Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thursday 11.15.2012
Obama urges Israel, Egypt leaders
to 'de-escalate' Gaza violence
By Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
With Middle East tensions rising as Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants, President Obama appealed Wednesday to Israel's prime minister to avoid civilian casualties and asked Egypt's president for help in calming the situation.
The White House said Wednesday night that Mr. Obama reiterated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. supports "Israel's right to self-defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians."
Oil Prices Rise After Israeli Airstrikes
Kill Leader of Hamas's Militant Wing
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Oil prices have risen following Israeli attacks in the Gaza strip which killed Ahmed al-Jabari, the leader of Hamas's militant wing. Traders fear that the whole Middle East is reaching its limit and that something is about to blow which could seriously impact on the global oil market.
After more than 115 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza this week, Israel decided to retaliate. Claiming that they were ready to send ground troops into Gaza to end hostilities, Israel started with a series of airstrikes, which managed to kill the Hamas leader.
Israel has 'opened the gates of hell':
Hamas warning as leader is killed in strike Dispatch: As Israel and Gaza teeter on the brink of war, with Hamas warning that an air strike that killed the head of its military wing has "opened the gates of hell", the Telegraph's Phoebe Greenwood reports the horrors in Gaza City.
By Phoebe Greenwood, Gaza City - Telegraph.co.uk
It was shortly before four o'clock when Ghalib al Hatour glanced up from sorting through spare parts at his streetside workshop in Gaza City.
Driving towards him in the distance was a grey, Kia saloon – a new model it appeared. As he bent his head down to continue his task, he was thrown backwards, an ear-splitting blast detonating in the relative confines of the quiet, mostly residential street.
Netanyahu talks to Obama, Ashton on Gaza operation UN Security Council likely to meet to discuss violence.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF - JPost.com
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night thanked US President Barak Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for supporting Israel's right to defend itself after a targeted IDF assassination of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari in Gaza.
Obama expressed support for "Israel's right to self-defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians," according to a White House press release.
Israel hammers Hamas in Gaza offensive
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:13pm EST
(Reuters) - Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would "open the gates of hell".
The onslaught shattered hopes that a truce mediated on Tuesday by Egypt could pull the two sides back from the brink of war after five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes at militant targets.
There Will Be War In The Middle East
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The military action that we are watching in the Middle East right now is just a preview of coming attractions. Tensions in the region are rising with each passing day, and all sides have been anticipating future conflicts and preparing for war for decades. It would be wonderful if everyone could sit down, forgive each other and agree to quit fighting, but that is not going to happen. Most of us that live in the western world have a very difficult time understanding the mindset of those immersed in these conflicts. In the Middle East, there are vendettas and grudges that go back literally thousands of years. Children are raised in schools where they are taught to bitterly hate their enemies from the time that they are first able to speak. As Americans, we have forgiven former enemies such as Germany and Japan and we just expect that everyone else should be able to forgive as well. But that is simply not the way that it works over there, and there is no long-term solution in the Middle East that is going to be acceptable to all sides. Right now, Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria and Iran are all preparing for war. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in this current crisis, but that will only delay the inevitable. There will be war in the Middle East. Yes, politicians such as Barack Obama will do their best to broker more "peace agreements", but even the declaration of a "Palestinian state" will never stop the fighting. In fact, it would just set the stage for more war. I don't mean to sound pessimistic about the region, but the truth is that there will be more war until it is not possible to fight any longer. Any "peace plan" will just be a pause in the warfare.
Analysis: The battle for the South has begun Hamas can accept deterrence or force IDF into ground offensive.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN - JPost.com
Nearly four years after Operation Cast Lead, a new battle to restore security for the South has begun. The deterrence levels gained by Israel in the 2009 operation have run out, in great part due to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
With Hamas feeling confident over the ascendancy of its fellow Islamists in the region, and the emergence of a new patron in Cairo, it and Islamic Jihad chipped away at Israeli deterrence, attempting to set new rules by preventing the IDF from carrying out vital security missions on the Gaza border.
