Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 03.04.2010
Ron Paul: Another Crisis is Coming!
You Have No Right to my Property By Ben Shapiro - CNSNews.com . . . . Here’s the truth: Bunning is a hero and his senatorial critics are villains. That goes for Republicans as well as Democrats. Bunning’s opponents are liars and hypocrites of the highest order. The Democrats have no intention of lowering the deficit or abiding by “pay-go,” and this only proves it. . . . . Our Constitution provides for liberty because it focuses on true rights—negative rights. Negative rights are rights created by restraining others from treating you in a certain way. The right to free speech exists because we restrict the government from encroaching upon free speech. The right to bear arms exists because we restrict the government from taking away guns (or should, in any case). The right to life exists because we restrict citizens from murder. . . . . Positive rights are something else entirely: They are rights created by forcing others to engage in certain behavior. The right to work, for example, requires someone else to give you a job. The right to health care requires someone else to provide health care for you. These are not true rights, but tyrannical impositions, taking from Party A and giving to Party B.
Marc Faber, George Soros Agree Gold Prices Set to Rise By: Lew Rockwell Is gold in a cyclical bull market that could last for years to come or is it another asset bubble created by loose monetary conditions about to crash? The debate has been raging for some time and shows no signs of abating. But, the strange thing about this debate is that some of the perceived opponents may actually be more in agreement than they would let us believe. Renowned billionaire financier George Soros became the latest investor to issue a warning in January that with interest rates low around the world, policymakers are risking generating new bubbles which could cause crashes in the future.
White House land grab By Sen. Jim DeMint - Washington Times Proposal to seize land would favor animals over Americans You'd think the Obama administration is busy enough controlling the banks, insurance companies and automakers, but thanks to whistleblowers at the Department of the Interior, we now learn they're planning to increase their control over energy-rich land in the West. A secret administration memo has surfaced revealing plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job- creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. Worse, this land grab would dry up tax revenue that's essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers. . . . . . . . . The 21-page document, marked “Internal Draft-NOT FOR RELEASE,” names 14 different lands Mr. Obama could completely close for development by unilaterally designating them as “monuments” under the 1906 Antiquities Act.
Chinese Yuan v The U.S. Dollar: In The Case of Global Reserve Currency By: Dian L Chu - MarketOracle.co.uk The practice of accumulating dollar reserves by the central banks has become more pronounced after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when currency speculators hastened a balance of payments crisis in Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea by demanding dollars for local currency, depleting the central banks’ dollar reserves. Fast forward 13 years later, the dollar’s status as the world's preferred reserve currency has come into question amid a ballooning budget deficit that keeps the U.S. dependent on foreign financing. Both Russia and China last year suggested a type of “super-sovereign reserve currency” to challenge the dollar, while Brazil and India also discussed substituting other assets for their dollar holdings.
Greece Aid Plea Snubbed by Germany in ‘Historic Moment’ for EU By Tony Czuczka and Rainer Buergin -- March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Greece’s pledge to ramp up planned budget-deficit cuts by half failed to yield commitments of financial assistance from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, to help solve its financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a meeting tomorrow with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won’t be “about aid commitments.” Her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said the deficit-reduction measures announced in Athens were probably enough to convince investors to buy Greek debt.
Greece Taxes Everything To Stay Afloat AP via PatDollard.com ATHENS, Greece (AP) - With creditors demanding solutions to the Greek debt crisis and the financial world increasingly on edge, Athens on Wednesday froze pensions, cut civil service salaries and slapped new taxes on everything from cigarettes and alcohol to fuel and precious gems. Markets and the European Union reacted well to the euro4.8 billion austerity plan. But combustible Greek unions were outraged—and the country’s embattled premier, who had likened the situation to a “state of war,” is headed to Germany and France seeking more definite expressions of support.
