(from 5th of January, 2013:)

They call it recovery: “During fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government spent a record $80.4 billion on food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a $2.7 billion increase from FY 2011.”

Revolving door policy: “In July 2012, an FBI probe found that Bank of America had allowed a Mexican drug cartel to launder money through the bank. While BofA has yet to face any fines for the episode, the head of the FBI in Charlotte, N.C., BofA’s headquarters, recently left the law enforcement agency for a job at Bank of America.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/05/fbi-occupy-wall-street_n_2410783.html

US Government backed a False Flag atack on Syria to blame Assad: “Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad’s regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country. A report released on Monday contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence where a scheme ‘approved by Washington’ is outlined explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270219/U-S-planned-launch-chemical-weapon-attack-Syria-blame-Assad.html

 

The environmental cost – and cost to the health of the populace – from severe pollution in a China undergoing heavy industrialization is becoming evident:

No country in history has become a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage. China is clearly not an exception. The speed and scale of China’s rise has brought an unprecedented pollution problem. Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death according to the Ministry of Health. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The factories and spewing automobile engines recently caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled in and around Beijing. Stores are selling out of face masks and the government struggles to figure out this political challenge and provide relief of the long-term burden on its people. — Paula Nelson ( 47 photos total)

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/01/chinas_skies_toxic_levels_of_p.html

 

Discussions and asides:

Cynicism Redefined: Why The Copyright Lobby Loves Child Porn

“Child pornography is great,” the man said enthusiastically. “Politicians do not understand file sharing, but they understand child pornography, and they want to filter that to score points with the public. Once we get them to filter child pornography, we can get them to extend the block to file sharing.”