The Free

US arms criminals save Capitalism: Arms Sales Soar 35%

by Tyler Durden….. If ever there was a clearer indication of America’s “need for war” it was the latest Durable Goods orders data, which confirmed, absent defense spending, the US economy is in a tail-spin. However, as NYTimes reports, foreign arms sales by the United States jumped by almost $10 billion in 2014, about 35 percent, even as the global weapons market remained flat and competition among suppliers increased, thanks to multibillion-dollar agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Defense Spending New Orders has soared 148% in the last 3 months… the biggest rise since 2007

But it is the US arms sales to foreigners that is really flourishing.Despite a stagnant international weapons market and increased competition among suppliers, American foreign weapons receipts rose from $26.7 billion to $36.2 billion last year. According to a new congressional report, as The NY Times reports…

The United States remained the single largest provider of arms around the world last year, controlling just over 50 percent of the market.

Russia followed the United States as the top weapons supplier, completing $10.2 billion in sales, compared with $10.3 billion in 2013. Sweden was third, with roughly $5.5 billion in sales, followed by France with $4.4 billion and China with $2.2 billion. Continue reading “US arms criminals save Capitalism: Arms Sales Soar 35%”

Iranians warm up winter with ‘Kindness Walls’ free shops

A new movement in Iran is making sure the nation’s homeless stay cozy as frigid winter temperatures set in

Tara Kangarlou @tarakangarlou

Iranians may not observe Christmas, but as much of the West celebrates this year’s holiday season many in Iran are also embracing the spirit of giving, one wall at a time.

The “Kindness Wall” movement — in which ordinary citizens hang clothes on walls as donations for the homeless during Iran’s cold winter — is picking up across the country, which has long struggled under the weight of economic sanctions imposed by the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.

It’s not clear how or where the movement started, but Iranian newspaper Hamshahri said it likely sprang from one man’s goodwill gesture in a neighborhood in the northwestern city of Mashhad. Continue reading “Iranians warm up winter with ‘Kindness Walls’ free shops”

US Christmas lights use more energy than entire countries

694554-63b932ec-5642-11e3-ba26-b7fc4856beca — Bright lights strung on American trees, rooftops and lawns account for 6.63 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumption every year, according to a recent blog post by the Center for Global Development

American household Christmas lights, a favorite holiday tradition, use up more electricity than some poorer countries—such as El Salvador or Ethiopia—do in a year.

Bright lights strung on American trees, rooftops and lawns account for 6.63 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumptionevery year, according to a recent blog post by the Center for Global Development. Continue reading “US Christmas lights use more energy than entire countries”

Christmas Truce 1914: when soldiers refused to kill

Christmas 1914: When rank and file imposed a truce during Imperialist War by Henry Hagins and John McCutcheon.

Workers.org, The “Christmas Truce of 1914” was a short-lived, unofficial lull in combat between two antagonistic rival forces, determined to exercise military, political and economic supremacy over each other in Europe and in the colonized world, to which these imperial powers lay arrogant false claim. hundredsdead One of the bloodiest episodes in human history, World War I was largely played out on the battle-scarred lands of France and Belgium, starting in August of 1914. Continue reading “Christmas Truce 1914: when soldiers refused to kill”