THE TOP FIVE, Friday the 13th

CREEPING FASCISM AT HOME I'm from the government and I'm here to keep you safe.
Obama Administration Reportedly Plans to Create Internet ID for All Americans (Libertarian News)
Homeland Security Is Monitoring The Drudge Report, The New York Times (The Atlantic Wire)



CREEPING FASCISM ABROAD A game of three-card Monti. Appointed governments, rule by a cabal of professors, cash no longer legal tender, credit card transactions reportable to fiscal authorities, Finance Police, imminent capital controls, nationalized pension funds, debt downgraded to junk bonds, a blizzard of new laws passed "late into the night and often voted on...in one sitting. The actual texts of the laws on which they were voting were often unclear at the time that the governing party voted en masse for them. Major amendments were introduced at the last minute and then not debated..." A glimpse into America's future? Or our present?  
Has Italy Gone Fascist? (Zero Hedge)
The Unconstitutional Constitution: The latest on Hungary (NY Times)
What would an Islamist Egypt mean? (CNN)

CRONY CAPITALISM IN THE US It is common knowledge that TARP was simply the means to continue lining the pockets of the Wall Street/K Street Incestuous Complex. Change we can believe in? Yeah, sure.
OMB nominee got $900,000 after Citigroup bailout (The Washington Times)
Too-Big-to-Fail Bank Definition May Be Expanded by Regulators (Bloomberg)

POLITICS News to burst the bubbles of partisan demagogues. Grow up, people. Ron Paul isn't going to cause the sky to fall on our security blanket. Moreover, anyone who's ever owned a business knows, contrary to popular belief in Washington, that competition is brutal, heartless and relentless. And profits are far from guaranteed. Moreover, when your life's passion is on the line, you make a deal to save it. Bain Capital didn't raid the Holson family business. Holson wanted to sell; Bain wanted to buy. The trade was mutual and voluntary. In such a trade, both parties always benefit at the time of the trade. But traders are not prophets. Shit happens. That's life in the big city, folks. Unless that big city is Washington, DC where the future is always certain and controllable by means of hindsight.  
CIA's Former Head Of Bin Laden Unit Endorses Ron Paul (SmashABanana)
What Really Happened In Gaffney? (Powerline)

CLASS WARFARE Let me guess. Jefferson, Madison and Franklin were closet Marxists.
The Founders on the Economy (What Would The Founders Think?)

FIAT MONETARY SYSTEM COLLAPSE Without debt the emperor has no clothes.
Soros Says Europe’s Debt Woes ‘More Serious’ Than 2008 Crisis (Bloomberg Businessweek)