Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Tuesday 05.25.2010

Health Care Law's Hidden Tax Provision: 1099s Could Quintuple in 2012
Written By: Neil deMause - HealthCareNews
An until-now unnoticed provision of the new health care overhaul law could change the way U.S. businesses - including freelance workers - prepare for tax day, causing an avalanche of additional recordkeeping and reporting. According to Section 9006 of the 2,409-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, beginning on January 1, 2012 all businesses will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contractors but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. Currently 1099s need only be issued to individuals, not corporations. The requirement will now include items such as shipping charges, hotel bills, and equipment purchases, all currently exempt from 1099 reporting.

Health care law's massive, hidden tax change
By Neil deMause, The Heartland Institute
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork. Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year. Right now, the IRS Form 1099 is used to document income for individual workers other than wages and salaries. Freelancers receive them each year from their clients, and businesses issue them to the independent contractors they hire.

Obama Administration Imposes Onerous Reporting Rules on American Business
BY WILL.SPENCER - Fort Liberty
The congresspeople who voted for the recently health-care "'reform" legislation admitted to not reading the legislation first. Obama reneged on a promise to make the legislation available online for the American public to read before he signed it. Perhaps these factors explain how a major increase in tax compliance costs for American business was silently slipped into the bill.
In Section 9006 of the bill, and no I am not making that up, all American companies are forced to issue 1099 tax forms to any vendor with which they spend more than $600 in one tax year. This means that almost every independent handyman in America will be issuing a 1099 to Home Depot. This means that every hot dog cart vendor will be issuing 1099's to the stores where he buys hot dogs and relish. The Cato Institute has referred to this change as "a costly, anti-business nightmare."

Lungren Fights For Small Business
Washington DC- Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA), in an effort to assist small businesses in his district and across the nation, introduced legislation to repeal an onerous portion of Obama Care. ÊThe Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act will remove section 9006 of H.R. 3590. Section 9006 would place an unprecedented burden on small business by requiring any business that purchases more than $600 of goods or services from another business to submit a 1099 tax from to the Internal Revenue Service. The mandate is to take effect in 2012.
"Large corporations have whole divisions to handle such transaction paperwork but for a small business, which doesn't have the manpower, this is yet another brick on their back. Everyone agrees that small businesses are job creators and the engine which drives the American economy. I am dumfounded that this Administration is doing all it can to make it more difficult for businesses to succeed rather than doing all it can to help them grow," Lungren said.

H.R.5141 - Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act
Representative Daniel Lungren - R-CA
To repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements for payments of $600 or more to corporations, and for other purposes.
4/26/2010--Introduced.Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal a provision (added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PPACA]) that extends to corporations that are not tax-exempt the requirement to report payments of $600 or more.

One false move in Europe could set off global chain reaction
By Howard Schneider and Neil Irwin - Washington Post Staff Writer
If the trouble starts -- and it remains an "if" -- the trigger may well be obscure to the concerns of most Americans: a missed budget projection by the Spanish government, the failure of Greece to hit a deficit-reduction target, a drop in Ireland's economic output. But the knife-edge psychology currently governing global markets has put the future of the U.S. economic recovery in the hands of politicians in an assortment of European capitals. If one or more fail to make the expected progress on cutting budgets, restructuring economies or boosting growth, it could drain confidence in a broad and unsettling way. Credit markets worldwide could lock up and throw the global economy back into recession.

WTO Director General: Global Governance Based on the EU Model
By Daniel Taylor - OldThinkerNews.com
Herman Van Rompuy, the first President of the European Union, recently announced during his installment that 2009 was the first year of global governance. Indeed, 2009 has seen major steps towards global governance. The establishment has also taken severe blows this year, which will be discussed shortly. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization and frequent attendee of secret Bilderberg meetings, sees the European Union as a testing ground for the machinery of international governance. In a speech in Italy on November 9th, Lamy stated that the EU model should be used on a global scale.

IMF's Global Taxes Can Only Be Enforced Through Global Government
Steve Watson - Prisonplanet.com
Latest proposals part of ongoing centralization into new economic world order
As you will have no doubt read in the headlines today, the IMF has proposed levying two "global" taxes on the world's banks to make sure those greedy guys don't get us into trouble again. If that sounds dubious, it's because it is. In reality what is being proposed, and has been falling into place for some time, is the framework for an unelected global authority with powers above and beyond those of sovereign governments.

