Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Fri 07.03.2009
PTG will be CLOSED Friday, July 3rd Happy 4th of July, America!
National Anthem USA
A Visitor from the Past
James Cagney / Mickey & Judy - Yankee doodle boy
Our Declaration of Independence Excerpts from July 4, 1776 We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Time for a tea party A drive to restore fiscal sanity and true division of powers Americans citizens have had enough already. The course the nation's government has taken over the past few decades has slowly slid away from the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. The executive, legislative and judicial branches are running roughshod over the American people. It was only a matter of time before the American spirit rose up to fight against the rogue federal government; the T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already) movement grew out of that vital American spirit. Conservatives were troubled when the Democrats took the majority in Congress and President Obama won the White House. We feared the worst with the executive and legislative branches suddenly free of checks and balances. But we truly could not have anticipated the speed with which Mr. Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the rest of the gang in Congress have shredded the Constitution, forced federal programs upon the states and wreaked havoc on an already crippled economy.
N. Korea fires missiles; launch toward U.S. feared North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east coast in a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile toward Hawaii over the U.S. Independence Day holiday. Firing a ballistic missile on the July Fourth celebration would be a challenge to Washington, which has been rallying international support for enforcement of U.N. sanctions imposed against Pyongyang following a May 25 nuclear test. North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles under U.N. resolutions. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Thursday that a long-range missile launch this weekend was possible. "We cannot rule out the possibility," he said, citing Pyongyang's past behavior.
North Korea Test-Fires 4 Short-Range Missiles North Korea test-fired four short-range missiles into the sea that lies between it and Japan on Thursday, amid simmering tensions over the latest international sanctions against the Communist state, according to news reports and a spokesman for the South Korean government. North Korea fired two missiles from a base near Wonsan, a major city on the North's east coast, at 5:20 p.m. and at 6 p.m. local time, said a spokesman at the South Korean Defense Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made yet. Later Thursday, the North fired another short-range missile, the spokesman said. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that a fourth short-range missile was also fired.
Preserve Your Wealth With Precious Metals "I'm not so much interested in the return on my money as I am the return of my capital." -Will Rogers In this extraordinary environment, preserving your personal wealth becomes priority one. Before you make another major financial decision, it is imperative to understand the big picture by recognizing and understanding three critical issues. First, we are in a secular bear market for financial assets (stocks and bonds). Second, the consequences of the global bailouts will likely be highly inflationary. Third, we are at a pivotal point in the long-term investment cycle. Let's examine each of these three keys in more detail.
Next Stop for Gold Is $2,100 Not $1,300 Practically everyone in the gold community has mentioned the inverse head and shoulders pattern on the gold chart and the corresponding $1,300 target. The target is correct but the interpretation of the pattern is not entirely correct. That target comes from the pattern being a reversal pattern but in the current case of Gold it is not a reversal pattern. There is no downtrend it is reversing from. However, the pattern can actually function as a continuation pattern as John Murphy explains in his book, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets:
Gerald Celente Gold at $2000 and The Dollar will become worthless
China's Zeng Urges More Supervision of Reserve-Currency Nations Former Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan urged today more supervision of nations issuing global reserve currencies, including oversight of fiscal and current- account deficits. He said there would be no dramatic change to the international currency system in the short term, so "your currency is likely to become my problem."
IMF Softens Language on Labeling Currencies Before China Report The International Monetary Fund is softening the language used to characterize exchange rates ahead of the lender's first report in three years on China's economy. The 186-nation fund won't use the phrase "fundamental misalignment" in describing currencies, and spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson told reporters yesterday that the new policy will promote better cooperation with member states. The IMF's board next week is scheduled to discuss its assessment of China, known as Article IV consultations, and then issue recommendations for the first time since 2006.
Platinum Futures Fall as Unemployment Gains; Palladium Declines Platinum fell as the U.S. jobless rate rose and employment fell more than forecast last month, signaling demand for the metal from key users, such as automakers, may take longer to recover. Palladium also declined. Employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, according to a U.S. Labor Department statement. The drop exceeded forecasts and pushed the number of unemployed workers to 14.7 million, the government said. The jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent in May, the department said in Washington.
