Matt Damon: ‘The Game is Rigged’

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Matt Damon rather infamously said in 2011 that he wouldn’t mind if President Barack Obama — whom the actor had supported in 2008 — was a one-term president because he’d rather have a “one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done.” (The comment even earned Damon some flak from the president himself.) But, he still did his part to give Obama a second term, admitting that he still voted for him in November.

“I assume there will be some Supreme Court appointments in this next term; that alone was reason to vote for him,” Damon told Playboy magazine in its January 2013 issue. “I don’t think I said anything a lot of people weren’t thinking. It’s easier now more than ever in my life to feel the fix is in, the game is rigged and no matter how hard you work to change things, it just doesn’t matter.”

Damon also was asked for his thoughts on Clint Eastwood’s performance at the Republican National Convention (the two worked together on 2010’s “Hereafter”).

“I heard the backlash, but I never saw the whole thing because I just didn’t want to see my friend … you know. Look, his knowledge of filmmaking is so vast and deep that he can wing it beautifully on the set. What he did at the RNC was an unrehearsed bit he decided to do at the last minute. You can’t go onstage and do 12 minutes of stand-up completely unrehearsed. But I agree with what Bill Maher said — Clint killed it at the convention for 12 minutes, and the audience loved him. I wouldn’t do that unless I spent a month rehearsing.”

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Video: Senator Rand Paul Says We Should Not Send Congress Any More Money, ‘They’re Not To Be Trusted’

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Americans would do well to heed the advice of Senator Rand Paul. He says that Congress has managed our money so poorly that they don’t deserve to be trusted with any more.

Now you know why many in Washington are not Rand Paul fans, to say the least. But you also know why you should be. He’s on the side of the US taxpayer.

With the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ just days away and the President demanding more revenue, it is unlikely the Senator will get many takers on his plan when it comes to votes in Congress.

See video below:

Red Line? Your Move, Mr. President!

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The head of Syria’s military police defected to the opposition, accusing the Assad regime of systematic “murder” and claiming that reports of chemical weapons being used against rebels in the restive city of Homs were true.

Maj-Gen Abdul-Aziz Jassim al-Shallal became one of the highest ranking Syrian military officers to throw their support behind the rebels, accusing forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of turning their weapons on innocent civilians in the now 22-month-long civil war.

“I declare my defection from the army because of its deviation from its fundamental mission to protect the nation and [its] transformation into gangs of murder and destruction,” he said in a video message posted online, reportedly from the Turkish border.

He accused the military of “destroying cities and villages and committing massacres against our innocent people who came out to demand freedom.” General Shallal suggested in his message that he had been working with the opposition for some time before he formally defected to the rebel cause.

He becomes the latest in a string of leading military advisers to abandon the government and join the disparate rebels. But it is his claim that chemical weapons were used in Homs during a deadly attack on Christmas Eve that is likely to be of greater interest to the Syrian opposition and their foreign backers.

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Video: Obama Ran So He Could Have ‘Men With Guns’ Around His Daughters

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President Barack Obama told ABC News’ Barbara Walters that he ran for re-election because he wanted “men with guns” around as his daughters, Malia (14) and Sasha (11), begin dating boys.

The interview was the first that the President and First Lady have given since Obama’s re-election in November. It aired on Nightline on December 26.

In its published highlights, ABC News has drawn attention to the Obamas’ comments about keeping the romance alive in their marriage, yet those remarks were followed by this exchange:

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Video: Ted Nugent Tells Gun Control Advocates to ‘Drop Dead . . . You Can Suck On My Machine Gun’

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In a recent appearance on the Piers Morgan show on CNN, Rocker Ted Nugent delivered a clear and unequivocal message to the British advocate of gun control and other foes of the Second Amendment. It’s not going to happen.

Petitions have been circulating regarding Morgan’s status in the US after his harsh criticism of Second Amendment Rights after the Sandy Hook school shooting two weeks ago.

Nugent warned that anyone seeking to take his guns away would face a backlash in the next election, or something worse.

See video below:

Saudi Bank Warning: U.S. Debt Ratio Same As Italy’s

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ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has warned the financial community of a decline of the U.S. dollar.

Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank said the debt burden of the United States has reached the same ratio of Italy, deemed a default risk. In a report, the Jedda-based bank warned that the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating from triple A status would reduce energy demand and prices, a move expected to harm the Saudi kingdom.

“Foreign central banks maintain a large share of their foreign currencyreserv es in U.S. treasuries because it is the deepest and most liquid bond market,” the report said. “But, international funds that limit their investments to AAA-rated bonds may dump the U.S. holdings, causing the U.S. dollar to depreciate. Yet, mutual fund investment guidelines do retain some flexibility regarding the handling of such matters.”

The report, titled “The Standard and Poor’s Downgrade of U.S. and Its Implications on the Saudi Economy,” however, said the Gulf Cooperation Council state could withstand the decline of the U.S. dollar. NCB said Saudi Arabia wielded a large reserve to ensure government programs over the next few years.

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Germany Accused of ‘Deporting’ Its Elderly: Rising Numbers Moved to Asia and Eastern Europe Because of Sky-High Care Costs

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German pensioners are being sent to care homes in Eastern Europe and Asia in what has been described as an ‘inhumane deportation’. Rising numbers of the elderly and sick are moved overseas for long-term care because of sky-high costs at home.

Some private healthcare providers are even building homes overseas, while state insurers are also investigating whether they can care for their clients abroad.

Experts describe a time bomb’ of increasing numbers unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes. And they say the situation should be a warning to Britain, where rising numbers of pensioners are forced to sell their homes to pay for care.

The Sozialverband Deutschland (VdK), a socio-political advisory group, said the fact that many Germans were unable to afford the costs of a retirement home in their own country was a huge ‘alarm signal’.

‘We simply cannot let those people, who built Germany up to be what it is, be deported,’ VdK’s president Ulrike Mascher told The Guardian. ‘It is inhumane.’

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Video: Rick Santelli Goes Off During CNBC Interview, Fed, Congress, President ‘Don’t Have a Clue’

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During a discussion on the so-called fiscal cliff on Thursday, Santelli grew louder, eventually shouting into the camera and overpowering CNBC contributor and trader Jim Iuorio, who was attempting to hold back laughter.

“The Fed doesn’t have a clue, neither does the president, neither does Congress … Neither does Tim Geithner, who gives a speech about the debt ceiling. I’d like to see if he could count to a million, much less 16.4 trillion!” Santelli shouted.

Clearly Santelli, like many Americans, is panicking as the fiscal cliff deadline nears.

This is certainly not the first time Santelli has lost his cool live on air. At this point, he has become something of an on-air ranting legend. Colleague Carl Quintanilla said that Santelli admits to having “blown a gasket” on Thursday’s show, but it’s clear that this is just the kind of gasket-blowing that has made Santelli famous.

The segment ends with an amused Joe Kernan saying, “Don’t hold back, Rick.” Santelli responds, “I never do.”

Report: $91 Million Spent On Secret NSA Tests Probing Domestic Computer Systems

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The National Security Agency is conducting secret tests on the computer systems of U.S. private sector entities, including public utilities, a CNET report revealed this week.

The secret program, dubbed Perfect Citizen, is part of an effort by the government to improve security systems in the private sector and test offensive operations against enemies’ computer systems.

Targets reportedly include power grids and gas pipelines. The NSA’s operation reportedly probes their computer systems for vulnerabilities as part of a larger cybersecurity and cyberwarfare initiative.

Details about the program were revealed through documents obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington, D.C.-based research nonprofit.

Of the 190 pages obtained by EPIC about the program, 98 were heavily redacted for a number of reasons, including portions labeled “classified top secret.”

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Poll: Majority Expect Recession in 2013

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photo credit: donkey hotey

A majority of voters believe that a recession is likely next year regardless of whether lawmakers reach a last-minute deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” according to a new poll.

A full 70 percent of voters told the conservative-leaning pollster Rasmussen they expect a recession next year if Congress fails to stop the tax increases and spending cuts that are set to begin in January.

But even if lawmakers take action before the end of the year, 54 percent believe a recession is coming in 2013, with 26 percent rating that outcome “very likely.”

Read more from this story HERE.