Monday, April 25, 2011
High Oil Because of the Weak Dollar; Obama Administration, Fed to Blame
April 25, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement blaming the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve for weakening the dollar and increasing oil and other commodity prices:
“The Obama Administration once again wants to blame so-called ‘speculators’ for the commodities inflation caused by its own weak dollar policies. Oil is soaring because of the weak dollar — it’s the only explanation that makes any sense. There is no oil supply problem, and demand is only slightly increased from a year ago.
“Yet, prices are soaring. U.S. crude alone has more than tripled from a low of about $35 a barrel in 2009 to over $110 a barrel today, and today gasoline prices are soaring quickly to $4 a gallon, and soon $5. The reason is the weak dollar.
“Since the last commodities bubble in 2008, the Federal Reserve has increased its balance sheet by $1.78 trillion to $2.73 trillion, a whopping 188 percent increase. Prices for food, gold, oil, and other commodities have all behaved accordingly. Price increases in a broad range of commodities indicate a clear inflationary problem, caused by the expansive monetary policies of the Federal Reserve.
“If there should be any investigation, it should be into the Obama Administration’s weak dollar policies that are destroying the purchasing power of average American families, who now have to pay even more for staples like food and energy.”
Obama’s Pain at the Pump
By Robert Romano
Once again, oil and gasoline prices are on the march upwards, and conveniently, Barack Obama is waving the “speculators” card, promising to investigate nefarious investors he alleges are behind it all.
With average gasoline per gallon prices nationally at over $3.80 and rising rapidly, American motorists are taking note of the increases — and are asking why they’re paying more.
“[A] lot of what's driving oil prices up right now is not the lack of supply. There's enough supply. There's enough oil out there for world demand,” Obama said.
Pretty much, that part is true. Since 2009, global oil consumption has increased from 84.133 million barrels a day to 86.7 million in 2010, a 3 percent increase, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA). Furthermore, the EIA projects a further consumption increase of 1.5 million barrels a day in 2011, bringing the total consumption rise from 2009 to 2011 to a total 4.8 percent increase.
Yet, prices have increased far more dramatically. Brent oil in January 2009 was trading at a low of about $40 a barrel, and Light Sweet Crude was at low of about $35 a barrel, to now over $120 a barrel and $110 a barrel, respectively. That’s 200 percent and 214 percent increases each in price.
Oil supply is not the problem, because production has been relatively stable, increasing as consumption has increased without significant disruption each year.
Get full story here.
Once again, oil and gasoline prices are on the march upwards, and conveniently, Barack Obama is waving the “speculators” card, promising to investigate nefarious investors he alleges are behind it all.
With average gasoline per gallon prices nationally at over $3.80 and rising rapidly, American motorists are taking note of the increases — and are asking why they’re paying more.
“[A] lot of what's driving oil prices up right now is not the lack of supply. There's enough supply. There's enough oil out there for world demand,” Obama said.
Pretty much, that part is true. Since 2009, global oil consumption has increased from 84.133 million barrels a day to 86.7 million in 2010, a 3 percent increase, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA). Furthermore, the EIA projects a further consumption increase of 1.5 million barrels a day in 2011, bringing the total consumption rise from 2009 to 2011 to a total 4.8 percent increase.
Yet, prices have increased far more dramatically. Brent oil in January 2009 was trading at a low of about $40 a barrel, and Light Sweet Crude was at low of about $35 a barrel, to now over $120 a barrel and $110 a barrel, respectively. That’s 200 percent and 214 percent increases each in price.
Oil supply is not the problem, because production has been relatively stable, increasing as consumption has increased without significant disruption each year.
Get full story here.
Would Ryan’s Plan Cut Benefits to Seniors?
By Victor Morawski
We showed last week how the proposed Ryan budget plan intends to save the Federal Government money on its Medicare costs and lower the deficit by changing the program from a single-payer to a premium-support plan and allowing open interstate competition among health insurers — something now forbidden — to keep premium costs down.
But not everyone agrees. Editors of The Nation, for instance, say of Ryan, “the savings he projects would come less from competition than from simple cutbacks to care and benefits.” A similar sentiment is echoed by writers at msnbc.com when they observe that Ryan plan supporters must view voters under 55 as being, “more alarmed about the national debt than they are about cuts in future benefits.”
Charges like the above will no doubt alarm younger readers who will figure that if it is enacted then they would not fare as well in their golden years as current Medicare recipients.
That this cause for alarm at the Ryan plan is baseless can be seen clearly if we simply ask ourselves, “What would it mean to say that the Ryan plan cuts care or future benefits to seniors?” His proposal changes the Medicare program from one that pays health care providers directly for their services to one which effectively pays premiums for seniors to purchase health insurance in the private marketplace (with some means testing involved).
