Friday, March 2, 2012
Black Madam Arrested At Butt Injection Party
DEA Extends Ban on “Fake Pot” Products
By Allan Lengel
The DEA is continuing to go after “fake pot.”
The agency announced earlier this week on its website that it was extending by six months a ban on five chemicals used to make fake pot, which have been sold at retail outlets and head shops.
The ban, under the DEA’s emergency scheduling authority, makes it illegal to possess or or sell the products.
The initial temporary ban began a year ago. The DEA is moving toward making the ban permanent.
“We continue to address the problems of synthetic drug manufacturing, trafficking, and abuse. Our efforts have clearly shown that these chemicals present an imminent threat to public safety,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart in a statement. “This six month extension is critical and gives us the time necessary to conduct the administrative scheduling process for permanent control.”
The DEA said the smokeable herbal products marketed as being “legal” have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. The DEA said the products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
The DEA said it has received an increased number of reports from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products since 2009.
The DEA is continuing to go after “fake pot.”
The agency announced earlier this week on its website that it was extending by six months a ban on five chemicals used to make fake pot, which have been sold at retail outlets and head shops.
The ban, under the DEA’s emergency scheduling authority, makes it illegal to possess or or sell the products.
The initial temporary ban began a year ago. The DEA is moving toward making the ban permanent.
“We continue to address the problems of synthetic drug manufacturing, trafficking, and abuse. Our efforts have clearly shown that these chemicals present an imminent threat to public safety,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart in a statement. “This six month extension is critical and gives us the time necessary to conduct the administrative scheduling process for permanent control.”
The DEA said the smokeable herbal products marketed as being “legal” have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults. The DEA said the products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
The DEA said it has received an increased number of reports from poison control centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products since 2009.
Chief Fed Judge Circulates Racist Joke About President Obama
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| Judge Richard Cebull/wikipedia |
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com It’s hard to imagine the chief federal judge in any district being so ignorant as to taint the bench and raise serious questions about the ability to be objective.
Well, meet Chief Judge Richard Cebull, a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench in Montana. Apparently he admitted Wednesday, according to press reports, to sending a racist email around that goes like this:
“A little boy said to his mother; ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white?’” the email joke reads. “His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’” [...]
The website Think Progress Justice reported that Cebull forwarded the joke from his brother to a half dozen friends and acquaintances.
“The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan,” Cebull said, according to the website. “I didn’t send it as racist, although that’s what it is. I sent it out because it’s anti-Obama.“
USA Today reported that he sent a formal apology to the President, which said:
“I sincerely and profusely apologize to you and your family for the email I forwarded. I accept full responsibility; I have no one to blame but myself. I can assure you that such action on my part will never happen again. I have requested that the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit review this matter. Honestly, I don’t know what else I can do. Please forgive me and, again, my most sincere apology.”
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in a statement: “Chief Judge Richard Cebull’s email was deplorable, shameful and inexcusable. There is no way to shroud hatred under the cloak of differences in ideals. The email was blatantly racist and filled with the hateful rhetoric this country has strived so desperately to leave behind. An apology alone is not acceptable.”
FBI Dir. Robert Mueller Continues to Bang the Drum About the Dangers of Terrorists and the Cyber World
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| Robert Mueller III |
There’s was nothing particularly shocking — or for that matter new — in FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III’s speech Thursday, but it was another reminder of the havoc and mischief we can expect via cyber attacks against business and government in the future. Terrorism remains the FBI’s top priority,” Mueller told a crowd in San Francisco at the RSA Cyber Security Conference, according to the text of his speech. “But in the not too distant future, we anticipate that the cyber threat will pose the number one threat to our country.”
Mueller talked about how increasingly “cyber savvy” terrorist have become, citing as example, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has produced a full-color, English-language online magazine.
“They are not only sharing ideas, they are soliciting information and inviting recruits to join al Qaeda. ”
“Al Shabaab—the al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia—has its own Twitter account. Al Shabaab uses it to taunt its enemies—in English—and to encourage terrorist activity, ” he said. “Extremists are not merely making use of the Internet for propaganda and recruitment. They are also using cyber space to conduct operations.”
“The individuals who planned the attempted Times Square bombing in May 2010 used public web cameras for reconnaissance. They used file-sharing sites to share sensitive operational details. They deployed remote conferencing software to communicate. They used a proxy server to avoid being tracked by an IP address. And they claimed responsibility for the attempted attack—on YouTube.”
To read the complete speech click here.
Central banks begin to buy stocks
By Bill Wilson
A small number of central banks around the world have begun investing their foreign exchange reserves in equities, according to Bloomberg News. These include the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Israel, South Korea and others.
So far it’s not much, several billion in stock buys by central banks. But all over the world, there are about $10.2 trillion of foreign exchange reserves that could be tapped, according to the International Monetary Fund’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) database.
Interestingly, the IMF notes that “COFER data for individual countries are strictly confidential.” So, when central banks flood equities markets with excess reserves, investors likely won’t know until after the fact, and then, only if such purchases are disclosed.
But why would central banks purchase stocks? Aren’t those… risky?
In 2000, none other than current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — then a professor — commenting on Japanese policies after their housing bubble popped in 1989, included corporate bond and equity purchases in his menu of options that might be pursued in an environment with near-zero interest rates.
Bernanke left no mistake that the reason to boost aggregate demand in this fashion is to raise prices: “The object of such purchases would be to raise asset prices, which in turn would stimulate spending”.
Vince Reinhart, then Fed Director of its Division of Monetary Affairs, at Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in June 2004 described the circumstances under which a central bank might engage in such purchases: “if the policymakers believed that deflationary forces were severe.”