Traders Turn Attention to the Next Greece NELSON D. SCHWARTZ, GRAHAM BOWLEY - NY Times Is Spain the next Greece? Or Italy? Or Portugal? Even as Greece pledged anew on Wednesday to rein in its runaway budget deficit, briefly easing the anxiety over its perilous finances, traders on both sides of the Atlantic weighed the risks — and potential rewards — posed by the groaning debts of other European governments. While investors welcomed news that Athens would raise taxes and cut spending by $6.5 billion this year, analysts warned the moves might not be enough to avert a bailout for Greece or to contain the crisis shaking Europe and its common currency, the euro.
What Greek crisis means to gold market By Jim Sinclair Greece will fail and be rescued is all that is discussed in the financial world. Here is the real skinny: Greece getting bailed out means QE (printing of money) to infinity. That means gold would rise from here to $1650 by January of 2011, or as Martin Armstrong said, by June of 2011. The dollar would fall. Equities and commodities would rise. Greece getting flushed means that would enrich the CDS OTC derivative tool. Immediately the next target currencies will be attacked by this tool. Currencies will fall like dominoes. At first the dollar will strengthen, equities will fall and gold will go lower. However, soon the recognition will come that a disaster has occurred that is more serious than the Lehman flushing. Confidence in currencies will fall everywhere. Gold will then rise not to $1650 by the same time in 2011 but to $5000 and perhaps beyond.
Investing in Gold: Protection from Runaway Inflation By Bill Bonner - The DailyReckoning.com Since the feds can’t grow their way out of debt…they’ll have to try to inflate their way out. Trouble is, first…central bankers don’t have that good a grasp of inflation. They can control the amount of money in the monetary base at the Fed. But they don’t really control what happens to it next. For a long time, prices don’t necessarily react…because, in a depression, the velocity of money slows down to a crawl. The banks don’t lend; the money doesn’t get around…and it doesn’t feed into consumer prices. Then, all of a sudden, people realize that there dollars are losing value…suddenly, they are eager to send them on their way. Velocity increases – fast. It is as if they had put cash in a particle accelerator. Instead of 6% inflation, the CPI goes to 12%…or 25%…or 100%.
The Latest Fed Beige Book Report: Just a Little Better Than Bad By DOUGLAS MCINTYRE - DailyFinance.com Economist looking for unambiguous signs of a national economic recovery won't it in the Federal Reserve's latest edition of the Beige Book that was released on March 3. The data come from the 12 Federal Reserve districts and are based on information collected before Feb. 22. Several of the districts said bad weather had hurt economic activity in their regions. However, "Nine Districts reported that economic activity improved, but in most cases the increases were modest."
Gold May Rise to $1,162, Commerzbank Says By Nicholas Larkin March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Gold, trading near a six-week high, may climb toward $1,162 an ounce should prices hold above $1,135, according to technical analysis by Commerzbank AG. The attached chart shows gold is near a three-month resistance line, its February highs and a 50 percent retracement of its slide since December. The second chart shows bullion may climb to $1,150-$1,162 if prices hold above $1,135.
Gold to reach $1,500 by year end, continue decoupling from dollar - Jeff Nichols
But, there are a few clouds on the short term horizon Author: Geoff Candy - MineWeb.com The links between the dollar and gold are likely to continue to weaken in coming months as, globally, major currencies continue to decline. Speaking on the Mineweb Gold Weekly Podcast, Jeff Nichols, MD, American Precious Metals Advisors, said, "The issue really is that all the major currencies are weak currencies - in a sense they're all sinking ships - the question is which ones are sinking faster - which ones are sinking slower? I'm looking at the whole complex of currencies and thinking that the dollar, yen, pound and some of the other currencies are all weak - they're all going to be depreciating against gold - they're all going to be losing purchasing power and so it doesn't matter which one is losing it fastest in terms of gold - they're all going to be going down."
Gold Shoots To Six-Week High Gold futures rose 1.7% on Tuesday, touching their highest level in six weeks, as the euro gained on the U.S. dollar and added to the appeal of gold as an alternative investment. Gold for April delivery rose $19.10 to $1,137.4 an ounce. It earlier touched the highest on a closing basis since Jan. 19. The euro bought $1.3615, turning up by 0.3%, after earlier falling as low as $1.3434 after comments from a Greek official about the steps the country will need to take to decrease its deficit.