Seven banks fail, pushing 2009 tally to 52 Regulators close six Illinois banks and one Texas bank setting the FDIC back a total of $314.3 million. Seven banks were shut down by authorities Thursday, pushing the tally of failed banks for 2009 to 52, more than doubling the failures in 2008. Six regional banks in Illinois and one in Texas closed their doors, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Twelve banks in Illinois have failed this year. Thursday's failure in Texas was the first for the state in 2009. Last year, 25 banks failed in the United States.
7 more banks fail as FDIC mulls rules for sales 7 more banks fail as FDIC seeks stronger rules for buyers of failed banks Six Illinois banks and one bank in Texas were shuttered Thursday as government regulators proposed new rules for private equity firms seeking to take over failed banks. That brought the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 52. That's more than double the 25 which failed in all of 2008 and the three closed in 2007. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of all seven. The total cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund from the seven closings will be $314.3 million, the FDIC said. The assets of most of the failed banks will be turned over to other institutions.
"We're in the middle of a Crash!"Nassim Taleb, author of "The Black Swan" "So if I'm going to forecast something, it is that it's going to get worse, not better."
China Takes A Big Step Forward in Monetary Policy This news was largely overlooked by the worse than expected US payrolls report, which dampened hopes of a quick economic recovery, a sentiment encouraged by some but certainly not realistic to anyone looking closely at the numbers. I think that little propaganda sound byte served primarily to apply some primer for the end of quarter paint job in US equities. Despite its strength today as stocks fall and the boys cash in after their most recent pump operation, the dollar is going to be taken down a peg, so to speak. It is a long term trend that is still well in place despite this bear market rally.
U.S. Gets Tough on Funds Trying to Buy Failed Banks Federal bank regulators toughened policies on Thursday that have allowed private equity firms to buy up failing banks, saying they were worried if such investors would have enough capital and the willingness to run the banks in a "prudent manner." The surprisingly tough rules came as a blow to high-rolling private equity firms, which control vast amounts of capital and have been pushing for greater ability to buy up failed banks at bargain prices from the government. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation adopted tentative rules that would require banks owned by private equity firms to have three times as much capital as ordinary banks.
Peter Schiff answering your Riddit questions pt 1/2
FDIC's tough terms for buyers of failed banks Proposed guidelines require private equity firms to hold bank purchases for 3 years and maintain capital levels. Private equity groups would have to meet strong capital requirements and pledge to maintain long-term investments before being allowed to buy failed banks, under controversial guidelines proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Thursday. The bank regulators who serve on the board of the FDIC openly clashed about the proposals, with some officials arguing the guidelines go too far and could scare away needed capital for troubled banks.
The Inflation Deflation Debate Wages On The pendulum swings, day to day from fear of deflation and the collapse of asset prices to fear of inflation, hyperinflation, and the collapse of the U.S. Dollar. What is it deflation or inflation? The question is complicated and cannot be answered with an either or. The first thing to do when discussing such a complex issue is to define inflation and deflation. Most, including some renowned economists, mistakenly define inflation as rising prices and deflation as falling prices. The most accurate description I have seen of inflation and deflation comes from Robert Prechter.
Why stagflation is coming That certain aroma means it's baked in the cake Both the money supply and federal spending have increased at breathtaking rates over the past year, unprecedented in peacetime. The policy decisions made by the Federal Reserve Board and Congress virtually assure we will enter a period of 1970s-like stagflation. The recovery, when it comes, will combine slow economic growth, unusually long un- and underemployment, stagnating real incomes, rising interest rates and inflation. There is little that policymakers, having made colossal mistakes, can do to prevent such an outcome. However, there are steps that can be taken to shorten the period of stagflation and return to an era of robust economic growth, good jobs and stable asset and consumer prices.
