Three Times As Many Americans Enter Poverty As Find Jobs -

Three Times As Many Americans Enter Poverty As Find Jobs -


Following a brief period in which it seemed that US foodstamp recipients may have peaked, with those living in poverty maxing out at 46.514 million in December 2011, and then declining modestly for the next few months, June saw a new surge in those Americans living in poverty and thus eligible for foodstamps, with 173,600 new entrants into the system, bringing the total to a new all time high of 46.670 million and once again rising fast. Furthermore, with subsequent emergency events affecting the heartland due to the drought, the administration has made sure even more Americans will be eligible going forward. As a result expect the July and August numbers to promptly surpass 47 million on their way to the psychological resistance level of 50 million. Indicatively, the 173,600 increase in Foodstamps recipients in June was three times greater than Americans finding jobs (64,000, most of which part-time) according to the BLS. Finally, a new record was also breached for American households on foodstamps, which now hit 22.4 million, an increase of 106,298 households. The average benefit per household decline once more, this time to $276.5. Not an all time low, but just above it.

Read more -
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/june-foodstamp-recipients-hit-all-time-high-three-times-many-americans-enter-poverty-find-jobs

Panicking Spaniards Pull Out Cash, Leave Country... -

Panicking Spaniards Pull Out Cash, Leave Country... - 



It is, Julio Vildosola concedes, a very big bet.

After working six years as a senior executive for a multinational payroll-processing company in Barcelona, Spain, Mr. Vildosola is cutting his professional and financial ties with his troubled homeland. He has moved his family to a village near Cambridge, England, where he will take the reins at a small software company, and he has transferred his savings from Spanish banks to British banks.

“The macro situation in Spain is getting worse and worse,” Mr. Vildosola, 38, said last week just hours before boarding a plane to London with his wife and two small children. “There is just too much risk. Spain is going to be next after Greece, and I just don’t want to end up holding devalued pesetas.”

Mr. Vildosola is among many who worry that Spain’s economic tailspin could eventually force the country’s withdrawal from the euro and a return to its former currency, the peseta. That dire outcome is still considered a long shot, even if Spain might eventually require a Greek-style bailout. But there is no doubt that many of those in a position to do so are taking their money — and in some cases themselves — out of Spain.

In July, Spaniards withdrew a record 75 billion euros, or $94 billion, from their banks — an amount equal to 7 percent of the country’s overall economic output — as doubts grew about the durability of Spain’s financial system.

The withdrawals accelerated a trend that began in the middle of last year, and came despite a European commitment to pump up to 100 billion euros into the Spanish banking system. Analysts will be watching to see whether the August data, when available, shows an even faster rate of capital flight.

More disturbing for Spain is that the flight is starting to include members of its educated and entrepreneurial elite who are fed up with the lack of job opportunities in a country where the unemployment rate touches 25 percent.

According to official statistics, 30,000 Spaniards registered to work in Britain in the last year, and analysts say that this figure would be many multiples higher if workers without documents were counted. That is a 25 percent increase from a year earlier.

“No doubt there is a little bit of panic,” said José García Montalvo, an economist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. “The wealthy people have already taken their money out. Now it’s the professionals and midrange people who are moving their money to Germany and London. The mood is very, very bad.”

Read more - 
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48889555

REPORT: 9 DNC hotels infested with bedbugs... -

REPORT: 9 DNC hotels infested with bedbugs... - 


You think incumbent politicians are hard to get rid of? Try bedbugs.
The blood-sucking insects have made a resurgence in recent years, including reports of them at nine of the hotels being used for Democrats’ nominating convention this week in Charlotte.
Some convention-goers were fearful in the run-up to the convention, and state officials and exterminators said bedbug reports have been on the uptick in and around the Queen City.
But county health officials say they have taken precautions to make sure the pests aren’t waiting in hotel rooms to go home with guests as unwanted souvenirs.
“We did inspect all of the hotels and we do respond to complaints,” said Stephen Graham, an environmental supervisor for the Mecklenburg County Health Department. “We’re required to inspect them once a year, and we inspected them all after the start of the new fiscal year [July 1].”
The rise in the pest’s activity has led to the advent of websites such as BedBugReports.com and BedBugRegistry.com, where hotel-goers can report their bad experiences in hopes of warning other travelers.
A search of BedBugRegistry.com brings up more than 30 Charlotte-area hotels where visitors have reported bedbugs, including nine hotels that will host at least 10 of the state delegations attending this week’s convention.
Some of the hotels — such as the DoubleTree by Hilton Charlotte Airport hotel, which will host the Connecticut delegation — have had a single report more than a year ago. But the Drury Inn & Suites Northlake, which will house Ohio delegates, had a report from an anonymous Internet user claiming there were “numerous bugs” during a stay in April after several pest-free visits.
The Charlotte-Center City Holiday Inn, which will welcome the Illinois delegation, has been reported three times since March by Web users whose complaints included finding bugs “in clear sight” and ending up “covered in bites” after a one-night stay.
Of the hotels expected to host convention delegates, the most complaints were aimed at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, where five reports have been posted since July 2011.
Visitors reported finding bites days after their stays, and at least two said they ended up bringing bugs home.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/3/bedbugs-an-increasing-concern-at-dnc-hotels/

The 2012 Mindset List - Students starting college were... -

The 2012 Mindset List - Students starting college were... - 



The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.