Israel's 'Iron Dome' reportedly intercepts 13 rockets
from Gaza in wake of airstrike on Hamas commander
FoxNews.com
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli military says its "Iron Dome" defense system intercepted 13 rockets fired from Gaza on Wednesday in what appears to be retaliation for Israeli airstrikes that reportedly killed 10, including the commander of the Hamas military wing.
The Israeli military said the some 20 airstrikes were part of a major offensive dubbed "Operation Pillar of Defense," Reuters reports.
"All options are on the table. If necessary, the (Israeli military) is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza," it said.
Palestine asks UN Security Council
in emergency session to stop Israel's Gaza attacks
By AP - WashingtonPost.com
UNITED NATIONS — Palestinian officials are asking the U.N. Security Council to act to halt Israel's military operation in Gaza.
In a closed-door meeting of the Council on Wednesday night, U.N. observer Riyad Mansour said Israel is "vulgarly and publicly boasting about its willful killing of Palestinians" after an air strike killed Hamas mastermind Ahmed Jabari.
Gazans fire 90 rockets; cabinet approves reserve call-up IDF assassinates Hamas terror chief Ahmed Jabari and begins Operation Pillar of Defense, with intense aerial strikes throughout the Gaza Strip; 8 Palestinians killed in air strikes; IDF infantry forces deployed to Gaza border.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, TOVAH LAZAROFF - JPost.com
IDF assassinates Hamas terror chief Ahmed Jabari and begins Operation Pillar of Defense, with intense aerial strikes throughout the Gaza Strip; 8 Palestinians killed in air strikes; IDF infantry forces deployed to Gaza border.
The IDF on Wednesday opened a campaign to remove the rocket menace afflicting the South with the targeted killing of Hamas terror chief Ahmed Jabari.
What Does the Gaza Attack Mean?
By Jeffrey Goldberg - TheAtlantic.com
So, weirdly, my advice to the Israelis to take a deep breath before taking a big swing at Gaza again was not heeded.
I'm on the road again -- I just got into a fight with a former head of the Pakistani ISI at a security conference here in Istanbul (the moderator of our panel was surprised, I think, that we got into a fight) that I can't tell you about because the aforementioned ISI chief declared that most of his remarks would be off the record. Suffice it to say I won the argument.
US backs Israel; UN calls for de-escalation Obama speaks to Netanyahu, Morsi and reiterates US support for Israel's right to self-defense; Ban Ki-moon discusses need to prevent further deterioration with two leaders
By Yitzhak Benhorin - YNetNews.com
Leaders around the world are closely monitoring the conflictbetween the IDF and Gaza's terrorist groups. While the US is standing by Israel's side, the majority of the world's leaders called both sides to exercise restraint.
Leaders in the Arab world strongly condemned Israel for killing top Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari.
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and reiterated US support for Israel's right to self-defense in light of rocket attacks from Gaza, the White House said.
Israel may expand Gaza operation, says senior official [map] Israel launched a military operation in Gaza, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari in airstrike; over 90 rockets fired at Israel on Wednesday; more than 20 rockets intercepted by Iron Dome System; Israeli cabinet authorizes IDF reservists call-up; UNSC holding emergency meeting on Gaza.
By Barak Ravid, Gili Cohen, Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz and Reuters - Haaretz.com
A senior government official in Jerusalem said during a press briefing late Wednesday that Israel is preparing for "a significant expansion of the operation, including a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, and summoning the reservists."
Following four days of escalation on the Israel-Gaza border, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari in an airstrike, and targeting weapons warehouses and long-range rocket launchers.
Israel ranked as most militarized nation
By Jim Lobe - Atimes.com
WASHINGTON - Israel tops the list of the world's most militarized nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC).
