Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Friday 01.25.2013
Germany's Gold Delusion
By Simon Johnson - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Germany's gold is on the move. For the first time since official gold transactions became more transparent, the Bundesbank has given notice that a significant portion of its holdings will be transferred home from France and the United States. Ostensibly, this is just a matter of monetary housekeeping. But why now?
One possibility is that German policymakers believe that we are approaching an every-country-for-itself scenario – and only gold guarded by one's own police is worth anything.
Faber to Shiller:
"You Keep Your U.S. Dollars and I'll Keep My Gold"
BY MARK O'BYRNE - FinancialSense.com
….Bloomberg reported that Credit Suisse says gold holders may have withdrawn gold from the euro zone due to the region's debt crisis. They noted the Bundesbank comment about capacity becoming available in its own vaults in Germany.
The World Economic Forum is into its second day in Davos, Switzerland, and with the theme of 'Resilient Dynamism' it appears a good time to announce or spin positive news in Europe such as a slight growth in consumer morale and confidence.
Russia c.bank to keep buying gold
By Darya Korsunskaya
DAVOS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Russian central bank will continue to buy gold as it seeks to diversify its foreign reserves away from paper assets it views as risky, First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday.
The Bank of Russia has built up the world's fourth-largest foreign reserves, worth $530 billion, by buying oil export dollars to keep the rouble competitive. The hoard includes two rainy-day budget funds that guard against fiscal shocks.
Groupthink in Davos: Financial Crisis Over
By Peter Coy - Bloomberg Businessweek.com
The hive mind of Davos has concluded that the financial crisis is done, finished. The new worry: a bubble in the credit markets.
There is no official declaration, or even a formal survey. But the chatter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is about the end of the financial crisis that began in 2008 and dragged on through last summer's spike in Spanish and Italian government bond yields. "There's a crystallization of thought that the financial crisis is over," says Scott Minerd, managing partner and chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Santa Monica (Calif.) firm with about $160 billion under management.
Debt-to-GDP and Misdiagnosing a Bubble Economy's Ills
BY TIM IACONO - FinancialSense.com
A few economists seem to be catching on, but not nearly enough…
About a year ago, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard wondered whether too much faith was being placed in what models say economic growth should be but, as detailed in When Models Trump Common Sense, he was rebuffed by nearly the entire establishment (or at least "a small army of bloggers with PhDs in economics")
Congratulations, America: Austerity,
Not Default, Is the Only Threat Now The debt ceiling showdown is essentially over. But another manufactured crisis is stalking the recovery.
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
We are not deadbeats! We are not deadbeats! We are not, well, you get the point.
With the Treasury fast running out of "extraordinary measures" to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling, and consequently defaulting on its obligations (and maybe the debt too), House Republicans voted to "suspend" the debt ceiling until May 19 -- which, as the Bipartisan Policy Center points out, means raising the debt ceiling until at least August. That's right: a three-month suspension is actually a six-month increase. Remember, there are really two limits when it comes to the debt limit. The first is when the Treasury "hits" the debt ceiling, and the second is when the Treasury really hits the debt ceiling. In other words, the former is when the Treasury has to resort to accounting shenanigans, those "extraordinary measures," to avoid the debt limit, and the latter is when those accounting shenanigans are no longer enough. The Republican plan suspends the debt ceiling until May 19, at which point 1) it will be raised by as much as the government borrows between then and now (probably $450 billion), and 2) the clock will re-set on the Treasury's extraordinary measures. Default day won't come until early August.
Recession 2013: Can We Avoid It?
By DIANE ALTER, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
The U.S. economy is currently two-for-two in its attempts to skirt recession 2013.
The first came after we narrowly avoided a tumble over the fiscal cliff with a down-to-the-wire deal on New Year's Day. The second came Wednesday with the passage of a three-month extension on raising the debt ceiling.
Had we not averted one or the other, the Congressional Budget Office warned on numerous occasions that a recession in 2013.
But we are not out of the woods just yet, even though the odds may have changed.
Misinterpreting the Dow Theory
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Dow Theory is one of the oldest forms of technical market analysis. The theory was originally devised by Charles Dow, founder of the Wall Street Journal, over 100 years ago. While there are six major tenets of the Dow Theory, the most famous one states that both the Dow Jones Industrials and the Dow Jones Transportation Average must confirm each other in order for a bull market to be legitimate.
Many analysts utilize Dow Theory in an attempt to forecast the economy. Although one of Dow Theory's six major tenets states that the averages discount the business outlook, the theory isn't always the crystal ball that many of its adherents believe it to be. For instance, an extended rally in the Dow Transports doesn't always forecast a rosy economy. There are times when movements in the Transports can be quite deceptive.
