Link: http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/3651-the-perfect-storm

t's a perfect storm. And I'm not talking about the impending dangers facing Democrats. I'm talking about the dangers facing our democracy. First, income in America is now more concentrated in fewer hands than it's been in 80 years. Almost a quarter of total income generated in the United States is going to the top 1 percent of Americans. The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/econ-o18.shtml

In the wake of the fractious International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting held October 9-10 in Washington, the descent into global currency and trade war has accelerated, with the United States playing the role of instigator-in-chief. The US is deliberately encouraging a sell-off of dollars on international currency markets in order to raise the relative exchange rates of its major trade rivals, increasing the effective price of their exports to the US while cheapening US exports to their markets.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/elec-o18.shtml

With only two weeks remaining in the 2010 election campaign, Democratic Party candidates in closely contested races for the Senate, the House of Representatives and many statewide offices are highlighting their right-wing policies and minimizing any differences with their Republican opponents.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/18/wars_hidden_death_toll_after_service

As of this month, over 5,700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That count does not include those veterans who commit suicide or die from war-related issues after returning home from military service.

Link: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m70899&hd=&size=1&l=e

As publicity for the newly-published memoir, Guantánamo: My Journey by the Australian David Hicks, who was held at Guantánamo from January 2002 until April 2007, when he was repatriated after accepting a plea deal at his trial by Military Commission, Hicks’ publishers have released three excerpts from the book to the media. All three excerpts were published by Hicks’ local paper in Adelaide (dealing with events before he became interested in Islam and the struggles in Bosnia, Kashmir and Afghanistan, the circumstances of his capture and his first two weeks in Guantánamo), and I have chosen to cross-post the latter, as it captures particularly well the primitive violence of the early days of Camp X-Ray — the open-air cages, resembling animal pens, in which the prisoners were held until the first, more permanent structures of Camp Delta were completed in May 2002...

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/18/osama-bin-laden-pakistan-nato

Official says al-Qaida leader was moving between houses in the far north-west of Pakistan, and 'not living in a cave'. Osama bin Laden is living in relative comfort in the far north-west of Pakistan, according to a Nato official who has day-to-day responsibility for the war in Afghanistan. The official, who has access to sensitive intelligence information, told CNN that Bin Laden was not holed up in a cave, but has been moving between houses in the Chitral district and the Kurram valley, which neighbours Tora Bora in Afghanistan, from which he fled in 2001.

Link: http://www.truth-out.org/foreclosuregate-time-break-up-too-big-fail-banks64287

Looming losses from ForeclosureGate qualify as the sort of systemic risk warranting the breakup of the too-big-to-fail banks under the new financial reform bill.
The new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) probably didn't expect to have its authority called on quite so soon, but Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) has just put the Kanjorski amendment to the test. It provides federal regulators with new powers to pre-emptively break up large financial institutions that - for any reason - pose a threat to US financial or economic stability.

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/surgeon-general-calls-legalization-marijuana/

Former US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told CNN's Don Lemon Sunday that she supports the legalization of marijuana. Bill Clinton appointed Elders as the United States Surgeon General in 1993. After leaving her office, she became a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Arkansas.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/148535/foreclosure_moratorium_is_only_sane_response_to_shocking_wall_street_mortgage_scams/

As we all know there is a major philosophical divide in U.S. politics. One the one hand there are those who think it is the role of government to help ensure that the vast majority of the population can enjoy a decent standard of living.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26622.htm

How Old Will You Be When the American War State Goes Down? When you look at me, you can’t mistake the fact that I’m of a certain age. But just for a moment, think of me as nine years old. You could even say that I celebrated my ninth birthday last week, without cake, candles, presents, or certainly joy.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39724807/ns/us_news-security/

U.S. authorities are bracing for the potential disclosure of thousands of secret Iraq war documents. The Pentagon on Monday asked media organizations not to publish any classified war files released by the WikiLeaks Web site, as the U.S. braces for the potential disclosure of hundreds of thousands of secret Iraq war documents.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/18/AR2010101805992.html

Just 10 days after announcing a nationwide halt to foreclosure sales, Bank of America, the nation's largest bank, said Monday that it would begin resubmitting paperwork on Oct. 25 to restart foreclosures on borrowers who missed their payments in 23 states.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jBXfELnFGgBunwk25pemubAGX9Cg?docId=CNG.19150b1b67c62c47b0bb0979b034af6b.121

US industry unexpectedly put the brakes on in September, marking the first drop in production since the recession ended, official data showed Monday. Industrial output fell 0.2 percent in September, wiping out a 0.2 percent gain in August, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly report. The decline surprised most analysts, whose consensus forecast was for another rise of 0.2 percent.

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11910715

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed on Monday that the United States would not devalue the dollar for export advantage, saying no country could weaken its currency to gain economic health. "It is not going to happen in this country." Geithner told Silicon Valley business leaders of devaluing the dollar.

Link: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=13636

During the past month I have been involved in research about the people involved in the Rothschild/Mossad network behind the criminal destruction of the steel from the World Trade Center. I have found that the network that arranged for the destruction of the steel - critical evidence from the crime scene - was organized by Israel's Mossad and their Zionist agents, the real culprits behind the false-flag terrorism that changed the world. This article will be the final and conclusive chapter of my book, Solving 9/11 - The Deception that Changed the World.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/cook10182010.html

As US-sponsored peace talks have stalled over the issue of settlements, Israel's national police force has revealed that it is turning to the very same illegal communities in its first-ever drive to recruit officers from among the settlers.

Link: http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/ramzy-baroud-the-tide-has-changed-is-a-musical-lesson-in-hum.html

Gilad Atzmon: The OHE and myself are receiving some amazing reviews at the moment but this one is really precious to me. Ramzy Baroud is a person whom I totally admire, as a writer, a humanist, an intellect and a true spirit of resistance.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101017/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_us_clean_energy%3B_ylt%3DAlzeFD5rGtzL2QDJphFsPuus0NUE%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTFiaDhrcmsxBHBvcwM1NgRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3dvcmxkBHNsawNjaGluYXJlamVjdHM-

BEIJING – A senior Chinese official rejected a U.S. trade complaint about Beijing's clean energy policy and said Sunday that Washington might be improperly supporting its own industry. The U.S. government said Friday it would investigate complaints by a labor union that Beijing unfairly subsidizes its producers of wind and solar equipment.