Israel's main regional rival, Iran is far behind at number 34. Indeed, every other Near Eastern country, with the exceptions of Yemen (37) and Qatar (43), is more heavily militarized than the Islamic Republic, according to the Index, whose research is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
FM: Israel will act on Iran as it did in Iraq, Syria
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Liberman says public should trust decision makers with Tehran threat, accuses Abbas of trying to save himself with UN bid.
Israel will handle the Iranian threat the same way it dealt with similar threats from Iraq and Syria, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday.
Liberman was referencing the 1981 Israeli strike on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor and the 2007 attack on Syria's nuclear core at Deir al-Zor. Israel has never officially acknowledged bombing the Syrian core although it has been widely reported to have been behind the attack.
Oil Prices Rise After Israeli Airstrikes
Kill Leader of Hamas's Militant Wing
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Oil prices have risen following Israeli attacks in the Gaza strip which killed Ahmed al-Jabari, the leader of Hamas's militant wing. Traders fear that the whole Middle East is reaching its limit and that something is about to blow which could seriously impact on the global oil market.
After more than 115 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza this week, Israel decided to retaliate. Claiming that they were ready to send ground troops into Gaza to end hostilities, Israel started with a series of airstrikes, which managed to kill the Hamas leader.
PLA reshuffle draws battle lines
By Willy Lam - ATimes.com
The Beijing leadership has reshuffled the high command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as the military goes through its own leadership transition separate from but linked to the 18th Party Congress. The move has also given hints about the reorganization of the policy-setting Central Military Commission (CMC). The membership of a much rejuvenated CMC will be confirmed by the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress.
Although this round of personnel selection reinforces the PLA's increasing dedication to professionalism in its upper echelons, this series of personnel changes also reflects intense horse-trading among the party's principal factions.
Palestinians urge U.N. Security Council action over Israeli raids
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:13pm EST
(Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday urged the U.N. Security Council to take a stand on Israel's latest offensive in the Gaza Strip, which it said amounted to "illegal criminal actions."
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor responded by calling on the international community to condemn "indiscriminate rocket fire against Israeli citizens - children, women." Prosor was referring to five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.
Silver price to 'increase 400pc in three years' The silver bull run will continue says investment specialist Ian Williams of Charteris Treasury.
By Emma Wall - Telegraph.co.uk
Silver will increase in value five times over the next three years, according to mixed asset fund manager Ian Williams.
"Silver is about to enter a sustained bull market that will take the price from the current level of $32 an ounce to $165 an ounce and we expect this price to be hit at the end of October 2015," he predicted.
Greece, FOMC meet on Wed,
US fiscal cliff to be catalysts for Gold: Sharps Pixley
By Austin Kiddle - CommodityOnline.com
After jumping 3.32 percent last week, the U.S. Comex gold futures traded between $1,717.60 and $1,738 and ended at $1,724.80 on Tuesday, down 0.35 percent from Friday. The S&P 500 index fell a further 0.39 percent this week after dropping 2.43 percent last week while the Euro Stoxx 50 index recovered 0.54 percent this week after falling 2.64 percent last week. The Dollar Index has been hovering around 81 in the past four days. The VIX index fell from 18.61 last Friday to 16.65 on Tuesday.
Last week, China reported better-than-expected exports growth, industrial production data and fixed asset investment growth while the reported inflation data was lower than expected, fuelling hopes of recovery without higher inflation. As the new Chinese leaders will be confirmed on 14 November, the market will focus on how well the new administration can carry out the structural reforms to rebalance and further liberalize the economy.
Obama stands firm on raising taxes on richest Americans,
says best way to avert 'fiscal cliff'
AP - WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama challenged congressional Republicans Wednesday to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans on both economic and political grounds, noting he campaigned successfully for re-election on the point and contending it would instantly ease the threat of the "fiscal cliff" plunging the nation back into recession.
"A modest tax increase on the wealthy is not going to break their backs," Obama said of the nation's top income earners. "They'll still be wealthy," he said at his first news conference since winning a second term.