What's in Store for US: Japan of the 90's or Argentina of 2002? The inflation / deflation debate in the US is still alive and well. In deflation camp, there is the rising star du-jour Nouriel Roubini and old timer Robert Prechter. They argue the debt collapse would cause price deflation and depress world economies for years to come. The inflation camp includes Jim Rogers and Marc Faber, who said on May 27 2009 that "I am 100 percent sure that the U.S. will go into hyperinflation "
In the Future, Interest Rates Will Soar and Consumers Will be Sore Too At the present, governments around the globe are printing money as if there were no tomorrow in order to try and prevent debt-laden banks from going under and trying to stimulate the fractional reserve banking system. The past 20 years of economic growth has been based on a "Pay it Forward" basis…someone gets a new couch or car and ends up paying for it over a defined period of time. The expansion of credit in turn allowed for false consumption because most people never really had the money in hand.
S.E.C. May Reinstate Rules for Short-Selling Stocks They have been reviled as the bad hats of Wall Street, nefarious traders who cashed in on the market collapse and, some insist, helped precipitate it. Now short-sellers, the market skeptics who correctly called last year's downturn, are coming under even more unwanted scrutiny, this time from federal regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission appears poised to reverse itself and reinstate rules that would make shorting stocks - that is, betting their prices will decline - somewhat more difficult. Whether the S.E.C. will go far enough to satisfy the many critics of short-sellers is far from certain. The controversial role of these investors has divided not only the financial industry, but also federal regulators. As the S.E.C. considers its options, the debate is heating up.
Dollar's future in US hands Since 2008, I have been widely recognized on the Internet as the person who changed China's policy regarding the US dollar by advocating since 2002 that Chinese exports should be denominated in yuan. Chinese readers doing a Google search on my Chinese name will find numerous posts to that effect. The issue is not whether Asian central banks will continue to have confidence in the dollar, but why Asian central banks should see their mandate as supporting the continuous expansion of the dollar economy through dollar hegemony at the expense of their own non-dollar economies. Why should Asian economies send real wealth in the form of goods to the US for foreign paper of declining value instead of selling their goods in their own economy?
Peter Schiff answering your Riddit questions pt 2/2
'Rogue broker' blamed for oil spike The startling spike in oil prices to their highest level this year on Tuesday was caused by a rogue broker who placed a massive bet in the Brent oil market, triggering almost $10m (€7m) of losses for his company. PVM Oil Associates, the world's largest over-the-counter oil brokerage, said on Thursday it had been the "victim of unauthorised trading". The privately owned company said that as a result of the unauthorised trades it had been forced to close substantial volumes of futures contracts at a loss.
Canada's Dollar Drops Most in Two Weeks as Data Damp Risk Trade Canada's currency fell the most in almost two weeks after a report showed U.S. employers cut more jobs than forecast in June, lowering prospects for the country's economic recovery and damping investors' appetite for risk. "The U.S. dollar is gaining on a risk-aversion trend," said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto, the nation's sixth-largest lender. "All currencies are losing, except the U.S. dollar and the yen, which are historic beneficiaries of risk-aversion trades. Canada gets wrapped up in the fray."
Ruble Bonds Beat Dollar Sales as Currency Stabilizes Russian companies shut out of the international debt markets are selling more ruble bonds than dollar notes for the first time since 2006 as the domestic currency recovers from its 35 percent devaluation. OAO Russian Railways, the railroad monopoly, and X5 Retail Group NV, the largest food-store operator, led 261.6 billion rubles ($8.4 billion) of bond sales this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's more than double the combined value of the two dollar issues, by state-owned gas exporter OAO Gazprom and farming lender Russian Agricultural Bank.
Russia flits from Tehran to Washington Russians often express their displeasure with a country in a peculiar way. When the problem with Georgia flared in 2008 over the separatist republic of South Ossetia, Russian authorities suddenly discovered a serious problem with Georgian cognac and mineral water. Now, as Russia-Belarus tension grows, problems have been found with milk from Belarus. The Kremlin can also express its mood in other ways beyond food and drink, as it is doing with the Bushehr nuclear plant it has been building in Iran since 1995. Russia is well aware of the importance of the plant, both for Iran, which needs the nuclear energy, and the United States, which views it as another step in the direction of Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons program.