Get full story here.
We showed last week how the proposed Ryan budget plan intends to save the Federal Government money on its Medicare costs and lower the deficit by changing the program from a single-payer to a premium-support plan and allowing open interstate competition among health insurers — something now forbidden — to keep premium costs down.
But not everyone agrees. Editors of The Nation, for instance, say of Ryan, “the savings he projects would come less from competition than from simple cutbacks to care and benefits.” A similar sentiment is echoed by writers at msnbc.com when they observe that Ryan plan supporters must view voters under 55 as being, “more alarmed about the national debt than they are about cuts in future benefits.”
Charges like the above will no doubt alarm younger readers who will figure that if it is enacted then they would not fare as well in their golden years as current Medicare recipients.
That this cause for alarm at the Ryan plan is baseless can be seen clearly if we simply ask ourselves, “What would it mean to say that the Ryan plan cuts care or future benefits to seniors?” His proposal changes the Medicare program from one that pays health care providers directly for their services to one which effectively pays premiums for seniors to purchase health insurance in the private marketplace (with some means testing involved).
Get full story here.
War on Four Loko Over; Battle of the Blast Begins
When Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley isn’t ruining peoples lives or blowing Senate races, she’s attacking social problems that don’t exist—like the latest teen trend of drinking huge cans of pomegranate flavored malt liquor. Sure, no one is actually drinking “Blast,” Colt .45’s new and obviously disgusting flavored beer, but Coakley and 18 other AGs suspect that children will go mad for giant, “brightly colored” cans of the watermelon brew.
The press release claims that the drink is “known as binge-in-a-can,” though the only reference I can find to this clunky sobriquet is from …Martha Coakley who, as quoted in the very same press release, moans that “the promotion of this ‘binge-in-a-can’ is aimed at the youngest of drinkers as well as underage youth.”
Reason on the (successful) war against Fourloko.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, along with 18 other Attorneys General, today called on Pabst Brewing Company to stop selling or alter its new malt drink beverage, Blast by Colt 45, because of its high alcohol content and marketing tactics. The drink, known as “binge-in-a-can,” offers the equivalent of five beers in one serving. The Attorneys General also are concerned that the product is being marketed and packaged in a way that targets underage youth.
Earlier this month, Pabst introduced its Blast by Colt 45 as a flavored malt beverage in fruit flavors of grape, strawberry lemonade, strawberry watermelon, and blueberry pomegranate, with an alcohol concentration of 12% in brightly colored 23.5 ounce single serving cans. This means that each single serving contains the equivalent of nearly five servings of alcohol. Anyone who consumes a can of Blast within an hour will have engaged in binge drinking as defined by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Ban it! And while you’re at it, Martha, why not ban flavored vodka? Or Godiva liqueur? After all, kids love chocolate. And kids also love Snoop Dog, who signed on as Blast’s spokesman.
The press release claims that the drink is “known as binge-in-a-can,” though the only reference I can find to this clunky sobriquet is from …Martha Coakley who, as quoted in the very same press release, moans that “the promotion of this ‘binge-in-a-can’ is aimed at the youngest of drinkers as well as underage youth.”
Reason on the (successful) war against Fourloko.
South Sudan army kills fighters in clashes
At least 55 fighters were killed when south Sudan's army clashed with a rebel group in Jonglei State, a state minister said on Sunday, the latest in a wave of violence across the territory ahead of its independence in July.
Scores of troops and civilians were injured in the clashes on Saturday, Peter Lam Both, Upper Nile State information minister, said.
The southern army (SPLA) clashed with forces loyal to renegade army commander Gabriel Tang during what was meant to be the reintegration of his forces into south Sudan's army, Both said.
"We understand that on the side of [Tang's forces] 55 were killed including five of his generals," Both told Reuters, adding his information had come from the south Sudan army.
"We don't have reports of those killed from the SPLA and civilian sides but the [overall] death toll must be much higher," he said.
The minister said Malakal, the state capital, had received 34 wounded SPLA soldiers and 43 civilian injuries.
The clashes happened south of Malakal, just across the border in Jonglei State, Both said.
Historic poll
The oil-producing south voted to separate from the north in a January referendum which had been promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war in Sudan.
Since the historic poll, the region has been beset by violence and insecurity.
The SPLA is at war with at least seven armed groups, and traditional tribal clashes have intensified with the onset of the rainy season, according to the UN, which says more than 800 people have been killed this year.
