Archives for April 8, 2016

Jailed #Bankers Freed Early as #Icelandic Government Implodes Over #PanamaPapers

April 8, 2016 by carey wedler

Carey Wedler
April 7, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Iceland — The world watched in admiration last year when over two dozen Icelandic bankers who played a role in causing the 2008 financial crisis were sentenced to prison. Less than a year later, three of those bankers have been released — years earlier than expected. Their release was predicated on a change to current law regarding maximum penalties, but at least one lawmaker has suggested those who pushed the change through “handcrafted” it precisely to help bankers. News of their highly reduced sentences coincides with an ongoing scandal revealed by the Panama Papers this week regarding the Icelandic prime minister’s previously secret, offshore holdings in banks implicated in the collapse.

Icelandic outlet Stundin reported Thursday, as translated to English by the Icelandic Review, that three bankers from the Kaupthing Bank who were sentenced last year have been released. Former Kaupthing Chairperson of the Board Sigurður Einarsson, former Kaupthing Luxembourg CEO Magnús Guðmundsson, and former investor and 10% owner of Kaupthing Ólafur Ólafsson were convicted last year for their role in market manipulation and fraud. As the Reykjavík Grapevine summarized, “they artificially inflated the value of the bank, deliberately deceiving investors and depositors alike, and contributed significantly to the late 2008 collapse of the Icelandic banking system.”

They have each served roughly a year of their prison sentences, which ranged between four and five years, but because of a change to the law made March 16 regarding maximum penalties, they were released Thursday.

The Icelandic Review explained:

“The main part of the law change is to allow prisoners to double the amount of their sentence they serve at home, under electronic surveillance (i.e. tagged). The parliamentary bill was changed in committee to allow five days of electronic monitoring for every month of a prisoner’s sentence, instead of 2.5 days as it has been. This means that a prisoner sentenced to one year in prison can now spend the last 60 days electronically tagged and in the community, instead of 30 days. The rule change means criminals can now be released earlier from prison.”

Stundin reported they will be able to finish out their sentences at a “halfway house,” where they will be expected to spend every evening but will otherwise be free. After they have completed this phase — Stundin did not specify the exact length — they will be allowed to finish their sentences via electronic surveillance as determined by the new five-day guideline established by changes to the law.

The change to the law was, according to Stundin’s sources, pushed through the legislature by Unnur Brá Konráðsdóttir, chair of the Alþingi (Parliament) General Committee and MP for the Independence Party.

But not all lawmakers viewed the decision in a positive light.

“I don’t think this is a good time for this legislative change, in light of the situation surrounding these particular prisoners,” Left-Green MP Bjarkey Olsen Gunnarsdóttir said of the modification. “This seems to have been handcrafted for them. I generally support the increased use of electronic surveillance [as opposed to prison]. But we need to have a discussion about what crimes this new law would apply to.”

Though the world celebrated the sentences of the bankers last year, the financial convicts complained of unfair treatment at their low-security prison, in spite of, as the Grapevine noted, “all evidence of their wrongdoing, their lenient sentences, practically idyllic living conditions, and – most galling of all – their continued assertions that they did nothing wrong.”

In a televised interview with the bankers from prison conducted this January, they expressed disbelief they had ended up behind bars.

“We made a big mistake, our lawyers and us, in trusting the system. We trusted the courts, and put our trust in the Supreme Court to sentence according to the law. There is our mistake,” Ólafsson claimed. The ex-banker, who has been called a “corporate Viking,” also complained of the ongoing backlash against bankers. “The community is responding to a certain social group. They are subjecting a certain social group to bullying,” he said. Twenty-six bankers were sentenced last year, receiving a combined total sentence of 74 years — an average of slightly less than three years per banker.

Regardless, the Kaupthing bankers have been now released from jail. The news comes the same week Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson came under fire amid evidence of corruption highlighted in the Panama Papers leak; Gunnlaugsson was revealed to have holdings in an offshore company — one tied to the banks implicated in the financial collapse for which the bankers were convicted. He initially refused to officially resign, instead “step[ping] aside for an unspecified amount of time.” Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, deputy chair of the Progressive party Gunnlaugsson chairs, will now serve as Prime Minister. Gunnlaugsson will remain chair of the party.