Gold "Very Bullish", "Rally Aggressive" as Euro Bounces on Greek Austerity Plan By: Adrian Ash - GoldSeek.com -- GOLD DEALT in the professional wholesale market rose further on Wednesday morning in London, extending what one dealer calls Tuesday's "aggressive rally" as stock markets and commodity prices held flat. The Dollar slipped vs. the Euro after the Greek government agreed a fresh round of "austerity" measures and the private-sector ADP report said US payrolls fell by 20,000 last month, rather than the 13,000 loss analysts forecast. Priced in Euros and Sterling, spot gold held onto yesterday's gains, proving itself "a very bullish market" in the words of one bank analyst.
Gold benefits in recovery and relapse The gold rally that began last fall and drove gold through the $1,200 resistance level in late November doesn't seem to be panning out the way the rallies of 2005 and 2007 did. In this exclusive Gold Report interview, Gold Newsletter editor and publisher Brien Lundin admits he's a bit worried about this run's breakout. He hasn't lost hope, he says, but "we really need to clear $1,250 over the next six to eight weeks to validate the continuance of this as another one of these major gold rallies" that would carry gold up to the $1,350 to $1,500 range that he had anticipated. However that turns out, he expects gold to remain strong and gold stocks, particularly juniors, to outperform the market in general. Brien is stoked on silver, too, and in fact in relative terms expects it to rise further and faster than gold.
Why global banks are bullish on gold price boom By Stewart Thomson Goldman Sachs, Barclays bank, and HSBC bank are each predicting gold takes out the highs at $1225 and does so this year. So are analysts at other major banks. The public likes to listen to “respected” analysts. Are they listening to what Goldman Sachs, Barclays, HSBC and a number of other major banks are saying?
Will the US Devalue the Dollar? by Darryl Schoon - FinancialSense.com The ability to wage war on credit gave the West an insurmountable advantage over the East. The West’s credit, however, has now turned to debt and the West has lost its advantage. But the return to parity will not be easy. The three hundred year economic expansion fueled by debt-based capital markets is coming to an end and with it, the hegemony of the West over the East. During that period, debt-based paper money propelled first England then the US to world dominion because of the ability to wage war on credit and to print money ad infinitum. That era is now ending because the critical balance between credit-driven expansion and debt-driven contraction has now shifted significantly in favor of the latter; and in 2010, both East and West now find themselves on the edge of a growing deflationary sinkhole created by the sequential collapse of two large US bubbles, the dot.com and US real estate bubbles.
Inflation: The Economic Factor that Never Stops The Mogambo Guru - SilverBearCafe.com I am a guy who thinks that such huge explosions in money supplies around the world and the explosions in government deficit-spending around the world will lead to catastrophic explosions in inflation in prices, probably around the world. I am also a guy who thinks that inflation in prices is the Thing Most Feared (TMF) in the whole world in terms of total sheer misery and suffering, judging by the entire last 4,500 years of history, except for, maybe, the plague. Naturally, for one so dyspeptic and predisposed to paranoia because the people in charge are apparently overpaid, corrupt morons, I am visibly shaken at the news from Bloomberg that "The consumer-price index increased 0.2 percent for a fifth straight month, led by higher fuel costs, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington." Yikes! Inflation never stops! Even in a recession/depression like we have now! It's terrifying!
