Judge Napolitano on The Plain Truth of the Federal Reserve

Some Of Today's Headlines

Libya set for ‘day of anger’
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/221bc38c-3a0b-11e0-a441-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EBKAS9ew

Police kill 2 in clashes with Yemen protesters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

Riot police storm Bahrain camp; 2 reported dead
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_bahrain_protests

Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/biggest-solar-flare-in-years-headed-for-earth/

Israel says Iran warships to transit Suez for Syria
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-israel-iran-warships-idUSTRE71F4NW20110216

Possible Mexican Military Incursion On U.S. Soil
http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Possible-Mexican-Military-Incursion-On-U-S-Soil/x_-oXhrE3Um61ytja1xnKg.cspx

'Kill Switch' Internet bill alarms privacy experts
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2011-02-15-kill-switch_N.htm

In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council - By Colum Lynch | Turtle Bay

In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council - By Colum Lynch Turtle Bay


The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

But the Palestinian's rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesdy of Arab representativs and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama adminstration may cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.

Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with its key ally and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to Israel to stop its construction of new settlements. The Palestinian delegation, along with the council's Arab member Lebanon, have asked the council's president this evening to schedule a meeting on Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from the United States.

Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.

U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal. The Arab Group was scheduled to meet this afternoon to formulate a formal response to the American offer. Council diplomats said that the discussions were fluid and that there was still the possibility that the U.S. draft would be subject to further negotiations. They said it was also not yet certain that the U.S. offer would satisfy the Arab Group, and that the U.S. may be forced to veto the Palestinian resolution.

U.S. officials argue that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through direct negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinians. For weeks, the Obama administration has refused to negotiate with the Palestinians on a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal, signaling that they would likely veto it if it were put to a vote. The Palestinians were planning to put the resolution to a vote later this week. But Security Council statements of the sort currently under consideration are voted on the bases of consensus in the 15-nation council.

The United States has , however, been isolated in the 15-nation council. Virtually all 14 other member states are prepared to support the Palestinian resolution, according to council diplomats. A U.N. Security Council resolution generally carries greater political, and legal force, than a statement from the council's president.

The U.S. concession comes as the Middle East is facing a massive wave of popular demonstrations that have brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and are posing a challenge to governments in Algeria, Bahrain, and Iran.

John Stossel Atlas Shrugged Part One

Here is a great video of the John Stossel show talking about Atlas Shrugged. You can watch the other videos below under the videos tab.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Finally

A Little Strange

Former Egyptian leader at his residence in Sharm el-SheikhMubarak falls into coma after final speech: report



Egypt's deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, went into a full coma on Saturday night at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday, quoting well-informed sources.

Mubarak and his family moved to Sharm al-Sheikh on Thursday night following his final speech, in which he handed over executive authority to former Vice-President Omar Suleiman, Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm reported.

The same sources said that Mubarak was currently receiving medical treatment but that no decision had yet been made on whether to transfer the 82-year-old former head-of-state to a hospital.

Rumors had circulated earlier that Mubarak had fainted twice while recording his final speech, which was broadcast on state television on Thursday evening.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq confirmed Sunday that Mubarak was in Sharm el-Sheikh and has not leave the country.

Mubarak underwent a successful surgery in March 2010 at a German clinic for an inflamed gall bladder. Since then, doubts increased over the former president's health.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/14/137565.html

IMF calls for dollar alternative

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.

SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires at exchange rates based on a weighted basket of international currencies. The IMF typically lends countries funds denominated in SDRs

While they are not a tangible currency, some economists argue that SDRs could be used as a less volatile alternative to the U.S. dollar.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, acknowledged there are some "technical hurdles" involved with SDRs, but he believes they could help correct global imbalances and shore up the global financial system.

"Over time, there may also be a role for the SDR to contribute to a more stable international monetary system," he said.

The goal is to have a reserve asset for central banks that better reflects the global economy since the dollar is vulnerable to swings in the domestic economy and changes in U.S. policy.

In addition to serving as a reserve currency, the IMF also proposed creating SDR-denominated bonds, which could reduce central banks' dependence on U.S. Treasuries. The Fund also suggested that certain assets, such as oil and gold, which are traded in U.S. dollars, could be priced using SDRs.

Oil prices usually go up when the dollar depreciates. Supporters say using SDRs to price oil on the global market could help prevent spikes in energy prices that often occur when the dollar weakens significantly.

