You can tell a lot about people by what they believe in. Money. Art. Jesus. Bingo. All roadmaps to the soul.

Stephen Harper has built his government and his career on information control and marketing. The nerd nobody liked is getting even; he now edits reality full-time.

As we begin the bumpy descent towards the October election (assuming it will be called), there is only one question to be answered: can Harper (assuming he runs) market his way to victory in the most important election in the country's history?

Back in 1959, President Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Khrushchev took a break from their summit and walked in the woods around Camp David. Khrushchev, in his memoirs, relates a conversation in which the president complains of how hard it is to resist the military's demands for more money. Military leaders, said Eisenhower, invariably insist the US will fall behind the Soviet Union unless he gives them the money for this or that weapon system. "They keep grabbing for more, and I keep giving it to them." He asked Khrushchev if that was also the case in the USSR. "It's just the same," said Khrushchev, who went on to describe virtually the same script. "Yes," said the president, "that's what I thought."

Congress members are very much a part of the military-industrial complex, which is why someone (Tom Hayden?) long ago suggested that the more accurate term is MAGIC: the military-academic-governmental-industrial complex. Most people elected to Congress, and certainly any among them who serve on the armed services committee of either house, think two things when it comes to national security: the more weapons produced, the more secure we are; and the more money allocated to "national defense," the better. These folks never met a weapons system they didn't like. And when, in relatively lean times, they have to decide between social well-being and the Pentagon's wish list, well, they don't have to think twice.

These days Congress members, mainly on the Republican side, are busy finding clever ways to hide stuffing the Pentagon's stocking with strategically senseless, duplicative, exceedingly expensive weapons and related items. Remember sequestration in 2013? It was supposed to cap military and other spending in order to help bring the overall budget back to balance. Clearly, in the minds of the military-firsters, this effort was never meant to apply to the Pentagon, as evidenced by the much larger budget hit that social welfare programs took compared with the military, and by the little publicized Overseas Contingency Operations fund, which is not subject to sequestration. Yes, military spending has gone down over the last three years (see the chart below); but at over $600 billion (not counting veterans' benefits and interest on the national debt from past wars), it's around 54 percent of all US government discretionary spending and still close to 40 percent of global military spending.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, right, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, center, and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad Al-Sabah, left, stand together prior to a group photo before a US- Gulf Cooperation Council forum at the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Hillary Clinton hopes feminist voters will ignore her support for the oppression of women abroad and make her the first female president of the United States.

In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton wants to make history as the first female president of the United States. But just as the election of the first black president hasn't left black people better off eight years later, can the world's women really count on Clinton's support?

Voters understandably look to Clinton to support women's rights in the U.S. at a time when many feel these rights are under attack, and she's been happy to deliver feminist-friendly rhetoric. In April, she offered a rousing pro-woman speech at the Women in the World conference in April. New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer reported:

"[Clinton] said it was 'unthinkable' that mothers in the United States weren't entitled to paid leave, that child-care benefits were nearly nonexistent, and that women and men alike are forced to work inflexible hours that make being a parent impossible. She mentioned a path for citizenship for immigrants, and last week's strike for a living wage for fast-food workers. She slammed Hobby Lobby for not paying for its employees' contraception, and Senate Republicans for delaying Loretta Lynch's ascendancy to the top of the Justice Department."

Yet a study of Clinton's record paints a different picture. Donors from Saudi Arabia gave millions to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit operated by Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, despite Saudi Arabia's appalling record on women's rights. In return for their financial support, Hillary Clinton helped Saudi Arabia obtain billions in military equipment from the U.S.

In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to hold political office or drive cars, and four princesses from the royal family were imprisoned and tortured for speaking out in favor of equality. Saudi forces have also been instrumental in suppressing the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain, where female leaders of the movement like Maryam al-Khawaja face imprisonment or exile.

As secretary of state, Clinton supported U.S. military intervention throughout Africa and the Middle East, from aiding the Israeli oppression of Palestinian civilians to supporting the violent destabilization of Libya. According to a 2014 report from Whatever It Takes, a blog that tracks the candidate's human rights record, the latter hurt women's rights not just in Libya but throughout the region:

"Clinton planned and pushed for the illegal Obama war to support Al Qaeda factions against Libya, which is now a failed state ruled by jihadist militias who kill unarmed protesters. The support, including weapons, given to Al Qaeda by the USA spilled over into empowering other Al Qaeda linked terrorist groups, including Boko Haram, which ... kidnapped hundreds of young women."

Even domestically, a look at some of her top donors suggests Clinton favors the rights of Wall Street over that of American women. During her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton's top donors included finance and investment industry giants like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Citigroup — some of the same corporations that caused a massive global financial crash in 2007 that led to an unprecedented wave of job losses and home evictions. Women and children suffered most from the poor economy, according to a 2013 article from Mercedes White, a reporter for Deseret News:

"Eviction is a problem that disproportionately affects America's poor, especially poor women with children. It is so common in urban poor neighborhoods that in some ways it has become part of the texture of life. In an analysis of eviction in Milwaukee, Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond found that minority women with low incomes are disproportionately impacted: Black women account for 13 percent of Milwaukee's population but make up 40 percent of those evicted."

