Demonetize it!

National Weather Service Follows DHS In Huge Ammo Purchase

Hollow point bullets designed to cause maximum organ damage

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Why would the National Weather Service need to purchase large quantities of powerful ammo? That’s the question many are asking after the federal agency followed in the footsteps of the Department of Homeland Security in putting out a solicitation for 46,000 rounds of hollow point bullets.

A solicitation which appears on the FedBizOpps website asks for 16,000 rounds of .40 S&W jacketed hollow point (JHP) bullets, noted for their strength, to be delivered to locations in Ellsworth, Maine, and New Bedford, Mass.

A further 6,000 rounds of S&W JHP will be sent to Wall, New Jersey, with another 24,000 rounds of the same bullets heading to the weather station in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The solicitation also asks for 500 paper targets to be delivered to the same locations in Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The National Weather Service is is one of six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The solicitation requires a response by August 21.

The NWS is following its federal counterpart the DHS in securing large quantities of ammo. Back in March,Homeland Security purchased 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage, prompting questions as to why the DHS needed such a large amount of powerful bullets merely for training purposes.

As the Business Insider notes, hollow point bullets have been “illegal in international warfare since 1899.”

The DHS is also planning to purchase a further 750 million rounds of different types of ammo in a separate solicitation that also expires on August 20, including 357 mag rounds that are able to penetrate walls.

The DHS recently put out an order for riot gear in preparation for the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration. The U.S. Army is also busy buying similar equipment.

The DHS also recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights.

The federal government is clearly gearing up for the likelihood of civil unrest on a scale that could outstrip what we’ve already seen in countries across Europe.

While the establishment demonizes the second amendment in light of recent mass shootings and legislation is prepared to ban the sale of large quantities of ammunition online, the federal government is acquiring ammunition at levels necessary to fight a full scale domestic war.

UPDATE: The Washington Post now reports, via a statement from NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen, that the original solicitation contained a “clerical error” and that the “solicitation for ammunition and targets for the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement mistakenly identified NOAA’s National Weather Service as the requesting office.” This still doesn’t explain why hollow point bullets, designed to cause maximum organ damage, are needed for shooting at paper targets. Was the delivery of the bullets to the NWS a cover for them being transferred somewhere else? It’s entirely possible given the sordid history of Fast and Furious, a federal government program under which guns were sent directly to Mexican drug cartels.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

NB: Neither I nor my husband are related to Paul Joseph Watson.

Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets

• Preparing for civil unrest? Ammunition to be delivered to 41 locations across U.S.
• Paul Joseph Watson
  Infowars.com
  Wednesday, August 15, 2012UPDATE: DHS Now Covering Up Ammo Purchases?

  First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

  

  A solicitation posted by the SSA on the FedBizOpps website asks for contractors to supply 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition.”

  An online ammunition retailer describes the bullets as suitable “for peak performance rivaling and sometimes surpassing handloads in many guns,” noting that the ammo is “a great personal defense bullet.”

  The synopsis to the solicitation adds that the ammunition is to be shipped to 41 locations within 60 days of purchase. A separate spreadsheet lists those locations, which include the Social Security headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland as well as major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

  Hollow point bullets are designed to expand as they enter the body, causing maximum damage by tearing apart internal organs.

  It’s not outlandish to suggest that the Social Security Administration is purchasing the bullets as part of preparations for civil unrest. Social security welfare is estimated to keep around 40 per cent of senior citizens out of poverty. Should the tap run dry in the aftermath of an economic collapse which the Federal Reserve has already told top banks to prepare for, domestic disorder could ensue if people are refused their benefits.

  Indeed, earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security ran a drill called Operation Shield which included turning the entrance of a Florida Social Security office into a checkpoint manned by Federal Protective Service officers armed with semiautomatic rifles.

  “With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-9s, sifted through the building,” reported the Daily Commercial.

  A rash of solicitations by federal agencies for hollow point bullets in recent months has stoked fears that the government is preparing for civil unrest caused by a financial collapse on a scale similar or even larger to scenes already witnessed in Europe over the last two years.

  As we reported yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has put out a contract for 46,000 rounds of hollow point bullets along with 500 paper targets.

  Despite initially asking the bullets to be delivered to the National Weather Service, NOAA claimed this was a “clerical error” and insisted the ammunition was being sent to the Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. Why powerful hollow point bullets that are designed to tear apart internal organs are needed for practice shooting at paper targets has not been explained.

