Kurt Nimmo - The Daily Caller is reporting that two crown jewels in the CIA’s long-standing corporate media propaganda effort – the Washington Post and CBS – are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars each from hoodwinked taxpayers in order to twist coverage of Obamacare.
“Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money,” writes Matthew Boyle for The Daily Caller.
“When NBC used to cover energy issues, they identified themselves as a subsidiary of General Electric. CBS and Washington Post just have to disclose that they are subsidiaries of the Obama Administration,” quipped Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican.
It’s a bit more sinister than that. The Obama administration is owned by Goldman Sachs and the banksters on Wall Street. CBS, the Washington Post, and the rest of the corporate media is controlled by the CIA, which was created by Wall Street and other establishment insiders.
“This program is providing ‘free’ money to corporations, states, unions, and pension plans. In addition, the Washington Post and CBS received funding under this program. How can the Washington Post and CBS be impartial on the issue of health care when they received funding under the health care law?” asked Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican.
Is the Washington political class uniformly clueless? Obviously, with a few notable exceptions. The Washington Post and CBS have never been impartial, it is not in their vocabulary. They are propaganda feeder units for the establishment and the banksters who own them.
Preferred minions and useful idiots always receive “free money” confiscated at gunpoint from beleaguered tax payers. Socialism for corporations is hardly a unique concept – this form of theft has been going on for decades.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Food Prices Jump 15% From Oct. To Jan.
Paul Cheeser - That's after I relayed yesterday that the U.S. burns "only" 25 percent of its corn as biofuels, which Associated Press insinuated was no big deal. Now this from the New York Times:
Each year, an ever larger portion of the world's crops - cassava and corn, sugar and palm oil - is being diverted for biofuels as developed countries pass laws mandating greater use of nonfossil fuels and as emerging powerhouses like China seek new sources of energy to keep their cars and industries running....
But with food prices rising sharply in recent months, many experts are calling on countries to scale back their headlong rush into green fuel development, arguing that the combination of ambitious biofuel targets and mediocre harvests of some crucial crops is contributing to high prices, hunger and political instability.
This year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that its index of food prices was the highest in its more than 20 years of existence. Prices rose 15 percent from October to January alone, potentially "throwing an additional 44 million people in low- and middle-income countries into poverty," the World Bank said.
Soaring food prices have caused riots or contributed to political turmoil in a host of poor countries in recent months, including Algeria, Egypt and Bangladesh, where palm oil, a common biofuel ingredient, provides crucial nutrition to a desperately poor populace. During the second half of 2010, the price of corn rose steeply - 73 percent in the United States - an increase that the United Nations World Food Program attributed in part to the greater use of American corn for bioethanol.
This after the AP reported yesterday:
Ethanol producers acknowledge they've increased demand for corn but say it's not enough to affect food prices.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, said the ethanol industry only uses about 25 percent of the nation's corn supply.
So who are you going to believe: the UN World Food Program, or a flack for the Renewable Fuels Association? I know, some choice.
Each year, an ever larger portion of the world's crops - cassava and corn, sugar and palm oil - is being diverted for biofuels as developed countries pass laws mandating greater use of nonfossil fuels and as emerging powerhouses like China seek new sources of energy to keep their cars and industries running....
But with food prices rising sharply in recent months, many experts are calling on countries to scale back their headlong rush into green fuel development, arguing that the combination of ambitious biofuel targets and mediocre harvests of some crucial crops is contributing to high prices, hunger and political instability.
This year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that its index of food prices was the highest in its more than 20 years of existence. Prices rose 15 percent from October to January alone, potentially "throwing an additional 44 million people in low- and middle-income countries into poverty," the World Bank said.
Soaring food prices have caused riots or contributed to political turmoil in a host of poor countries in recent months, including Algeria, Egypt and Bangladesh, where palm oil, a common biofuel ingredient, provides crucial nutrition to a desperately poor populace. During the second half of 2010, the price of corn rose steeply - 73 percent in the United States - an increase that the United Nations World Food Program attributed in part to the greater use of American corn for bioethanol.
This after the AP reported yesterday:
Ethanol producers acknowledge they've increased demand for corn but say it's not enough to affect food prices.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, said the ethanol industry only uses about 25 percent of the nation's corn supply.
So who are you going to believe: the UN World Food Program, or a flack for the Renewable Fuels Association? I know, some choice.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Working For New Minimum Wage McDonald's Jobs In America
Economic Collapse - Do you want to know how to find a job in America today? It’s easy. Just be willing to flip burgers, wait tables or welcome people to Wal-Mart. You must also be willing to work for close to minimum wage with no health benefits. It’s not that complicated. On April 19th, McDonald’s is going to be holding its first “national hiring day” and it will be attempting to fill 50,000 positions. Hundreds of thousands of applicants are expected, so if you are going to apply be ready for some stiff competition. McDonald’s held a similar event last year in its western region and 60,000 people applied for just 13,000 jobs. But if you are one of the lucky ones, you too may soon be flipping burgers for minimum wage. Who said that finding a job was hard and that the U.S. economy doesn’t work anymore? All of us just need to be “flexible” and we all need to be willing to adapt to the “new economic reality”.
Oh, you say that you can’t pay the mortgage and feed your family on what they would pay you at McDonald’s?
You say that you are looking for a “good job”?
Well, that is just too bad.
Good jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. In fact, there are 10% fewer “middle class jobs” in the United States today than there were a decade ago.
The competition for the few “middle class jobs” that are still available has become so intense that you might not want to steer clear. You just can’t afford to be too picky in today’s world.
