurrencies—offer a powerful ray of hope, reasons to be optimistic about the future. So the tug of war between the collectivists and the rest of us continues. One thing that would tip … Continue reading →

…we test out our latest weapons on them, just as the Germans tested out new medicines and new tortures in the concentration camps of Europe…  – Martin Luther King, Jr. Investigative journalist William Boardman’s findings on US vaporization of Marshall Islands and human experimentation on Marshall Islands native “savages”, as they were classed by US media: “Nuclear Savage” is a recent documentary film that explores American nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands, 1946-1958, and particularly the secret Project 4.1: an American experiment in exposing Pacific Islanders to overdoses of radiation – deliberate human radiation poisoning – just to get … Continue reading →

The cynicism among the informed classes has never been so deep. Even the pompom boys in the cheerleading clubs like CNBC and The Wall Street Journal express wonderment at the levitation of stock indexes and bond values. They chatter about a “correction” of 20 percent being a healthful tonic that would clear away some dross and quickly usher in a new episode of “growth” — or growthiness, which, like truthiness, became an acceptable approximation of the real thing. The truth, as opposed to truthiness, is they no longer believe their own bullshit about growthiness. The suppression of interest rates and … Continue reading →

In fact, the age group that least agreed with the statement that global warming is a fact and caused by CO2 emissions was that of 18 to 20-year-olds. The assumption that younger US adults are more liberal when it comes to global warming does not hold up; if anything, they are even more skeptical. –Emma Kromm, Harvard Political Review, 29 April 2015 New Survey: Nearly Half Of Young Americans Are Climate Sceptics From the Harvard Political Review, 29 April 2015 by Emma Kromm (h/t to The GWPF) At the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last Saturday night, President Obama got angry. With the … Continue reading →

The Knights Templars were a secret society whose true purpose remains a mystery or is at least vigorously debated among scholars and historians to this day.  The Templars left behind many clues of their actions which have been passed down through generations, hidden in ancient manuscripts and discovered by archeologists in the modern era.  Their story is one that has captured the fascination and curiosity of people throughout the ages – were they sent to the holy land in Jerusalem to protect Christians on pilgrimages, or were they sent there on secret missions by higher authorities in order to unearth … Continue reading →

All this week in the Mail, AMELIA FREER — nutritionist to the stars and author of bestseller Eat. Nourish. Glow. — shows how to change the way you eat for good. Today, how to achieve grace around food… Many of my clients appear to glide effortlessly through life looking glamorous and in control. Some run successful businesses or hold down important jobs. They juggle the demands of raising children and marriage with running a home and a great social life. Many of them know about nutrition and eat healthily. But when I dig a little deeper I often find hidden … Continue reading →

Dear Diary, On Friday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs. It’s the first time both indexes have done so since December 31, 1999. Why such optimism? High profits, you say. But where do profits come from? Households have less money to spend than they did 15 years ago. And companies cannot make money just by selling things to each other. The only explanation is that customers – including the US government – continue to borrow and spend. Corporations borrow money to buy their own shares. Consumers borrow to buy products. Either way, the money comes “out … Continue reading →

Thomas Cromwell was the principal behind-the-scenes fixer for much of the reign of King Henry VIII. He engineered the interrogations, convictions and executions of many whom Henry needed out of the way, including his two predecessors as fixer and even the king’s second wife, Queen Anne. When Cromwell’s son, Gregory, who became sickened as he watched his father devolving from counselor to monster, learned that an executioner for the queen had been sent for from France a week before her conviction, he asked his father what the purpose of her trial was if the king had preordained the queen’s guilt … Continue reading →

One of their ships came to the rescue when the Titanic was sinking, and Charles Dickens described one of their cabins as a ‘profoundly preposterous box’. Cunard Line celebrates 175 years of sailing the seas this year and has opened its archives to reveal the magical glamour of life on board over the decades. Since being launched by Samuel Cunard in 1840, the fleet has welcomed the most illustrious members of society on board, and has a guest book which includes everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Liz Taylor to Beyonce.  Read the Whole Article