The Panama Papers revelations inspired mass protests in Iceland as 22,000 gathered in the capital city of Reykjavík on Monday evening, many demanding new elections to wipe the slate clean after corruption reached the highest office. The protests have continued throughout the week, though the size of the crowd has grown smaller.

As the current government remains mired in scandal and attempts to salvage its image, news of the freed bankers highlights deep-rooted issues with accountability in Iceland prior to the Panama Papers scandal; Stundin also reported that last week, before they were released, the bankers were allowed to leave their confinement center to go out for ice cream.

This article (Jailed Bankers Freed Early as Icelandic Government Implodes Over Panama Papers) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Carey Wedler and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article at edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

#SHTF Skills Every American Needs: “Improvise With What You Have”

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

Does the future hold prolonged economic collapse? Electric outages? Food shortage? Civil unrest? EMP attacks? Looting and the general descent into madness?

Whatever may come, you and your family will be extremely vulnerable unless you have prepared for continuity and self-reliance without the aid of society. The vast majority have made no attempt to prepare, or decrease their dependence upon government agencies for basic needs. In an emergency, they will have no one else to turn to either.

But you will be ready.

Every American who values his/her independence, and hopes to survive and thrive in an after-math economy that will be very different needs to develop and hone their SHTF skills.

There are too many to list in one article, and most of the basics are well known to this audience, but here is a good resource for starting your prepping, and expanding to cover all important areas.

But it is equally important to tailor your plans around your actual situation in a way that will give you the optimal support in a crisis, and fit around the freedom lifestyle you actually want to lead.

Reallybigmonkey1 is a great example of unique prepping. He has invented devices around his needs – and improvised with what he has one hand.

In this video, he explains a homemade stove that is also designed to store & boil water, as well as cook without the need to use a pot or pan. It might be the best solution in a bug out situation.

His inventions make prepping, camping and surviving a fine art of creativity and style, and prove that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get ready:

“If you do have to leave your house and bug out, this is the kind of things that happen. You need to have the ability to make things… and improvise and make do with what you have.

He also addresses the top items he carries that aren’t in the bug out bag of others.

After the basics, this guy has included a host of homemade and improvised devices that serve his potential SHTF needs and will make his chance of survival better than the average suburbanite.

What do you carry in bag, and what have you figured out on your own to make off grid living even better?

95 Survival Tips For When the SHTF: “Carry These. Do This. And Don’t Ever…”

The Six Laws of Survival: Strategies For Beating the Worst Case Scenario

12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Bill #Clinton May Have Just Cost #Hillary the #Black Vote

April 8, 2016 by nick bernabe

Nick Bernabe
April 8, 2016

(ANTIMEDIA) Philadelphia, PA — Hillary Clinton has been performing well with minorities so far in the 2016 Democratic primary, but that could soon be changing. Bill Clinton may have just severely damaged the former secretary of state’s reputation among African Americans by committing a major gaffe — one he is now “almost” apologizing for.

At a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday, Bill was interrupted by protesters — a common theme this presidential election. The protesters, mostly young black Americans, interrupted Bill’s speech to air their grievances about his sweeping 1994 crime bill — the largest ever passed. The bill, sold as a way to effectively fight inner-city crime, actually helped expand an already developing trend of mass incarceration that had an overwhelmingly negative impact of the black community.

Signs reading “Clinton Crime Bill destroyed our community,” and “Hillary is a murderer” could be seen waving in the audience as Bill was interrupted Thursday. He caused a major backlash in the the African-American community when he decided to comment on the people who were incarcerated because of his crime bill.

“I don’t know how you would describe the gang leaders who got 13-year-olds hopped up on crack and sent them out in the streets to murder other African-American children.“Maybe you thought they were good citizens…You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth. You are defending the people who cause young people to go out and take guns,” he said at the campaign event.