IMF Recommends Doubling Inflation Targets! By: Claus Vogt - MarketOracle.co.uk I grew up in Germany, a country that went through hyperinflation twice during the 20th Century. Maybe that’s the reason I learned inflation is bad and inflationary policies are diabolic. Inflationary periods are highly unjust. They undermine the ethics of hard work and thrift. They destroy solidarity, lead to widespread hardship and often to social unrest. All these points are well documented in history. Many countries have suffered through the destruction brought on by huge surges of inflation. And many people have lost their wealth, their savings, and even their perspectives in the wake of inflationary episodes. Inflationary periods share three major points:
Bank of England Plans to Sell 3-Year Bonds in Dollars By Caroline Hyde and Sonja Cheung March 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of England said it plans to sell three-year bonds in dollars to finance its foreign-exchange reserves. The U.K. central bank hired Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas SA, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to manage the issue, which will be benchmark in size, it said in a statement. The bank paid 106.2 basis points more than Treasuries when it issued $2 billion of three-year notes in March last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Latest Bill Gross minus the Bull Luc Valée -SilverBearCafe.com "Let's get reacquainted with the fundamental economic problem of our age - lack of global aggregate demand - and how we got to where we are today: (1) Twenty years of accelerated globalization incrementally undermined the real incomes of most developed countries' workers/citizens, forcing governments to promote leverage and asset price appreciation in order to fill in what is known as an "aggregate demand" gap - making sure that consumers keep buying things. When the private sector assumed too much debt and asset prices bubbled (think subprimes and houses, or dotcoms/NASDAQ 5000), American-style capitalism with its leverage, deregulation, and religious belief in lower and lower taxes reached a dead end.
Big Things brewing in China By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch China's NPC meeting may rekindle stalled domestic reforms - Annual legislative gathering likely to feature tax cuts and budget questions This year's annual gathering of China's legislature could see progress towards a middle-class tax cut and payouts to help bolster consumption among the nation's most needy, measures designed to help narrow the wealth gap. Reforms that foster broader-based consumption and accelerate the shift away from exports as a driver of the economy are likely to top the agenda at the National People's Congress, according to analysts. "The pressure on income redistribution is really building up," said Citigroup's China economist Minggao Shen in Hong Kong.
China Overtakes U.S. in Attracting Most Property Investment By Simon Packard March 3 (Bloomberg) -- China overtook the U.S. as the world’s biggest property investment market last year and will probably keep the lead in 2010 on economic growth and a lower reliance on debt, Cushman & Wakefield LLP said. Real estate investment in China more than doubled to $156.2 billion last year, while the total for the U.S. slumped 64 percent to $38.3 billion, the New York-based broker said in a report today. Excluding residential investments, the U.S. came third after China and the U.K.
China’s Wen Blocked by Politics From Fixing ‘Unstable’ Economy March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Premier Wen Jiabao calls China’s economic growth path “unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable.” This week’s annual parliament session may prove he is unable to change its course. Wen, 67, will give what amounts to China’s State of the Union speech tomorrow to the National People’s Congress in Beijing. His audience will include people who, according to analysts, disagree with some possible measures to fix the imbalance: provincial and municipal officials and such company heads as Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. Chairman Zong Qinghou.
SA@TAC - Interview with Tom Woods 2/16/10 Part 1
U.S. Said to Tell Hedge Funds to Save Euro Records By Katherine Burton and David Scheer March 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is asking hedge funds not to destroy trading records on euro bets, according to a person with knowledge of the requests, as Europe and the U.S. step up scrutiny of the funds’ role in the Greek debt crisis. The Department of Justice sent notices to save the records to at least some of the hedge funds whose executives attended a dinner hosted by New York-based research and brokerage firm Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. on Feb. 8, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private.
Greek Debt Crisis By Beat Balzli - Spiegel.de How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debt Goldman Sachs helped the Greek government to mask the true extent of its deficit with the help of a derivatives deal that legally circumvented the EU Maastricht deficit rules. At some point the so-called cross currency swaps will mature, and swell the country's already bloated deficit. Greeks aren't very welcome in the Rue Alphones Weicker in Luxembourg. It's home to Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office. The number crunchers there are deeply annoyed with Athens. Investigative reports state that important data "cannot be confirmed" or has been requested but "not received."
Consumer Agency Within Fed Seen as Victory for Banks By Craig Torres and Yalman Onaran March 3 (Bloomberg) -- For consumer advocates, housing a new agency to protect Americans from financial-product abuse within the Federal Reserve would be a defeat after lobbying for an independent body. For banks, it would represent a victory. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called a Senate plan to house the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency at the Fed “a joke.” Shielding consumers from harmful financial products is “the most conspicuous failure by the Fed,” Frank said in an interview yesterday.
