"[The chart] shows the sum of the absolute value of the impact on the ten-year Treasury yield of each member's public speeches. Chairman Bernanke tops the list with a total impact of 18 basis points. President Lockhart came in second place with an impact of 17 basis points, and President Fisher was third with about 16 basis points." Continue reading →
"JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon personally stands to miss out on about $1.39 million a year if the Federal Reserve decides last week’s stress-test results don’t justify a dividend increase. That’s how much extra income Dimon could get from his stake of about 6 million shares if his New York-based bank raises its payout as much as analysts predict. The sum dwarfs the combined $73,300 of new annual dividends at stake for his CEO peers at Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Wells Fargo (WFC) & Co., based on forecasts compiled by Bloomberg." Continue reading →
"First it was gas prices, then it was food prices, and now it is the turn of basic utilities to see costs surge by double digits. 'Japanese utilities, forced to idle their nuclear power plants over the past two years and facing higher fuel costs due to a weak yen, are now looking to push through double-digit rate hikes for their commercial customers.' This means less disposable income, less corporate profits, less monetary velocity, less growth and ultimately less 'inflation' in other things such as the much desired stock market, which was supposed to be the wealth effect offset to all staples price increases." Continue reading →
"Hyperinflation is 'unthinkable,' Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday, citing the Bank of Japan's ability to make adjustments after enacting bold monetary easing. 'If the rate of inflation exceeds the 2% target, the BOJ would naturally proceed with a policy to keep it within 2%,' he told reporters. At the same time, Abe noted that the government 'must keep a keen eye on trends in prices and long-term interest rates.' The prime minister stressed the need to improve the country's finances, indicating a stance of limiting monetary policy side effects with an eye on government bond prices." Continue reading →
"On a recent Friday, mechanical engineering major Bernard Keeler handed a Red Bull to a cashier in the Miner's Shack campus shop, typed his birthdate into a pay pad and swiped his finger. Within seconds, the machine had identified his print and checked that blood was pulsing beneath it, allowing him to make the buy. Afterward, Keeler proudly showed off the receipt he was sent via email on his smartphone. It's the extra layer of protection — that deeper check to ensure the finger has a pulse — that researchers say sets this technology apart from already-existing digital fingerprint scans." Continue reading →
Janice Cookston WeTexans.com Archives originally http://wetexans.com/eliminating-the-property-tax-one-small-step-one-giant-leap-2/ =========================================================================== “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.” ― Mahatma Gandhi. Friday, March 8, 2013, Rep. George Lavender of Texarkana filed HB 3742 to eliminate the property tax in Texas! Blood, sweat, tears, more blood, more sweat, the boulder we have been pushing against for over four years has finally rolled over. We are one giant step closer to true private property ownership in our state. The … Continue reading →
"Republican Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina said Saturday that former Vice President Dick Cheney would likely end up in hell because of his role in the Iraq war. At a Young Americans for Liberty conference, Jones said it was impossible under current law to prosecute a president for intentionally manipulating intelligence reports to make the case for war. He co-authored a bill to change the law, but the legislation was killed in committee by Lamar Smith of Texas. The conservative Christian turned against the war after witnessing American causalities and once it became clear Iraq was not building any weapons of mass destruction." Continue reading →
"Switzerland was the only neutral country during the Second World War to fully enforce the 1907 Hague Convention requiring the internment of foreign soldiers until the end of the conflict, according to Mears. Unlike Sweden, Portugal or Turkey, the Swiss neither handed over internees to Germany, nor did they take attempts to escape lightly. Nearly 70 years after being interned in a Swiss disciplinary camp and, for many, punished for trying to escape, a group of 157 American Second World War pilots and crew members have been awarded the Prisoner Of War Medal by the US Congress." Continue reading →
"People love to hear war stories about great generals or crack troops such as Seal Team 6, the Navy unit that killed Osama bin Laden. But there is another side of war that's seldom explored: Why do some soldiers risk their lives to save their enemies and, in some cases, develop a deep bond with them that outlives war? And are such acts of chivalry obsolete in an age of drone strikes and terrorism?" Continue reading →
"Ten years on from the shock and awe of the 2003 Bush and Blair war – which followed 13 years of murderous sanctions, and 35 years of Saddamist dictatorship – my tormented land, once a cradle of civilisation, is staring into the abyss. Wanton imperialist intervention and dictatorial rule have together been responsible for the deaths of more than a million people since 1991. And yet, according to both Tony Blair and the former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, the 'price is worth it'. The Iraqi people are fully aware that Saddam committed all his major crimes while an ally of western powers." Continue reading →