Bankers Prepare To Assault Americans With VAT, Transaction Taxes
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Obama: Value-added tax still on the table despite White House assurances otherwise, campaign promise not to raise taxes for families earning under $250,000 a year
The global banking elite are preparing to assault Americans with two huge new tax increases as President Obama contradicts the assurances of White House aides and his own campaign trail promise by asserting that a VAT tax is still on the table, as the IMF outlines a new tax on financial transactions that is being hailed as a blow to the banks yet represents another stealth tax on the people.

Ron Paul: No More Blank Checks for the Military-Industrial Complex!

Clinton and Geithner Face Hurdles in China Talks
By MARK LANDLER - NYTimes.com
BEIJING Ñ China and the United States opened three days of high-level meetings here on Monday meant to broaden and deepen the ties between the worldÕs largest developed and developing economies. But the opening session instead laid bare a recurring theme between Beijing and Washington: the United States came with a long wish list for China on both economic and security issues, while China mostly wants to be left alone to pursue policies that are turning it into an economic superpower without putting at risk its prized geopolitical stability.

Geithner, 'Uncle' Wang to Spar Over Yuan in China
By Bloomberg News
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese official who is facing Timothy Geithner in Beijing today jokingly calls himself the Treasury secretary's "uncle" because of a family connection. Geithner may one day call him "Premier."
Vice Premier Wang Qishan leads the delegation meeting with Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which is discussing yuan revaluation, Europe's debt crisis and North Korea's nuclear program. Wang, who oversees China's financial sector, is mentioned for membership in the ruling Politburo Standing Committee and as a successor to Premier Wen Jiabao, two China experts say.

Hu Says China Will Move Gradually on Yuan Policy
By Rebecca Christie and Nicole Gaouette
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Hu Jintao said that China will move gradually and independently in making changes to the nation's exchange-rate mechanism as talks with the U.S. opened in Beijing today.
China will continue to "steadily advance" reform "under the principles of independent decision-making, controllability and gradual progress," said Hu, 67, echoing language in a May 10 central bank outlook for policy making.

Memories of Munich, Threats from Tehran
By Alan Caruba -CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
By 1938, Hitler had already made plans for the conquest of Europe or at least the parts he could not get without firing a shot. He had annexed Austria earlier that year. In Munich, Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland was handed over to Germany by England, France, and Italy. The Czechs were not invited to participate. Despite the Versailles Treaty after World War One, under the Nazis Germany had rearmed while the rest of Europe looked on.
Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, returned home to claim that he had bought "peace in our time." Well, he had bought a little time but few had any doubts about Hitler's ambitions. Even Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, had bought a little time by signing a secret treaty dividing Poland with Hitler. A year after the Munich treaty, Germany invaded Poland and World War Two began.

Prechter: Bank Reform Will Shrink Credit and Kill the Economy
by Peter Gorenstein - Tech Ticker
The Senate version of financial regulation is bad for business on Wall Street. "Some analysts estimate it could cut the profits of major financial institutions by roughly 20%," reports the Wall Street Journal. It's also bad for the economy, says Robert Prechter, president of Elliott Wave International. Prechter believes the measures are doing the exact opposite of their intention. "Even though they (the government) want credit to expand, because that's the base of inflation, they're doing everything they can to restrict it," he tells Aaron in this clip.

Gold Advances Most in a Week on Demand for Haven Against Euro
By Pham-Duy Nguyen and Nicholas Larkin
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures rose the most in a week as the euro's tumble revived demand for the metal as a haven. The euro fell as much as 1.8 percent against the dollar after the Bank of Spain took over a failing regional lender. Last week, gold slid 4.2 percent, the most since December, on sales by some investors to cover losses in other markets. "People are going back to the perceived safety of gold because the euro is getting pummeled," said Matt Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. "People who were forced to liquidate last week to meet margin calls are coming back in."