Geithner stresses need for consumer protections By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the administration will not accept a bill overhauling financial regulations that does not contain strong protection for consumers. Treasury issued a statement after Geithner met with about 30 representatives of consumer organizations on Wednesday stressing the importance the administration placed on getting Congress to upgrade consumer protection in any overhaul legislation it passes. "Strengthening consumer protection remains a central objective of our financial reform efforts," Treasury said in its statement reviewing what Geithner told the consumer groups.
U.S. to top banks: Send more loans! By David Ellis NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Washington's quest to get big banks to make more loans only seems to get more challenging. After repeated calls by lawmakers over the past year, regulators now appear to be picking up the baton, demanding that top lenders help cover the credit shortfall, particularly as small banks have become increasingly preoccupied with managing their commercial real estate losses. "I do think that larger banks do need to do a better job of stepping up to the plate here," Federal Deposit Insurance Chairman Sheila Bair said last week.
Bernanke on a Bailout of the Treasury by Gary North - LewRockwell.com . . . . The FED is trapped. All policies of unwinding will shrink the monetary base. The recovery is being sustained by a zero percent Federal Funds rate. It will not survive an increase in this rate, which is why Bernanke keeps repeating his mantra about a zero-percent rate for an indefinite time period. Yet Bernanke insisted that the day of balance sheet contraction will come. The Federal Reserve also has the option of redeeming or selling securities as a means of applying monetary restraint. A reduction in securities holdings would have the effect of further reducing the quantity of reserves in the banking system as well as reducing the overall size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.
Banks Suing Banks Over Credit Default Swaps By ABIGAIL FIELD - DailyFinance.com More Fallout from Exploding CDSs: Citigroup Sues Morgan Stanley The big banks generally don't sue each other, but that's changing thanks to credit default swaps. Citigroup (C) is suing Morgan Stanley (MS) for $245 million, alleging Morgan failed to make good on credit default swaps held by Citi. Morgan claims that Citi engineered the underlying default that made the swaps come due, which was a breach of their CDS agreement. A big bank buying credit default swaps when it was involved in making the underlying debt obligation particularly risky ... hmmm ... where have we heard that before? Both sides have requested a ruling on the matter from District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York.
SA@TAC - Interview with Tom Woods 2/16/10 Part 2
Is Obama Trying To Bankrupt America? By Nancy Morgan - CHCH Inquiring minds want to know: Is Obama trying to bankrupt America? One short year ago, asking this question would have guaranteed my inclusion among the ranks of right-wing nuts and/or conspiracy theorists. Today, it is a serious question being asked by Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh and many other leading conservatives. Here’s why. In the summer of 2008, as John McCain and Barack Obama were campaigning for president, a series of economic events (started by Sen. Schumer) resulted in shifting the focus of the presidential campaign off the Iraq war, and on to the economy. These events ultimately resulted in Barack Obama’s election as President.
Regulators order Palatka bank to merge or sell Jacksonville Business Journal Regulators ordered First Federal Bank of North Florida to merge or be acquired by another bank and the agreement must be made within 20 days from the order issued March 1. The savings bank based in Palatka was slapped with an order called a “prompt corrective action directive” by its regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, largely for being “critically undercapitalized.”
Rangel Takes Leave as Ways and Means Panel Chairman By Ryan J. Donmoyer and James Rowley March 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Representative Charles Rangel gave up his chairmanship of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee and a lawmaker said the panel’s second-ranking Democrat, Pete Stark of California, will temporarily fill in. Rangel, admonished last week for breaking House rules on accepting gifts, told reporters today he asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a leave of absence.
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) temporarily steps down from Chairman's seat
Democrats including Nancy Pelosi jump on Tea Party bandwagon By Alex Spillius - Telegraph.co.uk After spending months deriding the Tea Party movement as a refuge for extremists, anxious Democrats are now deciding that its anti-Washington sentiments may be to their taste after all. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House and the second most powerful figure in the party after President Barack Obama, is among those on the Left now seeking to find common ground with the conservative populism that is sweeping across the United States. "We share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, DC - it just has to stop," she told ABC News. "And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest."