  Back in March, Homeland Security purchased 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage, prompting questions as to why the DHS needed such a large amount of powerful bullets merely for training purposes.

  This was followed by another DHS solicitation asking for a further 750 million rounds of assorted bullets, including 357 mag rounds that are able to penetrate walls.

  The DHS recently put out an order for riot gear in preparation for the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration. The U.S. Army is also busy buying similar equipment.

  The DHS also recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights.

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  Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

NB:  Neither I nor my husband are related to Paul Joseph Watson.

DHS Classifies New Ammo Purchases Following Controversy

Federal agency blacks out amount of bullets being bought

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Department of Homeland Security has redacted information relating to the quantity of bullets it is buying following a controversy concerning the agency’s purchase of over a billion rounds of ammo, which many fear is a sign the federal government is preparing for civil unrest in the United States.

Despite the fact that documents are only supposed to be redacted if authorized by Congress or for national security reasons, a solicitation posted on the FedBizOpps website yesterday concerning ammunition purchases made by the DHS on behalf of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) contains numerous blacked out sections.

The classified portions of the document include references to the amount of 223 62 and 223 64 grain ammunition being purchased.

The solicitation explains how the contract put out by the DHS to purchase the ammunition was not subject to “full and open competition,” a process justified by what the DHS claims was an “unusual and compelling urgency” to acquire the bullets, noting that there is a shortage of bullets which is threatening a situation which could cause “substantial safety issues for the government” should law enforcement officials not be adequately armed.

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to black out sections of the document, including the number of bullets being purchased, is likely to be related to a massive controversy which has snowballed over the last few weeks pertaining to concerns as to why the federal agency has purchased well over a billion rounds of bullets over the last 6 months alone.

The DHS’ decision back in March to purchase of 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage prompted questions as to why the federal agency required such powerful bullets and in such large quantities merely for training purposes.

This was followed up by a more recent order for a further 750 million rounds of assorted ammunition, including bullets that can penetrate walls.

Given the fact that the DHS is also acquiring riot gear in preparation for civil unrest which could take place at the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration, the purchase of ammunition in such massive numbers has stoked fears that the federal government could be preparing to use force against the American people.

This screenshot illustrates how the DHS has blacked out information pertaining to the amount of bullets being purchased.

The trigger for this could be an economic collapse that causes angry Americans to flood the streets similar to scenes witnessed across Europe over the last two years.

As Mike Adams writes, “The U.S. government clearly sees the writing on the wall. What lays ahead for America is a day of unbearable reckoning. The financial collapse will wipe out savings accounts, pensions, investment funds and equities of the working class, all across the nation. Imagine bank accounts being reset to zero, “bank holidays” enforced at gunpoint. That will unleash a wave of violent protests, social chaos and even talk of revolution. The government will almost certainly respond with a declaration of Martial Law, the rolling out of highway checkpoints, and before long, the use of live ammo on unruly protesters.”

The Social Security Administration has also recently purchased a large quantity of hollow point bullets, potentially signaling that authorities fear welfare riots could occur if benefit payments cannot be made. The NOAA also recently purchased 46,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition.

The DHS’ decision to censor information related to bullet purchases for immigration authorities could also be an attempt to assuage concerns that the agency is expecting to have to resort to force to deal with a mass influx of immigrants from Mexico.

Back in December, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano directed ICE to prepare for a substantial inundation of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.

During the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987, it was revealed that the federal government had established a contingency program under the pretext of a mass influx of immigrants called Rex 84. The program was a secretive “scenario and drill” developed by the federal government to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law, assign military commanders to take over state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens determined by the government to be “national security threats.”

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

NB: Neither I nor my husband are related to Paul Joseph Watson.

DHS To Purchase Another 750 Million Rounds Of Ammo

Second massive ammunition buy this year fuels fears of civil unrest

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Monday, August 13, 2012

Fears that federal authorities are preparing for mass civil unrest have increased after it was revealed that the Department of Homeland Security is planning to buy a further 750 million rounds of ammo in addition to the 450 million rounds of hollow point bullets already purchased earlier this year.

A solicitation originally issued by the DHS in April but updated on Friday calls on suppliers to provide a plethora of different types of ammunition, including 357 mag rounds that are able to penetrate walls.

The PDF file for the solicitation lists the different units of ammo required by the thousand, with the total ammo purchase exceeding 750 million rounds.