After all, you don’t want to become one of those poor saps that is unemployed month after month after month. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of unemployment in the U.S. is now an all-time record 39 weeks.
Can you really afford to be out of work for almost a year?
Why not go after the “low hanging fruit”? For a position at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart you will probably only be competing against four or five other people for each job opening. Those odds aren’t that bad.
Things were not always like this in America, you say?
Once upon a time there were actually lots and lots of great jobs?
Well, this is part of the sacrifice that we must make for the emerging global economy. We must allow thousands of our factories to close and millions of our good paying jobs to be shipped overseas. Our politicians have all promised us that globalism will be incredibly good for us in the long run.
So don’t be alarmed when naysayers warn that the United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Yes, American workers now must directly compete for jobs with millions of people willing to work for slave labor wages on the other side of the globe. But eventually their wages will come up slightly and our wages will go way down to their level and at that point we will all have equality.
You aren’t against “equality” are you?
Who could be against equality?
This is what globalism is all about – tearing down all the borders and gathering us all into one big, happy “global family”. Right now too many of the good jobs are in America so millions of them have to be shipped out of the country. Also, millions of legal and illegal immigrants must be allowed into the U.S. so that they can compete for American jobs as well.
But won’t that drive wages down?
Of course, but in the end the “global community” will benefit.
What did you think? Did you actually believe that the United States would be able to have a thriving middle class forever?
In the new “global economy“, the wealthy get to exploit slave labor on the other side of the world thus wiping out the American middle class.
Already we are seeing signs of an “economic recovery” with the ultra-rich leading the way. According to Moody’s Analytics, the wealthiest 5% of households in the United States now account for approximately 37% of all consumer spending.
Oh, you say that you can’t pay the mortgage and feed your family on what they would pay you at McDonald’s?
You say that you are looking for a “good job”?
Well, that is just too bad.
Good jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. In fact, there are 10% fewer “middle class jobs” in the United States today than there were a decade ago.
The competition for the few “middle class jobs” that are still available has become so intense that you might not want to steer clear. You just can’t afford to be too picky in today’s world.
After all, you don’t want to become one of those poor saps that is unemployed month after month after month. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average length of unemployment in the U.S. is now an all-time record 39 weeks.
Can you really afford to be out of work for almost a year?
Why not go after the “low hanging fruit”? For a position at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart you will probably only be competing against four or five other people for each job opening. Those odds aren’t that bad.
Things were not always like this in America, you say?
Once upon a time there were actually lots and lots of great jobs?
Well, this is part of the sacrifice that we must make for the emerging global economy. We must allow thousands of our factories to close and millions of our good paying jobs to be shipped overseas. Our politicians have all promised us that globalism will be incredibly good for us in the long run.
So don’t be alarmed when naysayers warn that the United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Yes, American workers now must directly compete for jobs with millions of people willing to work for slave labor wages on the other side of the globe. But eventually their wages will come up slightly and our wages will go way down to their level and at that point we will all have equality.
You aren’t against “equality” are you?
Who could be against equality?
This is what globalism is all about – tearing down all the borders and gathering us all into one big, happy “global family”. Right now too many of the good jobs are in America so millions of them have to be shipped out of the country. Also, millions of legal and illegal immigrants must be allowed into the U.S. so that they can compete for American jobs as well.
But won’t that drive wages down?
Of course, but in the end the “global community” will benefit.
What did you think? Did you actually believe that the United States would be able to have a thriving middle class forever?
In the new “global economy“, the wealthy get to exploit slave labor on the other side of the world thus wiping out the American middle class.
Already we are seeing signs of an “economic recovery” with the ultra-rich leading the way. According to Moody’s Analytics, the wealthiest 5% of households in the United States now account for approximately 37% of all consumer spending.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Republican Budget Proposal $4 Trillion In Budget Cuts
Jeff Cox - The Republican budget proposal will eliminate the national debt while still preserving costly entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, Rep. Paul Ryan told CNBC.
US Capitol Building with cash
Speaking just hours before the spending plan gets its formal introduction before Congress, Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee, said the debt will peak at 74.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2014 and then drop from there.
"We've got to show the country that we can get this situation under control and grow the economy, and that's what we're doing," he said. "So whether (Democratic Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid is willing to pass this bill or Barack Obama is ready to sign it, I don't know the answer to that question.
"What I do know is I can't look my kids and my constituents in the eyes with my conscience being clear and not know that I didn't do everything I could to try and fix this problem before it got out of control."
Among the key tenets in a budget resolution to be presented are fundamental changes to the way Medicare and Medicaid are financed. The resolution forestalls action on Social Security, though Ryan said he expects a bipartisan agreement on that issue later this year.
More broadly, the plan contains provisions that Ryan has said will slash $4 trillion from federal spending over the next decade.
The resolution is necessary as a potential shutdown looms over Washington and Congress must approve raising the national debt limit.
Ryan acknowledged the political obstacles he will face both from Democrats and some members of this own party who may bristle at the aggressive spending cuts involved.
"The problem in Washington is, they take any honest and sincere attempt to fix this problem and use it as a political weapon against you in the next election," he said. "We can't let that deter us
US Capitol Building with cash
Speaking just hours before the spending plan gets its formal introduction before Congress, Ryan, head of the House Budget Committee, said the debt will peak at 74.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2014 and then drop from there.
"We've got to show the country that we can get this situation under control and grow the economy, and that's what we're doing," he said. "So whether (Democratic Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid is willing to pass this bill or Barack Obama is ready to sign it, I don't know the answer to that question.
