economic Trends

The wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe

"A leaked report from the European Commission confirms that Greece will miss its austerity targets yet again by a wide margin. Italy’s slow crisis is again flaring up. Its debt trajectory has punched through the danger line over the past two years. Spain’s crisis has a new twist. The ruling Partido Popular is caught in a slush-fund scandal of such gravity that it cannot plausibly brazen out the allegations any longer, let alone rally the nation behind another year of scorched-earth cuts. Portugal is slipping away. Professor João Ferreira do Amaral’s book -Why We Should Leave The Euro – has been a bestseller for months." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe wheels are coming off the whole of southern Europe

Bill would establish U.S. national park on the Moon

"The site where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first landed on the Moon in July 1969 could receive the same federal protection as Yellowstone. In a press release, Edwards explained the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act would ensure the scientific data and cultural significance of the Apollo artifacts remains unharmed by future lunar landings by endowing the artifacts as a National Historic Park. The bill would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to nominate the Apollo landing site as a UNESCO World Heritage Site." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill would establish U.S. national park on the Moon

SpaceX rocket blasts off only to return to its launch pad — without exploding

"The first-of-its-kind reusable rocket made its highest leap to date last month before gently returning to Earth. Video recently released by the private space company showed the 10-story tall vertical takeoff and landing (VTVL) vehicle blast off to more than 1,000 feet and then slowly descend back to its launching pad in McGregor, Texas. For the first time, the rocket 'made use of its full navigation sensor suite with the F9-R closed loop control flight algorithms to accomplish a precision landing' on its June 14 launch, according to SpaceX. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has explained he hopes to revolutionize space travel with the reusable rocket." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpaceX rocket blasts off only to return to its launch pad — without exploding

Navy’s experimental X-47B drone successfully lands on aircraft carrier

"A US Navy drone successfully landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier on Wednesday, in an historic first for robotic flight, officials said. The X-47B experimental plane had taken off earlier from the Patuxent River naval air station in Maryland before heading to the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier off the Virginia coast, the Navy said in a statement. The X-47B is controlled remotely but has more autonomy than older drones such as the Reaper and Predator. Wednesday’s unprecedented landing by an unmanned plane showed that sophisticated computer software could guide a robotic aircraft onto the deck of a ship in the Atlantic Ocean." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNavy’s experimental X-47B drone successfully lands on aircraft carrier

Another Assault on America’s Children—Electroshocking kids promoted as “safe & effective”

"Despite a 1979 federal law requiring makers of ECT devices to prove to the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, that the machines are safe and effective, to date, none of the manufacturers have complied with the law. 100,000 Americans yearly are subjected to an ECT device that forces up to 480 volts of electricity through the brain, putting patients at risk of irreparable damage to the brain and other body systems and the FDA, which is tasked with insuring the safety of these devices, cannot assure the public that the ECT procedure is either safe or effective, simply because it refuses to enforce the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnother Assault on America’s Children—Electroshocking kids promoted as “safe & effective”

Jury Nullification Panel @ PorcFest 2013

"The American criminal 'justice' system incarcerates 743 of every 100,000 people, the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. While New Hampshire has one the lowest rates of incarceration in the country, between 1982 and 2007, there was a 564% increase. The jury Nullification panel will discuss efforts of New Hampshire citizens to reverse this trend." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJury Nullification Panel @ PorcFest 2013

Detroit Cancels City Blight Tour for Creditors

"Creditors of the city of Detroit aren't interested in the city blight, they want their money. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's office announced Tuesday afternoon that a bus tour of Detroit planned for 25 creditors who are being asked to forgive the city's debt has been cancelled, reports AllMichigan.com. Orr has been trying to get city creditors, who are owed billions, to accept massive concessions in order to prevent bankruptcy. And don't think Detroit is anomaly, crises are developing in other cities and some states." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Cancels City Blight Tour for Creditors

Bernanke backpedals, says Federal Reserve stimulus still needed

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the Fed’s easy-money policy is still necessary, throwing cold water on fresh market expectations that the Fed’s stimulus would soon be ended. Bernanke told an audience of economists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that the jobs market remains too weak and inflation remains too low for comfort. He also warned that the full impact of steep government spending cuts initiated in March was yet to be seen. Together, the evidence underscored the need for the Fed to keep in place its highly accommodative monetary policy, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBernanke backpedals, says Federal Reserve stimulus still needed

Italy’s Credit Rating Cut to BBB by S&P; Outlook Stays Negative

"The outlook on the rating, reduced from BBB+, remains negative, the New York-based ratings company said in a statement late yesterday. S&P analysts said that, even with unprecedented easing by the European Central Bank, real interest rates for non-financial companies in Italy exceed the level before the financial crisis. Austerity measures, while enabling Italy to reduce its deficit to within European Union limits, deepened the nation’s slump. With the economy headed for its eighth quarter of contraction and joblessness at its highest since at least 1977, Prime Minister Enrico Letta in the last two months postponed a sales-tax increase and suspended a property tax payment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingItaly’s Credit Rating Cut to BBB by S&P; Outlook Stays Negative

Portugal Throws Open Europe’s Them-And-Us Austerity Divide

"Half way through his four-year term, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho is trying to curb popular resentment over what opponents say is a widening gulf between private employees and about 600,000 public workers who have mostly stayed immune to mass job cuts. What’s bothering the Portuguese isn’t just that austerity helped prolong a recession and sent unemployment to a record 18 percent, it’s also that the government used taxation more than those in Greece and Ireland to try to narrow the budget deficit. Some workers on the state payrolls are perceived to have escaped the deterioration in living standards being felt by others." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPortugal Throws Open Europe’s Them-And-Us Austerity Divide