U.S. stocks relapse as health-care sector weighs By Peter McKay, MarketWatch Stocks faltered Wednesday, hurt by weakness in the health-care sector fueled by unpromising test results for a new Alzheimer's drug and a new call by President Obama to pass federal health-care legislation. The market rallied through most of the session, aided by favorable readings of jobs, service-sector activity, and the Federal Reserve's beige book of regional indicators. But the gains dried up late in the session. See full economy and politics coverage
Economy to Lose Steam — Expect W-Shaped Recovery By: JeeYeon Park - CNBC News Expect a W-shaped recovery going forward, said Robert Ward, director of global forecasting at The Economist's Intelligence Unit. He shared his market outlooks. “You have to remember that this is going to be a very weak recovery,” Ward told CNBC. Ward said the economic growth in the fourth quarter was highly driven by stimulus and inventories. “So yes, we’re looking for the economy to start losing steam,” he said. “Yes, some improvement in unemployment over the next few months—but nothing dramatic as optimists had hoped.”
No Wonder the Economy Isn't Improving by George Washington - ZeroHedge.com I've read countless news headlines recently about how economists are "surprised" over an "unexpectedly bad" economic indicator. But it's not surprising at all. It's no mystery. The government hasn't taken the necessary actions, and has instead been doing all of the wrong things. Let's recap. The leading monetary economist told the Wall Street Journal that this was not a liquidity crisis, but an insolvency crisis. She said that Bernanke is fighting the last war, and is taking the wrong approach. Nobel economist Paul Krugman and leading economist James Galbraith agree. They say that the government's attempts to prop up the price of toxic assets no one wants is not helpful.
$1 Trillion Mortgage Bomb Still Ticking Away By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com How close are we to being back to square one with impending mortgage meltdowns? According to SNL Financial, much closer than anyone would like to think. It has gotten a hold of an updated version of the original 2007 Credit Suisse chart that such caused a stir at that time. It’s reprinted below along with a few of SNL’s thoughts on the matter.
New divorce plea: No, you take the house! By: Markham Heid - Washington Examiner Couples now fight about the financial burden Thanks to plummeting property values, divorcing couples now find themselves fighting for the right not to keep the house. The crippled real estate market has turned once-valuable assets into huge financial burdens. Homes bought at or near the peak of the housing market in 2005-2006 have lost tens of thousands of dollars in value in just a few years, forcing many discordant couples to keep a painful reminder of a failed relationship. "Instead of fighting over the house, we're fighting over who gets stuck with it," said Steve Halbert, 57, an Arlington homeowner going through a divorce. Halbert and his wife bought their house in 2006, shortly before their marriage and the housing market took a turn for the worse. "We thought we'd be walking away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity. But there is no equity," he said.
Detroit homes sell for $1 amid mortgage and car industry crisis Chris McGreal, in Detroit - guardian.co.uk One in five houses left empty as foreclosures mount and property prices drop by 80% Some might say Jon Brumit overpaid when he stumped up $100 (£65) for a whole house. Drive through Detroit neighbourhoods once clogged with the cars that made the city the envy of America and there are homes to be had for a single dollar. You find these houses among boarded-up, burnt-out and rotting buildings lining deserted streets, places where the population is shrinking so fast entire blocks are being demolished to make way for urban farms.
Blizzard of bad jobs news to hit Friday By Ian Swanson - TheHill.com he White House is bracing for an ugly unemployment report on Friday that is expected to be worse because of the three winter storms that hit the East Coast last month. Goldman Sachs predicted the economy will lose as many as 100,000 jobs in February due to blizzard-like conditions that kept employers and prospective hires from getting to the office. That could bump the 9.7 percent unemployment rate closer to 10, dealing a blow to Democrats hoping for a steady economic recovery in the months leading up to November’s midterm elections
IBM cuts 1,734 jobs Triangle Business Journal IBM laid off more than 1,700 workers on Monday, according to information provided by the Alliance@IBM, a group working to unionize IBM employees. The union’s Web site showed a total of 1,734 job cuts based on reports gathered by the union. A message board on the site indicated that some of the cuts – called "resource actions" by Big Blue – occurred at the company’s 10,000-employee campus in Research Triangle Park.