“The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Glynco, Georgia anticipates awarding multiple award indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity (IDIQ) firm fixed price (FFP) contracts for commercial leaded training ammunition (CLTA) of various calibers for law enforcement officer firearms training courses at the following FLETC facilities Glynco, GA, Artesia, NM, Cheltenham, MD and Charleston, SC and to other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies. The Government guarantees a minimum of 1,000 rounds per year on each resultant contract. Contracts will be for a base year and four (4) 12 month option periods,” states the synopsis.

Potential suppliers are required to respond to the solicitation before August 20.

The purchase comes in addition to an order for 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets which wasfulfilled by Alliant Techsystems Inc. back in March, news greeted by some as an indication that the DHS was arming itself in preparation to go to war with the American people.

Although the ammo purchases are ostensibly earmarked for training purposes, the DHS has been reticent to clarifywhy such an unusually large amount of rounds are necessary and why such powerful bullets are required merely for training drills.

This has led to speculation that the purchases are connected to confirmed preparations for civil unrest in the United States.

The DHS recently put out an order for riot gear in preparation for the upcoming DNC, RNC and presidential inauguration. The U.S. Army is also busy buying similar equipment.

The DHS also recently purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights.

A recently leaked US Army Military Police training manual for “Civil Disturbance Operations” outlines how military assets are to be used domestically to quell riots, confiscate firearms and even kill Americans on U.S. soil during mass civil unrest.

On page 20 of the manual, rules regarding the use of “deadly force” in confronting “dissidents” are made disturbingly clear with the directive that a, “Warning shot will not be fired.”

The manual includes lists of weapons to be used against “rioters” or “demonstrators,” including “antiriot grenades.” It also advises troops to carry their guns in the “safe port arms” stance, a psychological tactic aimed at “making a show of force before rioters.” Non-lethal weapons and water cannons are also included.

The increasing likelihood of a full blown financial collapse in the coming months has also spurred federal agencies and the U.S. Army to hone their preparations for domestic disorder on a scale greater than riots witnessed in Europe over the past two years.

A 2008 report produced by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Institute warned that the United States may experience massive civil unrest in the wake of a series of crises which it termed “strategic shock.”

“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” stated the report, authored by [Ret.] Lt. Col. Nathan Freir, adding that the military may be needed to quell “purposeful domestic resistance”.

Last year, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano directed ICE to prepare for a mass influx of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.

Watch a video analysis by Madison Ruppert below.

[Video in the original]

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

NB. Neither my husband nor I are related to Paul Joseph Watson.

All Work is important at some time

Under the Hindu caste system, also in place in Nepal and other areas where Hinduism predominates, people who do “dirty” jobs are called untouchables or Dalits. But even among the Dalits who are the poorest caste, are the Dumes. This group picks dead animals or the street or sell fire and other objects for cremations and thus have an association with death. They are considered untouchable even among the untouchables.

They face horrendous discrimination and poverty because of the work they do. But think about it: Aren’t cleaning the streets and disposing of dead animals important jobs for the well-being of the community?  What about the respectful dispatch of human remains?

Al-Jazeera recently ran a story about a man from the Dume subcaste trying to end the discrimination, even within the Dalit caste. He runs into opposition from other Dumes because they are paid 200 rupees (about $3.75 USD) when they pick up a dead dog. They do not want to forego the income to engage in a boycott protesting their treatment. But what they get for their money is that their community shuns them. Literally, others will not touch them and they have to get higher caste people to go to the well to fill their buckets with water.

They endure the harshest forms of discrimination to make a pittance. If they did not need money, they could afford to fight the discrimination against them for doing socially necessary albeit dirty or death-related labor.

Overworked America: 12 Charts that Will Make Your Blood Boil

Mother Jones

Illustration: Mark Matcho; Chart Artwork: Jeff Berlin

Why "efficiency" and "productivity" really mean more profits for corporations and less sanity for you.

— By Dave Gilson

July/August 2011 Issue

In the past 20 years, the US economy has grown nearly 60 percent. This huge increase in productivity is partly due to automation, the internet, and other improvements in efficiency. But it’s also the result of Americans working harder—often without a big boost to their bottom lines. Oh, and meanwhile, corporate profits are up 20 percent. (Also read our essay on the great speedup and harrowing first-person tales of overwork.)

You have nothing to lose but your gains

Productivity has surged, but income and wages have stagnated for most Americans. If the median household income had kept pace with the economy since 1970, it would now be nearly $92,000, not $50,000.

Growth is back…

…But jobs aren’t

Sorry, not hiring

The sectors that have contributed the most to the country’s overall economic growth have lagged when it comes to creating jobs.