It is a multicultural, politically correct and “green” generation that has hardly noticed the threats to their privacy and has never feared the Russians and the Warsaw Pact.

For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.

Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce “tax revenue increases.”
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
All have had a relative--or known about a friend's relative--who died comfortably at home with Hospice.
As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.”
Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
Students have always been "Rocking the Vote.”
Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
We have always known that “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”
There have always been gay rabbis.
Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
IBM has never made typewriters.
Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
There has always been Pearl Jam.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.
They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
Authorities have always been building a wall along the Mexican border.
Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone.
Their parents may have watched The American Gladiators on TV the day they were born.
Personal privacy has always been threatened.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”
Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
Soft drink refills have always been free.
They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about “nothing.”
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.
Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
There have always been charter schools.
Students always had Goosebumps.

Tooth Fairy Inflation - Kids found an average $3 per tooth under their pillows this year, up 15% from last year -

Tooth Fairy Inflation - Kids found an average $3 per tooth under their pillows this year, up 15% from last year - 



The Tooth Fairy is starting to look a lot more like Santa Claus.

Kids found an average $3 per tooth under their pillows this year, up 15% from last year, according to a survey from Visa out Tuesday. Some received as much as $20 per tooth. "It's a good time to be a kid with a loose tooth," says Jason Alderman, Visa's senior director of global financial education.
The Tooth Fairy is not to be taken lightly, child psychologists warn: Excessive monetary rewards can distort a child's perception of money. "I believe that it not only can be adverse to learning the values of things, but it can also be adverse to learning you earned things," says Patricia Kirwin, a psychologist in Columbus, Ohio.


Unfortunately, teachers say, tooth inflation is all too common in elementary schools. Nobody wants to be the parent whose child is "the talk at recess," because of a frugal Tooth Fairy, says Amy Moncarz, a second-grade teacher at Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Discrepancies in tooth price can lead to a conversation parents might want to avoid: the existence of the Tooth Fairy itself.
To help parents calculate the going rate for teeth, Visa on Tuesday is launching an app for iPhone and iPad and a calculator on its Facebook page. The app uses the survey's data to determine the average payoff a child can expect based on a parent's gender, education, location, age and income. The app also shows how much the recommended dollar amount was worth when the parent was 8.

Read more -
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/story/2012-09-03/tooth-fairy-kids-money/57561778/1

Apple Granted Patent To Disable Cameras According To Location - prevents people taking video during protests or events -

Apple Granted Patent To Disable Cameras According To Location - prevents people taking video during protests or events - 



Apple was granted a patent last week that will enable it to wirelessly disable the camera on iphones in certain locations, sparking fears that such techniques could be used to prevent citizens from communicating with each other or taking video during protests or events such as political conventions and gatherings.
The camera phone has revolutionized the flow of information in the digital age. Any time a major event takes place, news networks and video websites are immediately inundated with footage and photographs from the scene.
That could all change in the future however, with a flick of a switch, according to U.S. Patent No. 8,254,902, published on Tuesday, titled, “Apparatus and methods for enforcement of policies upon a wireless device.”
It states:
Apparatus and methods for changing one or more functional or operational aspects of a wireless device, such as upon the occurrence of a certain event. In one embodiment, the event comprises detecting that the wireless device is within range of one or more other devices. In another variant, the event comprises the wireless device associating with a certain access point. In this manner, various aspects of device functionality may be enabled or restricted (device “policies”). This policy enforcement capability is useful for a variety of reasons, including for example to disable noise and/or light emanating from wireless devices (such as at a movie theater), for preventing wireless devices from communicating with other wireless devices (such as in academic settings), and for forcing certain electronic devices to enter “sleep mode” when entering a sensitive area.

