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LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore wants to end the default practice of quarterly earnings guidance and explore issuing loyalty-driven securities as part of an overhaul of capitalism which he says has turned many of the world's largest economies into hotbeds of irresponsible short-term investment. Together with David Blood, senior partner of 'green' fund firm Generation Investment Management, the environmental activist has crafted a blueprint for "sustainable capitalism" he wants the financial industry to adopt to support lasting economic growth.

My wife has a crazy sister in Minnesota. Her sister calls her from time to time and goes off on pro Obama rants. The sister is about a step from insane, but it upsets my wife. My wife knows Obama is a muslim, socialist loser, but can't recall specifics. I'd like a page or two of verifible facts about Obama that my wife can refer to, next time crazy sister calls. I figure someone here already has such a thing. Thanks.

The U.S. government could be responsible for a recent spate of cancer among South American leaders, according to Venezuela's outspoken president Hugo Chavez. He suggested that the U.S. might have 'invented technology to spread cancer', and warned other left-wing heads of state that they could be targeted next. Mr Chavez, one of several Latin American leaders to have contracted the disease in the last year, said he had developed his theories after Fidel Castro described the CIA's repeated attempts to assassinate him. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079680/Chavez-says-U-S-giving-South-American-leaders-cancer-Argentine-president-Kirchner-fifth-contract-disease.html#ixzz1hxZdLJ9e

Click link to watch the video of a FOX news debate featuring Ron Paul giving Rick Santorum a history lesson on Iran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8u5hnMGOQ8

Lots of chatter that the old commie is dead. Can anyone confirm?

In the run-up to the 2008 elections, candidate Obama captivated millions of Americans with his “hope and change” rhetoric and the promise of a new and better America. Obama was “cool,” and perceived as the candidate that understood the needs and wants of ordinary Americans. Obama was (wrongly) perceived as the candidate who could get Americans back to work with good-paying jobs. Therefore, candidate Obama became President Obama. Three years later, however, millions of Americans regret their vote for Obama; as his narrow-minded, far-left ideology is destroying good-paying American jobs and the American Dream. The Obama administration is synonymous with...

The race for the Republican nomination may be coming down to Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, but in the contest for the Iowa caucuses, their high-profile battle might still turn out to be a sideshow. The national party has spent the last two weeks resigning itself to a choice between the former speaker and the former Massachusetts governor. But Iowa Republicans may end up choosing between Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul. In every post-Thanksgiving poll but one, Paul has been neck and neck for second place in Iowa. In most of them, he has lagged well behind the soaring speaker,...

In September, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's most prestigious military award, to Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the marine who saved 36 of his comrades during an ambush in Afghanistan. Obama called Meyer one of the most "down-to-earth guys that you will ever meet." But today Meyer, 23, is having trouble getting a job because of allegations by defense contractor BAE Systems that he has a drinking problem and is mentally unstable. Meyer filed legal papers Monday claiming the allegations were in retaliation for objections he raised about BAE's alleged decision to sell high-tech sniper scopes to the...

Thousands of far-right Nazi-saluting nationalists marched in Moscow today in a 'Take Back Russia' protest at Muslim migrants. Resentment is growing over the migrants from Russia's Caucasus and the money the Kremlin sends to those troubled regions. Chanting 'Russia for Russians' and 'Migrants today, occupiers tomorrow,' about 5,000 demonstrators

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After Governor Rick Perry gave a speech in New Hampshire last week, he should pack his bags and kiss his hopes of winning the White House goodbye. When you are running for President of the United States, the highest office in the land, you do not go up on stage and make a fool out of yourself! Perry must have consumed several martinis or even shots of Captain Morgan. He was clearly buzzed while speaking to supporters in New Hampshire. After the speech, Perry was embracing a bottle of maple syrup the same way he would embrace his dream girl....