Gold at $2,000 is very reachable from here
Commodity Online
As he watches the price of gold march inexorably toward $2,000 (and beyond), and keeps an eye on developments in the Western world, S&A Resource Report Editor Matt Badiali tells Gold Report readers in this exclusive interview that it's time to make space in the safe for gold. That's gold to hold, preferably to pass on to one's heirs, but if need be to pay for one's meat and potatoes. As for investments in these troubled times, he's hot about investors adding shares of the booming senior gold mining stocks to their portfolios because "we're going to see them really soar."

Gold sale profit to hit $5.1 billion: IMF
WASHINGTON (Commodity Online): The IMF said on Sunday that it expects to record a profit of $ 5.1 billion from the sale of gold in the financial year ended April 30, 2010. In a statement, the International Monetary Fund, which sold gold to member countries including India last year, said gold sales is a part of the multilateral lending agency's new income model, mainly aimed at increasing its resources to lend to low-income countries. The net income in the 2010 financial year (ended April 30) would include "gold profits estimated at about SDR 3.5 billion ($ 5.1 billion) from part of the limited sale of the fundÕs gold," according to the IMF.

Defaults on Apartment-Building Loans Set Record for U.S. Banks
By Hui-yong Yu
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Defaults on apartment-building mortgages held by U.S. banks climbed to a record 4.6 percent in the first quarter, almost twice the year-earlier level, as more borrowers failed to repay debt approved near the market peak, said Real Capital Analytics Inc. in a report. Defaults on so-called multifamily mortgages rose from 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter and from 2.4 percent during the same period in 2009, the New York-based real estate research firm said today. Commercial-mortgage defaults also rose in the first quarter for loans against office, retail, hotel and industrial properties, Real Capital said.

Is Your Money Safe? Big Banks Are the "Riskiest," Prechter Says
by Heesun Wee - Tech Ticker
Longtime bear Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International sees depression and deflation on America's economic horizon. So what's an investor to do? "My whole case is what to get out of," says Prechter, author of Conquer the Crash. "Find a refuge," he tells Aaron in the accompanying segment. "Probably the safest place for most people's money is in Treasury bills or a fund that specializes only in Treasury bills," says Prechter, citing American Century's Capital Preservation Fund as an example. "That's as close to cash as you can get. Actual cash is not a bad idea either," he says.

Treasuries Gain, Yields Approach One-Year Low, on Safety Bid
By Susanne Walker and Paul Dobson
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year yields toward the lowest level in a year, as concern that Europe's fiscal crisis will slow economic growth boosted demand for the safety of U.S. fixed-income securities. The difference in yield between 2- and 10-year notes reached a seven-month low before the U.S. auctions $113 billion of 2-, 5- and 7-year notes this week. A Bank of Spain takeover of a failing lender heightened speculation Europe's debt crisis was spreading. Treasuries remained higher even as sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose to the highest in five months.

Fed says it won't hold asset sale any time soon
By Mark Felsenthal - Reuters via MSNBC.com
Purchased to boost economy in 2009; will wait for recovery to take hold
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Reserve does not expect to sell any of the billions of dollars worth of assets it bought to boost the economy in 2009 until it has started raising interest rates in a strong recovery, it said in its 2009 annual report released on Monday. "The Federal Reserve currently does not anticipate that it will sell any of its securities holdings in the near term, at least until after policy tightening has gotten under way and the economy is clearly in a sustainable recovery," the Fed said.

U.S., Greece, Spain Are in Debt Risk 'Ring of Fire,' Pimco Says
By Candice Zachariahs
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S., Spain and Greece are among developed nations whose borrowings put them in a "ring of fire" amid sovereign debt concerns, said Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world's biggest bond fund. The company is investing in emerging markets that will benefit from high savings rates, the absence of debt bubbles and a greater capacity for government spending, said John Wilson, head of the Australian unit of Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, in an e-mailed statement today. The fund manager is targeting bonds including those in Brazil, Mexico and Russia and retaining holdings of inflation-linked Australian debt, he said.

