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Associated Press says U.S. government seized journalists’ phone records
No big deal. Just the Department of Justice seizing the phone records of reporters and editors over a 2 month period. Nothing weird or intimidating about that.
(From Reuters.com)
AP Chief Executive Gary Pruitt, in a letter posted on the agency’s website, said the AP was informed last Friday that the Justice Department gathered records for more than 20 phone lines assigned to the agency and its reporters.
“There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters,” Pruitt said in the letter, which was addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder.
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Mainstream Press (The AP) says: IRS has targeted Tea Party groups since 2011
It’s one thing for The Blaze, Glenn Beck’s online vehicle to report this (as it did in February) it is another when The Associated Press does it. There is a lot of smoke coming from the White House these days.
This is an important article because it is the AP which is reporting it.
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Congress wants to spend $436 million on new Abrams tanks, Army says it dosen’t want any more
But the tank is built in politically important Ohio and new tanks mean manufacturing jobs stay in a key (Republican) congressional district. So what’s a half billion dollars on a weapons system which is not needed, which the Army specifically says it doesn’t want? Shoot, we’ve spent $400 billion on a fighter jet which can’t even fly in cloudy weather. So why not?
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International News • Britain is a ‘crisis economy’, says Mark Carney
Britain is a ‘crisis economy’, says Mark Carney
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ … arney.html
Mark Carney, the incoming Bank of England Governor, has described the UK as a “crisis economy” as he sought to play down hopes that he could ride to the country’s rescue.
Mr Carney said: “The US is breaking out of the pack of crisis economies that include the eurozone, the UK and Japan.” Photo: Reuters
By Philip Aldrick, Economics editor6:25PM BST 18 Apr 2013291 Comments
Speaking on the fringes of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, he said: “The US is breaking out of the pack of crisis economies that include the eurozone, the UK and Japan.”
His words came just days after the IMF slashed its forecasts for UK growth this year and next, and urged the Chancellor to scale back his £130bn austerity programme to aid the recovery.
Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, signalled that the Fund will demand the UK ease off at its annual Article IV update on the economy next month.
Asked whether she agreed with IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard that the Chancellor was “playing with fire” with his economic plans, she said: “We have said that should growth abate then there should be consideration to adjusting by slowing the pace.
“The growth numbers are certainly not particularly good. So, in a sense, this is a continuation of the position. What has changed is clearly the quality of the numbers.”
Ms Lagarde’s comments dealt a damaging blow to the Chancellor, whose policies she has previously championed. Her support has been critical to shoring up George Osborne’s credibility in the face of Labour’s attacks.
Asked specifically about his opinion on the UK reovery, Mr Carney said he would reserve his opinion until he starts at the Bank in July. However, he added that “the flip side [of the UK’s problems] is the tremendous opportunity that is there”.
In comments that will further disappoint Mr Osborne, Mr Carney stressed that governments should not be looking to central banks to return countries to prosperity.
“Can central banks provide sustainable growth? No. They can help with the transition, but they can’t deliver long term growth. That needs to come through true fiscal adjustments and necessary structural reforms… Sustainable growth comes from the private sector.”
Mr Osborne is counting on Mr Carney being more radical than Sir Mervyn King, who has refused to consider aggressive measures such as giving the market firm guidance on future policy movements and using quantitative easing to buy assets other than gilts.
The contrasting positions of Mr Carney and Sir Mervyn, whose second five year term ends in June, were exposed by one exchange over the US Federal Reserve’s decision to set an unemployment target alongside inflation. Mr Carney defended the US stance and rejected Sir Mervyn’s argument that it could hold policymakers hostage to unachievable goals.
A separate Treasury Select Committee report on Mr Carney’s appointment said his commitment to end Sir Mervyn’s allegedly autocratic management style was welcome.
Andrew Tyrie, TSC chairman, said: “In evidence to the Committee, Mr Carney set out his preference for a consensus-based approach to leadership; this will be significant if it leads to a meaningful change of culture within the Bank.”
At the Reuters Newsmaker event in Washington, Mr Carney stressed that his influence over policy at the Bank could be overstated. “It’s an honour and responsibility [to be Governor] but it’s a responsibility that can be overplayed as these powers are vested in committees. I’m a member of these committees. Policy is not mine.”
Mr Carney also launched a withering attack on tax avoiders, acknowledging the public outcry against multinationals in the UK. He said tax policy needed global co-ordination, but added: “On a personal or corporate level, if there is a persistent ability to avoid tax that means the burden of fiscal adjustment falls on those who are paying their fair share – and they have to pay more than their fair share.”