The wage freeze

Increase in real value of the minimum wage since 1990: 21%

Increase in cost of living since 1990: 67%

One year’s earnings at the minimum wage: $15,080

Income required for a single worker to have real economic security: $30,000

Working 9 to 7

For Americans as a whole, the length of a typical workweek hasn’t changed much in years. But for many middle-class workers, job obligations are creeping into free time and family time. For low-income workers, hours have declined due to a shrinking job market, causing underemployment.

Labor pains

Median yearly earnings of:

Union workers: $47,684

Non-union workers: $37,284

Dude, Where’s My Job?

More and more, US multinationals are laying off workers at home and hiring overseas.

Proud to be an American

The US is part of a very small club of nations that don’t require…

Digital overtime

A survey of employed email users finds:

22% are expected to respond to work email when they’re not at work.

50% check work email on the weekends.

46% check work email on sick days.

34% check work email while on vacation.

The second shift

Working moms pick up more child care and household duties than working dads—about 80 minutes more every day. Meanwhile, dads enjoy nearly 50 more minutes of watching TV and other leisure activities on a daily basis.

Chore wars

Thanks, guys—you’re pitching in more than twice as much as you did in the ’70s. But women still get stuck with the majority of work around the house.

Advertise on MotherJones.com

Sources

Productivity/income: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Congressional Budget Office (PDF), Economic Policy Institute, Census Bureau (Excel)

GDP/jobs: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Stephen Gordon, Université Laval

Sector growth: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Minimum Wage: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute, Wider Opportunities for Women (PDF)

50 hours: Center for American Progress (PDF)

Unions: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute

Benefits maps: McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy

Email: Pew Internet & American Life Project (PDF)

Second shift: Bureau of Labor Statistics (PDF)

Housework: Michigan Institute for Social Research

Also read: First-person stories from the front lines of overworked America and The Speedup: Corporate profits are booming. So why are you being worked to the bone?

More Mother Jones charty goodness: It’s the inequality, stupid; Only little people pay taxes; How the rich get richer; how the poor get poorer; who owns Congress?

Dave Gilson is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him at dgilson (at) motherjones (dot) com. Get Dave Gilson’s RSS feed.

How Dracula Hedge Funds Are Sucking Us Dry

AlterNet / By Les Leopold

What notion of economics or ethics justifies the fact that it would take the average family more than 35,000 years to earn as much as the top hedge fund managers earn in one year?

July 9, 2011  |  

The official June unemployment rate is 9.2 percent. The real rate is 18.5 percent (which includes involuntary part-time workers and the unemployed who haven’t looked for jobs in the past 4 weeks.) Nearly 30 million Americans are unemployed and we need more than 21 million jobs to get back to full-employment (defined as 5 percent).

Meanwhile, the top 10 hedge fund elites make on average nearly $1 million an HOUR. We’ll never find the resources to solve the unemployment crisis until we redistribute some of this obscene wealth. 

It starts by putting to rest the notion that hedge fund elites are just like any other. They are not. They make more money than everyone else, including our top movie stars and athletes…and they pay lower taxes. 

While working on my next book on financial elites, we dredged up a variety of “Top Ten Income Lists” (from sources like Forbes and Equilar) for just about every kind of high-rolling celebrity and CEO imaginable. Here are previews: 

• Oprah led the pack by hauling in an incredible $290 million in 2010.
• U2 at $190 million was the top pop musical group.
• Leonardo DiCaprio ($77 million) is the leading Hollywood star.
• Tiger Woods ($75 million) remains the highest paid athlete even though he doesn’t play much golf these days.
• Half of the highest paid non-financial CEOs are in the entertainment business, led by Phillipe Dauman of Viacom ($84.5 million).
• Only six out of the 100 highest income Americans on these lists are women. 

You also might find it interesting that the top Wall Street bankers are keeping a low-income profile these days. Maybe it’s an attempt to avoid stricter regulatory curbs on their financial casinos. Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase led the bank/insurance top 10 list with an income of $20 million (which, by the way, is half as much as Glenn Beck’s 2010 income). Lloyd “Doing God’s Work” Blankfein of Goldman Sachs was 10th on the banker list with an income of $14.1 million.  

All in all, we’re talking about serious money — except for the fact that hedge funds make 100 times more than bankers. 

Here’s the summary table for the “Top Ten” lists for 2010 — to put the numbers in perspective, median family income is included.

The Highest Income Celebrities, CEO and Hedge Fund Managers (2010)

The Top Ten
Average Yearly Income
Number of years if would take for the average American family to earn as much.

