Via Mother Jones, Life is Grand on Wall Street:

The largest banks are larger today than when Obama took office and are returning to the level of profits they were making before the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, according to government data. Wall Street firms — either independent companies or the high-flying trading arms of banks — are doing even better. They’ve made more profit in the first 2½ years of the Obama administration than they did during the entire Bush administration, industry data show.

Cops planting evidence and falsely arresting innocent people to make a quota. Preposterous! Unless….

A former NYPD narcotics detective snared in a corruption scandal testified it was common practice to fabricate drug charges against innocent people to meet arrest quotas.

The bombshell testimony from Stephen Anderson is the first public account of the twisted culture behind the false arrests in the Brooklyn South and Queens narc squads, which led to the arrests of eight cops and a massive shakeup.

Anderson, testifying under a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, was busted for planting cocaine, a practice known as “flaking,” on four men in a Queens bar in 2008 to help out fellow cop Henry Tavarez, whose buy-and-bust activity had been low…

Courtesy of GlobalPost:

Nearly 1 in 6 Americans were living in poverty last year — 46.2 million, the highest number since poverty levels were first published 52 years ago, the U.S. government reported Tuesday.

That’s 15.1 percent of the population living in poverty, up from 14.3 percent in 2009, and 11.7 percent at the beginning of the decade in 2001, according to Census Bureau figures cited by the New York Times.

And 2010 was the third consecutive year the poverty rate for all Americans had risen.

Economy? We don’t need no stinking economy….

Well, I knew ethnic cleansing wasn’t cheap, but come on….

In the past 10 years alone, Americans have given Israel the equivalent of approximately $200,000 per Israeli family of five. In addition, there have been weapons subsidies, loan forgiveness programs, special trade preferences, and other generous gifts from American taxpayers to Israel. In fact, despite being one of the world’ smallest nations, Israel receives more U.S. tax money than any other country.

On top of this, a multitude of organizations contributing money and assistance to Israel have been given tax-deductible status in the U.S., removing still more money from the American economy. For example, donations to the “Birthright Israel” program that takes Jewish American students on fun-filled holidays to Israel, convincing many to then “ascend” to Israeli citizenship, are deducted from taxes owed to the U.S.

via AntiWar: American Taxpayers Subsidize Israel’s Prosperity

“If your house was destroyed, and you have looked around the neighborhood for our cable box and cannot find it, you owe us $212 and you need to either pay us or make an insurance claim on our behalf.”

Charter Cable’s policy towards disaster victims in Alabama and Mississippi that were struck by last months tornadoes.

You have the freedom to watch mighty slam jams and touchdown passes. Else than that:

A teenage girl who was dropped from her high school’s cheerleading squad after refusing to chant the name of a basketball player who had sexually assaulted her must pay compensation of $45,000 (£27,300) after losing a legal challenge against the decision.

The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a review of the case brought by the woman, who is known only as HS. Lower courts had ruled that she was speaking for the school, rather than for herself, when serving on a cheerleading squad – meaning that she had no right to stay silent when coaches told her to applaud.

Completely unreal, but unfortunately, very real: Cheerleader must compensate school that told her to clap ‘rapist’

NPR annual funding from the US Government: ~ $14 million (Source: CBS News)

The cost of Iraq and Afghanistan War in 2011: $192.3 billion (Source: US Department of Defense)

Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan cost 527 million dollars a day. Annual funding to NPR is the equivalent of 38 minutes of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Long story short, this is everything wrong with America.

As part of their anti-environment agenda, the new Republican house has done a lot of wacky things from leading a witch hunt against climate scientists, to adding tons of riders to the new budget eliminating environmental protections. In a move reminiscent of the symbolic Freedom Fries maneuver, the Republican party has engaged in more cafeteria politicking, and has removed the biodegradable utensils and cups and returned to the plastic-ware of old. Choicest quote: “The new majority – plasticware is back.”

Luckily for normal people, there’s a new way to help the environment that can also make you money: Eco-ATMs are allowing people to exchange old electronics for cash. Bettering the planet will require innovation and forward thinking, not petroleum-based, landfill-clogging, old-fashioned styrofoam.

Bonus: States are also getting into the fun. Kentucky has declared itself an EPA sanctuary state, and Montana has proposed embracing global warming. Goodbye 20th century environmental recovery, hello 19th century destruction!

Saint Nick Just Wants To Watch

Did you know there is an anti-Santa Claus? His name is Krampus, a mythical creature who accompanies Saint Nicholas in various regions of the world during the Christmas season. Krampus acts as an anti–Saint Nicholas, who instead of giving gifts to good children, gives warnings and punishments to the bad children. To the surprise of few, Krampus also loves to visit the homes of well-endowed young females to dole out attentive punishments, as evidenced by the photos below:

Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes birching by Krampus, especially of young females.

Originally on PBH3: Bizarro Santa Is Angry And Loves Spanking Young Women

See Also: Krampus!, ArtOrder: Krampus, Holiday Horrors: KRAMPUS!, Krampustime is here, Krampus, and 9 Holiday Characters From Around the World.

Technorati Tags: santa claus, anti-santa claus, krampus, birching, spanking, evil, picture, anti-saint nick, saint nicholas, christmas, christmas eve, christmas gifts, pics, photos, illustrations, drawings, funny

Surprise surprise ladies and gentleman: Politico reports that of the 535 members of Congress, 237 are millionaires. That’s 45%. Forty-fucking-five percent, compared to only 1% of Americans overall. While you were busy stuffing your face with corn fructose byproducts, they were busy stuffing their pockets with bribes. And just remember children: democracy works.