Analysts warn the south risks becoming a failed state and destabilising the region if it cannot control the crisis, with tens of thousands displaced by the various conflicts affecting nine of its ten states, according to UN figures.
In a separate incident in Jonglei, a Sudanese employee of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was killed on Friday in an ambush by unknown assailants, the WFP said in a statement on Sunday.
In neighbouring Unity State, Peter Gadet, a renegade SPLA officer, this week began a sustained assault against the SPLA, with at least 45 people killed so far, officials said.
A spokesman for Gadet says the offensive will continue "until victory".
Oil production in the state was disrupted by the violence, according to state officials, who said they first expelled then re-admitted northern Sudanese workers to oil areas, underscoring the threat insecurity poses to the economy.
Gideon Gatpan Thoar, Unity State information minister, could not confirm on Sunday whether the workers had yet returned.
Khartoum denial
About 98 per cent of the south's budget comes from oil revenue, and how it shares its oil with the north after independence remains unresolved.
It is currently spilt roughly 50-50 and the only pipelines to export the oil run through the north.
The petroleum ministry could not say how much of the around 500,000 barrels per day of production was affected by the violence.
The southern government accuses the north of sponsoring the armed groups fighting the SPLA, an allegation Khartoum denies.
The fighters accuse the government of plotting to stay in power indefinitely, not fairly representing and supporting all tribal groups while neglecting development in rural areas. South Sudan army kills fighters in clashes - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Remembering Sathya Sai Baba Swami
The Team behind Hindudevotionalblog.com would like to express our great sorrow and condolence by this post on Sathya Sai Baba's death. Sathya Sai Baba was not just a spiritual guru – he was an avatar of compassion, a godman for his devotees, and a great human who wanted every human being to love each other without thinking about caste, creed or religion. Sri Sathya Sai Baba offered spiritual guidance for millions of people across the globe. His high ideals and unlimited sewa for mankind will be remembered for ages to come.
Here are some famous Sri Sathya Sai Baba Quotes to remember on this occasion
"God has a million names ... a million forms. Select any name of His that appeals to you. Choose any form of His. Every day when you awaken to the call of the brightening East, recite the Name, meditate on the Form. Keep the Name and Form as your companion, guide, and guardian throughout the waking hours. When you retire for the night, offer grateful homage to God in that Form, with that Name - for being with you, by you, beside you, before you, behind you, all day long. Know that within the many forms and many names, God is present is all of them. The inner being is, in reality, only One."
“That is My path, the path of Prema, along which I shall take you. This I offer as my visiting card to every one of you when you come to Me. I know your name, your degrees, your profession, your status and your history. But you do not know Mine. I have no need to know all about you from perusal of your cards: but I want you to know something of My glory: and so I give you a glimpse of it, as a Mahima. But I also give you enough of My Prema so that you can mix a little of it with whatever you do or feel or think and make it sweet and palatable”.
“It is easy to conquer anger through love, attachment through reasoning, falsehood through truth, bad thoughts through good and greed through charity.”
Here are some famous Sri Sathya Sai Baba Quotes to remember on this occasion "God has a million names ... a million forms. Select any name of His that appeals to you. Choose any form of His. Every day when you awaken to the call of the brightening East, recite the Name, meditate on the Form. Keep the Name and Form as your companion, guide, and guardian throughout the waking hours. When you retire for the night, offer grateful homage to God in that Form, with that Name - for being with you, by you, beside you, before you, behind you, all day long. Know that within the many forms and many names, God is present is all of them. The inner being is, in reality, only One."
“That is My path, the path of Prema, along which I shall take you. This I offer as my visiting card to every one of you when you come to Me. I know your name, your degrees, your profession, your status and your history. But you do not know Mine. I have no need to know all about you from perusal of your cards: but I want you to know something of My glory: and so I give you a glimpse of it, as a Mahima. But I also give you enough of My Prema so that you can mix a little of it with whatever you do or feel or think and make it sweet and palatable”.
“It is easy to conquer anger through love, attachment through reasoning, falsehood through truth, bad thoughts through good and greed through charity.”
Dwight Howard Goes After BabyMama’s “Royce Reed” Money Again!
Dwight Howard
is one of the most likable players in the NBA. He’s open, personable, friendly and generally likable. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t like Howard, yet, something we may not associate with him is an ugly court battle between him and the mother of his child.
Right now, Howard is looking to get his money after winning a $500,000 settlement against Royce Reed , who was speaking ill of him in the media. It was a big win for the center, who obviously didn’t like that his good name was being dragged through the mud by this woman for no good reason.