Hedge Fund managers
$1,753,000,000
35,217 years

Movie directors/producers
$126,000,000
2,531

Top celebrities from all fields
$119,800,000
2,407

Pop musicians
$87,200,000
1,752

Non-financial CEOs
$47,100,000
946

Athletes
$44,600,000
896

Movie stars
$42,600,000
856

Authors
$26,900,000
402

Lawyers
$20,000,000
402

Bank/Insurance CEOs
$16,600,000
333

Median Family Income (2009)
$49,777
1 year

For me, the right-hand column says it all. What notion of economics, fairness or ethics justifies the fact that it would take the average family more than 35,000 years to earn as much as the average hedge fund elite earns in one year? And hedge fund honchos can’t sing, dance, write, direct, or play baseball. Yet, whatever they do dwarfs what such stars make. They also don’t make iPads or social media or cars. Yet they make many times more than CEOs of non-financial corporations. What could those hedge fund moguls possibly do to earn such riches?

In economics, there’s supposed to be a connection between what you earn and the economic value you produce. Otherwise, it’s called an economic “rent” – which is just a polite way of saying it’s an outright rip-off. These guys (and they are all guys) are ripping off our economy, and it’s up to us to put a stop to it.

Why am I so sure they’re ripping us off? I’ve had the dubious honor of exploring some of their biggest deals, including the "Greatest Trade Ever,” in which hedge funds bet against the housing bubble and won big. It turns out those bets were rigged. Hedge funds brazenly colluded with big investment banks to create securities that were designed to fail, so they could bet against them. So far the SEC has forced Goldman Sachs to pay $500 million in penalties and JP Morgan recently coughed up $153.6 million. This was to settle charges that these banks failed to inform investors that hedge funds had a heavy hand in constructing securities so that they would fail.

In fact, we can now show that hedge funds helped to prolong the housing bubble, deepen the crash and profit along the way. No matter what their apologists say, those hedge fund profits came from trash securities that never should have seen the light of day. Not only didn’t they create positive value for the economy, they created billions of losses that led to bailouts, unemployment and massive public debt. Whether any of them engaged in outright fraud, we leave to the courts. It doesn’t matter. It was a monumental economic rip-off, whether legal or illegal. 

To add enormous insult to our grievous injuries, these hedge funds managers only pay a 15 percent federal income tax rate (instead of 35 percent) on nearly all of their obscene incomes. That’s because of a tax loophole that allows them to declare their income as capital gains — they call it “carried interest.” The Obama administration and many in Congress claim they will do away with this loophole. Hedge fund groupies say it won’t matter anyway because these financial sharpies will just restructure their hedge funds in ways that will allow them to avoid paying taxes like the rest of us. 

Why on earth should hedge funds pay lower rates that the rest of America? They certainly can’t demonstrate that they add value to our economy. The only claim they honestly can make is the one that has surfaced many times throughout human history: We are powerful. We set the rules. We deserve what we get…and more…and more. And politicians with their hands out will always find ways to help.  

Why are we putting up with this?

A groundbreaking study by Michael Norton of the Harvard Business School and Dan Ariely of Duke University provides some important insights. Using a nationwide survey of more than 5,000 respondents, they discovered that most Americans have no idea how skewed our income distribution really is. Virtually everyone surveyed believes our wealth distribution is much fairer than it actually is. And when people were asked to come up with their ideal wealth distribution, 92 percent chose the wealth distribution of Sweden! (PDF) 

More amazing still was that it doesn’t matter whether you are Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, black or white, male or female.  Everyone wants more economic fairness.  

And yet, we get more and more inequality, led by hedge fund elites. 

As the study strongly suggests, the key to unlocking our pent-up desire for fairness is to develop a widely shared understanding of just how skewed our income distribution really is. And that starts with shining a blazing bright light on hedge funds elites, who will enjoy the sunshine about as much as Dracula does. 

Les Leopold is the executive director of the Labor Institute and Public Health Institute in New York, and author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street’s Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It (Chelsea Green, 2009).

A World without Money

Here is a program I did for the syndicated radio program WINGS (Women’s International News Gathering Service). It was just released on July 4th. This is a 28 minute program and serves to show that the subject needs an hour or two of documentary treatment, perhaps as a video.