Treasury Said to Start Distressed Debt Program With $20 Billion The Obama administration may start its program to spur purchases of mortgage-backed securities from banks with about $20 billion in public and private money, down from as much as $100 billion when the effort was announced in March, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Treasury Department is set to provide about $1.1 billion in capital to eight to 10 money managers it will select for its Public-Private Investment Program, said the people, who asked not to be identified before the details are announced. Each firm will raise about $1.1 billion for funds to buy distressed mortgage securities, less than they had expected the government to support. The plan also will include about $10 billion in government-backed loans.
Is Still More Stimulus Needed? It hasn't been a good week for Wall Street's 'green shoots' analogy. This week's economic reports looked more like crop-killer than fertilizer, certainly not providing much support for the current popular wisdom that consumers will soon be spending us out of the recession. I have said from the beginning that consumer spending will not pick up to any degree until consumers are no longer seeing the value of their homes plunging; are no longer seeing neighbors lose their homes to foreclosure; begin to see 'For Sales' signs thinning out as homes begin selling; and no longer have fear of losing their jobs. Only then might they stop saving and paying down debt out of concern, and begin spending again to a degree that will have the recession bottoming.
Senate's Warner Concerned Obama Agency May be 'Gotcha' Enforcer U.S. Senator Mark Warner expressed concern that President Barack Obama's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, centerpiece of a rules overhaul, is "divorced" from markets and would be a "gotcha" enforcer. "Is this going to be some kind of poor cousin, located across town, that will always be struggling to have the resources, personnel and expertise?" Warner, a Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Lou Dobbs: States revolt against REAL I.D.
Cap-and-trade is a job killer Support for Obama's agenda is on the skids President Obama's domestic agenda is losing steam in an increasingly contentious Democratic Congress amid growing public doubts about the veracity of raising taxes in a deep recession. The economy remains sick. The stimulus plan isn't working. Investment capital, the lifeblood of a vigorous economy, is still on strike. Over 40 House Democrats voted against his energy tax bill, which barely passed by a seven-vote margin and now faces huge obstacles in the Senate. His health care plan is on shaky ground. His promise not to tax middle-class workers is in shreds, and massive deficits are piling up as fears mount that the economy may face months if not years of anemic growth.
Senate May Pass U.S. Climate Bill, Reject Treaty, Kerry Says The U.S. Senate may pass legislation to slow climate change and then fail to approve a global treaty that commits nations to do so, Senator John Kerry said. Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, will be a leader in Senate efforts to place the first domestic curbs on greenhouse gases, after the House approved a measure last week. Even if a Senate bill passes, there may not be enough support to ratify an international accord incorporating the U.S. commitments, the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview.
US Signs Up For A Global Climate Pact For The First Time The U.S. is ready to join the rest of the world in a climate pact for the first time in history, Bloomberg reports. The U.S. is joining other developed countries for the first time in saying global greenhouse gases should peak by 2020 and the average worldwide temperature shouldn't rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to a draft document of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. "This is a crucial year for taking rapid and effective global action to combat climate change," according to the text, not yet final, that is being negotiated by government officials ahead of next week's G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy. The draft was circulated by nongovernmental organizations.
Emissions Must Peak by 2020, U.S. Says in Group of Eight Draft The U.S. is joining other developed countries for the first time in saying global greenhouse gases should peak by 2020 and the average worldwide temperature shouldn't rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to a draft document of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. "This is a crucial year for taking rapid and effective global action to combat climate change," according to the text, not yet final, that is being negotiated by government officials ahead of next week's G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy. The draft was circulated by nongovernmental organizations.
