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Pam Martens – Exclusive Federal Reserve Videos and the Glass-Steagall Media Conspiracy

A funny thing happened in 2012 after Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial writer at the New York Times, wrote his spectacularly false narrative telling readers that the repeal of Glass-Steagall Act had nothing to do with the crash because problem firms like Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG didn’t own insured commercial banks — which would have been prohibited under …

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Peter Van Buren – What If They Gave a War and Everyone Came?

What if the U.S. had not invaded Iraq in 2003? How would things be different in the Middle East today? Was Iraq, in the words of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the “worst foreign policy blunder” in American history? Let’s take a big-picture tour of the Middle East and try to answer those questions. But first, a request: after each paragraph …

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Three companies say “No” to GMO Arctic apples

Wendy’s, one of the nation’s top restaurant chains, has confirmed the company does not plan to sell or use the Arctic apple. In the wake of widespread criticism of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) recent approval of the first genetically engineered apple, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently deemed the Arctic apple, owned by synthetic biology company …

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Brian K Sullivan – The Strongest El Nino in Decades Is Going to Mess With Everything

It has choked Singapore with smoke, triggered Pacific typhoons and left Vietnamese coffee growers staring nervously at dwindling reservoirs. In Africa, cocoa farmers are blaming it for bad harvests, and in the Americas, it has Argentines bracing for lower milk production and Californians believing that rain is finally, mercifully on the way. Its effects are just beginning in much of …

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Ahmed Feteha – Saudis Risk Draining Financial Assets in 5 Years, IMF Says

Saudi Arabia may run out of financial assets needed to support spending within five years if the government maintains current policies, the International Monetary Fund said, underscoring the need of measures to shore up public finances amid the drop in oil prices. QuickTake Saudi Arabia The same is true of Bahrain and Oman in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, the …

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Alexei Anishchuk – Putin Gains Record Support Among Russians Over Syria, Poll Shows

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public approval rating has reached a record 89.9 percent since he ordered his military to begin air strikes in support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a state-run polling center. Support for Putin hit the new peak in an Oct. 17-18 poll of 1,600 people conducted in 46 regions of Russia, an increase of 3.3 …

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Jim Quinn – Confusion, Delusions, & Illusions

Two recent surveys, along with numerous other studies and data, reveal most American households to be living on the brink of catastrophe, but continuing to act in a reckless and delusionary manner. There have certainly been economic factors beyond the control of average Americans that have resulted in real median household incomes remaining stagnant for the last 36 years. The …

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Charles Hugh Smith – A Fatal Accident Waiting to Happen: U.S. Healthcare

U.S. healthcare isn’t just an historical accident–it is a fatal accident waiting to happen. Many of the systems we take for granted are historical accidents. Either based on legacy systems hundreds of years old (higher education) or assembled in a short-term, ad hoc fashion (post-1940 national defense/ national security), these systems have expanded into vast patronage systems that are completely …

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Life on Earth likely started 4.1 billion years ago — much earlier than scientists thought

UCLA geochemists have found evidence that life likely existed on Earth at least 4.1 billion years ago — 300 million years earlier than previous research suggested. The discovery indicates that life may have begun shortly after the planet formed 4.54 billion years ago. The research is published today in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National …

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Stephanie McMillan & Vincent Kelley – Why NGOs and Leftish Nonprofits Suck (4 Reasons)

About 20 years ago, in a conversation with a Bangladeshi organizer, the topic of non-government organizations (NGOs), or non-profits as they’re often called, came up. He said bluntly: “I hate NGOs.” His vehemence was surprising. NGOs are far from revolutionary organizations, but their work still seemed more helpful than not. Political differences with them aside, it seemed dogmatic to denounce free …