I have always liked Argentina for some reason. It probably started with a report I did on that nation around the 3rd Grade or so. I like their flag - light blue & white with a sun in the middle. I like the quasi-European nature of Argentine society (or how it used to be before the December 2001 crash). The handful of Argentines I’ve met throughout my life always struck me as suburban, educated, and interesting. Is it any wonder that the great post-Enlightenment liberator San Martin came from Argentina? And who can deny the suave urbanity of the tango? (I’m listening to the genius Astor Piazzolla & the New Tango Quintet churning out nuevo tango as I write this.) And I always get a “kick” out of watching Argentina’s national football team play in the World Cup. Or just watching River Plate and some other team battle it out. But here’s why I really like Argentines right now: they might be able to help us through the Greater Depression - as Gerald Celente would say. If we would just listen to people like Fernando E. Solanas, Adrian Salbuchi, and “FerFAL”, we just might be able to avoid the worst that the IMF, World Bank, G-20, and WTO have to throw our way.

Everyone should watch the 2004 documentary “Memoria del Saqueo” by Fernando E. Solanas. It is a broad and detailed account of the history of Argentina’s debt-saddled economy. The viewer is taken through a roughly three decade tour of dirty politics, increasing poverty, and predatory overseas financial institutions, all culminating in the December 2001 crash of the entire Argentine financial system, economy, and almost the very fibers of modern society itself.

“Memoria del Saqueo” is filled with many things that present-day Americans will find disturbingly familiar. Betrayal by once-promising elected officials. Brazen theft and lawlessness by the political class that goes completely unpunished. A corrupt legal system. A banking system that sucks the life and soul out of the public. Collectively, the above-mentioned criminal group is referred to as “the mafiocracy” in the documentary. Well put.

We are then shown in frustrating and often heartbreaking detail what the policies of this mafiocracy have done to the average - and less than average - Argentine. Educated, middle-class people with their savings wiped out. Urban dwellers unable to access their bank accounts - and starving as a result. Utterly poverty-stricken rural folk living in a swamp that the government won’t drain - even though the funds exist. A pair of doctor’s speak of the hordes of malnutritioned children they treat on an endless basis. All of this is going on while a tiny elite class flaunt their wealth and even brag about stealing from the government coffers on Argentine TV!

The bottom line concept of this documentary is this: the catastrophic results of economic globalization on an otherwise prosperous society. Privitization and virtual abandonment of previously nationalized industries. Crippling and genocidal economic austerity policies. The plunder and bankrupting of a proud nation by foreigners and globalists. Sound familiar?

Hey, wasn’t that all stuff we were protesting against alongside Ralph Nader and Jello Biafra about ten years ago? What happened? Oh yeah: 9/11, War on Terror, Iraq War, etc.

“Memoria del Saquero” is narrated in Spanish by the film’s writer and producer Fernando E. Solanas. There are easily readable yellow English subtitles. Running time is 120 minutes. It can be easily accessed on YouTube in a 12-part series of 10-minute slices by typing “Argentina’s Economic Collapse” into the YouTube search engine. Here is part 1:

What has become of the nation of gauchos since the Crash of 2001?

The new Alex Jones documentary has been released and it’s . . . not bad. Those already familiar with the work of Austin, TX-based infowarrior Alex Jones will no doubt watch this new documentary no matter what I - or anybody else - has to say about it. And you should. Everybody should watch it, really.

The Obama Deception has many strengths. Among them are appearances from a diverse array of expert voices, a concise run through of recent events (economic collapse, bailouts, Obama’s ever-altering campaign promises), a solid history lesson on the oligarchical forces that rule us, and the usual positive encouragement to activism from Mr. Jones.

There are some weaknesses in this latest doc outing, as well. More on that later.

We hear quite extensively from author Webster G. Tarpley. He has already managed to write not one, but two books on Barak H. Obama. Tarpley offers his typically insightful post-Larouche analysis on the Wall St. finance capitalists that have become successful in getting a virtual stranglehold on the American political system. He mentions that Obama’s entire cabinet is filled with proxy men from Wall St. and the banking sector. No Big Labor, no auto industry people, nobody from any traditionally populist causes.

