.); when the Congress eagerly jumps aboard the bandwagons for war after war without seriously questioning the premises, is led by grafters and the otherwise corrupt, cares about nothing except pork and reelection, has jury-rigged the system to insure reelection of almost all members all of the time, and willingly votes to allow the President to continue his immoral conduct in one field after another; when our corporate and financial system support the grafting legislators and are themselves… [read post]

(Pix Credit: Italy signs massive deal with China despite cautions from France and Germany)Recently there was much coverage of the visit to Italy of Xi Jinping and the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries that appeared to some to signal a new relationship between Italy and China (English language coverage here, here, here, here, and here). [read post]