The Greeks Get It
By Chris Hedges - TruthDig.com
Here's to the Greeks. They know what to do when corporations pillage and loot their country. They know what to do when Goldman Sachs and international bankers collude with their power elite to falsify economic data and then make billions betting that the Greek economy will collapse. They know what to do when they are told their pensions, benefits and jobs have to be cut to pay corporate banks, which screwed them in the first place. Call a general strike. Riot. Shut down the city centers. Toss the bastards out. Do not be afraid of the language of class warfare - the rich versus the poor, the oligarchs versus the citizens, the capitalists versus the proletariat. The Greeks, unlike most of us, get it.

Even $1 Trillion Can't Save the Euro, But Gold Is No Haven, Prechter Says by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker
It looks like it'll take more than a trillion dollars to bring buyers back to the stock market. European markets continue to fall Friday despite Germany's approval of the massive euro zone bailout. The major European indexes are each falling 2% in intraday trading. The euro, however, is getting a slight boost. It's off its recent four-year lows and is now trading for more than $1.25. Still, sentiment remains negative on the future of the euro. Usually a contrarian, Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International isn't so inclined when it comes to the euro. Near term, the euro might rebound, but he says it's entirely possible the European Union will break up in the next 10 years.

Oil spill bites shrimp
By Lisa Fickenscher - Crain's New York Business
NYC restaurants and wholesalers are facing price increases on shrimp and other shellfish as a result of the Gulf's oil spill. Costs get passed on to consumers.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is beginning to affect New York City, where prices for shrimp, oysters and clams are nudging upward. And restaurateurs and wholesalers fear that costs could increase a lot more in the coming months. Shortly after the catastrophic accident in the gulf April 20, fish purveyors began paying more for shrimp - a product already in short supply - and for other shellfish, as well.

A MONTH LATER, FEDS ARE ANGRY WITH BP
Since oil began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico more than a month ago, the U.S. government and oil giant BP have been engaged in a marriage of convenience that has left the public - and public commentators - furious at both. The Obama administration is turning up the heat, but it may be too late for the president to escape the charge that this is his Katrina - that is to say a natural disaster for which the government preparation and response were both obviously and horribly ineffective.

Anger Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands

BP Delays New Attempt to Stop Oil Leak
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON - NYTimes.com
VENICE, La. - As Louisiana state and local officials continue to hammer BP and the federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, repeatedly threatening to "take matters into our own hands" if the response falls short, BP said Monday morning that it was further delaying its next attempt to shut off the leak. The oil company has been planning to attempt a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said in an interview on NBC on Monday morning that the top kill would be attempted Wednesday morning. BP had previously said it hoped to execute the procedure on Tuesday.

Canada's Oil Sands Set to Become Biggest Source of U.S. Oil Imports, Report Says
Written by Darrell Delamaide - OilPrice.com
Canadian oil sands will probably become the No. 1 source of U.S. crude oil imports this year, and could make up more than a third of the nation's oil and refined product imports by 2030, according to a new study.
The Role of Canadian Oil Sands in U.S. Oil Supply, a report from Cambridge, Mass.-based IHS CERA, says that in a fast-growth scenario, oil sands could represent 36% of oil imports by 2030, or 20% in a more moderate growth scenario, compared with 8% in 2009. Production of 1.35 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2009 could rise to between 3.1 mbd and 5.7 mbd by then.

Bad cement jobs plague offshore rigs
By MITCH WEISS and JEFF DONN, AP
The tricky process of sealing an offshore oil well with cement - suspected as a major contributor to the Gulf of Mexico disaster - has failed dozens of times in the past, according to an Associated Press investigation. Yet federal regulators give drillers a free hand in this crucial safety step - another example of lax regulation regarding events leading up to the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Federal regulators don't regulate what type of cement is used, leaving it up to oil and gas companies. The drillers are urged to simply follow guidelines of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group. Far more stringent federal and state standards and controls exist on cement work for roads, bridges and buildings.

BP Plans Plug Attempt as Gulf Oil Leak Costs Rise
By Eduard Gismatullin and Jim Polson
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc will try in two days to plug an oil leak off Louisiana's coast by pumping heavy drilling fluids into the damaged well, as cleanup costs of the monthlong spill accelerate.
BP expects to attempt the "top kill" operation on the morning of May 26, Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said today in an interview on CNN. It is the second time BP has delayed the measure, and Suttles said he rated its chances of working at "six or seven" on a scale in which 10 was certain success.

