The top news long-term, continues to be the following ISSUES:
* Financial Crisis
* Cultural War (between the left and right)
* Global War on Terror
Short-term top news centers on the following EVENTS:
* Final jockeying for election day Nov. 2
Financial Crisis: “With economic conditions weaker than expected, tax revenue is coming up short of projections in parts of Europe. As a result, countries struggling with high deficits are now confronting the prospect that they will miss the budget deficit targets forced upon them this year by impatient bond investors” notes Landon Thomas, Jr. in The New York Times (Tax Shortfalls Spur New Fear on Europe’s Recovery Bid). According to the EU Observer Portugal's minority government on Wednesday failed to reach agreement on the budget and the finance minister warned if no budget is passed: “the country will find itself in a serious situation with grave economic effects” (Portugal and Ireland inch closer to financial disaster). Ireland said it would double its previous budget cuts from €7.5 billion to €15 billion because of “lower-than-expected growth in the aftermath of the global crisis and the need to lower its record-busting deficit of 32 percent of GDP.” Meanwhile Reuters reports French protests continue even after adoption of the pension reform legislation (French protest again on pensions but fatigue weighs).
Bloomberg notes the Fed is probing the effects of additional quantitative easing by asking bond dealers and investors for projected asset purchases over the next six months, along with the likely effect on yields (Fed Asks Dealers to Estimate Size, Impact of Debt Purchases). Opponents are speaking out as Bill Gross, co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., wrote in his monthly investment outlook posted on Pimco's website on Wednesday and reported by Reuters saying the U.S. central bank's bond asset purchasing program "is in fact inflationary, and, if truth be told, somewhat of a Ponzi scheme" (Gross, Grantham blast Fed's asset buying).
The jobless ‘recovery’ continues to falter as companies hoard almost $1 trillion in cash, with Moody’s Investors Service saying the hoarding “shows borrowers are still concerned the economy may tip back into recession” (Cash Hoard Shows Borrowers' Angst Over Economic Growth). Another data point of the receding economy was the cancellation yesterday by New Jersey Gov. Christie of the $9 billion Hudson River rail tunnel project (Biggest public-works project in nation derails).
Because lawmakers won’t start debating to extend the Bush-era tax cuts until after the Nov. 2 elections business is left with no choice and no time to prepare. As a result they must assume the cuts will fail and are now contributing to increasing the double-dip recession by warning employees to prepare for slimmer paychecks in 2011 (Employers in U.S. Start Bracing for Higher Tax Withholding).
Cultural War: Appeasement continues in Europe, and even England, as an Islamic given name outranks all others in 2009, according to Daily Mail, even though Muslims only make up around three per cent of the British population (Mohammed is now the most popular name for baby boys ahead of Jack and Harry).
The Tea Party isn’t just a U.S. phenomenon as disaffected former and present members of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party form an Israeli version, reports The Telegraph (Israel's right wing starts its own Tea Party). "We believe President Obama is trying to force us to do things that most Israelis believe are very dangerous," according to Michael Kleiner, a former Likud legislator who is one of the driving forces behind the movement. "We are being blackmailed to sacrifice our security and vital interests by another country, which is unprecedented."
According to WorldNetDaily.com an academy in Alexandria, Va. that “has graduated several terrorists, including a valedictorian-turned-al-Qaida agent recently sentenced to life in prison for plotting to assassinate President Bush” has received an extension of the lease for the “Saudi Embassy-owned school described by local law enforcement as a “breeding ground for terrorists’” (D.C. suburb OKs Saudi madrassa – again). “The hearing preceding the vote was contentious, with some 100 people turning out to protest the school. Ten of them—including Nina Shea of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom—testified that teachers and textbooks there promote violence and teach anti-American ideology.”
Apparently WAVY-TV in Norfolk, VA was very anxious to discriminate on a religious basis when Jon Cash, the NBC affiliate’s morning weatherman, was abruptly fired “two days after mentioning during a sermon that he was considering leaving broadcasting for full-time ministry when his contract expires next summer,” according to WorldNetDaily.com (EEOC probes TV station's firing of Christian weatherman). Cash told WND “his contract entitled him to 60 days of severance pay if WAVY decided to terminate him. He accused WAVY of withholding the severance package because he refused to sign a separation contract waiving his right to sue the station or file an EEOC discrimination complaint.”
“Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University (Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’). Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study’s authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views.
Global War on Terror: Russia is demonstrating her ascendance by dictating terms for support in Afghanistan, reports The Independent. The action also demonstrates the descent of NATO in general and the U.S. in particular both politically and financially (Russia raises its price to rescue Nato from Afghan quagmire). Next door our ally Pakistan continues to disappoint (Pakistani criminal justice system proves no match for terrorism cases).
The power and threat of drugs continues to expand in Central America (Entire police force in Los Ramones, Mexico quits after gunmen attack headquarters and Mexican drug gangs gain foothold in Guatemalan jungle).
2010 election: Gallup's latest figures on the composition of the 2010 electorate suggest, consistent with an earlier Gallup report, “those voting in this year's congressional elections across the country will be similar in gender, age, and education to 2006 voters. At the same time, they will be substantially more Republican in their party orientation, and more conservative than has been the case in the past several midterms” (2010 Electorate Still Looking More Republican Than in the Past).
“Some senior personalities in the Democratic Party have discussed with President Obama's advisers the possibility of him not running for re-election in 2012, according to an influential Democratic Party operative speaking on condition of anonymity,” reports WorldNetDaily.com (Democrats pressing Obama not to run again). Of course the source must be considered, but Edward Spannaus, of Executive Intelligence Review, went even further in an interview with Press TV Wednesday saying “President Barack Obama is unlikely to end his first term as there are serious efforts by American officials to remove him due to his incompetence” ('Obama unlikely to last his first term').
Politico reports “The View” co-host Joy Behar is probably swearing for a different reason today after Sharron Angle thanked her after Behar’s comments on the show helped Angle raise $150,000 Tuesday (Sharron Angle sends Joy Behar flowers).
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