Tag-Archive for » POLITICS «
The market is off on continued global economy fears as eurozone industrial production fell and markets in China sold off. Shares of AAPL are off in early trading as investors worry about estimates for the quarter. Upcoming events include Tim Cook’s keynote at the D10 Conference on May 29 and Apple’s developer conference (WWDC) is slated to start June 11. Investors remain focused on iPhone penetration globally and the anticipated launch of the next generation iPhone in the fall; iPad adoption; market share growth of the Mac business as well as the upcoming refresh; the introduction of the anticipated Apple TV set; and platforms such as Siri, iAd and iBooks. Shares of Apple trade at 9.0x Enterprise Value / Trailing Twelve Months Free Cash Flow (including long-term marketable securities).
Mr Putin will return to the presidency after an absence of four years in which he served as prime minister. The outgoing President, Dmitry Medvedev, was widely seen as an ally of Mr Putin.
He won a third term as president in controversial elections in March.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters opposed to the inauguration clashed with police in Moscow.
Mr Putin will take the presidential oath at the Grand Kremlin Palace, in a hall that was once the throne room of the Russian tsars, the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow reports.
If he completes his six-year term, Mr Putin will be the longest serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, our correspondent says.
However, Mr Putin faces many problems; the political system he created has been showing cracks, economic growth is forecast to slow, and violence in the volatile North Caucasus continues, he adds.
How he deals with the wave of opposition protests which broke out last December will also be a key test of his administration, correspondents say.
North Korea’s military vowed a new and unusually specific threat to its neighbors, saying it would reduce South Korea “to ashes” in less than four minutes.
The statement, released Monday when programming was interrupted on North Korea’s state TV by a special report, comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Earlier this month, North Korea was unsuccessful in a long-range missile launch, prompting worries that North Korea may conduct another nuclear test. South Korean officials say new satellite images show that North Korea has been digging a tunnel in what appears to be preparation for a third atomic test.
According to the Associated Press, the statement from North Korea was unusual in promising something soon and in describing a specific period of time.
The North Korean military threatened to “reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, (or) in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.”
For months the North has castigated South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and the conservative administration for insulting their leadership and criticizing a new cruise missile capable of striking anywhere in the south.
South Korean officials responded, urging North Korea to end the threats. “We urge North Korea to immediately stop this practice,” Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said, according to the Associated Press. “We express deep concern that the North’s threats and accusations have worsened inter-Korean ties and heightened tensions.”
A prostitution scandal surrounding a US Secret Service detail in Colombia widened on Sunday as an additional five US Army personnel were confined to their quarters.
A prostitution scandal surrounding a US Secret Service detail in Colombia widened yesterday (Sunday) as an additional five US Army personnel were confined to their quarters.
The five service members violated their curfew and may have been involved in inappropriate conduct, according to a statement released by the US military’s southern command.
Eleven secret service agents were being interviewed in Washington over the weekend after being sent home in disgrace from the historic city of Cartagena, where Barack Obama is trying to deepen US trade and security ties to Latin America at a major summit.
The embarrassment for America deepened further as those briefed on the investigation said that all 11 of the agents had taken women back to their rooms, as opposed to a single officer suggested in earlier reports.
The incident at the Hotel Caribe after a drunken night out that breached curfew rules occurred before President Obama landed in Colombia on Friday and did not involve any members of his personal protection squad. The incident has heaped diplomatic embarrassment on the US, threatening to overshadow Obama’s already troubled agenda at the Summit of the Americas which has been undermined by a boycott from Leftist leaders, including the anti-US president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.
“I had a breakfast meeting to discuss trade and drugs, but the only thing the other delegates wanted to talk about was the story of the agents and the hookers,” said one Latin American diplomat.
Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said that the president had been informed of the incident, but refused to divulge his reaction, except to say that Obama had “full confidence” in the Secret Service’s ability to protect him.
**********************************************************************************************************
‘Angry’ if Secret Service allegations true: Obama
US President Barack Obama, speaking for the first time about allegations that Secret Service agents hired prostitutes, said on Sunday that “of course I’ll be angry” if those accusations are proven true by an investigation.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
SIDEBAR – All I have to say is I hope the pussy was worth it fellas!!!!
Yes it’s true, he loved the women, and they loved him. He could never get enough sex with women almost like a nimph. Benjamin Franklin was a owner of slaves. Also he did not fly the kite in the storm he was so famous for it was a lie, it was a young kid that accomplish that. He was an accomplish inventor, so he gets credit for that.
All this and more: Comcast TV, on demand – History & Nature, H2. The 10 things about Benjamin Franklin that you didn’t know.
In a dramatic moment on the House floor this morning, Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) was asked to leave the chamber after taking off his suit jacket and revealing that he was wearing a hoodie during a speech in tribute to Trayvon Martin.
