29 Jul 2015

Total Collapse: Greece Reverts To Barter Economy For First Time Since Nazi Occupation

Months ago, when Alexis Tsipras, Yanis Varoufakis, and their Syriza compatriots had just swept to power behind an ambitious anti-austerity platform and bold promises about a brighter future for the beleaguered Greek state, we warned that Greece was one or two vacuous threats away from being "digitally bombed back to barter status."
Subsequently, the Greek economy began to deteriorate in the face of increasingly fraught negotiations between Athens and creditors, with Brussels blaming the economic slide on Syriza’s unwillingness to implement reforms, while analysts and commentators noted that relentless deposit flight and the weakened state of the Greek banking sector was contributing to a liquidity crisis and severe credit contraction. 
As of May, 60 businesses were closed and 613 jobs were lost for each business day that the crisis persisted without a resolution. 
On the heels of Tsipras’ referendum call and the imposition of capital controls, the bottom fell out completely as businesses found that supplier credit was increasingly difficult to come by, leaving Greeks to consider the possibility that the country would soon face a shortage of imported goods. 
On Tuesday, we brought you the latest on the Greek economy when we noted that according to data presented at an extraordinary meeting of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, retail sales have fallen 70%, while The Athens Medical Association recently warned that 7,500 doctors have left the country since 2010. 
Now, the situation has gotten so bad that our prediction from February has come true. That is, Greece is reverting to a barter economy.

Sexist Gamers Are Losers: The "Science"

A quick run through of why this study is terrible and people shouldn't take it in anyway seriously at all. Suffice to say this study finds that less 80% of people you encounter online will even talk to you and then that less than 1% of all online interactions will be 'sexist'. Mental gymnastics and statistical manipulation ensues to get that figure up to 13% all while claiming that 'sexism is rampant in online environments'. The double think and denial is crazy. This study is the perfect example of starting with a conclusion before doing your work and also highlights why things like sociology are rarely taken seriously as sciences.

Strawmen's Rights Activist 13

spinosauruskin: Yep this special individual again.
P.S. The bad acting was intentional.

How The US Department Of Homeland Security Monitored And Tracked Peaceful “Black Lives Matter” Protests

They also show the department watching over gatherings that seem benign and even mundane. For example, DHS circulated information on a nationwide series of silent vigils and a DHS-funded agency planned to monitor a funk music parade and a walk to end breast cancer in the nation’s capital.
“It is concerning that the government would be diverting resources towards surveilling citizens who are assembling and expressing their First Amendment rights,” says Maurice Mitchell, an organizer with Blackbird, a group that helps support activism against police violence in communities across the country. “The fact that our government is doing this — I can only assume to disrupt us — is pretty alarming… Directly after 9/11, people said, ‘if you’re not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.’ Well, now we’re fighting back against police brutality and extrajudicial killings, yet they are using this supposedly anti-terrorist infrastructure against us.”
– From the Intercept article: Feds Regularly Monitored Black Lives Matter Since Ferguson
By Michael Krieger: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has nothing to do with fighting terrorism. Nothing.

Bigger Fannie-Freddie Are Back!

Keiser Report Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the b-b-b-bad to the bone Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government owned facilitators of mortgage lending which are bigger and badder than ever. In the second half Max interviews Dr Youssef El-Gingihy about How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps.

Does The USA Need To Bring Back Internment Camps?

By Ron Paul: Last week, Retired General Wesley Clark, who was NATO commander during the US bombing of Serbia, proposed that “disloyal Americans” be sent to internment camps for the “duration of the conflict.” Discussing the recent military base shootings in Chattanooga, TN, in which five US service members were killed, Clark recalled the internment of American citizens during World War II who were merely suspected of having Nazi sympathies. He said: “back then we didn’t say ‘that was freedom of speech,’ we put him in a camp.” 
He called for the government to identify people most likely to be radicalized so we can “cut this off at the beginning.” That sounds like “pre-crime”! 
Gen. Clark ran for president in 2004 and it’s probably a good thing he didn’t win considering what seems to be his disregard for the Constitution. Unfortunately in the current presidential race Donald Trump even one-upped Clark, stating recently that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is a traitor and should be treated like one, implying that the government should kill him.
These statements and others like them most likely reflect the frustration felt in Washington over a 15 year war on terror where there has been no victory and where we actually seem worse off than when we started. The real problem is they will argue and bicker over changing tactics but their interventionist strategy remains the same.