"What I do know is I can't look my kids and my constituents in the eyes with my conscience being clear and not know that I didn't do everything I could to try and fix this problem before it got out of control."
Among the key tenets in a budget resolution to be presented are fundamental changes to the way Medicare and Medicaid are financed. The resolution forestalls action on Social Security, though Ryan said he expects a bipartisan agreement on that issue later this year.
More broadly, the plan contains provisions that Ryan has said will slash $4 trillion from federal spending over the next decade.
The resolution is necessary as a potential shutdown looms over Washington and Congress must approve raising the national debt limit.
Ryan acknowledged the political obstacles he will face both from Democrats and some members of this own party who may bristle at the aggressive spending cuts involved.
"The problem in Washington is, they take any honest and sincere attempt to fix this problem and use it as a political weapon against you in the next election," he said. "We can't let that deter us
Oil Could Hit $200-$300 A Barrel On Saudi Unrest
LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Oil prices could rocket to $200- $300 a barrel if the world's top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is hit by serious political unrest, former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani told Reuters on Tuesday.
Yamani said he saw no immediate sign of further trouble following protests last month calling for political reforms but said that underlying discontent remained unresolved.
"If something happens in Saudi Arabia it will go to $200 to $300. I don't expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?" Yamani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) which he chairs.
"The political events that took place are there and we don't expect them to finish. I think there are some surprises on the horizon," he said in a speech.
Saudi King Abdullah offered $93 billion in handouts in March in an effort to stave off unrest rocking the Arab world.
So far, demonstrations in the Kingdom have been small in scale and police were able to easily disperse a Shi'ite protest in the oil-producing eastern province last month.
But Yamani said that the reluctance of people to participate in popular protests was merely concealing underlying discontent.
"Some people relax about the situation in Saudi Arabia because the Saudi Islamic brand prohibits people to go to the street and to talk," he said in a speech.
SAUDI TIME BOMB
Oil traded at two-and-a-half-year highs above $121 a barrel LCOc1 on Tuesday. Libya's rebellion has shut its oil exports, stoking fears of disruptions in other major producers.
Yamani said he saw no immediate sign of further trouble following protests last month calling for political reforms but said that underlying discontent remained unresolved.
"If something happens in Saudi Arabia it will go to $200 to $300. I don't expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?" Yamani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) which he chairs.
"The political events that took place are there and we don't expect them to finish. I think there are some surprises on the horizon," he said in a speech.
Saudi King Abdullah offered $93 billion in handouts in March in an effort to stave off unrest rocking the Arab world.
So far, demonstrations in the Kingdom have been small in scale and police were able to easily disperse a Shi'ite protest in the oil-producing eastern province last month.
But Yamani said that the reluctance of people to participate in popular protests was merely concealing underlying discontent.
"Some people relax about the situation in Saudi Arabia because the Saudi Islamic brand prohibits people to go to the street and to talk," he said in a speech.
SAUDI TIME BOMB
Oil traded at two-and-a-half-year highs above $121 a barrel LCOc1 on Tuesday. Libya's rebellion has shut its oil exports, stoking fears of disruptions in other major producers.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Rep. Paul Ryan : A Real American Leader
Bronwyn's Harbor - If you’re like me and often have the TV news on as I go about my day, I miss a lot of what is said and easily get distracted by chores, phone calls, e-mails, etc. But once in a rare while, a guest says something that resonates so profoundly, I have to stop and listen. That’s what happened to me yesterday when Rep. Paul Ryan was Chris Wallace’s guest on Fox News Sunday. After peppering Ryan with a series of questions about the House Budget Committee Chairman’s budget draft, Wallace asked Ryan about Barack Obama’s plans to launch his 2012 campaign this week. Ryan replied:
We don’t need a good politician. We need a strong leader.
God, if words were ever truer … you and I have been reading Larry Johnson’s posts that beg for Obama to demonstrate some leadership and expose how Obama has made the U.S. a laughing stock around the world. It is heartening that we have political figures like Paul Ryan who has guts, brains, knowledge, experience and character. (And I have a question: When in the hell are our political parties going to let us vote for substantive candidates like Ryan for the presidency?)
In case you missed it, here’s the Fox News Sunday interview, along with the article, “GOP Budget Plan to Cut More Than $4 Trillion Over Decade, Rep. Paul Ryan Says“:
From “GOP Budget Plan to Cut More Than $4 Trillion Over Decade, Rep. Paul Ryan Says“:
The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee said his party’s budget proposal for 2012 would cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, vowing to tackle costly entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.
The proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, would serve as the Republicans’ official response to President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion budget for 2012. The White House claims its plan would cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade.
But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” accused Obama of “punting” and said Republicans’ plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president’s fiscal commission — which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.
“We can’t keep kicking this can down the road,” Ryan said. “The president has punted. We’re not going to follow suit.” …
Amen, brother. Imagine our president as a football coach. Every time his squad has the ball, they never make 10 yards and punt the ball, leaving the team’s defense to do all the heavy lifting, er excuse making.
And I love this conclusion to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential post, “Ryan’s budget plan to slash deficits by over $4 trillion,” on Ryan’s budget plans:
When President Obama ignored the proposals of his own fiscal commission, it was an indication that he had chosen politics over leadership. That is, it was more important for him to goad Republicans into proposing entitlement reform so Democrats could attack them for it, then it was for him to try and actually address the nation’s challenges. Evidently, Ryan has decided to take the opposite approach.