The dollar alternatives
Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said at a conference in Washington that IMF member nations should agree to create $2 trillion worth of SDRs over the next few years.

SDRs, he said, "will further diversify the system."

Dollar firms after starting 2011 weak

The dollar has been drifting lower so far this year as the global economy improves and investors regain their appetite for more risky assets such as stocks and commodities.

After rising above 81 in early January, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of other international currencies, eased below 77 earlier this week.

However, the dollar was higher Thursday against the euro, pound and yen as disappointing corporate results weighed on stock prices following several days of gains on Wall Street. The rally in the commodities market also cooled, with the price of oil and metals backing off recent highs.

In addition, renewed concerns about the debt problems facing troubled European economies put pressure on the euro and supported the dollar. The yield on Portugal's benchmark bond rose to a record high Wednesday, and borrowing costs for Ireland, Spain and Greece remain elevated.

"The market is shedding risk, with equities and commodities weakening and the U.S. dollar broadly stronger" said Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital.

Traders were also digesting comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who told Congress Wednesday that despite a strengthening economic recovery, the unemployment rate remains high while inflation is "still quite low."

Those remarks reaffirmed the view that "the Fed would be very slow to tighten policy given its dual mandate of price stability and employment," analysts at Sucden Financial wrote in a research report.

Bernanke also urged lawmakers to come up with a "credible plan" to bring down "unsustainable" federal budget deficits.

"We expect that the outlook for the U.S. fiscal position will weigh heavily on the U.S. dollar in the quarters ahead," said Sutton. In the near-term, however, she said "a strengthening growth profile" could help provide "a temporary period of dollar strength."

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm

MULTICULTURALISM HAS FAILED

Is Europe waking up at the same time the U.S. is falling asleep?


PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Thursday that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it.

"My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure," he said in a television interview when asked about the policy which advocates that host societies welcome and foster distinct cultural and religious immigrant groups.

"Of course we must all respect differences, but we do not want... a society where communities coexist side by side.

"If you come to France, you accept to melt into a single community, which is the national community, and if you do not want to accept that, you cannot be welcome in France," the right-wing (was that really neccessary?) president said.

"The French national community cannot accept a change in its lifestyle, equality between men and women... freedom for little girls to go to school," he said.

"We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him," Sarkozy said in the TFI channel show.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's ex-prime minister John Howard and Spanish ex-premier Jose Maria Aznar have also recently said multicultural policies have not successfully integrated immigrants.

Merkel in October said efforts towards multiculturalism in Germany had "failed, totally."

The comment followed weeks of anguished debate sparked by the huge popularity of a book by a central banker saying that immigrants, in particular Muslims, were making Germany "more stupid."

Britain's Cameron last week pronounced his country's long-standing policy of multiculturalism a failure, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism.

He urged a "more active, muscular liberalism" where equal rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and democracy are actively promoted to create a stronger national identity.

The prime minister, who took power in May 2010, argued that "under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream".

He said this had resulted in a lack of national identity in Britain which had made some young Muslims turn to extremist ideology.

Sarkozy said in his television interview Thursday that "our Muslim compatriots must be able to practise their religion, as any citizen can," but he noted "we in France do not want people to pray in an ostentatious way in the street."

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen late last year came under fire for comparing Muslims praying in the streets outside overcrowded mosques in France to the Nazi occupation.

Marine Le Pen said there were "ten to fifteen" places in France where Muslims worshipped in the streets outside mosques when these were full.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110210/wl_afp/francepoliticsimmigrationsociety_20110210231042

It's A Start

New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US
By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey, Ap Energy Writer

A new drilling technique is opening up vast fields of previously out-of-reach oil in the western United States, helping reverse a two-decade decline in domestic production of crude.

Companies are investing billions of dollars to get at oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, oil executives and analysts say, the new fields could yield as much as 2 million barrels of oil a day — more than the entire Gulf of Mexico produces now.

This new drilling is expected to raise U.S. production by at least 20 percent over the next five years. And within 10 years, it could help reduce oil imports by more than half, advancing a goal that has long eluded policymakers.

"That's a significant contribution to energy security," says Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Credit Suisse.

Oil engineers are applying what critics say is an environmentally questionable method developed in recent years to tap natural gas trapped in underground shale. They drill down and horizontally into the rock, then pump water, sand and chemicals into the hole to crack the shale and allow gas to flow up.

