Ron's News

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["Unlike many of our OECD brethren, Canada does not currently levy an inheritance, estate or wealth tax of any sort. Where they do exist, wealth taxes are increasingly under both rhetorical and technocratic threat." *RON*]
By Carter Vance, rabble.ca, 14 March 2016


When not denying the problem exists at all, its apologists tend to state that inequality is the result of overall market forces which the government has little control over.

In other words, we should not be too concerned -- despite a rapid increase in Canada's inequality coefficient from 1976. That is, average market incomes have actually dropped for the bottom 60 per cent of Canadians since the mid-1970s. In fact, it is only in after-tax and transfer terms that low and moderate income Canadians have made any income gains at all in the past 30 years.

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[In November Senator Ted Cruz appeared at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa, where he courted the support of the conference’s organizer, Colorado-based pastor and radio host Kevin Swanson. If you can stand it, watch the video through to the end. See also: The Many, Many Reasons Republican Senators Can't Stand Ted Cruz. *RON*]

Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit, 14 March 2016


Cruz was introduced on the stage by Pastor Kevin Swanson – after he called for the execution of gays at the conference.

Kevin Swanson: Yes, Romans Chapter 1 verse 32 the Apostle Paul does says that homosexuals are worthy of death. His words not mine! And I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And I am not ashamed of the truth of the word of God. And I am willing to go to jail…

…Now my friends let me introduce to you the next candidate for the office of President of the United States, folks please make welcome Senator Ted Cruz.

That seems a bit extreme.…

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["Newly public documents from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission show that the FCIC referred a handful of matters to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. Most of the time, nothing happened. In the cases where something did happen, our modern system of justice—the special one that applies to big business, that is—means that those of us on the outside—citizens, on whose behalf justice is supposed to be served—will never know the underlying truth." See also: Former Citi Vice Chairman Robert Rubin, Target of DoJ Investigation, is Too Big to Jail. *RON*]

By Bethany McLean, Yahoo! Finance, 12 March 2016

“This gags me.” So said Elizabeth Warren in response to a Quora user, who asked, “What do you think are the real reasons that no Wall Street executives have been prosecuted for fraud as a result of the 2008 financial crisis?” Her answer, which she expounds on more thoroughly in her reportRigged Justice, is, “Weak enforcement…

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[And, after forgetting to leave it at home, my wife had her key-chain penknife confiscated by a righteously indignant CATSA officer. *RON*]

Associated Press, Business Insider, 13 March 2016

Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for the US containing two missiles with explosive warheads was found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia.

N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at Belgrade airport.

Serbian media say documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland, Oregon. The American-made projectiles can be fired from air, sea or ground platforms.

N1 reported Sunday that Air Serbia is helping in the investigation. The Serbian flag carrier says "security and safety are the main priorities for Air Serbia."

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[Overall the argument here is a little strained - Brown stretches her story well beyond what is contained in Clinton's emails and, by inference, attributes the whole set of facts to Clinton. But what is contained in Hillary's emails concerning Libya is damning, and the whole story of what went on there is horrible, however much of it can be laid at her doorstep. "violent intervention was not chiefly about the security of the people. It was about the security of global banking, money and oil." *RON*]
By Ellen Brown, OpEd News, 13 March 2016

Critics have long questioned why violent intervention was necessary in Libya. Hillary Clinton's recently published emails confirm that it was less about protecting the people from a dictator than about money, banking, and preventing African economic sovereignty.

The brief visit of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Libya in October 2011 was referred to by the media as a "victor…

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[Sounds promising! Scientists have discovered a novel way to make plastic from carbon dioxide and inedible plant material, such as agricultural waste and grasses. Researchers say the new technology could provide a low-carbon alternative to plastic bottles and other items currently made from petroleum.*RON*]
Stanford University, Science Daily, 9 March 2016
Stanford scientists have discovered a novel way to make plastic from carbon dioxide (CO2) and inedible plant material, such as agricultural waste and grasses. Researchers say the new technology could provide a low-carbon alternative to plastic bottles and other items currently made from petroleum.

"Our goal is to replace petroleum-derived products with plastic made from CO2," said Matthew Kanan, an assistant professor of chemistry at Stanford. "If you could do that without using a lot of non-renewable energy, you could dramatically lower the carbon footprint of the plastics indust…