The looming currency war
By Nicholas Wapshott - Reuters.com
Are we about to be sucked into a currency war? As the world economy continues to splutter, countries are looking for ways to break out of the mire. One way of gaining popularity is to promote growth through making exports cheap. The key to an export-led recovery is to devalue a national currency, thereby lowering the prices of exports. By allowing its currency price to slide, a nation can launch a surreptitious trade war against its commercial rivals. Western nations have for years accused China of taking an unfair trade advantage by keeping its currency, and therefore export prices, artificially low. By allowing their currencies to devalue, Western countries are fighting back.
Fed balance sheet size hits record in latest week
(Reuters) - The size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet reached a record, Fed data released on Thursday showed, due to the central bank's purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities that are part of its unconventional policy aimed at supporting economic growth.
The Fed's balance sheet - a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system - stood at $2.994 trillion on January 23, up from $2.946 trillion on January 16.
Keiser Report: Burgers, Banksters & Blackholes (E397)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the Brits offended by the horsemeat in their burgers and yet silent on the disgusting black holes of toxic debts inside taxpayer owned banks. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Pulitzer award winning journalist, Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica.org about big banks like Wells Fargo using accounting tricks very similar to those used by Enron, including off balance sheet entities, black box trading, black box loans and black hole financing.
Obama picks ex-prosecutor to head SEC Renominates recess appointee
to be consumer protection chief
By Susan Crabtree and Tim Devaney - The Washington Times
Bracing for tougher enforcement of rules governing Wall Street in President Obama's second term, several business groups warily welcomed the president's nomination Thursday of Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney for Manhattan who made her name prosecuting terrorists, to head the `.
Mrs. White, a partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, served during the Clinton administration as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, overseeing a string of high-profile white-collar crime cases. If confirmed by the Senate, she would succeed Elisse Walter, who took over as acting SEC chairman when Mary Schapiro stepped down last month.
The Eclipse of British Reason
By Joschka Fischer - Project-Syndicate.org
BERLIN – When placed under too much strain, chains tend to break at the weakest link. Figuratively speaking, the same applies to the European Union. So the entire world quite naturally assumed that any process of EU disintegration would start primarily in the crisis-ridden European south (Greece, first and foremost). But, as British Prime Minister David Cameron has now demonstrated, the European chain is most likely to break not at its weakest link, but at its most irrational.
Soros: End costly drug war by 'trial and error'
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
George Soros said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the West ought to end its war against drugs because jailing violators would save money.
Soros also said that global efforts to fight the drug trade has upset political stability, according to a Guardian story.
"Drug policy has endangered political stability and security in many countries," Mr. Soros reportedly said. "Incarceration is hugely expensive. The cost of alternatives is smaller than the cost of incarceration."
George Osborne interviewed in Davos 2013 (24Jan13)
Conservative chancellor George Osborne is interviewed about the UK economy while visiting Davos to get his latest orders from the bankers on how to contrinue collapsing the UK economy to benefit bankers.
Merkel Endorses Other People's Austerity Angela Merkel tells Davos austerity must continue German chancellor says current high unemployment
in Europe is price of competitiveness
By Graeme Wearden and Larry Elliott - The Guardian
Angela Merkel has insisted there can be no let-up in the painful economic reforms being driven across Europe, despite union leaders warning that the risk of social unrest in southern European countries is increasing.
In a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, Merkel insisted it was vital to keep driving down labour costs to make Europe more competitive.
You Can't Hide From Facebook Graph Search
By Mathew Ingram - Bloomberg Businessweek
It often seems as though Facebook's main purpose is to remind us continually of how much we have chosen to share with the world about our online behavior—whether we realize it or not. The latest lesson along those lines comes from the social network's new "graph search," which sounds at first like a fairly boring feature of interest only to marketers. Like much of whatFacebook (FB) does, however, it is also a warning sign: If you were counting on certain things about yourself staying not so much private as obscure or hidden from view, those days are effectively over.
College Degree, No Class Time Required University of Wisconsin to Offer a Bachelor's to Students Who Take Online Competency Tests About What They Know
By CAROLINE PORTER - WSJ.com
David Lando plans to start working toward a diploma from the University of Wisconsin this fall, but he doesn't intend to set foot on campus or even take a single online course offered by the school's well-regarded faculty.
Instead, he will sit through hours of testing at his home computer in Milwaukee under a new program that promises to award a bachelor's degree based on knowledge—not just class time or credits.