Because oil molecules are sticky and larger than gas molecules, engineers thought the process wouldn't work to squeeze oil out fast enough to make it economical. But drillers learned how to increase the number of cracks in the rock and use different chemicals to free up oil at low cost.

"We've completely transformed the natural gas industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if we transform the oil business in the next few years too," says Aubrey McClendon, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, which is using the technique.

Petroleum engineers first used the method in 2007 to unlock oil from a 25,000-square-mile formation under North Dakota and Montana known as the Bakken. Production there rose 50 percent in just the past year, to 458,000 barrels a day, according to Bentek Energy, an energy analysis firm.

It was first thought that the Bakken was unique. Then drillers tapped oil in a shale formation under South Texas called the Eagle Ford. Drilling permits in the region grew 11-fold last year.

Now newer fields are showing promise, including the Niobrara, which stretches under Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas; the Leonard, in New Mexico and Texas; and the Monterey, in California.

"It's only been fleshed out over the last 12 months just how consequential this can be," says Mark Papa, chief executive of EOG Resources, the company that first used horizontal drilling to tap shale oil. "And there will be several additional plays that will come about in the next 12 to 18 months. We're not done yet."

Environmentalists fear that fluids or wastewater from the process, called hydraulic fracturing, could pollute drinking water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency is now studying its safety in shale drilling. The agency studied use of the process in shallower drilling operations in 2004 and found that it was safe.

In the Bakken formation, production is rising so fast there is no space in pipelines to bring the oil to market. Instead, it is being transported to refineries by rail and truck. Drilling companies have had to erect camps to house workers.

Unemployment in North Dakota has fallen to the lowest level in the nation, 3.8 percent — less than half the national rate of 9 percent. The influx of mostly male workers to the region has left local men lamenting a lack of women. Convenience stores are struggling to keep shelves stocked with food.

The Bakken and the Eagle Ford are each expected to ultimately produce 4 billion barrels of oil. That would make them the fifth- and sixth-biggest oil fields ever discovered in the United States. The top four are Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, Spraberry Trend in West Texas, the East Texas Oilfield and the Kuparuk Field in Alaska.

The fields are attracting billions of dollars of investment from foreign oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Norway's Statoil, and also from the smaller U.S. drillers who developed the new techniques like Chesapeake, EOG Resources and Occidental Petroleum.

Last month China's state-owned oil company CNOOC agreed to pay Chesapeake $570 million for a one-third stake in a drilling project in the Niobrara. This followed a $1 billion deal in October between the two companies on a project in the Eagle Ford.

With oil prices high and natural-gas prices low, profit margins from producing oil from shale are much higher than for gas. Also, drilling for shale oil is not dependent on high oil prices. Papa says this oil is cheaper to tap than the oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or in Canada's oil sands.

The country's shale oil resources aren't nearly as big as the country's shale gas resources. Drillers have unlocked decades' worth of natural gas, an abundance of supply that may keep prices low for years. U.S. shale oil on the other hand will only supply one to two percent of world consumption by 2015, not nearly enough to affect prices.

Still, a surge in production last year from the Bakken helped U.S. oil production grow for the second year in a row, after 23 years of decline. This during a year when drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation's biggest oil-producing region, was halted after the BP oil spill.

U.S. oil production climbed steadily through most of the last century and reached a peak of 9.6 million barrels per day in 1970. The decline since was slowed by new production in Alaska in the 1980s and in the Gulf of Mexico more recently. But by 2008, production had fallen to 5 million barrels per day.

Within five years, analysts and executives predict, the newly unlocked fields are expected to produce 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil per day, enough to boost U.S. production 20 percent to 40 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates production will grow a more modest 500,000 barrels per day.

By 2020, oil imports could be slashed by as much as 60 percent, according to Credit Suisse's Morse, who is counting on Gulf oil production to rise and on U.S. gasoline demand to fall.

At today's oil prices of roughly $90 per barrel, slashing imports that much would save the U.S. $175 billion a year. Last year, when oil averaged $78 per barrel, the U.S. sent $260 billion overseas for crude, accounting for nearly half the country's $500 billion trade deficit.

"We have redefined how to look for oil and gas," says Rehan Rashid, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "The implications are major for the nation."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_re_us/us_shale_oil_3

Somebody To Keep An Eye On?