Statistics: Posted by DIGGER DAN — Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:21 pm
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Gold and Silver • U.S. investment-manager guru says silver a good bet
U.S. investment-manager guru says silver a good bet
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-in … le9579188/
Martin Mittelstaedt
The Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Mar. 10 2013, 6:29 PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Mar. 11 2013, 6:40 AM EDT
Every few months, star U.S. investment manager Jeffrey Gundlach gives a webcast outlining where in the world he sees the best money-making opportunities.
In his latest webcast, Mr. Gundlach made three simple calls. Buy silver. Pick up 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds. And for stock investors, go to Japan. That Asian market, even though it’s surging, could rise more than 20 per cent in U.S. dollar terms this year.
You could do worse than paying attention to Mr. Gundlach, who was once dubbed the King of Bonds for his winning ways in fixed-income markets, although he’s been branching out quite a bit from his credit-market specialty.
I listen to a lot of forecasts by investment gurus, and some are so dull and equivocating I often fear I’ll need a trip to the office defibrillator to jolt myself back to consciousness afterwards.
Not so with Mr. Gundlach, who is always bright. He’s founder of his own Los Angeles money management firm, DoubleLine Capital, which he set up after being abruptly fired in 2009 from Trust Company of the West. His main fund at TCW regularly ranked in the top 1 or 2 per cent in the performance sweepstakes and he’s continued to outperform at DoubleLine.
Mr. Gundlach is going against the hedge-fund herd on his silver call, which is based on his bullish view on gold. In recent months, gold ETFs have experienced some of their largest outflows in years, and some noted hedge-fund operators, such as George Soros, have cut their positions in the yellow metal. By going on the other side of this trade, Mr. Gundlach is sticking his neck out in a high-profile way.
Of the two metals, he favours silver because it has a high beta, meaning in a bull or bear market it moves disproportionately compared to other precious metals. It is for this reason that silver is often described as gold on steroids, so if he’s right, his investment will yield far greater returns than an equal dollar amount of gold and far great losses if prices slide. The reason he’s bullish on gold is money printing by central banks. Over time, he expects the metal to rise in tandem with the expansion of central-bank balance sheets.
Over the past 18 months, the relationship between central-bank currency debasement and gold has broken down, with the yellow metal trading sideways as bank balance sheets expand. For Mr. Gundlach, the sideways trend is temporary, allowing value to build up in the precious metals space.
“Silver was very much in favour two years ago. Now it’s very out of favour,” pointing to the previous highs near $50 (U.S.) an ounce compared to the present level around $29. He said current prices for precious metals represent a reasonably good entry point for investors who don’t have positions.
Another contrarian call is to be long U.S. government bonds. Mr. Gundlach has been scooping up the haven investment, reasoning that the recent back up in yields from their record lows of last July during the euro collapse scare means they represent good value, compared to pricey investment grade corporate and high-yield bonds.
Things seem calm now, but Treasury prices could rally if financial jitters re-emerge, which he says “is almost inevitable at some point in time.”
Many players on the Street are on the other side of this trade, reasoning that the threat of inflation from money printing or a decent economic recovery will rattle the credit market. Mr. Gundlach believes central banks, fearful of the fragility of the economic system, will be providing additional liquidity for years, keeping a bid in the market for government bonds. He estimates that central bank buying of government debt has supported deficit spending in the U.S. and several other major countries engaged in quantitative easing by about 3.5 per cent of GDP in recent years.
“I don’t think that there is any confusion that the Fed is going to keep this going, not for months, but for years,” he says, predicting that money printing will go on “as far as the eye can see.”
Mr. Gundlach likes the Japanese stock market, although he figures it may be a bit over extended after a sharp recent rise. In general, he views the country as the “pace car” for the world’s race to super loose monetary policy, and pointed out as extremely noteworthy for investors that the country’s electorate recently elected a prime minister who pledged to create inflation.
“Imagine if [Republican presidential hopeful] Mitt Romney or [President] Barack Obama, a few months back, was running around the United States saying that their plan was to inflate,” he observed.
Inflation in Japan, if achieved, will drive the yen lower and stocks higher. Mr. Gundlach says that since the Japanese stock market crash in late 1989, $1 invested there would have shrunk to only 55 cents due to capital losses exceeding dividends. Over the same period, a dollar invested in the S&P 500 would have risen to $5.84, suggesting to him that U.S. stocks are overpriced.
Security
Price
Change
SI-FT Silver
28.83
0.023
0.08%
Add to watchlist
GC-FT Gold
1589.7
-1.00
Statistics: Posted by DIGGER DAN — Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:46 pm
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Disappointing: Wallison of AEI says “Too big to jail!” cries are reflective of a “lynch mob mentality.”
