Are We Idiots?

[Chris Coles]

Re: Are We Idiots?

Interestingly, Radio 4 Today here in the UK, (Our very reliable flagship news program, better than ANY TV news service), had a very interesting interview in Pakistan about the perception that the whole nation blames their current problems on India and the US.

0733
US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has arrived in Pakistan for a mission President Obama considers crucial in the military strategy against the Taliban. While the outside world focuses on the Pakistan/Afghan border and the offensive launched by the Pakistan army against the Taliban in south Waziristan, many Pakistanis blame their troubles less on the insurgents and more on their old antagonist, India, and their long-term ally, the US. Correspondent Andrew Hosken reports from the extraordinary ceremony which marks the closure of the Pakistan-India border crossing near Lahore each evening.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/listen_again/default.stm

The Listen Again service gives you the full program from 06.00 am, the item in question is timed at 07.33 am.

VERY thought provoking. But, in the end, just another example of "Blow Back". (And no, I deliberately did not put a question mark at the end).

[FRED]

Re: Are We Idiots?

As Foreclosure Nightmares Increase, Will More Homeowners Pay Off Their Bankers in Violence?
By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted November 9, 2009

The economic crisis revealed late-capitalism's central offense: Human beings are being transparently treated if they were mere transactions. And they're going postal over it.

Anger and discontent are reaching a boil as a lethal combination of economic corruption and political collusion are deleveraged across the United States.
From recent rampages in Orlando, Fla., to mortgage-related torture in Los Angeles, certain members of the citizenry seem to have had their fill of being manipulated for the financial gain of others, and they're firing back with force.

And the situation threatens to burn hotter as the winter holidays -- always a peak period fof domestic violence, due mostly to financial stress -- approach to spark its frazzled strands. The economic crisis revealed late-capitalism's central offense: Human beings are being transparently treated if they were mere transactions. And they're going postal over it.

"They left me to rot," Jason Rodriguez said when asked why he went on a shooting rampage at the Orlando engineering firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills that had fired him two years ago.

That compressed vitriol is also found in the Los Angeles case, where Daniel Weston and Gustavo Canez allegedly imprisoned and tortured loan-modification agents Lamond Dean and Luis Garcia while three others -- Mario Soloman Gonzales, Marissa Parker and Mary Ann Parmelee, a realtor -- sat and watched.

According to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, "Weston and Parmelee live in a house that is in foreclosure," and they "allegedly sought loan-modification assistance from the victims but believed that nothing was being done and wanted their money back."

When they didn't get it, they evidently extracted their payback in violent revenge. more...

[touchring]

Re: Are We Idiots?

no kidding... have friends on unemployment 1 yr now who say they 'don't know what they will do' if the gov't stops sending checks.

for ladies especially, there's always the foreign language teacher job in East Asia.

[dylan132]

Re: Are We Idiots?

Here is a link to the video of Cramer.:eek:

http://www.deepcapture.com/jim-crame...aw-2-mar-2007/

[metalman]

Re: Are We Idiots?

"Are they seething with righteous anger with pitch forks and torches in hand? Are they ready to storm the bastions of so-called housing boosters like the closing scene in some modern day Frankenstein movie? Or does the ‘I’ in iTulip actually stand for idiot?"
- Carl Steidtmann, chief economist and director, Consumer Business - Deloitte Research - April 11, 2007)

three years later...

Greece: Bomb explodes at JPMorgan branch

On Tuesday February 16, 2010, 1:48 pm EST
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Police in the Greek capital say a bomb has exploded at the offices of American financial services firm JPMorgan Chase & Co., causing no injuries.

The blast occurred early evening Tuesday in an upscale area of central Athens, following a warning telephone call to an Athens newspaper.

[Slimprofits]

Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/17/illinois.carbomb/

A man is in custody on charges of felony arson after allegedly driving a car bomb into an Illinois bank Friday evening.

David A. Whitesell, 48, of Blue Island, Illinois, was arrested after witnesses at the scene identified him, the Lockport Police Department said.

Whitesell drove his car into the front entrance of a PNC bank in Lockport, police said. The car exploded as he walked away, police said, adding that he used the same material found in fireworks.

No injuries were reported because the bank was closed and unoccupied at the time, authorities said.

Whitesell is being held on charges of felony arson and felony criminal damage to property with an incendiary device.

His motive is unknown, according to police.

[dummass]

Re: Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

His motive is unknown, according to police.

Hummmm, what might be his motive?

[Rajiv]

Re: Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

Hummmm, what might be his motive?

1 In Custody After Explosion At Lockport Bank
Motive May Have Been Related To Foreclosure and Repossession of Car

[dummass]

Re: Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

The media is doing a good job of containing this event. With the derelict picture of the perp and all the one sided opinions of witnesses, case closed.

[metalman]

Re: Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

The media is doing a good job of containing this event. With the derelict picture of the perp and all the one sided opinions of witnesses, case closed.

er... msm can't condone bombings & arson.

[reggie]

Re: Facing foreclosure? Police: Man drove car bomb into a bank

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/17/illinois.carbomb/

A man is in custody on charges of felony arson after allegedly driving a car bomb into an Illinois bank Friday evening.

David A. Whitesell, 48, of Blue Island, Illinois, was arrested after witnesses at the scene identified him, the Lockport Police Department said.

Whitesell drove his car into the front entrance of a PNC bank in Lockport, police said. The car exploded as he walked away, police said, adding that he used the same material found in fireworks.

No injuries were reported because the bank was closed and unoccupied at the time, authorities said.

Whitesell is being held on charges of felony arson and felony criminal damage to property with an incendiary device.

His motive is unknown, according to police.

Let me guess, as this story develops we'll hear reports that the man has no recollection of the event whatsoever. Then the story will quietly die.