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Monday, 17 May 2010

Ron Paul on CNBC’s Squawk Box - Those Who Voted Against Audit The Fed Will Pay The Price -

Texas Congressman Ron Paul appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier today to discuss the financial crisis and his ongoing effort to audit the Federal Reserve.

Paul, speaking publicly for the first time since the Senate passed a watered down version of his HR1207 amendment to fully audit the Fed, said that those who had essentially voted for more Fed power would see repercussions.

“The Federal Reserve is a big issue and those individuals who voted against auditing the Fed, there will be a political price to pay for that, just as much as those who voted for the bailout.” The Congressman said.

“Right now, those that vote to enhance the Fed will get punished politically, because the people are waking up and they realise the Fed is the culprit.” Paul, a member of the Joint Economic Committee, added.

Although Paul’s amendment to fully audit the Fed every year is now likely to be stripped from the final financial reform bill, the Congressman remains positive.

“I’m surprised we have done this well. My main goal was to call attention to the American people of the importance of the Federal Reserve. In economic terms we’ve achieved a whole lot. Win or lose, the people are not going to forget about the Federal Reserve. So in some ways, it’ll prove my point.” Paul stressed.

“Lets say they strip my amendment out and they put in a watered down version, and you don’t really have an audit of the Fed, it will just prove to the American people that this show is being run by the Federal Reserve, they have unbelievable powers. We’ve had this crisis, they are to blame for so much of it and we’re going to give them more power! Not only are we not going to have them audited in a true sense of the word, they’re going to end up with more power, more regulations, more control over the consumers, and it won’t go well with the American people. They’ll realise then how powerful the institution is, and those who benefit by the creation of money and credit – you can’t have a military industrial complex without the Fed, you can’t run these wars, you can’t have a welfare state without the Fed.” The Congressman explained.

Paul also warned that Americans should expect a situation akin to that of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, should the U.S. continue the course the country is on.

“…the dollar is still trusted, and people still buy treasury bills, but all of that will come to an end, because the type of problem that Greece is following will eventually hit the United States because everything has too much debt.” Paul commented.

“You can’t correct the problems of debt with creating more debt and expect the Fed to endlessly create money and credit. That is not the answer, even though it makes people feel better, and will sort of delay some of the problems that we have, but we’re in for a lot more trouble as far as I can see.” The Congressman added.

“The Federal Reserve behind the scenes has the power to create money out of thin air, I mean it’s absolutely bizarre. Never in the history of the world has any one single bank been given the power to create the reserve currency of the world like we have had since 1971. So yes, they can bailout their friends and let the people they don’t like fail, and create a trillion dollars or more out of thin air in order to prop up some companies at the expense of others, it’s not viable, it makes no sense.” Paul urged.

“When the history of this time is written, people will say ‘how in the world did they believe that a few people in a secret room can decide what interest rates should be, how much the money supply should be, who should fail, what bad assets, what worthless assets the tax payers have to buy?’ it’s absolutely bizarre, yet the American people right now I think are waking up to it.”

“This whole experiment over the last 35 years or so is a failure and that’s what we’re involved in right now.” The Congressman concluded.

Scientists Find ‘Baffling’ Link Between Autism and Vinyl Flooring - emit chemicals called phthalates - and causes Autism? -

Children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit chemicals calledphthalates, are more likely to have autism, according to research by Swedish and U.S. scientists published Monday.

The study of Swedish children is among the first to find an apparent connection between an environmental chemical andautism.

The scientists were surprised by their finding, calling it "far from conclusive." Because their research was not designed to focus on autism, they recommend further study of larger numbers of children to see whether the link can be confirmed.
Bernard Weiss, a professor of environmental medicine at University of Rochester and a co-author of the study, said the connection between vinyl flooring and autism "turned up virtually by accident." He called it "intriguing and baffling at the same time."

Experts suspect that genetic and environmental factors combine to cause autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that has increased dramatically in children over the past 20 years.