Union membership sees sharp decline
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that union membership rates have fallen off sharply in the past year, from 11.8 percent of the workforce to 11.3 percent.
This is the lowest level since the 1930s, BLS finds.
In terms of head counts, union membership has fallen by 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, the Associated Press reports.
Hardest hit? Teachers unions, according to the report.
Why Old Age Could Kill American Unions
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the union membership rate in America continued its long, painful collapse in 2012, falling to 11.3 percent of all workers, its lowest level since the 1930s. As the AP notes, 30 years ago, 20 percent of all workers were in unions. In 1935, when President Roosevelt enshrined collective bargaining rights in the National Labor Relations Act, the rate was 13.2 percent.
For all intents and purposes, organized labor has been blasted back to its pre-modern era.
Kansas considers cutting out income tax
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
Kansas lawmakers, led by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, introduced a bill Wednesday that would eventually end the state's income tax.
It's an example of Kansas' "leading edge of the conservative economic and political movement," and should serve as a model for other Republican-led states, Kansas Rep. Tom Sloan said, according to one media report.
Big Government 2.0
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Bill Clinton isn't often wrong when it comes to politics, but his assertion in his 1996 State of the Union Address that "the era of big government is over" was a bit premature. In light of President Obama's Second Inaugural Address, the era of big government has just begun.
The reliably liberal columnist Dana Milbank of The Washington Post exhibited refreshing honesty when he wrote of Obama's speech, "...it failed to rise to the moment."
Obama's Forced Collectivism His nonsense inauguration speech
and why Tocqueville would think he's French.
By MATT PURPLE - Spectator.org
President Obama's inauguration speech was a giant dollop of collectivist nonsense.
Apparently determined to seize the Constitution from conservatives, the president spent much of his address making pointed references to the Founding Fathers and our history. America's success, he declared, sprang not from our individual freedoms, but from a peculiar kind of collectivism:
"[W]e have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people."
Obama unbound
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
The media herd is stunned to discover that Barack Obama is a man of the left. After 699 teleprompted presidential speeches, the commentariat was apparently still oblivious. UntilMonday's inaugural address, that is.
Where has everyone been these four years? The only surprise is that Obama chose his second inaugural, generally an occasion for "malice toward none" ecumenism, to unveil so uncompromising a left-liberal manifesto.
"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all." --George Washington (1796)
In 1776, an extraordinary group of Patriots signed our Declaration of Independence, thereby affirming their unalienable right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as "endowed by our Creator," not man. A decade later, their Liberty won at great cost, our Founders enshrined that Liberty in the form of our Constitution.
As written and ratified, our Constitution stipulates in its preface that it is "ordained and established" by the people to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." To that end, it established a Republic, not a popular democracy, which is to say it affirmed the primacy of Rule of Law over the rule of men.
Judge Napolitano: Obama The Champion
At Trying To Get Around The Constitution
"If you believe in his vision of a federal government that can right any wrong and regulate any behavior and make everybody equal, then you celebrated the speech yesterday. But if you believe that the Constitution not only constitutes, not only creates the government, it restrains the government, then you didn't like what you heard yesterday," said Napolitano, adding that Obama is "the champion at trying to get around the Constitution."
Guns and Freedom Evidence from 59 countries that gun control
is a threat to human liberty.
By DOUG BANDOW - Spectator.org
For four years the Obama administration ignored the issue of gun control, seeing it as a political loser. However, the tragic school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut created an opening for those who long sought to restrict gun ownership. Yet Congress should look before it legislates, since gun rights generally correspond to the liberties fundamental in a free society.
Four years ago Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute, William & Mary economist Carlisle Moody, and author Howard Nemerov published an article assessing the relationship between guns and freedom ("Is There a Relationship Between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results From 59 Nations"). Coming to a simple conclusion is impossible: guns are widely accessible in Israel, Switzerland, and U.S., as well as Lebanon, Ivory Coast, and Somalia.
Two-thirds of U.S. weapons owners
would 'defy' a federal gun ban
By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Time
An interesting little factoid has emerged from a new Fox News poll of U.S. voters: Personal sentiments are strong and defiant among many U.S. gun owners.
Question 46 in the wide-ranging survey of more than 1,000 registered voters asks if there is a gun in the household. Overall, 52 percent of the respondents said yes, someone in their home owned a gun. That number included 65 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of conservatives, 38 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of liberals.
Sen. Feinstein introduces sweeping ban
on military-style assault weapons
By Alexander Bolton
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a group of Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to ban the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of semi-automatic weapons with military-style features.