Read more -
http://www.prisonplanet.com/apple-granted-patent-to-disable-cameras-according-to-location.html

EPA changes rules to allow more toxic cleaning chemicals in mainstream food -

EPA changes rules to allow more toxic cleaning chemicals in mainstream food - 



Just in case you’ve forgotten, EPA stands for Environmental Protection Agency. That was sarcasm. You haven’t forgotten. But it appears the EPA has.
Reading alphabet soup can be confusing. The FDA, USDA and EPA all seem to cross over each other when it comes to what happens with food.
Recently, the EPA made a ruling on the use of a chemical that’s used for a variety of products, including sanitizing cleaners for facilities of food industry providers and restaurants. The chemical will show up in processed foods.
Government safety agencies safeguard industry profits, not health and safety
An August 22, 2012 Courthouse News edition contained a short article entitled “More Ammonia Now Allowed in Processed Food.” It was a reference to the EPA’s latest revision for limits using Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium in the carbonate or bicarbonate form (DDACB). Focus on ammonia.
The former limit of 240 ppm (parts per million) was raised to 400 ppm. A petition to raise the allowed limit was issued to the EPA by a principle provider of the chemical, Lonza, according to the Courthouse News press release.
The reason for limiting DDACB is residual amounts of highly toxic ammonia used in food facilities are carried by the foods and consumed.

According to the EPA’s own document on the ruling, those industries affected (favorably) by the increased DDACB toxicity allowance are: Dairy, food manufacturing, beverage manufacturing, and pesticide producers.

Read more -
http://www.naturalnews.com/037052_EPA_toxic_chemicals_food_supply.html

China denies kids are GM rice guinea pigs despite published research paper -

China denies kids are GM rice guinea pigs despite published research paper - 



Authorities in China's Hunan province denied recently that children in a rural school were guinea pigs in a United States research project on the effects of genetically modified rice.

A research paper involving 68 Chinese primary-school children in the province was published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Aug. 1, with Guangwen Tang at Tufts University in the US named as the lead author.

The unapproved experimental rice, widely referred to as "golden rice" and genetically engineered to produce provitamin A, was created by Ingo Potrykus at the Institute of Plant Sciences in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Peter Beyer at the University of Freiburg more than 10 years ago.

Chen Peihou, deputy director of the Hunan Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, confirmed that the second author of the paper, listed as Hu Yuming, is a researcher for the centre.

"I was aware of the project in Hengyang in 2008, which involved children and was mainly testing for beta-carotene bioavailability and bioconversion to retinol," or vitamin A, Chen said yesterday. "But as far as I know, no golden rice was used, and all the food involved was locally produced."

He also said that Hu was not asked by the journal to sign the paper before its publication.

"In the project, we just provided the site and assistance to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we have not dealt with any US institution," he added.

According to Chen, Yin Shi'an, listed in the paper as the third author, is with the China CDC.

Wang Lin, information director of the China CDC, declined to comment.

Chen said his centre will continue its investigation and contact the journal about the issue.

Andrea Grossman, a public-relations officer for Tufts University's Human Nutrition Research Centre on Aging, however, was quoted by Beijing Youth Daily over the weekend as saying that the month long research on golden rice was approved by authorities in both countries after an examination by ethics committees.

Feeding trials with human adults in China have also been carried out to measure the effect of fat in the diet, on bioconversion and bioavailability, according to the Golden Rice Project website, the official golden-rice homepage supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Last Thursday, Greenpeace, the international environmental campaign group, reported the study, backed by the US Department of Agriculture, which involved feeding golden rice to 6- to 8-year-old children in Hunan.

The study, assigned to the Hunan CDC by the China CDC in 2008, selected 68 primary-school children in a school in Hankou township of Hengyang city.

According to the Hunan CDC, the study was listed as on the Programme of National Natural Science Foundation of China.

After the discovery was posted on Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging website, the news received massive attention online.

After an investigation, the publicity department of Hengyang said over the weekend that there had been no such research project on golden rice. It said on its micro blog there was instead a study on the transformation of carotene in vegetables to vitamin A in children's bodies.

According to Chen Peihou, all results were submitted to the China CDC immediately after the experiment ended, and no paper on that has been published within the country.

Worldwide, debates on long-term safety for genetically modified (GM) food continues.

In China, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2009 issued bio safety certificates to two strains of pest-resistant GM rice and corn in what was considered a major development in promoting the research and planting of GM crops.

The strains still need registration and production trial - which will take three to five years - before commercial planting could begin, according to the ministry.

The certificates triggered concern among the public and professionals since there is still no consensus on whether such food is harmful to humans.

As early as 2001, the State Council introduced a regulation to ensure the safety of GM food, with strict provisions of its research, testing, production and marketing.

At present, the only three kinds of GM food crops that have been approved for commercial planting in China are sweet peppers, tomatoes and papayas, Shi Yanquan, an official at the ministry, was quoted as saying by china.com.cn during an online interview in April.

Also, the country has imported other GM crops, including soybean, corn and rape, from overseas market to satisfy domestic need. For instance, China imported more than 50 million tonnes of GM soybeans in 2011, most of which were processed to edible oil, he said.