In the new study, Swedish families were asked questions about flooring as part of research investigating allergies and indoor air pollutants. Phthalates, used to make soft plastic, have in previous studies been connected to allergies and asthma.

The study was based on surveys that asked a variety of questions related to the indoor environment. Of the study's 4,779 children between the ages of 6 and 8, 72 had autism, including 60 boys.

The researchers found four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother's smoking, family economic problems and condensation on windows, which indicates poor ventilation.

Infants or toddlers who lived in bedrooms with vinyl, or PVC, floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later, in 2005, than those with wood or linoleum flooring.

"A greater proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder were reported to have PVC as flooring material in the child's and the parent's bedroom in 2000 compared to children without autism spectrum disorder," the scientists wrote in the journal Neurotoxicology. "Furthermore, children with autism spectrum disorder were reported to live in homes with more condensation on the inside of the windows, which...may be seen as an indicator for deficient ventilation."

Children in the study also were twice as likely to have autism if their mothers smoked cigarettes. The autistic children also were more likely to have asthma.

The lead investigator was Carl-Gustav Bornehag of Karlstad University in Sweden, who in 2004 found a high rate of asthma and allergies among children living in households with dust containing phthalates.

The scientists reported that they do not know if asthma and autism are related, or whether phthalates contributed to the risk of autism by some other mechanism, such as disruption of hormones. Phthalates in animal tests interfere with male hormones and sexual development.

"The data are far from conclusive. They are puzzling, even baffling, and not readily explicable at this time," the scientists wrote in their study. "However, because they are among the few clues that have emerged about possible environmental contributions to autistic disorders, we believe that they should be weighed carefully and warrant further study."

Several scientists who did not participate in the study cautioned that it has too many limitations to draw conclusions, but they suggested that new studies be designed to look for a connection between autism and indoor air pollutants.

Read more -http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=link-between-autism-and-vinyl

Obama's Aunt Granted Asylum, Stopping Her Deportation to Kenya - after she illegally stayed in the US -

CLEVELAND -- A U.S. immigration court granted asylum to President Barack Obama's African aunt, allowing her to stay in the country, her attorneys said Monday.

The decision was mailed Friday and comes three months after Kenya native Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of Obama's late father, testified at a closed hearing in Boston, where she arrived in a wheelchair and two doctors testified in support of her case.

The basis for her asylum request hadn't been made public. People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.

Her lawyer, Margaret Wong, said last year that Onyango first applied for asylum "due to violence in Kenya." The East African nation is fractured by cycles of electoral violence every five years.

In a November interview with The Associated Press, Onyango said she was disabled and was learning to walk again after being paralyzed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.

Onyango moved to the United States in 2000. Her first asylum request was rejected, and she was ordered deported in 2004. But she didn't leave the country and continued to live in public housing in Boston.

Onyango's status as an illegal immigrant was revealed just days before Obama was elected in November 2008. Obama said he did not know his aunt was living here illegally and believes laws covering the situation should be followed.

A judge later agreed to suspend her deportation order and reopen her asylum case.

Wong has said that Obama wasn't involved in the Boston hearing. The White House also said it was not helping Onyango with legal fees.

In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," Obama affectionately referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" and described meeting her during his 1988 trip to Kenya.

Onyango helped care for the president's half brothers and sister while living with Barack Obama Sr. in Kenya.

Thousands of bees' swarm White House - army of insects hovered as President Barack Obama tried to play basketball -

A swarm of "thousands of bees" gathered outside the White House this morning.

The small army of insects hovered as President Barack Obama tried to leave the White House to play basketball at Fort McNair, according to a pool report.

By the time the president returned at noon, the bees were apparently nowhere in sight.

Friday, 14 May 2010

Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker said he’s concerned that the Euro area may break up after the Greek fiscal crisis -

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said he’s concerned that the euro area may break up after the Greek fiscal crisis that sparked an unprecedented bailout by the region’s members.