According toTMZ:
Dwight Howard won a $500,000 judgment against his baby mama in the state of Florida for talking smack about him — but she hasn’t paid up, so he’s going after her in California. Howard won the judgment against Royce Reed for half a mil last year because she violated a court order, prohibiting her from talking about him in the press.
Howard claims Reed now owes him $551,606.74 — which includes interest. So Howard has filed papers with a California court, which could give Howard the right to go after Reed’s assets in Cali.
BY http://freddyo.com/
Leaked files reveal information about Gitmo detainees
April 25, 12:58 PM
Secret documents about detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison reveal new information about some of the men that the United States believes to be terrorists, according to reports about the files released by several American and European newspapers. The U.S. government criticized the publication as “unfortunate.”The files, known as Detainee Assessment Briefs or DABs, describe the intelligence value of the detainees and whether they would be a threat to the United States if released. To date, 604 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo while 172 remain locked up.
The disclosures are likely to provide human right activists with additional ammunition that some cases against inmates appear to be based on flawed evidence. But the DABs show certain inmates were more dangerous than previously known to the public and could complicate efforts by the United States to transfer detainees out of the controversial prison that President Barack Obama has failed to close.
The dossiers provide new insights into some of the prison’s most notorious detainees such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. According to The New York Times, Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, commanded a Maryland resident to kill Pakistan’s former present Pervez Musharraf.
Another high-value detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, bragged that he outranked Mohammed who was then considered the terrorist group’s No.3. Al-Nashiri faces charges before a military commission for his suspected role in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.
U.S. officials said the documents “may or may not represent the current view of a given detainee” and criticized the decision by media organizations to publish the “sensitive information.”
The Washington Post reported that the DABs offered new details about the movement of Osama bin Laden and top deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri after the 9/11 attacks and the internal disputes that erupted within the terrorist organization.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.worldmag.com/
Yemen Falling
A potential agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council between Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his opponents was rejected on Sunday pending substantial alterations to the pact. Now, with chances for a peaceful resolution to the crisis fading, fears are growing in Washington and Saudi Arabia that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) will have even more freedom to carry out attacks against America and its allies. Perhaps most troubling of all, a quick end to the chaos may result in a government that is unwilling to cooperate with the United States in its battle against AQAP terrorists, who are based in Yemen’s northern provinces bordering Saudi Arabia.
The putative agreement negotiated by the Saudi-led GCC would have required Saleh to leave office in 30 days, transferring power to his Vice President in exchange for the legislature passing a measure that would have given the president and his family immunity from prosecution.
But the opposition — the Joint Meeting Parties or JMP — while agreeing in principle to the outline of the deal, has rejected some of the details. The agreement calls for protestors to cease their demonstrations immediately — something the opposition parties sensibly protest is beyond their power. There is a large and influential youth movement that dominates the Yemeni streets and they say they won’t leave until Saleh is out of power. “This is the most productive solution for the Joint Meeting Parties, not for us,” says Adel al-Surabi, a leader of Sanaa’s opposition youth movement.
But the level of distrust for Saleh’s motives is so high that it has resulted in other elements of the pact being rejected, including a stipulation that the parliament, dominated by Saleh’s party, would have the option of accepting or rejecting the president’s resignation. The bottom line is that no one can be sure that Saleh won’t find a way to finagle his way into somehow staying in power. Thus, the death knell for the GCC agreement.
This is bad news for Saudi Arabia who greatly fears the unrest on its border. Last month, the Kingdom announced the arrest of more than 100 suspected terrorists, many of them from Yemen. The terrorists were plotting to blow up key oil installations and other sensitive targets. The arrests were made after an investigation that grew out of a shoot out on the Yemen border where two militants were killed. According to information released by the Saudis, several of the terror suspects were in email contact with AQAP, and were in the initial stages of plotting to attack economic and security targets.
The Saudis have a direct stake in finding a peaceful outcome in Yemen. But America’s interest in guiding Yemen out of this morass toward stability is no less urgent. For 15 years, President Saleh has successfully parlayed America’s desire to fight terrorism into aid for his regime and a hammer that he could use against the opposition. Many in Yemen wonder just how serious the al-Qaeda threat truly is, as Saleh has used terrorism as an excuse to undertake several crackdowns on those wanting democratic change. And while Saleh is considered a strong ally in the war on terror, a debate has raged in Washington for years about his real value, given his autocratic nature and his less than persistent efforts to attack the terrorists ensconced in the mountainous Northern provinces.
Nevertheless, Saleh has allowed our drones to attack al-Qaeda targets, given permission for special forces to train Yemeni counterterrorism units, and gone over to the offense in the battle against AQAP. All of this is now by the boards as Saleh has retrenched and withdrawn his army and the counterterror forces, concentrating them around the capitol of Sanaa. He has also forbidden drone strikes. This has given AQAP the opening it needed and the terrorists have now moved into towns and villages, filling the void left by the army and police.