"The country has launched strict transgenic safety and quality assessment system to ensure GM food in the market is as safe as conventional food," he added.

Yang Xiaoguang, a researcher at China CDC, was quoted in April as saying: "So far, we have received no report to show any genetically modified food on the market is harmful to human health. GM food that consumers purchase from the market is safe to eat."

Read more -
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=35896&sec=1

September Arrives, As Does The French "Dexia Moment" - France Nationalizes Its Second Largest Mortgage Lender -

September Arrives, As Does The French "Dexia Moment" - France Nationalizes Its Second Largest Mortgage Lender - 


September has arrived which means for Europe reality can, mercifully, return. First on the agenda: moments ago the French government suddenly announced the nationalization of troubled mortgage lender Credit Immobilier de France, which is also the country's second lagrest mortgage specialist after an attempt to find a buyer for the company failed. "To allow the CIF group to respect its overall commitments, the state decided to respond favourably to its request to grant it a guarantee," Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said according to Reuters. What he really meant was that in order to avoid a bank run following the realization that the housing crisis has finally come home, his boss, socialist Hollande, has decided to renege on his core campaign promise, and bail out an "evil, evil" bank. Sadly, while the nationalization was predicted by us long ago, the reality is that the French government waited too long with the sale, which prompted the Moody's downgrade of CIF by 3 notches earlier this week, which in turn was the catalyst that made any delay in the nationalization inevitable. The alternative: fears that one of the key players in the French mortgage house of cards was effectively insolvent would spread like wildfire, leading to disastrous consequences for the banking system. End result: congratulations France: your Fannie/Freddie-Dexia moment has finally arrived, and the score, naturally: bankers 1 - taxpayers 0.

From Le Figaro:

Here comes another crisis that the new government could do well without. After the latest downgrade by Moody's, the fate of Crédit Immobilier de France (CIF) was sealed. After failing to find a willing buyer, the lender called the State to the rescue.

"To allow the group CIF to meet all its commitments, the government decided to respond favorably to its request to grant a guarantee," said Saturday the Ministry of Economy, confirming a report in Le Figaro. "This guarantee will be implemented subject to the approval of the European Commission and Parliament, which will be seized within the next Finance Bill," says the statement of Bercy. As in the granting of state guarantees for Dexia, the government needs the approval of Brussels under the State aid procedure.

The government supports the establishment to avoid panic on a large French issuer. Because if the CIF is a small branch network with 300 branches, more than 30 billion euros in loans bear its signature. However, the downgrade by Moody's gave investors the right to be reimbursed for certain bond lines. Therefore unable to refinance since the first degradation of the note in February, was moving rapidly towards the liquidity crisis. Friday evening, a board of CIF followed up with the inevitable next step.
Just so the French government doesn't look like it is folding like a cheap lawn chair after all those loud populist campaign promises, there was a casualty:

The government has set conditions for their intervention. One of them has already been met. Claude Sadoun, CEO of the banking system, leaves office. His successor will be chosen by the state. It is up to the banking group, owned 56 SACICAP, regional companies and local communities around the world HLM - prepare a resolution plan that will be presented in Brussels.
In other words, France just had its Dexia moment, roughly one year after the Belgian bank suffered the same fate, and 4 years after America's had its own Fannie/Freddie mortgage lender nationalization incident. Looks like history will rhyme yet again.

Read more -
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/september-arrives-does-french-dexia-moment-france-nationalizes-its-second-largest-mortgage-lend

Paul Ryan Admits Marathon LIE - said he ran a "two hour and fifty-something" marathon - actually over 4 hours -

Paul Ryan Admits Marathon LIE - said he ran a "two hour and fifty-something" marathon - actually over 4 hours - 



Paul Ryan's campaign walked back comments the VP nominee made about running a marathon.

"I had a two hour and fifty-something" marathon, Ryan said last week an interview. "I hurt a disc in my back, so I don’t run marathons anymore."

But the Ryan campaign confirmed to Runner's World that he has only run one marathon, the 1990 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, which he finished in just over 4 hours.

"The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin—who ran Boston last year—reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three," Ryan said in a prepared statement. "If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight."

The admission comes after wide speculation that Ryan had exaggerated his marathon time. Running a sub-3 hour marathon means averaging under 7 minutes per mile for the entire race, a possible but extremely impressive feat. As the New Yorker's Nicholas Thompson put it, "It’s the difference between racing and running."

This isn't the first time Ryan has come under fire this week for stretching the truth. His RNC speech was chastised for misleading claims about Medicare and the 2008 closing of a Wisconsin plant.

Read more -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/paul-ryan-marathon-time_n_1848715.html