“You have the great problem of a potential disintegration of the euro,” Volcker, 82, said in a speech in London yesterday. “The essential element of discipline in economic policy and in fiscal policy that was hoped for” has “so far not been rewarded in some countries.”

European leaders pledged a rescue package of almost $1 trillion this week to counter a mounting debt crisis and restore confidence in the currency. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said this week the euro may need a common fiscal policy to survive, a comment echoed by Norman Lamont, who was U.K. finance minister when Britain opted out from the euro in 1992.

“Will economic and financial distress finally be resolved by looking toward more integration in a closely integrated Europe, politically as well as economically?” said Volcker, who chairs President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. “I do have my hopes, as a believer in the euro.”

The aid package also involved the European Central Bank, which intervened in debt markets after a rout in bonds across the euro region’s periphery. The European Commission in Brussels said it would “strengthen” its deficit oversight and “align national budget and policy planning” under a system of economic policy coordination.

Fiscal Union

“For the euro to be able to survive long term, fiscal consolidation of some kind -- tax policy consolidation, fiscal policy consolidation -- is probably necessary,” Snow said. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King also commented on the crisis, saying two days ago that it is “very clear” that the currency region needs a fiscal union “to make the monetary union work.”

Soaring bond yields on concern that Greece’s fiscal crisis would spread threatened to shut Spain and Portugal out of debt markets and sparked a weekend of talks with euro-region finance ministers and central bankers.

While the resulting 750 billion-euro ($940 billion) financial aid package has calmed bond markets, the euro today broke through the 14-month low reached last week before European leaders unveiled the bailout plan. The euro, which dropped as low as $1.2457, traded at $1.2564 at 7:46 a.m. in London.

Greek Doubts

Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said in an interview with Germany’s ZDF broadcaster aired late yesterday that Greece may not be able to repay its debt in full, arguing it would require “incredible efforts.”

The extra yield that investors demand to hold 10-year Spanish bonds over German bunds, Europe’s benchmark, has narrowed to 99 basis points from 164 basis points on May 7. Spreads on Portuguese debt have fallen by more than half to 163 points. The Greek spread was 442 basis points yesterday after touching 973 points last week.

Volcker expressed hope that the euro will survive. “There is strong opinion to keep it going,” he told journalists after his speech at Mansion House, the residence of the lord mayor of the City, London’s financial district. “That does require, I think, changes in the structure of European economic policy.”

Closer fiscal union is unlikely to be welcomed in some countries. Ireland’s largest opposition political party said this week the commission proposals give the EU a “final veto” over Irish fiscal policy. Prime Minister Brian Cowenrejected the comments and said that there “will never be a threat” to national tax control.

Well Served

Europe has so far been well-served by the euro, Volcker said. “If you didn’t have that common currency in Europe, they would have bigger problems than they have now.”

He declined to elaborate on what European governments should do as he left and walked across the street to visit the Bank of England.

“That is up to European governments,” he said. “The nature of the problem does not lend itself to one-word sound bites.”

Social Security Administration - Top 10 Baby Names, by gender, in 2009 were: Jacob, Isabella, Ethan, Emma, Michael, Olivia... -

Social Security Administration - Top 10 Baby Names, by gender, in 2009 were: Jacob, Isabella, Ethan, Emma, Michael, Olivia... -

Gothic boy Baby Names

The Social Security Administration maintains a list of popular baby names for the years 1880-2009. The top 10 baby names, by gender, in 2009 were:

Rank	Male	Female
1	Jacob	Isabella
2	Ethan	Emma
3	Michael	Olivia
4	Alexander	Sophia
5	William	Ava
6	Joshua	Emily
7	Daniel	Madison
8	Jayden	Abigail
9	Noah	Chloe
10	Anthony	Mia

You may also wish to view the top baby names by state.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

Cougars Die Young, Sugar Daddies Live Longer - having a boy toy husband increases a woman’s chances of an early death -

Cougars beware — having a boy toy husband increases a woman’s chances of an early death, according to a German study reported Thursday by the Daily Mail.