Small business lending falls sharply In its first full quarter since the Recovery Act kicked in, the SBA still backed 30% fewer small business loans than it did a year ago. Despite emergency stimulus measures, small business lending continues to fall. In the just-ended quarter, the Small Business Administration's flagship program backed 30% fewer loans than it did a year ago, and 55% fewer loans than it did in 2007, before the recession set in. The numbers bear out the grim reports from business owners who say that credit is dangerously scarce for small firms. The SBA's 7(a) program approved 11,580 loans in the quarter ended June 30, valued at $2.5 billion. That's down from 16,490 loans, worth $3.4 billion, in the same quarter last year.
Bank Fees Rise as Lenders Try to Offset Losses Bounced check: $32. Stop-payment: $30. A.T.M. charge: as high as $3. Even now, after all those bailouts, banks never seem to tire of dipping a little deeper into your wallet. Despite the tough economic times and increased scrutiny from Washington, they are keeping most fees at record highs, and are eking out slight increases on others like overdraft charges - a step they rarely took during past recessions. The result? Americans are paying more to save and spend their money.
Factories contract for 17th month Construction spending declines again in May Manufacturing activity declined for the 17th consecutive month in June, but the rate of contraction in the factory sector continues to be slower compared with the steep downturns during the fall and winter. Meanwhile, total construction spending fell again in May, indicating that the eventual recovery will not likely get a boost from the homebuiding sector before the end of the year. The manufacturing index, compiled by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) in Tempe, Ariz., increased by 2 points to 44.8 in June. Index levels below 50 reflect a shrinking factory sector; levels above 50 indicate an expanding sector.
Drumbeat of Defaults Gets Louder Unemployment isn’t the only bearish economic indicator that just ticked higher. Defaults in speculative-grade debt rose sharply in June, as this asset class lived up to its nickname of “junk” and once-mighty companies like General Motors landed in bankruptcy court. Standard and Poor’s, the credit ratings agency, said in a report Thursday that speculative-grade debt defaults in the United States hit 9.2 percent last month, up from 8.1 percent in May, in what S.& P. said was a new year-to-date high. G.M., the apparel chain Eddie Bauer and hotelier Fontainebleau Las Vegas Holdings were among the 18 United States companies that defaulted on their debt in June, bringing the total number of defaults this year to 119. Lear, the auto parts giant, also defaulted last month, and it said Wednesday it was filing for Chapter 11 protection.
Obama Calls Jobs Losses 'Sobering,' Urges Innovation President Barack Obama praised innovative energy companies for creating jobs on a day of "sobering news" that employers shed 467,000 jobs in the U.S. in June. "It took years for us to get into this mess, and it's going to take us more than a few months to turn it around," Obama said in a Rose Garden appearance after meeting with energy business leaders. "These are folks whose companies are helping to lead the transformation towards a clean-energy future," Obama said. "Energy is one of the pillars" of a new foundation for the U.S. economy, he said.
U.S. Economy: Job Cuts in June Deeper Than Forecast Employers in the U.S. cut more jobs than forecast in June and the unemployment rate rose to the highest in almost 26 years, offering scant evidence the Obama administration's stimulus package is putting Americans back to work. Payrolls declined by 467,000 last month following a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.
Job market takes turn for worse Employers cut more jobs than expected in June and unemployment rate climbed for the ninth straight month, hitting 9.5%. The battered U.S. labor market took a step backwards last month as employers trimmed more jobs from their payrolls in June, according to a government report Thursday. There was a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, compared with a revised loss of 322,000 jobs in May. This was the first time in four months that the number of jobs lost rose from the prior month. The June job losses were also far worse than the forecast of a loss of 365,000 jobs by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
Jobless data sends stocks reeling; Dow loses 223 Stocks tumble as US unemployment rate reaches 26-year high; Dow has worst day since April The stock market found little to celebrate heading into the long holiday weekend. Major stock indexes fell more than 2.6 percent Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials to their lowest level in six weeks, after the government said the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high and employers cut far more jobs than expected. The data was especially disappointing since it broke a trend of four straight months of improvement in job losses. The report -- one of the most closely watched gauges of the economy's health -- delivered the latest blow to the market's already waning confidence.
