No indictment in Ferguson case
by ilene - November 24th, 2014 9:22 pm
No charges to be filed against police officer Darren Wilson for offenses ranging from involuntary manslaughter up to first degree murder (not indicted). Not surprisingly, the news sparked a night of rioting, looting and gunfire in Ferguson and protests across the nation. In Ferguson, businesses burned, 61 people were arrested, protesters threw bricks at police officers and set police cars on fire. The St. Louis police claimed the violence was worse than in August. (Source).
News first appeared on USA Today:
FERGUSON, Mo. — A white police officer will not face charges for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager in a case that set off violent protests and racial unrest throughout the nation, an attorney close to the case said Monday night. (Full article)
Hopes for peaceful demonstrations vanished quickly as violence erupted right after the announcement.
FERGUSON, Mo., – Violent protests erupted here Monday after demonstrators learned there would be no criminal indictment of police officer Darren Wilson for the August shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown.
Demonstrators taunted police, shattered windows and set fire to two St. Louis County police cars. Scattered, intermittent gunfire was also reported. Scores of police officers, armed with riot gear, dispersed a crowd of about 300 with volley after volley of tear gas, pepper spray and bean bags. Looters plundered a Walgreen and Autozone store, while a Little Casears pizza restaurant and local beauty shop were set ablaze. (Keep reading: Violence erupts following Ferguson grand jury announcement)
How did officer Wilson escape further inquiry? Ezra Klein argues that his story makes no sense in Officer Darren Wilson's story is unbelievable. Literally.
So Brown is punching inside the car. Wilson is scrambling to deflect the blows, to protect his face, to regain control of the situation. And then Brown stops, turns to his left, says to his friend, "Here, hold these," and hands him the cigarillos stolen from Ferguson Market. Then he turns back to Wilson and, with his left hand now freed from holding the contraband goods, throws a haymaker at Wilson.
Every bullshit detector in me went off when I read that passage. Which doesn't mean that it didn't happen exactly the way Wilson
Monday Market Mayhem – Bombs Fly, Markets Fly – Why Not?
by phil - August 18th, 2014 8:11 am
From Ferguson to Fallujah, America has spent the weekend kicking ass and taking names with the National Guard rushing in to put down the 99% in Missouri while in Mosul, we're bombing the Middle East's 99% off the dams and picking off the stragglers with high-tech drones – F*ck Yeah!
That, combined with what we can politely call a non-escalation of tensions in the Ukraine has sent the price of oil tumbling by 0.75 this morning, good for $750 per contract from our Friday short (and now we're long at $94 on /CLV4 for October) - F*ck Yeah! Index futures were up slightly in Asia but gathered steam in Europe and markets there are coming out of lunch up over 1% – even as the cease-fire in Gaza is about to end.
Meanwhile, over in Hong Kong, we got a powerful lesson in numbers as the 1.3Bn population of China is able to overwhelm that Island's 7M people (0.5% of China's population) at will and that will was exercised this weekend as China staged "Pro-Beijing" rallies that protested the "Occupy Central" rallies the bottom 99% of Hong Kong had been staging. Can anti-democracy rallies be far behind?
The anti-Occupy Central campaign's focus on the impact of civil disobedience has appealed to the pragmatism of many Hong Kong people. While many support democracy, they also just want to live their lives and go to work unimpeded. "We can't be optimistic at all—the pro-Beijing camp will control the entire list of candidates," said Joseph Cheng, a political-science professor and convener of the Alliance for True Democracy, a coalition of democratic parties supporting Occupy Central.
In short, while China did promise to give Hong Kong the right to vote – they never said they wouldn't stuff the ballot boxes or put up candidates that were nothing more than two different flavors of the same puppets. "If we are buying fruit, don't give us three rotten oranges to choose from," one of the activists said. Oh wait, that might have been our own election coverage – it's so hard to keep these totalitarian regimes straight…
Bill Maher feels disconnected from the Fed
by ilene - August 3rd, 2009 1:44 am
Bill Maher feels disconnected from the Fed
Courtesy of Tim Iacono at The Mess That Greenspan Made
Bill Maher talks to Niall Ferguson about Ron Paul’s bill to audit the central bank and Elliot Spitzer’s recent comments that the Federal
Is it just me or is Ferguson one of the worst apologists for the Fed? Not only does he come off as being arrogant and pompous in the exchange with Joe Queenan, but he seems to have no inkling that the system just might be fundamentally flawed as he defends the swell job that Ben Bernanke has been doing lately in propping things back up.