And the younger her spouse is, the harder it is on a woman's health, researchers found.

However, the trend is reversed when an older man opts for a younger woman. The more youthful his wife, the longer the husband is expected to live.

The finding will come as a blow to the growing numbers of cougars – defined as middle-aged women who shun older men in search of younger guys.

Celebrity cougars include Demi Moore, 47, who is 15 years older than husband Ashton Kutcher, and "Friends" actress Courteney Cox, who is married to film star David Arquette — seven years her junior.

The trend was identified by an analysis of marriage and death records belonging to almost two million Dutch men and women.

A woman who bags a man seven to nine years younger than her is 20 percent more likely to die than someone married to a man her own age. And when a cougar weds someone more than 15 years younger than her, the risk soars to more than 30 percent.

"The greater the age difference, the lower the wife's life expectancy," Sven Drefahl of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, said. "The best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age."

Drefahl believed that having a relationship with a younger man may mean more stress for women because they are "violating social norms and thus suffer from social sanctions," which could result in a more stressful life, he said.

A "sugar daddy" with a wife seven to nine years his junior is seven percent less likely to die early — probably because she's more likely to nurse him in old age. By contrast, a younger man tends to be less inclined to look after his elderly wife. And cougars are more likely to be seen as predatory — making it less likely for them to maintain friends and dependents, another factor researchers suggested could explain their findings.

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Jupiter loses one of its stripes and scientists are stumped as to why - went behind the Sun - when it emerged belt gone -

Jupiter loses one of its stripes and scientists are stumped as to why - went behind the Sun - when it emerged belt gone -

Jupiter has lost one of its iconic red stripes and scientists are baffled as to why.
The largest planet in our solar system is usually dominated by two dark bands in its atmosphere, with one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere.
However, the most recent images taken by amateur astronomers have revealed the lower stripe known as the Southern Equatorial Belt has disappeared leaving the southern half of the planet looking unusually bare.

The band was present in at the end of last year before Jupiter ducked behind the Sun on its orbit. However, when it emerged three months later the belt had disappeared.

Jupiter was pictured this month (left) looking unusually bare, compared to July 2009 (right). It has lost its dark red Southern Equatorial Belt although scientists are unclear as to why. The pictures have different tones because they were snapped a year apart.

Journalist and amateur astronomer Bob King, also known as Astro_Bob, was one of the first to note the strange phenomenon.
He said: 'Jupiter with only one belt is almost like seeing Saturn when its rings are edge-on and invisible for a time - it just doesn't look right.'
It is not the first time this unusual phenomenon has been noticed. Jupiter loses or regains one of its belts every ten of 15 years, although exactly why this happens is a mystery.

Jupiter has a complex belt system

The planet is a giant ball of gas and liquid around 500million miles from the Sun. It's surface is composed of dense red, brown, yellow, and white clouds arranged in light-coloured areas called zones and darker regions called belts.
These clouds are created by chemicals that have formed at different heights. The highest white clouds in the zones are made of crystals of frozen ammonia. Darker, lower clouds are created from chemicals including sulphur and phosphorus. The clouds are blown into bands by 350mph winds caused by Jupiter's rapid rotation.
Noted Jupiter watcher Anthony Wesley, who spotted an impact spot on its surface last year, has tracked the disappearing belt from his back garden in Australia.
'It was obvious last year that it was fading. It was closely observed by anyone watching Jupiter,' he told The Planetary Society.
'There was a big rush on to find out what had changed once it came back into view.'
Mr Wesley said while it was a mystery as to what had caused the belt to fade, the most likely explanation was that it was linked to storm activity that preceded the change.
'The question now is when will the South Equatorial belt erupt back into activity and reappear?' Mr Wesley said.
The pattern for this happening is when a brilliant white spot forms in the southern zone. Gradually it will start to spout dark blobs of material which will be stretched by Jupiter's fierce winds into a new belt, and the planet will return to its familiar 'tyre track' appearance.
Jupiter will be closest to Earth on September 24, offering stargazers their best chance of seeing it without its stripe