The Big Picture: Why Is It So Hard to Stop the Oil Gusher, and Why Was Such Extreme Deepwater Drilling Allowed in the First Place?
Washington's Blog
The government failed to properly ensure that BP used adequate safety measures, BP and their contractors were criminally negligent for the oil spill, and BP has tried to cover up the problem.
But why hasn't BP stopped the leak?
Some people assume that BP hasn't stopped the oil leak because it's people are wholly incompetent. Others have asked whether BP's $75 million liability cap is motivating it to stall by taking half-hearted measures until it's relief well drilling is complete. But there is another possible explanation: the geology - as well the deepwater pressures - at the drilling site makes stopping the leak more difficult than we realize.

Author and Peak Oil Activist Michael Ruppert
Very powerful 21 May interview with Michael Ruppert, author of Confronting Collapse. Ruppert speaks of our dire economic condition, society's complete dependence on oil and the tangible steps required to confront the grave global realities standing at our doorstep - to include:

• Massive unemployment
• Disapearing State pensions
• More bailouts
• Massive monetary printing
• Gvt a servant of the Fed Reserve
• Far reaching implications of our current Gulf Oil crisis
• Chinese bubble

The Chicago Boys' Free Market Theology
By MICHAEL HUDSON - CounterPunch.org
Many academics recently received a petition signed by 111 University of Chicago faculty members, explaining that "without any announcement to its own community, [the University] has commissioned Ann Beha Architects, a Boston firm, to remake the Chicago Theological Seminary building into a home for the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics (MFIRE) and has renewed aggressive fund-raising activity for the controversial Institute."

Paul Remarks Have Deep Roots
By JONATHAN WEISMAN - WSJ.com
Republican candidate Rand Paul's controversial remarks on the 1964 Civil Rights Act unsettled GOP leaders this week, but they reflect deeply held iconoclastic beliefs held by some in his party, and many in the tea-party movement, that the U.S. government shook its constitutional moorings more than 70 years ago. Mr. Paul and his supporters rushed to emphasize that his remarks did not reflect racism but a sincerely held, libertarian belief that the federal government, starting in the Roosevelt era, gained powers that set the stage for decades of improper intrusions on private businesses.

Servicers Quicken Countrywide Loans Through Foreclosure Process: BarCap by JON PRIOR - HousingWire.com
Mortgage servicers are pushing troubled Countrywide loans through the foreclosure and liquidation processes at a quicker rate since January, according to analysts at Barclays Capital. Countrywide is responsible for 15-to-20% of outstanding subprime and option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) in the US, a substantial enough portion to drive sector level performance, according to BarCap Countrywide, since acquired by Bank of America entered into a nationwide settlement agreement in October 2008 to provide $8.4bn in foreclosure relief after a slew of state Attorneys General filed similar lawsuits, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, West Virginia, Virginia and Texas.

FHA Home-Financing Volume Sign of 'Very Sick System'
By Jody Shenn and John Gittelsohn
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S.-owned mortgage insurer, may be involved in more home-purchase transactions than borrowing financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHA lending last quarter may have topped the combined volume of government-supported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a home-lending market that's still a "government-financed market," David Stevens, the agency's head, said today at a conference in New York, citing research by consultant Potomac Partners.

Factory employment down 2.5 percent in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL
Factories throughout San Antonio have reduced their overall payroll levels over the past year, according to data compiled by Manufacturers' News Inc., the publisher of the 2010 Texas Manufacturers Register. The directory indicates that San Antonio manufacturers employed 51,836 workers as of April 2010. This is down 2.5 percent from April 2009. San Antonio is Texas' fourth-highest manufacturing market.

America's Underclass: The Growing Gap Between the Rich and Poor
by Peter Gorenstein - Tech Ticker
Macro economic data suggest the great recession is over. But the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, thanks, in large part, to a jobless recovery. Wall Street Cheat SheetÕs Damien Hoffman says the growing underclass now accounts for about 10% of the U.S. population. In this clip, he and his brother Derek, who jointly run the Wall Street Cheat Sheet website, point to several signs America is turning into a two-class society:

Brewer asks Obama for additional border aircraft
PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday wrote President Barack Obama asking for more surveillance helicopters, airplanes and drones be deployed to the Mexican border to help combat drug trafficking and human smuggling.