Obama says tax hike has to come first in "fiscal cliff" deal
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 14, 2012 7:17pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that Republicans would have to agree to raise taxes on the wealthy as the first step in a budget deal that would prevent a dysfunctional Washington from pushing the economy into recession.
In his first news conference since winning re-election last week, Obama said he would be open to considering Republican priorities like entitlement reform and other ways to raise tax revenue as part of a broad-based deal to set the nation's finances on a sustainable course.
Obama's door to tax compromise
By Editorial Board - WashingtonPost.com
IT'S NORMAL FOR President Obama and congressional Republicans to be pushing and posturing in the wake of last week's election. Everyone is trying to gauge how the political dynamics have shifted, though on paper the balance of power remains unchanged. All are trying to enhance their bargaining position. Both sides want to seem reasonable to Americans who want politicians in Washington to compromise, while reassuring partisans that they will stand up for principle.
It's normal but also potentially dangerous, because compromise is going to be essential.
Looming 'fiscal cliff' bringing Wall Street, Obama back together Imminent spending cuts and tax hikes are the subject. Some worry that Congress won't strike a deal that might prevent a possible recession sometime next year.
By Andrew Tangel and Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — There are growing signs that Wall Street is trying to mend its rocky relationship with a president who castigated them as "fat cats" and ushered through tough new regulations after the financial crisis.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has recently been in contact with the White House and congressional leaders, while Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein publicly called for a new "spirit of compromise and reconciliation." CEOs of 12 major American companies also held a closed-door meeting with President Obama on Wednesday.
Summers: Be Careful About Capping Tax Deductions Lately, both Republicans and Democrats have warmed to this element of the Romney tax plan. The ex-Treasury secretary says it's not enough.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
As talk about deficit reduction has heated up after the election, policy wonks have been warming to the idea of putting a hard cap on tax deductions as a way to raise revenues without raising rates -- a compromise that could please both Democrats and Republicans. The Romney campaign pushed it as part of their tax plan, and because the rich tend to deduct a whole lot more from their returns than the middle class -- factory workers aren't exactly getting libraries built in their name -- it's an extremely progressive way of tackling the problem, as The Atlantic's Matt O'Brien noted in a recent piece.
Avoiding the 'Fiscal Cliff':
'Broadening the Tax Base' vs. Raising Taxes on the Rich
By Robert Reich - Truthdig.com
The president says he wants $1.6 trillion in tax hikes. Republicans say they won't raise tax rates but might be willing to close some loopholes and limit some deductions and tax credits. Is compromise in the air?
Not a chance. True enough, such "base broadening," as Republicans like to call it, could conceivably generate $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenues over the next decade.
Obama claims mandate on taxes,
warns GOP of new political capital
By Amie Parnes - TheHill.com
President Obama claimed a mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy at a Wednesday afternoon press conference where he also refused to "meddle" into the FBI's investigation into ex-CIA Director David Petraeus.
In the 53-minute news conference, his first formal question-and-answer session with reporters in months, Obama — using the power of the bully pulpit — repeatedly mentioned his electoral victory and set the tone by warning Republicans in Congress he'd earned political capital in advance of talks to begin Friday at the White House on avoiding the "fiscal cliff."
Preserve Benefits: Cut Gouging and Inequities
By Ralph Nader - Truthdig.com
Congress is still talking about a "Grand Bargain" that "balances" far more spending cuts than tax increases. That is another way of saying that you – the consumer of Medicare and Medicaid services, the recipient of Social Security, and the average taxpayer—will take the brunt of the spending cuts, while the wealthy get their income taxes restored, not raised, to their pre-Bush modest levels. Don't buy it!
There are two ways to cut Medicare and Medicaid. The right wingers want to cut benefits. Consumers want to cut vendor fraud, the overcharging and the immense over-diagnosis, over-treatment and erroneous or unnecessary procedures and prescriptions documented so often by, among others, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (http://tdi.dartmouth.edu/), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health.