Description: Kellia Ramares asks the question “Why must we pay to live on the planet we’re born on?” She talks with three women who study how to meet human needs but bypass the capitalist framework: Genevieve Vaughan, author of For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange, and editor of Women and the Gift Economy; Janelle Orsi, co-director of the “Sustainable Economies Law Center” and producer of the video “Economy Sandwich”; Roxanne Meadows of The Venus Project, who envisions a future “resource-based economy.” Vaughan interview courtesy Cindy Sheehan.

Beyond the Money Paradigm

Richard Wolff – Capitalism Hits the Fan

Richard Wolff – Capitalism Hits the Fan

Dr. Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The video is just over 1 hr long. Brilliant description of what has happened in the US over the last 30 years. He understands that the problem of unemployment is hot the result of individual failures, as the neocons would have us believe. He offers some alternatives, especially the worker cooperative. But did not address the fact that even cooperatives have the overproduction problem. Although he says we should talk openly about the problems and make deliberate value choices, he does not ask why must we pay to live on the planet we’re born on? Still, this is worth watching if only for the understanding of the historical context that the media doesn’t talk about. He’s a good speaker. Too bad he had a small audience. Fortunately, the video has had over 19,000 views on You Tube. Check it out!

Is jailing debtors the same as debtors jail?

Some legal experts say the practice violates state constitutional bans on debtors prisons.

By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune

Last update: June 9, 2010 – 7:38 AM

Herman Button listened in stunned silence as a judge in Perry County, Ind., threatened him with jail time unless he agreed to pay $25 a month toward an eight-year-old housing debt.

Unemployed and living on a disability check, Button decided to fight back after the January 2009 hearing. He and an attorney from Indiana Legal Services appealed, citing the Indiana Constitution’s Bill of Rights, which says "there shall be no imprisonment for debt, except in case of fraud."

To Button’s surprise, a state Appeals Court judge agreed. "I’m no lawyer, but I knew we abolished debtors prisons in this country a very long time ago," said Button, 50, who now lives in Hawesville, Ky.

The Button case highlights a potential pitfall for creditors that use the law enforcement system to collect old debts. Most state constitutions, including Minnesota’s, have clauses dating to the 1850s that expressly prohibit the jailing of people for their debts. As legal actions against debtors intensify, attorneys are taking a fresh look at these clauses.

"We have created a de facto debtors prison system in the United States that is largely unconstitutional," said Judith Fox, a law professor at Notre Dame Law School. "In some parts of the country, people are so fearful of arrest they are scrambling to pay money they might not even owe."

In states such as Indiana and Illinois, people are being locked up for not making court-ordered payments. Known as "pay or stay," it can mean days in jail and multiple arrests for the same debt. Some legal experts say the practice is unconstitutional because the arrest is directly linked to the failure to pay a debt.

In Minnesota, the issue is less clear because warrants to arrest debtors are issued for disobeying court orders, such as not filling out a financial disclosure form and missing a required hearing, not for failure to pay debt. So long as someone fulfills the court order, they can avoid incarceration.

"It looks on the surface like debtors prison," said William G. Ross, a law professor at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala. "But it’s really not, because the person isn’t being punished for the debt, but for failing to appear."

In Illinois, the issue is more straightforward.

Jack Hinton of Kenney, Ill., was sentenced to jail indefinitely in January after he fell behind on a court order that he pay $150 a month on a debt of $6,440.

According to a court transcript, Hinton, then a self-employed roofing contractor, said he broke his neck and back in a fall from a roof and filed for disability. The judge got upset after learning that Hinton used $1,000 for other bills rather than his court-ordered payments. Hinton was ordered to the county jail indefinitely until he could come up with $300.

After three hours in a holding cell, his wife got him released by borrowing $300 on a credit card. He is considering a challenge to the ruling on constitutional grounds. "I couldn’t pay, and I was stuck in jail until I did," he said. "How is that any different from debtors prison?"

In Button’s case, the judge threatened him with jail if he didn’t pay $25 a month toward a $1,865 judgment. After Button twice said, "I can’t," Judge Lucy Goffinet responded, "I’m not going to accept, ‘I cannot,’ and if the next words out of your mouth are ‘I cannot,’ Mr. Button, then you’ll set … at the Sheriff’s Department until you find a way that, yes, you can," according to the transcript.

Alan White, a law professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana, says even the threat of jail for debts is unconstitutional. He also questioned the practice — common in Minnesota and elsewhere– of bail being set at the amount of the debt.

"If, in effect, people are being incarcerated until they pay bail, and bail is being used to pay their debts, then they’re being incarcerated to pay their debts," he said.

Chris Serres • 612-673-4308