[embedded content]

Hillary Clinton was a major supporter of her husband’s crime bill when she was First Lady. As we reported previously:

“Hillary Clinton lobbied Congress to pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Bill Clinton signed the act into law in 1994… The largest crime bill in history, it provided $9.7 billion in prison funding. From 1992 to 2000, the amount of prisoners in the U.S. increased almost 60%.”

In another recent incident, Hillary came under scrutiny for alluding to young black males as “super-predators” in a speech in 1996. She, like Bill, has been confronted by activists for her contribution to the nation’s mass incarceration problem.

Hillary is facing eroding support from the Latino community, as well. Recent polling shows her previous popularity among this key demographic has evaporated — leaving Bernie Sanders with a slight lead of 48% to Clinton’s 47% in Latino support.

Ironically, though he defends it now, Clinton previously disowned the crime bill, admitting in an interview with CNN last year that it had “too wide a net” that resulted in “too many people in prison.”

Regardless, Hillary Clinton is still raking in major cash from the private prison industry despite her haunting past with mass incarceration.

This article (Bill Clinton May Have Just Cost Hillary the Black Vote) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nick Bernabe and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

From theantimedia.org Team

Untethering: 10 Days without the #Internet

April 8, 2016 by daisy luther

April 8, 2016

So, recently, it probably seemed like I vanished off the face of the earth. Well, it turns out I only vanished from the virtual earth because we were without the internet.

No, I didn’t get buried under a mound of moving boxes. We’re alive and well here in the mountains, although we were somewhat disconnected for a while. This was a huge move – while I thought moving as a prepper was an enormous undertaking, it was nothing compared to moving as a prepper/homesteader. Moving the contents of a barn, chicken coop, and house was a tremendous amount of work, even though we hired a moving company for the majority of the big stuff.

There was a great deal to coordinate on either end, such as getting the new shelters ready for the animals, getting the animals themselves over here, and making sure nothing ate them on their first night here. (We’re up in Bear Country here.) Unfortunately, we had an escapee that was never seen again: my daughter’s beloved cat that she raised from a bottle-fed, abandoned kitten. He managed to push a screen out of the window and vanished into the forest. While we hope he found a nice home with someone, we know that was probably not his fate.

Our biggest lesson didn’t have anything to do with the shuffling of boxes, though. It came from our disconnection. The first 10 days in our new home were spent without the internet.

We rely on the internet a lot.

My daughter’s homeschool curriculum is online.
My work is online.
We watch movies on Amazon Prime.
We listen to music on Amazon, too.
I’m a compulsive Googler because I always want to know the answers to my questions immediately.
Our phone doesn’t work without an internet connection.
Our relatives are pretty far away, so we use the internet to communicate with them.

I honestly had no idea how much we used it until we didn’t have it.

Insert Rant: Customer service is dead.

To ice the cake of our disconnection, I dealt with probably the worst customer service experience of my entire life getting my internet service up and running. I would so much prefer to deal with small businesses, because they actually care and provide real service, but in the case of internet out in the mountains, that wasn’t an option.

We’re talking about days and days on the phone. Literally, entire days, wasted while going from one representative to another, trying to set up a simple DSL service to a home that already had previous DSL service a week before I moved in.

First, I was told it was all working just fine. I plugged in the modem – you know, the one that worked in this very home 4 days previously, and it no longer worked to receive their signal. They wanted to send me a new modem at my own expense. However, since my cell phone (with the same company) won’t work here without the modem, I got them to agree to send me a new one at their expense.

So, I waited for 2 days for the UPS guy to arrive with my new modem. When he never did, I called back.

“Oh,” said the hapless representative who picked up my call. “Um, I’m sorry to inform you that modem never got sent. I am happy to send you a new one at no charge.”

I narrowly controlled my rage. After all, it wasn’t this guy’s fault. “The modem was already at no charge. I am working from home and educating a child with an online curriculum. I need you to expedite the delivery of a modem.”

“That’ll be an additional $10.”

“ARE. YOU. INSANE?????”