Keiser Report: Tourettes Traders & Bleeping Bankers (E366)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss foul mouthed foreigners with banker tourettes in Singapore, while in America, traders at Barclays send each other expletive-filled emails admitting to manipulating energy prices down in order to have their big bets on declining prices pay off. They also discuss financial activists creating a rolling jubillee reverse vulture fund designed to liberate the population from unpayable debts. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Teri Buhl about the investigation into fraud at Sun Trust Bank where whistleblowers allege the bank mis-sold mortgages to Fannie Mae, the government sponsored enterprise. Max and Teri also talk about recent developments in the case of residential mortgage back securities fraudulently sold to investors by JP Morgan's Bear Stearns holding and Teri proposes a million man march on the SEC and the NY Fed.
Anti-austerity marches turn violent across southern Europe
By Feliciano Tisera and Daniel Alvarenga
(Reuters) - Demonstrations turned violent in Spain and Portugal after millions took part in a mostly peaceful general strike on Wednesday in organized labor's biggest Europe-wide challenge to austerity policies since the debt crisis began three years ago.
In Lisbon, marches ended with a level of violence not seen since the crisis began, with police charging demonstrators who hurled stones and bottles, leaving nearly 50 people hurt.
The DOJ and SEC Speak, Hypothetically, About the FCPA
By Lisa Prager - Forbes.com
Commission released the long anticipated guidance on the FCPA. As declared by the DOJ and SEC, the 120-page long document entitled, "A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," is an "unprecedented undertaking." The Guide comes on the eve of American Conference Institute's National Conference on the FCPA ("ACI FCPA Conference") in Washington, D.C., just over one year after Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer promised it at last year's conference.
While the guidance is impressively detailed in many respects, I am most drawn to what the DOJ and SEC say through the Guide's detailed hypotheticals and anonymized examples of real-life cases. In particular:
Small banks battle regulators on capital requirements
By Danielle Douglas - WashingtonPost.com
Community banks say they may be pushed out of the residential mortgage market, leaving it in the hands of a few lending giants, because of an effort by global regulators to make banks hold more in their reserves in the event of a crisis.
The move will hit smaller banks harder than big ones, lessening their ability to provide mortgages and other loans to consumers, community bank advocates say.
Retail Sales and PPI Show Deflationary Trend in October ...
What Inflation?
By JON C. OGG - 247WallSt.com
We have two different economic reading this morning for the market to chew over, effectively the first real readings this week. Retail sales and the Producer Price Index are out.
Producer Price Index for October was -0.2% on the headline report and also came in at -0.2% on the more focused core PPI reading, which takes out the volatility of food and energy. These readings from the Labor Department are handily lower from the gains seen in September. These are also under expectations: Bloomberg was calling for +0.2% on the headline PPI and on the core PPI; Dow Jones was looking for +0.2% on the headline PPI and +0.1% on the core PPI reading. It is important to note that energy prices were down by 0.5% in the month.
The new poverty measure is out, and it's grim
by Dylan Matthews - WashingtonPost.com
Officially, the U.S. poverty rate in 2011 was 15 percent exactly, a 0.1 point reduction from 2010. But as I pointed out when that number was released in September, that figure doesn't mean a whole lot.
The official poverty threshold is the amount of money a family of three would have to make to spend less than one-third of their income on food in 1963 and 1964. Seriously. The only changes from a half-century ago have been adjustments for inflation. At no point was the measure changed to account for other costs, like health insurance, transportation, or housing, or to factor in income from transfer programs like food stamps or WIC.
After the storm: True scale of Sandy's devastation across Eastern Seaboard emerges as death toll hits FIFTY and damage set to top $50 BILLION
By LOUISE BOYLE - DailyMail.co.uk
The devastating aftermath of Superstorm Sandy began to emerge this morning as the death toll hit 50 and damage was expected to reach $50billion.