Read more -http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1277734/Jupiter-loses-stripes-scientists-idea-why.html#

Monday, 10 May 2010

Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead To Currency Collapse - from constant monetization of debt and taxpayer-funded bailouts -

As Europe is bailed out to the tune of nearly $1 trillion dollars, Congressman Ron Paul warns that the constant monetization of debt, allied with taxpayer-funded bailouts, will inevitably lead to runaway inflation and the collapse of paper currencies.

Under the terms of the Federal Reserve’s credit swap deal with the EU – in addition to an additional IMF bailout of which U.S. taxpayers will be picking up 20 per cent ($57 billion dollars) of the tab, Paul pointed out that not just taxpayers but “anybody that buys anything” will be funding the European bailout because of the attendant inflationary consequences.

“The prices are going up already, producer prices are going up, the cost of living will go up so everyone in American will suffer and eventually the whole world will suffer because we cannot carry the whole world with our dollar,” Paul told Fox Business, adding that eventually people will lose confidence in the dollar.

The Congressman agreed with the host that the bailouts would lead to the crash of paper currencies, noting that last week’s stock market turmoil was accompanied by gold acting as a currency rather than just reacting to the value of the dollar.

“Gold has been money for 6,000 years and it will remain that way and it will rule the roost,” said Paul, adding that the dollar was weak in comparison with the strength of gold.

“All paper currencies are under attack and this cannot be sustained,” said the Congressman.

Paul then explained how the ECB has completely reversed its promise that it wouldn’t monetize debt and how Bernanke had also gone back on his word that U.S. dollars would be use for this purpose. “When I talked to Bernanke last time in the Committee he said they had no intention of bailing out Greece but they are, through the IMF as well as opening up these swap lines to all the central banks, so it is on the shoulders on the burden of the American taxpayer and our dollar so all we’re doing is perpetuating a very very bad system and this is not a solution at all,” he said.

Paul agreed with the host that the bailout was merely a stunt to buy time while failing to address the underlying problem of European socialism and the entitlement culture, which is fast running out of money with which to keep itself ticking over.

Sunday, 9 May 2010

Moody's Says It Received Wells Notice From SEC - facing an enforcement action for its role in the financial crisis -

One of the nation's largest credit rating agencies—which has come under fire for its role in the financial crisis—says it is facing an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Moody's Investors Service, one of only 10 so-called "Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations" or NRSRO's, disclosed in a quarterly SEC filing Friday night that the SEC is considering instituting "cease and desist" proceedings in connection with the firm's initial 2007 application for NRSRO status. The filing does not say what the consequences of such an action would be, but the NRSRO designation is crucial.

The NRSROs, which include Moody's [MCO 23.36

-0.18 (-0.76%)

], Standard and Poor's and Fitch among others, have been criticized for their overly positive ratings on what turned out to be toxic mortgage-backed securities during the housing boom.

In its filing, Moody's says it received a so-called Wells Notice from the SEC on March 18, saying the SEC staff is considering recommending "administrative cease-and-desist proceedings" against the firm in connection with its initial 2007 application for NRSRO status.

At issue, according to the Moody's filing, is the company's determination in 2007 that members of one of its European rating committees "engaged in conduct contrary to Moody's Code of Professional Conduct."

The filing does not say what the committee members did, but says the SEC believes the fact that the employees engaged in it is proof Moody's NRSRO application is false and misleading.

In its filing, Moody's says it disagrees with the SEC's position, and says the application was accurate. And, the filing says, Moody's believes the enforcement action is unwarranted.