Sam Donaldson Compares AZ to Tiananmen Square

AZ Cracks Down on Teachers With Heavy Accents
After passing the nation's toughest state immigration enforcement law, Arizona's school officials are now cracking down on teachers with heavy accents. The Arizona Department of Education is sending evaluators to audit teachers and their English speaking skills to make sure districts are complying with state and federal laws. Teachers who are not fluent in English, who make grammatical errors while speaking or who have heavy accents will be temporarily reassigned. "As you expect science teachers to know science, math teachers to know math, you expect a teacher who is teaching the kids English to know English," said Tom Home, state superintendent of public instruction.

Congressman Slams "Outrage" Of Calderon Lecture On Immigration
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Following Mexican President Felipe Calderon's attack on the second amendment and his lecturing on American immigration policy, Congressman Tom McClintock described Calderon's behavior as an 'outrage' during a speech on the House floor yesterday, pointing out that America treats immigrants far better than the brutal way they are dealt with in Mexico. During a series of speeches, including one in front of Congress, Calderon attacked Arizona's decision to enforce its immigration policy while also calling upon lawmakers to re-enact the assault weapons ban in a bid to disarm the American people as they are integrated into the North American Union system.

U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Military Acts in Mideast Region
By MARK MAZZETTI - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.
The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.

Clinton Calls for China Cooperation on North Korea
By Nicole Gaouette and Rebecca Christie
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised China for supporting tougher United Nations sanctions against Iran, and said the same cooperation was necessary against North Korea. "North Korea is also a matter of global concern," Clinton said at the opening of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing. "We must work together again to address this challenge." The U.S. is seeking China's backing to punish North Korea for the deadly attack on a South Korean ship in March, an issue that has eclipsed other items on the agenda for the high-level talks. South Korea today said it will seek UN action against North Korea after a report concluded last week that it was behind the torpedoing of a warship that killed 46 sailors.

Lee: NKorea Must Pay for Torpedo Attack on Ship

New MoD Strategic Report Extends Vision to 2040
By Daniel Taylor - Old Thinker News
In 2006, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense published the DCDC Strategic Trends 2007-2036 report, outlining possible scenarios for technology, society and world politics. Among other issues, the 2006 report accurately envisioned a "revolutionary middle class" that would revolt against economic hardship and burdens of debt, and described a future population implanted with brain chips. A new report from the MoD titled Global Strategic Trends - Out to 2040 was published in February of this year, and extends the Ministry's strategic vision to 2040.
Amidst the 168 pages of the report, these are a few highlights. The newest MoD paper, drawing influence from its predecessor, describes rapid changes in society that threaten to "radicalize" individuals who seek to maintain traditions and beliefs, while a global elite "...sits above the level of individual states and influences the global agenda..." By 2040 the MoD envisions a "global society" plagued with tensions brought about by globalization, and high technology exaggerates differences between haves and have nots.

Peace and Stability in the Balkans
Written by Igor Jovanovic - OilPrice.com
The Istanbul Declaration, signed by Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, calls for peace and economic development in a bid for regional stability and EU integration. But there are always spoilers.
The presidents of Turkey and Serbia and a member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency in Istanbul on 24 April signed a declaration advocating peace in Southeastern Europe and proclaiming swift European integration as a common goal.
"We confirm our readiness to take all the necessary steps to secure peace, stability and prosperity in the region," says the document, which was signed by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic and Bosnian Presidency member Haris Silajdzic.

Obama Calls for Global Government: "A New International Order"Alpha Omega Report via PrisonPlanet.com
On Saturday, President Obama showed his true NWO colors even though he avoided the popular catch phrase "New WORLD Order" by replacing "world" with "International." Both words are synonymous with each other.
During a speech at West Point, Obama pledged to assist in shaping a new "international order" to help secuire America's safety and emphasized his faith in global institutions. He envisions the US taking a prominent role in shaping a new world with Democratic global values.

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