“Sorry, ma’am, but expediting is always at the customer’s expense.”

Unfreakin’believable.

Customer service is dead. The giant corporations that are in control of our options for cell phone service, internet service, utilities, and television know that they are the only game in town, especially in rural areas. I have been gob-smacked at how horrible what passes for service really is.

These representatives who live far away and are ruled by quotas really don’t care that you didn’t get what you were promised. It isn’t their fault, either. When you have no stake in a company, why would you really care about what the customer thinks of you? When you aren’t empowered to make things right, when you have 12 bosses listening to your every word, checking to see if you’re adhering to the rules, you really only care about keeping your job. When you are in another country, halfway across the world, earning 50 cents an hour providing service to people in the Promised Land of America, you care even less.

We live in a world that is constantly connected – often to our detriment.

So, for 10 days, there I sat, waiting for the elusive package from AT&T that I couldn’t go anywhere local to pick up. Heck, I’d have driven two hours to get us back in action. I couldn’t even leave the house, since the package required my signature. Aside from the fact that we had electricity, it made me think about life without internet after some kind of massive disaster.

The upside to this is that my stuff got unpacked in record time. I was incredibly productive with regard to non-work stuff.

Since my work is all internet-based, I was forced into a vacation. (I really, really enjoy researching and writing, so this was less fun than it sounds for me.) The good news is, I was able to get our entire house unpacked and settled, get the livestock moved over into their new locations, and recover from lugging all that stuff with my poor, aching 40-something body.

For the first day or so, my daughter felt like she was camping, and not in a good, vacation-y kind of way. She was unable to chat with friends, look up information at the spur of the moment on Google, and see what everyone else was up to. She couldn’t watch Netflix or even listen to music, since most of her music consisted of playlists on a streaming system.

This really got me thinking about how much many of us rely on the internet. I’m new to the whole farming/homesteading thing, so I frequently turn to the ‘net to answer my many questions. It’s our main source of entertainment too, since we ditched the cable long ago and switched to Amazon Prime and Netflix. Even many of the things we enjoy reading are online. Our phones don’t work without Wi-Fi out here in the boondocks, so communicating with the outside world required a 10-minute drive up the hill, where we loitered on the side of the road and quickly check our messages, using up our data.

But the problem with all of this connection is that it isn’t actually that good for us. This book considers our relationship to technology an addiction, and asserts that our constant tether is causing such ills as anxiety, depression, loneliness, attention disorders, and many more concerns. Another good read is this one, which is the journal of a guy who disconnected – his lessons were pretty fascinating. We’ve all seen reports of people walking off cliffs while they’re glued to their phones or seen groups of kids who are supposedly together, yet all isolated, staring at their own devices and ignoring the friend right next to them, breathing the same air.

Going low-tech can be fun

After a week, we got somewhat used to it, although I still welcomed my new modem with open arms and perhaps some champagne.

We dug out the old DVD player and the movies to sit down and have some quiet relaxation time before bed. We found our old CD collection to get some tunes going during the day. We’ve spent a lot more time talking, playing games, and reading. I’ve cooked some fabulous, time-consuming meals, and my daughter taught herself how to make cheesecake from scratch using one of my cookbooks and the ingredients we have on hand.

I started using books as references again. I made great use of my Encyclopedia of Country Living and my copy of Chickens from Scratch when setting up my hen habitat.

We spent several pleasant hours exploring the woods and the creek behind the house, we bathed and brushed the dogs, and never have I had a more organized closet. I slept better, felt more relaxed, and accomplished a lot of those things I just never found the time for during my “connected” life.

Maybe with all its alluring convenience and entertainment value, the internet is actually not a good thing. Perhaps the reason why Americans are no longer a productive people is because we’re constantly connected to some invisible computer or cellphone tether.

We’re going to take a lesson from this and unplug a lot more often, voluntarily this time.

Well, after I catch up on my emails.

