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Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:20:13 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Obama takes another page from the Dick, Cheney playbook

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan

By Jeremy Scahill

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.

US Mint to suspend American Eagle gold 1-oz coins

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:13:33 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: I wonder if Obama's *dumb* Afghan escalation and the trillion $ cost (try a LOT more than that) has anything to do with the crumbling domestic faith it its fiat currency

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

UPDATE 1-US Mint to suspend American Eagle gold 1-oz coins

 NEW YORK, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Mint said on
Wednesday it will suspend sales of the popular American Eagle
1-ounce bullion coins as rising demand depleted its inventory.

 "The United States Mint has depleted its current inventory
of 2009 American Eagle 1-ounce gold bullion coins due to the
continued strong demand for this product," the Mint told its
authorized dealers in a memorandum on Wednesday.

 November sales to date were at 124,000 ounces, higher than
the 115,500 ounces sold in each month of September and October,
the Mint said.

 The Mint said it expects to resume sales in early
December.

 Increasing worries about inflation, a falling U.S. dollar
and geopolitical tensions are prompting individual investors to
take physical possession of gold coins and other bullion
products due to the metal's appeal as a safe haven in financial
and political crises.

Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:07:52 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: The pro human-caused Global Warming 'scientists' try to stamp out opposing views... How surprising...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute

Hundreds of private e-mail messages and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change.

In one e-mail exchange, a scientist writes of using a statistical “trick” in a chart illustrating a recent sharp warming trend. In another, a scientist refers to climate skeptics as “idiots.”

Some skeptics asserted Friday that the correspondence revealed an effort to withhold scientific information. “This is not a smoking gun; this is a mushroom cloud,” said Patrick J. Michaels, a climatologist who has long faulted evidence pointing to human-driven warming and is criticized in the documents.

Some of the correspondence portrays the scientists as feeling under siege by the skeptics’ camp and worried that any stray comment or data glitch could be turned against them.

Japan Shows Concern as Dollar Slides

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:54:37 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Some would label this as protecting the economy, that is if there was one to protect

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Japan Shows Concern as Dollar Slides

HONG KONG — Japanese policy makers on Friday became increasingly vocal about the strength of the yen after the Japanese currency hit a 14-year high against the dollar, fueling speculation that the government may step into the market to artificially weaken the currency.

The dollar briefly fell to 84.82 yen — surpassing Thursday’s low and prompting the country’s finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, to tell reporters in Tokyo Friday that he was “extremely nervous and watching the market carefully.”

“There’s no doubt the market has moved too far in one direction,” Mr. Fujii said. “Moves right now are extreme, and it would be possible to take appropriate measures.”

Although he did not explicitly say that the government might intervene in the foreign exchange markets — by buying dollars for yen — such comments are often interpreted as “verbal intervention,” in which comments from top policy makers can swing market expectations and thus influence currency levels.

The worst is yet to come: Unemployed Americans should hunker down for more job losses

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:04:24 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Roubini Provides a rare dose of reality into the state of America

Clip Source: www.nydailynews.com

The worst is yet to come: Unemployed Americans should hunker down for more job losses

BY Nouriel Roubini

Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%.

While losing 200,000 jobs per month is better than the 700,000 jobs lost in January, current job losses still average more than the per month rate of 150,000 during the last recession.

Also, remember: The last recession ended in November 2001, but job losses continued for more than a year and half until June of 2003; ditto for the 1990-91 recession.

1 in 6 Americans goes hungry

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:47:23 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Perhaps the green shoots will feed us all

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

1 in 6 Americans goes hungry

Government report shows 15% of Americans had trouble putting food on the table -- a record high.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans that have trouble putting food on the table shot up last year in an unprecedented spike to a record 17 million households, the government reported on Monday.

The Department of Agriculture report, which has been released annually since 1995, said the number of Americans that were hungry rose to 14.6%. In 2007, 13 million households or 11.1% of Americans had trouble getting enough food.

The one-year jump is all the more significant, given the number of hungry Americans had never been higher than 11.9% since these surveys began.

More than 500,000 households that scaled back the amount that they ate were households with children, making up 1.3% of all U.S. homes with children.

The USDA said the main cause of hunger and food insecurity in the country is poverty.

Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:40:26 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: So that's where those green shoots come from...

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

By JONATHAN KARL
Nov. 16, 2009

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.

Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

One in 7 U.S. mortgages foreclosing or delinquent

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:36:01 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: I wonder why this is? The Government keeps telling us the recessions is over. Maybe they should tell us who it's over for.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

UPDATE 4-One in 7 U.S. mortgages foreclosing or delinquent

By Julie Haviv

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A record one in seven U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due in the third quarter, according to fresh data signaling the recovery in the housing market will be tepid at best.

U.S. mortgage delinquency rates and the percentage of loans that entered the foreclosure process also jumped to records from July to September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

Rising job losses were behind the increasingly bleak portrait of the housing market in a trend that will continue into next year, the group said in data that adds to recent evidence of a still-struggling housing market.

Housing and related business account for about 20 percent of the economy and recovery is essential to bring unemployment down from a 26-1/2-year high and kick-start economic growth.

Canadian Bankruptcies soar 43%

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:29:50 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: We finally found something to export!

Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

Bankruptcies soar 43%

CBC News

The number of bankruptcies across the country was 43 per cent higher in September than at the same point a year ago, government data shows.

The latest figures provided by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada show the increase is disproportionately slanted towards consumer bankruptcies over business insolvencies. The September figure for the former was up by 45.5 per cent in the last year; the latter by only 1.6 per cent.

"It's been like this the whole time. The recession has hit consumers harder," said Andy Fisher, a partner at bankruptcy trustee A. Farber & Partners.

"It's got to do with unemployment," he said. "It's consumer driven in part because unemployment continues to rise, which makes it hard to keep up with bills. But companies are better structured to handle the recession because they weren't as debt-addled as consumers," he said.

U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion, Barofsky Says

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:56:52 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: that's all? Our green shoots will make that all back in a fortnight!

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion, Barofsky Says (Update3)

By Dawn Kopecki and Catherine Dodge

July 20 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for as much as $23.7 trillion to bolster the economy and bail out financial companies, said Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Treasury’s $700 billion bank-investment program represents a fraction of all federal support to resuscitate the U.S. financial system, including $6.8 trillion in aid offered by the Federal Reserve, Barofsky said in a report released today.

“TARP has evolved into a program of unprecedented scope, scale and complexity,” Barofsky said in testimony prepared for a hearing tomorrow before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Federal tax revenues plummeting

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:56:50 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Wow! How unexpected! I bet Uncle Sammie decides to spend even more

Clip Source: www.google.com

AP ENTERPRISE: Federal tax revenues plummeting

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER (AP) – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON — The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation's plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab.

The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.

Other figures in an Associated Press analysis underscore the recession's impact: Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago. Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent. Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever.

The last time the government's revenues were this bleak, the year was 1932 in the midst of the Depression.

About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:45:07 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Looks like we're going to need a bigger TARP...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime "conforming" loans that meet underwriting and size guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank said in a report. Prime conforming loans make up two-thirds of mortgages, and are typically less risky because of stringent requirements.

"We project the next phase of the housing decline will have a far greater impact on prime borrowers," Deutsche analysts Karen Weaver and Ying Shen said in the report.

By Al Yoon

Senators, Advisers Urge Obama to More Than Double Afghan Forces

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:26:33 GMT

clipped by: etellefs

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Senators, Advisers Urge Obama to More Than Double Afghan Forces

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama and top U.S. military commanders are being pressed by senators and civilian advisers to more than double the size of Afghan security forces, a move that would cost billions of dollars.

In letters and face-to-face meetings, the lawmakers and defense officials urged Obama, National Security Advisor Jim Jones and the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan to boost the Afghan National Army and police from current levels of 175,000 to at least 400,000.

“Any further postponement” of a decision to support a surge in Afghan forces will hamper U.S. efforts to quell an insurgency in its eighth year, Senators Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to the White House in a July 21 letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:35:26 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: Obama-nomics continues to depress...

Clip Source: www.cnbc.com

Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden

Published: Wednesday, 29 Jul 2009 | 4:55 PM ET

By: Reuters

The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government's burgeoning budget deficit.

It was the second lackluster showing in as many days, convincing analysts that the stellar results of debt auctions just a few weeks ago were a fluke and that Thursday's $28 billion seven-year offering could suffer a similar fate.

Under the weight of the ballooning deficit, the government has raised auction volumes and analysts now wonder whether the strain on the market is showing.

Demand for the five-year notes was below average, measured by the bid-to-cover ratio of 1.92, the lowest in almost a year.

A key proxy for foreign interest, the indirect bidder category, was slightly above the average of auctions over the past year at 36.6 percent but far below the most recent sale.

Tamiflu causes sickness and nightmares in children, study finds

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:30:48 GMT

clipped by: etellefs
clipper's remarks: I'm from the government and I'm here to help you

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Tamiflu causes sickness and nightmares in children, study finds

More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests.

An estimated 150,000 people with flu symptoms were prescribed the drug through a new hotline and website last week, according to figures revealed yesterday.

Studies of children attending three schools in London and one in the South West showed that 51-53 per cent had one or more side-effects from the medication, which is offered to everyone in England with swine flu symptoms.

The research by the Health Protection Agency emerged as Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said that swine flu infections “may have reached a plateau”.