We don’t need a good politician. We need a strong leader.
God, if words were ever truer … you and I have been reading Larry Johnson’s posts that beg for Obama to demonstrate some leadership and expose how Obama has made the U.S. a laughing stock around the world. It is heartening that we have political figures like Paul Ryan who has guts, brains, knowledge, experience and character. (And I have a question: When in the hell are our political parties going to let us vote for substantive candidates like Ryan for the presidency?)
In case you missed it, here’s the Fox News Sunday interview, along with the article, “GOP Budget Plan to Cut More Than $4 Trillion Over Decade, Rep. Paul Ryan Says“:
From “GOP Budget Plan to Cut More Than $4 Trillion Over Decade, Rep. Paul Ryan Says“:
The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee said his party’s budget proposal for 2012 would cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, vowing to tackle costly entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.
The proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, would serve as the Republicans’ official response to President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion budget for 2012. The White House claims its plan would cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade.
But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” accused Obama of “punting” and said Republicans’ plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president’s fiscal commission — which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.
“We can’t keep kicking this can down the road,” Ryan said. “The president has punted. We’re not going to follow suit.” …
Amen, brother. Imagine our president as a football coach. Every time his squad has the ball, they never make 10 yards and punt the ball, leaving the team’s defense to do all the heavy lifting, er excuse making.
And I love this conclusion to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential post, “Ryan’s budget plan to slash deficits by over $4 trillion,” on Ryan’s budget plans:
When President Obama ignored the proposals of his own fiscal commission, it was an indication that he had chosen politics over leadership. That is, it was more important for him to goad Republicans into proposing entitlement reform so Democrats could attack them for it, then it was for him to try and actually address the nation’s challenges. Evidently, Ryan has decided to take the opposite approach.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
44 Million Americans On Food Stamps "Change We All Can Believe In"
When Barack Obama, the Federal Reserve and the mainstream media tell us that we are in the middle of an economic recovery, is that supposed to be some kind of sick joke? According to newly released numbers, over 44 million Americans are now on food stamps. That is a new all-time record and that number is 13.1% higher than it was just one year ago. So how many Americans have to go on food stamps before we can all finally agree that the U.S. economy is dying? 50 million? 60 million? All of us? The food stamp program is the modern equivalent of the old bread lines. More than one out of every seven Americans now depends on the federal government for food. Oh, but haven’t you heard? The economy is showing dramatic improvement. Corporate profits are up. The stock market is soaring. Happy days are here again.
It just seems inconceivable that anyone can claim that the economy is improving when the number of Americans on food stamps continues to set a brand new record every single month. But the food stamp program is not the only indicator that the economy is still having massive problems. The following are 10 more reasons why the U.S. economy is simply not getting any better….
#1 Some recent statistics actually indicate that the number of unemployed Americans is still going up. According to Gallup, unemployment in the United States rose to 10.3% at the end of February. That is the highest number Gallup has reported since early last year.
#2 The housing industry is still a complete and total disaster. In fact, new home sales in the U.S. in January were 11.2% lower than they were in December. Not only that, the number of new home sales in January was 18.6% lower than the number of new home sales in January 2010. That is not a sign of improvement.
#3 There wouldn’t even be much of a housing industry at all at this point if it was not for the U.S. government. Right now the U.S. government is either writing or guaranteeing well over 90 percent of all mortgages in the United States. So what would the housing market look like in 2011 if the government was not in the picture?
#4 In 2010, more than a million U.S. families lost their homes to foreclosure for the first time ever, and that number is expected to go even higher in 2011.
#5 Due to rampant economic decay and record numbers of foreclosures there are areas in most of our major cities that now look like “war zones”. For example, the Huffington Post is reporting that there are now approximately 15,000 vacant buildings in the city of Chicago and there are approximately 60,000 vacant houses and apartments in the city of Las Vegas.
#6 According to the Oil Price Information Service, U.S. drivers spent an average of $347 on gasoline during the month of February, which was 30 percent more than a year earlier. This represented 8.5% of median monthly income. So what is going to happen when gas prices go even higher? Sadly, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. has risen another 4 cents since yesterday and it is likely to go much higher from here.
#7 The U.S. trade deficit continues to grow. The trade deficit was about 33 percent larger in 2010 than it was in 2009, and the 2011 trade deficit is expected to be even bigger.
#8 The CredAbility Consumer Distress Index, which measures the average financial condition of U.S. households, declined in every single quarter in 2010.
#9 The number of Americans that have become so discouraged that they have given up searching for work completely now stands at an all-time high.
#10 The U.S. national debt is growing faster than ever. The Obama administration is projecting that the federal budget deficit for this fiscal year will be a new all-time record 1.65 trillion dollars. It is hard to even imagine how much money that is. If you went out today and started spending one dollar every single second, it would take you over 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars. Long ago the U.S. government should have been getting these deficits under control, but instead they are just getting even larger.
So in light of the statistics above, can anyone really claim that we are in the middle of an economic recovery?
The truth is that there is no sign that any of the long-term trends that are destroying the U.S. economy are even slowing down.
Millions of jobs continue to be shipped overseas.
The U.S. dollar continues to be devalued.
The federal government continues to go into more debt.
State and local governments continue to go into more debt.
Our trade deficit continues to grow.
Our cities continue to be transformed into wastelands as they are being systematically deindustrialized.
The number of Americans that are dependent on the government continues to soar.
The U.S. middle class continues to shrink.
I know that I harp on these themes over and over, but it is vitally important that everyone understands that the mainstream media is lying to us.
The U.S. economy is dying a very painful death and there is no hope on the horizon.
Things are not going to be getting better. Well, they may get a bit better for the boys down on Wall Street, but for the rest of us our standards of living are going to continue to decline.
The best days for the U.S. economy are already behind us. What lies ahead is a whole lot of pain.
We are going to pay the price for decades of corruption and incompetence.
It just seems inconceivable that anyone can claim that the economy is improving when the number of Americans on food stamps continues to set a brand new record every single month. But the food stamp program is not the only indicator that the economy is still having massive problems. The following are 10 more reasons why the U.S. economy is simply not getting any better….
#1 Some recent statistics actually indicate that the number of unemployed Americans is still going up. According to Gallup, unemployment in the United States rose to 10.3% at the end of February. That is the highest number Gallup has reported since early last year.
#2 The housing industry is still a complete and total disaster. In fact, new home sales in the U.S. in January were 11.2% lower than they were in December. Not only that, the number of new home sales in January was 18.6% lower than the number of new home sales in January 2010. That is not a sign of improvement.
#3 There wouldn’t even be much of a housing industry at all at this point if it was not for the U.S. government. Right now the U.S. government is either writing or guaranteeing well over 90 percent of all mortgages in the United States. So what would the housing market look like in 2011 if the government was not in the picture?
#4 In 2010, more than a million U.S. families lost their homes to foreclosure for the first time ever, and that number is expected to go even higher in 2011.
#5 Due to rampant economic decay and record numbers of foreclosures there are areas in most of our major cities that now look like “war zones”. For example, the Huffington Post is reporting that there are now approximately 15,000 vacant buildings in the city of Chicago and there are approximately 60,000 vacant houses and apartments in the city of Las Vegas.
#6 According to the Oil Price Information Service, U.S. drivers spent an average of $347 on gasoline during the month of February, which was 30 percent more than a year earlier. This represented 8.5% of median monthly income. So what is going to happen when gas prices go even higher? Sadly, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. has risen another 4 cents since yesterday and it is likely to go much higher from here.
#7 The U.S. trade deficit continues to grow. The trade deficit was about 33 percent larger in 2010 than it was in 2009, and the 2011 trade deficit is expected to be even bigger.
#8 The CredAbility Consumer Distress Index, which measures the average financial condition of U.S. households, declined in every single quarter in 2010.
#9 The number of Americans that have become so discouraged that they have given up searching for work completely now stands at an all-time high.
#10 The U.S. national debt is growing faster than ever. The Obama administration is projecting that the federal budget deficit for this fiscal year will be a new all-time record 1.65 trillion dollars. It is hard to even imagine how much money that is. If you went out today and started spending one dollar every single second, it would take you over 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars. Long ago the U.S. government should have been getting these deficits under control, but instead they are just getting even larger.
So in light of the statistics above, can anyone really claim that we are in the middle of an economic recovery?
The truth is that there is no sign that any of the long-term trends that are destroying the U.S. economy are even slowing down.
Millions of jobs continue to be shipped overseas.
The U.S. dollar continues to be devalued.
The federal government continues to go into more debt.
State and local governments continue to go into more debt.
Our trade deficit continues to grow.
Our cities continue to be transformed into wastelands as they are being systematically deindustrialized.
The number of Americans that are dependent on the government continues to soar.
The U.S. middle class continues to shrink.
I know that I harp on these themes over and over, but it is vitally important that everyone understands that the mainstream media is lying to us.
The U.S. economy is dying a very painful death and there is no hope on the horizon.
Things are not going to be getting better. Well, they may get a bit better for the boys down on Wall Street, but for the rest of us our standards of living are going to continue to decline.
The best days for the U.S. economy are already behind us. What lies ahead is a whole lot of pain.
We are going to pay the price for decades of corruption and incompetence.
Gitmo Graduates, Two Other Islamist Thugs At The Head Of The Libya's Rebellion
Ed Morrissey - When the Telegraph first reported on the presence of Abdel Hakim al-Hasadi, the story started off with an explanation that, contrary to rumor, Hasadi had never been held at Guantanamo Bay. American forces had captured him fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the US transferred him to Libya after holding him in Afghanistan for a period of at least several months. However, Sufyan Ben Qumu did graduate from Club Gitmo in 2007 after six years in detention, and now he, Hasadi, and known Islamist exremist Salah al-Bahrani lead a substantial portion of the Libyan rebellion (via Liberty Pundits):
Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city’s military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism. …
Mr. Hasady’s field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.
Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden’s holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city’s rebel recruits.
Both Messrs. Hasady and Ben Qumu were picked up by Pakistani authorities after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and were turned over to the U.S. Mr. Hasady was released to Libyan custody two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six years at Guantanamo Bay before he was turned over to Libyan custody in 2007.
Earlier this week, Admiral James Stavridis told Congress that intelligence had picked up “flickers” of radical Islamists in the rebellion. If these are “flickers,” then the Taliban must have be only a 40-watt light bulb in Afghanistan. We have a former Gitmo detainee training new insurgency fighters in a near-failed state, a situation that sounds a lot like Yemen rather than Libya, plus two mujahedin veterans running a major portion of the rebellion.
Thomas Joscelyn gives us more background on Qumu:
Declassified memos produced at Guantanamo paint a troubling picture of the man who is training Derna’s rebels. …
In Sudan, Qumu was a truck driver for a company owned by Osama bin Laden, but his standing soon progressed. He was named to the military committee of the LIFG. In 1998, Qumu joined the Taliban’s forces in Afghanistan, where he fought against the Northern Alliance.
Qumu continued to work with al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well. In memos prepared at Guantanamo, US officials alleged that he “received military training at Osama bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan” and his “name and family information” were “listed on a document which contained details of al Qaeda operatives’ families.” The Gitmo files note that the document “is associated with a senior al Qaeda operative.”
US officials at Gitmo also alleged that Qumu “met a senior al Qaeda facilitator between ten and twenty occasions.” One of the al Qaeda-affiliated camps Qumu attended was the Khalden camp, which was run by Ibn Sheikh al Libi, a senior al Qaeda leader who died while in Libyan custody in 2009, and Abu Zubaydah, a senior al Qaeda facilitator who is currently detained at Gitmo. The Gitmo files do not specifically say if either of these two al Qaeda leaders met with Qumu, or if he repeatedly met some other “senior al Qaeda facilitator.”
While in Kabul from August to November of 2001, Qumu worked for al Wafa, a charity that has been designated as an al Qaeda front by the US Treasury Department and United Nations. Sometime after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Qumu allegedly “met with al Qaeda operatives at a guest house in Kabul…to discuss the evacuation of women and children.” He also allegedly delivered equipment to al Qaeda and Taliban forces fighting the Northern Alliance in Mazar e Sharif, Afghanistan in late 2001.
So why did we release Qumu in the first place? Supposedly, it acted to strengthen our position on the global stage. Instead, we’ve let a very dangerous Islamist build an army of insurgents in North Africa. That’s not the Obama administration’s fault, of course, as Qumu was released during the Bush administration. But it is a good reason to stop releasing others from Gitmo.
Meanwhile, the US continues to publicly mull sending weapons to the rebellion. That’s a flicker of smart power.
Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city’s military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism. …
Mr. Hasady’s field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.
Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden’s holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city’s rebel recruits.
Both Messrs. Hasady and Ben Qumu were picked up by Pakistani authorities after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and were turned over to the U.S. Mr. Hasady was released to Libyan custody two months later. Mr. Ben Qumu spent six years at Guantanamo Bay before he was turned over to Libyan custody in 2007.
Earlier this week, Admiral James Stavridis told Congress that intelligence had picked up “flickers” of radical Islamists in the rebellion. If these are “flickers,” then the Taliban must have be only a 40-watt light bulb in Afghanistan. We have a former Gitmo detainee training new insurgency fighters in a near-failed state, a situation that sounds a lot like Yemen rather than Libya, plus two mujahedin veterans running a major portion of the rebellion.
Thomas Joscelyn gives us more background on Qumu:
Declassified memos produced at Guantanamo paint a troubling picture of the man who is training Derna’s rebels. …
In Sudan, Qumu was a truck driver for a company owned by Osama bin Laden, but his standing soon progressed. He was named to the military committee of the LIFG. In 1998, Qumu joined the Taliban’s forces in Afghanistan, where he fought against the Northern Alliance.
Qumu continued to work with al Qaeda in Afghanistan as well. In memos prepared at Guantanamo, US officials alleged that he “received military training at Osama bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan” and his “name and family information” were “listed on a document which contained details of al Qaeda operatives’ families.” The Gitmo files note that the document “is associated with a senior al Qaeda operative.”
US officials at Gitmo also alleged that Qumu “met a senior al Qaeda facilitator between ten and twenty occasions.” One of the al Qaeda-affiliated camps Qumu attended was the Khalden camp, which was run by Ibn Sheikh al Libi, a senior al Qaeda leader who died while in Libyan custody in 2009, and Abu Zubaydah, a senior al Qaeda facilitator who is currently detained at Gitmo. The Gitmo files do not specifically say if either of these two al Qaeda leaders met with Qumu, or if he repeatedly met some other “senior al Qaeda facilitator.”
While in Kabul from August to November of 2001, Qumu worked for al Wafa, a charity that has been designated as an al Qaeda front by the US Treasury Department and United Nations. Sometime after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Qumu allegedly “met with al Qaeda operatives at a guest house in Kabul…to discuss the evacuation of women and children.” He also allegedly delivered equipment to al Qaeda and Taliban forces fighting the Northern Alliance in Mazar e Sharif, Afghanistan in late 2001.
So why did we release Qumu in the first place? Supposedly, it acted to strengthen our position on the global stage. Instead, we’ve let a very dangerous Islamist build an army of insurgents in North Africa. That’s not the Obama administration’s fault, of course, as Qumu was released during the Bush administration. But it is a good reason to stop releasing others from Gitmo.
Meanwhile, the US continues to publicly mull sending weapons to the rebellion. That’s a flicker of smart power.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Seven U.N. Workers in Afghanistan Killed and Two Beheaded
David Nelson - Seven United Nations workers have been executed in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, two of them by beheading, by demonstrators protesting the burning of a Koran at a church in Florida.
The victims of the worst-ever attack on UN personnel in Afghanistan included five guards from Nepal, and civilian staff from Norway, Sweden and Romania. Four local residents were also killed.
UN officials told The Daily Telegraph the final toll could rise as high as 20, and there were unconfirmed reports that the head of the United Nations Military Assistance Mission (Unama) in Mazar-e-Sharif had also been seriously injured
Local residents said about 2,000 demonstrators attacked UN guards stationed outside Unama compound, seized their weapons and began firing at police.
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman, said the protesters beheaded two of the guards and shot others before scaling an anti-blast wall to topple a guard tower and set fire to buildings.
Few details were available on how the attack took place, but local residents said crowds began gathering there after a cleric at the city's central mosque urged worshippers at Friday prayers to call on the UN take action against Wayne Sapp, an evangelical preacher who burned a Koran at a service at a small fringe church in Gainesville, Flordia, on March 20.
The church is headed by Terry Jones, a pastor who threatened to burn a Koran in September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Even though Mr Jones called off his planned action in the face of global outrage, five people were killed in protests targeting Nato facilities in Afghanistan. Pastor Jones told Sky News in the wake of the attack that the US "must take action".
Following the Koran burning, Maulvi Qayamuddin Kashaf, had called on American authorities to prosecute Mr Sapp as a war criminal. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's President, had also described the Koran burning as a "crime against religion," and called on the US and UN to take action.
It is unclear how the demonstration in Mazar-e-Sharif turned violent, but Mr Noor said 20 "insurgents" involved in the killings had been arrested, suggesting they may have infiltrated the crowd. The crowd the turned on the guards outside the UN compound, and then settled
Mazar-i-Sharif is a relatively peaceful town, and was earmarked as one of the first where Nato troops would be replaced by Afghan forces.
There was confusion over the numbers of dead after Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor of Balkh province, said seven UN staff had been killed, including a woman. Later reports, however, placed the number at eight. Unama said it was aware of the incident, but did not disclose details on casualties, saying it was "working to ascertain all the facts."
Local police spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai said "two of the killed UN staff were beheaded." General Abdul Rauf Taj, a senior official, had earlier said that two guards were "shot in the head."
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, described the attack as "outrageous and cowardly," while Barack Obama, the US president, said he condemned it "in the strongest possible terms." William Hague, the foreign secretary, condemned the "brutal act".
Security at Nato and UN buildings in Afghanistan had been upgraded in recent weeks amid fears of attacks in protest at revelations that a 'Kill Squad' of American soldiers had killed innocent civilians and taken photographs of the bodies as trophies.
The US government has apologised for the atrocities, but its officials have been braced for retaliatory attacks since the photographs were published.
The UN's representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown in to Mazar-i-Sharif to manage the crisis, and was last night meeting local Nato military commanders and the local chief of police.
The victims of the worst-ever attack on UN personnel in Afghanistan included five guards from Nepal, and civilian staff from Norway, Sweden and Romania. Four local residents were also killed.
UN officials told The Daily Telegraph the final toll could rise as high as 20, and there were unconfirmed reports that the head of the United Nations Military Assistance Mission (Unama) in Mazar-e-Sharif had also been seriously injured
Local residents said about 2,000 demonstrators attacked UN guards stationed outside Unama compound, seized their weapons and began firing at police.
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman, said the protesters beheaded two of the guards and shot others before scaling an anti-blast wall to topple a guard tower and set fire to buildings.
Few details were available on how the attack took place, but local residents said crowds began gathering there after a cleric at the city's central mosque urged worshippers at Friday prayers to call on the UN take action against Wayne Sapp, an evangelical preacher who burned a Koran at a service at a small fringe church in Gainesville, Flordia, on March 20.
The church is headed by Terry Jones, a pastor who threatened to burn a Koran in September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Even though Mr Jones called off his planned action in the face of global outrage, five people were killed in protests targeting Nato facilities in Afghanistan. Pastor Jones told Sky News in the wake of the attack that the US "must take action".
Following the Koran burning, Maulvi Qayamuddin Kashaf, had called on American authorities to prosecute Mr Sapp as a war criminal. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's President, had also described the Koran burning as a "crime against religion," and called on the US and UN to take action.
It is unclear how the demonstration in Mazar-e-Sharif turned violent, but Mr Noor said 20 "insurgents" involved in the killings had been arrested, suggesting they may have infiltrated the crowd. The crowd the turned on the guards outside the UN compound, and then settled
Mazar-i-Sharif is a relatively peaceful town, and was earmarked as one of the first where Nato troops would be replaced by Afghan forces.
There was confusion over the numbers of dead after Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor of Balkh province, said seven UN staff had been killed, including a woman. Later reports, however, placed the number at eight. Unama said it was aware of the incident, but did not disclose details on casualties, saying it was "working to ascertain all the facts."
Local police spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai said "two of the killed UN staff were beheaded." General Abdul Rauf Taj, a senior official, had earlier said that two guards were "shot in the head."
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, described the attack as "outrageous and cowardly," while Barack Obama, the US president, said he condemned it "in the strongest possible terms." William Hague, the foreign secretary, condemned the "brutal act".
Security at Nato and UN buildings in Afghanistan had been upgraded in recent weeks amid fears of attacks in protest at revelations that a 'Kill Squad' of American soldiers had killed innocent civilians and taken photographs of the bodies as trophies.
The US government has apologised for the atrocities, but its officials have been braced for retaliatory attacks since the photographs were published.
The UN's representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown in to Mazar-i-Sharif to manage the crisis, and was last night meeting local Nato military commanders and the local chief of police.
Friday, April 1, 2011
March Jobs Report: More Economic Hoodwinking And Bamboozlement From Obama
Larry Johnson - aps up Obama economic “facts” like a dog drinking from a toliet bowl. The so-called good news from today’s jobs report is bogus. Pure and simple. Just look at the facts (click on this link to read the actual BLS figures for yourself).
Let’s start with the civilian non-institutionalized population. From March 2010 thru March 2011 this figure increased by 1,841,000 new people.
