The Misinformation Mess … As Americans approach Election Year 2016, the crisis of misinformation is growing more and more dangerous. On issues from foreign policy to the economy, almost none of the candidates in the race appears to be addressing the real world, writes Robert Parry. – ConsortiumNewsDominant Social Theme: False flags? Nothing to see here. Let's move along.Free-Market...Read More
Anonymous war on Isis: Online activists claim to have foiled terror attack on Italy as part of 'Operation Isis' … Supporters of Anonymous have been working to shut down Twitter accounts and websites, but claims to have now disrupted attacks in the real world too. – UK IndependentDominant Social Theme: Anonymous is full of modern day heroes.Free-Market Analysis: Do we believe it...Read More
What if saving the economy was the easy part? … If the past seven years have proven anything, it's that the biggest danger is often the one that no one sees coming. "You have to worry, otherwise you can't be a central banker," Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in a speech this month. "What worries me most is that things happen: You've got a nice framework. It&...Read More
The truth is rushing out there: why conspiracy theories spread faster than ever … From 9/11 to the Paris attacks, from Ebola to Isis, every major global event attracts a corresponding counter-narrative from the 'truthers', some so all-encompassing that they take over people's lives. Are our brains wired to believe, as a new book argues? And could such thinking actually be benefic...Read More
What if saving the economy was the easy part? … If the past seven years have proven anything, it's that the biggest danger is often the one that no one sees coming. "You have to worry, otherwise you can't be a central banker," Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in a speech this month. "What worries me most is that things happen: You've got a nice framework. It&...Read More
The truth is rushing out there: why conspiracy theories spread faster than ever … From 9/11 to the Paris attacks, from Ebola to Isis, every major global event attracts a corresponding counter-narrative from the 'truthers', some so all-encompassing that they take over people's lives. Are our brains wired to believe, as a new book argues? And could such thinking actually be benefic...Read More
In Sweden, a Cash-Free Future Nears … Parishioners text tithes to their churches. Homeless street vendors carry mobile credit-card readers. Even the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine to the 1970s pop group that wrote "Money, Money, Money," considers cash so last-century that it does not accept bills and coins. Few places are tilting toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden,...Read More
Katie Couric reveals what it's like to work with Marissa Mayer at Yahoo … Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric tells INSIDER exclusively: "Marissa is in the spotlight … When you're a high-profile woman, I think that it can sometimes be uber-challenging, and I think she's putting her head down and trying to do the work, and I know it must be challenging at times for he...Read More
In Sweden, a Cash-Free Future Nears … Parishioners text tithes to their churches. Homeless street vendors carry mobile credit-card readers. Even the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine to the 1970s pop group that wrote "Money, Money, Money," considers cash so last-century that it does not accept bills and coins. Few places are tilting toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden,...Read More
Katie Couric reveals what it's like to work with Marissa Mayer at Yahoo … Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric tells INSIDER exclusively: "Marissa is in the spotlight … When you're a high-profile woman, I think that it can sometimes be uber-challenging, and I think she's putting her head down and trying to do the work, and I know it must be challenging at times for he...Read More
Confident and clear, Yellen says rate path will be well signaled … The unanimous backing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen got for the Fed's first rate hike since the financial crisis let her deliver a clear message: Don't expect further rate hikes for a while, and when we are ready, we'll tell you. Yellen's confident and measured performance – she even managed a joke...Read More
US general rebrands Isis 'Daesh' after requests from regional partners … Leader of operations against group uses alternative name – a pejorative in Arabic that rejects fighters' claims on Islam … A top Pentagon general has informally rebranded the jihadists of Isis with the name "Daesh" after allies in the middle east asked he not use the group's other m...Read More
Confident and clear, Yellen says rate path will be well signaled … The unanimous backing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen got for the Fed's first rate hike since the financial crisis let her deliver a clear message: Don't expect further rate hikes for a while, and when we are ready, we'll tell you. Yellen's confident and measured performance – she even managed a joke...Read More
US general rebrands Isis 'Daesh' after requests from regional partners … Leader of operations against group uses alternative name – a pejorative in Arabic that rejects fighters' claims on Islam … A top Pentagon general has informally rebranded the jihadists of Isis with the name "Daesh" after allies in the middle east asked he not use the group's other m...Read More
Janet Yellen's cautious retreat from zero-rate era … With the Federal Reserve's hiking short-term interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, a cautious Janet Yellen has taken the final step to unwind her crisis-manager predecessor's extraordinary economic rescue operation. During her almost two years chairing the Federal Reserve Board, Yellen has phased out the two signature s...Read More
Martin Shkreli, "America's Most Hated "… The "most hated man in America" just got arrested for securities fraud. Shkreli, the baby faced, former Jim Cramer protege and serial biotech mogul who famously raised the price of a toxoplasmosis drug by 5000% in September, igniting a media and political firestorm in the process, is accused of using Retrophin (a company he fou...Read More
Janet Yellen's cautious retreat from zero-rate era … With the Federal Reserve's hiking short-term interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, a cautious Janet Yellen has taken the final step to unwind her crisis-manager predecessor's extraordinary economic rescue operation. During her almost two years chairing the Federal Reserve Board, Yellen has phased out the two signature s...Read More
Martin Shkreli, "America's Most Hated "… The "most hated man in America" just got arrested for securities fraud. Shkreli, the baby faced, former Jim Cramer protege and serial biotech mogul who famously raised the price of a toxoplasmosis drug by 5000% in September, igniting a media and political firestorm in the process, is accused of using Retrophin (a company he fou...Read More
Why the Fed's historic rate hike is good news and bad news for the economy. Yellen says rate hike shows Fed's confidence the U.S. economy is strengthening … — LA TimesDominant Social Theme: The Fed takes care of the economy, and this is the way it must be.Free-Market Analysis: The good news is that the economy is recovering, according to this article. The bad news is that the F...Read More
Why Hillary Clinton's 'Likeability' May Not Matter to Voters in 2016 … Hillary Clinton's candidacy will test an important proposition in presidential politics: Do voters cast ballots for candidates they don't necessarily like? Mrs. Clinton isn't hanging her candidacy on the idea that she's especially personable. The thrust of her campaign is that in precarious tim...Read More