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Images of the Day:
Economic Misdirection of the Worst Kind. The Federal Reserve continues to shift headline tactics— downgrading economic guidelines—likely in an effort to justify raising interest rates, despite an economy that continues in deteriorating non-recovery. Underlying reality remains that the U.S. economy collapsed into 2009, rebounded into protracted low-level stagnation and is turning down anew, as suggested in just-released activity for September residential real estate and new orders for durable goods, as well a variety of other economic and business series (see Commentary No. 836). Despite continued rate-hike jawboning, no change in policy is likely out of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that ends on November 2nd, given the close timing of the election. Market expectations still remain elevated for a rate hike out of the December FOMC meeting (see the discussion in the Special Comments of Commentary No. 841).
Such is amidst faux concerns of an “overheating” economy. Some Federal Reserve Board members have warned that recent headline U.3 unemployment readings around 5.0% show the economy to be near full employment (see Commentary No. 838); they know better. The latest nonsense, however, comes from research at Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s home base of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. The new story is that monthly jobs growth of 50,000 to 110,000 is adequate “to maintain a healthy labor market.” Many thanks to Grant Noble gnoble@sbcglobal.net, who brought the study to my attention and whose insights I always enjoy. ShadowStats examined the claims of the new research and found, to the contrary, that the implied annual payroll growth rates, from the touted 50,000 to 110,000 monthly jobs-growth range, were common only to formal post-World War II recessions and to the 1952 Steel Strike, never to a healthy economy. — Shadow Government Statistics Commentary No. 843, October 27, 2016
As Obama Built 35 Military Bases and the ‘Hippo Trench’ to Exploit Africa, It is Clear that the ICC is an instrument of imperialism in that Exploitation — Roland Sheppard
But the real problems with this year’s vote will be largely invisible on Election Day. Three years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a major section of the Voting Rights Act, opening the doors to new efforts to restrict voting. The impact of that decision will be felt at the polls for the first time this year. Measures passed in the aftermath of that decision — restrictive voter ID laws, new requirements for voter registration, cuts to early voting options and polling sites, and other schemes — are the real threat to the November 8 vote, civil rights advocates say. And these procedural obstacles to the polls pose more insidious, large-scale challenges to suffrage than the more egregious and illegal harassment of the sort Trump has repeatedly advocated. “This is an unfortunate part of our history,” Leah Aden, a senior counsel with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, told The Intercept. “People are acutely aware of the changing demographics in this country and while we should all be working towards more people participating, there’s always been this segment of our country that has wanted to limit who is part of the political process.” Voter intimidation, Aden noted, has traditionally gone hand in hand with the growing political participation of minorities. This election is slated to be the most racially diverse in U.S. history, a reality that’s already beginning to tip the scales in some swing states. One in three eligible voters is a member of a minority group, and minorities also make up 43 percent of new voters. — Voter Suppression Is the Real Election Scandal
Video of the Day:
U.S.
Capitalism has expanded and escalated The Iron Heel from the Black Community to Standing Ridge: Clear Evidence Emerges of Outrageous Militarized Police Collaboration with Oil Companies at Standing Rock Against Protectors Police departments around the country are sending reinforcements to North Dakota to support mining companies. By Sarah Lazare
This Natural Disaster Assistance Law Is Why Other States Are Policing Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Almost exactly 20 years ago, President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill creating an interstate agreement for emergency management. That inconspicuous law has opened the door for the current flood of out-of-state law enforcement agents present at the continuing protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota.The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) authorized states to enter into agreements with other states in order to share emergency management–related personnel during crisis situations. One of the only other times this compact was deployed outside of a natural disaster was for the Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray. By Steve Horn
FCC Passes Sweeping Internet Privacy Rules in ‘Big Win for Civil Rights’ New rules require internet service providers to get customers’ explicit consent before sharing data with third parties (However, the new rules do not require providers to get clear permission before using the data themselves.) by Nadia Prupis
Inside The Invisible Government: John Pilger On War, Propaganda, Clinton And Trump “Today, the invisible government has never been more powerful and less understood. In my career as a journalist and film-maker, I have never known propaganda to insinuate our lives as it does now, and to go unchallenged. Imagine two cities. Both are under siege by the forces of the government of that country. Both cities are occupied by fanatics, who commit terrible atrocities, such as beheading people. But there is a vital difference. In one siege, the government soldiers are described as liberators by Western reporters embedded with them, who enthusiastically report their battles and air strikes. There are front page pictures of these heroic soldiers giving a V-sign for victory. There is scant mention of civilian casualties.”
US Uranium Weapons Have Been Used in Syria This month, the Pentagon admitted it has used uranium weapons in attacks inside Syria — violating its public promise last year that it would not use DU there, and contradicting the claim that US bombing is done in defense of the Syrian people, according to the Int’l Campaign to Ban Uranium Weapons. Like the Pentagon’s past denials of the dangers of the chemical weapon Agent Orange, US military officials still claim publicly that its uranium weapons are not known to cause health problems. Made from waste uranium-238 — left from H-bomb and reactor fuel production — it is called “depleted” uranium (DU) but is only “depleted” of U-235. Ironically, the best evidence that it is dangerously toxic and radioactive — contrary to press pronouncements — comes from the Pentagon itself. A June 1995 report to Congress by the Army’s Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI) concluded: “Depleted uranium is a radioactive waste and, as such, should be deposited in a licensed repository.” by John Laforge
Obama’s ‘America’: If our white and armed you go free, If your Non-white or Black of get back or face the Iron Heel:
Environment:
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:
Economy:
The crossing of the Rubicon into the confiscation of depositor funds was not a one-off emergency measure limited to Cyprus. Similar “bail-in” policies are now appearing in multiple countries. (See my earlier articles here.) What triggered the new rules may have been a series of game-changing events including the refusal of Iceland to bail out its banks and their depositors; Bank of America’s commingling of its ominously risky derivatives arm with its depository arm over the objections of the FDIC; and the fact that most EU banks are now insolvent. A crisis in a major nation such as Spain or Italy could lead to a chain of defaults beyond anyone’s control, and beyond the ability of federal deposit insurance schemes to reimburse depositors. The new rules for keeping the too-big-to-fail banks alive: use creditor funds, including uninsured deposits, to recapitalize failing banks. But isn’t that theft? Perhaps, but it’s legal theft. By law, when you put your money into a deposit account, your money becomes the property of the bank. You become an unsecured creditor with a claim against the bank. Before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was instituted in 1934, U.S. depositors routinely lost their money when banks went bankrupt. Your deposits are protected only up to the $250,000 insurance limit, and only to the extent that the FDIC has the money to cover deposit claims or can come up with it. Bail-out Is Out, Bail-in Is In: Time for Some Publicly-Owned Banks
What is money? – part four In the fourth part of his series on the history and development of money, Adam Booth examines the factors lying behind inflation and explores the role of gold as the basis for an international monetary system. As the collapse of the gold standard – and more recently the european single currency – demonstrate, the contradictions of capitalism will eventually always come to the fore. By Adam Booth (Past Articles: What is money? – part three, What is Money? – Part two, What is Money? – Part one)
World:
The New Face of United States ‘Democracy’/Iron Heel to the 99% in the United States and the Perpetual Face to the 99% of the World!
The Empire Strikes Back To Defend Big Oil
Quotes of the Day: 
Getting Away With Terrorism in Oregon The Obama regime’s gingerly kid gloves treatment of white Christian terrorists is a policy that foresaw the acquittal of the Bundy gang. By Michael Munk
Labor:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: