News of the Week
Election 2012 *************** Hillary rejected VP slot to ready her own 2016 run Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed by her husband and a top Obama aide to consider replacing Vice President Joe Biden just a couple of weeks ago, claims the author of the New York Times bestseller "The Amateur." *************** A Romney first: over 40% of youth vote back him For the first time since he began running for president, Republican Mitt Romney has the support of over 40 percent of America's youth vote, a troubling sign for President Obama who built his 2008 victory with the overwhelming support of younger, idealistic voters. *************** Yes, Romney-Ryan would help Wall Street — and Main Street, too Romney/Ryan would be good for Wall Street, sure. But we shouldn't ignore how good a Romney/Ryan administration would be for Main Street too. Let's consider the anti-prosperity effects of one of the President's major legislative achievements, the Dodd-Frank banking bill. *************** AFL-CIO-affiliated super-PAC launches ad campaigns in Nevada, Ohio An AFL-CIO-affiliated super-PAC is launching ads in Nevada and Ohio attacking GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney and his newly minted running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), on Medicare and Romney's time at Bain. *************** Biden On Romney: "They're Going To Put Y'all Back In Chains" *************** Christie: I’ll ‘Tell Some Very Direct Truths’ During RNC Keynote Address Chris Christie, the sometimes abrasive but always entertaining governor of New Jersey, is set to be announced Tuesday as the keynote speaker for the Republicans’ national convention later this month. Hide The Decline *************** DOE loan chief warned staff that personal e-mail could be subpoenaed Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on documents showing that Jonathan Silver, the former head of the Department of Energy’s $38 billion clean-energy loan guarantee program, directed a staff member not to use personal e-mail addresses in official DOE correspondence in order to prevent personal accounts from becoming eligible for government subpoena — and did so a matter of days before the now-failed, $500-million-loan-recipient solar company Solyndra went bankrupt. *************** Carbon emissions are at a twenty-year low, due to… War & Terror *************** 'Tumour' of Israel will soon be destroyed: Ahmadinejad Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an annual anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Friday that the Jewish state was a "cancerous tumour" that will soon be excised, drawing Western rebukes. *************** Harass morass at DHS The number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers who claimed they faced retaliation from superiors has more than doubled since Janet Napolitano took over, according to data obtained by The Post. *************** Silent Running Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say National *************** LivePrayer to File $100 Million Lawsuit Against Southern Poverty Law Center Bill Keller, the world's leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading the Daily Devotional he has written every morning for 13 years on the issues of the day from a Biblcial worldview, is planning to file a $100 million defamation lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center for labeling him and his ministry as a "hate group." *************** Mom seeks heart transplant for autistic son *************** Family Research Council shooting leaves security guard wounded A security guard at a conservative Christian lobbying group housed in a busy downtown Washington office building was shot and injured late Wednesday morning, police say. *************** Calif. 8th Grader Pulled Out of Class for Having Photo of Military Brother on Her Binder A California eighth grader said she was pulled out of class and reprimanded for having photographs in her binder — snapshots that included her military policeman brother stationed in Montana. *************** A fisherman sues the feds for acting like crooks As raw December 1998 swept over the Atlantic off New Bedford, Mass., scallop fisherman Larry Yacubian brought around his boat, Independence, hailed by the Coast Guard. The officers who boarded his fishing vessel didn't tell Yacubian it was a setup to coerce out of him a ruinous fine and to destroy his life so thoroughly he could never get it back. *************** Cal State plans to freeze enrollment next spring at most campuses Facing uncertain budget prospects, the system also plans to wait-list all applicants the following fall pending the outcome of a proposed tax initiative on the November ballot. *************** 'Black box' standards coming for cars New federal standards for "black boxes" that record information leading up to auto accidents will will take effect Sept. 1, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ruled on Tuesday. *************** Darrell Issa To Sue Eric Holder In Civil Court Monday When the House voted to hold Eric Holder in contempt over his refusal to turn over Fast and Furious related documents, many wondered why they bothered to pass criminal and civil contempt resolutions. As expected, the Justice department refused to file charges against their boss, Attorney General Holder, so tomorrow House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa will sue AG Holder in civil court for refusing to provide documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling operation. *************** Prince Charming Expelled From Virginia School For GOOD Manners It would seem that a young man in that middle school just wasn’t using his head. Seeing a woman at the door to the school who had her arms full, the young man had the bad idea of doing the gallant thing and opening the door for her. As of March 2nd, the boy was expelled from school for this dastardly act. Economy
& Taxes *************** Corzine, MF Global Will Face No Criminal Charges After ten months of investigating Obama campaign bundler and former MF Global chief Jon Corzine’s role in the loss of $1.6 billion of customer funds, the New York Times is reporting that Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is unlikely to file any criminal charges against Corzine or top MF Global executives. *************** Aaaand It's Gone: This Is Why You Always Demand Physical We have said it over and over, we'll say it again. For all those who for one reason or another would like to boycott the broken markets, yet trade gold in paper form, please understand that all the invested capital is at risk of total loss and can and will be lost, commingled and rehypothecated, not necessarily in that order, with little to zero recourse and the residual claim on liquidating assets pushed to the very end of the queue. *************** The case against Europe: MEP Daniel Hannan reveals the disturbing contempt for democracy at the heart of the EU Over 13 years as an MEP, Daniel Hannan has witnessed first hand how Brussels works. Now he has written a forensic analysis of why it’s rotten to the core. His devastating critique should be required reading for every politician. *************** California Sales Tax Revenue Drops 33.5% *************** The ‘Regulatory Cliff’ Just as Dangerous as the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ There has been a lot of attention paid by both campaigns and Hill watchers to the “fiscal cliff” that will appear on December 31, 2012. That’s when the Bush-era tax cuts expire and sequestration will be implemented, resulting in massive cuts to defense and other federal programs. *************** California Dreaming I had to do a double take at the frontpage story in the Wall Street Journal a couple days ago with the headline “California’s Boom Masks State’s Uneven Recovery.” Boom??? What boom? What “recovery”? What are they smoking at the headline desk of the Journal? The story is deeply confused, saying in the lede that “California added jobs faster than the rest of the nation over the past year,” but then including the following chart that shows California gaining jobs “at a more sluggish pace” than the rest of the nation. *************** Fiscal Cliff Watch: Complacency in Full Swing As stocks keep edging higher and the VIX keeps moving lower, worries over the so-called “fiscal cliff” — in the market at least — remain nearly nonexistent. That is a concern in and of itself. *************** Why China is not going to be a Superpower A great deal has been said and written about China in recent years -- about its "miracle economy", its financing of US debt, its impending "superpower status", and so on. Almost all of this discussion ignores the context in which all this activity is happening and thus ignores the realities of China with the result that such discussions are typically useless for understanding the current situation if not outright misleading. *************** Investors Prepare for Euro Collapse Banks, companies and investors are preparing themselves for a collapse of the euro. Cross-border bank lending is falling, asset managers are shunning Europe and money is flowing into German real estate and bonds. The euro remains stable against the dollar because America has debt problems too. But unlike the euro, the dollar's structure isn't in doubt. *************** What the Habsburg Empire can tell us about breaking up the euro zone For the past week, much of Germany has gone on vacation—including Chancellor Angela Merkel—which means that the crisis in the euro zone has been put on temporary hold until Wednesday. Oh, sure, Spain is still in trouble and the continent is mired in recession and it’s not clear whether European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi’s plan to hold the euro zone together will even work. But, for the time being, the panicky headlines have gone into remission. *************** Chinese companies pull out of US stock markets Chinese firms leave US stock markets amid complaints about price, accounting scrutiny *************** Jamie Dimon on banking: ‘It’s a free. F**king. Country’ *************** Series Of High Level Executions Paint A Picture Of GM in Turmoil Panic at RenCen. It’s not that people are leaving GM. It’s how they leave. Two weeks ago, Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke presented numbers to Dan Akerson. Akerson fires him. Opel gets two interim chiefs in a week. Last Thursday, Opel’s new design chief Dave Lyon doesn’t even start his job. Today, media in the U.S. and Germany report that Lyon had been escorted from the building and to a waiting car by GM’s head of personnel. A day later, global marketing chief Joel Ewanick suddenly leaves. Instead of wishing him all the best for his future endeavors, GM spokesman Greg Martin puts a knife in Ewanick’s back: “He failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee.” *************** International *************** Russia's Pussy Riot protesters sentenced to two years Three women from Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on Friday for their protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church, an outcome supporters described as the Kremlin leader's "personal revenge". *************** South African police say they were forced to fire on striking miners, killing 34 South Africa's police were forced to open fire on striking miners with live rounds because they were charged by armed men and compelled to “defend themselves”, the national police chief said on Friday. *************** Denied Defector Faces Trial China set to file treason charges against defector turned away by U.S. *************** French city of Amiens rocked by riots Sixteen officers injured and public buildings burnt down in violent clashes between youths and riot police in northern France *************** Opinion *************** There Is No California Palo Alto and Fresno share a state government, but that’s about it. *************** A Reason for Liberal Hate? No Diversity *************** How To Defeat Tyranny It is inevitable. There comes a point in the development of every crisis, every catastrophe, every impending disaster, every act of methodical dictatorship, in which the generations selected by fate or destiny to endure the trial must attempt to look beyond the intellectual and the psychological, to deeply consider the greater philosophical or spiritual questions of their epoch. *************** The Ideology of the Left: Gnostics of Our Time The “revolutionary mysticism” of the Left takes its toll. A perhaps surprising relation exists between a branch of ancient Christian theology (or anti-theology) and a modern secular political movement, that is, between Gnosticism and Left-Liberal progressivism. In tracing this oddly creedal linkage, it will be helpful to begin with a brief and broad-stroke analysis of the Gnostic doctrine before appraising its application to the political sensibility of the Left. These two phenomena share a similar psychological matrix and both are fueled by the paradoxical theory of what we might call “pastoral insurgency.” *************** |