The legislation also bans magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition and requires people who already own assault rifles to use secure storage and safety devices and bars them from selling high-capacity clips.
Feinstein rolls out proposal to ban assault weapons
By David Sherfinski-The Washington Times
Flanked by law enforcement officials and facing victims of gun violence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday announced that she is reintroducing a bill that bans more than 150 types of military-style, so-called assault weapons — the piece of President Obama's gun-control agenda that faces the steepest climb through Congress.
The legislation bans the sale, manufacture, transfer and importation of more than 150 of the weapons. It provides exemptions for more than 2,200 hunting and sporting rifles; guns manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action; and weapons used by government officials, law enforcement and retired law enforcement.
State senator wants parents to tell schools if they own guns
ConnectMidMissouri.com
A Missouri state senator wants the gun control debate to include more responsibility for parents.
St. Louis Democrat Maria Chappelle-Nadal said she thinks parents should be required to store guns safely. She added that parents should be held accountable if their children use unsafely-stored weapons illegally.
MO SENATOR'S BILL WOULD FORCE PARENTS
TO REPORT GUN OWNERSHIP TO SCHOOLS
Breitbart.com
FOX 2 News: The sad story of a twelve year old who shot and killed another child with his grandfather's unlocked gun is just one example that is motivating Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal to call for sanctions against careless parents and guardians of minors. The democrat's proposed bill targets an often lethal mix; guns and unsupervised kids in what Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal calls "Urban Core" areas."I wholly believe in the Second Amendment but the Second Amendment does not say that a 12-year old can shoot a 12-year old. There is no protection for that so what we are trying to to do here address is what is happening in our urban cities." said State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal – (D) University City.
'TURN 'EM ALL IN': FEINSTEIN'S ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN
GRABS HANDGUNS, SHOTGUNS
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) seemingly endless pursuit of a ban on "assault rifles" since the Sandy Hook tragedy has now led to the introduction of her "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013"--a bill that not only bans "assault rifles," but numerous handguns and shotguns too.
Here's a question: When did handguns and shotguns become "assault rifles"?
They didn't, but Democrats see this as their big chance to take away as many guns as they can, and they're not about to pass that chance up.
The Peaceful Transfer of Mobocracy Not all revolutions involve coups.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR - Spectator.org
Casting about for something positive to say on Inauguration Day, pols and pundits fell back on the cliché that America exhibits the "peaceful transfer of power." But that's not much of a consolation if it results in revolution anyways. Most revolutions are not against state power but with it. So it goes with Obama's, as he leaves the old forms in place but fills them with new revolutionary meanings.
The disturbing hollowness of Obama's inauguration derives from this more subtle form of revolution. All the usual trappings of tradition were on display but at the service of a revolutionary ideology antithetical to them. Obama swore to uphold the Constitution, by which he meant his lawless reading of it. He invoked God-given rights, by which he meant man-made ones.
Obama's Regulatory Rampage Fasten your seatbelts, because the courts and Congress
won't be able to slow it down much
BY ADAM J. WHITE - WeeklyStandard.com
Despite all of the White House speechwriters' labors on the Inaugural and State of the Union Addresses, their attempt to define the tone of the president's second term is unlikely to improve upon the president's own words, a year ago: "Where Congress is not willing to act, we're going to go ahead and do it ourselves." It would be "nice" to work with Congress, he conceded, but he and his regulators were ready to act unilaterally.
That threat echoed the White House press secretary's own warning, just weeks earlier, that although Congress ought to act to improve the economy, the president "can also act independently—or, rather, administratively, and exercise his executive authority to benefit the American people in other ways. And he will continue to do that." The White House called this the "We Can't Wait" initiative.
John Kerry's Opening Statement at Confirmation Hearing
Secretary of state nominee emphasizes importance of cleaning up America's fiscal problems to strengthen its position as global leader.
Senator John Kerry said today in his opening statement in his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State before the Senate that he will do his best to implement "President Obama's vision for the world" by giving "a voice to the voiceless."
Women in Harness?
BY WILLIAM KRISTOL - WeeklyStandard.com
President Obama has released a statement supporting Secretary of Defense Panetta's decision on women in combat units! "Today, by moving to open more military positions—including ground combat units—to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills of all our citizens." Indeed, the president is confident this decision "will strengthen our military, enhance our readiness, and be another step toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals of fairness and equality."
Obama Ignores Deadly Risks to Women in Combat Gender radicalism's attack on the military
claims another victory.