"As you know, the modern world, especially the Western world, is highly monopolised and many Western countries - whether they want to hear this or not - have voluntarily given up a considerable part of their sovereignty. To some extent, this is a result of the politics of blocs. Sometimes we find it very difficult to come to terms with them on geopolitical issues. It is hard to reach an agreement with people who whisper even at home for fear of being overheard by the Americans. This is not a joke or a figure of speech." - Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin denounces, more and more explicitly, the servility of France and Europe towards the United States, whether in the case of wire-tapping French leaders or that of Mistral ships.

The publication by WikiLeaks of documents establishing the wire-tapping by the United States of three French Presidents was an open secret known since the revelations of Edward Snowden. Far from protesting against the flagrant violation of French sovereignty that the espionage of its top leaders constitutes, our government bravely hastened to hush up this scandal, as was expected by Lavrov and Putin.

Let us remind that France prided herself in 2013 upon rejecting asylum for Edward Snowden, and that it is illusory to believe that these revelations could change anything : official France cannot but turn down flat Julian Assange's calls.

By refusing the delivery of two helicopter carriers ordered and paid for by Russia, France is both disgraced and discredited internationally as a reliable economic partner and military supplier.

The inept pretext of the Ukrainian crisis and alleged Russian interference, invoked by a country that involved itself in the Syrian crisis by arming Al-Nosra terrorists (of which it is apologetic) and calling for the overthrow (even murder) of the legitimate Syrian leader, reveals the extent of the hypocrisy and indecency of the French government and its subjection to American diktats.

Especially since this same government then concluded huge arms sales contracts with the barbaric regimes of Qatar and even Saudi Arabia, engaged in an illegal and criminal war in Yemen.

When puppets dance on the end of a string, they need to exhibit a pretense of freedom once in a while, to keep the customers interested. It's part of the show. It's part of the con.

The Congress has now granted Obama "fast-track authority." What does this actually mean?

It means that, when the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Treaty comes up for consideration soon, this gargantuan Globalist takeover of 12 national governments cannot be amended. It cannot be filibustered. From the time the TPP is introduced, no more than 90 days can elapse before the House and Senate cast their yes or no votes.

Most people concede that the passage of fast-track ensures the passage of the TPP, but of course this isn't so.

In order to understand what is really going on around the globe in terms of the collapsing economy, we must set aside false mainstream versions of reality. When it comes to the EU and its current fiscal turmoil, it is very important to, in some respects, ignore Greece entirely. That's right; forget about all the supposed drama surrounding Greek debt obligations. Will they find a way to pay creditors? Will they default? Will they make a deal with Russia and the BRICS? Will there be last-minute concessions to save the system? It doesn't matter. It's all a soap opera, an elaborate Kabuki theater run by international financiers and globalists.

It is most important to remember the fundamentals. Greece will default on its debts. Period. There is no way around it. Maybe Greece makes a deal today, maybe it makes a deal tomorrow; but eventually, the country's ability to stretch out its resources in order to meet its exponential liabilities will end. It is inevitable, and no last-minute "deal" is going to change the math at the core of it all.

Broadcasting from deep in the heart of the American Empire, join your hosts Harrison Koehli and Elan Martin, and fellow Sott.net editors, as they discuss everything from current events and the latest machinations and manipulations of the global elite to history, science, and religion, and how it all fits together.This week, we concluded our discussion of UFOs and aliens with the 'big picture', and the huge implications ufology has for every facet of human life.

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The German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations called for an immediate end to the sanctions against Russia, as the latter cause serious damage to the German economy, DWN reported.

The consequences of anti-Russian sanctions for Germany surpass "even the worst fears,"DWN wrote, citing the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.

According to the newspaper, the sanctions may lead to collapse of German exports and put 150,000 jobs in Germany at risk. Exports are expected to shrink again in the current year by more than 25 percent and halve compared with the year 2012, the Committee warned.

"The latest figures exceed even our worst fears," said Committee Chairman Eckhard Cordes on Friday in Berlin, calling on the German government to ease the sanctions' policy.

Federal Communications Commission member Michael O'Rielly yesterday argued that "Internet access is not a necessity or human right" and called this one of the most important "principles for regulators to consider as it relates to the Internet and our broadband economy."

O'Rielly, one of two Republicans on the Democratic-majority commission, outlined his views in a speech before the Internet Innovation Alliance, a coalition of businesses and nonprofits (see transcript).

O'Rielly described five "governing principles" that regulators should rely on, including his argument that Internet access should not be considered a necessity. Here's what he said:

A massive tax fraud scheme exposed in Guatemala this April might once have been viewed as business as usual in a country that has struggled with corruption at the highest levels for decades.

Instead, Guatemalans got angry.

A protest organized via social media quickly erupted, sparking an ongoing wave of demonstrations that's drawn the participation of tens of thousands. For the first time in Guatemala's recent history, a broad cross section of society - including politicians, students from both private and public universities, the country's powerful business lobby, indigenous peoples, and members of a historically passive middle class - joined together in a unified call for the removal of corrupt officials.

Vice President Roxana Baldetti was the first to step down, handing in her resignation on May 8. Although she wasn't implicated in the initial corruption investigation, she was plunged into controversy when her private secretary, Juan Carlos Monzón Rojas, was identified as the leader of the fraud ring. Shortly after her resignation, Baldetti was also placed under investigation.