U.S. Government Enthusiastically Tweets About Arm Sales to the Brutal and Autocratic Egyptian Regime

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In case you’ve been living under a geopolitical rock for the last couple of years, you’d know that despite a brief period of time during which Egypt appeared headed toward a democratic form of government, it went from one brutal dictator to another. As was the case during Hosni Mubarak’s decades of rule, this is precisely how the U.S. government likes it. So much so, that U.S. officials are not only selling arms to the latest despot, General Abdelfattah al-Sisi, but they are actively bragging about it on Twitter.

Glenn Greenwald reports at the Intercept:

The Egyptian regime run by the despotic General Abdelfattah al-Sisi is one of the world’s most brutal and repressive. Last year, Human Rights Watch documented that that Egyptian “security forces have carried out mass arrests and torture that harken back to the darkest days of former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.” Just two months ago, the group warned that the abuses have “escalated,” and that Sisi, “governing by decree in the absence of an elected parliament, ha[s] provided near total impunity for security force abuses and issued a raft of laws that severely curtailed civil and political rights, effectively erasing the human rights gains of the 2011 uprising that ousted the longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.”

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TBTF Mega Banks Lowering Downpayments and Credit Standards to Keep High End Housing Market Going

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What do you do when even wealthy people begin to face an increasingly hard time purchasing a home in a vertical market completely disconnected from income trends? You reduce downpayments and lower credit standards, of course.

Where have we seen this story before…

From the Wall Street Journal:

The nation’s largest bank by assets plans to announce Wednesday that it is lowering the minimum credit score and down payment it requires for mortgages as big as $3 million.

The New York firm’s moves follow similar steps at Bank of AmericaCorp., Wells Fargo & Co. and other banks on requirements for “jumbo” mortgages—those that exceed $417,000 in most parts of the country or $625,500 in pricier markets. At the same time, some big banks are backing away from smaller loans where they see higher regulatory costs and litigation risks.

Guess it’s gonna be shipping container apartments for everyone else.

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Land of the Free – Crying 8-Year-Old with Disabilities Shackled in Handcuffs at Kentucky School

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In the lawsuit, joined by the Children’s Law Center, the ACLU accuses the sheriff’s department and Sumner of violating both federal and state laws that prohibit the forceful restraint of children unless the pupil is presenting an imminent and real threat to their own or someone else’s safety. The suit alleges that by being shackled for so long the child suffered pain and trauma that exacerbated his diagnosed conditions of ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In the video, shot last November by a staff member of the public school in which the third grader was studying, Sumner can be seen applying the handcuffs around SR’s biceps as the boy’s wrists are too small to restrain. “You can do what we have asked you to do, or you can suffer the consequences,” the police officer tells the child.

– From the Guardian article: Kentucky Sheriff ‘Steadfastly’ Defends Officer who Handcuffed 8-Year-Old

Just in case you’re keeping score at home:

Number of U.S. bank executives in handcuffs: 0

Number of helpless children with mental disabilities in handcuffs: 1

More from the Guardian:

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Chart of the Day – Americans are NOT Happy

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Readers of this site don’t need me to tell you, but the following statistics from the Wall Street Journal prove that despite record stock prices and non-stop propaganda, fewer and fewer people are believing the hype.

We learn that:

On a benchmark measure of Americans’ unease, 65% of those surveyed said the country is on the wrong track. That is the highest level of unease since November 2014, and nears the levels seen at other historical moments of voter discontent.

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Pennsylvania to Become First State to Use “Precrime” Statistics in Criminal Sentencing

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Criminal sentencing has long been based on the present crime and, sometimes, the defendant’s past criminal record. In Pennsylvania, judges could soon consider a new dimension: the future.

Pennsylvania is on the verge of becoming one of the first states in the country to base criminal sentences not only on what crimes people have been convicted of, but also on whether they are deemed likely to commit additional crimes. As early as next year, judges there could receive statistically derived tools known as risk assessments to help them decide how much prison time — if any — to assign.

– From the Five Thirty Eight article: Should Prison Sentences Be Based On Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?

As technology generally continues to advance, one thing you can be sure of is the criminal justice system’s use of innovative new “tools” will grow exponentially. This can be a good thing, but it can also be a very dangerous thing. Pennsylvania’s new law that permits the use of data showing whether people are “deemed likely to commit additional crimes” in criminal sentencing, is a perfect example of how an over reliance on technology can be a threat to liberty and due process.

Rather than explaining my position on the matter right here, I think it best to make my points within excerpts from the article itself.  From Five Thirty Eight:

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American Oligarchy – 400 Families Represent 50% of Money Raised by 2016 Presidential Candidates Thus Far

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Ever since I started this website in 2012, one of my primary objectives was to convince readers that the American system of government is nothing like what we are told in school and via the oligarch-owned mainstream media. That the country has become so captured and corrupted by sociopathic oligarchs, that a neo-feudal modern serfdom was emerging where the opportunities to enjoy rising standards of living for the vast majority of people was rapidly becoming a pipe dream.

I think many readers appreciated my warnings, but it wasn’t until an academic study from Princeton and Northwestern came out and factually proved it, that it become undeniable to many people. Here’s a brief excerpt from that post titled, New Report from Princeton and Northwestern Proves It: The U.S. is an Oligarchy:

Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.

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The Rent is Too Damn High – San Fran Residents Pay $1,000 a Month to Live in Shipping Containers

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There’s nothing quite like a grotesquely lopsided “economic recovery” in which a handful of cities boom, while the rest of the nation stagnates. Even worse, millennials living in such chosen cities face one of two options. Either live in mom and dad’s basement, or face a standard of living far more similar to 19th tenement standards than the late 1990’s tech boom.

With that out of the way, I want to introduce you to what a $1,000 per month rental in the San Francisco Bay area looks like. Shipping containers:

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Don’t worry, there’s a lovely garden out back:

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Sounds Off on America – “It’s Just an Oligarchy”

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It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and congress members. So now we’ve just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election’s over. … The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody’s who’s already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody who’s just a challenger.

– Jimmy Carter, 39th President of these United States

You know it’s really, really bad when a former U.S. President feels the need to come out and publicly admit the above. While it’s completely accurate and needs to be said, it’s a truly sad moment, and provides further evidence of the Banana Republic America has become.

Of course, Mr. Carter’s comments come on the heels of former Senator Gary Hart’s blistering critique published in back June, which I covered in the post: Former Senator Opines on the Incredible Corruption in America and the Fourth Branch of Government. Here’s an excerpt:

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History is Repeating – German Government Launches Investigation of Journalists for Treason

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If it were up to the Federal Attorney General and the President of the German Domestic Security Agency, two of our reporters would soon be in prison for at least two years. Today, we were officially informed about investigations against our Markus Beckedahl, Andre Meister and an unknown“ party. The accusation: Treason. – From Netzpolitik.org: … Read more

Revolving Door on Steroids – New Bank of England Policymaker Allowed to Retain Financial Interest in Hedge Fund

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Can’t a guy enjoy a beautiful Friday in Colorado without being bombarded with another gigantic oligarch scam? I guess not.

Today’s article takes the revolving door theme to a whole other level. It even puts the recent revelation that law firm Covington and Burlington kept an office empty for Eric Holder while he was head of the Department of Justice to shame. You can’t make this stuff up.

From Reuters:

New Bank of England policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe will retain a financial interest in one of the world’s biggest hedge fund firms while he sets interest rates, an arrangement that Britain’s finance ministry said posed no conflict of interest.

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