Meet The New Boss

Michelle Obama: America ready for female president

"Asked if she thinks the country will see a female president in her lifetime, the wife of President Barack Obama said: 'Yes, I think the country is ready for it. It’s just a question of who’s the best person out there.' She added that she herself will not run for president. Obama also said she thinks her husband’s time in office has helped ease racial prejudice in the United States. 'Children born in the last eight years will only know an African-American man being president of the United States. That changes the bar for all of our children, regardless of their race, their sexual orientation, their gender,' Obama said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichelle Obama: America ready for female president

Muslim Brotherhood pushes for more protests after bloody ‘Day of Rage’

"The Muslim Brotherhood defiantly called for a week of protests across Egypt starting on Saturday, a day after more than 100 people died in clashes between Islamists and the security forces. Undeterred by the bloodshed in which about 700 have been killed since Wednesday, the Brotherhood urged its supporters back onto the streets to denounce the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and a crackdown on his followers. Saudi Arabia threw its weight behind the army-backed government on Friday, accusing its old foe the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to destabilize Egypt. The Coptic Church authority 'strongly supports the Egyptian police and armed forces'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMuslim Brotherhood pushes for more protests after bloody ‘Day of Rage’

Romanian princess indicted in northwestern U.S. cockfighting ring

"John W. Walker is a former sheriff’s deputy and the group faces charges ranging from conspiracy to violate the federal Animal Welfare Act to illegal gambling. Irina Walker is the middle daughter of Romania’s King Michael I and Queen Anne. She is fifth in line for the throne of that country. She was born in Switzerland. King Michael abdicated the throne in 1947, but the family still owns a quartet of castles in the former Soviet-occupied country. Prosecutors say that the farm where the fights took place is subject to federal forfeiture because it was used for a criminal enterprise. Irina and John Walker each face years of prison time and millions of dollars in fines." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRomanian princess indicted in northwestern U.S. cockfighting ring

Bill Bonner: The Virgin Central Banker

"The air-traffic controller can help make sure people get where they were going safely. If he does his job well, things will turn out as expected. But if he does a ‘brilliant’ job, travellers end up where they didn’t expect to go; he has not really added to the sum of human happiness. Out-of-the-box air traffic controlling will not make the world a better place. It can only make a mess of things. Likewise, the best a central banker can do is the normal thing. Creative central banking — and experimental central bank policies — should be avoided. They don’t make the world a better place; they only take people where they didn’t want to go." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Virgin Central Banker

Harvard’s Rogoff: Next Fed Chief Must Have ‘Tolerance for Inflation’

"Harvard University Professor Kenneth Rogoff, whose influential 1985 paper endorsed central bankers focused more on securing low inflation than on spurring employment, is highlighting the benefits of a Fed led by either Janet Yellen or Lawrence Summers precisely because they fail his old litmus test. President Barack Obama said Aug. 9 that they are 'outstanding' and 'highly qualified' candidates to replace Ben S. Bernanke, whose term as chairman runs out in January. What qualifies them in Rogoff’s view is their dovishness, a refusal to place too much weight on stable inflation at a time when unemployment is far above its longer-run level." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHarvard’s Rogoff: Next Fed Chief Must Have ‘Tolerance for Inflation’

Muslim Brotherhood supporters to intensify protests against ‘military tyranny’

"Egypt’s government says 525 people were killed and thousands wounded in the worst day of civil violence in the modern history of the most populous Arab state. International condemnation rained down on Cairo’s military-backed rulers for ordering the storming of protest camps, six weeks after the army overthrew the country’s first freely elected leader. U.S. President Barack Obama canceled plans for upcoming military exercises with the Egyptian army, which Washington funds with $1.3 billion in annual aid. Senior U.S. and European officials were in contact with Egypt’s rulers until the final hour, pleading with them not to order a military crackdown." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMuslim Brotherhood supporters to intensify protests against ‘military tyranny’

Obama: Fool Me Thrice, Shame on Whom?

"The New York Times points out that Mr. Obama’s currently promised reforms are insubstantial, and simply 'tinker around the edges of the nation’s abusive surveillance programs.' The cynics among us might think President Obama’s promises to institute reforms for enhanced privacy protections for the American people are simply a response to recent opinion polls showing that Americans are, for the first time since 9/11, more concerned about civil liberties abuses than terrorism. There’s an old saying: 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.' So, do we believe the president now?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama: Fool Me Thrice, Shame on Whom?

Former Obama Supporter Oliver Stone: Obama Is A ‘Snake’; ‘We Have To Turn On Him’

"Film director Oliver Stone—who has made no secret of his liberal political views—called President Barack Obama a 'snake' for his role in National Security Agency spying programs that have become, he said, more about silencing protestors than finding terrorists. Stone said that admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden 'is a hero to me. He sacrificed his well-being for the good of us all.' Stone also called Snowden a hero last month and said it’s 'a disgrace that Obama is more concerned with hunting him down Snowden than reforming these George Bush-style eavesdropping techniques.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Obama Supporter Oliver Stone: Obama Is A ‘Snake’; ‘We Have To Turn On Him’

Egypt closes Gaza border crossing indefinitely

"Egyptian authorities have closed the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip 'indefinitely' for security reasons after a day of deadly violence nationwide, a security official told AFP on Thursday. Hundreds of Palestinian travellers were left stranded on both sides of the crossing, the only gateway into the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory that bypasses Israel, witnesses said. The measure follows widespread unrest in Egypt on Wednesday after a bloody crackdown by security forces on loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgypt closes Gaza border crossing indefinitely

More than 200 dead, 2,000 wounded as Egyptian security forces crush protesters

"Egyptian security forces crushed the protest camps of thousands of supporters of the deposed Islamist president on Wednesday, shooting almost 200 of them dead in the bloodiest day in decades. At least 235 people were killed in all, including at least 43 police, and 2,000 wounded. Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi defended the use of force, saying the authorities had no choice but to act to end 'the spread of anarchy'. 'We found that matters had reached a point that no self-respecting state could accept,' he said in a televised address. The crowds appeared to be armed mainly with sticks, stones and concrete slabs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore than 200 dead, 2,000 wounded as Egyptian security forces crush protesters