Reinhart also dismissed the possibility at the time, saying, “These options would change how we are viewed in financial markets, involve credit judgments of a form we are not used to, perhaps smack of desperation, and pull us into a tighter relationship with other parts of government.”
Get full story here.
A small number of central banks around the world have begun investing their foreign exchange reserves in equities, according to Bloomberg News. These include the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Israel, South Korea and others.
So far it’s not much, several billion in stock buys by central banks. But all over the world, there are about $10.2 trillion of foreign exchange reserves that could be tapped, according to the International Monetary Fund’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) database.
Interestingly, the IMF notes that “COFER data for individual countries are strictly confidential.” So, when central banks flood equities markets with excess reserves, investors likely won’t know until after the fact, and then, only if such purchases are disclosed.
But why would central banks purchase stocks? Aren’t those… risky?
In 2000, none other than current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — then a professor — commenting on Japanese policies after their housing bubble popped in 1989, included corporate bond and equity purchases in his menu of options that might be pursued in an environment with near-zero interest rates.
Bernanke left no mistake that the reason to boost aggregate demand in this fashion is to raise prices: “The object of such purchases would be to raise asset prices, which in turn would stimulate spending”.
Vince Reinhart, then Fed Director of its Division of Monetary Affairs, at Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in June 2004 described the circumstances under which a central bank might engage in such purchases: “if the policymakers believed that deflationary forces were severe.”
Reinhart also dismissed the possibility at the time, saying, “These options would change how we are viewed in financial markets, involve credit judgments of a form we are not used to, perhaps smack of desperation, and pull us into a tighter relationship with other parts of government.”
Get full story here.
National debt eclipses GDP in size, ALG analysis shows
By Robert Romano
The national debt to GDP ratio is now over 100 percent. It’s official now.
Well, almost. We’ll know more when the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers are published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on April 27.
But, based on a preliminary analysis of data on the GDP and national debt figures from the Bureau and the U.S. Treasury, barring greater than expected GDP growth in the first quarter, the national debt probably eclipsed the economy in sheer size, perhaps never to return, on or about Feb. 23, 2012.
Since the beginning of the year, the national debt has grown by $265.58 billion, or about $4.42 billion every day, to $15.488 trillion. That compares with an economy that is probably only growing by about $1.66 billion a day to a current level of about $15.420 trillion.
Therefore, the current debt to GDP ratio is already 100.4 percent — and climbing.
When Barack Obama took office it was a little over 74 percent when the debt was about $10.4 trillion. The reason the ratio has skyrocketed is because the debt has been growing much faster than the economy. While the economy grew at 1.8 percent in 2011, the debt grew by over 10 percent, an astounding figure.
In 2012, this process will continue, when the debt will grow at over 7 percent for the year, much faster than the economy, which is only expected to grow at 3 percent.
Meanwhile, some economists, calling themselves Modern Monetary Theorists, still maintain remarkably that debt really does not matter at all. That as long as the nation’s central bank prints more money to perpetually refinance the debt, all is well.
Get full story here.
The national debt to GDP ratio is now over 100 percent. It’s official now.
Well, almost. We’ll know more when the first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers are published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on April 27.
But, based on a preliminary analysis of data on the GDP and national debt figures from the Bureau and the U.S. Treasury, barring greater than expected GDP growth in the first quarter, the national debt probably eclipsed the economy in sheer size, perhaps never to return, on or about Feb. 23, 2012.
Since the beginning of the year, the national debt has grown by $265.58 billion, or about $4.42 billion every day, to $15.488 trillion. That compares with an economy that is probably only growing by about $1.66 billion a day to a current level of about $15.420 trillion.
Therefore, the current debt to GDP ratio is already 100.4 percent — and climbing.
When Barack Obama took office it was a little over 74 percent when the debt was about $10.4 trillion. The reason the ratio has skyrocketed is because the debt has been growing much faster than the economy. While the economy grew at 1.8 percent in 2011, the debt grew by over 10 percent, an astounding figure.
In 2012, this process will continue, when the debt will grow at over 7 percent for the year, much faster than the economy, which is only expected to grow at 3 percent.
Meanwhile, some economists, calling themselves Modern Monetary Theorists, still maintain remarkably that debt really does not matter at all. That as long as the nation’s central bank prints more money to perpetually refinance the debt, all is well.
Get full story here.
Whitney Houston Casket Photo Released By National Enquirer
The National Enquirer has made everyone mad again and it probably won’t be the last time. In 1977 when Elvis Presley died the National Enquirer released Elvis Presley Casket photos. For 2012 the National Enquirer has kept up it’s notoriety for stooping low, by releasing the Whitney Houston casket photo that they paid someone off for.
No one is sure how much the Enquirer paid an insider at the funeral for the photo but you can bet it wasn’t cheap. The cover has the photo clear and easy to see and you can find it in your local grocery store. The publication date is listed as March 5th, 2012 but you can probably find it sooner.
There are details about the funeral as well besides just photos of Whitney Houston in a casket. Apparently Whitney Houston was wearing over $500,000 in jewelry during her funeral inside of her casket. On her feet were a pair of gold slippers to take with her and she was wearing her favorite purple dress inside the casket.
There were celebrity outrages at Whitney’s casket photos and people got pretty upset. Fans are also outrages and taking to Twitter to express their disgust. Comedian Jim Norton wrote a long Facebook post about the photo, a post which has been shared more than 1,400 times. ” I would like the same people who perpetually whine and cry about airport security and how it ‘violates privacy’ to refrain from buying the magazine,” Norton says. “Or from even looking at the photo while standing in line in the supermarket. Ahh, that’s right; it’s only a privacy violation when it’s YOUR privacy being infringed upon.”
The Talk on CBS had this to say about the Whitney Houston Casket Photos released by the Enquirer:
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