The real political defect of the Cain plan is that it imposes a new national sales tax while maintaining the income tax. Mr. Cain's rates are seductively low, but the current income tax was introduced in 1913 with a top rate of 7% amid promises that it would never exceed 10%. By 1918 the top rate was 77%. Part of Mr. Cain's appeal is his willingness to challenge political convention, and he certainly has with his tax proposal. Voters like that he isn't a lifetime politician but a successful business owner who has met a payroll and created jobs. But...

As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending Congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members...

...I understand political motives behind these sorts of measures, but it makes horrible economic sense. Yet Obama has once again chosen politics over the economy. Within the President’s “American Jobs Act” lies a provision that mandates all iron, steel and other manufactured goods must be domestically produced as part of around $80 billion in infrastructure spending. Such protectionist measures raise costs for consumers and businesses. When businesses are forced to pay more for products, that increase gets passed on to consumers, who are then forced to forgo spending elsewhere. In other words, by protecting one industry, countless others are losing...

In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning long-distance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others — nearly 1 in 5. ... really high levels of underemployment and unemployment will haunt young people for at least another decade

Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul was hushed by deafening boos from a crowd of Tea Partiers at Monday's GOP Presidential debate, after suggesting America's foreign police played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mr Paul attempted to position his argument to slash military spending, contending that occupation was the 'real motivation' behind acts of terrorism by Muslim extremists against the U.S. But a provocative retort from presidential candidate, Pennsylvania lawmaker Rick Santorum, instead drew wide support, after he dismissed Mr Paul's comments as 'irresponsible'. Prior to the Tea Party debate, Mr Paul, 76, had reflected on the U.S. response...

OK I had to turn off the tv. Listened to as much of Obama as I could stand at one time. He's stuck on stupid. He's proposing more "shovel ready" nonsense.

The latest note from Nomura's Richard Koo is chock full of insight, which is not surprising since talk of fiscal consolidation, misguided ratings agencies, and balance sheet recessions is his wheelhouse. As he's famously observed before, in such recessions like these, spending cuts actually make deficits worse, and so he's particularly dismayed by the counter-productive actions of S&P. Fiscal stimulus will reduce budget deficit in balance sheet recession. What I find even more interesting is that Japan’s fiscal deficit increased under the Hashimoto administration, which pursued fiscal consolidation, but decreased under the Obuchi and Mori governments, which gave up on...

Forgive me for asking…but what is so wrong about raising taxes to some negotiated extent on the most wealthy taxpayers in the US? While I know this question violates conservative orthodoxy, there are a lot of folks in the US who make a lot of money…some of it easily earned (inherited), some of it by talent (professional athletes), some of it by luck (actors and lottery winners) and some of it by a lot of hard work and perseverance. Now I agree that $250,000 is not the place to start, but maybe 5 million (or some other negotiable figure and...

The 400 richest Americans used to pay 30% of their income on the average to Uncle Sam. Today, they pay 18% on the average. The main reason for the drop in their tax rate of some 40% is the tax cuts by George Bush in 2003, taking the rate paid on dividends and capital gains down to 15%.

Vennes and his family members donated $27,400 to Bachmann’s campaigns between 2005-2008. Bachmann and Pawlenty subsequently asked then-President George W. Bush to pardon Vennes.n May 1987, Vennes was indicted on money laundering charges, to which he pled guilty, plus gun and drug charges, to which he pled no contest. (He later tried to withdraw the pleas but the courts rejected the request.) He was sentenced to five years at Sandstone Prison in northern Minnesota and served three. In 2008, the feds raided Vennes’ homes as part of the Petters probe.

Ernest Hemingway died by his own hand almost 50 years ago, on July 2, 1961. His fame rests on his evocative stories crafted in spare prose, his tragic romances of love and death, his vivid war reporting and his travel books. He was an uneven author, but wrote at least one great work in every decade of his career. His description of the Greek refugees retreating after a Turkish victory—"Minarets stuck up in the rain out of Adrianople across the mud flats"—appeared in his first and best book of stories, "In Our Time" (1925). The novelist Ford Madox Ford praised...