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
It didn't take long for the Obama administration to advance a pernicious piece of its promised radical agenda. Two days after the president laid out his far-left vision during the inauguration, senior defense officials announced that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will lift the military's ban on women serving in combat. The move overturns a 1994 provision that prohibited them from being assigned to ground combat units. Panetta has given the various service branches until 2016 to come up with exemptions, and/or make any arguments about what roles should still reman closed to women. Thus, another bit of gender radicalism has been shoved down the nation's throat through executive fiat -- and this one is sure to have deadly consequences.
Big Taxes, Big Oil
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
A policy report from the scholars at The Brookings Institution finds that a surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production is a "bright spot" in the nation's economy. In December, the U.S. Energy Department noted that oil production was at its highest level in 15 years. For natural gas, the story is much the same given advancements in extraction technology. Because of this, the researchers at Brookings called on the White House to embrace the boom given lingering economic woes. Their recommendation on taxes, however, is likely to raise hackles from industry supporters.
Low Energy Light Bulbs Not So "Green" After All?
By Professor Chris Rhodes - OilPrice.com
Making choices about the kind of light bulbs we should be using, on the simple basis of energy consumption, and hence carbon emissions, may be a little short-sighted. Thus, the old fashioned incandescent bulbs are no longer commonly on sale, though there is something of a black market in them, due to the poorer quality of light given out by their alternatives - low-power CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) and LEDs (light emitting diodes).
Shell and Ukraine Finalize $10 Billion Shale Gas Contract
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Ukraine has very nearly stepped out from under the shadow of Russia and its dependency on Natural gas supplies from Gazprom, by today signing a $10 billion deal to develop domestic shale gas in conjunction with Royal Dutch Shell.
In both 2006 and 2009 Russia and Ukraine cashed over the prices that Russia was charging, leading to severe disruptions to gas flowing to, and through, the Ukraine. Bulgaria and Slovakia were left without gas supplies in the middle of winter as Russia stopped its gas flow through Ukrainian pipelines. A new long term contract between Ukraine and Russia, signed by Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009, for the supply of natural gas has also been a huge point of conflict, as Ukraine believes the terms are hugely exploitative; Yulia Tymoshenko is serving time in jail for abuse of office over the terms of the contract that she agreed to and signed.
Google Report Shows 'Disturbing Growth
in Government Surveillance' Most recent Transparency Report from web giant
reveals
136% increase in user data requests from US since 2009
By Andrea Germanos, staff writer - CommonDreams.com
Google has released its newest semiannual Transparency Report on Wednesday, which shows a "steady increase in government requests" for user data and marks a "disturbing growth in government surveillance online."
The report from the web giant, which discloses the number of requests it receives from governments and courts worldwide, shows that user data requests are up 70 percent since 2009, with a total of over 21,000 user data requests from over 33,000 users or accounts in the second half of 2012.
Russia urges North Korea to abide by nuclear, missile rules
(Reuters) - Russia urged North Korea on Wednesday to adhere to restrictions on its nuclear and missile programs, after the U.N. Security Council expanded existing sanctions against Pyongyang over a defiant rocket launch last month.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remarks added to pressure on Pyongyang to abide by Security Council resolutions which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
U.S. sanctions North Koreans over weapons proliferation
(Reuters) - The United States slapped economic sanctions on Thursday on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. move was linked to sanctions imposed by the United Nations against North Korea on Wednesday, which prompted an immediate threat by North Korea to boost its military and nuclear capabilities.
North Korea said it's set to carry out nuclear test,
aim weapons at U.S.
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
North Korea said on Thursday that it is poised to carry out a nuclear test and fire more long-range rockets in the direction of the U.S., but did not offer any time frame for its plans.
"We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States," North Korea's National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim threat shows no change in North Korea
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
The Obama administration rebuked North Korea on Thursday for its threat to conduct its third nuclear test and launch long-range rockets designed to "target against the U.S.," with the White House calling it "needlessly provocative."
Pyongyang's belligerent proclamation came in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution, approved unanimously on Tuesday, that imposes new sanctions for the communist nation's nuclear activities, warns of "significant" action if North Korea conducts another nuclear test and condemns its unexpectedly successful rocket launch in December.
White House warns against North Korea nuclear test
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The White House on Thursday said North Korea was being "needlessly provocative" after Pyongyang threatened to conduct its third nuclear test.
"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative, and a test would be a significant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests
By Ju-min Park and Choonsik Yoo
SEOUL | Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:47pm EST
(Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy".
The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North Korea for a rocket launch in December that breached U.N. rules.