As the superstorm passed over the region, startling before-and-after pictures revealed what was left of the East Coast.
At first glance, New Jersey's Mantoloking Bridge appeared to be completely different highways - until it becomes clear that just one solitary house was left standing.
Row after row of Atlantic vacation homes on the horizon were wiped out by the 900-mile storm following surging waters and winds which reached peaks of 95mph.
In Sandy's wake, recovery remains a frustrating fight
By Lisa Rein and Jerry Markon - WashingtonPost.com
LINDENHURST, N.Y. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency, having learned Hurricane Katrina's harsh lessons, is winning praise from disaster specialists and elected officials for its rapid response to Hurricane Sandy, but weeks into battling the devastation, the agency is confronting another challenge: the reality of its own limitations.
Thousands of people in New York and New Jersey remain in heavily damaged homes, without power, heat or hot water. They have little sympathy for the bureaucratic hurdles that persist, whether from the widely reviled local utilities or a federal government they say should be doing more.
BofA offers 30,000 borrowers $4.75 billion
in principal reductions
By Kerri Ann Panchuk - HousingWire.com
Bank of America ($8.99 -0.34%) approved 30,000 mortgage customers for principal reductions on first-lien mortgages with a total value of $4.75 billion as part of its consumer-relief mandate under the national mortgage servicing settlement program.
Bank of America executives participated on a teleconferenced update to the settlement.
They said that, through September, BofA completed or approved $15.8 billion in mortgage debt relief for 164,000 homeowners.
Credit Card Delinquencies Back on the Rise
By JON C. OGG - 247WallSt.com
For all practical purposes, credit card delinquencies have been improving and improving for close to the last three years. That is perhaps coming to an end. It was in October that Fitch showed a broad industry report that retail credit card delinquencies of the 60-day caliber were 2.7% in the third quarter of 2012 versus 2.9% in the second quarter of 2012. Also in October we saw a Moody's report showing that charge-offs in September had dropped but delinquencies were on the rise.
Now we have Fitch Ratings showing that U.S. credit card delinquencies rose for the first time in 12 months according to the latest Credit Card Performance Index.
A Very Important Housing Agency Is Running Out Of Money And May Need A Bailout; Getting A Mortgage Might Get Even Harder
By Halah Touryalai - Forbes.com
If you thought bailouts were the stuff of 2008 you may want to think again.
A federal housing agency responsible for insuring hundreds of thousands of home loans may be running out of money and could soon be asking for a bailout from the government.
The Federal Housing Administration is so loaded with delinquent mortgages that its reserves are running low, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal the afternoon. The Journal, whose Nick Timiraos cites people familiar with the matter, notes that 9.6% of the FHA's $1.08 trillion mortgage guarantees are more than 90 days past due or in foreclosure.
Four ways Blue Cross Blue Shield wants to change Obamacare
by Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
Now that we know the Affordable Care Act will be fully implemented, major health insurers have a new priority: Lobbying to change how it's implemented.
"We've been in this business for 80 years," says Alissa Fox, senior vice president for policy at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. "We know how to do these things right and not do them right. We have to focus like a laser to make sure we're getting things done right."
The Worst Is Yet To Come For California
By Thomas Del Beccaro - Forbes.com
Elections have consequences. There is little doubt that the reelection of President Obama will have far ranging consequences for the country. The last two decades of legislative elections in California have had enormous consequences for California and the U.S. more broadly. After 18 years of spending, taxing and regulating, the most resource-rich state in the Country is facing underemployment in excess of 20%, huge perennial deficits and failing schools. Sadly, the worst is yet to come.
California has unprecedented problems. Estimates suggest that the pensions for the state and local governments are underfunded in excess of $650 billion – over 6 and half times the yearly revenues of the state. The yearly operating budgets the last decade have featured deficits larger than the budgets of twenty states.
Bladeless Turbine: The Future of Wind Energy?