2 months ago I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Wallison speak about his new book, Bad History, Worse Policy: How a False Narrative about the Financial Crisis Led to the Dodd-Frank Act and I agreed with almost everything he had to say. It’s probably a good book. You can buy it HERE.
Yes, I agreed that the Community Reinvestment Act did much to create the housing bubble.Yes, government through its many agencies poked and prodded and manipulated the housing market helping to create the grotesque monster who’s face we saw clearly in 2007-2008. But when asked to what degree the Fed contributed to creating the housing bubble, he dismissed the notion. At least he did at this talk.
The Federal Reserve, Wallison asserted, certainly helped the housing bubble along (which began in the late 90s) but it wasn’t the driver. Government (non-Fed) policy was the driver.
Given that Mr. Wallison appears to have been on every financial blue ribbon panel of the last quarter century, and was also chief council to president Reagan, I am hesitant to say this, but regarding the Fed he is wrong.
Yes the Community Reinvestment Act may have been a slow burning ember in the economy, but when Chairman Greenspan poured historically cheap money gasoline over the smoldering ashes the ember turned into a blaze.
I was disappointed that he not only didn’t see the Federal Reserve as the problem, but even as a problem. But this is for another post.
In the attached article Wallison basically says the ire of the public regarding “too big to jail” should be focused on the executives involved, not the corporations. Taking down a corporation which is engaged in wrongdoing unfairly penalizes the completely honest people within the organization. He sites Arthur Andersen as an example. Thousands of people lost their jobs when AA went down because of the actions of a few within senior management. According to Wallison, that wasn’t fair. Plus it hurt the economy generally. In short Wallison says that many banks just are too big to fail, so deal. And that those who have a problem with this reality are indulging in a “lynch mob mentality.”
He’s totally right that many innocent people are hurt when a company goes down. He’s also totally right that we should be focusing on the leaders who run afoul of the law not necessarily the company as a whole. But right now we are letting the companies and the executives off the hook and Wallison seems to think this is OK.
He’s wrong.
Coincidentally I’m going to a speech at AEI tonight. I hope they still let me in.
(From AEI.org)
Corporations or banks do not violate the law. Their officers, employees—sometimes even their boards of directors—violate the law. This includes money laundering, fraud, theft and every other crime known to the justice system. That means the proper defendants when an institution of any kind has violated the law are those who conspired to direct it in that path, not the firm itself.
It was not long ago that the Justice Department, foolishly, indicted the auditing firm Arthur Andersen for its employees’ behavior in the Enron matter. The result was the destruction of the firm’s practice and a reduction in the number of global U.S. auditing firms from five to four, severely limiting competition where it was already weak.
After this happened, people in Washington looked at one another and asked why DOJ would do such a dumb thing.
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An Ohio judge says Elmwood Place’s automated speed-traffic cameras are “a scam” that cheats drivers out of $105 a pop.
The company which installed and maintains the cameras gets 40% of each ticket.
(From MSN News)
“Remember, Optotraffic has a financial stake in this game. I use the term ‘game’ because Elmwood Place is engaged in nothing more than a high-tech game of 3 CARD MONTY,” the judge wrote emphatically. “It is a scam that motorists can’t win.”
He noted that individuals and businesses in Elmwood Place have suffered as a result of the traffic cameras. “Churches have lost members who are frightened to come to Elmwood and individuals who have received notices were harmed because they were unable to defend themselves against the charges brought against them,” he said.
The judge’s decision did not address what happens to the fines already collected.
The controversy over the cameras has also spawned petition drives, demands for the mayor to step down and calls to boycott the village.
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Technology and the Internet • Google says FBI watching the Web
Google says FBI watching the Web
Google says the FBI is monitoring the Web for potential terrorist activity. But it can’t say how extensive the surveillance is.
AFP – Google says the FBI is monitoring the Web for potential terrorist activity. But it can’t say how extensive the surveillance is.
As part of the Google Transparency Report, the Internet giant this week released data on so-called National Security Letters — official requests for data under the Patriot Act passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But Google said it was only allowed to provide broad ranges of numbers: in the years from 2009 to 2012, for example, it received between zero and 999 requests.
The requests affected between 1,000 and 1,999 accounts, except in 2010 when the range was 2,000 to 2,999 accounts, Google said.
"You’ll notice that we’re reporting numerical ranges rather than exact numbers. This is to address concerns raised by the FBI, Justice Department and other agencies that releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations," said a blog post from Google law enforcement director Richard Salgado.
Salgado added, "We’re thankful to U.S. government officials for working with us to provide greater insight into the use of NSLs."
The numbers, while inexact, were believed to be the first data from a private company about the National Security Letters which have been criticized by civil liberties groups for giving the government too much power to conduct surveillance without a warrant.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation calls the letters "dangerous" and has challenged the authority along with the American Civil Liberties Union.