So what happened to the civilian labor force? It shrank by 489,000 people during that same 13 month period. Get this straight–the number of non-institutionalized people increased by almost two million but the labor force declined by approximately 500,000. Where did these people go? If you deliberately exclude almost a half-million people from your labor pool then it is easy to show the unemployment rate falling.
So how many new folks actually got a job between March 2010 and March 2011?
Nine hundred twelve thousand aka 912,000. Now divide that by 13 months. The result is an average of 70,154 new jobs entering the market each month. This is not even close to keeping pace with the growing population. If you divide 1.8 million by 13 you get 141,615 new folks on average increasing the civilian population. This means you need at least 100,000 new jobs per month just to keep pace with population growth. We have not achieved that figure during the 13 month period the BLS uses in this set of stats.
Sorry to pop your bubble, but this so-called good news on the jobs front is ephemeral and misleading. Don’t take my words. Do the math yourself.
Let’s start with the civilian non-institutionalized population. From March 2010 thru March 2011 this figure increased by 1,841,000 new people.
So what happened to the civilian labor force? It shrank by 489,000 people during that same 13 month period. Get this straight–the number of non-institutionalized people increased by almost two million but the labor force declined by approximately 500,000. Where did these people go? If you deliberately exclude almost a half-million people from your labor pool then it is easy to show the unemployment rate falling.
So how many new folks actually got a job between March 2010 and March 2011?
Nine hundred twelve thousand aka 912,000. Now divide that by 13 months. The result is an average of 70,154 new jobs entering the market each month. This is not even close to keeping pace with the growing population. If you divide 1.8 million by 13 you get 141,615 new folks on average increasing the civilian population. This means you need at least 100,000 new jobs per month just to keep pace with population growth. We have not achieved that figure during the 13 month period the BLS uses in this set of stats.
Sorry to pop your bubble, but this so-called good news on the jobs front is ephemeral and misleading. Don’t take my words. Do the math yourself.
Gallup: U.S. Underemployment Rises To 20.3% In March
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup Daily tracking finds that 20.3% of the U.S. workforce was underemployed in March -- a slight uptick from the relatively flat January and February numbers.
Underemployment in U.S. Workforce, December 2009-March 2010 Monthly Trend
"The underemployed in March became neither more nor less hopeful about finding work soon."
These results are based on March interviews with more than 20,000 adults in the U.S. workforce, aged 18 and older. Gallup classifies respondents as underemployed if they are unemployed or working part-time but wanting full-time work. Gallup employment data are not seasonally adjusted.
A rise in the percentage of part-timers wanting to work full time (from 9.2% to 9.9%) is responsible for the March increase in underemployment. Unemployment saw a slight, but insignificant, decline in March.
Underemployment Components, December 2009-March 2010 Monthly Trend
Underemployed Americans Still Not Hopeful
Despite the Obama administration's March 16 announcement that unemployment would remain high or increase in coming months, the underemployed in March became neither more nor less hopeful about finding work soon. Six in 10 underemployed Americans are not hopeful they will find work or move from part-time to full-time work in the next four weeks. That translates to 12% of the workforce that is both underemployed and not hopeful they will find their desired amount of work. The lack of change suggests that underemployed Americans anticipated long-term difficulties in finding work well before the administration's formal announcement was made.
Hope Among Underemployed for Finding a Job in the Next Four Weeks, January-March 2010 Trend
Bottom Line
As unemployed Americans find part-time, temporary, and seasonal work, the official unemployment rate could decline. However, this does not necessarily mean more Americans are working at their desired capacity. It will continue to be important to track underemployment -- to shed light on the true state of the U.S. workforce, and the millions of Americans who are searching for full-time employment.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 20,504 national adults, who are part of the workforce, aged 18 and older, conducted March 1-31, 2010. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage points.
For results based on the sample of 4,164 adults who were underemployed in March, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones (for respondents with a landline telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Underemployment in U.S. Workforce, December 2009-March 2010 Monthly Trend
"The underemployed in March became neither more nor less hopeful about finding work soon."
These results are based on March interviews with more than 20,000 adults in the U.S. workforce, aged 18 and older. Gallup classifies respondents as underemployed if they are unemployed or working part-time but wanting full-time work. Gallup employment data are not seasonally adjusted.
A rise in the percentage of part-timers wanting to work full time (from 9.2% to 9.9%) is responsible for the March increase in underemployment. Unemployment saw a slight, but insignificant, decline in March.
Underemployment Components, December 2009-March 2010 Monthly Trend
Underemployed Americans Still Not Hopeful
Despite the Obama administration's March 16 announcement that unemployment would remain high or increase in coming months, the underemployed in March became neither more nor less hopeful about finding work soon. Six in 10 underemployed Americans are not hopeful they will find work or move from part-time to full-time work in the next four weeks. That translates to 12% of the workforce that is both underemployed and not hopeful they will find their desired amount of work. The lack of change suggests that underemployed Americans anticipated long-term difficulties in finding work well before the administration's formal announcement was made.
Hope Among Underemployed for Finding a Job in the Next Four Weeks, January-March 2010 Trend
Bottom Line
As unemployed Americans find part-time, temporary, and seasonal work, the official unemployment rate could decline. However, this does not necessarily mean more Americans are working at their desired capacity. It will continue to be important to track underemployment -- to shed light on the true state of the U.S. workforce, and the millions of Americans who are searching for full-time employment.
Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 20,504 national adults, who are part of the workforce, aged 18 and older, conducted March 1-31, 2010. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage points.
For results based on the sample of 4,164 adults who were underemployed in March, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones (for respondents with a landline telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell-phone only).
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
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