The embattled Wells Fargo Bank, famously accused of signing up its customers to multiple accounts without their knowledge, was discovered last week to be doing the same thing with a life insurance product sold in their branches by Prudential. This could prove even more damaging than the original fake account scandal, as bankers are not allowed to sell insurance, much less secretly sign people up for it.
Then on Tuesday, the bank was suspended from doing any work for the city of San Francisco, its home town. Plus, Wells was the only U.S. bank to have their “living will” — a government-mandated roadmap for how to dismantle the firm in the event of a failure — rejected by federal regulators. This is the third time since 2014 Wells Fargo had its living will denied as not credible, and for the first time, that will lead to sanctions: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve announced they will prohibit Wells Fargo from establishing any international subsidiaries or purchasing any nonbank companies.
The company has until […]
A British nuclear submarine surfaces near Scotland
Credit: DPA/BRITISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
For decades, American nuclear weapons have served as a guarantor of European security. But what happens if Donald Trump casts doubt on that atomic shield? A debate has already opened in Berlin and Brussels over alternatives to the U.S. deterrent.
The issue is so secret that it isn’t even listed on any daily agenda at NATO headquarters. When military officials and diplomats speak about it in Brussels, they meet privately and in very small groups — sometimes only with two or three people at a time. There is a reason why signs are displayed in the headquarters reading, “no classified conversation.”
And this issue is extremely sensitive. The alliance wants to avoid a public discussion at any cost. Such a debate, one diplomat warns, could trigger an “avalanche.” The foundations of the trans-Atlantic security architecture would be endangered if this “Pandora’s box” were to be opened.
Great Uncertainty
The discussion surrounds nuclear deterrent. For decades, the final line of defense for Europe against possible Russian […]
1948 propaganda Santa
Credit: Flickr/x-ray delta one
The newest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes an amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on the American public, reports Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed.
The amendment — proposed by Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and passed in the House last Friday afternoon — would effectively nullify the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion.
Thornberry said that the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way,” according to Buzzfeed.
The vote came two days after a federal judged ruled that an indefinite detention provision in the annual defense bill was unconstitutional.
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who released a highly critical report regarding the distortion of truth by senior military officials in Iraq and Afghanistan, dedicated a section of his report to Information Operations (IO) and states that after Desert Storm the military wanted to […]
College campus
Credit: Shutterstock / Jannis Tobias Werner
A professor who gave a lecture criticizing Donald Trump, and the divisiveness and racist rhetoric of his presidential campaign, has gone into hiding after receiving death threats. (emphasis added)
Olga Perez Stable Cox, a psychology instructor at Orange Coast College, was secretly recorded by a student during a class days after the presidential election. In a video posted to YouTube on December 6, Cox expresses disappointment, fear and to a lesser degree, hopefulness about the future. The footage begins with Cox stating the incoming administration is led by a “white supremacist and a vice president that is one of the most anti-gay humans in this country.” She goes on to say that, “Our nation is divided, we have been assaulted, it’s an act of terrorism….And so we are in for a difficult time, but again, I do believe that we can get past that.
The shrinking of open spaces has put the future of cemeteries in jeopardy.
Credit: Jakob Christensen/flickr
Across North America, Asia and parts of Europe, burial real estate is at a premium as many continue to bury their dead in an ever-shrinking number of available grave plots.
Urban planners around the world have been calling out to address the shortage of burial space and urging people to get creative when it comes to accommodating their remains.
‘[Dying] is extremely expensive.’ – Nicole Hanson, cultural planner
“Death is now an equity issue for those in the GTA and Toronto. We are going to be out of space in five to 10 years,” says Nicole Hanson, a cultural planner who specializes in cemetery urbanism.
Hanson says when a city runs out of space to bury the dead, it creates an elite system of who has access to be buried in a cemetery.
“The extremely wealthy will be able to dictate this narrative and say, ‘Well, I can afford to be buried downtown, I can afford to have a house downtown.’”
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