By Green Futures - OilPrice.com
The Saphonian turbine is more efficient, quieter and safer for birds, its makers claim. Could it represent the future of wind energy?
Innovation always pushes boundaries, but what about pushing the laws of physics? Tunisian start-up Saphon Energy claims it can do exactly that with the Saphonian, a bladeless turbine that harvests more energy from the wind than previously thought possible.
The makers claim that the turbine exceeds Betz' Law, which caps the amount of kinetic energy that a turbine can harvest at 59.3% of the wind's total energy.
States Find Solar Subsidies Too Hot to Handle
By Jillian Kay Melchior - NationalReview.com
Hawaii's solar subsidies have been highly effective. Maybe too effective, actually . . .
The Aloha state gives homeowners and businesses tax credits covering 35 percent of the cost of their solar installation. Oh, and that's on top of the 30 percent federal credit. So faster than you can say "free money," Hawaiians started tricking out their homes.
Just one problem. The costs to the state are mounting, though Hawaii isn't really sure how much:
The new boom: Shale gas fueling an American industrial revival
By Steven Mufson - WashingtonPost.com
The shale gas revolution is firing up an old-fashioned American industrial revival, breathing life into businesses such as petrochemicals and glass, steel and toys.
Consider the rising fortunes of Ascension Parish, La.
Methanex Corp., which closed its last U.S. chemical plant in 1999, is spending more than half a billion dollars to dismantle a methanol plant in Chile and move it to the parish.
Paul rips big government in farewell
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) delivered a blistering farewell speech on the House floor Wednesday in which he ripped the drastic tilt of the U.S. toward expanded government, a devalued currency, persistent wars and the constant erosion of personal freedoms.
Paul, who ran for president and decided this would be his last term as a House member, said at the start of his 16-page prepared speech that, by many measures, he accomplished very little during his 23 years in office.
Credit ratings agencies warn against 'political posturing'
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
Wall Street ratings agencies are skeptical of the resolve of political leaders to tame the nation's debts, and are raising the likelihood that at least one of the three top agencies will add to the turmoil in financial markets at the end of the year by further downgrading the U.S. credit rating.
All three agencies have said since Election Day that they are following closely the negotiations over the "fiscal cliff," and whether the U.S. retains its top AAA rating from two out of the three — or gets downgraded further — depends on the White House and congressional leaders pushing through a major budget deal with $4 trillion or more in savings to stabilize the debt.
Boehner's Blunder Giving in on key Republican principles such as taxes
is no way to rebuild the party.
By Michael Tanner - NationalReview.com
Well, that didn't take long.
They hadn't even finished counting the ballots in Florida when House speaker John Boehner indicated that Republicans were preparing to surrender on issues ranging from taxes to health-care reform.
With regard to taxes, Boehner signaled that he was once again open to a "grand bargain" to avoid the looming fiscal cliff. While he kept an increase in tax rates off the table for now, Boehner said that he was open to "additional revenue" as part of a deal. Such additional revenue could, of course, take many forms, such as closing loopholes, raising fees, or counting on increased economic growth. But by preemptively conceding on revenue, Speaker Boehner takes the focus off the need to cut spending.
Senate votes down Cybersecurity Act a second time
By Jennifer Martinez and Ramsey Cox - TheHill.com
Cybersecurity legislation failed in Senate for a second time on Wednesday despite calls from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other national security officials for Congress to pass a bill.
A procedural motion to move forward on the Cybersecurity Act, introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), was rejected in a 51-47 vote.
Mitt Romney attributes loss to Obama 'gifts' to his base voters
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
Mitt Romney said on a conference call with donors Wednesday that President Obama won the 2012 presidential campaign because of "gifts" given by the administration to black, Hispanic and young voters.
"The President's campaign focused on giving targeted groups a big gift — so he made a big effort on small things," Romney said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. "Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars."
