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WikiLeaks: Snowden Risks Being Stuck in Russia ‘Permanently’

"The WikiLeaks organization said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden may be forced to stay in Russia permanently because Washington is 'bullying' possible intermediary countries, reports Naharnet. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Snowden -- who had been expected to board a flight for Cuba on Monday, reportedly on his way to seek asylum in Ecuador -- was still in a Moscow airport transit zone. 'Cancelling Snowden's passport and bullying intermediary countries may keep Snowden permanently in Russia,' WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed. 'Not the brightest bunch at State,' it said, referring to the U.S. State Department." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWikiLeaks: Snowden Risks Being Stuck in Russia ‘Permanently’

WikiLeaks staffer helping Edward Snowden flee U.S. authorities

"Holed up with a fugitive computer expert and negotiating a legal minefield to avoid the US authorities — WikiLeaks staffer Sarah Harrison has been here before. As one of Julian Assange’s closest aides, the blonde, willowy Briton is uniquely qualified to help US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden avoid extradition to the United States for exposing a massive surveillance programme. Snowden and Harrison have been stuck together in the transit zone of a Moscow airport since the weekend, after she accompanied him on a flight from Hong Kong as part of efforts by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks to help the American." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWikiLeaks staffer helping Edward Snowden flee U.S. authorities

U.S. withdraws Bangladesh trade ‘privileges’ over worker safety

"The United States withdrew trade privileges from Bangladesh Thursday, citing dangerous conditions for workers in the wake of a factory building collapse that killed over 1,100 people. Multiple recent tragedies in the country’s huge garment sector 'have served to highlight some of the serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards in Bangladesh,' said US Trade Representative Michael Froman." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. withdraws Bangladesh trade ‘privileges’ over worker safety

WSJ: White House Preparing Bernanke’s Replacement

"The Obama administration has begun assembling a short list of candidates for the Federal Reserve chairmanship, in the expectation that Ben Bernanke won't seek reappointment when his second term ends in January, according to people familiar with the matter. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is putting together the list, working closely with a small number of senior White House officials. People familiar with the process wouldn't divulge any names on the short list, but said there was no front-runner. The White House is still in an early stage of the process and might not announce its selection until the early fall, they said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWSJ: White House Preparing Bernanke’s Replacement

What Higher Mortgage Rates Mean in the Real World

"Rates on the roughly 48 million outstanding mortgages in the U.S. will rise. There are still millions of adjustable rate mortgages out there, often second mortgages or HELOCs. Those will start ticking higher in the months ahead. $240 a month ($2,880 a year) may not seem like much, but multiply that by a million, and then by many millions, and the number starts becoming consequential: that money is no longer available for consumption or investment. Rising mortgage rates reduce household purchasing power just like higher taxes and inflation. That means there is less household income to spend on other things, and that's not good for 'growth.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Higher Mortgage Rates Mean in the Real World

The 5 Richest Cabinet Members of All Time

"No. 5: W. Averell Harriman, commerce secretary, 1947-48; Estimated wealth in current dollars: $841 million; Harriman earned his money the old-fashioned way: He inherited most of it from his father, E.H. Harriman, founder of the Union Pacific Railroad. No. 4: William C. Whitney, Navy secretary, 1885-89; Estimated wealth in current dollars: $1.1 billion; Whitney came into his money via political connections and by marrying Flora Payne, the sister of Oliver Hazard Payne, one of John D. Rockefeller’s close assistants and earliest investors. No. 3: Penny Pritzker, commerce secretary, 2013." Continue reading →

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Crony Chicago-Based Billionaire Heiress Joins Obama Cabinet

"The Senate has confirmed Chicago-based billionaire Penny Pritzker as new Commerce Secretary. She was an early and important source of money in Obama's first presidential campaign. Pritzker is also on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves as trustee of Stanford University. She's an advisory board member of Robert Rubin's Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. This, folks, is a major insider. Forbes lists her wealth at $1.7 billion. Her father co-founded the Hyatt Hotel chain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCrony Chicago-Based Billionaire Heiress Joins Obama Cabinet

17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

"The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming. They don't understand how our financial system works, they don't understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems. They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008. When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes. Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again. Right now we seem to be living in a 'hope bubble'." Continue reading →

Continue Reading17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

Fed Committee Member Warns Off ‘Feral Hogs’ in Markets

"Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve and a member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said in an interview with the Financial Times that while the big players in financial markets acted like 'feral hogs' by scenting any weakness in policy makers’ intent, he did not think anyone could break the US central bank. Commenting on the market turbulence that has followed Fed chair Ben Bernanke’s signal that the bank could begin tapering its $85bn monthly bond purchases before the end of this year, Fisher told the FT: 'My personal feeling is that you don’t walk up to a lion and flinch.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed Committee Member Warns Off ‘Feral Hogs’ in Markets

Fed Chairman Bernanke Admits the Fed Has No Clue

"ROBIN HARDING. Mr. Chairman, you’ve always argued that it’s the stock of assets that the Federal Reserve holds which affects long-term interest rates. How do you reconcile that with a very sharp rise in real interest rates that we’ve seen in recent weeks? And do you think the market is correctly interpreting what you think is most likely to be the future path of the Federal Reserve’s stock of assets? Thank you. CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. Well, we were a little puzzled by that. It was bigger than can be explained I think by changes in the ultimate stock of asset purchases within reasonable ranges. So I think we have to conclude that there are other factors at work..." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed Chairman Bernanke Admits the Fed Has No Clue