Financial Crisis Followup: Blackwater to Help with Evictions

Now that most real estate lies in the hands of the American government, it won’t be long before Blackwater comes knocking on the door of those who are trying to make one last go at holding on to their homes.

Eviction notices will be deliverd by one of the world’s largest and fierce mercenary armies, thanks to a lot of funding during the Iraq war, Katrina and other disasters. Full story here.

Many people were suggesting that if the financial bailout bill wasn’t approve by Congress, martial law would have been introduced by the ever-so-wise President Bush.

Now that the law has steamrolled through the legislative assemblies, the powers-that-be are having their cake and eating it too, with Blackwater as the delivery boys.

Questions Related to Financial 9/11

This article poses a number of questions related to what’s being called the Financial 9/11.

At the root of the questions lies a great mistrust of the speed at which things ‘had to be done’. Were financial markets unravelling because the people behind them were inept or because the regulations had been stripped so raw by free-market fundamentalists or because there was some other deep-seated plan to rip off taxpayers across the planet on an unprecedented scale?

Either way, any scenario is something that we should all be very upset about. We don’t trip over ourselves bailing out other companies, so why the excitement with financial companies? Maybe I’m showing my ignorance, but I think we should all step back at least one stride and try to understand that maybe this is the time when we should have a VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH to the problem as opposed to throwing gas on the fire.

Greg Palast: Election Already Stolen?

Interesting piece on the potential grand-theft robbery of the US election? I guess I’ll believe it once I see it. Apparently, Obama has such a huge lead.

Full story here.

Fiddling While Rome Burns: Bonuses at All Time High

A record $70 billion in bonuses are planned for Wall Street ‘genuises’this year, despite the worst show of abuse of capitalism in the last 80 years.

At one point last week the Morgan Stanley $10.7bn pay pot for the year to date was greater than the entire stock market value of the business. In effect, staff, on receiving their remuneration, could club together and buy the bank.

Good job guys!

Now, during the Canadian election, $25 billion was set aside for Canadian banks. Was it so that they could free up some cash to do the same? Should we be on the hook for this kind of stuff? Are you getting mad yet?

Cuba to Become an Oil Player

Full Story Here.

The dynamics of the Carribean just got a little more dynamic.

Now that Cuba will have serious cash-flow, they’ll be able to partner with the likes of Venezuela and Bolivia and start driving the US nuts.

Expect the ‘axis of evil’ rhetoric to increase exponentially in the coming months.

Head of Taser Distributor Arrested in France

NOTE: Now that the Canadian election is a bust, it’s time I got back to the original and targeted intent of this blog, which is to follow all things related to Taser and the shock economy.

Original story here.

French police arrested the head of a company that distributes stun guns in France for Scottsdale-based Taser International Inc. on Tuesday, according to foreign news reports.

Authorities detained Antoine Di Zazzo and nine other people, including police officers and private detectives, on suspicion that they spied on Olivier Besancenot, a former presidential candidate in France who publicly questioned the safety of Taser’s devices, reports stated.

Di Zazzo runs SMP Technologies, which has had an agreement with Taser since 2005 to exclusively distribute the company’s stun guns to law-enforcement agencies in France.

Some news reports referred to Di Zazzo’s company as "Taser France." But Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said Di Zazzo is not a Taser employee, and Taser does not own or operate SMP.

"Antoine is purely a distributor in France," Tuttle said.

"He is not an employee in any way, shape or form."

Excited Delirium

Stories about Excited Delirium, the Shock Economy and a little fiction here and there.