Older job seekers struggling with age barrier Turning to social networks, removing dates from resumes, and Botox Like many unemployed older workers, 64-year old Allan Kellum fears his age has made it harder to find a new job. At a recent job fair, Kellum expressed interest in a supervisory role coordinating an international health assistance program. A recruiter set him straight: "The people applying for that are young." So now Kellum, who lives in McLean, Va., takes no chances. He's deleted his college graduation date from his resume and reduced the number of years it covers. He's hoping that will help move his resume past any screeners who would be put off by his age.
Ex-executive accuses insurance giant of 'purging' customers Wendell Potter says he is finished defending the insurance industry, which he says is "beholden to Wall Street." At a hearing last week before the Senate Commerce Committee, the former vice president of corporate communications at the insurance giant Cigna testified, "I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry." The committee's chairman, Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, told Potter, "You are better than Russell Crowe on 'The Insider,' " referring to the award-winning 1999 film about cigarette company executive Jeffrey Wigand, who blew the whistle on the tobacco industry's practices.
Health care: Will 'pay or play' chase employers away? The latest proposal out of the Senate is estimated to keep the employer-sponsored insurance system in tact. But one skeptic has serious doubts. It is one of the touchiest issues in the health care debate: Would a government-run health plan upend the employer-based health insurance system used by 160 million Americans? Senate Democrats behind a key proposal released Thursday say the answer is no. Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., say their plan would preserve employer-sponsored insurance coverage and create an affordable public option for those who need it.
Health care reform: What small business wants Insurance costs are killing small firms -- but many entrepreneurs are ideologically opposed to government-backed health coverage. As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market. The so-called "public option," backed by President Obama and many Congressional Democrats, would set up a government-backed health insurance plan that would compete with private plans. Though details remain fuzzy, the proposal already has critics on both sides of the aisle decrying "government-run health care." The American Medical Association and private insurers oppose any public option.
Confused U.S. Has Lots to Say About Health Care Introducing President Obama at yesterday's online town hall discussion, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett encouraged viewers to go to the White House's official site on Facebook.com, telling them: "As health-care reform moves through Congress, it's very important to President Obama that we take the time to engage the American people." Well, Mr. President, consider them engaged -- but perhaps not exactly in the way Jarrett intended.
Construction spending falls more than expected Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over. The Commerce Department said today that construction spending dropped 0.9% in May, nearly double the 0.5% decline that economists expected. Adding to the signs of weakness, activity in the past two months was revised lower. Construction rose 0.6% in April, down from the 0.8% increase originally reported. A March increase of 0.4% was replaced with a decline of the same amount. That left the April gain as the only increase in the past eight months.
Obama's One-World, America-Last Government 'm not much for conspiracies. I'm not a black helicopter guy. I don't believe that a shadowy military-industrial complex controls the government. I don't think the North American Free Trade Agreement was cover to merge Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In fact, I like NAFTA. I think all the hubbub about President Barack Obama's birth certificate is hooey. I'm sure Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. So, believe me when I say there is nothing conspiratorial about Obama's obvious desire to be seen as a world leader by every ideological bloc spanning the globe.
Obama stands with tyrants Honduras is part of a pattern Dictators and demagogues can rest easy on President Obama's watch. When thousands of Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran protesting a rigged election and were beaten and shot down by pro-regime thugs, the president bided his time before making a series of noncommittal statements. He seemed to hope it would all just go away. However, when a socialist demagogue was ejected unceremoniously from Honduras on Sunday by his own government for trying to establish a presidency for life, Mr. Obama instantly sprang to his defense. What happened in Honduras was not a military coup. Honduras has a civilian president, Roberto Micheletti, a member of former President Manuel Zelaya's own Liberal Party, who was elevated to the post after Mr. Zelaya was removed. The army did not seize power, but acted as the elected government's instrument in ousting Mr. Zelaya, who was well on his way to subverting the Honduran constitution and erecting a dictatorship.
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