EARLY one morning, 50 years ago today, while his wife, Mary, slept upstairs, Ernest Hemingway went into the vestibule of his Ketchum, Idaho, house, selected his favorite shotgun from the rack, inserted shells into its chambers and ended his life. There were many differing explanations at the time: that he had terminal cancer or money problems, that it was an accident, that he’d quarreled with Mary. None were true. As his friends knew, he’d been suffering from depression and paranoia for the last year of his life. Ernest and I were friends for 14 years. I dramatized many of his...

President Obama Vows At Midtown LGBT Gala To ‘Keep On Fighting’ For Same-Sex Marriage June 23, 2011 8:29 PM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — President Barack Obama urged his supporters to recapture their enthusiasm from his 2008 campaign even though he says he’s “old news.” Speaking to high-dollar donors Thursday night, Obama said he may not be the new, fresh candidate anymore, but his vision for the country is still the same as it was in 2008. Obama spoke at a fundraiser at the exclusive restaurant Daniel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The dinner fundraiser — which reportedly cost over $35,000...

A prominent Democrat is trying to change the public’s perception of “ObamaCare,” a term many in the party view as derogatory shorthand for the new healthcare reform law. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) says he’s had enough of Republicans using “ObamaCare” to disparage the healthcare overhaul. The second most senior lawmaker in the House has gone so far as to hand out buttons with the words “I [heart symbol] ObamaCare” as part of his campaign to rehabilitate a moniker he thinks Democrats should be proud of. “The fact that a healthcare bill is named after a first-term president who does...

Detroit — General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, and he's confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker. "I actually think the government will be out this year — within the next 12 months, hopefully within the next six months," Akerson said in a two-hour interview with The Detroit News last week. He is grateful for the government's rescue of GM — "I have nothing but good things to say about them" — but...

LONDON — For a long time Barack Obama’s mother was little more than the “white woman from Wichita” mentioned in an early Los Angeles Times profile of the future president. She was the pale Kansan silhouette against whom Obama drew the vivid Kenyan figure of his absent Dad in his Bildungsroman of discovered black identity, “Dreams from My Father.” Now, thanks to Janny Scott’s remarkable “A Singular Woman,” absence has become presence. Stanley Ann Dunham, the parent who raised Obama, emerges from romanticized vagueness into contours as original as her name. Far from “floating through foreign things,” as one colleague...

It has been the contention of this writer since the 1980s that Russia and China are fundamental rivals, regardless of pragmatic alliances. The “fraternal” relations that supposedly existed between two nominally “communist” states beneath the facade of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance did not mitigate the centuries’ long animosity, and this erupted into a “hot war” during the 1960s with the Sino-Soviet border clashes.[1] Indeed, the Sino-Soviet friendship treaty, far from being a display of comradeship, relegated China to the status of a colony.[2] The manner by which China showed it did not intend to renew...

“When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right,” Obama said Saturday. “They aren’t

Three Catholic priests are candidates for election to the Vietnamese national assembly, the “highest organ of state power” under the nation’s constitution. The candidacy of the three priests has prompted criticism among Vietnamese Catholics, in light of the clear Church policy against political activity by priests, and also in light of these priests’ clear support for the Communist government. Father Tran Manh Cuong and Father Le Ngoc Hoan, of the dioceses of Ban Me Thout and Bui Chu, respectively, are already members of the current 12th national assembly; they are running now for membership in the 13th assembly, which will...

