the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

How hedge funds and brokers have manipulated the market   by Lucy Komisar   Part 2 - Naked Short Selling and Fails to Deliver   The SEC allows traders to short a stock, which means to sell it even if they don’t own it, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price and bank the difference. Short sellers borrow the stock, usually from a broker, who either has it in their inventory, borrows it from another broker, or vows to “locate” the stock when the time comes and cover the short. That promise is often fake. A broker handling several sellers will borrow synthetic or manufactured shares, or “locate” the same stocks for multiple shorts. Traders and brokers have been mildly sanctioned for this scam. Sellers are supposed to send shares to buyers within two days. If they don’t convey the stock, there is a failure to deliver (FTD). This is also known as naked short selling. Traders that have outstanding FTDs are required to transfer the shares within a given time and are restricted from selli

The fact that the very department that trains high state officials and agents of secretive three letter agencies is also the place that produces many of the journalists we rely on to stand up to those officials and keep them in check is seriously problematic.   by Alan Macleod   Part 4 - What’s it all about? Why are so many influential figures in our media being hothoused in a department well known for its connections to state power, for its faculty being active or former military or government officials, and for producing spies and operatives for various three-letter agencies? The point of this is not to allege that these journalists are all secretly card-carrying spooks: they are not. Rather, it is to highlight the alarmingly close links between the national security state and the fourth estate we rely on to be a check on their power and to hold them accountable. Journalists trained in this sort of environment are far more likely to see the world in the same manner as their professor

A maj­or wit­n­ess in the United States’ Depart­ment of Justice ca­se against Ju­li­an Assange has admitted to fabricat­ing key accusati­ons in the indict­ment against the Wiki­leaks found­er.   Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson / Gunnar Hrafn Jónsson  Part 1 A major witness in the United States’ Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder. The witness, who has a documented history with sociopathy and has received several convictions for sexual abuse of minors and wide-ranging financial fraud, made the admission in a newly published interview in Stundin where he also confessed to having continued his crime spree whilst working with the Department of Justice and FBI and receiving a promise of immunity from prosecution. The man in question, Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, was recruited by US authorities to build a case against Assange after misleading them to believe he was previously a close ass

The “war on terror” is even more convenient for Washington’s dreams of hegemony and domination than the previous war on communism, writes As`ad AbuKhalil.    by As`ad AbuKhalil   Part 1   The end of the Cold War — and especially the aftermath of Sept. 11 — provided the United States with the opportunity to extend its control over large areas of the world.  The “war on terror” became America’s new scheme to control armies and intelligence services in developing countries.   Included in this is U.S. consolidation of its hold over most Arab armies over the last two decades. Most Arab armies and intelligence services — according to the U.S. — obviously need the presence of U.S. troops for training and guidance as only the U.S. can fight and teach natives how to fight “terrorists” and only the U.S. is qualified to define who the terrorists are.  Yet, the U.S. does not have a good record in fighting terrorists in the Middle East — assuming one adheres to the U.S.-Israeli definition of terror

RT UK   " We want a group of us to be able to talk to Julian, in order to discuss his case. " Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn explains why he, along with other MPs, went to Belmarsh to petition for access to Julian Assange.  

RT UK   A number of MPs hand-delivered a letter to Belmarsh prison to demand access to privately meet whistleblower Julian Assange whilst he's awaiting an extradition appeal to the US.  

failed evolution   World's number one political prisoner, Julian Assange, still in high security prison for exposing horrendous war crimes carried out by the US imperialists and their allies.     

by Felix Salmon   Just half of younger Americans now hold a positive view of capitalism — and socialism's appeal in the U.S. continues to grow, driven by Black Americans and women, according to a new Axios/Momentive poll. Why it matters: The pandemic has caused millions of Americans — including many younger Republicans — to re-evaluate their political and economic worldview. That's likely because of two factors: a renewed focus on deep societal inequalities and the tangible upsides of unprecedented levels of government intervention.      " The pandemic is sure to have lasting impact for decades to come, " said Jon Cohen, the chief research officer for Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey ). The intrigue: Shifts are happening on the right as well as the left, at least among those under 35.     Just 66% of Republicans and GOP-leaners ages 18-34 have a positive view of capitalism, down from 81% in January 2019, when we first polled on these questions.     56% of younger Re

New Economic Thinking     Market fetishists may not know it yet, but it's over. Suresh Naidu breaks down neoliberalism, and why it can no longer support itself.  

For the second time in the five months since he was inaugurated, President Joe Biden on Sunday ordered a U.S. bombing raid on Syria, and for the first time, he also bombed Iraq. The rationale offered was the same as Biden's first air attack in February: the U.S., in the words of Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, “ conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. ” He added that “ the United States acted pursuant to its right of self-defense. ”  Embedded in this formulaic Pentagon statement is so much propaganda and so many euphemisms that, by itself, it reveals the fraudulent nature of what was done. To begin with, how can U.S. airstrikes carried out in Iraq and Syria be "defensive” in nature? How can they be an act of “self-defense"? Nobody suggests that the targets of the bombing campaign have the intent or the capability to strike the U.S. "homeland” itself. Neither Syria nor Iraq is a U.S