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Earl Albert Moore: Suspect In Columbine Mall Bombing Attempt
“The FBI identified a 65-year-old man with a raft of aliases as the suspect in the attempted bombing of a suburban shopping mall on the anniversary of the Columbine massacre and issued a nationwide alert Sunday, warning that he is probably armed and dangerous.
Earl Albert Moore is the lone suspect in the case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. It listed five aliases for him and said he had an ‘extensive’ criminal background.”
READ MORE
Police Charge Adult Suspect in Precinct 9/White Marsh Assault
18-Year-Old Suspect Charged with Felony Assault
Baltimore County, Md. (April 25, 2011) – Baltimore County Police announce that they have arrested Teonna Monae Brown, 18, of the 2000-block of Kelbourne Road, 21237. Teonna Brown was the adult suspect responsible for the April 18 assault of Chrissy Lee Polis, 22. Brown was arrested and charged with one count of First Degree Assault (felony) and two counts of Second Degree Assault (misdemeanor).
On April 18 at 7:59 p.m., officers were dispatched to the McDonald’s in the 6300-block of Kenwood Avenue, 21237 for a fight. The incident occurred in the Precinct 9/White Marsh area. Officers discovered a 22-year-old female who appeared to be having a seizure. The victim was later identified as Chrissy Lee Polis, 22. Witnesses advised that the victim had been assaulted by two female suspects. Both suspects were later identified. A 14-year-old female has been charged as a juvenile on April 18, and the 18-year-old female, Teonna Monae Brown, has since been arrested and charged on April 22.
The victim, Chrissy Lee Polis, was transported to Franklin Square Hospital at the time of the incident, where she was treated and released.
Teonna Monae Brown is currently being held in the Baltimore County Detention Center on $150,000 bail. Anyone with additional information about this case is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-307-2020.
Life At Guantanamo. Wikileaks Reveals Who Is (And Was) At Guantanamo Bay Prison
The secret files include intelligence assessments of nearly 700 Guantanamo Bay detainees. (Reuters: Joe Skipper )
Military Documents Detail Life At Guantanamo -- NPR
Thousands of pages of previously secret military documents about detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison now put a name, a history and a face on hundreds of men in captivity there. The documents include details on 158 men on whom no information has ever been released.
The hundreds of classified documents — marked "secret" and "noforn," meaning the information is not to be shared with representatives of other countries — are assessments, interviews and internal memos from the Pentagon's Joint Task Force at Guantanamo. The task force was supposed to determine who the detainees were, how they might be connected to terrorism and whether they posed a threat to the U.S. and its allies in the future.
Read more ....
Today's News NJ: Book of the Month "EMPATHY"
Timaira Whiteside currently resides in Philadelphia Pa where she was born and raised. Her writing first began when she was in middle school. It started off with poetry and short stories. At age 15 she began writing local newsletters and continued that for a year. Around 2004 she decided to write her own work of fiction which birthed her book, EMPATHY.....
Empathy is a passionate,love-filled, drama novel. It's a tale about a young married couple. Markel and Jisela share a love so strong, that there in tuned into one another. A chemistry that causes them to stay united at last. Read how they battle the pressures of the modeling industry. Discover how Jisela handles being raped, a strong lust for the men who come into her life, and a jealous, and hot-tempered husband. Embark on this journey with them as life-altering experiences take them through ups and downs.
To Buy goto: Amazon.com
Taliban dig tunnel to free prisoners from Kandahar jail
An Afghan National Army soldier keeps watch outside Kandahar's main jail, where on Monday hundreds of insurgents escaped through a 1,000-foot tunnel.
By Joshua Partlow and Javed Hamdard,
WashPost
Monday, April 25, 6:30 AM
KABUL — After digging a 1,000-foot tunnel under Kandahar’s main prison, the Taliban on Monday morning freed more than 450 prisoners from jail, in the latest major security breach at the troubled facility, according to Afghan officials and insurgent statements.
In celebrating the escape, a Taliban spokesman said more than 100 insurgent commanders were among those who slipped out of the Sarposa prison’s political wing into the pre-dawn darkness. Zabiullah Mujahid said in a message to the media that the plan was carried out after five months of careful preparation.
“We were trying to not leave anyone behind, not even one sick or old political prisoner,” Mujahid said.
The prison break was a blow to Afghan and American efforts to secure and modernize the Sarposa prison, which stands adjacent to a new U.S.-funded “rule of law” center to process prosecutions.
(More here.)
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