Shock: Man Who Called #911 To Report #Walmart Threat To Be Charged After #POLICE Shoot and Kill Suspect

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

“See Something, Say Something.” That’s the motto of the Department of Homeland Security. If you see suspicious activity or believe there is a danger to the general public you’re supposed to call police.

When Ronald Ritchie saw what he believed to be a man wielding a gun at an Ohio Walmart that’s exactly what he did. There’s no way Ritchie could have known the gun John Crawford was playing around with was a BB-gun.

Raw footage of the incident shows Crawford walking around the store with the BB-gun shortly before being shot by police. At the time, Ritchie, who had no idea the man was playing with a BB-gun, called law enforcement, like any concerned citizen would have:

The witness who phoned police, ex-marine Ronald Ritchie, reportedly told 9-1-1 he saw Crawford “walking around with a gun in the store,” and that he was “loading it right now,” and pointing it at customers and children.

He “was just waving it at children and people. Items…. I couldn’t hear anything that he was saying. I’m thinking that he is either going to rob the place or he’s there to shoot somebody else,” Ritchie said.

Now Ritchie, not the police officer who shot and killed Crawford, is facing charges of making a false alarm, which could land him in prison for six months:

Fairborn Municipal Court Judge Beth Root ruled that probable cause exists to prosecute the 911 caller in the John Crawford III police-involved fatal shooting after reviewing affidavits submitted by Greene County residents.

Root found probable cause that Ronald T. Ritchie, the lone person to call 911 from Beavercreek’s Walmart before shots were fired Aug. 5, 2014, could be prosecuted for making false alarms, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by maximums of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

There is uncertainty as to what legal steps may happen next, but Root wrote that the case should be referred to a prosecutor.

But even the attorney for the family of John Crawford can’t make any sense of it, arguing that Ritchie simply called the police and had nothing to do with the shooting:

Attorney Michael Wright, who represents the Crawford family in their civil suit against Beavercreek police and Walmart, said Wednesday evening that, “based on the video we do know that he was making assertions that were not correct. However, it wasn’t his fault that John Crawford is dead.”

Apparently, this is what happens when you say something in the hopes of keeping the public safe.

Raw Footage:

Also Read:

Cop Charged with Second-Degree Murder After Killing Sobbing, Unarmed Man Begging for His Life

Must-See Police State Video: “You Are At My Door With Guns And I Fear For My Life… I Have Committed No Crime”

Shock Video: Police Execute Man With His Hands Up

Cops Who Flash Banged Infant’s Crib Are Blaming the Baby

Cops Shoot and Kill Naked Woman in Her Bed After They Order Her to Show Them Where She Keeps Her Gun

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

#Australian Dad Charged With #Murder for Self-Defense: “#Rapist Found Near Daughter’s Room”

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

It’s every family’s worst nightmare, and it’s the reason to have self defense tools and preparations in your home.

But many governments around the world don’t hold the same basic protections for home defense that the United States does in most states (and clearly, there are forces at work to undermine that as well).

This father was charged with murder in Australia for fighting and killing a rapist who was entering their home in attempted robbery… and found close to his daughter’s room. Ask yourself, would you do any differently?

via the International Business Times:

A young dad in Australia has been charged with murder after he confronted a burglar inside his home. Father Benjamin Batterham, 33, discovered convicted rapist Ricky Slater, 34, near his daughter’s room inside their family home in Newcastle, New South Wales, at 3.30am.

With a 32-year-old friend, Batterham confronted Slater and the resulting skirmish sent Slater to hospital where he later died of his injuries, believed to include brain damage.

Batterham also suffered facial injuries and bite marks to his body and some reports say he had to be tested for HIV. Reports that Slater suffered a broken neck have been ruled out. After Slater was taken off life support Batterham handed himself in at a police station and was charged with murder.

The details of the incident are no doubt importance, but in essence, Batterham has lost his liberty on charges of murder for defending his family inside his home.

Australian law is crazy – apparently there is no right to self-defense?

Well, typically of laws, it is a bit vague, but killing an assailant in self-defense is only a partial justification in the eyes of the law, where excessive force considerations will still hold the man accountable to murder. In the case of Benjamin Batterham, it seems ridiculous.