How cybercriminals invade social networks, companies By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY "Hey Alice, look at the pics I took of us last weekend at the picnic. Bob" That Facebook message, sent last fall between co-workers at a large U.S. financial firm, rang true enough. Alice had, in fact, attended a picnic with Bob, who mentioned the outing on his Facebook profile page. So Alice clicked on the accompanying Web link, expecting to see Bob's photos. But the message had come from thieves who had hijacked Bob's Facebook account. And the link carried an infection. With a click of her mouse, Alice let the attackers usurp control of her Facebook account and company laptop. Later, they used Alice's company logon to slip deep inside the financial firm's network, where they roamed for weeks. They had managed to grab control of two servers, and were probing deeper, when they were detected.
Intel officials say U.S. ‘severely threatened’ by daily cyber attacks By Jordy Yager - TheHill.com Hackers are stealing sensitive information from government and private networks in the U.S. on a daily basis, the director of national intelligence said Tuesday. “Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems, and in the very information these systems were intended to convey,” said Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence. Blair made the revealing remark at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual threat assessment hearing on Tuesday.
Microsoft exec pitches Internet usage tax to pay for cybersecurity programs By Tony Romm - TheHill.com -- A top Microsoft executive on Tuesday suggested a broad Internet tax to help defray the costs associated with computer security breaches and vast Internet attacks, according to reports. Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats -- a costly venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits.
Nissan recalls 540,000 vehicles Graeme Wearden - guardian.co.uk Nissan is recalling more than 500,000 vehicles, mainly in the US, because of problems with their brakes and petrol gauges. The move came just hours after General Motors recalled more than 1.3m cars, and further adds to the rash of safety scares gripping the industry. The Japanese manufacturer announced overnight that 540,000 vehicles were being recalled. The models involved include Nissan's Titan pick-up trucks, Armada and Infiniti QX56 sport utility vehicles, and Quest minivans, some dating back to 2005.
America's Deadliest Sweetener Betrays Millions, Then Hoodwinks You With Name Change by Joseph Mercola - LewRockwell.com Aspartame producer Ajinomoto is launching a new initiative that will rebrand the sweetener as “AminoSweet.” Aspartame is used in many foods and beverages marketed as low calorie or sugar-free. However, its reputation has been clouded somewhat by studies that have investigated reports of ill effects. Just to remind you, the side effects of aspartame can include:
Headache
Change in vision
Convulsions and seizures
Hallucination
Nausea and vomiting
Joint pain
Barack Obama plans 'dramatic cuts' in nuclear stockpile By Alex Spillius - Telegraph.co.uk President Barack Obama is planning "dramatic reductions" in the US nuclear weapon stockpile as part of a sweeping review designed to prove his commitment to the goal of global nuclear disarmament. Officials said hundreds of nuclear weapons could be cut, in many cases by retiring weapons that are now kept in storage, from the current level of 2,200 warheads. A senior administration official said the new strategy would point to a greater role for conventional weapons, while "maintaining a strong and reliable" nuclear deterrent. On Monday the president met Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, to discuss the "Nuclear Posture Review" which was supposed to be published in December but was delayed reportedly because Mr Obama did not consider it radical enough.
It’s Not About Political Parties. It’s About Liberty by Michael Boldin - LouRockwell.com . . . . NULLIFICATION? There’s been plenty of people talking about nullification lately, but many people don’t know what it really means. I can think of no better way to define it than how my friend Derek Sheriff from the Arizona Tenth Amendment Center has done: Nullification is not secession or insurrection, but neither is it unconditional or unlimited submission. Nullification is not something that requires any decision, statement or action from any branch of the federal government. Nullification is not the result of obtaining a favorable court ruling. Nullification is not the petitioning of the federal government to start doing or to stop doing anything. Nullification doesn’t depend on any federal law being repealed. Nullification does not require permission from any person or institution outside of one’s own state.
Southern Taiwan jolted by 6.4-magnitude quake (CNN) -- A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries. Taiwan's interior ministry reported 11 minor injuries. The quake struck at about 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast.