One inspector general review found "serious deficiencies" in the FBI’s handling of the process and noted that the letters concerned tens of thousands of US citizens and non-Americans.
EFF said public records have documented "the FBI’s systemic abuse of this power."
http://www.france24.com/en/20130306-goo … tching-web
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:59 pm
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Health • Hold the fries: We’re eating less fast food, study says
Hold the fries: We’re eating less fast food, study says
By Steve James, NBC News contributor
Americans’ love affair with fast food may be far from over, but there are signs we may be cutting down on French fries, greasy burgers and other artery-clogging food, according to a new study.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
A survey released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, on average, adults consumed about 11.3 percent of their daily calorie intake from fast food in the 2007-2010 period – a drop from 12.8 percent in 2003-2006.
The CDC noted that more frequent fast-food consumption is associated with higher energy and fat intake and lower intake of healthful nutrients.
During 2007–2010, the highest percentage of calories from fast food was consumed among adults aged 20–39, the survey said. But among non-Hispanic black adults in that group, 21 percent of their calories were consumed from fast food. Cheryl Fryar, one of the authors of the study, said that while calorie intake was higher in young blacks than young whites, there was little racial or ethnicity differences in older Americans. She noted that the percentage of fast-food calories in the diet dropped to as low as 6 percent in the 60-plus age group. There was little difference between men and women, she said.
Bethene Ervin, the other author of the CDC survey, declined to draw any conclusions from the results. “We do not do public health,” she said. “(But) the lower calories from fast food may indicate that the public health messages are getting through.” Other nutrition experts said it might show that Americans are eating more salads and other healthy alternatives offered by fast-food chains.
The survey results come almost 10 years after the film “Supersize Me” highlighted the danger of diets heavy on fast food, such as hamburgers, French fries and pizza. In the film, director Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald’s food for 30 days. As a result, he gained 24.5 pounds (11.1 kg), his body mass increased by 13 percent and his cholesterol level shot up to 230. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment. Madelyn Fernstrom, a nutritional scientist and diet and nutrition editor for TODAY, said the CDC numbers were “a big surprise for two reasons.
“Firstly, that it is not what we hear about everyone chowing down on fast food for every meal. It is surprising that fast-food calorie content is now only 11 percent, that’s a big drop. Is it that the message about excess fat, calories and salt is getting through? Or that people are choosing healthier options?”
Fernstrom said the second significant finding was that the fast-food calorie intake dropped dramatically as people age. “It could be cost related, or is it because people are becoming more health conscious?” She said it was expected that there would be higher calorie consumption in the 20-39 age group as younger people do not think so much about the health effects of food.
“Maybe you don’t listen at 30, but you do at 60 when you are more vulnerable to clogged arteries of high blood pressure.”
Keith Ayoob, director of the nutrition clinic at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, said there is evidence that the obesity epidemic in the United States is beginning to plateau, “so these results aren’t hugely surprising.”
Commenting on the lower fast-food calorie intake, he said it was not clear if people were cutting back on how often they went to fast food restaurants or simply ordered healthier menu options. “Nowadays, they’re offering a whole plethora of lower-calorie alternatives,” such as salads, low-fat dressings, low-calorie yogurt or desserts, smaller portions, low-fat and fat-free milk and water.
“It’s no longer about where you eat, it’s about what you choose when you’re there. I can’t say for sure, but I believe McDonald’s is still doing robust business, and if more of that is coming from lower-calorie foods, salads, fresh fruit, etc., then that’s terrific,” Ayoob told NBCNews.com.
“It takes people a long time to change their ways and habits, but when they change them for the better and learn to enjoy the change, that’s a win-win,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the CDC released the results of another nutrition survey – on adolescents — but its conclusions were less striking. Comparing 1999-2000 with 2009-2010, it found that boys and girls aged 2-19 both consumed more protein and fewer carbohydrates but there was no notable difference in fat consumption.
http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2013 … study-says
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:19 am
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David Axelrod Joins NBC News, MSNBC As Senior Political Analyst, Chuck Todd Says Media Bias a Myth
Chuck Todd the NBC News Political Director (who I once interned for) just went on Morning Joe and explained that the supposed “liberal” media bias is a myth. That is the reason he explains, why many “conservatives” won’t come on #oldmedia news shows anymore. The problem, according to Todd, is that the younger staffers of these leaders have bought into this myth.
Then, earlier today NBC hired David Axelrod, President Obama’s former chief political advisor, the chief political strategist for the Obama campaign in 2012, as an on-air political analyst.
I hear you Chuck. What on earth are the people who think the media has a lefty bias smoking?
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