Sex Beats Benghazi
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
You've heard the old adage that sex sells. But as we're recognizing more and more often, sex wins elections.
Here's the brutal truth: the American people seem far more interested in what happens in the bedroom than they do what happens on the battlefield. How else to explain the media's fascination with CIA Director David Petraeus' steamy sex scandal, even as they ignore the ramifications for the investigation of four murdered Americans in Benghazi, Libya?
Obama defends FBI on Petraeus
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
President Obama on Wednesday defended the FBI's handling of the investigation that led to CIA Director Director David Petraeus's resignation.
Obama was told of the probe — which began over the summer — two days after his reelection victory.
On Wednesday, he said it wasn't the job of the White House to "meddle" in FBI investigations.
Petraeus to testify before Congress on Benghazi attack
By Kristina Wong-The Washington Times
Former CIA Director David H. Petraeus has agreed to testify before Congress about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Mr. Petraeus will testify before the House Select Intelligence Committee on Friday about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The hearing will be closed to the public, according to a news release by the panel.
David Petraeus's Secret Trip to Libya After the Benghazi Attack Congress wants to know why David Petraeus took a classified trip to the country where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered—and what the general found out while he was there. Eli Lake reports.
by Eli Lake - TheDailyBeast.com
Last month, as the FBI was closing in on his affair with Paula Broadwell and the political fight over Benghazi was heating up, David Petraeus made an undisclosed trip to Tripoli, Libya. The purpose of the trip, according to congressional and U.S. officials, was to examine what remained of the CIA's presence in the country after the United States abandoned the agency's base and nearby U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi after the Sept. 11 assassination of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Another Scandal Among Officers Who No Longer Win Wars
By William Pfaff - Trythdig.com
"Duty, Honor, Country" is the West Point motto, but it seems to have lost what once was its compelling power over the men of the Long Gray Line, as they pursue the military careers that follow graduation. I am not speaking primarily about the marital and extra-marital entanglements of the generals and naval flag-officers who enjoy the luxuries, and there are many, that accompany the duties of assuring the American nation's security.
I am thinking of the fact that these generals and admirals do not win any wars anymore. The last real victory was the Second World War, actually won (in the common view of historians) by the Soviet Army—which admittedly would probably not have succeeded had it not been for the second and third fronts provided by Britain's desert victories and the Western Allies' Normandy Invasion in 1944.
Exit Afghanistan?
By Jaswant Singh - ProjectSyndicate.org
NEW DELHI – In his victory speech to a rapturous crowd in Chicago following his reelection, President Barack Obama affirmed that America's "decade-long conflict" in Afghanistan will now end. The line was greeted with prolonged applause – and understandably so. In fact, this ill-advised war – launched on the basis of a United Nations Security Council resolution – has been grinding on for 11 years, making it the longest in American history.
The China challenge: War or peace
By Francesco Sisci - ATimes.com
It is no mystery that the main issue in the Chinese Communist Party 18th National Congress, which concludes this week, is political reform, as both outgoing President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have said on several occasions in recent months.
China's political transition is of massive importance for the world. The crucial relevance of the whole Bo Xilai affair is also about political reforms. In a more open political system, a man like Bo, the disgraced party secretary from Chongqing, would have been stopped long before he could cause serious damage, or he would have amended his ways to run for the top position with full legality.
Last call for Syria
By Victor Kotsev - ATimes.com
After the utter collapse of the Eid al-Adha ceasefire attempted by the United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi a couple of weeks ago, it is even more obvious that there isn't much time to stop the Syrian civil war. Nor is it likely that the latest reshuffles of the rebel leadership, inspired from abroad and decided on during a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha last week, will produce a meaningful change in the dynamics on the ground.
Unless the deeply divided international community acts quickly and in concert, a repeat of the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s and 1980s is likely to follow. The chaos is growing. Already around 36,000 have died and hundreds of thousands have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Last week, the flood of refugees reached 11,000 in a single day.