Turkey, on Edge, Watches U.S. Vote on Armenia By MARC CHAMPION - WSJ Washington's Shift on Armenian Genocide Debate Angers Ankara ISTANBUL—A U.S. congressional vote on how to define the 1915 slaughter of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, expected Thursday, is turning into a game of brinksmanship between the White House and Ankara. In previous years, Congress has attempted to pass a resolution to recognize the Armenian events as genocide. Such a resolution would inflame Turkey and has brought vows from past U.S. administrations that they would block the bill, a nod to Turkey's role as a key ally of Washington in the Middle East.
Top defense contractors warn that genocide measure will hurt business By Kevin Bogardus - TheHill.com Executives for the nation’s top defense contractors say billions of dollars in business with Turkey could disappear if a genocide resolution advances on Capitol Hill. Formally recognizing the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide could have “unintended consequences,” chief executives for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United Technologies Corp. warned in a Feb. 26 letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.).
“Islamic Social And Political Order” Has Infiltrated The British Labour Party To Implement Sharia Law By Andrew Gilligan - Telegraph.co.uk -- A Labour minister says his party has been infiltrated by a fundamentalist Muslim group that wants to create an “Islamic social and political order” in Britain. The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state — has placed sympathisers in elected office and claims, correctly, to be able to achieve “mass mobilisation” of voters. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Environment Minister, said the IFE had become, in effect, a secret party within Labour and other political parties.
Chinese newspapers unite to call for reform By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai and Peter Foster in Beijing - Telegraph.co.uk Thirteen Chinese newspapers have boldly published a joint editorial calling for Chinese to be given freedom of movement across the country. The rare show of defiance came a few days before the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, and was intended to put pressure on politicians. Currently, a strict household registration system, called the hukou, means that each Chinese family can only claim social benefits, such as healthcare and education, in their home town. The system was introduced in 1958 by the Communist Party in order to prevent mass migration from the countryside to China's cities and make sure that there were always enough workers for the country's collectivised farms and state-owned businesses.
Venezuela's Chavez lashes out at Spain's prime minister, refuses to respond to accusations By: CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER - AP via - Washington Examiner -- CARACAS, VENEZUELA — President Hugo Chavez lashed out at Spain's prime minister Wednesday for asking Venezuela to respond to a Spanish judge's accusation that his government collaborated with Basque separatists and Colombian rebels. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Monday demanded an explanation from Venezuela after Judge Eloy Velasco announced that an investigation turned up evidence Chavez's government facilitated collaboration between the Basque group ETA and Colombia's leftist rebels — and the two groups planned to assassinate Colombia's president. The following day, Spain's foreign minister said that he had spoken with Chavez and Venezuela's foreign minister and that both denied the allegations but promised an investigation.
Chávez, Shunning IMF, By DAN MOLINSKI - WSJ Gushes About China Oil-for-Credit Deal CARACAS—China has become a much-needed funding source for recession-racked Venezuela, as well as a welcome alternative to the International Monetary Fund, which President Hugo Chávez continues to shun. Mr. Chávez, a socialist who for years has been cultivating strong ties with China, said last week that Venezuela has already spent most of the $8 billion Beijing recently loaned it. He said he likes the arrangement so much so that he is asking for more. "They [China] have provided $8 billion, and we're talking about them bumping that up to near $20 billion," Mr. Chávez said. "That's our proposal, and it's being discussed now."
US steps up diplomatic pressure on China over Iran sanctions By Damien McElroy, Telegraph.co.uk The US sent top officials to Beijing on Wednesday to step up a campaign to persuade China to drop its opposition to fresh UN sanctions against Iran. Chinese and Russian opposition derailed attempts to impose across-the-board financial and trade sanctions on Iran to punish Tehran for its nuclear programme. But in recent days Moscow has signalled its readiness to back measures targeting the Iranian regime and its central bank. James Steinberg, the deputy Secretary of State, went to Beijing on a fence-mending mission to garner support for the robust measures. Prospects of a deal with China have been hampered by disputes between Washington and Beijing over internet censorship, trade, arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Archived Page Link
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
RSS
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)