That’s why more than 100,000 people have petitioned for his release:

Now an appeal on the apprentice chef’s behalf has attracted over 110,000 signatures (as of 6 April). However, a planned protest march on behalf of Batterhamwas called off when a teenager organising the protest said he was threatened by members of the Slater family.

But the family of rapist Ricky Slater have torn down signs and intimidated supporters out of holding a rally:

“So we ripped them off the poles and then my son-in-law saw this young bloke putting up more banners and just said ‘that’s not right’ and ‘can you give me the rest of them, sorry’” said Dickson. “He never assaulted him or anything. We’re just upset that they were going up. People have been saying so much about Ricky, it’s very painful for our family.”

Newcastle police are investigating the incident. The case has divided opinion across Australia, with most appearing to support the actions of Batterham.

So not only has the concept of self-defense been turned on its head, but the powers that be are again sowing division between racial groups in a case that is reminiscent of Trayvon Martin, and likely to split communities and debates along ideological lines.

But if you can’t defend yourself, you also can’t be free.

A Green Beret’s Guide To Low-Budget Home-Defense Techniques 101: “Early-Warning Systems and Fortifications”

Empowering Citizens and Deterring Crime, One Free Shotgun At a Time

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Apparently Wearing an #Anonymous #Mask in America Can Get You Arrested

April 8, 2016 by admintam

AnonWatcher
April 8, 2016

(ANONHQ) A man in an Anonymous mask, who was sitting peacefully, was harangued by police and arrested. All caught on camera, bystanders recorded the event while a multitude of witnesses yelled out that he did nothing wrong or illegal. The incident took place in the House Gallery, during the Maricopa County hearing over the suspected election fraud.

Two officers attended the arrest of the man. Although the man in question didn’t have his face concealed by the mask—the mask had been resting on the top of his head—the first arresting officer approached from behind and kicked at him lightly until he left his chair.

Bystanders went to the man’s defense, with several phones filming the event. One bystander even said the arrest was made because the man was sporting an Anonymous mask.

In the video, another bystander accuses the police of choking the man as the officers unduly restrained him while he was quietly sitting between the chairs. Chants of “shame” and “the whole world is watching” were cried as the man was forced to his feet and escorted away.

[embedded content]

After the removal of the man, one of the bystanders states: “you promised us if we were silent you wouldn’t remove us.” Officials then began to plead with the crowd. At the end of the video, one official agreed that the man with the mask did nothing wrong.

Janet Higgens, who uploaded one of the videos, stated: “We were at the point of chaos. All brought on by the police. For a man sitting quietly. With dreadlocks. His name is Jonathan S. McRae. He is currently in jail, charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. I disagree. He was harassed, held to the floor for over 5 minutes, and kidnapped. I don’t know if he was injured in the attack.”

“We the people of the United States are tired of this stuff,” another witness yelled as a bystander warned that this would all end up on YouTube.

Arrested for wearing an Anonymous mask…

You can view the long version of the video here.

This Article (Apparently Wearing an Anonymous Mask in America Can Get You Arrested) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Erik Christensen. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org

From theantimedia.org Team

#Economist Warns: “A Tidal Wave Is Coming… #Recession Indicator Has Turned Red”

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

With corporate earnings for the first quarter of 2016 set to be the worst since the Great Recession, Societe Generale economist Albert Edwards is warning that the United States is about to be hit with a tidal wave.

A tidal wave is coming to the US economy, according to Albert Edwards, and when it crashes it’s going to throw the economy into recession.

…the profit recession facing American corporations is going to lead to a collapse in corporate credit.

“Despite risk assets enjoying a few weeks in the sun our fail-safe recession indicator has stopped flashing amber and turned to red”

…

He continued:

Whole economy profits never normally fall this deeply without a recession unfolding. And with the US corporate sector up to its eyes in debt, the one asset class to be avoided — even more so than the ridiculously overvalued equity market — is US corporate debt. The economy will surely be swept away by a tidal wave of corporate default.