Marco Rubio Dismisses Tea Party Caucus

When grassroots tea party support propelled a number of conservative Republicans into office in last November’s midterm elections, many expected the newly formed congressional Tea Party caucuses to gain steam and prominence on Capitol Hill. Indeed, the House Tea Party Caucus — founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. — now boasts 52 members (all Republicans) and the Senate caucus has recruited four prominent figures, including Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. But some notable tea party favorites have repeatedly stated they will not join.

Though he’s an outspoken tea party ally, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has refused to join the House caucus, saying that its “structure and formality are the exact opposite” of what the tea party movement stands for. “[I]f there is an attempt to put structure and formality around it, or to co-opt it by Washington, D.C., it’s going to take away from the free-flowing nature of the true tea party movement.”

“I’m 100 percent pro-tea party, but this is not the right thing to do,” Chaffetz said.

Most recently, the idea of an organized caucus has been dismissed by another tea party favorite, Sen. Marco Rubio. While the Florida Republican has unapologetically advocated conservative policies and principles, he has long questioned the need for a formal caucus in Washington. In a local radio interview last Friday, Rubio made the criticism even clearer, saying such a “little club” run by politicians in Washington could cause the real movement “to lose its energy.”

Happy 100th Birthday President Reagan

Americans recall Reagan legacy on his 100th birthday
Washington, Feb 5 : Ronald Reagan was the political face of the 1980s, but the Republican leader, who served two terms as US president during that decade, was both an idol of conservatives and a foe of liberals.

This Sunday millions of Americans will tune in to watch the Super Bowl - an annual highlight in the sporting world to decide the championship team in professional American football. But, before the game starts, they will remember Reagan, who would have been 100 years old this day.

His life will be featured in a video homage, a tribute that seems to indicate that in the current turbulent times, Reagan is more beloved than ever, and thus, deserving of the highest appreciation that the sports-crazed country can dream up.

Thirty years after taking office and more than six years after his death, Ronald Reagan has recaptured the public imagination. Bookstores place his biography in their display windows, universities offer lecture series about his politics and Reagan followers throughout the country are planning parties to mark his birthday.

One in three US citizens call him a historically outstanding president. Given how he lived his life, it is not surprising that Reagan has been able to add to his popularity even after death.

He was born in 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, a town about 180 km west of Chicago with a current population of about 800. The son of an unsuccessful shoe salesman and a devout Christian mother, Reagan sought and always found a path to the top.

As a college student, he was elected student body president. After becoming an actor, he was elected president of Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild, and as a politician he served two terms as governor of California before being elected US president.

He had to work for his successes, paying for college by washing dishes, for example. After graduating, he gained prominence in the Midwestern US as a sports radio broadcaster, which ultimately led to his career as a film actor and national fame.

In his 50s, he decided to enter politics and finally won the presidency at the age of 69 in 1980 after two unsuccessful attempts to win his party's nomination.

In the 1980 presidential election, many voters made an issue of his age. But now that hardly figures in his legacy. What people remember is Reagan's populism and that he brought new optimism to the country after many years of demoralising crises, including the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and the Iran hostage crisis.

They also remember his contribution to the collapse of the Soviet empire.

James Baker III, Reagan's chief of staff and secretary of the treasury, recalls that Reagan restored America's pride.

"You had a restoration of the country's pride and confidence in itself. You had peace. What more could you ask for," he said.

Reagan also remains an enemy of the Democratic Party because they see him as having been a gravedigger of the social state.

Republicans, on the other hand, hold his memory more reverently than ever.

Some experts say Reagan would have no chance with the Republican Party of today.

"I doubt that Reagan could be elected today," said political strategist Mark McKinnon.

Regan, who preferred to spend evenings at the White House in front of the television in his pajamas with his wife Nancy, has found his place in history as a man who stood for a healthy economy and family values.

Reagan died at the age of 93, June 5, 2004 at his home in California after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease, having spent his final years almost completely out of the public eye.

When he died, thousands waited for hours to pay tribute to him at the US Capitol and at his presidential library in California.

Many also remembered his eloquent 1994 letter to the American people in which he explained that he had been diagnosed with the debilitating disease. In it, he said, he had begun "the journey that will lead me to the sunset of my life".

http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-140631.html