The famed economic forecaster Gerald Celente throws in street-tough advice about the continued economic slide we find ourselves in. Celente offers no sympathy for those who have been fooled by the Obama rhetoric, nor for anyone not now preparing for what he has called elsewhere “The Greatest Depression”. We best heed this sparkplug from New York’s advice.

The guy who really steals the show is beloved rap music icon KRS-ONE. He offers the most cogent, no bull****, straight-up, incisive metaphor on the Obama administration and American politics in general. I.E., if America were a fast food joint, you can complain to the cashier (court system), and even the manager (Supreme Court), but you’ll never get an audience with the franchise owner (Federal Reserve, good old boy networks, entrenched oligarchy, etc.). I always knew you where a smart dude Chris Parker. It is very telling to see such a radical (black) activist as KRS-ONE stating unequivocal doubt about the Obama administration. They’ve just “put a black face on the New World Order”, as he says.

How about some Ron Paul? Surely, he and Alex have a good enough relationship for at least one quick interview and comments section - yes? No. But, we do get his brother Wayne Paul at a anti-Federal Reserve rally. Mr. Wayne Paul offers us a quick history lesson on how the Federal Reserve essentially bankrupted the United States in twenty years time from 1914 to the 1930’s. Paul also mentions that we have been living under a state of emergency - still technically in place - since that time.

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich shows up in a handful of C-SPAN clips, the most memorable being his grilling of Neil Kashkari during the bailout hearings last year. Kashkari looks like a stand-in for the resurrected evil pharoah from the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, complete with piercing glare and glistening bald head. It’s very nice to see an unapologetic leftist like Kucinich get some presence in an Alex Jones documentary.

Professor Griff of rap icons Public Enemy, author and researcher George Humphrey, Alex himself, and others also contribute to the truth-telling in the Obama Deception.

The primary flaw of the Obama Deception is, however, the obvious fact that it is a rush job. Couldn’t have Alex & Co. waited until the summer to release the film? They could have included all the events of the First 100 Days of the new presidency. The rushed nature of the production results in the following omissions, errors, and general weaknesses:

1.) Virtually no mention of Obama’s strange biography. Webster Tarpley is sitting right there! He’s written two books on the guy - ask him some questions about Obama’s background, Alex!

2.) No mention whatsoever of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel’s deep ties to the state of Israel. Nor was there any mention of the Israeli lobby’s role in influencing some of Obama’s appointments.

3.) A few name-date sort of errors. The most prominent of which involves a quote from Barry Goldwater’s memoirs in which he voices opposition to the Trilateral Commission. The date given for the quote is 1964 - but the TC did not become active until 1973. But these sorts of errors are minor, and again, can be chalked up to the round-the-clock rush job that Alex Jones and his staff put into making the Obama Deception.

The bottom line: see it. But longtime AJ fans should not expect another Terrorstorm or Endgame. Perhaps there will be an expanded edition of The Obama Deception in the coming months that will fill in some of the gaps. That would be most welcome.

Ivan Green, 45, is suing TD Bank - formerly Commerce Bank - and Brookhaven Borough for $1 million after he was arrested and jailed in 2007. A bank manager had called police when he tried to make a large withdrawal from his account.”Everything they did to me was unwarranted, unnecessary and unprovoked. If it was not for my skin complexion, I don’t think they would have treated me the way they did,” said Green, who is black.

In March 2007, Green and his wife refinanced their home and received about $38,000. They planned to put $26,500 into their checking account and use $11,500 to pay American Express and other creditors.

But when Green picked up the checks, he took the sealed envelope to a Commerce Bank branch in Delaware and mistakenly deposited everything into the checking account, even though some of the checks were made out to their creditors, according to Green’s attorney, Gerard Schrom. The entire $38,000 cleared nonetheless.

“All this money is his,” Schrom said. “He didn’t find this money on the street.”

When Green tried to withdraw $30,000 at a Brookhaven branch a couple days later, however, the bank manager called police, and he was arrested on theft charges. The charges were dismissed, but he lost his job as a result of the incident. Full Story

Bernie Madoff lost billions of dollars that didn’t belong to him in all kinds of investment scams and hasn’t spent 1 minute of his life in jail and most likely never will.  This victim of banker’s hubris in Delaware should be suing for $10  million, not $1 million.  We’re mad as hell, and we’re not gonna take it anymore!