President Obama and the first family attended Easter services at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.  As the mainstream press made sure to point out, this church was founded in 1863 by freed slaves. MSNBC proclaimed: Obama attends Easter service at historic church: The first family enters Shiloh Baptist Church to a round of applause It would be such a heart-warming picture of religious devotion except that the mainstream press neglected to mention a couple of things about the church which Obama chose for his Easter worship. The Shiloh Baptist Church hosted an anti-Israel hate fest in 2009 at the...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he won’t run for president in 2012 and declined to endorse the potential candidacy of Donald Trump, one of his constituents. Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Bloomberg called Mr. Trump a friend and “New York icon.” But he criticized the idea of questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S., an issue that Mr. Trump has pressed. “The president was born here,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “I think the Republicans are making a terrible mistake in making this a big issue.” Mr. Bloomberg said that if Republicans don’t address larger issues...

Mayor Bloomberg scolded Donald Trump Sunday, saying the "New York icon" and his fellow Republicans need to let the "birther" issue die and "focus on the main issues." "Look, anyone can run for president if you're 35 and you're an American citizen and born here," Bloomberg said. "The President was born here."

President Obama, speaking to Al Sharpton's organization, says he is not "out of touch." "I remember that," Obama added. "I'm just going to be honest with you. There's not much we can do next week or two weeks from now," Obama said earlier today about gas prices.

Obama has clearly been the greatest (most effective) President in the history of the nation. Many take his seeming incompetence as a flaw instead of a means to his larger ends. The evidence: 1. Basic economic annihilation of the U.S. economy and the drowning of the Federal Government in permanent and unsustainable debt. Status: COMPLETED 2. Working with the Muslim Brotherhood to establish rule in all Islamic Countries. Status: UNDERWAY, PROSPECT of TOTAL SUCCESS. 3. Creation of local brigades (union/student/progessive) to transform "days of rage" into permanent revolutionary action, intimidate all opponents. Status: UNDERWAY, PROSPECT of TOTAL SUCCESS. 4. Neuter...

Presidential Proclamation--100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire On March 25, 1911, a fire spread through the cramped floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in lower Manhattan. Flames spread quickly through the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors -- overcrowded, littered with cloth scraps, and containing few buckets of water to douse the flames -- giving the factory workers there little time to escape. When the panicked workers tried to flee, they encountered locked doors and broken fire escapes, and were trapped by long tables and bulky machines. As bystanders watched in horror, young workers began jumping out of the...

The White House today proposed sweeping revisions to U.S. copyright law, including making "illegal streaming" of audio or video a federal felony and allowing FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers. In a 20-page white paper (PDF), the Obama administration called on the U.S. Congress to fix "deficiencies that could hinder enforcement" of intellectual property laws. The report was prepared by Victoria Espinel, the first Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator who received Senate confirmation in December 2009, and represents a broad tightening of many forms of intellectual property law including ones that deal with counterfeit pharmaceuticals and overseas royalties for copyright holders.

Is there any sadder testament to the fading magic of Hopenchange than this? Reading it, I actually felt sorry for the guy. Any high school principals out there in the HA audience have time to throw together an application and reassure The One that kids still love him? And by “love him,” I mean “will happily sit through a speech/photo op in lieu of having to go to class.” The competition was extended from the February 25 deadline until Friday, March 11 after few schools met the original application deadline. CBS News has learned a White House Communications Office internal...

Anti-Obama song. Have not seen this on FR. Sorry if this is a repeat post, I just thought it was worth a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiGg8D4hFLc

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (Reuters) – About 1,000 chanting protesters rallied on Sunday outside a California resort where conservative lawmakers and business executives met for a political strategy session hosted by billionaires Charles and David Koch. About two dozen police officers in riot gear lined up in front of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in the upscale desert town of Rancho Mirage to keep the protesters away from the gated entrance. ... Another group, some dressed in hazardous material suits, tried to encircle the resort with yellow caution tape in a symbolic effort to "quarantine" the meeting, but they...

As China gears up for the Year of the Rabbit, the nation's Communist authorities have censored a bunny cartoon with political overtones. The Chinese New Year - which falls this year on February 3 - is the country's biggest holiday. Families come together for several days of feasting and gift-giving. But, this year, a New Year-themed cartoon posted on a popular Chinese website seems to have rankled officials. Censors have deleted the video, in an apparent reaction to its biting political satire. The three-minute animation begins with rabbit babies being poisoned, a blatant reference to a recent toxic milk scandal...

