Trillions in secret loans by the Fed reveal massive welfare for too-big-to-fail banks

Thanks to incorruptible Senator Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, the Federal Reserve has been forced to reveal information regarding loans that it tried hard to keep secret.   Here's what we are finding, according to IPS:

The Fed provided loans to JP Morgan Chase bank to acquire Bear Stears, a failed investment firm; provided loans to keep American International Group (AIG), a multinational insurance corporation, afloat; extended lending commitments to Bank of America and Citigroup; and purchased risky mortgage-backed securities to get them off private banks’ books. Overall, the greatest borrowing was done by a small number of institutions. Over the three years, Citigroup borrowed a total of 2.5 trillion dollars, Morgan Stanley borrowed two trillion; Merryll Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America, borrowed 1.9 trillion; and Bank of America borrowed 1.3 trillion.
I'd call it welfare for the too-big-to-fail. Phase One of the bailout was to address a legitimate liquidity crisis. Phase Two went far beyond this, and was kept secret because the public would never have consented to the above actions Here's how Economist Randall Wray sums up Phase Two:
"But then it turned to phase two, which was to try to resolve problems of insolvency by increasing Uncle Sam’s stake in the banksters’ fiasco. That never should have been done. You close down fraudsters, period. The Fed and FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Commission) should have gone into the biggest banks immediately, replaced all top management, and should have started to resolve them," Wray said.

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Bulk wireless searches of American private communications questioned by EFF

Today, I received the following communication from Electronic Frontier Foundation:

More than five years ago, EFF filed the first lawsuit aimed at stopping the government's illegal mass surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans' private communications. Whistleblower evidence combined with news reports and Congressional admissions revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) was tapped into AT&T’s domestic network and databases, sweeping up Americans’ emails, phone calls and communications records in bulk and without court approval. On August 31, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a warrantless wiretapping double-feature to decide whether EFF's two cases can proceed. At stake will be whether the courts can consider the legality and constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s mass interception of Americans’ Internet traffic, phone calls, and communications records.
Here's the full report, and it is stunning.  Consider even the following paragraph, and remember that this supposed to be your country, a country supposedly run by the People:
Hepting v. AT&T, our case challenging the telecom giant’s illegal collaboration with the NSA, faced a barrage of attacks from the government -- including outrageous claims that national security prevented the courts from considering whether AT&T and the government were breaking the law and violating the Constitution. When that gambit seemed to be failing, the White House and the telecoms led a lobbying campaign to convince Congress to pass a law threatening to terminate our suit. When that law passed we filed a follow-up suit directly against the government, Jewel v. NSA, to open a second front in our fight to stop the spying.
For another easily accessible description of these problems, visit EFF's FAQ.

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The trouble with gold

At OEN, Jimmy Walter leads a short tour through history, part of his discussion about the trouble with gold. Many people have added some gold to their portfolios, and it has often worked out well for many people, though not every person. The thought often recurs to me: What if people stop liking gold? What if they reframe gold as simply a shiny, but otherwise useless metal. As Walter states at the end of his article aimed at gold-lovers everywhere: "Gold is just a shiny stone that mesmerizes the naive natives." What are the odds that this will become the prevailing wisdom? This exposes that the power of gold is not about the metal itself--it is mostly about the value people attribute to it, which is based, for the most part, on the value people assume other people will attribute to gold. Gold is not, in the end, really about gold. It is about predicting what other people will think about gold. It is tempting to say, then, that gold comes close to being a tangible symbol of wealth.

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Does LEED certification really mean a building is energy efficient?

The U.S. Green Building Council has gotten a lot of attention through promotion of its LEED standard.  I am personally aware of several organizations that have focused intense PR campaigns on claims that their buildings have been modified, usually at considerable expense, so that they are LEED-certified and thus more energy efficient.  Here's the claim as to the meaning of LEED certification on USGBC's website:

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized green building certification system. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in March 2000, LEED provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.
Consequently, buildings that are LEED certified are understood by the general public as indicating that a building is especially energy-efficient. Today I read a disturbing article in Mother Jones (not yet available online): "Leeding us On."  The article focuses on allegations made by Henry Gifford, a New York City energy efficiency consultant, who calls LEED "a joke." Here's an excerpt: [More . . . ]

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