Giving us further confirmation that something is amiss we need look no further than the brain trust known as our Federal Reserve. Earlier this week current Fed Chair Janet Yellen joined her predecessors Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, all of whom argued that the U.S. economy is not only not in a bubble, but is on solid footing and a good trajectory.

Via Zero Hedge:

So, I think we’re making progress there as well, and this is an economy on a solid course, um, not a bubble economy. Um, we tried carefully to look at evidence of potential financial instability that might be brewing and some of the hallmarks of that, clearly overvalued asset prices, high leverage, rising leverage, and rapid credit growth. We certainly don’t see those imbalances. And so although interest rates are low, and that is something that could encourage reach for yield behavior, I wouldn’t describe this as a bubble economy.”

Keeping these latest comments within the context of mid-2007 when Chairman Ben Bernanke vehemently argued that the U.S. economy was not headed into recession and that the crisis was contained and would not spread to other sectors, we’d say that there is no better indicator for what comes next.

At this juncture . . . the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime markets seems likely to be contained.

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman
March 28, 2007

Once again our best and brightest – the very people who caused the problems to begin with – are telling us that everything is fine and there is no bubble.

The takeaway?

You’d better be prepared and have an evacuation route because a Tsunami is inbound.

Also Read:

How to Prepare For Any Disaster

Intelligence Insider: How To Protect Your Assets From Critical Infrastructure Failure: “Power Grid, Banking System, Cyber Financial Warfare”

Government Is “Simulating the Collapse of Our Financial System, the Collapse of Our Society and the Potential for Widespread Violence”

Worst Case Scenario = 73% Down From Here

SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com

Already Under Crushing #Debt, #Arizona College Forces Students to “Fund #Illegal Immigrants”

April 8, 2016 by mac slavo

Will students at colleges across the country soon be forced to pay for the higher education of illegal immigrants, even as most will already have to struggle for years to repay expensive and burdensome student loans?

That’s what is happening at Prescott College, a private institution in Arizona, and it could become the trend everywhere.

Unbelievably, as good jobs become more and more scarce, the next generation will be forced to support foreign workers who will also serve as competitors in the market place.

via Campus Reform:

Prescott College in Arizona has decided to charge students a $30 annual fee to finance a scholarship fund for illegal immigrant students.

The fee was originally proposed by students and faculty from the Social Justice and Human Rights program, according to Fox News, and will automatically be added to each student’s $28,000 tuition bill starting next semester unless they take advantage of an opt-out provision.

[…]

Prescott College is a private institution, and does not receive either state or federal funding, but some experts warn that the school may yet face pushback over the new fee and scholarship, even as it seeks to bolster the fund through private donations.

College campuses have become sanctuary grounds for many undocumented immigrants seeking a better life, and liberal academics and students have often been willing to back their interests.

But for the average student legally born in this country and attempting to build a better life, it is a slap in the face from both sides – as mandatory contributions for scholarships to illegals pile onto the extreme levels of debt that education imposes, all while the competition for decent employment becomes stiffer.

“It is beyond absurd that this college is going to force all the students to subsidize the education of a student who is in the country illegally,” added Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies. “It’s a shame these students and faculty don’t have the same drive to help some of their fellow citizens who can’t afford college and who are forced to compete with illegal workers for job opportunities.”

“At a time when student loan debt is over $1 trillion it is irresponsible for Prescott College to offer this privilege at the expense of other students,” Andrew Kloster, a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal & Judicial Studies, told Fox News. “While the dollar amount seems small per student, the fee does send a message to potential donors to Prescott College that the administration is less concerned with sound financial management than it is with making a political statement.”

Like President Obama, these colleges have put a premium on a protected minority group at the expense of ordinary Americans who have seen their living standards decline significantly with economic decline and globalization.

At what point does the plight of the American aspirant become as a important as a “special” group that has been favored by politically motivated interests on campus, and what does that mean for the quality of “education” at such an institution?

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SHTFplan and Mac Slavo www.shtfplan.com