WARSAW, Poland – You won't get to build hotels or collect rent in a new Polish board game reminiscent of Monopoly. In fact, you may be lucky even to get a pair of shoes. Poland's state-run National Remembrance Institute has created the new game — called "Kolejka," which means queue or line — to help young Poles understand the hardships of life under communism...

Jesse Jackson calls for a “Radical Reordering” of American Economy http://www.theblaze.com/stories/jesse-jackson-calls-for-a-radical-reordering-of-american-economy/

US Rep. Conyers reimburses for son's vehicle useUS Rep. Conyers reimburses $5,682 for son's unofficial use of government Escalade in Detroit On Thursday December 23, 2010, 12:54 pm EST DETROIT (AP) -- Taxpayers have been repaid for the time Detroit Congressman John Conyers' son spent using a government vehicle. The U.S. Treasury Department was reimbursed $5,682, the House Judiciary chair said in a statement Wednesday. Conyers said the amount was based on the daily use of the Cadillac Escalade by his 20-year-old son, John Conyers III, over the Thanksgiving holiday. He announced that his son used the sport utility vehicle...

WikiLeaks: British Police Arrest Assange WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested by British police over sexual assault claims in Sweden, according to Sky sources. A fresh European arrest warrant has been received by Mr Assange's lawyer - as anger grows in the US over the latest leaked embassy cables by the whistleblowing website. Sky sources have said officers from Scotland Yard detained the 39-year-old Australian at around 9.30am. Labelling the move as a "political stunt", Mr Assange's solicitor Mark Stephens said his client wants to find out what allegations he faces so he can clear his name. Two...

Labour leader Ed Miliband today declared 'I am a socialist' and revealed he was tempted to join the violent student protests but was 'doing something else'. Mr Miliband said that although he did not condone violence, the demonstrations were fuelled by 'justified' anger about tuition fee rises. And he indicated that he was open in future to talking to those protesting on the streets, with marches and other protests set to continue. And, speaking to the Radio 5, he took the bold step for a modern Labour leader of embracing the socialist leanings of the party's pre-Tony Blair era.

"Why don't they fight back?" That's the question I've been hearing from the Democratic Party's stunned and dispirited base. Everywhere I go, supporters of President Obama and his agenda ask me why so many Democrats in Washington don't stand up for what they say they believe. I confess that I don't have a good answer. What I can say with confidence, however, is that the White House and Democrats in Congress ignore these grumblings at their peril. Call it polarization, call it conviction, call it whatever you like: These are not wishy-washy times. If you don't stand for something, you...

On Thursday night, O'Reilly asked, as part of a show that would be seen by 5.5 million people: "Does sharia law say we can behead Dana Milbank?" He then added, "That was a joke." The next night, O'Reilly read a complaint from one of his viewers, Heidi Haverlock of Cleveland, who said: "I thought the joke about whether sharia law would allow the beheading of the Washington Post guy was completely inappropriate." O'Reilly replied: "Well, let me break this to you gently, Heidi. If Dana Milbank did in Iran what he does in Washington, he'd be hummus." O'Reilly's on-air fantasizing...

Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely from MSNBC for making campaign contributions to three Democrats. Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC: I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay. Read the MSNBC policy on campaign donations. * * * * MSNBC host Keith Olberman made campaign contributions to Democrats, one of whom appeared on his program, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Olbermann donated the maximum allowable amount to failed Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky and Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. Olbermann...

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela ordered the expropriation of the country's largest privately owned steel producer Sunday, the latest in a series of takeovers that has raised concerns among business leaders...The president said the seizure of Siderurgica del Turbio, or Sidetur, is part of his strategy to transform Venezuela into a socialist state, frpa