Rush, who donned the hood and put on sunglasses in support of Martin, the Florida teenager who was gunned down last month in a racially-tinged incident, was escorted out of the House chamber after repeated requests by the presiding officer to leave. Wearing a hood or hat while the House is in session is against House rules.
“Racial profiling has to stop Mr. Speaker,” Rush said while taking off his suit jacket, “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.”
Here’s the deal. I could almost go along with escorting Rep. Rush off the House floor because it’s a stunt cheapening this august body, but come on. The House Floor has seen some stunts in its day. Remember when the day after swearing in almost all of the incoming congresscritters, the Republicans decided to take the day to read the Constitution, only they read just the parts they liked? Or when Louie Gohmert (always good for a cheap stunt or two) unveiled the “Obama Apology” chart on the House floor? Or when Eric Cantor brought forth legislation reiterating that our national motto is in fact … wait for it …our national motto? Good times.
So it’s perfectly fine for a congressman to decry abortion on the House floor, saying African Americans were better off during slavery. It’s perfectly legitimate for a congresswoman to question the patriotism of another congressman and Marine vet. It’s even acceptable to honor a muckraking liar who smeared Democratic institutions and employees.
But to point out viscerally that racial profiling is a life and death problem ?
That’s apparently a bridge too far………
So when the right continues to label Trayvon as something of a troublemaker or devil like……..be sure to remind them of that 20 yr old, 26 yr old and 30 yr old, who eventually became a president. Although, not elected by the people, and selected by a criminal Supreme Court, that they have no room to be talking sh$$ like that about anyone, unless they’re willing to take some heat for who they voted to be a U.S President, w/an arrest record. I sure as he$$ didn’t vote for him for that main reason. He showed a total lack and disregard for the basic principles of the law !
First Lady Michelle Obama is coming to The Late Show With David Letterman. Mrs. Obama will be his guest on Monday, March 19th with Musical Guest Esperanza Spalding.
Join us for a lively hot topic discussion. “Candidates & Gun Control”. Radio show – “In The Studio with LSV”
4pm PST or 7pm PST, phone 646-272-2914
Question: What is crime like in your city or county?
Thanks for your participation.
Brown’s tax hike would hit anyone earning more than $250,000 a year. Brown, a liberal Democrat, has borrowed the “tax-the-rich” theme from Barack Obamato make up for overspending during a poor economy.
California Governor Jerry Brown believes he can solve the state’s spending crisis that includes a $16 billion deficit by going after high earners. However, analysts say significant tax hikesduring a period of stagnant jobs growth could do more damage to the state than good.
The governor proposed his new budget plan that includes more spending Monday and in a YouTube video. Brown proposed an increase in funding for K-12 education provided voters approve his proposal to increase the state’s sales tax on everyone along with hiking income taxes on “the rich.As Governor, Jerry Brown is blaming the state’s economic woes on poor revenues and over-spending by others while proposing new spending, massive cuts and a two-pronged tax hike for the future.
Brown’s tax hike would hit anyone earning more than $250,000 a year. Brown, a liberal Democrat, has borrowed the “tax-the-rich” theme from Barack Obamato make up for overspending during a poor economy.
California Governor Jerry Brown believes he can solve the state’s spending crisis that includes a $16 billion deficit by going after high earners. However, analysts say significant tax hikesduring a period of stagnant jobs growth could do more damage to the state than good.
The governor proposed his new budget plan that includes more spending Monday and in a YouTube video. Brown proposed an increase in funding for K-12 education provided voters approve his proposal to increase the state’s sales tax on everyone along with hiking income taxes on “the rich.”
Brown has championed tax hikes since he took office in January 2011; Republican legislators blocked his efforts last year. Democrats have controlled the California House and Senate for many years.
Brown would levy a 3 percent tax increase on those earning more than $250,000 which affects about 1% of taxpayers. Analystswarn that tax hikes will put a damper on economic growth and small business owners may need to cut back on employees to cough up more cash for state.
Brown also wants to raise California’s sales tax by a quarter of a point starting in January and lasting through 2016, however most analysts agree that once the state approves a sales tax increase it never goes away.
That would bump up the average state sales tax rate to 8.4%. Brown claims his proposal would bring in $8.5 billion. Brown warned voters that an additional $6 billion would be slashed on January 1, 2013 if they don’t approve his proposal.
California’s current budget took into account a $4 billion increase in state tax revenues that never occurred. The state is $3.5 billion below estimates; the bulk of the shortage was in personal income taxes, according to the controller’s office.
Asked at a press conference whether this week’s Facebook’s IPO would brighten the state’s fiscal outlook, Brown responded: “Who knows? That’s Wall Street.”